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How Smart is Spiritual Weapon?

Archade

Azer Paladin
Hi all,

We had a conundrum last session -- a character had cast spiritual weapon, and two rounds later, its target became invisible.

I ruled that the line of effect was broken, and spiritual weapon returned to the caster awaiting a new target. The players argued that it should have continued to affect the invisible critter, much like melf's acid arrow.

Opinions? Rule quotes? Snide comments?
 

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It is not often I side against the DM, but this is one of them. I do think the weapon keeps swinging on the invisible foe.

A Smart foe can negate that spell really easy, since breaking the cleric's line of sight on the weapon does that.

Spiritual Weapon
Evocation [Force]
Level: Clr 2, War 2
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Magic weapon of force
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

A weapon made of pure force springs into existence and attacks opponents at a distance, as you direct it, dealing 1d8 force damage per hit, +1 point per three caster levels (maximum +5 at 15th level). The weapon takes the shape of a weapon favored by your deity or a weapon with some spiritual significance or symbolism to you (see below) and has the same threat range and critical multipliers as a real weapon of its form. It strikes the opponent you designate, starting with one attack in the round the spell is cast and continuing each round thereafter on your turn. It uses your base attack bonus (possibly allowing it multiple attacks per round in subsequent rounds) plus your Wisdom modifier as its attack bonus. It strikes as a spell, not as a weapon, so, for example, it can damage creatures that have damage reduction. As a force effect, it can strike incorporeal creatures without the normal miss chance associated with incorporeality. The weapon always strikes from your direction. It does not get a flanking bonus or help a combatant get one. Your feats or combat actions do not affect the weapon. If the weapon goes beyond the spell range, if it goes out of your sight, or if you are not directing it, the weapon returns to you and hovers.

Each round after the first, you can use a move action to redirect the weapon to a new target. If you do not, the weapon continues to attack the previous round’s target. On any round that the weapon switches targets, it gets one attack. Subsequent rounds of attacking that target allow the weapon to make multiple attacks if your base attack bonus would allow it to. Even if the spiritual weapon is a ranged weapon, use the spell’s range, not the weapon’s normal range increment, and switching targets still is a move action.

A spiritual weapon cannot be attacked or harmed by physical attacks, but dispel magic, disintegrate, a sphere of annihilation, or a rod of cancellation affects it. A spiritual weapon’s AC against touch attacks is 12 (10 + size bonus for Tiny object).

If an attacked creature has spell resistance, you make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against that spell resistance the first time the spiritual weapon strikes it. If the weapon is successfully resisted, the spell is dispelled. If not, the weapon has its normal full effect on that creature for the duration of the spell.

The weapon that you get is often a force replica of your deity’s own personal weapon. A cleric without a deity gets a weapon based on his alignment. A neutral cleric without a deity can create a spiritual weapon of any alignment, provided he is acting at least generally in accord with that alignment at the time. The weapons associated with each alignment are as follows.

Chaos
Battleaxe

Evil
Flail

Good
Warhammer

Law
Longsword
 

Archade said:
We had a conundrum last session -- a character had cast spiritual weapon, and two rounds later, its target became invisible.

We had a situation a while back where we were fighting a vampire; we dropped him down to low single-digit hit points, and he changed into a bat and lost himself amidst a swarm of other bats.

We considered picking a random direction and loosing a lightning bolt, but ended up deciding against it.

One comment that was made was that if the cleric had cast Spiritual Weapon in the first round, rather than burning a futile turn attempt, then it would have pursued the correct bat, and given us a bearing for our lightning bolt.

My inclination is to agree with Frank: "Each round after the first, you can use a move action to redirect the weapon to a new target. If you do not, the weapon continues to attack the previous round’s target." Since the caster didn't redirect the weapon, it continues to attack the invisible creature.

-Hyp.
 

Archade said:
I ruled that the line of effect was broken, and spiritual weapon returned to the caster awaiting a new target. The players argued that it should have continued to affect the invisible critter, much like melf's acid arrow.
Well, your ruling was clearly wrong. Invisibility doesn't have any impact at all on line of effect.

My ruling would be this: the spiritual weapon continues to attack the target in the square it was last known to be until redirected to another target, subject to all the normal miss chances, etc. If the target moves out of the square, the weapon has no chance at all of hitting it, and the caster cannot target the invisible creature again unless he has some way of perceiving him.

I would rule that way because to allow the weapon to follow a moving, invisible target around and attack him transforms the spell into an infallible "pinpoint invisible foe" spell, and requires that we ascribe senses beyond those of the caster to the spell. I just don't buy that. In my imagination, the weapon attacks what the caster directs it to attack. If the caster can't perceive the target, neither can the weapon. On the other hand, just because you turn invisible doesn't mean the weapon stops trying to hit you.

But that's just my take on it. The rules are deafeningly silent on this question.
 


Just to cause trouble...

What if the caster of the spiritual weapon has a see invisibility up?

(Obviously, this is directed to the 'not a homing beacon' side of this argument.
 

Yes, what if the caster has see invisibility going?

The caster has to make attack rolls each round. I would say if they have see invisibility going, they would continue to hit the target at no penalty.

Thanks for the input -- in future, I will have the spiritual weapon continue to swing at the last known square until redirected.
 


Ogrork the Mighty said:
I agree with Vegepygmy. Spiritual Weapon was never intended to be a homing beacon.
Could you cite some rules on that? Just about any spell effect that follows a target is going to have that outcome.

Besides it is reasonably fair since if a cleric becomes invisable after casting a Spirtual Weapon, the weapon will betray the cleric's location when the weapon returns to him while it is between targets.

Unless a DM runs combats as always open spaces without obstacles and terrain, getting a spirtual weapon off you is so easy it is a joke.
 
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