[PF] What the hell was that?

[Raven777]

What ungodly combination of spells and/or feats and/or items would allow a 9th level vampire caster in gaseous form to keep slinging spells without Still and Silent? That damn thing and his vampire monk and gorgon buddies mopped the floor with our party last night before merrily escaping as clouds, laughing all the way to the bank. It would just sit there as a cloud, concealed in dim light, thoroughly immune to anything mundane, untargettable by spells because "you can't see it, it's too dark", taunting my Babau with "it's not invisible, it's a cloud", making our lives generally miserable. DM said everything he used "is somewhere in the SRD", but I call [EXPLETIVE]. At least we did save the girl, but damn, we only survived because the caster fled with the downed monk instead of keeping on fighting (or maybe he ran out of spells).

Also, at two points he used a spell that seemingly auto-brought the target to -1 HP on a failed Will Save. The heck was that?

[Deathkeeper]

Also, at two points he used a spell that seemingly auto-brought the target to -1 HP on a failed Will Save. The heck was that?

Well, Suffocate brings a target to 0 HP on a single Fort save, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was another. Did he give you any flavor for what happened to the target as a clue?
Also, Gaseous Form explicitly states it allows casting ONLY if the caster has Still, Silent, and Eschew Materials, so...

[Khosan]

Could be an Arcane Trickster's Tricky Spells (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/arcane-trickster#TOC-Tricky-Spells-Su-).

Not sure about the spell though.

[Deathkeeper]

Could be an Arcane Trickster's Tricky Spells (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/arcane-trickster#TOC-Tricky-Spells-Su-).

Not sure about the spell though.

Not quite. OP said vampire was 9th level. Lowest possible point to take AT is after 6th, so he wouldn't be 5 levels into AT.

[Mcdt2]

Was the vampire definitely casting magic, or might have it been manifesting psionic powers? Psionics comes with still+silent built in, and it's in the srd. If so, you may have been Psychic Crushed (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/psychicCrush.htm), which recuces you to -1 on a failed Will save, just as you said.

That said, wow that fight seemed difficult. Gaseous form psions... I need to send those after my party, they deserve it, lol.

[Slipperychicken]

I'd call shenanigans on the dim light no-spells thing. You can absolutely cast spells in dim light, and Gaseous Forms are both visible and targetable as normal. There isn't even a penalty to see them, and even if there was, the Vampire wasn't hiding so you see him automatically.

Also, Gaseous Forms (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/g/gaseous-form) are targettable with nonmagical attacks, since they're neither incorporeal nor ethereal. That's also major shenanigans, since the spell only gives him DR 10/Magic and some immunities (and also tanks his AC so hitting him would be even easier than normal).

I'm also willing to bet the guy wasn't a Psion, and the DM is ignoring the restrictions imposed by Gaseous Form, like he ignores everything else. He probably looked at the name of the ability and independently decided what it did based solely on that, and not on the actual description (I've had.. two DMs do that, so it really does happen).


I'd personally leave the group. This guy is breaking the rules to screw you, and being a complete tool about it. It's not worth it to stay with such a DM.

[Corlindale]

Having played an Oracle of Wind for many levels now, I agree that there's no way Gaseous Form is that powerful defensively. All it really offers is the DR, it doesn't protect you from being targeted.

I always saw it as a utility/escape spell for this very reason, it's very hard to get combat use out of it because it cripples you offensively without offering much in return. Sounds like your GM was bending a few rules there.

[Keneth]

I'm with the others on this, since I've been using vampires a lot lately and I've studied the relevant parts of the rules quite carefully. Gaseous form is normally visible in dim light, it's also normally targetable with weapons and spells. It's moot for the most part though, since damaging a vampire in gaseous form doesn't really do you any good. You can't reduce it to fewer than 0 hit points anyway. As for the spells, you can't cast them if they have somatic, verbal, or material components, so either the DM ignored that restriction, or the spells didn't have any of those components. Didn't anyone roll Spellcraft to identify them? :smallconfused:

[Neo Tin Robo]

Was the vampire definitely casting magic, or might have it been manifesting psionic powers? Psionics comes with still+silent built in, and it's in the srd. If so, you may have been Psychic Crushed (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/psychicCrush.htm), which recuces you to -1 on a failed Will save, just as you said.

That said, wow that fight seemed difficult. Gaseous form psions... I need to send those after my party, they deserve it, lol.

I've had a DM use that before. It was total nonsense because we'd already defeated the vampire, but it hung around in gaseous form to throw the rest of its power points at us. Nothing we could do since the stupid thing was already at 0 HP. :smallannoyed:

It's probably largely responsible for my long time hatred of psionics.

[Tylorious]

it sounds to me like your DM just doesn't want any of his players to enjoy themselves.

[Doorhandle]

it sounds to me like your DM just doesn't want any of his players to enjoy themselves.

True, but at the same time it's hard to take a D.M to task for that because he may be the only D.M available.

Still, you should still point out that gaseous cloud does not work like he wants it to work. That sort of fairness is the only thing keeping D&D from being an escalating game of "BAM YOU'RE DEAD!" "NOYADIDN'T NOYADIDN'T!"

[Karoht]

Agreed. DM = Fudged it. Unless he's taking a very specific reading of Gaseous Cloud, or he's confusing it with another similar spell. Dust Cloud could be what he's confusing it with, maybe.
Or, and this is a really big maybe here, the vampire was also a ghost? Maybe not actually a vampire at all? I know I'm grasping at straws and all, but what made you certain it was a vampire in Gaseous Cloud form?