Visual Reference cone and line attacks

[SliceandDiceKid]

I'm about to play a dragonfire adept. Could I get a page number/book for possible line shaped attacks and come shaped attacks? I feel like I found it one time, and there were some strange combinations. Like making the line cover a 10' radius, or starting it on one of the corners from my character.

[Diarmuid]

I know it's in the DMG, but that doesnt really help a post on a msg board.

This link has some cone pictures though:

http://paizo.com/prd/magic.html

I think they're basically the same ones that are in the 3.5 DMG.

[nedz]

Most of the interesting ones are conic sections, but you have to be flying for most of these.

[tyckspoon]

Like making the line cover a 10' radius, or starting it on one of the corners from my character.

Dunno about the radius thing (sounds kind of like one of the Metabreath feats, tho - there's one that turns the standard line/cone into a spread centered on the breather), but starting it on the corner is actually just how the rules work. Area effects don't originate from a square; they originate from a chosen grid intersection, and then for a line will progress along a gridline (you can also go diagonal or any angle in between, but that gets a lot trickier to figure out where the affected squares are. The visual example guides are useful for this, and you can make/buy templates that you can overlay on your map to do it for you too.)

Also remember that the standard 5' line actually affects 2 squares, because it originates on that corner origin and goes inbetween the squares, extending into the ones on either side. It's why line is a reasonable option compared to the other area options - your targets don't have to be in a perfect single file to hit multiple.

[Diarmuid]

Also remember that the standard 5' line actually affects 2 squares, because it originates on that corner origin and goes inbetween the squares, extending into the ones on either side. It's why line is a reasonable option compared to the other area options - your targets don't have to be in a perfect single file to hit multiple.

I dont think this supports that.


A line-shaped spell shoots away from you in a line in the direction you designate. It starts from any corner of your square and extends to the limit of its range or until it strikes a barrier that blocks line of effect. A line-shaped spell affects all creatures in squares that the line passes through.


You can certainly effect people who arent standing directly one behind the other, but you pick a corner and establish your line. Any square that line passes through gets effected, not squares on either side of the line.

[Telok]

This is an old "debate" that goes back to the 3.0 PH and has never been dealth with in official sources.

1) The rules in the PH and the SRD say that a line affects every square that it passes through.

2) The text in the pictures in the book says that the line affects every squate that it touches.

3) The pictures in the book show a line affecting every square that the line touches except for the square that the caster is standing in and one adjacent to it.

Note that the only actual rule is #1 there and remember that the pictures were by the same people who put in pictures of LG clerics of LG gods casting [Evil] spells.

[tyckspoon]

I dont think this supports that.



You can certainly effect people who arent standing directly one behind the other, but you pick a corner and establish your line. Any square that line passes through gets effected, not squares on either side of the line.

If you're going straight along the grid, then the squares on either side *are* the squares it passes through - a 5' width line would extend halfway into the squares on either side of the gridline. Like I said, it gets weirder when you're doing diagonals, but the straight compass points are, well, pretty straightforward.

[Lilapop]

There is always the option of using Warhammer Fantasy Tabletop rules. Everything that isn't fully covered by the overlay is only affected by the spell on a 4+ form a d6. For lines, just make an overlay of 1 inch * 10 inch paper, with clear marks every inch and maybe some numbers to know how far the spell goes along that line.

[Telok]

If you're going straight along the grid, then the squares on either side *are* the squares it passes through - a 5' width line would extend halfway into the squares on either side of the gridline. Like I said, it gets weirder when you're doing diagonals, but the straight compass points are, well, pretty straightforward.

That is only true if the ability you use states that the line is 5' wide. The default line (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#area) has no width defined for it.

In addition the 5' wide line turns the "line" into a 10' by 10' cylinder along the axis of the line. For example, the Storm Bolt feat allows you to fire a 20' line of electricity. If you decide that the line is 5' wide then it affects an area 10' high, 10' wide, and at least 20' long.

[Mootsmcboots]

I think it's at the back of the DMG. A couple pages of em.

If you have a couple spells that are cones, take a battlemat and a piece of yarn. Outline your cone with string. Tie the 2 ends together.

Then if there's ever a doubt. You simply make a triangle with the yarn, with one tip right in front of your mini. Anybody inside the yarn triangle is affected.

If you have multiple cones. Use a few different colours of yarn, and make them the appropriate size.

It's kind of hard to explain. I'd post a pic, but I am at work.