Ruling on Toothed Tentacle

[shadowgriffen]

Ruling on Toothed Tentacle Toothed Tentacle is a second level spell from LOST EMPIRES OF FAERUN.

They put everything but the saving throw, spell resistance, and energy type.
The group I'm playing with is giving me a hard time with this spell. And its 4th lvl improved version.

I'm arguing with them that its an energy type spell, and that there is no saving throw for it because It's a melee attack.

And no spell resistance for the same reason hit or miss.
The only part of the tentacle that can be hit is the maw of the three .

All spells that have saving throws and spell resistance list them in the spell description .

The energy type for evocation is not filled because the type it deals is not the standard energy type.

there for It's not filled in and just is an energy .

what do you guys have to say please reply .

 

[Dandu]

Hm. Could you post an extract of it for discussion purposes?

 

[kitcik]

I'm not an expert on arcane spells, but reading it on the WOTC site I agree with what you say: no save, no spell resistance, and energy type does not matter as it appears to deal physical melee damage.

It is hard to believe they are giving you trouble with this spell. It hardly seems overpowered with the above interpretations given that it requires concentration and needs to roll "to hit" in order to do damage.

 

[shadowgriffen]

Here is the spell
TOOTHED TENTACLE
Evocation
LEVEL:SOR/WIZ 2
COMPONENTS: V,S,M
CASTING TIME: 1 STANDARD ACTION
RANGE: PERSONAL
EFFECT:30' LONG TENTACLE EXTENDING FROM YOUR HAND
DURATION: CONCENTRATION, TO A MAXIMUM OF 1 RD/PER LVL

THIS SPELL CREATES A SHADOWY TENTACLE OF ENERGY THAT EXTENDS 30 FEET FROM YOUR HAND, SPLITTING INTO THREE SMALLER TENTACLES ABOUT 10 FEET FROM ITS END. EACH OF THESE SMALLER TENTACLES ENDS IN A FANGED, SLAVERING MAW. ALL THREE OF THESE MOUTHS CAN BE DIRECTED TO ATTACK AS A FULL-ROUND ACTION, OR ONE OF THEM CAN ATTACK AS A STANDARD ACTION. YOU CAN DIRECT THE MOUTHS TO ATTACK SEPARATE TARGETS AS LONG AS ALL TARGETS ARE WITHIN 10 FEET OF EACH OTHER. EACH MOUTH STRIKES WITH AN ATTACK BONUS EQUAL TO YOUR CASTER LEVEL PLUS THE MODIFIER FOR THE ABILITY SCORE THAT CONTROLS YOUR SPELL CASTING, AND EACH DEALS 2D6 POINTS OF DAMAGE ON A SUCCESSFUL HIT.
BECAUSE THE MOUTHS ARE TANGIBLE, THEY CAN BE DESTROYED. EACH HAS AN AC OF 15 AND HIT POINTS EQUAL TO 10 + YOUR CASTER LEVEL. IF A MOUTH IS DESTROYED, IT FADES AWAY INTO NOTHINGNESS, BUT THE OTHER MOUTHS REMAIN. IF ALL MOUTHS ARE DESTROYED, THE SPELL'S DURATION ENDS. THE MAIN TENTACLE CANNOT BE ATTACKED.

 

[Dandu]

Doesn't look broken.

 

[shadowgriffen]

Is this spell a force effect or an energy one being that only the mouths are tangible enough to hit.

 

[Dandu]

It's defiantly not force, as force effects are explicitly called out as such. Best guess is some sort of magical energy, but not one of the elemental ones.

 

[Pergentile]

Maybe it was a mistake, and it was written as Evocation instead of Conjuration. Sounds like Conjuration to me. Reminds me of Black Tentacles.

 

[Empirate]

If the spell had a save, SR was allowed, or the spell used a specific energy type (including Force), those things would be explicitly spelled out. Spell descriptions that don't have save and SR entries simply don't allow those. Also, the tentacles deal untyped damage, otherwise the spell description would spell out the damage type they deal.

What the spell does is create three tentacles that are simply physically THERE as long as you concentrate. Like a summoned creature, they do their stuff, i.e. attack and deal physical damage, and just like a summoned creature, saving throws or SR or energy resistance don't help against their attacks. That said, I do not find the spell overpowered in the slightest - it's a decent pick, but nothing compared to instant battle-winners at the level, like Glitterdust.


Note that as written the spell doesn't work AT ALL. It requires concentration to maintain, but you must take a standard action to attack with one mouth, or a full-round action to attack with all three. By RAW, you're required to take a standard action each turn in order to maintain concentration, so you couldn't make attacks with the mouths. I'd recommend rewriting the spell description to read as follows:
"While you maintain concentration on this spell, you can make an attack with one of the mouths each round. While concentrating, you can take a move action to attack with the other two mouths as well."

 

[Pergentile]

One of the most important skill tricks for casters is having 12 ranks in Concentration which allows you to concentrate on a spell as a free action (allowing you to cast other spells etc. while maintaining focus). Just because this spell is obviously narrow in its intent or must be used alongside something specific to be anything but worthless doesn't mean it needs to be changed.