How to stop blasphemy?

[Nail]

The image is too good to throw away, RAW be damned! If we let 2nd level spells block a 7'th level spell, we might as well go full monty.

As your rules text points out, only mind-affecting sonic attacks are nullified by being deaf. Since Blasphemy is Evocation [Evil, Sonic], it works fine.

If you house-rule this to be mind-affecting, you'll gain a different set of problems, as pawsplay points out. I'd add to his "immune" list creatures like oozes and vermin, which are mindless.

If you're really stuck on the image, why not change the description slightly to comply with the rules? Have the demons (or whatever Evil outsider you like) develop a minor magic item, called "Ear Spike", which projects a zone of Silence over just the creature who (-ahem-) "wears" the item. The obvious side effect is that the creature can neither hear nor make any noise.

I'll leave it up to the reader to imagine how one wears "Ear Spikes". What item slot would it fill?

 

[mikebr99]

Lets say we have a ECL 20 party trying to take on a balor. The balor uses blasphemy. Dazed for 1 round. The balor can spam this -every round-, automatically dazing the entire party with no chances of a saving throw, so all he needs to do is to do this constantly after summoning some demons who get free hits in and will eventually win because the party cannot do anything.

High SR to block this isnt really available till epic levels, the cloak of resistance only gives SR 21, and the balor gets past that about 95% of the time.

A 20th level Cleric with Mass Spell Resistance, and a bead of Karma... is going to give every party member SR36.


Mike

 

[Solarious]

Because Blasphemy and the other equivilants are the pure expressions of perfect law, utter chaos, and so on. They are less an actual word and more of an outpouring of sheer aligned power, channeled through the caster to flood the area, striking down all who does not share the same philosophy. It is not simply foul language; it is opening your soul to the cosmic powers that govern the universe (the Abyss, Elysium, Fernia, Syriana, etc. ad infinitum) and allowing it to act through you.

Obviously, it has it's weaknesses, such as being possibly negated by a 2nd level spell, and relying on the vibrations of the air/water/otherundefinedmedium to be the carrier of it's power.

Also, note the wording of Holy Word and Word of Chaos:

Any nonchaotic creature within the area who hears the word of chaos suffers the following ill effects.

Any nongood creature within the area that hears the holy word suffers the following ill effects.

Blasphemy and Dictum do not share this wording. Then again, the DnD rules are not the most consistant in the world either.

For natural reasons, if this house rule would be adopted, then it applies to all such spells equally: Blasphemy, Holy Word, Word of Chaos, and Dictum all require their victims to hear it in order to affect them. After all, Power Word spells also require you to hear them as well.

 

[Staffan]

A 20th level Cleric with Mass Spell Resistance, and a bead of Karma... is going to give every party member SR36.

That bead of karma seems to pop up in every "broken cleric" scenario I see. Well, that or Divine Metamagic (Persistent).

 

[Nail]

That bead of karma seems to pop up in every "broken cleric" scenario I see. Well, that or Divine Metamagic (Persistent).

Heh.

I've used both.

....okay, even I won't use the Persistant Spell feat. But DMM and Bead of Karma? (along with Orange Ioun stone and Craft Magic Tattoo) You bet! Say hello to every party member having a SR 42 (at Clr 20)!

What Balor?

 

[mikebr99]

Heh.

I've used both.

....okay, even I won't use the Persistant Spell feat. But DMM and Bead of Karma? (along with Orange Ioun stone and Craft Magic Tattoo) You bet! Say hello to every party member having a SR 42 (at Clr 20)!

What Balor?

Well, you are truely one broken individual...

What do you do about the balor's nasty habit of splodin' when it dies?

Mike

 

[Nail]

Not broken, just bent.

The Balor's Death Throes (Ex) *is* nasty, but usually by the time the Balor is at this point, there's a handy Wall of Stone in the way.

I love clerics.