Gltterdust / Ogre Mage

[JRR_Talking]

searched previous posts, couldnt find answer

can glitterdust blind ghouls?

if it blinds my ogre mage, does it all drop off him when he gasesous forms, or does he need to polymorph to a creature that doesnt have eyes?

what is a good 5HD beatsie for him to polymorph into, blinded or not? he is in an icey cavern.

ta

John

 

[Dross]

can glitterdust blind ghouls?

There is nothing in the SRD that I found that would make ghouls immune to being blinded or to this spell in particular. So yes ghouls can be blinded.

if it blinds my ogre mage, does it all drop off him when he gasesous forms, or does he need to polymorph to a creature that doesnt have eyes?

The dust does not drop of a victim, it fades away at the end of the spell duration. So you couldn't go to gaseous form and back again to remove the blindness (which I think you are suggesting). You would have to change into something with blindsense, tremorsense etc to be able to 'see'.

what is a good 5HD beatsie for him to polymorph into, blinded or not? he is in an icey cavern.

Can't give a specific critter, but something from the bat family immediately comes to mind.

 

[eamon]

There is nothing in the SRD that I found that would make ghouls immune to being blinded or to this spell in particular. So yes ghouls can be blinded.

Agree. Undead can be blinded (and affected by illusions and other sensory effects) as normal, as long as they aren't "mind-affecting". Glitterdust isn't mind-affecting.

The dust does not drop of a victim, it fades away at the end of the spell duration. So you couldn't go to gaseous form and back again to remove the blindness (which I think you are suggesting). You would have to change into something with blindsense, tremorsense etc to be able to 'see'.

Agree. I'm not sure I would interpret the dust as causing the blindness beyond the initial "glitter", though - it also makes sense to just say that the "overwhelming" glitter makes you blinded, avoiding the discussion of whether you can somehow shake off the effects by weird means. Remove Blindness/Deafness would work (I should think), and dispel magic might (if you succeed on your caster level check). In any case, when you turn gaseous, all your equipment - notably including the involutarily gained magical glittering dust here ;-) - remains with you, simply gaseous and translucent. You could make an argument for the glitters to be less noticably while gaseous, but the moment you turn solid again, the dust is before (so turning gaseous and then normal again won't help in any case).

Would you say glitterdust affects incorporeal critters? How about a creature that was gaseous beforehand?

 

[eamon]

what is a good 5HD beatsie for him to polymorph into, blinded or not? he is in an icey cavern.

A dire bat has 4HD, a high AC, and can fly, and has blindsense (not blindsight!). For defensive purposes, perhaps not bad.

 

[JRR_Talking]

ta

john

 

[Dross]

Would you say glitterdust affects incorporeal critters? How about a creature that was gaseous beforehand?

Hmmm, well there is that 50% miss chance for non-force damage thing (if you so rule blindness). I'd be inclined to go with 50% miss chance, and only if coated then save or blind but may be convinced otherwise. I would think most so affected would sink into the ground a wait out the duration before returning to exact revenge though (which may be all that is needed).

As for gaseous, vision appears to be unaffected. So I guess it would come down to, do you have to cover eyes, or cover the "body" to blind someone with the spell? I'm undecided, but might rule if favour of the PCs the first timed used under the "more fun" clause than anything else.

 

[irdeggman]

The 50% non affect chance only applies to "damage". Blindness is not damage. An incorporeal creature is just as affected by lighting conditions as is anyone else so glitterdust (an area effect spell, not an attack spell) should affect them the same.

 

[WarShrike]

what is a good 5HD beatsie for him to polymorph into, blinded or not? he is in an icey cavern.

John

This just came up in a game last night. Last week, the party defeated but failed to kill an Ogre Mage. I had polymorphed him into a Troll, which it turned out was illegal as it has 6 HD. I only realized that after the game and was making notes. Last night, the Ogre Mage wanted a rematch, and the main tank is a heavy hitter. Real heavy. I was flipping through the MM I, looking for something with Regeneration thinking i could find something with slightly lesser Regeneration than a Troll in the legal range, and landed on the Hydra.

5 Headed Hydra:
Huge Magical Beast
5d10+28 (55 hp)
Init +1
Speed 20 ft
AC 15
Standard AND Full Attack: 5 bites +6 melee (1d10+3)
Space / Reach 15ft / 10 ft
Spec Att. --
Spec Qual Darkvision 60 ft, fast healing 15, low-light vision, scent.
So on and so forth.

Dang, fast healing 15. For a low level party, that was a long fight. They more than earned their loot.

WarShrike

 

[MadWand]

For all those suggesting the ogre mage polymorph into a hydra, troll, or bat, do be aware that polymorph does not grant the special qualities of the target form. This includes darkvision, regeneration, fast healing, and special senses such as blindsight.

Thankfully so, because otherwise druids and wizards would become even more powerful.

For the OP, I would suggest having your ogre mage polymorph into a lost orphan human child, damsel in distress, or prospective party member, and have the party take him in for a while. Then, kill them while they sleep.

 

[WarShrike]

For all those suggesting the ogre mage polymorph into a hydra, troll, or bat, do be aware that polymorph does not grant the special qualities of the target form. This includes darkvision, regeneration, fast healing, and special senses such as blindsight.

Thankfully so, because otherwise druids and wizards would become even more powerful.

Whoops. Good call.

WarShrike