Mid-Air Legion of Sentinels: does it really work?

[eamon]

Region of sentinels creates ghostly warriors in a 10ft. emanation from a point in space.

Would this spell work in mid-air, creating approx. 32 swordsmen - by a reasonable interpretation? Do you think it's intended?

Are there mitigating factors?

Not relevant for the above question:
(Note BTW that the swordsmen's attacks are missing from the print edition and have been errata'd, attacking with an attack bonus equal to caster level, and often flanking, dealing 1d8 +1 per 3 caster levels of slashing damage, critting as a longsword: 19-20/x2)

 

[Zelc]

Region of sentinels creates ghostly warriors in a 10ft. emanation from a point in space.

Would this spell work in mid-air, creating approx. 32 swordsmen - by a reasonable interpretation? Do you think it's intended?

Are there mitigating factors?

Not relevant for the above question:
(Note BTW that the swordsmen's attacks are missing from the print edition and have been errata'd, attacking with an attack bonus equal to caster level, and often flanking, dealing 1d8 +1 per 3 caster levels of slashing damage, critting as a longsword: 19-20/x2)

I actually asked WotC's customer help about this (actually, whether using it on the ground would create a dome), and they told me to look at the emanation picture in PHB which was no help at all .

 

[Winding Road]

On one hand, in the Magic section of the PHB, it states bursts and emanations expand "in all four directions[.]" That would indicate to me that it's not meant to go up and down as well.

On the other hand, one paragraph later, it notes that "[m]ost emanations are cones or spheres." A sphere would go in all directions, including vertically. Oh gloriously contradictory rules, where would we be without you?

The rules look like they can go either way here. The question I'd ask is, if the spell was cast on the ground, thus cutting off anything below the center, would you still have the swordsman appearing above? The answer to that question should match the answer to your original one. Personally, I'd rule that no, they don't appear above or below, but both interpretations seem equally valid.

 

[szilard]

"A ghostly, incorporeal swordfighter appears in each square covered by this spell's area."

Square and area... not cube and volume. Most emanations are cones or spheres, but this seems to imply that the emanation is a circle. Also, there is no mention of the sentinels being able to float.

On the other hand, it does mention that they are incorporeal, so presumably "they can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like effects, or supernatural effects."


-Stuart

 

[eamon]

Thanks for the fellow pondering! At least I'm not the only one scratching my head. Stuart, I like the implication you're reading into the phrasing. It's not perfect, but then obviously the designers forgot about this issue.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Square and area... not cube and volume. Most emanations are cones or spheres, but this seems to imply that the emanation is a circle. Also, there is no mention of the sentinels being able to float.

"[Incorporeal creatures] move in any direction (including up or down) at will. They do not need to walk on the ground."

The rules don't tend to refer to 'volume' and 'cubes'. Fireball's spherical burst is the spell's area, not the spell's volume. Antilife Shell's area of "10' radius emanation" describes a "hemispherical energy field". A creature is always referred to as occupying a square; this doesn't seem to change if he's flying. He's just occupying a square at a different height.

-Hyp.

 

[szilard]

"[Incorporeal creatures] move in any direction (including up or down) at will. They do not need to walk on the ground."

The rules don't tend to refer to 'volume' and 'cubes'. Fireball's spherical burst is the spell's area, not the spell's volume. Antilife Shell's area of "10' radius emanation" describes a "hemispherical energy field". A creature is always referred to as occupying a square; this doesn't seem to change if he's flying. He's just occupying a square at a different height.

-Hyp.

Still, the spell description states that a swordfighter appears in each square - not that multiple swordfighters appear in each square at different heights.

-Stuart

 

[Zurai]

Each different 5 feet of height is a new square.

 

[eamon]

The rules don't tend to refer to 'volume' and 'cubes'. Fireball's spherical burst is the spell's area, not the spell's volume. Antilife Shell's area of "10' radius emanation" describes a "hemispherical energy field". A creature is always referred to as occupying a square; this doesn't seem to change if he's flying. He's just occupying a square at a different height.

And, just like legion of sentinels, fireball's spell description makes no mention of the three dimensional geometry of the fireball - the fact that it's a 20ft radius spread suffices.

That, in turn, would suggest that legion of sentinels is no different, and that it occupies a 10ft radius sphere.

That makes it one of the "worst" spells in the PHB2 in terms of adjudication. In a normal fireball, you don't need to map out exactly how many "squares" fit in the radius; it's only important whether or not a creature is inside the radius. Almost all area effects work like that - but with legion of sentinels, however, since each extra field potentially means an extra AoO, precision when it comes to even unoccupied fields is required. And even once you've decided which 3D squares are occupied with incorporeal swordsmen, you're still required to figure out which of them get an AoO if a creature passes through. If multiple creatures pass through the area, you should keep track which of the swordsmen has already taken an AoO.

Imagine a horde of orcs storming through it... that game is going to grind to a halt. Especially if a few of the orcs die halfway, or stop and continue using total defense or whatever. For extra bookkeeping, you'll need to differentiate between those attacks which do get flanking bonuses and those that don't.

 

[chitzk0i]

It's fun to use this spell on a creature with a minimum forward speed (maneuverability average, poor, or clumsy). They still provoke AoOs if they fall, right?