Gaseous Form to avoid poison?

[Xahn'Tyr]

If a character is poisoned but is in Gaseous Form ten rounds later, does the poison just go away with no chance of causing additional harm?

The spell says that the character is immune to poison. So does it just go away, or does it go into "stasis" for the duration of the gaseous form and then affect the character when they solidify later?

I would assume the former, but that make Neautralize Poison rather weak no? No reason to buy those expensive 4th level potions when you can get more power for far less money...

 

[Forrester]

*coughmunchkincough*

If the poison is coursing through your veins when you go Gaseous, I fail to see how it could *not* be coursing through your veins when you return to normal form. Realistically, the reason you're immune to poison when you're gaseous is that the poison has no avenue of entry, not some spooky magical protection.

This may be too logical an argument for some people. But these are the same people who would argue that a "Resistance" spell cast upon you *exactly* 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 54 seconds after receiving a negative level, would give you a bonus to your saving throw to remove said negative level six seconds later.

If that's the way you want to go, powergame away.

 

[chilibean]

*cough give-him-a-break-he's-asking-a-legitimate-question cough*

It seems very simple to me that while in gaseous form you have no metabolism. And so, just like undead and golems, you are immune to poison. You cannot eat, you cannot drink, you cannot breath. I would agree that the poison is locked in stasis and the time spent in gasuous form will not count in the progression of the poison. The poison would continue exactly as it was before you went into gaseous form once you return to normal.

Following Forrester's logic you should immediately fall unconscious due to lack of blood being delivered to your brain, since you have no blood anymore. But then again you have no physical brain either, so maybe you wouldn't. Arguments like this are ridiculous. It's magic, the poison is transformed away, just like your body, and comes back ... just like your body. Why make it more dificult than that?

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

I'm asking this as the DM. A player would very likely have died except that he drank a gaseous form potion before the second set of poison effects came around.

I find it difficult to kill a player with poison when the book says rather clearly that he is immune to poison is all.

So you say the poison is still in effect when the person comes back. How long is it until they have to make the saving throw? Is it right away, or does a person have to spend 10 rounds corporeal? What about a Poison spell? Would it act like your poison, or would it expire like a spell (or are you saying that all spell effects go into stasis when someone turns gaseous?).

I think that there are enough ambiguities here to warrant a discussion without the need for insults.

 

[The Sigil]

My answer...

FWIW -

I would suggest that you simply treat the time spent in gaseous form as a temporary "pause" in the effect...

If there are 10 rounds between "poisoning" and "onset," start the "countdown" when the character is poisoned. When the character goes gaseous, the countdown pauses/is temporarily suspended. When the character returns to corporeal form, the countdown continues.

So, for example, a character who is poisoned and spends 3 rounds fighting before pulling a potion and going to gaseous form will have the poison "hit him" 7 rounds after returning to corporeal form.

Again, think of "gaseous form" as hitting a "pause" button on the countdown, but not a "reset" or "stop countdown altogether." Hopefully that is clear and unambiguous.

--The Sigil

I'm asking this as the DM. A player would very likely have died except that he drank a gaseous form potion before the second set of poison effects came around.

I find it difficult to kill a player with poison when the book says rather clearly that he is immune to poison is all.

So you say the poison is still in effect when the person comes back. How long is it until they have to make the saving throw? Is it right away, or does a person have to spend 10 rounds corporeal? What about a Poison spell? Would it act like your poison, or would it expire like a spell (or are you saying that all spell effects go into stasis when someone turns gaseous?).

I think that there are enough ambiguities here to warrant a discussion without the need for insults.

 

[AGGEMAM]

Aquired immunities should not work retro-actively neither should they suspend effects.

In gaseous form you are just as much a whole person as you normally are.

IMO, casting Gaseous Form shouldn't work as a means to gain retro-active immunity to poisons.

And where do get those 4th level Potions from ???

Besides isn't killing PC's what DM'ing is all about.

 

[kreynolds]

And where do get those 4th level Potions from ???

Potions are not limited to 4th level spells. Wands are.

 

[mzsylver]

Potions are not limited to 4th level spells. Wands are.

kreynolds has been smoking the good stuff today

 

[Radius]

I agree with the Sigil. Spells like Regeneration don't allow you to retroactively attach limbs that were removed before the spell was cast. The poison would simply halt it's progression until you returned to corporeal form.

 

[chilibean]

Aquired immunities should not work retro-actively neither should they suspend effects.

In gaseous form you are just as much a whole person as you normally are.

It wouldn't be retro-actively doing anything. If there are poison effects that haven't taken place yet, those poison effects won't start until after the person returns to normal. A retro-active immunity would mean that the poison would be neutralized and the previous effects would be undone. No one has advocated that position (as yet).

As for the "whole person" statement, true you are still the same race as before and you are still whole. However, your body has been transformed into a magical gas. You no longer have blood and blood vessels. You don't have a heart or a stomach. You're just mist. How can a poison continue to spread and damage organs and tissue? How can you breath? If you poke your head through a keyhole to see on the far side of a door, does the narrow opening start to choke you? No. That's because there is no blood or air flowing anywhere. You're just a gas. So unless it was a magical poison, I really don't see how it could continue to hurt you.

Suppose that you are wearing armor and turn gaseous form. Can the touch of a rust monster damage your armor? I would say no, because it isn't metal now. Would poison continue to hurt you, no, because you have no metabolism now. Also, recall that you aren't only immune to poison, you are also immune to critical hits. Again that is becuase you have no critical spots anymore. You are just a big pile of gas. You have no soft spots with critical organs underneath. You can't cast spells with verbal or somantic components. Why, because you can't speak if you have no lungs, voice box, or mouth with which to vocalize. You cant gesture with your hands if you have no hands.

Now granted, there are exceptions to this. I assume that you can still make use of your eyes since that would be a big enough hinderance that they would have to have mentioned it. Of your 5 normal senses, I think the sense of taste is the only one I would rule as unusable. Maybe smell too. Touch sense would probably be very limited. You could probably only feel if something is very soft or not, and whether it is smooth or not. Since you're not immue to fire & cold, I assume you could feel those as well.