FrodoOf9Fingers
|
Touch Spells and Holding the Charge: In most cases, if you don't discharge a touch spell on the round you cast it, you can hold the charge (postpone the discharge of the spell) indefinitely. You can make touch attacks round after round until the spell is discharged. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates.
Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets as part of the spell. You can't hold the charge of such a spell; you must touch all targets of the spell in the same round that you finish casting the spell.
Your melee touch attack deals 1d6 points of nonlethal cold damage + 1 point per level, and the target is fatigued. The fatigued condition ends when the target recovers from the nonlethal damage. This spell cannot make a creature exhausted even if it is already fatigued. You can use this melee touch attack up to one time per level.
The first quote is from an older source than the second, but if it's RAW then frostbite can only last for one round... Was that intended?
FrodoOf9Fingers
|
Touch Spells in Combat: Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) as a free action. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.
It is a bit ambiguous there, emphasis mine. Attempt to touch should mean one touch attempt though, because if a Magus casts frostbite CL 7, he'd get 7 free weapon attacks form spellstrike... Thats just not right.
| Xaratherus |
The quote regarding not being able to hold the charges states that you cannot hold the charge on a spell that "allow[s] you to touch multiple targets as part of the spell".
Frostbite, however, does not say you can touch multiple targets as part of the spell; it says that it grants you one additional touch attack per level.
For [magus] balances purposes though, I have always assumed that it functions thus:
Round 1: Cast Frostbite; deliver one 'charge' of Frostbite with the free touch attack granted by the spell; you are now 'holding' (your level - 1) charges.
Round 2: As a standard action, attempt a touch a target as a touch attack; deliver on 'charge' of Frostbite; you are now holding (your level - 2) charges.
| GreenMandar |
If I recall right, this was discussed by one of the developers before and it was said that the extra touch attacks were not technically held charges and therefore didn't follow those restrictions. This of course let to all kinds of crazy speculation on how they might stack with "real" held charges, etc. I have been wondering if this would come up again. I'm not going to dig for that tonight. I do know Grick was involved in those discussions before, maybe he remembers where the developer quotes were. I haven't seen him on these boards as much lately though.
| David_Bross |
Incorrect. Developers never said this, JJ did. The only conclusive thing about the multiple touch spells is what Jason Bulmahn has to say . This indicates that it does indeed act as multiple held charges, as there is no way to spell strike twice with a spell, unless it is still held. (note spell strike simply allows you to deliver the spell through a weapon, it changes absolutely nothing about touch spells held rules, except that holding a weapon won't discharge it).