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Alright, if I put explosive runes on a small wooden disk (Frisbee) and toss it at an enemy and it lands near them. reason stands they'll instinctively look at it, and if it's something simple like a big letter in common, they'll read it, setting of the rune and blowing it up. At least that's how i read it. This would work, yes?
It should work, against enemies smart enough to be able to read and dumb enough to actually read. In the middle of a fight, I doubt they'd give otherwise harmless projectiles more then a glance though.
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True, but if you toss something at someone's feet, with one single letter on it, you will immediately read it. it's short, simple and it's something you or I would do without conscious thought. It lands, you glance on it, you realize it has "A" written on it, then it explodes. recently we've been fighting a bunch of animals, so it hasn't been useful, but I'm waiting!
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I am a teacher of writing and composition. So i teach students who are ESL (English as a second language) on a regular basis. So the real question here is, when you 'know a language' in pathfinder, how well do you know it? if someone is full literacy, and proficient in reading and speaking it without problems, then yes they would read it without thinking. if you are not, it'd be a crap shoot. if you were expecting it, or were just speaking ni that language, your mind would be in that 'language mode'. I've noticed that when speaking and thinking in one language, getting exposed to another language you know suddenly makes switching your mental track difficult. So if they knew common, and were speaking in draconic, and suddenly had a explosive runes appear in front of them, they may or may not read it. My opinion is that, since that's so hard to quantify, if they know the language, we have to assume that they are proficient enough to just read it without thinking. Otherwise we're delving into a grey area that has no solid answers.
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Irish monk where the first to put spaces between words in the Latin alphabetical writing. Before the largest majority of the literate people had to read the text aloud or at least in a low voice to comprehend it.
Different writing systems and languages use different areas of the brain, sometime even different hemispheres, so switching from one system to another require a change of gear.
Add to that that the spell say reading, not looking and I would not have it trigger at a casual glance in combat.
If we use the OP idea the problem is who is the first person that look at the rune, beside the caster? His friend near the Frisbee trajectory? His familiar? Some other NPC that glance at the Frisbee while it is flying?
Our characters have 360° vision, so my tank friend protecting me from melee attacks will see me writing the rune and trigger it. No good.
BTW, the spell say:
You trace mystic runes upon a book, map, scroll, or similar object bearing written information.
As it then go on saying in the same row:
The explosive runes detonate when read, dealing 6d6 points of force damage. Anyone next to the explosive runes (close enough to read them) takes the full damage with no saving throw; any other creature within 10 feet of the explosive runes is entitled to a Reflex save for half damage. The object on which the explosive runes were written also takes full damage (no saving throw).]/quote]
I would say that it all part of the description on how the spell work, so you can't trace big runes on a Frisbee and throw it, they must be part of a written information.
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All of those could work (beside the little problem that you always successfully dispel your spells), but we are no more speaking of a single big rune but a piece of text with the rune in it.
So reading require being near enough to be capable of reading what you wrote and choosing to read the text.
Naturally if I am a spellcaster and see you madly writing something on a piece of paper in the middle of combat I will make a spellcraft check and cast a minimum CL dispel magic targeted on your piece of paper.
As you can't throw the Frisbee the same round in which you cast the spell (throwing something is a standard action) I would have all the time for this little trick.
If you go RD way and go around with hundred of pre cast explosive runes business cards a bad dispel magic can be a big problem.
But we're all very literate, having learned in kindergarten or even before. In a medieval setting, reading letters like that might not be so easy.
Does anyone have experience with countries with poor literacy?
Golarion might be inspired by medivial europe, but it is not medivial europe.
Most creatures with Int 3 or higher can read at least their native language, and maybe more than that.It should work, against enemies smart enough to be able to read and dumb enough to actually read. In the middle of a fight, I doubt they'd give otherwise harmless projectiles more then a glance though.
They once made a test in a tv-show here.
They were showing a list of colored squares, and the guests had to go through the list saying the color of the square as fast as they could. What made it hard was that they've written the names of colors different from the actual color in the square. So while the square was orange it said "Green" in big letters inside.Most of the guests got the first few squares right but eventually slipped up and said the names of the colors written down, not the actually color.
They then did the same test again with pre-schoolers who couldn't read yet, and they got pretty much a perfect score and were alot faster, since they didn't get distracted by the stuff written down.
They explained it was because if you can read, and you see letters, your mind reads it and forms them into words. You can't will yourself to not read really. You can of course ignore the read stuff and concentrate on the actual color, but your mind still reads.
If a fellow who looks like a magic user throws something in combat, my first reaction is going to be to turn my back to it because it's likely to be a thunderstone or a flash-bang or maybe it's an object with silence cast on it. Only later might I look at it more closely when it doesn't do any of those things (and only after dispatching the thrower).
You throw something at my feet and I'll look at it.
But I'm not a fighter, or wizard, or any kind of combat person.
You throw something at a combat trained person's feet in a combat scenario and they aren't going to have a read, they are gonna move their arse before it explodes. They Might look at it after it didn't go off but thats only if there wasn't smoething else to keep their attention. (like the guy throwing duds..)
Now in D&D where folks have swords and such running around trying to gut 'em, you really can't assume that you can throw a frisbee and have them stand around trying to read the rune. No, they will either ignore it (if they are actively in melee combat) or run away from it (if in a combat situation). But expecting someone in a combat situation to stop and bend down and look at some little rock you throw is unlikely at best.
A fun thing to do outside combat as a surprise way to start the fight? sure. Something to do inside an active combat situation?
Not so much I'd think.
-S
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well, to respond to several points.
I wont be casting explosive runes IN combat, definitely out of combat. it lasts until it explodes.
secondly, if you throw something near someone, they will most likely glance at it. a trained soldier in modern times, if you toss something, they are most likely going to at least glance at it to see.. is it a grenade? a rock? then they will react. pick it up and throw it back, dive for cover, etc. if it's a wooden frisbee, with parchment attached to it, with a largely written word or letter on it. when they glance at it, they will most likely automatically read it. that's my only point. yes, explosive runes is MUCH harder to use in combat now. but i'm trying. there's always the whole thing were i can set up ambushes and that sort of thing with it, that's not a problem. i'm also not trying to game it, or break it, it's just a spell i'm stuck with b/c it's a bloodline spell, so i'm making the best of it.
If I was the DM, I would respectfully disagree.
To glance at isn't necessarily to read. "I see its a frisbee" isn't the same as "I stop to read the sheet of paper on top of it" and in the middle of combat you just can't expect your opponents to do that.
Glance, see out of the corner of one's eye? yes. Stop and read something tacked onto the object? no.
This spell is not intended to be a grenade, its intended to be a trapped object. You *can* write something on a piece of paper and attach it to a frisbee. You are going to have *alot* harder time getting someone actively enaged in combat to stop and read the note.
-S
While Symbol is a different spell entirely it does have a specific distinction between 'read' and 'looked at'. Read requires an attempt to comprehend it. I would use the same standard with explosive runes. IE: merely looking at it is not enough.
- Gauss
May I point out that I might be more focused on the enemy in front of me then too give a second glance at a Frisbee being thrown at me.
second thing you got too remember is explosive runes has the chance too be friendly fire it does not care who is near it when it goes off.
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alright, i get your point, and i agree now that you put it that way. the diff between 'look at' and 'read'. how's this.. i'm invis, i walk up behind a guy and tack it to the wall, the explosive runes, then i say "look out behind you!" or something to get him to turn around, maybe making a bluff check or something. he turns, looks at the paper (i could assume he reads it since it now has his full attention) and then it explodes. so no grenades, but lots of other interesting applications. the beauty of it, is you scribe as many as you want out of combat on paper, and then spread them around later and see what you can do with it.
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Generally, stacking the spell a lot onto a single during downtime, chucking the book and using (and intentionally failing) dispel magic is the standard tactic for offensive use of Explosive Runes
You automatically succeed on your dispel check against any spell that you cast yourself.
Even if you voluntary lower your casting level while casting dispel magic I think that that will apply the same.
So you would dispel one set of runes.Note that you can't voluntary fail Dispel magic, you can only reduce your CT.
Then there is the little problem that Dispel magic has changed in Pathfinder.
"You choose to use dispel magic in one of two ways: a targeted dispel or a counterspell." No area dispel, so you would have to target one of the explosive runes, not all of them
With Greater dispel you can have a area effect and "You may choose to automatically succeed on dispel checks against any spell that you have cast." so you can cast it and try to fail the dispel check.
But again you would affect only 1 spell on each object, not all the spells on one object, so 1 set of explosive runes from each book.