Line of Effect 3.5

[Perseus]

This may lead to multiple questions so I figured I would ask here instead of the RAW thread. Also don't take anything I say to serious, I'm mostly just curious and have no personal reason for the answer going one way or the other.

So I looked into teleporting spells and under the conjuration school and notice that none of them say that teleporting overrides the rule on needing line of effect.

Anything that blocks astral travel blocks teleporting but wouldn't having no line of effect stop you from targeting the end place of your teleport? So while you could teleport to the other aide of a gorge, teleporting to the other aide of a mountain would be blocked since you can't target the other side with the spell.

So basically, does teleporting need line of effect?

[Feytalist]

Teleport specifically has a range of personal. (Personal and touch, actually, but the point stands.) Since you have line of effect to yourself, the spell functions. The destination is immaterial to the range of the spell.


Edit: To put it into other words: you cast the spell on yourself, not on your destination (this makes logical sense, yes?).

[Perseus]

Teleport specifically has a range of personal. (Personal and touch, actually, but the point stands.) Since you have line of effect to yourself, the spell functions. The destination is immaterial to the range of the spell.


Edit: To put it into other words: you cast the spell on yourself, not on your destination (this makes logical sense, yes?).

I'm not saying you are wrong because I get what you are saying but...

If I cast Produce Flame that has a range of "your palm" (personal) then that is the instant effect (like casting teleport). You then throw the flame, needing line of effect and line of sight (for this example the moving flame is like the actual movement of the teleport).

Since there are things that physically block teleport and teleport is a movement through the astral plane. Wouldn't you need line of effect.

Dimensional door specifically says you can teleport into objects thus gets around the line of effect clause.

Teleport doesn't allow for accidental (or not) porting into solid objects...just accidently getting lost.

So I wonder if (by accident) wotc actually made teleport a bit less useful than what people think.

[Deophaun]

Teleport isn't that problematic. There are RAW interpretations that allow it to work (namely: LoE is only necessary to hit targets and create effects, and teleport doesn't create an effect).

Scrying, however, doesn't. It's completely worthless if you follow RAW.

[TuggyNE]

Since there are things that physically block teleport and teleport is a movement through the astral plane. Wouldn't you need line of effect.

Dimensional door specifically says you can teleport into objects thus gets around the line of effect clause.

Teleport doesn't allow for accidental (or not) porting into solid objects...just accidently getting lost.

Nothing physically blocks teleport, nor is there any text I'm aware of that prevents teleporting into a solid object. Indeed, it's dimension door that prevents that, at the cost of damage taken per 10 feet shunted from your intended point.


Scrying, however, doesn't. It's completely worthless if you follow RAW.

(Lesser/greater) planar ally/binding are also problematic, because LoE definitely doesn't cross planes to hit the target you're calling. (Also, extraplanar is defined poorly.)

[ericp65]

Is it Teleport, or some other spell, that causes the caster to cease to exist in one spot (point of origin), and then begin to exist in another (point of destination)? If so, that would agree with the statement that there's no movement involved in Teleport.

[TuggyNE]

Is it Teleport, or some other spell, that causes the caster to cease to exist in one spot (point of origin), and then begin to exist in another (point of destination)? If so, that would agree with the statement that there's no movement involved in Teleport.

Teleport moves entirely through the Astral Plane, hopping out of whatever plane you're in, skimming along for a bit, and then hopping back in. It's not strictly discontinuity, but it's pretty close, since you definitely do not cover any of the intervening distance.

Think tesseracts from A Wrinkle In Time.

[ericp65]

Teleport moves entirely through the Astral Plane, hopping out of whatever plane you're in, skimming along for a bit, and then hopping back in. It's not strictly discontinuity, but it's pretty close, since you definitely do not cover any of the intervening distance.

Think tesseracts from A Wrinkle In Time.

Good thing it works so quickly, then. All kinds of interesting things can happen on the Astral :)