Ability drain spells


Rules Questions


I'm trying to tally up a list of the spells that drain various abilities. So far I've only found:
Feeblemind affects INT and CHA.
Ray of Enfeeblement affects STR.
Polar Ray affects DEX

I've found no spells that drain CON or WIS. Does anyone know of any such spells, or other spells that drain any ability scores?


You may want to be careful with your terminology. "Ability drain" has a specific meaning in the game.

Of the spells you listed, only Polar Ray causes actual ability drain. Ray of Enfeeblement causes a strength penalty (which is different from drain.) Feeblemind reduces Int and Cha to 1, and is not listed as drain, damage, or a penalty.

Am I correct in assuming you are looking for all spells that affect ability scores, whether it be ability drain, ability damage, penalties to ability scores, or other effects? Rather than specifically looking for ability drain?

One obvious one is Touch of Gracelessness, which applies a Dex penalty.


Bestow curse is an old favorite for its effectiveness and flexibility. It actually decreases an ability score rather than damaging, draining, or penalizing it. Ruined my cavalier player's day once using that; she could still move about in her full plate, but only just.


To reduce Wis, there is Touch of Idiocy, which applies a penalty to either Int, Wis, or Cha.

Haunting Mists also does 1d2 points of Wis damage.

Chill Touch can apply Str damage.


Polar Ray is the only spell I can find that deals ability drain. Ability drain is more a monster ability, not a player one.

If you meant spells that reduce stats in general (ability drain, ability damage, ability penalties), there are far more of those.


Con:

Excruciating Deformation does 1 point of Con damage.

Cloudkill does 1d4 points of Con damage.

Hungry Mist does 2 points of Con damage.

Dex:

Excruciating Deformation does 1 point of Dex damage.

Fleshworm Infestation does 2 points of Dex damage.

Calcific Touch does 1d4 points of Dex damage.

Wis:

Mind Fog applies a -10 penalty to Wis.


Great answers, and thanks for pointing out my sloppy terminology. Yes, I'm looking for spells that reduce abilities, whether as a drain or otherwise. Touch of Idiocy and Touch of Gracelessness are exactly the kind of thing I was after.


Dotting for reference.


Note that D20PFSRD hosts a spreadsheet of all spells.

You can use it to filter down to specific spells, such as spells that contain "______ damage" or "_______ drain" in their description text(blank meaning constitution/strenth/dexterity/wisdom/intelligence/charisma). It's a bit of work, but not much.

Also note that it might not quite fit what you want, but poisons deal ability damage, and can be administered with a ranged touch attack using a Poison Vial of Distance, or else just throwing a vial of inhaled poison (game doesn't specify what it's range increment would be which I thought was weird, but 20 ft —that of an alchemist bomb— seems reasonable).

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