Would a size Huge creature be affected by a fire shield?

[NewJeffCT]

If a human mage casts "Fire Shield" upon himself and is attacked by an evil size Huge giant wielding a Huge weapon (but, not a reach weapon), would the fire shield affect the giant?

The spell descriptor says Creatures wielding weapons with exceptional reach are not subject to this damage if they attack you.

Does the giant wielding a 15 foot long size huge weapon mean it is still affected by the fire shield, but a human wielding a 10 foot long reach weapon would not be affected? Or, does exceptional reach mean any weapon over a certain size?

Just to clarify - I understand any size creature with natural weapons will be affected by a fire shield (pending SR, DR, immunity, etc). I am concerned about a size large or bigger creature using a sized large or bigger weapon.

 

[Eldritch_Lord]

If a human mage casts "Fire Shield" upon himself and is attacked by an evil size Huge giant wielding a Huge weapon (but, not a reach weapon), would the fire shield affect the giant?

Yes. "Exceptional reach" is anything longer than your natural reach--longer than 15 feet for the giant, longer than 5 feet for a human, etc.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

In other words, no matter how big you are, if your hands get too close to the fire, the fire BURNS!

 

[GenghisDon]

I'd say no, they do have exceptional reach ( in most cases anyway)

 

[NewJeffCT]

In other words, no matter how big you are, if your hands get too close to the fire, the fire BURNS!

But, if the giant is wielding a 15 foot long weapon like a size Huge greatsword, it would still be getting close enough to the fire, whereas a human with a 10 foot long reach weapon would not? The giant can hit somebody from 15 feet away from his space with his weapon, whereas the human cannot?

 

[NewJeffCT]

Yes. "Exceptional reach" is anything longer than your natural reach--longer than 15 feet for the giant, longer than 5 feet for a human, etc.

Shouldn't the descriptor have said any creature wielding a reach weapon would not be affected? I would think a sized Large or bigger weapon would considered as having exceptional reach when compared to a size medium one?

 

[freyar]

But, if the giant is wielding a 15 foot long weapon like a size Huge greatsword, it would still be getting close enough to the fire, whereas a human with a 10 foot long reach weapon would not? The giant can hit somebody from 15 feet away from his space with his weapon, whereas the human cannot?

I think you've found one of those places where the RAW don't make perfect RL sense. Probably this is because the designer forgot to think about big monsters with manufactured weapons (note, a giant hitting you with fists probably should take the damage, but I agree it makes little sense if the giant has a 10 ft longsword).

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

But, if the giant is wielding a 15 foot long weapon like a size Huge greatsword, it would still be getting close enough to the fire, whereas a human with a 10 foot long reach weapon would not? The giant can hit somebody from 15 feet away from his space with his weapon, whereas the human cannot?

In real life, maybe that's true. There also aren't Huge Giants or Fire Shields in real life. In game, whether the giant's using a greatsword or his bare fists, his attack reach remains completely unchanged, by RAW. Which means, by RAW, unless you're using a reach weapon or whip, your weapon does not add much (technically anything) to your threatened area. Your hands and appendages are still apparantly being put into harm's way.

That's the rules argument: by RAW, it's pretty clear the intent was for Fire Shield to work in your case.
Now, a gamist argument: Isn't reach good enough already?

 

[NewJeffCT]

In real life, maybe that's true. There also aren't Huge Giants or Fire Shields in real life. In game, whether the giant's using a greatsword or his bare fists, his attack reach remains completely unchanged, by RAW. Which means, by RAW, unless you're using a reach weapon or whip, your weapon does not add much (technically anything) to your threatened area. Your hands and appendages are still apparantly being put into harm's way.

That's the rules argument: by RAW, it's pretty clear the intent was for Fire Shield to work in your case.
Now, a gamist argument: Isn't reach good enough already?

Well, if you're using Fire Shield, Mass and put it on melee types, and the size Huge giant hits them 3 times in one round, it takes a minimum of 3d6+39 (for a level 13 Sorcerer having cast it), or an average of 49.5 points of damage. Granted, the size Huge giant is probably dishing out more than 50 points of damage if it hits 3 times. But, when melee PC attacks the giant in return, the damage the melee PC dishes would probably then exceed the damage when combined with the 50 points from the fire shield.

 

[irdeggman]

But, if the giant is wielding a 15 foot long weapon like a size Huge greatsword, it would still be getting close enough to the fire, whereas a human with a 10 foot long reach weapon would not? The giant can hit somebody from 15 feet away from his space with his weapon, whereas the human cannot?

Don't confuse the "size" of a weapon with "reach".

It is one of the pecular D&D rules terminology issues that messes with "logic".

Reach has nothing to do with the size of the weapon, but rather with how the weapon is used.

Reach grants a distance to your melee attacks that is defined by the weapon description itself.

A Huge Greatsword grants no "reach" to anyone using it.

Remember also that reach weapons suffer the soft cover rules when used. So if someone decides to grant a huge greatword reach for a medium creature then that creature suffers soft cover penalties when using such a weapon too.

I agree with the fact that the RAW should have just said "reach weapon" since there is no definition of exceptional reach weapons and that word causes discussions like this to occur.