D&D 3E/3.5 No Page 42 in 3.5, so how much damage does Create Water do to a Salt Mephit?

[Noumenon]

I ruled 2d6, thought about Fort half, then didn't let him save at all. What would you have done?

By the way, salt mephits are a really cool monster -- all their spell-like abilities are so flavorful, and they bring them close up to the players for a good ranged target. One of my players was trying to wash the salt out of his eyes with a water skin, and then the mephit drew all the moisture out of the skin and his lips too. The PCs were dying for a drink after they fought him.

I paired him with a grimlock, who doesn't care about glitterdust. I love that my players found the Black Pearl and I don't have to justify my random encounters now!

 

[Kask]

I ruled 2d6, thought about Fort half, then didn't let him save at all. What would you have done?

What does the monster/planar description say?

 

[Bladesong]

Isn't that a 0 level spell? Off the top of my head I would say look at other spells of the same level and use that as your guide. If it is 0 then I believe d4 is the norm. If the creature is vulnerable to it you could bump it up to d6 or double it 2d4. It would be a reflex for half it it is thrown or no save if it just manifests over them.
If it is a 1st level spell then I would have said d6 would be the norm so d8 or 2d6 for vulnerable creatures...save or no save option as already stated.

 

[Noumenon]

What does the monster/planar description say?

"Salt mephits are sarcastic creatures who loathe water and moisture of any kind." That's it.

I guess I was basically on track, but in the play situation I felt concerned that I was taking a creative solution and making it not worth doing with only a few damage. But 2d6 is a lot for a ranged attack and a 0 level spell. So I guess I overdid it slightly instead of underdoing it like I thought.

I like your thought of "bump it up a die size" to make it seem stronger.

 

[Kask]

"Salt mephits are sarcastic creatures who loathe water and moisture of any kind." That's it.

Well, then there is no need for page "42". You want to change a monster. Find a similar monster that is damaged from water and use that rule.

 

[Wycen]

I'm curious what page 42 has to do with anything.

 

[Greg K]

I'm curious what page 42 has to do with anything.

I think he might be misunderstanding how p.42 is supposed to work.

 

[Noumenon]

Here's how page 42 works. I wanna do something that isn't covered by the rules, like shove a creature into a fireplace or shove the Sandman into a puddle and turn his feet to mud. Page 42 says "here's the DC for (whatever) and here's how much damage it does."

You guys feel that it is covered by the rules, as in "there's no rule," and that's the correct interpretation of the RAW. But this is House Rules, and I consider it an issue of DMing philosophy. To me it's a textbook opportunity for "say yes or roll the dice," with my only question being how many dice to roll.

Similarly, my player who was blinded by the Glitterdust effect brainstormed, "I want to get my waterskin and wash the salt out of my eyes." Just from the tone of his voice I knew he was feeling creative, so I said Yes. "But you're blind, so it's a full round action to retrieve the waterskin from your pack." Knowing the effect only lasts three rounds anyway, I'm not giving away hardly anything.

And then once he got the waterskin out, the mephit drew all the moisture from the area and the skin was empty. I'm not nice to the players all the time.

Unfortunately the effect killed the grimlock as well that I was expecting the party to interrogate, but I stuck to what the rules told me there. Question for the RAW types hanging around here: does a grimlock at -6 hp auto-fail saves like an unattended object? He has to fail Reflex saves, right?

 

[Herzog]

does a grimlock at -6 hp auto-fail saves like an unattended object? He has to fail Reflex saves, right?

No, he should be treated as 'helpless', since he is unconscious, not dead.
His Dex is considered 0, so he has a -5 on his reflex save (in addition to his base save)

I'm not saying this is realistic, but it's the rules.

 

[Wycen]

Actually I was just wondering which 3.5 book was being referenced. I wasn't going to dig through any of them just to find out.

As for your situation, my only response is 'shoulder shrug'. Do what you think is best. I will just point out the situation in one game I played in that the DM had a very lose idea of those strange non-rule-written situations, so beware when a player decides to try to take advantage of you.