Disintegrate, Vampires, Gaseous Form

[PissyPeter]

These two questions came up tonight during game play:

1) If a vampire is brought to 0 hit points by a disintegrate, does it become gaseous? or does it die its final death?

2) Assuming it does become gaseous and is wearing items, do its items change with it? or do they drop to the ground because it disintegrates first, then becomes gaseous - hence its items drop prior to it assuming gaseous form. As DM, I argued that the minute it hit 0 it would turn gaseous and since the spell includes items the items would go with the vampire.

But, I'm open to being wrong. I'm not a rules-lawyer (don't mean that negatively) and tend to shine more in the story/creativity department than always being able to track the intricacies of the rules as they layer on each other.

Thanx,

PissyPeter

 

[Henrix]

I'd say
1) It turns gaseous. Disintegrate deals damage, and a vampire turns gaseous when brought to 0 hp.

2) The equipment turns gaseous as well. It would seem silly otherwise.

 

[FEADIN]

Disintegrate
A thin, green ray springs from your pointing finger. You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit. Any creature struck by the ray takes 2d6 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 40d6). Any creature reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by this spell is entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. A disintegrated creature’s equipment is unaffected.
But:
Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.
Slaying a Vampire: Reducing a vampire’s hit points to 0 or lower incapacitates it but doesn’t always destroy it (see the note on fast healing). However, certain attacks can slay vampires. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it: It can take only a single move action or attack action and is destroyed utterly in the next round if it cannot escape. Similarly, immersing a vampire in running water robs it of one-third of its hit points each round until it is destroyed at the end of the third round of immersion. Driving a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart instantly slays the monster. However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the body is destroyed. A popular tactic is to cut off the creature’s head and fill its mouth with holy wafers (or their equivalent).
Gaseous Form....
The subject and all its gear become insubstantial, misty, and translucent
So: the vampire turn gaseous with all his gear because it's not an attack which can really destroy the vampire.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Grrrr, yet another annoying change from 3.5e, turning disintegrate into a feeble damage-dealing spell rather than the 'save or die' which it has traditionally been - without nerfing other save or die spells I might add!

Grrr!

 

[Jarrod]

Yeah, but critting with a 2d6-per-level spell is always fun.

Mmmm 44d6 at 11th level...

 

[lukelightning]

I've adjusted the Killing Vampire rules to be more flexible. In folklore, sure, it's hard to kill a vampire so you have to cut of its head, stake its heart, fill its mouth with Necco wafers, tie its toes to a marmot, all that stuff. But that's just because the torch-and-pitchfork-wielding peasants don't have access to disintegrate, turn undead, sunburst, flame strike, etc.

Disintegrate a vampire? It's gone. Turn-with-destroyed result? It's gone.

 

[FEADIN]

Turn, yes, no hp damage.
Sunburst, sunray, yes, specified.
Disrupting weapon, yes, no hp damage.
But disintegrate...no...in 3.5.

 

[Mistwell]

Not that this has much to do with this issue, but I felt like mentioning it SOMEWHERE.

Our party recently killed a vampire. We took it to below 0 HPs and it went gaseous. We then caught it in a Wall of Stone spell shaped as a dome, merging with the ceiling (the thing was moving along the ceiling at the time). It missed its reflex save. The ceiling had no cracks (well made by dwarves). Apparently, because it cannot now escape, it will die. I am not sure why (I am sure there is something in the MM entry for it that says why), but that seems to be the case.

 

[moritheil]

Not that this has much to do with this issue, but I felt like mentioning it SOMEWHERE.

Our party recently killed a vampire. We took it to below 0 HPs and it went gaseous. We then caught it in a Wall of Stone spell shaped as a dome, merging with the ceiling (the thing was moving along the ceiling at the time). It missed its reflex save. The ceiling had no cracks (well made by dwarves). Apparently, because it cannot now escape, it will die. I am not sure why (I am sure there is something in the MM entry for it that says why), but that seems to be the case.

Sounds to me like your DM is ruling that vampires have to feed at some point in time.

That, or the ceiling is transparent and lets sunlight through, and he feels like making it burn.

 

[Quidam]

I am the DM in question

Sounds to me like your DM is ruling that vampires have to feed at some point in time.

That, or the ceiling is transparent and lets sunlight through, and he feels like making it burn.

Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

Emphasis mine. I double checked, but I feel I ruled correctly. Wall of Stone will certainly last longer than two hours.