http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/spells/breakEnchantment.htm l#break-enchantment
How long does the effects of Break Enchantment last? I have a PC that wants to cast Break Enchantment on another PC, who's receiving Buffs from a powerful object. Once they hit him with the spell they're going to try and take it off of him. If the spell succeeds, but they fail to remove it and the original PC keeps the object, how long until the enchantments start working again?
Its not cursed, but half the group thinks it is, half thinks it isn't. They had two people roll to see if its cursed and got two different answers, and they don't know who to believe.
If it's not cursed then break enchantment won't do anything to it. It doesn't suppress the properties of normal magic items. That's a dispel magic thing.
The duration is Instantaneous. It's magic works, then goes away. If he has the object after the spell hits then the buffs come right back unless the object has some text that says otherwise.
If it's not cursed then break enchantment won't do anything to it. It doesn't suppress the properties of normal magic items. That's a dispel magic thing.
First line of the spell is "This spell frees victims from enchantments, transmutations, and curses." So it works on more than curses, it was just made to help with anything that's a net negative.
@Azten, if the goes away immediately then what's the point of the spell?
@Azten, if the goes away immediately then what's the point of the spell?
Because some transmutations are instantaneous. For instance, flesh to stone. Someone who's been turned into a statue by that spell is pretty much stuck that way. See, dispel magic can't end the petrification because the duration is instantaneous... the spell ended, just like a fireball.
break enchantment is how you get someone back up and running in those cases, if you don't have the direct counter such as stone to flesh available or there isn't a direct counter.
But he's not enchanted or transmuted, at least not that you've mentioned, nor negatively affected by anything. There isn't anything for break enchantment to do.
It is a transmutation effect from a wonderous object. Its also a permanent effect that occurs after the wearer wears the object for 24 hours
As I think you would probably acknowledge, we are into a situation that falls outside the intended and expected use of the spell. The spell's language clearly speaks to "victims" of enchantments, transmutations and curses, rather than the beneficiaries of an enchantment or transmutation effect.
As such, it seems to be RAI (at the very least) that the spell would have no effect on a beneficial wondrous item that happens to provide a transmutation effect. However, if you think it should have some effect on the item (and as DM, you are free to rule as you like), I'd focus on the following language from the spell:
"If the effect comes from a permanent magic item, break enchantment does not remove the curse from the item, but it does free the victim from the item's effects."
This suggests to me that the PC could likely remove the item and be free from its effects (which we know are purely beneficial, but PC does not), but the item would retain the powers in the event he/she/someone else decides to put it back on. If you wanted, you could further rule that the spell resets the 24 hour window for getting acclimated to the item (which would be reset if removed anyways, I guess).
Hope that helps.
Break enchantment has a 1 minute cast time, so good luck landing it if he doesn't want it.
As Steel Refrain suggests, resetting the 24 hour window for transformation makes sense.
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@Azten, if the goes away immediately then what's the point of the spell?Because some transmutations are instantaneous.
For an even simpler example, look at fireball. It lasts a fraction of a second, but the resulting deaths are forever.
As I think you would probably acknowledge, we are into a situation that falls outside the intended and expected use of the spell. The spell's language clearly speaks to "victims" of enchantments, transmutations and curses, rather than the beneficiaries of an enchantment or transmutation effect.
As such, it seems to be RAI (at the very least) that the spell would have no effect on a beneficial wondrous item that happens to provide a transmutation effect. However, if you think it should have some effect on the item (and as DM, you are free to rule as you like), I'd focus on the following language from the spell:
"If the effect comes from a permanent magic item, break enchantment does not remove the curse from the item, but it does free the victim from the item's effects."
This suggests to me that the PC could likely remove the item and be free from its effects (which we know are purely beneficial, but PC does not), but the item would retain the powers in the event he/she/someone else decides to put it back on. If you wanted, you could further rule that the spell resets the 24 hour window for getting acclimated to the item (which would be reset if removed anyways, I guess).
Hope that helps.
I was leaning towards a 24 hour reset as it seemed the most logical to me. I was hoping there was something written in the rules though.
It is a transmutation effect from a wonderous object. Its also a permanent effect that occurs after the wearer wears the object for 24 hours
You practically answered yourself here.
Break enchantment ends the effect on the subject but provides no protection from further applications of the effect. If the item creates a permanent transmutation after being worn for 24 hours, then wearing it for the 24 hours following the breaking of its previous occurrence will bestow the effect again.
Break Enchantment can be assumed to work like it's siblings: dispel magic and greater dispel magic. Those spells are also instantaneous, but there is a duration listed for how long a magic item becomes suppressed by it: 1d4 rounds.
The third spell that deactivates magic items is Mage's Disjunction, and the duration for the suppression is 1 minute/level (and this is tied to a save).
You can also "turn off" an item by bringing it within the confines of an Antimagic Field.
Looking at what these spells do, it seems that Break Enchantment should not do more than the dispels, being 5th level itself.