Draconic Malice question

[DarkPhoenixx]

Draconic Malice spell says "Living creatures", does this mean any creature except undead and constructs? So it works on ooze and stuff?

Also, do those "living creatures" include the caster? It sounds similar to antimagic field, but fields says its "emanation", while Draconic Malice says its "aura", and I am not being able to find rules for aura.

[avr]

I think elementals may be excluded too.

Other offensive auras (e.g. the antipaladin's aura of cowardice mentioned in the spell) do not include the caster/originator. In the absence of clear rules to the contrary I'd assume the same of this one.

Of course, it hardly matters. The effect of draconic malice is only on your fear spells & similar, not on fear spells in general.

[willuwontu]

avr wrote:

I think elementals may be excluded too.

Other offensive auras (e.g. the antipaladin's aura of cowardice mentioned in the spell) do not include the caster/originator. In the absence of clear rules to the contrary I'd assume the same of this one.

Of course, it hardly matters. The effect of draconic malice is only on your fear spells & similar, not on fear spells in general.

Elementals are considered living creatures as nothing in the elemental subtype contradicts the outsider type for that.

Relevant text:

Quote:

Unlike most living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit.

Antipaladin aura doesn't affect itself as it specifies it affects enemies only.

Quote:

Aura of Cowardice (Su)

At 3rd level, an antipaladin radiates a palpably daunting aura that causes all enemies within 10 feet to take a –4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects.

Conversely the paladin aura specifies allies and thus helps itself per the counting as your own ally FAQ.

It would seems that the caster is affected by the spell.

On the point of living creatures, there doesn't seem to be a clear cut definition, but I did find this post by JJ from 2009.

James Jacobs wrote:

More or less... a "living creature" is any creature with a Constitution score. This would imply that constructs are immune to channeled energy though... which I might be okay with.

This may be unofficial, but it's the closest to an official definition and makes sense.

[DarkPhoenixx]

avr wrote:

The effect of draconic malice is only on your fear spells & similar, not on fear spells in general.

I missed that point, thank you.

willuwontu wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

More or less... a "living creature" is any creature with a Constitution score. This would imply that constructs are immune to channeled energy though... which I might be okay with.

This may be unofficial, but it's the closest to an official definition and makes sense.

Nice! Sounds like pretty solid way to determine if creature is "living".