Controlling Flaming Sphere spell [Archive] - Wizards Community

Controlling Flaming Sphere spell [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Prom
02-17-08, 02:38 PM Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if the flaming sphere spell when being moved around the battle field by the caster needs to have line of sight or line of effect to be used. Or does line of sight and effect have no influence on the spell?

There is nothing in the Flaming sphere enrty to indicate anything other than it can not exceed it's spell range without disappearing.

Prom
Kouk
02-18-08, 03:28 AM Maybe you could move it without line of sight, but then you are just blindly rolling it around aren't you?

The SRD says you point to where you want it to go, so I would assume you can't actually point to a place you can't see (or rather, have line of sight to in the event you were blinded).

If you want it to go behind a building, but you are only facing the building, your finger will eventually be pointing at the building rather than behind it.

If this were to come up in a game though, I would just limit it to line of sight.
Tedronai
02-18-08, 05:06 PM All spells, unless otherwise specified (such as the more common teleportation effects), require line of effect to function.

Kouk, I see no reference in the SRD entry for 'pointing to where you want it to go'. Which SRD are you using?
Rood_Inverse
02-18-08, 05:42 PM Flaming Sphere (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/flamingSphere.htm): A burning globe of fire rolls in whichever direction you point and burns those it strikes.

But... could you make the sphere go behind the bar by, say, pointing at the back right corner of the bar and whipping your finger to the back left corner of the bar? The sphere would slingshot through the back alley, and anything in its path, finally returning to your field of vision... like the trackpad on a laptop, where your mouse follows your movement. Because it rolls, not teleports... so it has to roll until it gets to where you point on the other side of the bar.

Right, right?

:ayyyy!:
sblaxman
02-18-08, 06:15 PM I'd rule (this is house rule of course), for a spell with a start and end point, that you can give it a "direction" to go in, so you could make it go behind the building from the side, but you'd be aiming blind and have a good chance of running it into the side of the building if you don't get it perfectly straight...

...xxxxx..
..z->......
...xxxx...
...xxxx...
...xxxx...
..o........

For example, I'd let the mage (o) cast a spell starting at (z) moving to the right, even if the building (x) is in his way.... He can't really aim it, and i'd have him role a die to see the actual angle (1d6... 1-4 = straight, 5 = 10degrees north, 6 = 10 degrees south), or some modification there of...

Again, this is house rule as I play it, not RAW
Rood_Inverse
02-18-08, 06:35 PM That was... creative and, I think, a pretty good ruling.

But... I was making a joke, dude...
Prom
02-19-08, 02:10 AM Posted by Rood_Inverse,
That was... creative and, I think, a pretty good ruling.

But... I was making a joke, dude...

LOL. Well that has made it clear that there is no official ruling on the how to control flaming sphere. Some interesting house rules and suggestions.

Posted by Tedronai,
All spells, unless otherwise specified (such as the more common teleportation effects), require line of effect to function.

Now this makes a lot of sense.

Prom
Tedronai
02-19-08, 02:17 AM LOL. Well that has made it clear that there is no offical ruling on the how to control flaming sphere. Some interesting house rules and suggestions.

Now this makes a lot of sense.

Prom

That's not to say that the requirement for Line of Sight will also necessarily be in the spell description. Any spell with a Target line and a method of delivery other than touch or ray also requires you to be able to pinpoint your target with a method suffering less than total concealment (in addition to the less than total cover required for line of effect).
So it really comes down to a question of whether you can 'instruct' the sphere to move x feet in y direction, or whether you have to 'instruct' it to move to z TARGET location. If it's the first option, then you're fine without line of sight. If it's the second, then you need both line of sight and line of effect.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Prom 02-17-08, 02:38 PM	Hi All, Can anyone tell me if the flaming sphere spell when being moved around the battle field by the caster needs to have line of sight or line of effect to be used. Or does line of sight and effect have no influence on the spell? There is nothing in the Flaming sphere enrty to indicate anything other than it can not exceed it's spell range without disappearing. Prom
Kouk 02-18-08, 03:28 AM	Maybe you could move it without line of sight, but then you are just blindly rolling it around aren't you? The SRD says you point to where you want it to go, so I would assume you can't actually point to a place you can't see (or rather, have line of sight to in the event you were blinded). If you want it to go behind a building, but you are only facing the building, your finger will eventually be pointing at the building rather than behind it. If this were to come up in a game though, I would just limit it to line of sight.
Tedronai 02-18-08, 05:06 PM	All spells, unless otherwise specified (such as the more common teleportation effects), require line of effect to function. Kouk, I see no reference in the SRD entry for 'pointing to where you want it to go'. Which SRD are you using?
Rood_Inverse 02-18-08, 05:42 PM	Flaming Sphere (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/flamingSphere.htm): A burning globe of fire rolls in whichever direction you point and burns those it strikes. But... could you make the sphere go behind the bar by, say, pointing at the back right corner of the bar and whipping your finger to the back left corner of the bar? The sphere would slingshot through the back alley, and anything in its path, finally returning to your field of vision... like the trackpad on a laptop, where your mouse follows your movement. Because it rolls, not teleports... so it has to roll until it gets to where you point on the other side of the bar. Right, right? :ayyyy!:
sblaxman 02-18-08, 06:15 PM	I'd rule (this is house rule of course), for a spell with a start and end point, that you can give it a "direction" to go in, so you could make it go behind the building from the side, but you'd be aiming blind and have a good chance of running it into the side of the building if you don't get it perfectly straight... ...xxxxx.. ..z->...... ...xxxx... ...xxxx... ...xxxx... ..o........ For example, I'd let the mage (o) cast a spell starting at (z) moving to the right, even if the building (x) is in his way.... He can't really aim it, and i'd have him role a die to see the actual angle (1d6... 1-4 = straight, 5 = 10degrees north, 6 = 10 degrees south), or some modification there of... Again, this is house rule as I play it, not RAW
Rood_Inverse 02-18-08, 06:35 PM	That was... creative and, I think, a pretty good ruling. But... I was making a joke, dude...
Prom 02-19-08, 02:10 AM	Posted by Rood_Inverse, That was... creative and, I think, a pretty good ruling. But... I was making a joke, dude... LOL. Well that has made it clear that there is no official ruling on the how to control flaming sphere. Some interesting house rules and suggestions. Posted by Tedronai, All spells, unless otherwise specified (such as the more common teleportation effects), require line of effect to function. Now this makes a lot of sense. Prom
Tedronai 02-19-08, 02:17 AM	LOL. Well that has made it clear that there is no offical ruling on the how to control flaming sphere. Some interesting house rules and suggestions. Now this makes a lot of sense. Prom That's not to say that the requirement for Line of Sight will also necessarily be in the spell description. Any spell with a Target line and a method of delivery other than touch or ray also requires you to be able to pinpoint your target with a method suffering less than total concealment (in addition to the less than total cover required for line of effect). So it really comes down to a question of whether you can 'instruct' the sphere to move x feet in y direction, or whether you have to 'instruct' it to move to z TARGET location. If it's the first option, then you're fine without line of sight. If it's the second, then you need both line of sight and line of effect.