Greater Command Question

[agarrett]

One of my players has just discovered the Greater Command spell. He has settled on using the 'Halt' action, as it prohibits the recipient from using any actions until the spell either expires or he makes his save.

My problem with this is that the spell effectively becomes Mass Hold Monster - a 9th level wizard spell, given to clerics as a 5th level spell? That just seems wrong. OK, in Hold Monster the target is helpless, while in Greater Command he's not - this is a fairly small difference. 'Halt' as a command also appears to be well beyond the power of the other listed commands.

I've come up with two possibilities so far, but would like other opinions, and especially rules references if available:

1. While a subject under the Halt command cannot perform actions, they are still able to take Attacks of Opportunity, and 5' steps - neither of which are defined as actions.

2. The command is specifically terminated if the target is unable to perform the command. If attacked, they are forced to move, and thus the spell is immediately broken.

Both of these options put the spell where I think a good 5th level spell should be. However, they both seem to stretch a little bit, and I was curious if there are other opinions, or previous rulings.

Thanks for the help,

Drew Garrett

 

[AuraSeer]

Your option 1 is close to what the rules say. Attacks of opportunity are not actions, so the "halt" command as written does not prevent them. However, it does state that the target "stands in place," so no 5' steps.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Another disadvantage Greater Command has over Hold Monster is the Language-Dependent descriptor.

If you don't share a language with the target(s), you can't make it work...

-Hyp.