Telekinesis and the Violent Thrust

[Mr.Black]

I'll be running a vrock demon this Friday against my PCs and I have some questions on their spell-like ability: telekinesis at will.

1.Can I use the violent thrust maneuver to hurl a PC straight up into the air? I can hurl the PC at a target, and I would think that the air is not a target, but looking at the Sympathy spell (just left of the TK spell) it seems a target can also be a location. However, this could be a mistake on the author's part.

2.The act of "hurling" a creature or object with the violent thrust does not specify whether it is a ranged attack or some sort of movement. If a vrock hurls a bed at the wizard, does the wizard get cover if a fighter is in the way?

For that matter, what if the Vrock successfully hurls the fighter at the wizard and a rogue is between the wizard and the fighter? Does the rogue stop the fighter's movement or does the rogue simply grant cover to the wizard?

3.If a Vrock hurls the rogue towards itself, does the vrock get an attack of opportunity for the rogue going through its threatened area? Does the rogue land prone?

4.Finally, the TK spell allows you to hurl held possessions with a failed will save. Can you hurl a shield off the arm of a creature?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Bad Paper]

2cp worth

1.Can I use the violent thrust maneuver to hurl a PC straight up into the air?

I'm going to guess yes, 120' (10*CL). This is somewhere between the power of Defenestrating Sphere (4th level Complete Arcane spell) and 6th level Reverse Gravity spell. If you think that's too much damage for the spell (12d6 *is* a lot), then make it only 60' or so. Maybe roll for it, like 2d6*10'.

2.The act of "hurling" a creature or object with the violent thrust does not specify whether it is a ranged attack or some sort of movement. If a vrock hurls a bed at the wizard, does the wizard get cover if a fighter is in the way?

For that matter, what if the Vrock successfully hurls the fighter at the wizard and a rogue is between the wizard and the fighter? Does the rogue stop the fighter's movement or does the rogue simply grant cover to the wizard?

The spell says that it uses the caster's BAB plus mental modifier (in the case of the Vrock, this comes out to +13). This is a standard action that is part of the spell-like ability.

The cover questions are all resolved with the cover rules: yes they grant cover, and if the miss is within 4, then the covering creature gets hit instead.

3.If a Vrock hurls the rogue towards itself, does the vrock get an attack of opportunity for the rogue going through its threatened area? Does the rogue land prone?

I would say yes to both, though maybe you want to let the rogue have a Ref save (DC18 same as the spell) to land on his feet.

4.Finally, the TK spell allows you to hurl held possessions with a failed will save. Can you hurl a shield off the arm of a creature?

hmm. I think a shield is usually strapped to someone, but maybe that's the point of the (failed) save.

 

[Felix]

4.Finally, the TK spell allows you to hurl held possessions with a failed will save. Can you hurl a shield off the arm of a creature?

A shield is an attended item, it takes only a move-equiv to ready, so I'm going to say that you could most certainly yank a shield off someone's arm with sustained force.

Alternatively, you could also use the disarm mechanic from the Combat Manaeuver part of the spell, but then you couldn't bring it towards you.

 

[Storyteller01]

OGL source has a telekinetic Fighter PrC. Besides wielding multiple weapons at range, they have an ability called 'Treacherous Shield'. If an oppponent fails their save, they take 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage and lose heir shield bonus as you beat them with their own shield. Nice touch, that

 

[azmodean]

Don't forget the ability to hurl a dozen weapons. If I was running this guy as a major combatant I'd have him wear a brace of a dozen or so greatswords on his back. At a range of 120' he can hurl 12 greatswords at an opponent up to 120' away, each one that hits deals 2d6 damage.

Another fun option would be to give him a bag of holding with a ludicrous number of greatclubs in it (type one holds 30, type 2 holds 60, type three holds 120, type four holds 240!!!) (greatswords are out due to the "vunerability to cutting" issue with the bag of holding) Upon sighting the party he dumps out the bag, creating a huge pile of clubs, which he then proceeds to hurl at the party until they get into melee range. A dozen +13 attacks a round that do 1d10 dmg each is nothing to sneeze at.

You can have even more fun if the party is attacking the Vrock in it's lair, you can have it sitting on or near a gigantic pile of weapons (hundreds). Each time it uses the telekenesis ability, roll 12 attacks against the chosen target, and roll a random assortment of damage dice equal to the number of attacks that hit.

Almost forgot, if you don't want him to be a total weapon nut and/or do too much damage with this tactic, you can equip him with a quiver or two of arrows. According to the spell, arrow damage is reduced to 1d4 per arrow when used with violent thrust, but a potential 12d4 is nothing to sneeze at, and the setup is much more resonable.