Inhaled in Gaseous Form

[lowericon]

I have a player using Cloud Shape, which is mostly the same as Gaseous Form except you're a bigger cloud and can move faster.

He wants to drift into the body of an enemy, then turn himself back to normal shape, thus exploding out of the enemy's body and killing it. Should I allow that?

The text of Gaseous Form specifically says they cannot attack while in that form. So would drifting into an enemy's lungs be considered an attack?

And does it make a difference if the enemy is breathing? A live enemy might just accidentally inhale you, whereas with a non-breathing undead enemy, the cloud would have to force its way down.

[Tarik Blackhands]

Just say no and move on.

There's only so far rule of cool will take you in games and that line is typically drawn far far before "instantly kill enemy w/ L4 spell"

If you want actual rules talk though. Nothing in gaseous form/cloud shape explicitly or implicitly say you can do such thing, it violates RAI for the intended use of the spell on several levels and further further violates the general paradigm on death effects (IE there's a fortitude save or other condition to satisfy for things like power words). Player can take a hike in this case.

[Matthew Downie]

Mechanically: That's beyond the intended power of the spell.

Thematically: Why would the caster turning back into a human inside an enemy's body kill the enemy, but not the caster?

[quibblemuch]

"You can't end your movement in the same square as another creature unless it is helpless." (Source).

And yes, if you're incorporeal you can ignore this. But gaseous form doesn't make you incorporeal.

EDIT: And Matthew Downie makes an excellent point.

[Matthew Downie]

I'd be OK with allowing a character in the shape of 30-foot cloud to share someone's space, even if it's not RAW. But I don't think I'd allow someone to swallow a 30-foot cloud. Most lungs are not that big.

[quibblemuch]

Matthew Downie wrote:

I'd be OK with allowing a character in the shape of 30-foot cloud to share someone's space, even if it's not RAW. But I don't think I'd allow someone to swallow a 30-foot cloud. Most lungs are not that big.

That is allowed RAW (more or less):

"Any creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories larger than itself. A big creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories smaller than it is. Creatures moving through squares occupied by other creatures provoke attacks of opportunity from those creatures."

HOWEVER, the moment you go back go to being a Medium creature, the Pathfinder Pauli Exclusion Principle kicks in and you get shunted to the nearest open square.

[Scientific Scrutiny]

Matthew Downie wrote:

Most lungs are not that big.

Assuming a spherical cloud, the cloud shape spell has a volume of ~113,097 cubic feet. A good maximum lung volume is .212 cubic feet.

The resulting increase in temperature and pressure of squeezing a cloud shape into a Medium creature's lungs, assuming the ideal gas law, is left as a proof to the reader.