Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="TanithT" data-source="post: 5770422" data-attributes="member: 87695">Excellent point of distinction.&nbsp; And obviously relevant to game mechanics.&nbsp; The DM would need to decide what effect such spells would have, hopefully in a reasonably logical manner.&nbsp; If your character got socked with a chemical poison created with magical techniques that substituted for scientific ones (flame cantrip for heat, spells to concentrate or denature or purify the chemical, etc), I would rule that you're SOL if all you have to combat it is Dispel Magic.&nbsp;Well, if the average low-tech culture encounters a solid substance that is white and semi-translucent and hot, and melts slowly to give off liquid, I'm guessing the moniker that gets tagged onto it will be &quot;hot ice&quot;.&nbsp; &nbsp;I agree, it doesn't.&nbsp; If I did this as an alchemical plot hook, I would not make such a ruling.&nbsp; What something looks like and how it functions can be very different things.&nbsp; Dolphins look like fish, but they are vertebrate mammals. Good point, but having generally separate game mechanics for magical effects that mimic poison and actual poison would probably be a bit messy for most folks to want to deal with.I could see being ambitious enough to go there myself, but most people aren't going to care enough about the fiddly points of toxicology to want to mod the rules that far.&nbsp; Declaring &quot;Poisons work this way&quot; is probably going to be enough for your average player.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TanithT, post: 5770422, member: 87695"] Excellent point of distinction. And obviously relevant to game mechanics. The DM would need to decide what effect such spells would have, hopefully in a reasonably logical manner. If your character got socked with a chemical poison created with magical techniques that substituted for scientific ones (flame cantrip for heat, spells to concentrate or denature or purify the chemical, etc), I would rule that you're SOL if all you have to combat it is Dispel Magic. Well, if the average low-tech culture encounters a solid substance that is white and semi-translucent and hot, and melts slowly to give off liquid, I'm guessing the moniker that gets tagged onto it will be "hot ice". I agree, it doesn't. If I did this as an alchemical plot hook, I would not make such a ruling. What something looks like and how it functions can be very different things. Dolphins look like fish, but they are vertebrate mammals. Good point, but having generally separate game mechanics for magical effects that mimic poison and actual poison would probably be a bit messy for most folks to want to deal with. I could see being ambitious enough to go there myself, but most people aren't going to care enough about the fiddly points of toxicology to want to mod the rules that far. Declaring "Poisons work this way" is probably going to be enough for your average player. [/QUOTE]

Verification