Can Restoration fix a botched Contact Other Plane?

[F5]

You must succeed on an Intelligence check against this DC to avoid a decrease in Intelligence and Charisma. If the check fails,your Intelligence and Charisma scores each fall to 8 for the stated duration,and you become unable to cast arcane spells.

This seems to be a pretty steep penalty for a spell that still leaves a chance for a wrong answer.

I was wondering if a Restoration spell could reverse this decrease, but I suspect the answer is no. The text of the spell never says it's ability score damage, just that if you fail your roll your scores "each fall to 8". But then again...

Greater restoration also dispels all magical effects penalizing the creature ’s abilities

It is a magical effect, and it does penalize the casters' stats. Lesser and regular Restoration wouldn't fly, but could Greater Restoration reverse the penalties for failing your int roll when casting Contact Other Plane?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

There is no penalty, drain, or damage involved. The ability scores become 8, it's a decrease. It's like the +1 you get to a stat of your choice at 4th level and every 4th after that. That's not a bonus, it's an increase. I think nothing short of a wish or similar should help you here.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

There is no penalty, drain, or damage involved. The ability scores become 8, it's a decrease. It's like the +1 you get to a stat of your choice at 4th level and every 4th after that. That's not a bonus, it's an increase.

The fact that the decrease is caused by a spell would lead me to rule that it is, in fact, a magical effect. The fact that it's a decrease means that it stacks with other penalties/damage. But it's still caused by a spell.

As such, I'd rule Greater Restoration to do the trick, but neither of the weaker versions.

 

[Praeden]

I've been wondering this too, and I have to say it's a tough call. I think it probably wouldn't work, for the following reason:

The closest example of a spell that just lowers ability scores to a particular value is Feeblemind. This can only be countered by the following spells: Heal, Limited Wish, Wish, or Miracle. I've read the decription of Heal, and it is specifically cited as a spell that counteracts Feeblemind, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that it would help with Contact Other Plane.

Greater Restoration, on the other hand, does give the impression that it can take care of any kind of ability reduction, but we now know that it can't actually help with Feeblemind, and suddenly it's not that obvious that it can fix Contact Other Plane syndrome either. As I say, the way that Feeblemind and Contact Other Plane handles the ability reduction is pretty similar.

What does that leave? Well, I'm going to assume that Wish and Miracle work on pretty much anything. Limited Wish - well that's unclear too. You could call it either way. But if the very best 6th and 7th level clerical restoration spells can't help, then maybe Limited Wish won't cut it either. On the other hand, Limited Wish can counter things like Insanity and Geas/Quest (the key difference being that with Contact Other Plane, the problem is self-inflicted in a way).

It would help enormously if, when the Contact Other Planes spell went wrong, the caster was said to be under a specific effect. Even being feebleminded is a recognised effect. Simply setting Intelligence and Charisma to 8 places the spell somewhat outside the standard framework of DnD spell effects.

 

[RuminDange]

Interesting question.
For the sake of the game being able to continue onward without the group having to seek out a priest or wizard capable of Miracle or Wish. I would let Heal fix it, since it fixes Feeblemind.

[Sarcasm]Strange that no where in the rules it says how to remedy this effect[/Sarcasm]

Don't you just hate a major penality without clear ways to remedy it for something a character does that might not even tell you the correct answer even if you succeed with the intelligence check?
I know that if I didn't allow the penality to be removed with a Heal spell that I'd never have to worry about any player ever casting it...at least never again after the first time they used it and that happened.

RD

 

[Kae'Yoss]

As such, I'd rule Greater Restoration to do the trick, but neither of the weaker versions.

I thought of that, too. With greater restoration you have to spend XP on it. So they think twice about it.

 

[Felix]

Can't you just "take 10" on that ability check? You can do it for ability checks after all... And you can still "take 10" when there is a penalty for failure unlike taking 20.

Seems to me that a wizard casting this spell would be foolish not to only contact the plane he has zero chance for losing his brain. Meaning that as he gains more levels, he can increase his INT score, so the information becomes more accurate.

Really all the INT check does is scale the spell as you gain levels, but if you're in a bind and need the information, you can take a chance.

Cool spell really.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Cool spell really.

I think it sucks that this is the alternative the the cleric's commune spell.

And to my mind, greater restoration can fix the problem just fine. In fact, dispel magic can as well.

Specifically - the attribute decrease is a magical effect from a spell that has a duration. It's specifically listed as a duration. Therefore it's an ongoing magical effect. Therefore it can be dispelled. Although greater restoration cannot get rid of the "you can no longer cast arcane spells". Dispel magic will.

My suggestion would be to use a lower level spell (lesser planar binding) and summon an imp.

Fabricate a nice binding contract where the imp will use it's innate commune spell to ask exactly the questions you tell it at a rate of one per round, remember the exact wording of the answers and relay them precisely to you. The imp is a wholly lawful creature. Since this is a fairly simple contract (ask these questions, only these questions, all of these questions and report the exact answers back to me) there's not really anything there to twist.

Or send your familiar to other planes to ask questions (buffed with stuff so he's less likely to fail). And if he fails, cast the spell again and send him.

After all - he can't cast spells anyway, and his int is likely to be only about 9 or 10 anyway, so he loses very little.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Or send your familiar to other planes to ask questions (buffed with stuff so he's less likely to fail). And if he fails, cast the spell again and send him.

...!

Nice!

-Hyp.

 

[Praeden]

Can't you just "take 10" on that ability check? You can do it for ability checks after all... And you can still "take 10" when there is a penalty for failure unlike taking 20.

Interesting point, but I think not. A wizard needs 15 Int just to be able to cast the spell in the first place, and if he can take 10 as well, he has a +12 modifier. Which means that all but that two highest DC checks are automatically successful (if I remember correctly, ability checks, like skill checks, don't automatically fail on a 1).

So most of the planes would become redundant - why choose some Elemental Plane Deity when you can choose a Lesser Outer Plane Deity instead and nearly double your chance of a true answer? If, on the other hand, a wizard with 15 Int cast the spell with no other modifiers, he would have anything between about 25-70% chance of getting brain drained, depending on his choice.