| 2 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
I'm going to be using this spell in PFS soon, so I would really appreciate seeing an official ruling on how it works. Its wording is unclear on whether or not the target immediately loses its next action when it fails the initial save, or if it gets a second save to completely avoid being affected by the spell.
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration 1 round/level or until broken (see text)
Saving Throw Will negates (see text); Spell Resistance yes
You fill your target with boredom. The target loses all interest in its current task and must make a Will save against the spell's effect in order to perform its next action. If the target fails, it takes no action that round. The boredom lasts until the duration expires or the target breaks the spell's effect with a successful Will save.
The spell doesn't really specify whether or not the save mentioned in its second sentence includes all saving throws (including the initial one) or just subsequent saves after the initial saving throw. If it is the former, then the target immediately loses its action if it fails a save. If it is the latter, then it effectively gets two saves to avoid being affected at all.
I'm leaning towards the "one save" interpretation because otherwise this spell becomes somewhat weak compared to hold person since hold person's effect is better and always causes its target to lose at least one round if it fails the initial save. Though, I suppose oppressive boredom would still have the advantage of working on non-humanoids...
I'd also love to get some clarification on what "it takes no action that round" means. For example: if you cast this on a flying creature and it fails the saves, can it no longer even take move actions to stay in the air?
So... yea. I'd like to remove any temptation for me to argue with a GM about this spell. I'd love to get some official ruling on how this spell is supposed to work from Paizo, whether their ruling ends up giving the spell one save or two saves. :)
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"You fill your target with boredom. The target loses all interest in its current task..."
I see this as pure descriptive text not mechanic.
The target gets a save on it next turn to act normally or it does not act. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Takes no action does not mean "it falls like a rock".
The CRB wrote:
***Action
None. A Fly check doesn't require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.***
Worst case is a loss of 10 feet of altitude if attacked which is still dependent on other factors.
Hope this helps. I not sure if it will get a official response from Paizo but hope springs...
I don't see anything about two saves. It makes a save to attempt to perform it's actions.
Yea, I think that is how it is supposed to work. However, when I was reading up on this spell on the forums I found a surprisingly large number of people interpreted it as "The target saves once to avoid being affected by the spell, and THEN makes saves every round or loses his action." This interpretation includes the first round, so the target effectively gets two saves to completely avoid being affected.
Naturally, this makes the spell much less effective.... and I'm worried that I may run into a PFS GM who adheres to this interpretation. It could get my character killed D: