Mass Heal vs Undead

[Anthron]

Touch Attack

Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. A character can score critical hits with either type of attack. A character's opponent's AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. The target's size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.

The two types appear to be distinct from one another and in fact the only two spells that do not signify whether it is a melee or a ranged touch attack in the SRD are Mass Heal and Harm. Another fact that causes confusion with this spell other then it does not specify which touch attack it is using is that it doesn’t follow the way touch attack work in other instances.

I also could not find any spells that did not count extra touch attacks in addition to the one for the subject (singular in all instances)* of the spell as anything but attack actions.

What it appears to be is an attempt to give the undead in the area of effect a "saving throw" with out really thinking through the rest of the mechanics of the game.

Personally I don’t think heal or harm were well though out to begin with.

Edit: *Except flame arrow which I just remembered and looked at. So this is not neccesarily correct.

 

[XCorvis]

I won't post Harm and Heal here, but it's clear that the (SRD) description for mass heal is simply a compound of the heal and harm spells.

IMO, a touch attack is assumed to be a melee touch attack unless it uses the word "ranged". So, I say that it's a typo. The spell is not fully explained.

AuraSeer: Your interpretation is that it is a ranged touch attack. That may be correct. But, because it's not clear, it'll be a DM's ruling.

And this is from the FAQ:

If you cast the mass heal spell during combat, can you
choose which creatures are affected or does the spell affect
everyone in the area, friend and foe?
Look at the summary information at the beginning of the
spell. If the spell has a Target or Targets entry, the caster
chooses who receives the spell (see page 148 in the Player’s
Handbook).
If the spell has an Effect or Area entry, the caster usually can
decide where to place the area or effect, but every subject that
within the selected area or effect will be affected, no matter
what the caster wants. As noted in the previous answer, some
effects, such as rays, allow the caster to select specific subjects.
In any case, mass heal has a Target entry, so the caster can
select who is affected. (Note that the caster cannot select targets
more than 30 feet apart.)

In light of this explanation, I would personally rule that no attack roll is necessary. (My house rules say harm gives a save, tho.) Healing Circle doesn't use an attack roll either. It just effects everyone in the area.

 

[AuraSeer]

In light of this explanation, I would personally rule that no attack roll is necessary.

Despite the fact that the spell description specifically says an attack roll is required? Fine, whatever.

 

[XCorvis]

Originally posted by AuraSeer Despite the fact that the spell description specifically says an attack roll is required? Fine, whatever.

Well, I did indicate multiple times that I do not see the spell description as completely valid. There are plenty of unclear statements in the SRD. But I can see you don't really care.

I do suggest you try to be a little nicer next time. Phrases like "I fail to see what the problem is" and "it's not that complicated" come off as abrasive at best, and insulting at worst.

 

[Beretta]

The FAQ makes it perfectly clear then - it's a typo.

AuraSeer - I've found (so far) that WotC is pretty good when it comes to making a distinction between "touch attacks" and "ranged touch attacks". There is no way that the spell is a "ranged touch attack"; if that were the case, the statement of "touch attack" would have been prefaced by the word "ranged".

Mass Heal is being moved to 9th level - I wonder if the mechanics have been changed?

"It's not that complicated."

What XCorvis said.

edit: thanks for posting the FAQ XCorvis. Didn't think to look at that...