Death Watch

[Confuzzled]

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster here .

I was hoping some of the more experienced and well-versed posters out there could help with a bit of a problem I've noticed in a local game I am in. The problem seems to be the constant use of the Death Watch spell by the party to on a constant basis. Our GM seems to think the spell is a tad unbalanced but they don't want to house rule the spell since that seems (to them at least) heavy-handed. The biggest problem seems to be that unlike other detection spells, there seems to be no way to block it or counter it at all.

In some conversations we have had attempting to hash out a fix of some sort, the GM is of the opinion that since the spell is from the Necromancy domain with the Evil discriptor, a cleric of a lawful good (or any overtly good) diety would shy away from using the tools of the enemy since that would open them up to the temptation of using other tools of the enemy. I can see both sides of the argument, but I cannot fault the logic behind the GM's stance from a role-playing standpoint (ala The Lord of the Rings and the One Ring).

Any thoughts?

 

[Ovinomancer]

Welcome!!

As for the spell being from the necomancy domain, that causes little problem as far as alignment goes. But... the [Evil] descriptor does cause problems. A good cleric would probably not recieve this spell if prayed for, and would definatly incur problems from his god/church if he used it. An [Evil} descriptor spell is an evil act if cast.

If the party cleric wishes to know the status of his party members in combat, try the status spell.

Knowing that there is someone 'dying' in the radius of effect does not mean you know where that person is, only that someone is 'dying' in the area. If you can see them normally , ie not hiding or invisible, then you know there status directly. Globes of invulnerablility would also block the effect.

 

[robberbaron]

The spell is described as "Necromancy (Evil)", and says "Using the foul sight granted by the powers of unlife, ......"

Somehow, I don't think a non-Evil character should be throwing this spell around too often. Then again, it would open up the possibility of becoming 'tainted'.

I don't think it is unbalanced, just nasty.

 

[mikebr99]

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster here .

In some conversations we have had attempting to hash out a fix of some sort, the GM is of the opinion that since the spell is from the Necromancy domain with the Evil discriptor, a cleric of a lawful good (or any overtly good) diety would shy away from using the tools of the enemy since that would open them up to the temptation of using other tools of the enemy.
Any thoughts?

Welcome to the boards.

And ask your DM to just stick to the rules...

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Mike​

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[Confuzzled]

I appreciate the welcomes and the extremely quick responses . I feel pretty silly not remembering that part of the rules governing descriptors and the Clerics alignment and I am sure the GM will too. Sometimes it just takes asking someone else to remind a person of something that is staring them in the face .

Thanks again!

 

[the Jester]

Welcome to the boards!

I see mike got your question answered, but I thought I'd at least drop in and say hi...

 

[mikebr99]

I appreciate the welcomes and the extremely quick responses . I feel pretty silly not remembering that part of the rules governing descriptors and the Clerics alignment and I am sure the GM will too. Sometimes it just takes asking someone else to remind a person of something that is staring them in the face .

Thanks again!

No problem Confuzzled.
That is what this place is all about... that, and debating things like the benefits of Polymorph... over, and over again.

As Ovinomancer suggested... the Clerics should be using Status to keep an eye on his fellows.

cya...

Mike