Acid Fog and their effect on attended objects

[Xilehxt]

Regarding the spell Acid Fog, which reads that it acts as solid fog but does 2d6 acid damage to creatures and objects in the fog.

I've done research online, there are two camps on whether this includes attended objects or not. One says they do and it destroys any fragile items (paper, cloth, leather, glass) including magic items like scrolls, potions, handy haversacks, cloaks, etc in a round or two. The other says attended items only are damaged if there is a natural 1 on a save, and since acid fog doesn't have one, it doesn't harm attended objects. I was wondering if there has been a clear ruling on how this spell works.

I can see both points being ruled, and by RAW, acid fog does calls out that it damages all objects in its area of effect (though I'm unsure if . But a 6th level spell wrecking magic items without a save (compared to incendiary cloud which is 8th level because of the measly 6d6 damage, doesn't to anything to items unless there's a natural 1 showing for the save) doesn't seem to be intended.

I mainly wanted a show of hands for which camp people were in to see the ratio of people between "Damages Attended Objects" and "Doesn't Damage Attended Objects"

On an added note, should a Necklace of Adaptation provide immunity to acid fog? What about attended objects?

[Psyren]

It seems that it would damage all the objects as well. (Note however that energy damage to objects is halved before hardness.)

[TuggyNE]

It seems that it would damage all the objects as well. (Note however that energy damage to objects is halved before hardness.)

Acid damage is not halved, which is why it's so painful.

[Slipperychicken]

I have yet to play with a group which allows carried or worn objects to be damaged by spells unless specifically targeted by said spell. I suspect that area spells would routinely destroy backpacks, clothing, and other equipment if it were allowed, resulting in much lamentation and headache.

[Jack_Simth]

Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks. Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack deal. (from the magic overview, Which Made the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#savingThrow))

Acid Fog doesn't specify anything about attended objects, so it's not specifying otherwise. No save implies no natural 1 on a saving throw, so that piece of paper you're holding in your hand is completely unaffected until you drop it.

[Psyren]

"Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise" is the relevant bit here. Acid Fog does specify objects, and does not distinguish between attended or unattended.

I personally think it's a pretty d*ck move though.


Acid damage is not halved, which is why it's so painful.

Sorry, was thinking of Pathfinder (where all energy damage is up to DM discretion whether it's halved or not.)

Both 3.5 and PF have the "specifies otherwise" language though.

[Spuddles]

It's too brutal to have it melt PC's items, IMO. I have had PCs die in Acid Fog and it ruined a bunch of their possessions, though. And their corpses.

[Psyren]

I agree its brutal. As an alternative I would have it follow the Items Affected by Magical Attacks (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/damaging-objects#Table-Items-Affected-by-Magical-Attacks) table, which puts potions, backpacks and the like last in line. That should give the PCs plenty of time to get out of the fog without losing all their consumables.

For PF, I've started a thread (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qhd4?-Acid-Fog-and-items) in the rules section hoping for FAQ responses from the devs. I could use any support hitting the FAQ button that people are willing to give.

[Brookshw]

Brutal or not that's a lot of bookkeeping to track individual damage per item, that alone would make me lean away.

[Jack_Simth]

"Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise" is the relevant bit here. Acid Fog does specify objects, and does not distinguish between attended or unattended.Right. It doesn't distinguish, so by default it's only referencing unattended objects. That makes all rules evaluate true. Attended items surviving the spell? Check. Items getting damaged? Check (it's just limited to the unattended ones).

[Psyren]

Right. It doesn't distinguish, so by default it's only referencing unattended objects. That makes all rules evaluate true. Attended items surviving the spell? Check. Items getting damaged? Check (it's just limited to the unattended ones).

1) That line is under saving throws, which this spell doesn't have, so your reference isn't even relevant.

2) Even if it were, "each object" does not mean "each unattended object." It means each object.