The Fort Save for Control Winds effects...


Rules Questions


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

So the Save on Control Winds says Fort Negates, which is fine, but when you look up the effects of various wind speeds, they have their OWN save numbers - specifically for the "blown away" effect. Those saves are ludicrously low compared to the Fort Save that a caster of sufficient level to even use the spell is going to have.

So, the question is, what is the Fort Save from the SPELL encompassing? I think a strict interpretation would be that if you make the Fort save, you are entirely unaffected by the effect of the spell - wind. If that were the case, you could shoot an arrow through a tornado without issues, which seems silly. If you were to fail the safe, and thus be buffeted by winds conceivably in the hundreds of MPH that tear up trees, its only a DC10 Strength check to walk against the wind (if you're large) and only a DC 15 check for Medium creatures to not get blown away, when the Fort save could easily be MUCH higher.

I hasten to add that I am not advocating a more "simulationist" set of rules regarding the effects of high winds, but simply clarification on if a spell's save DC should have some effect on the underlying effect DCs?

I would argue (and to my DM's chagrin, probably will) that the DCs listed under the Wind Speeds Environment entry are detailing naturally occurring weather (thus unmanipulated by magic), and that they should be amped up based on the power of the magic effecting them - IE, modified by the caster's Wisdom modifier...


It's a tough call, but I think you may be wrong. The spell's effect is to change the prevailing winds, so it's not "magic wind" per se. It even uses the language of the natural wind speeds to decide what it can do. So the wind IS "naturally occurring weather". It's an indirect effect, not a direct one.

That said, I think your interpretation is far more fun, and your GM has no sense of fun to rule that way. I love the idea of you directly empowering the magic wind. I'd not only allow this myself, I'd encourage it.


I would really like to know an official answer on this, too...

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