Cloud Effects Underwater....

[Aluvial]

Can you cast various gas attacks underwater? What about Solid Fog?

How about Gaseous Form?

And a little off topic: When you are flying underwater, you move your speed while swimming, without making a swim check, correct?

Thanks,

Aluvial

 

[Darklone]

Flying underwater? With the Fly spell, I guess. I would apply the same penalty as for everyone without a swim speed.

Gas attacks underwater... No idea if this is written somewhere (perhaps in the gas cloud spell descriptions) but it wouldn't make sense to me...

 

[Ferret]

AFAIK you can't use gaseous form underwater. It's in the spell description, but thats only AFAIK.

 

[Bauglir]

Gaseous Form

Transmutation
Level: Air 3, Brd 3, Sor/Wiz 3 Components: S, M/DF Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: Willing corporeal creature touched Duration: 2 min./level (D) Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No

The subject and all its gear become insubstantial, misty, and translucent. Its material armor (including natural armor) becomes worthless, though its size, Dexterity, deflection bonuses, and armor bonuses from force effects still apply. The subject gains damage reduction 10/magic and becomes immune to poison and critical hits. It can’t attack or cast spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components while in gaseous form. (This does not rule out the use of certain spells that the subject may have prepared using the feats Silent Spell, Still Spell, and Eschew Materials.) The subject also loses supernatural abilities while in gaseous form. If it has a touch spell ready to use, that spell is discharged harmlessly when the gaseous form spell takes effect.

A gaseous creature can’t run, but it can fly at a speed of 10 feet (maneuverability perfect). It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, as long as the spell persists. The creature is subject to the effects of wind, and it can’t enter water or other liquid. It also can’t manipulate objects or activate items, even those carried along with its gaseous form. Continuously active items remain active, though in some cases their effects may be moot.

Arcane Material Component: A bit of gauze and a wisp of smoke.

Highlight mine

 

[DreamChaser]

i know that this will probably get me flamed but I'll say it anyway.

Sometimes you have to go with logic, even when using magic. Fog is water droplets suspended in the air. You cannot (with any practical effect) suspend water droplets in water. Thus, none of the "cloud" spells would work underwater.

and I apologize to any who grow offended at my application of logic to magic in a game.

DC

 

[Aluvial]

i know that this will probably get me flamed but I'll say it anyway.

Sometimes you have to go with logic, even when using magic. Fog is water droplets suspended in the air. You cannot (with any practical effect) suspend water droplets in water. Thus, none of the "cloud" spells would work underwater.

and I apologize to any who grow offended at my application of logic to magic in a game.

DC

No, I don't think you are off track at all. I use these boards not only as a place to check rules, but to show my players that logic is necessary for the adjucation of spells.

I appreciate that someone else has picked up on this.

I missed that line in the book... I'm not sure why....

Aluvial

 

[Knight Otu]

I believe most of the spells where it could be questionable to work underwater have such a line. It certainly is present in Fog Cloud:

Fog Cloud

Conjuration (Creation)

Level: Drd 2, Sor/Wiz 2, Water 2

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft. level)

Effect: Fog spreads in 20-ft. radius, 20 ft. high

Duration: 10 min./level

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: No

A bank of fog billows out from the point you designate. The fog obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target).

A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the fog in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round.

The spell does not function underwater.

Since most "fog" spells "function like fog cloud", this should apply to those spells as well.

 

[Pielorinho]

Knight, if you replace the quote tags with {hq} and {/hq} tags, they'll autoformat the text inside to be readable in all styles; I can't read it in its current format.

For myself, I'm pretty much a softie; I'd probably let a caster modify the spells to function underwater with a difficult spellcraft check (maybe DC 25+spell level, spellcraft modified by the caster's primary stat). Or maybe they'd need to spend an action point (of which each PC gets 3 per session), but have it work automatically. I like having magic be flexible.

Daniel

 

[MerakSpielman]

If you cast gaseous form underwater, you should turn into a big bubble of gas and float up to the surface.

Blurp!

 

[Knight Otu]

Knight, if you replace the quote tags with {hq} and {/hq} tags, they'll autoformat the text inside to be readable in all styles; I can't read it in its current format.

Is it better now? I c&ped it into notepad and back to get rid of all formatting (I usually do that anyway, but forgot this time). Because, after changing to the hq tags, I couldn't see the quote anymore.