| Ref | Ouvrage | Question | | Reponse |
---|
21. | DR054 | Dragon #54 | Are demons and devils immune to Sleep and Charm spells,
just like the undead are? | | Not exactly, although the end result is about the same. Demons
and devils are not by nature immune to Sleep and Charm
spells- except for the manes and lemures, which are specifically
described as being immune to both those types of magic. The
rest of the ranks don’t need to be “made” immune to Sleep spells
— they already are, because the spell only affects creatures of
up to 4+4 hit dice, and none of the demons or devils (except for
manes and lemures) has a hit-dice figure lower than 5+5.
Demons and devils are technically vulnerable to the effects of
a Charm Monster spell, but the percentages aren’t exactly in
favor of the character who tries to use such a spell -and keep it
working after it is cast. Considering the magic resistance of
demons and devils, plus the fact that they get a saving throw
against the spell even if their magic resistance fails, plus the fact
that they can successfully “break” the charm after it is cast, the
odds are definitely against the spell caster. For example, consider
an 11th-level magic-user trying to snare a “lowly” Type I
demon with Charm Monster: The demon has a 50% chance
(magic resistance) of being unaffected, a 35% chance to make a
saving throw vs. the spell even if its magic resistance fails, and a
45% chance per week thereafter of snapping out of it. That all
adds up to less than an 18% chance that the spell will succeed
and be effective for longer than one week. The chance of success
is a lot lower for the most powerful demons and devils, and
it would not be improper for a DM to simply rule that the “big
names” (Demogorgon, Juiblex, Orcus, Yeenoghu, Asmodeus,
Baalzebul, Dispater, Geryon) are effectively immune to the
spell. The idea of being able to bring one of the demon princes
or arch-devils under control by means of a mere 4th-level spell is
hard to accept. |
22. | DR043 | Dragon #43 | Are giants entitled to save vs. death magic when
struck by a Hammer of Thunderbolts? | | No. The power of the weapon, when used by a being with
Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a Girdle of Giant Strength, is so awesome
that it will automatically destroy a “normal” giant. However,
giants with unusual powers or strengths like Surtur, Thrym or
Mordagz (see Deities & Demigods) will only take the proper amount
of damage from a successful strike. |
23. | DR043 | Dragon #43 | Are Haste spells cumulative? | | No. |
24. | DR043 | Dragon #43 | Are lawful good characters able to use poisoned
weapons? | | Page 107 of the Players Handbook discusses poison in detail,
with the major conclusion being that poison usage should be
severely limited. Ultimately, the decision lies with your DM. |
25. | DR054 | Dragon #54 | Are liches or vampires destroyed or damaged by sunlight or
torchlight? What other undead, if any, are adversely affected by
exposure to sunlight or some other bright light source? | | From the various descriptions of the undead monsters in the
Monster Manual, it appears that only the vampire, the spectre
and the wraith are adversely affected by light — and even then,
the light must be actual sunlight or at least a light source of
daylight-level intensity. The light from a torch or a lantern, or a
Light spell, or a small-scale “fire” spell such as Flame Arrow, is
not bright enough to be harmful.
The status of wights is questionable; wraiths are said to be
“similar in nature to wights,” and wraiths have no power in full
sunlight, but wights are only said to “hate sunlight,” leaving
unanswered the question of whether they are harmed by it. The
sage recommends that wights be treated differently from
wraiths, because the wight is a weaker type of undead with less
of a “link” to the negative material plane than the wraith, and it is
the wraith’s strong connection to the eternal darkness of the
negative material plane that makes the creature so vulnerable to
bright light.
All of the undead prefer to lurk about in darkness. Ghosts and
shadows especially like places where light does not shine, but
daylight doesn’t bother them if they have to put up with it. A
lich’s hidden chambers are “very dark,” says the MM, but obviously
the lich has powers even in an illuminated area; otherwise,
how could anyone flee in fear of something they can’t see?
Same goes for the ghost, whose power to cause aging and panic
can’t be effective unless the victim has at least enough light to
see by. The other types of undead — ghasts, ghouls, skeletons,
mummies, and zombies — are not affected by the presence of
light.
While we’re on the subject, exactly what is “some other bright
light source” — what will produce the effect of daylight when
sunlight is not available? For one thing, a Continual Light spell,
which is said to be “nearly as illuminating as full daylight.” But
does a Continual Light suffice as a replacement for actual sunlight?
The sage’s suggestion here is that Continual Light should
be effective in rendering wraiths and spectres powerless, but
that only actual sunlight (“direct sunlight,” in the words of the
MM, is able to make a vampire helpless. Artificial sunlight, even
if created magically, has no effect upon the creature which the
MM calls “the most dreaded of the chaotic evil undead.”
As with any general guidelines, the ones stated above have
exceptions: For instance, the “sunburst” effect of a Wand of
illumination does “light”damage to any undead within its range.
It’s up to the DM to known when these exceptions should take
precedence.
Are there other light-producing magics that equal or surpass
a Continual Light spell in intensity? Yes, but most of them are
flame-producing (Flame Strike, a Wand of Fire, a Produce fire
spell, a fire Storm, and so forth) as opposed to light-producing,
and thus might be disallowed as a “light source” for the purpose
of immobilizing an undead. Similarly, a Lightning Bolt spell or
the use of a Gem of Brightness produces a flash of light bright
enough to blind, and it is certainly brighter than normal daylight.
But in most cases, the extremely short duration of the “light
blast” makes it unlikely that a DM would allow such things to be
used as light sources. |
26. | DR044 | Dragon #44 | Are longbows or composite longbows permissible
for use underground? | | It is theoretically possible to use any sort of weapon underground
if the conditions are proper. We know of a campaign which includes
catapults manned by orcs in large underground caverns. The
use of a longbow or composite longbow underground would involve
some inherent problems that should be evident to any DM (or bow
carrier) worth his salt — but they can be used. |
27. | DR047 | Dragon #47 | Are player characters allowed
to be drawn from Grey Elf stock or
Drow stock? | | Each DM must decide whether
such unusual player-character types
will be allowed in his/her campaign. In
the case of unusual elf types, there
should be a possibility for a player character
to become any of the elf subspecies,
including aquatic elves and wood
elves. However, it should be apparent
that life as a player character under such
conditions would be hard — for the
character, the player, and most of all the
DM, who must be prepared to cope with
the added responsibility of trying to incorporate
such a “rare” character into
the campaign without sacrificing its balance
and flexibility. |
28. | DR058 | Dragon #58 | Are there any alignment restrictions for dwarves? The Monster
Manual says they are lawful good. | | Many of the particulars of the Monster Manual description of
dwarves are intended only to strictly apply to non-player character
dwarves. Alignment is one of these particulars: Not all
player character dwarves have to be lawful good, just like not all
player character dwarves have to have just one hit die, and not
all player character dwarves will be “Very” intelligent.
No player character race is restricted as to what alignment a
member of that race can be. The only restrictions placed on
races concern what classes they can become — and some of
those classes have alignment restrictions, but that’s a different
matter.
A player character dwarf can be a thief, an assassin, or a
fighter, or certain combinations of those classes. If all dwarves
had to be lawful good, no dwarf would be able to be a thief or
assassin. Player character dwarves can theoretically be of any
alignment, as long as it fits the rules for the class(es) they
belong to.
Non-player character dwarves, as described in the Monster
Manual, are considered differently. NPC dwarves will be predominantly,
if not exclusively, lawful good in alignment. Virtually
all of them, except for leader types, will have no more than 1
hit die, and virtually all of them will be above average in intelligence.
Also note that the MM makes no mention of dwarven
thieves or assassins being encountered in a large group; all of
the higher-level dwarves in a group of NPCs are either fighters
or fighter/clerics. If you play NPC dwarves “by the book,” there
can never be dwarven thieves or assassins, and if those character
types are included in an adventure or a campaign, the
Monster Manual information (at least with regard to alignment,
armor and weaponry in this instance) will have to be “modified”
accordingly. |
29. | DR133 | Dragon #133 | Are there any limits on the polymorph
other spell? It seems that
this spell is easily abused. For example,
a magic-user could turn himself
into a gold dragon. Since the spell
grants all the abilities of the new
form, the magic-user could assume
human form again whenever it
wasn’t convenient to be a dragon
and still be able to fly, use breath
weapons, etc. Would such a character
lose his character class abilities?
Can he still earn experience? Would
an adult magic-user be turned into
an adult dragon by this spell? Would
the character then age as his original
race, or would he age as a
dragon? Could he reproduce with
other gold dragons? What would
happen if a fire lizard or other unintelligent
creature were polymorphed
into a gold dragon? | | To start, polymorph other means just
that; a caster may not use the spell on
himself. A polymorph other spell can turn
any creature into any other creature type
that is not unique. Remember the system
shock survival roll; the DM must assign
the polymorphed creature a constitution
score if one isn’t listed. Even if the systemshock
check is successful, the polymorphed
creature retains its own mind
and tends to act like the original. Exceedingly
stupid creatures might not even
notice the change.
This fourth-level spell is not powerful
enough to establish a connection between
a recipient creature and another plane,
nor can it bestow magical abilities (a character
turned into a vampire, for example,
could not drain energy levels). It cannot
give the recipient any skill or ability that
must be learned — such as spells, psionic
abilities, or languages. The recipient, however,
physically becomes the creature into
which he has been polymorphed, and he
could breed with others of his new ilk.
Furthermore, the recipient can think like
the type of creature into which he has
been polymorphed, and has certain
instinctive knowledge such as what he
should eat, how to use the new body’s
locomotion and physical attack capabilities,
and how to interpret what his new
senses tell him. This is not the same as
actually becoming the creature in mind,
which happens with a failed intelligence
check as noted in the spell description on
page 78 of the Players Handbook.
As long as the recipient keeps his mind,
he can use his character class abilities
(provided that this is physically possible)
and may draw upon his own knowledge.
The Players Handbook indicates that a
polymorphed player character can
hold and use tools and weapons only if his
new “hands” have digits. Items carried by
a character when polymorphed become
part of the creature when the change
takes place, and cannot be recovered until
the creature reassumes its normal form. A
polymorphed character can earn experience
as long as he keeps his own mind.
In the example you have provided
(assuming that the recipient of the spell is
another magic-user), the caster of the spell
would have to decide how big a gold
dragon the recipient magic-user will
become. When the spell takes effect, the
recipient must make a constitution check.
As you suggest, the adult magic-user
would become an adult dragon with
appropriate hit points (if he makes his
constitution check). When determining the
character’s chance to assume a gold
dragon’s mentality, divide the dragon’s
total hit points by 4 to determine its effective
hit dice (see the Monster Manual, page
31, Dragon’s Saving Throws). There should
be at least a 1% chance per day that the
recipient will assume the creature’s mentality,
regardless of adjustments.
This magic-user would be able to speak
(in the magic-user’s languages only), fly
(and carry passengers), and use the
dragon’s breath weapons. The magic-user
could use his spells provided that material
components were still at hand, and he
could still read his books and renew spells.
He does not gain the ability to speak a gold
dragon’s native tongue, nor use any of an
adult dragon’s spells, and he cannot polymorph
himself as a gold dragon can. A fire
lizard cannot be polymorphed into a gold
dragon because it is not as intelligent as a
gold dragon (see the second sentence of
the spells description in the Players Handbook);
the spell would fail. In the example
involving the magic-user above, the recipient
is assumed to be at least as intelligent
as an average gold dragon (intelligence 17
or better).
If a polymorphed creature assumes the
mentality of his new form, however, all of
the originals abilities and memories are
lost, and the creature gains the full spectrum
of its new form’s abilities. You may
rule that the acquisition of these abilities
will take time and perhaps instruction, but
you can assume that the creature will
eventually learn them. If the new gold
dragon in the above example ever learned
to use a gold dragon’s polymorph self
ability, however, any change of form will
dispel the polymorph other spell. The
creature will return to normal and must
make a system shock survival roll. Shapechanging
creatures who are the unwilling
recipients of polymorph other spells can
negate the spell in a similar manner (see
the DMG, page 45).
The polymorphed gold dragon in our
example would grow as a gold dragon
would, but he would age as a human as
long as he kept his mind. Aging in the
AD&D game is sometimes a function of
the mind, not the body. |
30. | DR042 | Dragon #42 | Are there limitations on the usage of such items
as an Amulet of the Planes? If not, the character can merely
speak a command word and blink out to his own alignment
plane any time, right? | | Amulets are powerful, arcane devices that are designed to
be used over and over again. Because of their great power, there
should not be many of them running around (one to a universal plane
is enough). The action of running to another plane for safety is risky,
when you consider that the other planes are populated by powerful
beings who resent intrusion! |