| 34 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi, folks.
There seems to be some inconsistency with the spells gust of wind and obscuring mist regarding the velocity of the wind.
The description of gust of wind says that it's a one-round blast of a severe wind, approximately 50 mph.
The description of obscuring mist says, "A moderate wind (11+ mph), such as from a gust of wind spell, dissipates the mist in four rounds."
I am guessing that the spell description from the gust of wind spell is correct, and that it will actually blow away an obscuring mist in one round. Is that a correct assumption?
I would think so (1 round to blow it away), but they're contradicting statements, so there's no true "RAW answer."
| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
I hit the "FAQ" button on this one, but I think it's more of an erratum.
In my game, I'm ruling that the text of gust of wind overrules the descriptive text about that spell in the text of obscuring mist; Gust of wind dissipates obscuring mist in 1 round.
This also makes more sense because gust of wind only has a duration of one round.
Faq'd here. It's this a legacy mistake? What was the wording for both of these spells in 3.5e? (Sorry, on my phone and can't really look it up.)
FAQ'd.
What is interesting is that Gust of Wind is classified as Severe, not Moderate. I'm guessing it is a legacy error, and we should probably interpret Obscuring Mist as disappearing after 4 rounds of exposure to Moderate Wind, or 1 round of Severe Wind.
Either way, they need to fix the text.
|
The difficulty I've had with Gust of Wind and gasses in general is that some GMs (in PFS) rule that the gust only blows away a single line of effect, leaving the rest of the gas in place. I'd like to know exactly how much gas gets blown away by the spell, and if its meant to be more of a cone than a line.
From gust of wind
Effect line-shaped gust of severe wind emanating out from you to the extreme of the range
Definitely a line effect.
How can one 20x20 radius cloud (obscuring mist) be completely dissipated by a line effect but another 20x20 radius cloud (cloudkill) just has a line blasted through it? Not to say it isn't RAW, but it hurts my brain.
I'm aware. But it also says, "It can ... blow gases or vapors to the edge of its range". Seems pretty pointless when you have a 40ft diameter cloud, and all you can do is blow away one 5ft section.
Which would be all those gases and vapors in the area effect of the spell.
Note also this text from obscuring mist
A fireball, flame strike, or similar spell burns away the fog in the explosive or fiery spell's area. A wall of fire burns away the fog in the area into which it deals damage.
In this case it is specifically called out that the area effect of the spells determines which portion of obscuring mist is affected.
I suppose we could read that to mean anything that is not one of those spells works differently than the normal area of effect rules, but really the spell needs to describe those differences if we want to understand that by RAW they work differently then their normal operation.
The usefulness of the spell will vary by situation.
Obscuring mist in a 5' wide hallway? Get rid of the whole thing.
Obscuring mist in a 10' wide hallway? Negate the total concealment to just concealment.
In an open plain or room? Not as useful.
Gust of wind is also not merely relegated to countering obscuring mist.
In addition to the effects noted, a gust of wind can do anything that a sudden blast of wind would be expected to do. It can create a stinging spray of sand or dust, fan a large fire, overturn delicate awnings or hangings, heel over a small boat, and blow gases or vapors to the edge of its range.
It is wide open to all kinds of uses with GM adjudication.
Gust of wind doesn't mention obscuring mist in PFRPG, either. Obscuring mist references gust of wind in both PF and the SRD, however.
Obscuring Mist
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Air 1, Clr 1, Drd 1, Sor/Wiz 1, Water 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Effect: Cloud spreads in 20-ft. radius from you, 20 ft. high
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
A misty vapor arises around you. It is stationary once created. The vapor obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature 5 feet away has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker cannot use sight to locate the target).A moderate wind (11+ mph), such as from a gust of wind spell, disperses the fog in 4 rounds. A strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round. A fireball, flame strike, or similar spell burns away the fog in the explosive or fiery spell’s area. A wall of fire burns away the fog in the area into which it deals damage.
This spell does not function underwater.
{My bold}
If it's a legacy issue, it must go back to 2e.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As for what the gust dissipates, I would say the entire spell effect. Negating the cloud like slow negates haste. It's just that it's the perfect spell to counteract fog/cloud effects, and a fairly niche spell in general.
Gust of wind isn't that niche in my book, I find it a plenty useful spell. It's circumstantial, it's just that there's so MANY circumstances it's nice in! :D
But yeah, agreed Stream, I'd say gust of wind stops obscuring mist completely but not other fog/cloud effects.
There is no discrepancy here.
Hahaha...
A Gust of Wind is a quick (50mph) burst of air in a line.
If you shoot that through an area filled with fog/mist/etc it WILL disperse rapidly.
I wouldn't expect everyone to fully understand the fluid dynamics at play on any technical level... I sure don't. But the concept should be well understood. This is a very fast burst, but in a small area of effect, so the energy from the blast takes a fairly small amaount (but an amount) of time to disperse the entire area of the mist spell.
There is going to be significant air displacement with a 50 mph wind, even if it is only a strait jet of it. The currents in the air this would create would disrupt and disperse the mist. Initially it would clear the line of effect of the gust pretty much instantly, with an ever widening radius as the vacuum behind the blast and the friction of it pushing through the rest of the air will accelerate the surrounding air too. Some of it being sucked along the initial line of effect, with a rate of energy disbursement that causes the force to effect a larger and larger area while losing velocity.
The currents and eddies created by this gust would cause the air to be rather volatile in its immediate surroundings as well, and mist is highly susceptible to disruption.
But that type of spell interaction is too nuanced for a game, so... they simply set the timer to 4 rounds, which seems reasonable for the sizes and types of forces at play in this particular interaction.
Anyway...
TLDR: You hit an Obscuring Mist effect with a Gust of Wind effect and 4 rounds later the mist effect will be gone.
Fluid dynamic knowledge source: I smoke, and get bored... smoke moves in really cool ways when you disrupt it. Lol.
| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Interesting idea... but I still hit FAQ.