Hello everyone,
I have recently been preparing an encounter with a demilich, specifically one that appears in an AP. I was reading the description of his stats when I saw something that I haven't quite figured out:
One of his abilities (Countermeasures) specifies in the effect that he casts a spell on himself from a list of four among which is the spell "fly".
I don't understand why that spell exists in his options given that the creature already has listed a speed of flying superior to the one guaranteed by the spell, besides not appearing in his innate arcane spells.
I'm sure I'm missing something, could you clarify what I'm not seeing?
Thank you very much in advance
The spell Fly says: “The target can soar through the air, gaining a fly Speed equal to its Speed or 20 feet, whichever is greater.” This means the 30’ assigned as the Demilich’s speed doesn’t contradict anything. It just makes it different for the monster to have to use spells on itself in order to move, but given it is just a skull, I guess that also makes sense.
Since the demilich can choose what spell to attach to contingency, and the text says it's usually spell turning, it's simple enough to make it not have to cast fly and just use the listed speed. It's possible having fly in the list is just an oversight since a fight against a completely immobile demilich probably isn't particularly exciting.
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Since the demilich can choose what spell to attach to contingency, and the text says it's usually spell turning, it's simple enough to make it not have to cast fly and just use the listed speed. It's possible having fly in the list is just an oversight since a fight against a completely immobile demilich probably isn't particularly exciting.
I thought that at first, then realized the spell(s) can be cast as a free action at the beginning of each of its turns without limit. Losing the ability to move for a round given its many other powers if someone is able to dispel Fly seems like a legitimate tactic to consider, but not a problem with monster design.
Dispelling Fly doesn't do anything though, since as the OP pointed out it has an innate fly speed anyways.
It's definitely an oversight, but at least it has some other spells to cast with that ability.
Dispelling Fly doesn't do anything though, since as the OP pointed out it has an innate fly speed anyways.
It's definitely an oversight, but at least it has some other spells to cast with that ability.
And I am taking the stance that it’s innate speed is a product of the spell being activated. Basically it has a fly speed of 30’ only when the spell is active. That may not have been the intention when creating the monster, but based on its full set of rules, that does seem to be how it works in my view.
And I am taking the stance that it’s innate speed is a product of the spell being activated. Basically it has a fly speed of 30’ only when the spell is active. That may not have been the intention when creating the monster, but based on its full set of rules, that does seem to be how it works in my view.Dispelling Fly doesn't do anything though, since as the OP pointed out it has an innate fly speed anyways.
It's definitely an oversight, but at least it has some other spells to cast with that ability.
Based on what, though? Nothing in the rules or the monster's description suggests that. It's not even the right fly speed.
So even if you're correct, then there's still clearly errors here because none of that is actually written up.
It feels like if the designers wanted it to cast Fly as their top priority they would have said that like they actually said "It usually chooses spell turning unless it already has that spell in effect."
But if you wanted to run the encounter where the skull is just sitting there for a while throwing danger at the party, you could do that by not having it move.
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Hmmmmmmm after looking at it again I think my first reaction must be off as it seems like this relates to a specific encounter and even the base Demilich does have a fly speed without that spell noted as part of its bag... I'd need more info to go on but feel free to consider this being me throwing off my previous post opinion.
I actually don’t feel in this case given the mechanics the Demilich has available to it that the requirement to cast Fly to fly isn’t part of the design. It gets to cast the spell for free in both actions and use of slots at the start of each of its turns. Spell Turning is also on the list meaning when it’s up, dispelling Fly is even harder. Fly also allows the user to move faster than 20’ if their movement speed is higher. Now I do get the complication of having a move speed that only works with a spell activated, but I also get that even a possessed skull may need to cast some magic to allow it to move. I also don’t see Demiliches having a lot of allies around to cast Fly on them.
It could be a total mistake that Fly is listed as one of their Countermeasures, or it could be completely as intended leaving my interpretation the only viable one remaining. I don’t know for sure obviously, but I think the latter.
Given that so far the game has been really robust with respect to rules, my first reaction was that there was something I wasn't seeing rather than that there was a design slip.
There are some really interesting interpretation suggestions. The one about needing a fly spell to even move is very thematic. However...
After reviewing the 1st edition stats, I see that he has that same speed listed, so I think I'm going to go with that interpretation: that he has base speed of flying, ignoring the part about him being able to use the fly spell on himself.
Thanks for all your suggestions