Lets say the spell lists concentration +3 as the duration.
There's no battle and you're not otherwise distracted.
What's the max time you cs hold the spell and what are the factors involved?
RAW only please and cite sources as appropriate.
"Concentration: The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can also break your concentration while you're maintaining one, causing the spell to end. See concentration."
You can concentrate on it as long as you continuously spend your standard action to concentrate. Anything from the concentration check table that happens will force a concentration check, that if you fail you will lose the spell.
RAW : concentrating is a standard action. You can concentrate as much as you want, except if the spell has its own limits (I.E. Detect magic has a limitation for the concentration duration).
Quotations :
Concentrating to Maintain a Spell: Some spells require continued concentration to keep them going. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.
DETECT MAGIC
School divination; Level bard 0, cleric 0, druid 0, sorcerer/wizard 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Component: V, S
Range 60 ft.
Area cone-shaped emanation
Duration concentration, up to 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
I bolded the important parts.
If your spell has no limitations on the concentration duration, you can concentrate on it as much as you want.
If you're distracted while concentrating on maintaining a spell, you have the same rules as being distracted while casting a spell (look at concentration).
Same answer as "How many free actions can you take in your turn?" i.e. GMs discretion.
Concentration: The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can also break your concentration while you're maintaining one, causing the spell to end.
Assuming nothing breaks your concentration, you can concentrate indefinitely. by RAW. (GM will kick you though if you try this for days.)
Well without a max duration you can concentrate as long as you can take standard actions.
This means so long as you move once per round. You perform no other standard actions like most skill checks, attacks, cast another spell. Are not distracted, so the second you get hit with damage, or another spell that forces you to concentrate on something else (i.e. Fascinate). You also can't sleep and maintain it either.
I as a GM would also rule out eating and maintain a spell. Conversations that require you to reason in order to respond. As well as other things that I think would be too thought intensive.
So to answer your question, you can concentrate on a spell for as long as your GM allows you to. Just remember, they can tell you to roll a concentration check whenever they feel you are doing something that they feel would break said concentration.
Ok. Thanks all.
My idea was to ride a floating disk and concentrate on an illusion (silent image or major image) to make myself appear to be escorted or at least make the group look bigger.
I'd say that it's up to GM interpretation whether or not you can ride one.
If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you.
This leads me to believe that you might be able to direct it to move without having it follow you. Since it isn't specific it would depend on whether or not your GM allows it.
The floating disk locomotion is not the issue. It's taken care of.
The short version of the solution is you sit on the board 3 feet from the "lead" disk. Have the other two disks stay in triangular formation and follow the lead. Tell the lead disk to move 5 feet from you. SInce you're riding the board it'll never make it 5 feet from you and will constantly try. You could do the same thing with two disks. If you're DM wants to be pedantic and doesn't think you could just direct it to change direction you can still "steer" by shifting your position.
It's stupid, but it works. Frankly I think you could just order it to move forward while you ride on it, but I can see how some disagree. It's a pointless argument given that the solution is to simply cast two (minimum).
Wow you guys are generous or I always assumed concentration was a little more intensive. Personally I would have gone something akin to drowning. Maybe 3 or 4 times Constitution score. Then the progressively harder Con checks to continue past that. Or maybe a Fort or Will save instead.
That would be a house rule. The thread is about rules as they are written.
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Do keep in mind that Pathfinder is set in a relatively historic setting. Without the internet, phones and Star Trek who knows what feats of concentration people might achieve?
Do keep in mind that Pathfinder is set in a relatively historic setting. Without the internet, phones and Star Trek who knows what feats of concentration people might achieve?
Exactl...
*oh look, Shiny!*
The problem isn't so much the Concentration, it's the fact that you cannot do anything that requires a Standard Action.
The problem isn't so much the Concentration, it's the fact that you cannot do anything that requires a Standard Action.
True. You're extremely limited while you concentrate.
The rules don't specify a limit, but common sense would six hours would be possible. Repetitive jobs which require sustained concentration for hours are not uncommon.
More than 6 without a break of any sort might be a stretch - since spell concentration says you can't take any standard actions, so that prevents eating and seeing to other bodily needs.
6 hrs is not common sense. How about 5 hrs? or 7? 6 is just an arbitrary number you pulled out of nowhere.
As far as bodily functions go just wear a ring of Sustenance like most traveling wizards do. Even IRL people sometimes fast for days at a time so 6 hrs is not a "hard stop."
Common sense would indicate that if you remove the bodily function needs you can concentrate until you fall asleep. A person can stay up for Days IRL.
I see no reason why one could not concentrate for 24 hrs relatively easily.
6 hrs is not common sense. How about 5 hrs? or 7? 6 is just an arbitrary number you pulled out of nowhere.
As far as bodily functions go just wear a ring of Sustenance like most traveling wizards do. Even IRL people sometimes fast for days at a time so 6 hrs is not a "hard stop."
Common sense would indicate that if you remove the bodily function needs you can concentrate until you fall asleep. A person can stay up for Days IRL.
I see no reason why one could not concentrate for 24 hrs relatively easily.Um, ok. It was just a suggestion.
Spell concentration is measured in 6 second turns. So even a 6 second lapse would break it.
I think it would be hard to maintain that sort of intense concentration for more than a full morning or a full afternoon (i.e. 6hrs) without any pause at all.
I think it's a very reasonable house rule. However, that's not the question.
The RAW answer appears to be "So long as you have standard actions to spend in consecutive rounds."
There are any number of things that could break that concentration.
If you stand still, you can maintain concentration as long as your GM allows. If you are dragged or otherwise moved by a party member or vehicle, you can maintain concentration as long as you pass your (grapple or vigorous motion) concentration checks.
But I think the rule most helpful for this situation when it comes up is actually in the Movement section, believe it or not.
Hustle: A hustle is a jog (about 6 miles per hour for an unencumbered human). A character moving his speed twice in a single round, or moving that speed in the same round that he or she performs a standard action or another move action, is hustling when he or she moves.
Hustle: A character can hustle for 1 hour without a problem. Hustling for a second hour in between sleep cycles deals 1 point of nonlethal damage, and each additional hour deals twice the damage taken during the previous hour of hustling. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from hustling becomes fatigued.
So maybe you're setting up an ambush for a giant monster who has a taste for damsels in distress and since you are lawful good, you can't use live bait, so you cast an illusion of a damsel. Hiding in wait, you can sit there for hours (up to GM's discretion) until the monster shows up.
But if you wanted to get out of a 5 hour lecture at your local magic school and cast an illusion of yourself at your desk, you'd only be able to party out on the town for an hour before taking more and more nonlethal damage each hour, each of those provoking their own DC 10 + damage dealt + spell level concentration check. It's not enough to stop most players from coming up with some crazy plan, but it provides an in character reason why you'd get tired of concentrating beyond just common sense.
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Wikipedia suggests the following on attention spans:
Common estimates for sustained attention to a freely chosen task range from about five minutes for a two-year-old child, to a maximum of around 20 minutes in older children and adults.
Most healthy teenagers and adults are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 40 minutes at a time, although they can choose repeatedly to re-focus on the same thing.
You might determine a house rule based on the Wisdom of the character.
Drumlord,
He cannot be hustling, as hustling is defined as moving your speed twice in a round. If he is required to spend his standard action to concentrate, then he only has 1 move action a round to spend on moving, which places him in the Walking movement category.
"Walk: A character can walk 8 hours in a day of travel without a problem. Walking for longer than that can wear him out (see Forced March, below)."
Drumlord,
He cannot be hustling, as hustling is defined as moving your speed twice in a round. If he is required to spend his standard action to concentrate, then he only has 1 move action a round to spend on moving, which places him in the Walking movement category.
Read it again:
Hustle: A hustle is a jog (about 6 miles per hour for an unencumbered human). A character moving his speed twice in a single round, or moving that speed in the same round that he or she performs a standard action or another move action, is hustling when he or she moves.
Doing a standard and a move round after round is hustling.
Ack! You're right. So ride a horse and make those concentration checks instead?
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Yup, the rules give more than one example of an 8 hour work day as standard, implying (or saying outright when it comes to walking) that you'll get worn out for doing more than that.
I think most GMs would reasonably apply that to concentrating on a spell, though exactly what happens after the 8 hours is almost certainly going to be a house rule. I'd probably apply the forced march rules - constitution check to avoid getting fatigued and taking non-lethal damage. If you do take the non-lethal damage, that forces a concentration roll for being damaged while casting. Repeat with a tougher con check each time until the caster inevitably fails.
As far as I'm concerned, earlier comments about being able to function for extended periods of time because the game rules don't specifically say that sleep is required are just as silly as "the rules don't say that you can't take standard actions while dead". Humanoids needing to sleep, and dead creatures not being able to take any action, are both cases where common sense trumps RAW.