Ride the Lightning vs Obscuring Mist

[Van_Drue]

I just had a run in with my DM. I used Ride the Lightning which does as follows:

"You may transform into lightning as a standard action and instantly travel in a straight line to a distance of up to 120 feet, rematerializing in the new location as a free action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Creatures in this line take 10d6 points of electrical damage and are staggered for 1 round (a successful Reflex save halves the damage and negates the staggered condition, spell resistance applies). Objects in your path are damaged as well, with combustible objects being set ablaze and metals with low melting points melted. If your path is interrupted by a barrier or otherwise deflected, you materialize short of your final destination in the nearest open space; targets in the line to that point take damage as normal. You are immune to electricity while this spell lasts."

through a cloud of Obscuring Mist Which does:

"A misty vapor arises around you. It is stationary once created. The vapor obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature 5 feet away has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker cannot use sight to locate the target).

A moderate wind (11+ mph), such as from a gust of wind spell, disperses the fog in 4 rounds. A strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round. A fireball, flame strike, or similar spell burns away the fog in the explosive or fiery spell’s area. A wall of fire burns away the fog in the area into which it deals damage."

Well From my understanding the Ride the lightning would transport me in a straight Line and Burn away anything it touches, in this case the mist. and deal it's damage to anyone it hits.

The DM tells me that I Curved during Flight and ended up 90 ft to the Left of the intended destination (mind you it was a blind shot through the enemy straight in front of me, and then up to 120 ft straight passed him) But ended up Like 20 squares above him on the map (Up instead of Right on the map). OBscuring mist doesnt cause Deflect and Ride the Lightning isn't vision based.

How would you guys or Girls Rule this Situation?

[LazarX]

Your DM is right that your target has concealment within you, which means that since you are aiming to hit someone within the mist, miss chances apply just as if you were firing a missile weapon. (you don't direct your movement within the mist, but when you initiate your jump, like aiming a slingshot with you as the missile.)

I probably would have rolled miss chance dice for your strike.

[chaoseffect]

Ride the Lightning is essentially an area of effect line. Not seeing where you are going has nothing to do with it, nor should it effect it in anyway. Now as far as it burning away the mist, I would say no. The spells listed as doing so are fire, which Ride the Lightning most definitely is not.

@LazarX

He's not aiming, he's moving in a straight line, which is the only possible way he could move as per the ability. There is no attack roll. How does concealment matter? It's essentially an area of effect.

[CrazyGnomes]

You get to pick your destination, not pick an enemy and then travel past it the remaining distance. If you picked a location inside the mist or on the opposite side of it where you can't see, I'd say it's reasonable that you could miss your intended destination, since you don't actually know where it is. If you are picking a visible location outside the mist (maybe you're in a weird room filled with mirrors, so you can see the other side of the mist, just not what's inside it) you would damage anything in your path, but you can't see the enemy, so you still wouldn't know if he actually intersected your path.

And like chaoseffect said, I would say that ride the lightning is not going to burn away any mist.

[chaoseffect]

The ability does not say you pick a destination. It says you become lightning and move in a straight line up to 120 feet. There is zero innate targeting with the ability. That said, if the enemy was in the a fog cloud, you may not know where they are so you may just miss because they were not in your straight line. That has nothing to do with concealment though.

[Van_Drue]

In the situation On the Far side about 2 rounds before the mist was cast my character knew and saw a tree about 90 ft past where the fog was cast. He entered the fog in a straight line heading torward that tree and ended up face to face with an enemy. in the situation I was going to use ride the lightning to head torward that tree.

[thaX]

To burn away the mist, you would most likely have needed to change the element (through a feat or class ability) to fire.

I believe that if the Obscuring Mist was cast earlier in the same round as you had used Ride the Lightning, it is likely you would hit the guy as he most likely didn't move. (or if he did, your chances would be better than normal) It is, as mentioned, an area of effect spell, though a line is a bit more limited than a burst.

This is what I would look at as a GM, as the rules are looking at hitting AC when using concealment, and the spell your using does not need line of sight like most other spells.

[chaoseffect]

In mechanical terms most combats take place on a grid. You are on the same plane as the said tree and you move 18 5ft squares straight in that direction. You cannot help but line up with the tree. If you were playing something a bit more free form and said "I want to try to aim myself in the direction I remember there being a tree," then yeah I could see how your trajectory could potentially be off, but that's not really a rules issue.

[chaoseffect]

Once you start moving with Ride the Lightning your trajectory cannot be changed except by barriers and such as listed. If he ended you somewhere other than on the line you started moving in and you met nothing to deflect you, then he is 100% wrong.