Pro Evil Question

[stuart haffenden]

Does protection from evil prevent the confusion effect from a Gibbering Mouther?

[Alzrius]

stuart haffenden wrote:

Does protection from evil prevent the confusion effect from a Gibbering Mouther?

Presuming it was in place before the gibbering started, then yes, it should.

Protection from Evil wrote:

Second, the subject immediately receives another saving throw (if one was allowed to begin with) against any spells or effects that possess or exercise mental control over the creature (including enchantment [charm] effects and enchantment [compulsion] effects, such as charm person, command, and dominate person. This saving throw is made with a +2 morale bonus, using the same DC as the original effect. If successful, such effects are suppressed for the duration of this spell. The effects resume when the duration of this spell expires. While under the effects of this spell, the target is immune to any new attempts to possess or exercise mental control over the target. This spell does not expel a controlling life force (such as a ghost or spellcaster using magic jar), but it does prevent them from controlling the target. This second effect only functions against spells and effects created by evil creatures or objects, subject to GM discretion.

Gibbering Mouther wrote:

Gibbering (Su) As a free action, a gibbering mouther can emit a cacophony of maddening sound. All creatures other than gibbering mouthers within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or be confused for 1 round. [/b]This is a mind-affecting compulsion insanity effect.[/b] A creature that saves cannot be affected by the same mouther's gibbering for 24 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.

[Orfamay Quest]

A Gibbering Mouther is not evil.

"This second effect only functions against spells and effects created by evil creatures or objects, subject to GM discretion."

So I would say no, it doesn't protect, but of course your GM is her own decision-maker.

[stuart haffenden]

I tend to agree but my DM says no as confusion isn't 'control'

Its a bit wishywashy but I'd rule as you have.

[stuart haffenden]

Ok, my bad as an example, but the question is still valid.

[Sniggevert]

There's a FAQ about Protection from Evil on what's control. Confusion and sleep effects aren't covered by Protection from xx according to the FAQ at least.

Also, if the gibbering mouther isn't evil, it's a fairly moot point, as it wouldn't come into effect due to that anyways.

EDIT: LINK to FAQ

[Orfamay Quest]

stuart haffenden wrote:

I tend to agree but my DM says no as confusion isn't 'control'

Its a bit wishywashy but I'd rule as you have.

Well, if you're asking if it would protect you from the effect of a fiendish gibbering mouther, I'd say that the effect is pretty clearly laid out as a compulsion effect, so you should be protected.

[AnnoyingOrange]

I would say it doesn't since it isn't a spell or effect that possesses or exercises mental control. It can certainly be argued either way though, I usually tend to go for the stricter interpretation on spells I find are more powerful than their level indicates otherwise.

EDIT: usually gibbering mouthers are not evil so it would be a moot point, even the fiendish template doesn't make them evil though they can be of any alignment of course.

[DM_Blake]

This should help:

(From the CRB FAQ):

Protection From Evil: Does the "protection against possession and mental control" aspect work against non-evil controlling spells and effects?

No. The spell says "This second effect only functions against spells and effects created by evil creatures or objects." So if a chaotic neutral enemy casts charm person on you, protection from evil doesn't have any effect because neither the spell nor the caster is evil.

—Pathfinder Design Team, 03/01/13 Back to Top

Protection From Evil: Does this work against all charm and compulsion effects? Or just against charm and compulsion effects where the caster is able to exercise control over the target, such as charm person, command, and dominate person (and thus not effects like sleep or confusion, as the caster does not have ongoing influence or puppet-like control of the target)?

The latter interpretation is correct: protection from evil only works on charm and compulsion effects where the caster is able to exercise control over the target, such as command, charm person, and dominate person; it doesn't work on sleep or confusion. (Sleep is a border case for this issue, but the designers feel that "this spell overrides your brain's sleep centers" is different enough than "this spell overrides your resistance to commands from others.")

—Sean K Reynolds, 05/31/11

[Alzrius]

I forgot that Pathfinder added the caveat that the creature or effect itself must be evil. Likewise, I was unaware of that FAQ.

Learn something new every day!

[stuart haffenden]

Thanks for the info.

I'll continue to allow it to work in my games but that's because I think it should work.