So a member of my party used Control Winds to create a tornado around us. That naturally lead us to read the wind effects to see how a tornado works. Unfortunately, the tornado description lacks several key facts.
First, what exactly is "close proximity" to the tornado?
Second, what fort save do I need to make to not get sucked in?
Third, the tornado description states all creatures are picked up and blown around, which contradicts the table which states creatures of a certain size are either checked or blown away. How do I resolve this?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/environment/weather#wind-effects
Not sure what Close Proximity is, I guess that is up the the DM to decide, and use as part of the story.
I think the Fort save they keep talking about is actually the Str Check. If you fail the check instead of being blown away (like in normal high winds) you actually are knocked prone and pulled closer to the storm. Once you get sucked in all the way you start spinning around like in the description.
Once you are in contact with the storm you just automatically fail and are flung out at some point. You only make saves while you are near by, not actually in the tornado itself.
Timothy Hanson wrote: Not sure what Close Proximity is, I guess that is up the the DM to decide, and use as part of the story.
I think the Fort save they keep talking about is actually the Str Check. If you fail the check instead of being blown away (like in normal high winds) you actually are knocked prone and pulled closer to the storm. Once you get sucked in all the way you start spinning around like in the description.
Once you are in contact with the storm you just automatically fail and are flung out at some point. You only make saves while you are near by, not actually in the tornado itself.
Then why does the chart say land creatures are checked, while the tornado entry says that everyone in it is simply picked up with no save?
Close Proximity is not defined in the rules. THat's up to your DM. A fair ruling would be some percentage of the tornado's size based upon its wind speed, I would say.
The fortitude save does seem to be a mistake. Strength check seems prevalent throughout the rest of the text, and is actually supported with a DC. I would go with that.
As for your newer question, tornadoes break the rules in that table. a bit. Rather than blowing away, they suck in. Rather then "check"ing, they would, I would think, prevent you from moving away. A creature failing its check or save against a tornado would be sucked closer to it. If it's sucked all the way into the funnel cloud, it takes damage and is tossed about.
Brogue The Rogue wrote: Close Proximity is not defined in the rules. THat's up to your DM. A fair ruling would be some percentage of the tornado's size based upon its wind speed, I would say.
The fortitude save does seem to be a mistake. Strength check seems prevalent throughout the rest of the text, and is actually supported with a DC. I would go with that.
As for your newer question, tornadoes break the rules in that table. a bit. Rather than blowing away, they suck in. Rather then "check"ing, they would, I would think, prevent you from moving away. A creature failing its check or save against a tornado would be sucked closer to it. If it's sucked all the way into the funnel cloud, it takes damage and is tossed about.
Wow, that is really strong then. With Control Winds, its easy to create a 500 foot radius tornado. This means that every creature that fails a fort save within the radius is out of the fight and likely dead.
As a 7th level spell, I don't see it being that powerful. Keep in mind that Control Weather has a 10 minute cast time. Any player that can cast this in combat is stupendously amazing. Any player that tries (and thus fails), is, well, probably a little dense (I once had a player try. True story. He finished 9 and a half minutes after the combat ended, about 7 minutes after the critter was looted).
Also, keep in mind that Control Weather is a little general. If the DM says a tornado does not appear, then a tornado does not appear. Some other, *appropriate* weather phenomenon might appear for the season. This is covered in the spell.
Also, I JUST noticed. The player in question used Control WINDS, not Control WEATHER to do this. Does he have 15 caster levels that allow him to do this? 6d6 is pretty lame at level 15.
Quote: Wind Strength: For every three caster levels, you can increase or decrease wind strength by one level. Each round on your turn, a creature in the wind must make a Fortitude save or suffer the effect of being in the windy area. See Environment for more details. Also, note that the spell is different than an actual tornado. With this usage of the tornado, he only gets to target one creature a round with his fake-nado.
Good luck.
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