Color Spray: "Whoah, dude, where am I?"

[Pielorinho]

From the SRD description of what happens to low-HD creatures caught in a color spray:

Up to 2: Unconscious for 2d4 rounds, then blinded for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)

So, Bob the commoner, wielding a shovel against our heroes, is caught in a color spray. He falls unconscious to the ground; the shovel falls beside him.

2d4 rounds later he wakes up. "Aah! I can't see!" he shouts, and feels around him for his shovel. Finding it, he stands up and starts whaling on the PCs with the shovel.

1d4 rounds later, he can see again. "I can see-- I can see!" he shouts
--and, stunned, he stops attacking the PCs and drops his shovel.

Is this right? It seems a little goofy to me (and to my cogamers). Should we interpret the rules as saying that while blind, the victim of color spray is also stunned? That seems a lot less goofy.

Daniel

 

[Storm Raven]

So, Bob the commoner, wielding a shovel against our heroes, is caught in a color spray. He falls unconscious to the ground; the shovel falls beside him.

2d4 rounds later he wakes up. "Aah! I can't see!" he shouts, and feels around him for his shovel. Finding it, he stands up and starts whaling on the PCs with the shovel.

The blindness results from the laser light show his brain is registering from the spell. It isn't necessarily that he can't see, it is that his vision is dominated by swriling colors and patterns.

1d4 rounds later, he can see again. "I can see-- I can see!" he shouts --and, stunned, he stops attacking the PCs and drops his shovel.

And then the disorientation caused by the colors and patterns overwhelms his senses for a moment before the spell effect ends, and he is momentarily completely disoriented and unable to focus on anything.

 

[Thistleknot]

In the Players Handbook, the spell is worded such that the effects are cumulative. The spell wording in the suggests that the unconsciousness takes precidence, then the stun, then the blindness.

Bob the Commoner, color sprayed, would be unconscious for 2d4 rounds. Then after he wakes up, he would be stunned for 1 round, in addition to being blind for 1d4 rounds following his awakening (this does seem to count the round that he is stunned as well, according to the wording).

Kinda harsh just for trying to bop some trespassing adventurers with a shovel, don't you think?

 

[Moulin Rogue]

It's confirmed that the effects all occur together on the EN Errata page at http://www.d20reviews.com/Eric/errata.htm

 

[Artoomis]

That's nice, but I don't think that made it into the official errata.

So you can ake it or leave it, I suppose. It makes more sense, of course.

 

[Hypersmurf]

It's confirmed that the effects all occur together.

So they're stunned for one round while they're unconscious?

Although my favourite is the effect of Holy Word on low HD non-good creatures...

"He casts Holy Word on you - no save, sorry. You're paralysed. And blind and deaf. Oh, and dead."



-Hyp.

 

[Albereth]

Yeah, so you are stunned for the first round while you are unconcious. well DUH!!! I think they mean that when you wake up you are blind and stunned on teh first round and blinded for the rest if there are any.

Albereth

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Yeah, so you are stunned for the first round while you are unconcious. well DUH!!!

No, really that's it.

The main difference is that it you definitely lose your grip on your weapon!

Typically, a low level opponent is knocked unconscious for 2D4 round and that's it. But once I rolled a 3 for the duration of the unconsciousness and 4 for the duration of the blindness. So that particular opponent would have been blind for 1 round after waking up! But the stunning was already spent on round 1.

Everything happen at the same time. Imagine that a particular opponent is immune to being knocked unconscious but not to stun. In that case he'd still be stunned on round 1.

 

[Albereth]

Ahhhh, okay makes sense Mal. The main thing about the stunning is that it does force you to drop your weapons which apparently falling unconcious does not

 

[Rowenstin]

So they're stunned for one round while they're unconscious?

Although my favourite is the effect of Holy Word on low HD non-good creatures...

"He casts Holy Word on you - no save, sorry. You're paralysed. And blind and deaf. Oh, and dead."



-Hyp.

Yeah, that´s funny.

But there is still Death Ward spells...