Vampiric Touch

[Berk]

Does vampiric touch work on monsters that are plants?

yeppers

What happens when a Lich uses Vampiric Touch?
Can he heal himself, or does the spell damage him?

the lich just gains temporary hit points as the spell states

Is there a maximum you can gain in temporary hitpoints? Its says you cannnot drain more than a targets hitpoints plus 10 but that doesnt tell you how much the caster can gain in total. Could a 20th level caster throw out this spell 5 times and gain 50D6 hitpoints potentially which could be between 50 and 300 additional hitpoints?

As per the PHB and DMG there is no maximum amount of temporary hp one can gain. But in the manual of the planes there is a rule stating that one can only gain an amount of temporary hp equal to double their max hp before they are required to make a fort save (DC 20) or die, effectively exploding from too much life force if you will. It's stated under the positive energy plane. Now this only deals with temporary hp gained through positive energy while on the positive energy plane but it isn't that bad of an idea to stick with as a guide line.

Also other books and places that I've read usually don't allow for gaining more then double your max hp.

 

[bret]

This question's probably been answered before, but who gets the bonus hitpoints if a wizard casts vampiric touch through his familiar - the wizard or the familiar? If the former, I assume the latter does not gain half the bonus hit points because they are temporary?

Cheers, AK

This is addressed in Tome & Blood, pg 11.

In spite of the foregoing, some aspects of the master and familiar always remain distinct. The two have separate pools of hit points, so if you cast a cure wounds spell, all the hit points bestowed must go to one or the other.
...
For example, an aid spell grants 1d8 temporary hit points and bestows a +1 morale modifier on attack rolls and saves against fear effects. If you and your familiar share the spell, only one of you gets the temporary hit points, but you both receive the morale bonus.

Based on this, I think the temporary hit points can go to either the master or familiar.

I suggest others read the full text. There are more examples there, but I didn't want to quote the whole text.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

MotP: You only explode in a major positive dominant area. A minor-positive dominant area gives you fast healing 2 but doesn't cause you to explode.

Besides, it's quite possible for an Aid spell to blow up a 3rd-level wizard with such a rule.

 

[Negative Zero]

i'm not sure about the stacking (altho i'm of the opinion that it would), but they ARE temporary HPs, so you lose them first. so, assuming constant attacks, you'd be gaining them every round, right after you lose them.

~NegZ

 

[Berk]

MotP: You only explode in a major positive dominant area. A minor-positive dominant area gives you fast healing 2 but doesn't cause you to explode.

Besides, it's quite possible for an Aid spell to blow up a 3rd-level wizard with such a rule.

it all depends on how you as a DM rule it. I personally rule it so whenever the characters gain temporary hp from a positive energy source.

 

[Meds]

The FAQ has this to say about Vampiric Touch stacking:

How is the body feeder weapon quality supposed to
work? Do the temporary hit points from the weapon
stack? The same question applies to mind feeder
weapons and to spell effects, such as vampiric touch.

Temporary hit points from a body feeder weapon stack
with each other, but not with temporary hit points from
any other source. Likewise, temporary psionic points
from a mind feeder weapon stack, but not with temporary
psionic points from any other source.
In general, any effect that allows you to gain temporary
hit points over time allows you to stack those points, but
only those points. For example, if you use the vampiric
touch spell, the temporary hit points you gain from that
particular casting of the spell stack. They don.t stack with
the temporary hit points you get from an aid spell, nor
would the effects of two vampiric touch or aid spells stack.
If you were to use two body feeder weapons (or two mind
feeder weapons), you could not stack the temporary
points from the two weapons.

 

[Li Shenron]

My opinions on this thread... please note they all suppose IMVHO

Now for one is says the character gains temporary hitpoints so that suggests that the spell stacks on itself. If you cast it twice then you get both spells worth of hitpoints stacked onto your own.

Being the same spell cast twice, normally the effect should not stack.
I really think that basically all instantaneous spells DO stack, since actually it's not really a matter af stacking, but instantaneous damage is the same as hitting the same foe with a sword over and over. If you cast VT twice on the same target, you damage him twice.
OTOH, the effect on YOU is not instantaneous, and I would say you get the better result of the 2 spells. Actually, I'd say you get temp HP as which is better between the 2nd spell and what's left from the 1st spell (e.g. you cast it once and get 20hp, then lose 10hp - you still have 10 - you cast it again and get 15, so now you have 15 hp).
Basically, you can cast it again to "replenish" your temp Hp; and anyway, you can cast it again simply to kill the foe more quickly .

Is there a maximum you can gain in temporary hitpoints? Its says you cannnot drain more than a targets hitpoints plus 10 but that doesnt tell you how much the caster can gain in total. Could a 20th level caster throw out this spell 5 times and gain 50D6 hitpoints potentially which could be between 50 and 300 additional hitpoints?

If you cast VT against a foes (including multiple times) you get at most his HP+10, you're "stealing" HP from him, so you just can't "steal" more than he has.
From multiple foes you can drain as much as they have each, then you figure out how many HP you get, depending on the previous casting.

In general, any effect that allows you to gain temporary
hit points over time allows you to stack those points, but
only those points. For example, if you use the vampiric
touch spell, the temporary hit points you gain from that
particular casting of the spell stack. They don.t stack with
the temporary hit points you get from an aid spell, nor
would the effects of two vampiric touch or aid spells stack.
If you were to use two body feeder weapons (or two mind
feeder weapons), you could not stack the temporary
points from the two weapons.

Apart the fact that here "if you use the vampiric touch spell, the temporary hit points you gain from that particular casting of the spell stack" seems to me to mean nothing at all (stack with what? of course with your current hp - pretty obvious), the FAQs seem to confirm my opinion.
I disagree that temp Hp from different spells shouldn't stack, since usually unnamed bonuses from different sources DO stack, but if this is a specific rule for temporary Hp (which work differently from a normal bonus, since you "consume" them), it's fine for me.

What would you as a DM do if a character cast this spell and touched an undead?
...
Would you just have the spell fail? Would you automatically subject the character to any touch attack the undead may have? Or would you have the character take damage for however many hitpoints he would have drained away?

It doesn't explicitly say it's negative energy damage, AND it specicies instead that it works only on living beings. So I'd simply say that the spell fails and have no effects at all on non-living things, such as Undead, Constructs, objects or anything that does not have a Constitution score: MM's Plants are subject, but not generic vegetables... you can't "suck life" from an artichoke because it's "alive" . It must still be a "creature" i.e. has Wis and Cha.
You won't get any drawbacks if you cast it on Undead, apart that you waste the spell (and notice that a touch attack is delivered only with an attack ACTION, you can't be hit only because YOU are touching him).

As per the PHB and DMG there is no maximum amount of temporary hp one can gain. But in the manual of the planes there is a rule stating that one can only gain an amount of temporary hp equal to double their max hp before they are required to make a fort save (DC 20) or die ...

Well, that's when you are on the Positive Energy Plane only!