Lightning Bolt and Sage Advice...

[0-hr]

Answer: Depends. Basically as long as there is at least 1 sq ft of open space in a given 25 sq ft area the bolt is not blocked.

That sounds like the basic "Line of Effect" stipulation. What's the problem?

 

[Crothian]

That sounds like the basic "Line of Effect" stipulation. What's the problem?

THe problem I have with it is it was not that well written. It takes him over a column to explain it and I think it was presented more complicated then it needed to be.

 

[Mahali]

[BNever mind the lunacy of making the spell effect blockable fy CREATURES ... never mind the lunacy of not considring how much would conduct RIGHT THROUGH those creatures.

[/B]

Don't you just love it when children try to apply their lack of scientific knowledge and real world mechanics into a fantasy game?

 

[Dinkeldog]

One would think after 6 months one would know that we don't call each other names. That applies to Skip as much as anyone else.

 

[Pax]

Don't you just love it when children try to apply their lack of scientific knowledge and real world mechanics into a fantasy game?

Eh?

I can't tell if you agree with me, or disagree.

 

[Darklone]

One would think after 6 months one would know that we don't call each other names. That applies to Skip as much as anyone else.

Let me chime in here with a nice link how to write about someone else...

Jolly Blackburns cries from the attic

 

[AuraSeer]

I can't tell if you agree with me, or disagree.

He's disagreeing with you, and also pointing out that physics has no place in a fantasy world.

If D&D used the same physics as RL, Lightning Bolt wouldn't work in the first place. Rather than travelling in a line, the bolt would simply arc to ground by the easiest path. Casting it while standing on the ground would be very stupid, since the caster would qualify as a ground path.

Magic != physics.

 

[Berk]

Or the character could just be duplicating the effects of a real lightning bolt and having the ground release the electricity. Since I recall lightning actually starting from the ground and then going up into the sky. But hey, physics was meant to be broken, that's why quantum mechanics are so much fun. =o)

 

[LokiDR]

Magic != physics.

But physics is magic. My textbook told me so. "Suppose by some magic we could...." Ok, maybe I just don't like physics.

Large creatures blocking the line of effect of a spell and/or providing cover makes sense to me. If you were fighting a "living wall" that was 20'x15', it should be able to stop a lighting bolt the same way a normal wall would.

 

[Berk]

Large creatures blocking the line of effect of a spell and/or providing cover makes sense to me. If you were fighting a "living wall" that was 20'x15', it should be able to stop a lighting bolt the same way a normal wall would.

actually several factors weigh on if this assumption is correct or not. What is the living wall made out of? Does it have a moisture content higher then a normal wall would? If it's living does it have vital organs and if so how are they working and all that such without the help of a liquid mode of transportation at some level. And many many many MANY more other questions that have to be factored into it. Electricity is a funny thing. Pick up an iron that is plugged in, now pick up that same plugged in iron while standing in a puddle of water. Nowhere near as much fun, however much fun you could get from picking up an iron anyway.

Anyways I've gone way off on a tangent and have forgotten the point I was trying to make. =op Oh well. =op