An old mage who dies without Amulet of Health. Is it possible?

[Shin Okada]

I am thinking about creating a patron NPC for PC adventurers. I need some great mage, but who is too old and too vulnerable for adventuring himself. Mortals lose physical stats by age. Is it possible for the old mage to have -5 pts of con, boosted up to 1 via Amulet of Health +6? He dies immediately without that Amulet of Health. Is it legal by RAW?

 

[Rystil Arden]

I am thinking about creating a patron NPC for PC adventurers. I need some great mage, but who is too old and too vulnerable for adventuring himself. Mortals lose physical stats by age. Is it possible for the old mage to have -5 pts of con, boosted up to 1 via Amulet of Health +6? He dies immediately without that Amulet of Health. Is it legal by RAW?

The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character's ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way

So no, but if he was too lazy to heal permanent Con damage he got from an undead or something....

 

[DM_Matt]

So no, but if he was too lazy to heal permanent Con damage he got from an undead or something....

I'd say yes, just not that way. You cant have negative con. He could be an elf that had an opening 7-2race-5age without it being too rediculous. However, a six con is probably enough that he's not going anywhere, especially since even a dispel magic that temporarily disables the amulet will kill him.

 

[Scharlata]

I am thinking about creating a patron NPC for PC adventurers. I need some great mage, but who is too old and too vulnerable for adventuring himself. Mortals lose physical stats by age. Is it possible for the old mage to have -5 pts of con, boosted up to 1 via Amulet of Health +6? He dies immediately without that Amulet of Health. Is it legal by RAW?

Hi!

As the FAQ indicates, it's impossible to benefit from an item that buffs your ability scores if you have a 0 in a particular ability score. I.e., Gauntlets of Ogre Power do not work on a creature that is damaged to 0 Strength. So, no, your old wizard can't profit from any Amulet of Health to have Con 1.

But your wizard nestor - with, say, a Con 1 and therefore 1 hp/level - would be well advised not to go to shop for himself, lest go adventuring. That's a premise most PC should understand. If that doesn't work, try to excuse him with any kind of duty and let this make a running gag. Remember, "Q" from James Bond never [I know, someone will oppose] has other duties but to construct gimmicks, gizmos, and gadgets...

Enjoy

 

[Thanee]

Just for clarification...

So, if you have a 10 Strength and wear gauntlets of ogre power +2 and get 10 points of Strength drained, you fall down paralysed, right?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Shin Okada]

I see Rystil. So 1 is the minimum. And he can boost it up to 7 with items (or higher with wish).

Regarding the need of ability score 0. Scharlata, is it on online FAQ? Which page is it on?

 

[MadMaxim]

Just for clarification...

So, if you have a 10 Strength and wear gauntlets of ogre power +2 and get 10 points of Strength drained, you fall down paralysed, right?

I'd say no, as an enhancement bonus to your ability score is just as real as your starting ability score, så having 10 points of Strength drained would still leave you at 2 points of Strength and therefore not paralyzed. But if you take off the gauntlets of ogre power +2 you're in trouble.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Just for clarification...

So, if you have a 10 Strength and wear gauntlets of ogre power +2 and get 10 points of Strength drained, you fall down paralysed, right?

I'd need to reread the FAQ answer, but from memory, that wasn't what it was saying. If you have 10 Str, wear gauntlets +2, and get 10 points of Str drained, your Str score is still 2... so the zero clause doesn't kick in. But if you then take the gauntlets off, you'd be paralysed... and putting them back on would not revive you, since your Str is zero now, and thus the gauntlets don't work.

I think the FAQ answer was attempting to address the problem brought about by the rule that no ability may ever fall below zero. Without the FAQ's zero rule, if that person took twelve points of Str drain, he'd fall down paralysed with zero Str. If someone then removed his gauntlets, he'd lose his +2 enhancement bonus... but since abilities can't fall below zero, he's left with zero Str. Putting the gauntlets back on him would then give a +2 enhancement bonus to his score of zero, for a total of two, and unparalysed.

If he gets drained again, you remove and replace his gauntlets again.

The FAQ's zero rule prevents this working.

-Hyp.

 

[KarinsDad]

How about a Wish gone bad?

Wizard is at 1 CON plus Amulet that puts him at 7.

He wishes for 1 more CON, messes up the spell, so it subtracts 1 CON instead. Opps.

His CON is now 6 due to the Amulet. If he takes off the Amulet (or it is dispelled), he is dead.