Hypothetical: Hold Person


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


This is a genuine question as I'm planning to have it come up for my side quest building.

If I manage to paralyse someone with the Hold Person spell, then give him a solid kick in the groin. Will the character slump to the ground or just continue standing there? Am I right to assume that the pain is instant and the person would stand there suffering and possibly by the time the spell wears off, not actually collapse because it's no longer a current pain? Or would paralysis also delay the pain until the person's senses return to him?

The same sorta goes for being paralysed and being pushd over or in a more extreme situation coup-de-grae, would a person hold their position until the spell go off or would they assume a new position if they were moved?

Grand Lodge

He slumps. Hold Person is paralysis, not telekinesis.

Shadow Lodge

It's not clear by RAW, but the term "paralysis" only requires loss of muscle function, not necessarily "Petrificus Totalis" style rigidity, so you should be able to reposition them and if knocked over they will flop around naturally.

However, any movement due to a "solid kick in the groin" would be due to the force of the kick, not the pain. To react to the pain, the target's muscles would have to engage. If you were to prick someone with a needle, or burn them while paralyzed they would not react (though they will still feel pain because Hold Person doesn't say it prevents that).


Note that what Weirdo said means you could line up an entire army of half-orcs and have the most sadistic game of football ever, as long as it's over before the spell ends.

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