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Hi everyone,
My Inquisitor just hit level 4 and "Flames of the Faithful" is looking attractive as a spell option. My question is that it takes 1 standard action to cast and then it lasts for 4 rounds, do the rounds start the turn I cast the spell or the next turn when I can actually reap the benefits?
FLAMES OF THE FAITHFUL
Level inquisitor 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V
Range touch
Target weapon touched
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (object, harmless); Spell Resistance yes (object, harmless)
With a touch, you cause a glowing rune to appear on a single weapon, granting that weapon the flaming property (and allowing it to cause an extra 1d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit). If you are using the judgment class feature, your weapon gains the flaming burst property instead. The spell functions only for weapons that you wield. If the weapon leaves your hand for any reason, the spell effect ends. The effects of this spell do not stack with any existing flaming or flaming burst weapon property that the target weapon may already possess.
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As far as I'm aware, the clock starts ticking as soon as you cast it. While it may seem as though you're being shorted a round, in theory it could be cast as a quickened spell or cast upon someone else's weapon, thus providing the full four rounds.
Except that you can't cast it on another person's weapon because it only works for weapons you wield.
Effectively, yes, you are shorted a round of combat with the flaming property (unless someone provokes an AoO).
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As far as I'm aware, the clock starts ticking as soon as you cast it. While it may seem as though you're being shorted a round, in theory it could be cast as a quickened spell or cast upon someone else's weapon, thus providing the full four rounds.Except that you can't cast it on another person's weapon because it only works for weapons you wield.
Effectively, yes, you are shorted a round of combat with the flaming property (unless someone provokes an AoO).
Ah I was planning on using it on a longbow, so that's unfortunate. Makes it a little less appealing if it only works for 3 rounds.
If it is a standard action to cast it, and you move then cast it, it goes off at the end of your round and should last until the end of the round it ends on.
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As far as I'm aware, the clock starts ticking as soon as you cast it. While it may seem as though you're being shorted a round, in theory it could be cast as a quickened spell or cast upon someone else's weapon, thus providing the full four rounds.Except that you can't cast it on another person's weapon because it only works for weapons you wield.
Effectively, yes, you are shorted a round of combat with the flaming property (unless someone provokes an AoO).
I deleted my previous comment...man you're fast! I was looking at the spell description provided by the OP and it says weapon touched. I don't see why that can't mean a weapon held by someone else being touched by you. Though, honestly, I'm not familiar with the inquisitor, so there might be something about their casting style that I'm not aware of.
"The spell functions only for weapons you wield." It's buried in the text, but it's in there. ^
Ah I was planning on using it on a longbow, so that's unfortunate. Makes it a little less appealing if it only works for 3 rounds.As far as I'm aware, the clock starts ticking as soon as you cast it. While it may seem as though you're being shorted a round, in theory it could be cast as a quickened spell or cast upon someone else's weapon, thus providing the full four rounds.Except that you can't cast it on another person's weapon because it only works for weapons you wield.
Effectively, yes, you are shorted a round of combat with the flaming property (unless someone provokes an AoO).
It worse than that. You only get two attacks.
Round 1: Cast the spell. The spell lasts for the rest of the round.
Round 2: The spell lasts the entire round.
Round 3: The spell lasts the entire round.
Round 4: The spell lasts until the beginning of the initiative count on which it was cast, then ends.
Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world; there are 10 rounds in a minute of combat. A round normally allows each character involved in a combat situation to act.
Each round's activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds in order. When a character's turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round's worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
When the rules refer to a “full round”, they usually mean a span of time from a particular initiative count in one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.
*emphasis mine
Steve, I believe it is not RAI for a four round duration spell to actually last three rounds.
So we'll keep playing our way.
Steve, I believe it is not RAI for a four round duration spell to actually last three rounds.
So we'll keep playing our way.
Just curious, do you rule all effects last till the end of the round on which they expire, or just certain ones? If just certain ones, how do you decide?
It occurs to me that some four round spells would actually last five rounds; sleep, for instance, if the caster went before the target.
Lasting only two rounds would make be quite disappointing, also would make the spell far worse then I first thought.
Also, I'm afraid I don't know what "RAI" stands for Adamantine.
My bad. You do get three attacks.
Round 0: Cast the spell. The spell lasts for the rest of the round.
Round 1: The spell lasts the entire round.
Round 2: The spell lasts the entire round.
Round 3: The spell lasts the entire round.
Round 4: The spell lasts until the beginning of the initiative count on which it was cast, then ends.
Steve, typically players tend to move and then cast. So the spell "goes off" at the end of a round. If they cast and then move, then the spell would end roughly halfway through a round. If they quickened a spell and cast it at the beginning of the round, it would end at the beginning of a round.
Yes, there are some times when you have to make a judgment call, such as when someone casts a weapon buff in the middle of their round and the weapon is used in a full attack on the final round. But that's rare since the vast majority of combats are over before spell durations end for our current PCs.
Allurian, "RAW" means "Rules as Written" and refers to a literal and explicit ruling based on the best understanding of word definitions and grammar. "RAI" means "Rules as Intended" and refers to making a ruling that is believed to meet the designers actual intentions for how the spell worked and going beyond sometimes clumsy or incomplete grammar. In this case I believe it is clearly "Rules as Intended" for a three round duration spell to actually be effective for three rounds.