False Life Stacks?

[Mistwell]

Quick question - Can a caster cast false life of themselves several times at the beginning of the day, and have all the temporary hit points stack?

 

[IanB]

Quick question - Can a caster cast false life of themselves several times at the beginning of the day, and have all the temporary hit points stack?

Not directly. There is an argument to be made that you could cast several overlapping versions, and when you lose HPs off of one, the "best" of the other castings would take over until it was lower than another, etc.

That one has gone back and forth sort of inconclusively as I recall.

 

[Thanee]

Temporary hit points only stack, if they come from the same source. Two spells are not the same source, therefore they do not stack.

Of course, you can cast multiple False Life as dispel protection, or to get a higher result, or whatnot, but if you would go through the temporary hit points successively then, this would effectively mean, that the temporary hit points do stack, which they don't, therefore you obviously cannot do this, because it would violate the rule about stacking of temporary hit points (which is found in the FAQ AFAIK).

So, the only solution is, that the temporary hit points overlap and you count down damage from every instance of False Life and any other source of temporary hit points you got simultaneously.

Bye
Thanee

 

[mvincent]

Quick question - Can a caster cast false life of themselves several times at the beginning of the day, and have all the temporary hit points stack?

No. However, Temporary hit points from different sources stack. Here is the latest from the 3.5 FAQ:

"Do temporary hit points from two applications of the
same effect stack? What about from different effects? If I
have temporary hit points from multiple sources, how
should I apply damage?
Temporary hit points from two applications of the same
effect don’t stack; instead, the highest number of temporary hit
points applies in place of all others. Temporary hit points from
different sources stack, but you must keep track of them
separately.
For example, imagine a character who gained 15 temporary
hit points from an aid spell. After taking 8 points of damage,
she has 7 temporary hit points left from the spell. If another aid
spell were cast on the same character granting 12 temporary hit
points, this total would replace the other spell’s total, meaning
the character would now have 12 temporary hit points (rather
than 19). If the character then cast false life on herself, she
would add the full benefit of that spell to the temporary hit
points from the aid spell.
This also applies to temporary hit points gained from
energy drain and similar special abilities. Each successful
attack counts as one application of the effect (meaning that an
attack that bestows 2 or more negative levels still counts as
only one application of the effect). For example, a wight gains
5 temporary hit points each time it bestows a negative level
with its slam attack. If it bestows another negative level while it
has 2 temporary hit points remaining from the first attack, the
new temporary hit points would replace the old ones.
Temporary hit points are “first-in, first-out.” Damage
should be taken off the oldest temporary-hit-point-granting
effect first; when that effect is exhausted, apply damage to the
next oldest effect. For this reason, you must track each supply
of temporary hit points separately."

 

[mvincent]

Temporary hit points only stack, if they come from the same source

Per the FAQ, they stack only if they are from different sources

Two spells are not the same source

Incorrect. Two occurrences of the same spell is considered the same source.

 

[Mistwell]

Thanks for all the great responses. Looks like a pretty clear "no" to me. Seems like False Life is best cast only after your last False Life temporary hit points are already gone.

 

[MichaelH]

Thanks for all the great responses. Looks like a pretty clear "no" to me. Seems like False Life is best cast only after your last False Life temporary hit points are already gone.

Correct. But if you have False Life and then do a Vampiric Touch, those temporary hit points stack. The new FAQ entry suggests you keep track of the temporary hit points seperately so that you know when a particular spell ends.

 

[Mistwell]

Correct. But if you have False Life and then do a Vampiric Touch, those temporary hit points stack. The new FAQ entry suggests you keep track of the temporary hit points seperately so that you know when a particular spell ends.

Makes sense.

I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to lose Necromancy as a school. These spells, which are basically a poor-man's healing spells (pretty useful for a wizard) are tempting (along with some other great necromancy spells like enervation).

 

[Thanee]

False Life is a huge spell, which alone is a reason to keep Necromancy, along with Ray of Enfeeblement, possibly Command Undead, and Enervation.

Per the FAQ, they stack only if they are from different sources

Interesting...

If the character then cast false life on herself, she
would add the full benefit of that spell to the temporary hit
points from the aid spell.

I'm pretty sure, that this is different to the FAQ ruling I know.

Maybe it has changed?

Incorrect. Two occurrences of the same spell is considered the same source.

Well, with the above ruling that makes sense, but with the one I had in mind, it was correct the way I had written it.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

Here's the old one...

How is the body feeder weapon quality supposed to work?
Do the temporary hit points from the weapon stack? The
same question applies to mind feeder weapons and to spell
effects, such as vampiric touch.
Temporary hit points from a body feeder weapon stack with
each other, but not with temporary hit points from any other
source. Likewise, temporary psionic points from a mind feeder
weapon stack, but not with temporary psionic points from any
other source.
In general, any effect that allows you to gain temporary hit
points over time allows you to stack those points, but only
those points. For example, if you use the vampiric touch spell,
the temporary hit points you gain from that particular casting of
the spell stack. They don’t stack with the temporary hit points
you get from an aid spell, nor would the effects of two
vampiric touch or aid spells stack. If you were to use two body
feeder weapons (or two mind feeder weapons), you could not
stack the temporary points from the two weapons.

Bye
Thanee