Hi everyone! Yesterday we encountered a oracle with the mistery of ancestor, and she used on us Storm of Souls. And my doubt born here: that power can destroy carried items like cloaks of resistance, bag of holding and similar? And how much hp have these items?
Many thanks and sorry for my english
Items would definitely get a fort save to half the damage, which is 1d8 per two levels.
However, it does seem you are correct that it does automatically inflict damage to carried items. I would need to look more closely to determine how much hp and hardness non-weapon and non-armor objects have.
The ability should have probably specified Unattended objects and creatures in the area, but as it's written it affects carried gear as well.
It wouldnt cause any damage to your gear unless you roll a 1 on your fortitude save, as Zahir pointed out.
The "objects" mentioned there is about unattended objects (doors, walls, chairsm, etc), otherwise it would have specified that it affects carried gear.
Even so, items dont have a fortitude save (they have a generic saving throw), they roll a save only when unattended, and the owner's reflex when attended.
The spell can be cast on objects, which receive saving throws only if they are magical or if they are attended (held, worn, grasped, or the like) by a creature resisting the spell, in which case the object uses the creature's saving throw bonus unless its own bonus is greater. This notation does not mean that a spell can be cast only on objects. Some spells of this sort can be cast on creatures or objects. A magic item's saving throw bonuses are each equal to 2 + 1/2 the item's caster level.
Items Surviving after a Saving Throw
Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks. Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack dealt.
If the selected item is not carried or worn and is not magical, it does not get a saving throw. It simply is dealt the appropriate damage.
Also, even if the item was unattended and failed a saving throw, it would still take only half damage, as the energy vs objects rules say:
Energy attacks deal half damage to most objects. Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness.
And only one item would get damaged, not everything.
It can be argued that the descriptive text for the ability does specify otherwise.
I'm not going to make that argument, though. It's not terribly clear what the intent is, so I'm going with the version that doesn't require half an hour of rolling saving throws to adjudicate.
It can be argued that the descriptive text for the ability does specify otherwise.
When a spell says it damages objects, it just means it can be used to damage objects, because some energy spells cant damage objects at all.
The spell description is very similar to lightning bolt's if you check it:You release a powerful stroke of electrical energy that deals 1d6 points of electricity damage per caster level (maximum 10d6) to each creature within its area. The bolt begins at your fingertips.
The lightning bolt sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in its path. It can melt metals with a low melting point, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, or bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the bolt may continue beyond the barrier if the spell's range permits; otherwise, it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does.
Related question: warp wood can warp a single object, rendering a weapon difficult or impossible to use. Is this assumed to fail against attended weapons unless the bearer rolls a 1?
Basically, what text is required to bypass the "assumed to survive a magical attack" clause, and do any spells actually do this?
It can be argued that the descriptive text for the ability does specify otherwise.
I'm not going to make that argument, though. It's not terribly clear what the intent is, so I'm going with the version that doesn't require half an hour of rolling saving throws to adjudicate.
I agree with you here blahpers. To me the spells seems to specify otherwise, which is why I didn't bring up the section that Shadowras and Jothan did.
However, I agree that it probably should specify unattented objects, as I mentioned in my original post.
Related question: warp wood can warp a single object, rendering a weapon difficult or impossible to use. Is this assumed to fail against attended weapons unless the bearer rolls a 1?
Warp wood does specify it targets objects:
Target 1 Small wooden object/level, all within a 20-ft. radius
It does not mention it can affect attended objects normally, thus it cant affect them unless the wielder fails his saving throw with a 1 on his check. If the item is unattended, it allows a Will(object) saving throw, which only magical items would be able to resist.
This is backed up by the description of the spell that doesnt specify if the weapon/ranged weapon is attended or not, just what happens if a weapon or ranged weapon is affected by the spell.If you check desintegrate's text, it will say that equipment is left unharmed by the spell (otherwise magical items would be turned to dust by the spell damage).
EDIT: See my post bellow.
Basically, what text is required to bypass the "assumed to survive a magical attack" clause, and do any spells actually do this?
Well, there are spells that specifically target attended weapons and their text is really descriptive of what happens to the items (burning disarm, telekinesis, grease, repel wood). But just think about how many spells could be used against attended objects if they all required the "unattended" clause, like Shrink Item, Possess Item, or Wood Shape,
I do agree that they should make it very clear of what the spell can affect or not though.
EDIT
Let me correct my stand on Warp Wood, the text when the spell has a saving throw with (object) on them follow this rule:
The spell can be cast on objects, which receive saving throws only if they are magical or if they are attended (held, worn, grasped, or the like) by a creature resisting the spell, in which case the object uses the creature's saving throw bonus unless its own bonus is greater.
So, someone wielding a wood weapon could roll a save so his weapon doesnt become warped. But in this case, the target is specifically an object as per spell description, not objects inside an area attack.