Zaq
2009-04-14, 02:31 PM
So a spellthief can steal a spell effect that is active on the target. That seems simple enough... sorcerer casts Haste on himself, spellthief yoinks it and gains the effect. Easy.
But what exactly qualifies as an active spell effect? Assuming I have, say, True Seeing up, can I steal the Invisibility off of someone who slips on a Ring of Invisibility? If not, why not?
Assuming that the above case is valid, what about other magic items and their effects? Can I steal the save bonus from someone with a Cloak of Resistance on? It's just the spell Resistance, as listed in the item creation prereqs, only it reaches the target in an unconventional manner. If you think this is invalid, why do you feel that way?
The rules aren't as crystal clear as we'd like them to be, and I think that this is something of a gray area. Maybe even a grey area, if you prefer. I personally think it's reasonable for a spellthief to steal an item's effect from a character (note that you're not stealing it from the item, you're stealing it from the character), but other people might not feel that way. What do you think about this, and why?
But what exactly qualifies as an active spell effect? Assuming I have, say, True Seeing up, can I steal the Invisibility off of someone who slips on a Ring of Invisibility? If not, why not?
Assuming that the above case is valid, what about other magic items and their effects? Can I steal the save bonus from someone with a Cloak of Resistance on? It's just the spell Resistance, as listed in the item creation prereqs, only it reaches the target in an unconventional manner. If you think this is invalid, why do you feel that way?
The rules aren't as crystal clear as we'd like them to be, and I think that this is something of a gray area. Maybe even a grey area, if you prefer. I personally think it's reasonable for a spellthief to steal an item's effect from a character (note that you're not stealing it from the item, you're stealing it from the character), but other people might not feel that way. What do you think about this, and why?