How do Contagion and Circle of Death work?

[Randomocity132]

I've read the spell description for Contagion several times, but I'm still not sure what happens after their initial save against it. The diseases give several days' time between saves, but the spell says no incubation time. What happens to the target, and in what time span?

Additional unrelated question: Circle of Death.

" A circle of death snuffs out the life force of living creatures, killing them instantly.

The spell slays 1d4 HD worth of living creatures per caster level (maximum 20d4). Creatures with the fewest HD are affected first; among creatures with equal HD, those who are closest to the burst’s point of origin are affected first. No creature of 9 or more HD can be affected, and Hit Dice that are not sufficient to affect a creature are wasted. "

My understanding of this spell was, let's say there's a densely packed crowd of people with 4 HD, and you get 40hd worth on your roll. This means you can kill 10 of them. Since none of them have more hit dice than another, those closest to the point of origin are targeted first. Now here's the point of confusion. If the ones closest to the center make their save, does the spell go on to target those further away, causing those to try to make a save, and if they make their save, target those even further from the center (while still remaining within the ring)?

Basically it boils down to: if the initial targets of the spell make their saves, but there are still more potential targets within the circle, does it target them next, until the spell has either affected the maximum HD that can be affected by your one casting, or all targets have saved/died and no more remain?

[erikun]

The incubation time is the time between catching the disease and needing to make the first save to avoid taking ability damage. No incubation time just means that, if they fail the fortitude save against they spell, they catch the disease and take the first ability damage immediately. From there, they save and suffer effects of the disease normally.


To put it simply, targets for Circle of Death are selected first and then everyone makes their saves. In your example, the closest 10 living creatures would be targetted by the spell and they would all need to make fortitude saves. The spell does not get "stuck" on a single target and either force them to save repeatedly or stop progressing if that character makes their save.


[EDIT]
Oh, and there is a Simple Q&A D&D 3.5 (by RAW) thread at the top of the forum, if you have any questions about any other specific spells. They're generally very good at giving things like sources and rules clarifications in different books, when such occurs.

[The Viscount]

For circle of death, I believe that if you have say, 11 4HD targets within range, cast the spell and affect 10, if any of them make their save, you can't go on to catch the 11th target. You've selected all the HD it can affect, and the save is a separate matter.

[Randomocity132]

To put it simply, targets for Circle of Death are selected first and then everyone makes their saves. In your example, the closest 10 living creatures would be targetted by the spell and they would all need to make fortitude saves. The spell does not get "stuck" on a single target and either force them to save repeatedly or stop progressing if that character makes their save.


That's not really what I meant,



For circle of death, I believe that if you have say, 11 4HD targets within range, cast the spell and affect 10, if any of them make their save, you can't go on to catch the 11th target. You've selected all the HD it can affect, and the save is a separate matter.

Ok. This was pretty much my question. It was hard for me to phrase it just right.

[Randomocity132]

What about contagion?

Is it that you get the initial effect, and then you have to wait several days for it to tick again?

Does this thing actually have ANY in-combat use?

[Lord Vukodlak]

What about contagion?

Is it that you get the initial effect, and then you have to wait several days for it to tick again?

Does this thing actually have ANY in-combat use?

No its not very useful for PC's but an NPC might disease someone then run away and come back later when they're weakened.

[The Viscount]

What about contagion?

Is it that you get the initial effect, and then you have to wait several days for it to tick again?

Does this thing actually have ANY in-combat use?

Yes, after the initial damage, you must wait a day until the next save rolls around. As for in-combat uses, it's a debuff, though not a very good one. The shakes plus shivering touch does make a nice combination though.