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View Full Version : Question about the price of Plannar Ally spells



Kol Korran
2010-02-18, 08:43 AM
My cleric plans to use a planar Ally spell to call some outsider to help, perhaps just for one day long huge battle, or maybe even for a few days before that. it depends on the following question:

in the rules it says that for a task taking up to 1 day/CL you pay creature's HDx1000.

but in the Thaumaturgist Improved Ally class feature, the example hints that the cost is HDx1000 Per Day! (this is found in the DM book. it does not appear in the SRD, like many other examples)

i know that this probably calls for a DM ruling, but does anyone have any experience in this, or any insights? from the 12 HD creatures i have seen (Ghalae Eladrin, Trumpet Archon and Astral Deva to name a few) it looks like that pricing system (HDx price per time unit) might actually balance a very powerfull spell.

thanks in advance forumists!
Kol.

Starbuck_II
2010-02-18, 08:52 AM
My cleric plans to use a planar Ally spell to call some outsider to help, perhaps just for one day long huge battle, or maybe even for a few days before that. it depends on the following question:

in the rules it says that for a task taking up to 1 day/CL you pay creature's HDx1000.

but in the Thaumaturgist Improved Ally class feature, the example hints that the cost is HDx1000 Per Day! (this is found in the DM book. it does not appear in the SRD, like many other examples)

i know that this probably calls for a DM ruling, but does anyone have any experience in this, or any insights? from the 12 HD creatures i have seen (Ghalae Eladrin, Trumpet Archon and Astral Deva to name a few) it looks like that pricing system (HDx price per time unit) might actually balance a very powerfull spell.

thanks in advance forumists!
Kol.
No it doesn't. Page 197 of DMG does not. It says a 7 hour task cost 1500 per hour (through negociation when it normally costs 3K)). There is no mention of daily costs (Hourly cost have a different payment than daily).

Spell acts as primary source. Ignore that DMG note (are you using 3.0 DMG?).
Look at Planar Cohort that uses the PHB costs: so even the DMG disagrees with that error you posted.

Kol Korran
2010-02-18, 09:15 AM
No it doesn't. Page 197 of DMG does not. It says a 7 hour task cost 1500 per hour (through negociation when it normally costs 3K)). There is no mention of daily costs (Hourly cost have a different payment than daily).

i know the example was for hour, but the only difference between hour and daily in all sources is that for the hourly service you pay 500xHD, and for a daily you pay 1000xHD. my question was about the difference between: payment for the whole service (as i read the spell) Vs. payment for a time unit (as can be understood from the example- 3000 per hour means 500x6HD per hour, not full time service. that was my conundrum.



Spell acts as primary source. Ignore that DMG note (are you using 3.0 DMG?).
Look at Planar Cohort that uses the PHB costs: so even the DMG disagrees with that error you posted.
i am using the 3.5 DMG. i allready intended to use the spell as a rule, but wondered if there was any common ruling, like with cleric needing a free hand to cast, but having shields and weapons, but people just handwave it away and let them cast anyway. you know- something that makes more sense.

i read that the spell was considered very powerfull, and thought that maybe there was a misunderstanding/ slip in the rules, and that it actually called for a greater price. getting an 14 cr creature who has the casting power of a 14the level cleric, not to mention a whole lot of other powers and resistences, for 11 days (or more, depending on level. a time span that can easely suffice for plenty of adventuring) for 12000 gp sounded like a bargain to me! 12000 per day makes me pause a little...

anyway, those are my thoughts, not all may agree, i have almost no experience at these levels or this kinds of spell. would have appreicated thoughts and comments. thanks.