Hover feat and Obscuring Mist / Solid Fog

[johnnymac]

Hi guys!

So, a PC cavalier has taken the monstrous mount feat and selected a griffon. That griffon has the hover feat.

Both the enemies and the PCs make occasional use of the obscuring mist spells - theyre great for foiling otherwise pesky archers. The PC is saying that his griffon - by use of the hover feat - can pretty much dispatch all fog-type spells. Here's the direct rules information:

HOVER:

If a creature of size Large or larger with this feat hovers within 20 feet of the ground in an area with lots of loose debris, the draft from its wings creates a hemispherical cloud with a radius of 60 feet. The winds generated can snuff torches, small campfires, exposed lanterns, and other small, open flames of non-magical origin.

Obscuring Mist:

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.

Its worth noting that "Fog Cloud" has similar language, as does "Solid Fog" - although the mph has to be 30+ in that case.

The PC is stating that the winds generated by this hover effect would disperse these fog spells. I tend to disagree - both for game balance purposes lol and because it seems like the hover is a little bit different than, say, a gust of wind in that it basically creates a hemisphere instead of actually blowing anything away.

Your guys thoughts?

Thanks a bunch, I always appreciate the help that this forum offers!

John

[Azothath]

either way he is in GM territory with this.

Personally I'd say that hovering in a square clears away the fog in the cubic occupied space(10ft*10ft*10ft) after a (full) round and continuously hovering in a square will clear away the fog in a 60ft radius centered at 20ft height after 4 rounds. Simply flying through a square does not clear away Fog Cloud. Ofcourse there will be a fog cloud of dust and debris if possible.

[Meirril]

I'd give him the entry for moderate wind. In the 3rd and 4th rounds I'd have his entire 60' hemisphere count as concealment (20% miss chance) as the fog gets blown around with the entire thing clearing on the 5th round.

[Cevah]

johnnymac wrote:

The PC is stating that the winds generated by this hover effect would disperse these fog spells. I tend to disagree - both for game balance purposes lol and because it seems like the hover is a little bit different than, say, a gust of wind in that it basically creates a hemisphere instead of actually blowing anything away.

Easy fix. Put the cloud higher. The PC can only clear low clouds.

/cevah