Avascular Mass

[veritas681]

Tonight, a friend and I discussed a hypothetical scenario in which Avascular Mass and Mirror Image are used. The summarized point-counterpoint went as follows:


We are in a 20x20 room, and we are about to engage in combat. I cast Mirror Image. He casts Avascular Mass at "me." I postulate that pending successful RNG results, his ray goes through an Image, dispels it, and then fizzles.


He contests that the web effect should still take place, because the text of the spell implies that the only reason the spell would fizzle is if it was being used on an ooze or plant. To that end, he suggests that his ray goes through my Image, strikes the wall behind it, and procs the web effect. If that is insufficient, he will simply avoid targetting "me" altogether and target a wall with the goal in mind of spawning the web effect and skipping the stun and health-halving effects of the spell altogether so he can use it to proc the area-effect and dispel all my Images at once. His bottom line is that the web effect is not dependent on the ray successfully hitting a living target first, and the only two things that cannot be affected by the spell are oozes and plants.


My response to that is that use of the word, "avascular," in the name of the spell, the role-play description of the spell, and sepcific wording in the final paragraph of the spell description suggest to me that the inital target of the ray must have a blood circulation system and be successfully struck with that ray in order for the web effect of the spell to be successfully generated. I further stipulate that oozes and plants were mentioned in the spell's description as immune to its effects because one could otherwise reasonably argue that an ooze would make a suitable webbing material and that plants have a circulation system that could be equally viable, and the writers wanted to make it clear that a target with blood was required. My bottom line is that the web effect is entirely dependent on whether the ray component of the spell successfully strikes a target with a blood circulatory system.


For those of you who tl:dr text walls, here are our bottom line questions about the spell, Avascular Mass:
1) In order for the web effect of the spell to work, does the ray component need to successfully strike a target with a blood circulation system?
2) If so, what does that mean for Undead targets? How will this affect "mostly in-tact," corporeal Undead who aren't Skeletons?
3) Further still, would successfully striking a Mirror Image with the ray be considered a viable means of generating the web effect?
4) How are we to understand the spell author's intent in his mention of oozes and plants as exceptions to the spell's effects?


Thank you in advance for your replies.

 

[Empirate]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

As I read the spell description, there are a few points which support your interpretation:

"You must succeed on a ranged touch attack with the ray to strike a target. If the attack is successful, the subject loses half its hit points (rounded down) and is stunned for 1 round. On a successful Fortitude saving throw, the subject is not stunned. Oozes and plants are not affected by this spell. The avascular mass instantaneously erupts from the subject..."

To me this reads as if you must hit a subject that can actually lose half its HP. Furthermore, the avascular mass erupts from this subject - if you hit it. Mirror Images have no HP, are not targeted specifically (rather, they detract from your ability to hit your actual target), and a hypothetical avascular mass erupting from a MI would probably be illusionary. Furthermore, just shooting the ray at a wall won't create an avascular mass, because walls are scenery, not targets.

The spell is badly written in that it is a Ray effect that still requires a Target, but doesn't have a Target entry in the spell summary at the top. Nevertheless, I'd simply mentally add "Target: One living creature (not Ooze or Plant)" to the spell summary, skip the "Effect: Ray" part, and stipulate a ranged touch attack in the spell description. That way, it should become much clearer.

Undead are immune to effects that require Fort saves, unless they work on objects. Avascular Mass obviously doesn't affect objects. This is not clearly spelled out in the RAW, though it should follow from the spell description.

Plants and Oozes are immune for no good reason at all. It's just stipulated, but at least in this regard the spell description is unambiguous.

Also, Mirror Images are not dispelled by AoE spells, only by direct attacks (that require an attack roll).

 

[udalrich]

I mostly agree with Empirate's response. However:

Undead are immune to effects that require Fort saves, unless they work on objects. Avascular Mass obviously doesn't affect objects. This is not clearly spelled out in the RAW, though it should follow from the spell description.

The RAW do explicitly indicate that undead are not affected, although it is by the absence of something, not by explicit text. I don't have the text in front of me, but I assume the spell has this line:

Save: Fortitude partial

If Undead were affected, there would be text indicating that they are affected or this line:

Save: Fortitude partial (objects)

indicating that the spell affects objects, which includes creatures with no Con score.

 

[veritas681]

Warning: text wall incoming!

So, the friend and I finally took the time to sit down with this thread and give a more finite look at the spell. The version of Avascular Mass we were debating is the one in the 3.5 Spell Compendium. The wording in the Spell Compendium is what was creating the ambiguity we were experiencing. I didn't realize there were two different versions of the spell text until I was reviewing Empirate's quote while considering and confirming Udalrich's point about Save mechanics. I recalled that somewhere along the way I had read or heard that the Spell Compendium was compiled from several other books. After I did some chasing around the web, I found that the spell originally came from the Libris Mortis.

The text within the Spell Compendium reads as follows (relevant text has been bolded to highlight differences):

Necromancy [Death, Evil]
Level: Deathbound 8, sorcerer/wizard 8
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: See text
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial and Reflex negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

RP Description
You shoot a black ray of necromantic energy from your outstretched hand, causing your foe to violently purge blood vessels through its skin. The purged blood vessels spread outward, creating a many-layered mass of bloody, adhesive tissue that traps nearby creatures in a gory horror.

Mechanics
You must succeed on a ranged touch attack with the ray to strike a target. If the attack is successful, the subject loses half its hit points (rounded down) and is stunned for 1 round. On a successful Fortitude saving throw, the subject is not stunned. Oozes and plants are not affected by this spell.

The avascular mass instantaneously erupts from the subject and must be anchored to at least two opposed points — such as floor and ceiling or opposite walls — or else the mass collapses and has no effect. Creatures caught within a 20-foot-radius avascular mass become entangled. The original target of the spell is automatically entangled. Because the avascular mass is magically animate and gradually tightens on those it holds, an entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a DC 25 Concentration check or lose the spell.

Anyone within 20 feet of the primary target when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. If this save succeeds, the creature is not stuck in the avascular mass and is free to act, though moving might be a problem (see below). If the save fails, the creature is stuck. A stuck creature can break loose by spending 1 round and succeeding on a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 25 Escape Artist check. Once loose (either from making the initial Reflex save or a later Strength check or Escape Artist check), a creature can progress through the writhing blood vessels very slowly. Each round devoted to moving allows the creature to make a new Strength check or Escape Artist check. The creature moves 5 feet for each full 5 points by which the check result exceeds 10.

If you have at least 5 feet of avascular mass between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of avascular mass between you, it provides total cover.

The avascular mass of entangling tissue persists for 1 round per caster level. When the duration elapses, the blood vessel mass becomes so much limp, decaying tissue.

By comparison, the version from the Libris Mortis reads as follows (relevant differences have been bolded here also):

Necromancy [Death, Evil]
Level: Deathbound 8, sorcerer/wizard 8
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: See text
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial and Reflex negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

Mechanics
You shoot a ray of necromantic energy from your outstretched hand, causing any living creature struck by the ray to violently purge blood vessels through its skin. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to touch the subject. If the touch attack is successful, the subject loses half its hit points (rounded down) and is stunned for 1 round. On a successful Fortitude saving throw, the subject is not stunned.

The purged blood vessels are magically animate, creating a many-layered mass of magically strong, adhesive tissue that trap those caught in them. The avascular mass instantaneously erupts from the target, and must be anchored on at least two opposed points — such as floor and ceiling or opposite walls — or else the mass collapses and has no effect. Creatures caught within a 20-foot-radius avascular mass become entangled. The original target of the spell is automatically entangled.

An entangled creature takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, a -4 penalty to effective Dexterity, and can't move. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a Concentration check or lose the spell. Because the avascular mass is magically animate, and gradually tightens on those it holds, the Concentration check DC is 30.

Anyone within 20 feet of the primary target when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. If this save succeeds, the creature is not stuck in the avascular mass and is free to act, though moving might be a problem (see below). If the save fails, the creature is stuck. A stuck creature can break loose by spending 1 round and succeeding on a DC 25 Strength check or a DC 30 Escape Artist check. Once loose (either from making the initial Reflex save or a later Strength check or Escape Artist check), a creature may progress through the writhing blood vessels very slowly. Each round devoted to moving allows the creature to make a new Strength check or Escape Artist check. The creature moves 5 feet for each full 5 points by which the check result exceeds 10.

If you have at least 5 feet of avascular mass between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of avascular mass between you, it provides total cover.

When the secondary duration elapses, the blood vessel mass becomes only so much limp, decaying tissue.

It is worth noting that in addition to the significantly more definitive wording in the Libris Mortis, the Libris Mortis's version has higher save DC mechanics and does not separate a role play description from the mechanics of the spell. I took the chance to note the copyright dates on the two books, and the Spell Compendium was published a year after the Libris Mortis. I'm not sure what prompted Wizards to change the wording a year later (aside from lowering the save DC's), but since the version from the Libris Mortis is remarkably less ambiguous, that is the text we will be using.

Thank you both very much for your responses. They were a great catalyst for research and discussion.