Shadows' Lethal Strength Drain

[Hawken]

Scrolls, potions, whatever. My point is, the guy had options--more than just stand there and die.

Yes, I caught that he got caught by flat footed, so no dex bonuses. But like I mentioned, he should have had at least a +2-3 bonus on his armor, maybe the same on his shield, and maybe a +1-2 ring or something. And the enhancement bonuses still count to touch AC, so his AC should have been at least 14+, not counting the possibility of either Shield of Faith or Magical Vestment or something like that that still could have been in effect, and then as soon as he acts, he gets his dex and dodge bonuses which should have added something.

The cleric could have ran, at least to his companions for help, if not somewhere else safe(r). Like I said, its embarrassing that a 9th level anything could be killed by such a weak monster. Yes, they are dangerous, but a 9th level character, even out of spells, should be more dangerous still! If they were fighting undead all day or whatever, he still should have kept at least 1 turn attempt just for something like this, especially knowing that undead were in the area.

By a strict reading of the rules these have their limitations too, in that the item creator must choose which specific spell-effect to use at the time of creation - so there is no general potion of lesser restoration, but instead a bunch of different types of potion of that spell, each affecting a different ability score.

Where exactly did you come up with this? By "strict" do you mean your interpretation? The spell Lesser Restoration is pretty specific about what it does, restores temporary ability score damage. If the character has temporary ability score damage, it restores it. And the spell description even specifically states, "...such as from a Shadow's touch...". There is no "specific spell-effect" to choose from. The effect is the restoration of temporary ability damage (if the character has temporary ability damage, the spell works) and only a jack-ass DM would make a that spell restore 1 temporary point from something else when the character is dying on the spot from Str loss. There's nothing in the spell description that states the caster or the target get to choose what score gets restored either.

 

[Rvdvelden]

And the enhancement bonuses still count to touch AC, ...

Sorry, but they are enhancement bonuses to armour, and armour is ignored with touch attacks, so the bonus doesn't work.

 

[eamon]

By a strict reading of the rules these have their limitations too, in that the item creator must choose which specific spell-effect to use at the time of creation - so there is no general potion of lesser restoration, but instead a bunch of different types of potion of that spell, each affecting a different ability score.

Personally I wouldn't be that strict, but that's how it works by RAW.

Interesting. Do you have a reference for that?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Interesting. Do you have a reference for that?

Potions are like spells cast upon the imbiber. The character taking the potion doesn’t get to make any decisions about the effect —the caster who brewed the potion has already done so.

This means there's no Potion of Resist Energy; rather, there's a Potion of Resist Energy (Fire) and a Potion of Resist Energy (Electricity).

Let's say you've taken Wis damage and Cha damage, and you've also been hit with a Ray of Enfeeblement, incurring a Str penalty. You drink your Potion of Lesser Restoration.

Lesser restoration dispels any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores or cures 1d4 points of temporary ability damage to one of the subject’s ability scores.

So when you drink your potion, does it dispel the Ray of Enfeeblement, or cure the Cha damage, or cure you Wis damage? It can only do one, and the character taking the potion doesn’t get to make any decisions about the effect —the caster who brewed the potion has already done so. So if the creator elected, at brewing time, to make a Potion of Lesser Restoration (dispel magic effect reducing Str), it will dispel the Ray of Enfeeblement. If the creator made a Potion of Lesser Restoration (cure Cha damage), it will cure your Cha damage. If the creator made a Potion of Lesser Restoration (dispel magic effect reducing Con), you're out of luck.

-Hyp.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Interesting. Do you have a reference for that?

The Brew Potion feat description:

When you create a potion, you make any choices that you would normally make when casting the spell.

 

[avr]

...The cleric could have ran, at least to his companions for help, if not somewhere else safe(r)... QUOTE]

I've seen something similar happen, and with shadows, and with the same result (the death of the NPC) - a GM tracking lots of things, or a player whose first concern is their own PCs life, may not have the NPC react with sufficient concern for the NPCs safety.

 

[Zurai]

How, exactly, are you supposed to run from an incorporeal undead when you're a character wearing heavy armor? They move twice as fast and run almost three times as fast, in addition to completely ignoring non-force-effect non-antimagic obstacles.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Withdraw 40ft towards the rest of the party so that the undead would be more likely to go after a different target, or perhaps break off the engagement entirely. And, that's assuming the party hasn't already chipped in for the low cost of some boots of striding and springing, which every heavily armored cleric should have.

 

[Zurai]

The boots won't do jack. The shadows STILL move faster on a normal move, double move, and run action. Shadows have a 40' incorporeal flight speed. Shadows are also intelligent, so they should be aware that a cleric (especially one reduced to <10 strength - which coincidentally would hinder its movement even more) should be their primary target above all else.

Really, there's no way to run away from a pack of incorporeal undead short of forcecage, antimagic field, or teleport. Unless they're tied to an area they can't leave because of plot reasons, of course, but that isn't the case by default for shadows.

 

[boolean]

The boots won't do jack. The shadows STILL move faster on a normal move, double move, and run action.

If the shadows have to double move or run, it means they aren't attacking. So, if the shadows are focusing on a single target, he can keep them moving while the rest of the party readies attacks, casts spells, etc.