Looking for Errata on a spell

[Greenfield]

I did a bad thing.

We were just winding up our game session. We're going on a hiatus for a while because of schedule conflicts that take away my Sundays. The game is hosted at my house, so if I'm not available...

Anyway, we were running out of game time and the DM had us trying to storm a fortress. We don't have Disintegrate or any heavy blasting spells to just go through fortifications, so my Bard abused a spell.

The spell is G'Elsewhere Chant, and has the function of transporting a creature or object in a random direction up to 100 feet, with a guaranteed safe landing.

I used it on the front gate.

Obviously this surprised the DM, but the spell doesn't give a weight limit, so... The castle gate disappeared, only to safely reappear 10 D10 feet away in a random direction. (My character was immediately targeted by every archer on the wall, of course. )

Anyway, is there an errata on the spell or other rule that defines how heavy an "object" can be?

Good sense says that it has to be withing the limit of what the caster can lift, but game rues and good sense don't always agree.

BTW: We're house-ruling in favor of good sense from now on, unless I can find a better described limit within the rules.

 

[Gilladian]

My first objection as DM is that "an object" means one thing. It doesn't mean "the gate that is physically part of the wall". I MIGHT allow just the actual physical DOOR portion, but not the doorposts, frame, etc... so it would come off it's hinges and go. But also, I would restrict it to a size and weight similar to restrictions on other 3rd level spells. So I would allow a normal door, but not a massive castle gate door.

However, those are MY restrictions, not those in the spell. According to the spell, I'm not sure you abused anything. Although by that reading, you could move the planet!

 

[Empirate]

Love the idea! G'Elsewhere Chant always struck me as "interesting, but rarely that useful". You just came up with one way to make it actually useful all the time! Use it on obstacles, and you're using the spell to its full potential!

I'm not sure this would constitute a 'broken' use of the spell, really. It's not that hard in D&D to get rid of even very big and heavy objects. Siege spells in general are numerous and varied, as well. You just added one which nobody'd expect in the first place, well done!

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Having never heard of that one, I Just Read The Spell.

...Sounds like you did just right as far as I can see. Creativity and cool factor used as it should be.

Don't try targeting the planet. I'd imagine consequences.

 

[Greenfield]

Target the planet? Why?

Everything teleports 50 or so feet, all together, in some random direction.

What it would effectively do is move every Dimension Locked and Dimension Anchored object 100 feet in the opposite direction, without a guarantee of safe landing.

It's possible, though that instead of seeming to do nothing, it would actually do nothing. Think about it: Since the spell can't move some things, and it can't have the planet materialize inside a solid object (safe landing required), and there are probably strongholds with Forbiddance spells all around the world, not to mention prisons that are Dimensionally Locked, which direction could the world move without one of them landing inside another object?

Besides, the DM would have to roll a few million Saves, as I expect that there are more than a few people who, unaware, don't want themselves or their homes moved this way.

 

[HoboGod]

It was the DM's fault (or the lazy guards) that spell worked so well. Ever see a movie where an army is using a battering ram on a castle gate? Most of those gates, when under siege, are reinforced by a buttress which many people hold in place while others hold the door for good dramatic measure. If the DM were playing it right, he'd have 10+ will saves to negate that spell. Good job on your part, however.

 

[Greenfield]

First, an explanation:

We had 15 minutes before the end of our game session, and we're off for the next two months.

The Dm had changed the geography from the previous two times we'd been here, which had wasted a lot of our game time in pure confusion.

I was a bit ticked off.

Yes, the gate was buttressed, but nobody made the Will save.

No, the character didn't try to take the frame, counterweights, locking bar, or anything else, just the movable part of the gate.

Like you, I don't see anything wrong, in principle, with using the spell to remove doors and other inanimate obstacles, but I abused the poor wording of the spell to ignore anything resembling a sane weight limit.

What I was hoping for was that someone could point to a general rule that I missed, or an errata on the specific spell, to clarify what counts as an "object", or what (if any) weight limits are supposed to be on the spell.

 

[Wyvernhand]

If you want toadd in Houserules, consider Time Hop, a psionic power that is often used for similar tasks of object removal. Instead of teleporting the object to another where, it teleports it to another when. It does have a weight restriction, though, so if you are concerned, simply copy/pasta the weight restrictions for Time Hop.

 

[Greenfield]

The 600 lb weight limit looks reasonable.

So would "an 'object' is a single item that the caster could lift and carry".

So would "objects up to 50 lbs per caster level."

None of these are specific to the spell, or part of some general description of "object" that I'm aware of.

 

[Dandu]

You could use the weight limit from Dimension Door.

You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring one additional willing Medium or smaller creature (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or its equivalent per three caster levels. A Large creature counts as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, and so forth. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you.