Underwater spellcaster, casting at "dry" PC's HELP!

[dcollins]

It's p. 5 of this WOTC web enhancement (by Monte Cook & Skip Williams) that says "The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire spell.", but that's it. You can find it here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/we/we20010713b

 

[Steve Jung]

Skip Williams wrote a Dragon article in issue #291 (p. 60) about underwater combat. Under Magical effects he wrote:

Water does not block line of effect, except where noted below.

The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire spell, regardless of where the spell originates.

Edit: Curse, foiled by dcollins. Darn my sloth-like fingers.

 

[Kraedin]

I see. I had checked the SS underwater combat rules, but those are somewhat different. Fire spells don't function underwater, but line of effect for fire spells isn't blocked. You could fireball someone on the shore, for example.

 

[Salamander Napolean]

Questions:

2. If a character fires an arrow at a Naga underwater, will the water affect the arrow's path? How will I do this game mechanics-wise. Is the current depth of the naga an issue?

From a D20 Modern "Bullet Points" at WOTC:

Water provides both concealment and DR. Clear water provides one-half concealment to a creature that's barely submerged, three-quarters concealment to one that's submerged below 5 feet, and nine-tenths concealment to one that's below 10 feet. Murky water increases the concealment by one category (to three-quarters for a creature that's barely submerged, for example). Water also provides 1 point of DR per foot of depth. Thus, someone swimming at a depth of 5 feet in clear water benefits from a miss chance of 30% and gains DR 5.

 

[d12]

You people rock! Keep those useful replies coming!