Casters death

[Kylas]

Well, the text says;
"Additionally, the subject takes only half damage from all wounds and attacks (including that dealt by special abilities) that deal hit point damage. The amount of damage not taken by the warded creature is taken by you."

So long as the warded creature has the spell active on them, they take half damage. That the caster is dead has no effect on that part of the spell text, because it is stated separately from the sentence saying that the left over damage is taken by the caster.

This is exactly what I thought. The spell wold be in effect so you still take half damage and get the AC and save buffs.

OTOH can it be argued that since caster is dead and her body and soul are seperated that she out of range thus ending the spell?

 

[irdeggman]

This is exactly what I thought. The spell wold be in effect so you still take half damage and get the AC and save buffs.

OTOH can it be argued that since caster is dead and her body and soul are seperated that she out of range thus ending the spell?

You could but I don't think it would have any water.

The target of the spell is 1 creature, it is not dependent on the caster's state - and hit point damage does not go to one's soul only to one's physical body.

In essence people were looking at the spell effects backwards - the damage occurs to the warded creature first and then the effect moves on to the caster (who, once dead, can't receive the damage - but that is immaterial to the spell effect).

 

[Kylas]

...If you and the subject of the spell move out of range of each other, the spell ends....

You could but I don't think it would have any water.

The target of the spell is 1 creature, it is not dependent on the caster's state - and hit point damage does not go to one's soul only to one's physical body.

In essence people were looking at the spell effects backwards - the damage occurs to the warded creature first and then the effect moves on to the caster (who, once dead, can't receive the damage - but that is immaterial to the spell effect).

What bout this part of the spell description? Is not the caster technically out of range because she is dead?

 

[roguerouge]

Wow. I am totally going to do this with my next BBEG cleric.

1. Cast Shield Other on disposable minion.
2. Kill Minion.
2a. Have zombie follow me around dragging dead minion.
3. Take half damage from PCs until you run out of rounds.

And then the PC necromancer decides that's a great idea....

I don't think this would fly at many tables, but are we sure this is the right ruling?

 

[Dekana]

What bout this part of the spell description? Is not the caster technically out of range because she is dead?

I have to agree with this point. If a character dies, they become an object instead of a creature. "If you and the subject of the spell move out of range of each other, the spell ends." You are dead, but your corpse is now where you were. You're not there anymore. The spell ends.

 

[the Jester]

I have to agree with this point. If a character dies, they become an object instead of a creature. "If you and the subject of the spell move out of range of each other, the spell ends." You are dead, but your corpse is now where you were. You're not there anymore. The spell ends.

That depends- what makes up "you"?

Would you rule that shield other ends if the subject cast astral spell and left its body?

 

[Dekana]

I would rule that the Shield Other effect does not end because the subject's living body is still where he left it. If some creature walked up to the subject and started beating on his suspended-animation body, the casting cleric/paladin would take half damage (if he remained within range of course).

Suppose both the subject and the caster are targets of an Astral Projection spell. Their living bodies would split the damage if they are within range of each other. Astral Projection doesn't kill your physical body, nor does suspended animation turn you into an object, near as I can tell.

The effects of Astral Projection brings up a whole other set of issues, such as "do spell effects copy to my astral body" and the ever-popular "can I make clones of myself by astral projecting and stepping onto a different plane?" In any case, the relevant line of the spell is:

Although astral projections are able to function on the Astral Plane, their actions affect only creatures existing on the Astral Plane; a physical body must be materialized on other planes.

Even if the shield other spell copies among the recipients of the Astral Projection spell (and I'm not certain it does), the damage could only be shared among their astral forms. Their actions can only affect the astral plane, so damage dealt to them doesn't transfer back to their physical bodies.

 

[Elethiomel]

Wow. I am totally going to do this with my next BBEG cleric.

1. Cast Shield Other on disposable minion.
2. Kill Minion.
2a. Have zombie follow me around dragging dead minion.
3. Take half damage from PCs until you run out of rounds.

And then the PC necromancer decides that's a great idea....

I don't think this would fly at many tables, but are we sure this is the right ruling?

That's the wrong ruling, because Shield Other wouldn't protect the casting cleric, it would protect the nameless minion. If the nameless minion cast it on the BBEG cleric in step 1, then I think it's the correct ruling.

I see a problem with the ruling, yes. But I think it's one supported by the text. I don't think the ruling that a dead person is out of range is supported by the text.

 

[Dross]

This is exactly what I thought. The spell wold be in effect so you still take half damage and get the AC and save buffs.

OTOH can it be argued that since caster is dead and her body and soul are seperated that she out of range thus ending the spell?

As noted by someone else, the physical body hasn't moved out of spell range.

Isn't there a ruling somewhere that the spell only has to meet the conditions at time of casting (the FAQ maybe)? It does not matter so much with conditions after the casting. Personally this needs to be judged on a case by case basis.

Not a RAW ruling but (at least IMHO) my RAI ruling would be that you would get the half damage on the hit that killed the caster, but then the spell would not continue to halve the damage.

Well I think I've helped only to muddy the water.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Semi-related question....

I noticed that the spell has rings as a focus, worn by the caster and the warded creature. For some reason I got the impression that if one of the rings were removed, the spell would end. In fact, in one of my DM stintts, the PCs were faced with a Lilitu who had dominated a low level LG priest and had him cast the spell on her (and she made sure to inform them of this). Not wanting to kill an innocent, they had to first wrestle him to the ground and force the platinum ring off his finger before they could start beating the holy snot out of the demoness.

So, I was going to suggest that method (take the ring off the corpse) as a way to stop the abuse if you go by RAW and say that the spell remains active even after death. But...re-reading, that does not seem to be the case by RAW, either.

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