Mind Blank defeats the effect of a True Strike?

[hong]

You're getting hung up on the name, "Mind Blank." I always took it to mean you're a cipher, you don't show up on the radar, so to speak.

Why yes, I am getting hung up on the name. I think the name of the spell should have something to do with what it does. I don't expect a fireball to also produce clouds of butterflies, and the same applies here.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Why yes, I am getting hung up on the name. I think the name of the spell should have something to do with what it does. I don't expect a fireball to also produce clouds of butterflies, and the same applies here.

Okay, don't get mad!

Then in this case you're getting hung up on your interpretation of the name. Of course a "fireball" is a "fireball," but what led to to believe that a "mind blank" is "a wall around someone's mind"?

Why can't it just be a form of mental invisibility? Ciphered intellect, aka mind blank? In which case, the name has plenty to do with the effect.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

I've got to agree with Dad on this one. True Strike looks to me like information gathering about whatever you are going to swing at. You say it has no target. Well, what about commune? It does not target the person you ask questions about, but it is foiled by Mind Blank.

If you are going to use True Strike to swing at the victim, then it is just silly to say that True Strike has nothing to do with them. If the vicitim is Mind Blanked then they do not exist as far as you divination is concerned. So True Strike tells you where your sword will be in the future? Ok, that's fine, but that isn't going to grant you any bonus to hit someone. For a bonus to hit, you'd need to know where THEY are going to be in the future. And if they are mind blanked, sorry, you cannot gather that information with a divination spell.

And lastly, if you say True Strike affects only the caster, then the caster cannot use True Strike if they are currently protected by Mind Blank eh?

 

[hong]

Why can't it just be a form of mental invisibility? Ciphered intellect, aka mind blank? In which case, the name has plenty to do with the effect.

I don't have a problem with that. The point still remains, mental invisibility doesn't have to have anything to do with blocking a scrying spell. Whether or not I can see your body through a crystal ball shouldn't have anything to do with whether your thoughts are invisible.

 

[Galfridus]

If you are going to use True Strike to swing at the victim, then it is just silly to say that True Strike has nothing to do with them. If the vicitim is Mind Blanked then they do not exist as far as you divination is concerned. So True Strike tells you where your sword will be in the future? Ok, that's fine, but that isn't going to grant you any bonus to hit someone. For a bonus to hit, you'd need to know where THEY are going to be in the future. And if they are mind blanked, sorry, you cannot gather that information with a divination spell.

Does this mean that if you cast True Strike you can glance around the field and tell who has Mind Blank up? You'd be able to tell you weren't getting a +20 insight bonus, I assume...

 

[chilibean]

All of you are missing the point.

Suppose there is a rope bridge a 100 yards off. Can true strike help you shoot an arrow thru the rope holding it up?

Yes.

Does it read the rope's mind?

No.

Does it work against golems? Or any other mindless objects?

Yes.

Now, does mind blank protect you?

I think that's obvious... No.

It gives you insight into the future, not into someone's mind. It's a temporal divination about the future of your actions and has nothing to do with your target's protections. Even if your target is in an antimagic shell, you can still get the benefit of true strike if you're shooting an arrow from outside it.

[start edit]

The point mentioned about affecting the miss chance is a good one. Even though the rules don't say so, it seems reasonable to me that it should significantly reduce or eliminate the miss chance due to incorporality, blink, concealment, etc...

 

[Tom Cashel]

More grist for the mill

Sorry, Chili...your rationale doesn't hold water. If your choices of targets to true strike are: a rope, a golem and a mind blanked individual, you can use it against the first two but not the last. Even if you disagree, the three choices bear no relation to each other.

BUT...I looked up Mind Blank in the D&D FAQ and found this reply from The Sage:

Can someone using a discern location spell find someone
using mind blank spell?

No. While the discern location spell description contains some
pretty strong language about the spell’s ability to overcome
effects that block scrying or divinations, the general rule in the
D&D game favors defense over offense, so mind blank’s ability to
block scrying and all forms of divination trumps discern location’s
ability to penetrate such defenses. Blocking spells of 7th level or
less, however, are still ineffective against discern location.

Now, this contains some telling language: "Mind Blank's ability to block...all forms of divination" and "defense over offense."

Is True Strike a Divination?
Yes.

Does it let you do something to someone, based on information about where they'll be?
semantics aside, Yes. ("The character gains temporary, intuitive insight into the immediate future...")

Mind Blank should "trump" True Strike.

 

[Zad]

Ok I got worn down about half way through the posts. But I'm gonna answer anyway.

Mind blank protects the target (I'll call him the defender) against all that stuff people have listed.

True strike doesn't target the defender. It is cast on the attacker. You can just as easily argue that it tells the attacker where he needs to be.

Me, I'm lazy. Mind blank protects the defender up down and sideways, but since true strike is cast on the attacker, I'd be inclined to say it works. You could then argue that someone couldn't cast a mind blank on himself, and then cast a true strike and have it work - after all he's protected from divinations

But I think either interpretation is equally valid - MB is a powerful spell after all and TS is only first level. Y'all are just gonna do what you want anyway.

 

[chilibean]

I agree with the nature of your arguement.

I disagree with your reading of the spell true strike.

I don't believe true strike divines anything about the targets future, it divines something about the person doing the attack's future. A minor but important difference.

Should antimagic shell be effective against TS? What about spell resistance?

 

[Tom Cashel]

I can see it protecting you from stuff like the detect X spells, but why should a wall around your mind stop, say, a scrying attempt?

"Scrying attempts that are targeted specifically at the subject do not work at all." In other words, if you just scried an area containing a mind blanked individual, you could see them. If you target them, their blanked mind gives you nothing to home in on, and the scry simply does not work.

Originally posted by little buddha

It [mind blank] "protects against all mind-affecting spells and effects as well as information gathering by divination spells or effects".

True Strike isn't either of those according to the PHB rules.

According to PHB rules, True Strike is most certainly a Divination spell.