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nekomata2
2009-12-24, 06:13 PM
No, I'm not looking to get it. But I was looking at Magic of Faerun recently, and I saw the Magister template. Among it's effects is immunity to a single spell at each level 1-9. The example Magister chose Time Stop. This made me think, how does that work?

Since Time Stop works by speeding up the caster, wouldn't immunity to Time Stop have to work by also speeding the immune person up to that same speed as to not be affected. So wouldn't immunity to Time Stop actually make you affected, as if you cast it, by a Time Stop cast by anyone if it would affect you?

Or did I overlook something?

Yuki Akuma
2009-12-24, 06:14 PM
The people who write the example characters generally have no idea what they're doing.

jseah
2009-12-24, 06:19 PM
You could also interpret it as "immune to the effects that Timestop generates, anywhere"

Which means that immunity to Timestop lets you ignore whatever happened in those extra rounds. Buffs cast during those rounds don't exist for you, summoned monsters or obstacles likewise don't block LOE and can't hit you, but you can't see them either.

Which runs into all sorts of alternate reality troubles when the differences start to diverge (eg. destroying the floor)...

....

Never mind me, just speculating. XD

Animefunkmaster
2009-12-24, 06:33 PM
OR.... your are immune to the buff timestop.

taltamir
2009-12-24, 06:35 PM
OR.... your are immune to the buff timestop.

That is what I was going to say... but then I thought "you can only cast time stop on yourself..." and it is a wiz/sorc level 9 spell (well, and cleric, and anyone with UMD and a scroll...)... so why would it be an issue with whatever class grants that immunity... but then I noticed it is a template, not a class
... can you have a wizard magister then? that will be hilarious "immunity" :)

olentu
2009-12-24, 06:42 PM
It might be a leftover bit from 3.0 where I believe that time stop targeted everything in the universe. But then again I am not going to dig out my old phb to check so that might be wrong.

Eldariel
2009-12-24, 06:45 PM
ELH includes lots of such, most notably Elminster I recall; immunity to Time Stop basically meant you get to act normally on those rounds. Basically, it's eqiuvalent to Spell Stowaway: Time Stop.

taltamir
2009-12-24, 06:49 PM
ELH includes lots of such, most notably Elminster I recall; immunity to Time Stop basically meant you get to act normally on those rounds. Basically, it's eqiuvalent to Spell Stowaway: Time Stop.

that makes it one of the most powerful abilities in the game... Since it doesn't dispell the time stop, the person who cast it AND you both get to play out several rounds just yourself... on the other person's time stop (Extra awesome if he is friendly).
And when that is done, you cast time stop and play your own bonus rounds, rinse and repeat... you will get tons of time stops per round...

heck, wouldn't you just get free rounds whenever anyone in existence casts time stop?

jseah
2009-12-24, 06:56 PM
heck, wouldn't you just get free rounds whenever anyone in existence casts time stop?
Ah... ^This is quite true. No range limitation here. XD

Otodetu
2009-12-24, 06:57 PM
Yea....

I am sure the ones making the example characters are smoking old 3.0 books.

As immunity to time-stop opens a jar of worms bigger than the hulking hurler's balls.

sofawall
2009-12-24, 07:52 PM
Immunity to Time Stop means Time Stop does not effect you. Since Time Stop does not effect you unless you cast it yourself (or you could use Doc Roc's Algernon to Time Stop the whole party) it weakens you rather than making you stronger. It's like being immune to Haste, or something.

What it is supposed to do is what opens all the cans of worms.

quiet1mi
2009-12-27, 04:37 PM
Even though it speeds up the caster, I would rule in favor of RAI rather than RAW...

in other-words the Magister could act normally when time stop is cast.

Optimystik
2009-12-27, 04:43 PM
Even though it speeds up the caster, I would rule in favor of RAI rather than RAW...

in other-words the Magister could act normally when time stop is cast.

Which means he must have been sped up too, which means he is not immune to Time Stop because it's affecting him, which means he doesn't actually get the benefit, which counters...

TIEM PARADOX!!!!11!!11

lesser_minion
2009-12-27, 04:47 PM
Time Stop hasn't actually changed at all from 3.0 to 3.5. It still speeds you up to a ridiculous speed.

I'm guessing the guy who wrote the example has no idea what they are doing, but they certainly weren't thinking 3.0.

mostlyharmful
2009-12-27, 04:52 PM
Which is why all people who write up the example characters should be forced to play them and then be pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables when their dumbass gets in the way of the perfectly understandable game-engine that they've clearly neverbefore encountered.:smallfurious:

Thurbane
2009-12-27, 05:15 PM
Which is why all people who write up the example characters should be forced to play them and then be pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables when their dumbass gets in the way of the perfectly understandable game-engine that they've clearly neverbefore encountered.:smallfurious:
Hear hear! Well said.

Surrealistik
2009-12-27, 05:29 PM
Clearly if you are immune to Timestop, all that really means by RAW is that you cannot affect yourself with it, as it is a self-only buff. I don't see the controversy here.

J.Gellert
2009-12-27, 05:48 PM
Whoever wrote it had in mind 2nd edition AD&D.

There Timestop had a radius. It even had a clause that said the effect ends if the wizard walks out of the area.

But yeah, this brings back memories. Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal, you could tell an enemy was badass when your mage cast Timestop and the demilich remained colored, and kept getting free attacks/spells on your 5 frozen party members.

olentu
2009-12-27, 05:56 PM
Whoever wrote it had in mind 2nd edition AD&D.

There Timestop had a radius. It even had a clause that said the effect ends if the wizard walks out of the area.

But yeah, this brings back memories. Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal, you could tell an enemy was badass when your mage cast Timestop and the demilich remained colored, and kept getting free attacks/spells on your 5 frozen party members.

Ah I must have also been confusing it with the second edition version which is reasonable given how long since I played either but I suppose I at least I did not write any rules or make any very strong statements without checking.

kentma57
2009-12-27, 06:14 PM
Reminds me of the epic caster villan that I had running once, he designed an epic level spell that would detect any casting of timestop anywhere and would cast timestop simultaneously inorder to sync him up with the other caster. It was mildly annoying for him but it stopped people from sneaking up on him, and it was quite a suprise for the party wizard when he went to buff himself but instead ended up in one-on-one combat with the big bad. :smallbiggrin:

taltamir
2009-12-27, 09:22 PM
the word you wanted is "sync" not "sink"

kentma57
2009-12-28, 01:51 AM
the word you wanted is "sync" not "sink"

Your right.

Milskidasith
2009-12-28, 01:55 AM
Your right.

I hope the fact you mistook the word "Your" for "You're" was a joke... if it was intentional, it was funny. If not, it's still funny, but in an entirely different way.

Optimystik
2009-12-28, 02:13 AM
Clearly if you are immune to Timestop, all that really means by RAW is that you cannot affect yourself with it, as it is a self-only buff. I don't see the controversy here.

The controversy is that no mage could possibly be dumb enough as to waste her very limited class feature making herself immune to a spell that could only be beneficial and only be a self buff.

The fact that WotC was dumb enough to let her be written that way, however - that's no controversy at all.

Now immunity to Wish - that one, could be useful.

rockdeworld
2009-12-28, 02:22 AM
...On a Tarrasque :smallbiggrin:

Surrealistik
2009-12-28, 10:33 AM
The controversy is that no mage could possibly be dumb enough as to waste her very limited class feature making herself immune to a spell that could only be beneficial and only be a self buff.

The fact that WotC was dumb enough to let her be written that way, however - that's no controversy at all.

Now immunity to Wish - that one, could be useful.

I am addressing those who were attempting to offer apologist interpretations, and the OP who was not certain of the implications.

The obvious fluff answer to any controversy centered about the mage's in character stupidity is that she had a bout of temporary insanity impelled by the Blind Idiot God WotC.

Lysander
2009-12-28, 10:40 AM
The most logical interpretation is that casting Time Stop has no effect when engaging the magister in combat.

Surrealistik
2009-12-28, 10:55 AM
Time Stop technically doesn't affect the Magister in the first place.

Yuki Akuma
2009-12-28, 11:09 AM
I am addressing those who were attempting to offer apologist interpretations, and the OP who was not certain of the implications.

The obvious fluff answer to any controversy centered about the mage's in character stupidity is that she had a bout of temporary insanity impelled by the Blind Idiot God WotC.

Or maybe she forgot that the rules of magic had changed with the ascension of Vecna as a god. Somehow.

taltamir
2009-12-28, 03:29 PM
The controversy is that no mage could possibly be dumb enough as to waste her very limited class feature making herself immune to a spell that could only be beneficial and only be a self buff.

The fact that WotC was dumb enough to let her be written that way, however - that's no controversy at all.

Now immunity to Wish - that one, could be useful.

they should just rename wish to "suicide". because that is what casting that damned blasted spell is... as if 5000XP cost wasn't bad enough.

Boci
2009-12-28, 03:34 PM
The most logical interpretation is that casting Time Stop has no effect when engaging the magister in combat.

Or that time stop is an invalid choice for their spell immunity?

taltamir
2009-12-28, 03:37 PM
Or that time stop is an invalid choice for their spell immunity?

that is the most logical interpretation...
The person who wrote it clearly was not aware of the changes made to time stop since previous editions (Where it really did stop time, in a specific area; and some monsters were immune to it)