Jowgen
2015-02-11, 03:26 PM
The Blink Spell (SRD). It's complicated, and I'm trying to figure out the exact workings in detail, but I am am really far from being confident in my reading. In the Spoiler below, I've broken it down into sections with annotations of what the section adds to the spell.
1. "You look as though you’re winking in and out of reality very quickly and at random"
So far so good, it's a decent visual description.
2. "Physical attacks against you have a 50% miss chance, and the Blind-Fight feat doesn’t help opponents, since you’re ethereal and not merely invisible. If the attack is capable of striking ethereal creatures, the miss chance is only 20% (for concealment).".
The first bit of head-scratching, as invisibility and concealment now somehow come into it.
3. "If the attacker can see invisible creatures, the miss chance is also only 20%. (For an attacker who can both see and strike ethereal creatures, there is no miss chance.) Likewise, your own attacks have a 20% miss chance, since you sometimes go ethereal just as you are about to strike."
This elaborates on how the etherealness and invisibility work together.
4. "Any individually targeted spell has a 50% chance to fail against you while you’re blinking unless your attacker can target invisible, ethereal creatures. Your own spells have a 20% chance to activate just as you go ethereal, in which case they typically do not affect the Material Plane.".
Brings magic into the equation. Targeted spells can fail, unless they can target invisible ethereal creatures. Unlike for physical thing, being able to do one but not the other has no benefit.
5. "While blinking, you take only half damage from area attacks (but full damage from those that extend onto the Ethereal Plane). You strike as an invisible creature (with a +2 bonus on attack rolls), denying your target any Dexterity bonus to AC."
Bring in "Area attacks" which is a bit vague when things like avalances and falling rocks come into it. Once again throws invisibility in there, for the purposes of striking creatures only though.
6. "You take only half damage from falling, since you fall only while you are material."
Straight forward falling damage halving.
7. "While blinking, you can step through (but not see through) solid objects. For each 5 feet of solid material you walk through, there is a 50% chance that you become material. If this occurs, you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet so traveled. You can move at only three-quarters speed (because movement on the Ethereal Plane is at half speed, and you spend about half your time there and half your time material.)"
Brings in interaction with the physical world. Moving through less than 5 ft of solid seems to have no penalty. The movement speed reduction, as written, seems to apply at all times, rather than just when stepping through physical things.
8. "Since you spend about half your time on the Ethereal Plane, you can see and even attack ethereal creatures. You interact with ethereal creatures roughly the same way you interact with material ones."
Bring in interaction with Ethereal. Entirely unclear on whether you interact with them the same way you do with materials while under the effect of blink or while not under the effect of blink.
9. "An ethereal creature is invisible, incorporeal, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down. As an incorporeal creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures."
A seemingly token explanation of how ethereal creatures work. Then, suddenly out of God-damn nowhere, it seems to say that Blink makes you incorporeal.
10. "An ethereal creature can see and hear the Material Plane, but everything looks gray and insubstantial. Sight and hearing on the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet."
Seemingly a token explanation of how the physical looks from the ethereal. Then again, this might have meant to be something to explain how your perception skills work while blinking. According to Afroakuma, the ambient light on the ethereal plane is constant diffuse-misty, in which case this would mean that Blink gives you effective Darkvision 60.
11. "Force effects and abjurations affect you normally. Their effects extend onto the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, but not vice versa. An ethereal creature can’t attack material creatures, and spells you cast while ethereal affect only other ethereal things. Certain material creatures or objects have attacks or effects that work on the Ethereal Plane. Treat other ethereal creatures and objects as material."
This final section seems to be a token explanation of material-ethereal interaction. If it were anything else, it would create conflicts with earlier sections of the spell.
Now this is how I'm trying to make sense of Blink, which may or may not be accurate.
1. The 50% miss-chance stems from two factors, namely partial etherealness and concealment. By themselves, each of those provides a 20% miss-chance, but together they syngergize to give a full 50%. Additionally, when both are in effect, they give the equivalent attack advantage of being invisible. However, based on the visual description given, Blink does not meet the conditions for making Hide-Checks, as you're still observable despite the concealment. Ex HiPS would fix that.
2. Blind-fight doesn't help against the miss-chance because of said synergy, as blind-fight teaches how to fight specifically against things that are just hard to see, rather than hard to see and not always there. Blind-fight does, however, negate the +2 to AC and let you keep your Dex against Blinking attackers, as the explicitly strike as invisible.
3. As a result of number 1, Magic Missile has a 50% chance of failing against someone using Blink, as it is a targeted spell, and the text makes no allowance for reduced or undo the failure chance for spells that affect ethereal creatures. Likewise, See Invisibility does not reduce the failure chance. See Invisibility Ethereal plus something like magic missile are required to avoid the 50% chance.
4. For things like avalanches, traps and falling objects, a DM will have to adjudicate whether it counts as an area attack for half damage or as a physical attack for 50% miss chance.
6. You can move through any creature or object that is less than 5 ft thick without risk of failure.
7. You always move at 3/4 speed.
8. The rules for battling Ethereal creatures become identical to those to battling material ones while under the effect of a blink spell.
9. While blinking, you can see both the ethereal and the material. As a result, any form of lighting conditions on the material within 60 ft are inconsequential to you. As spells like Darkness or Deeper Darkness are neither force nor abjuration, those are inconsequential while blinking as well.
10. You are not incorporeal while blinking, but you can affect incorporeal creatures as you can ethereal/material.
So yeah, does this look right?
1. "You look as though you’re winking in and out of reality very quickly and at random"
So far so good, it's a decent visual description.
2. "Physical attacks against you have a 50% miss chance, and the Blind-Fight feat doesn’t help opponents, since you’re ethereal and not merely invisible. If the attack is capable of striking ethereal creatures, the miss chance is only 20% (for concealment).".
The first bit of head-scratching, as invisibility and concealment now somehow come into it.
3. "If the attacker can see invisible creatures, the miss chance is also only 20%. (For an attacker who can both see and strike ethereal creatures, there is no miss chance.) Likewise, your own attacks have a 20% miss chance, since you sometimes go ethereal just as you are about to strike."
This elaborates on how the etherealness and invisibility work together.
4. "Any individually targeted spell has a 50% chance to fail against you while you’re blinking unless your attacker can target invisible, ethereal creatures. Your own spells have a 20% chance to activate just as you go ethereal, in which case they typically do not affect the Material Plane.".
Brings magic into the equation. Targeted spells can fail, unless they can target invisible ethereal creatures. Unlike for physical thing, being able to do one but not the other has no benefit.
5. "While blinking, you take only half damage from area attacks (but full damage from those that extend onto the Ethereal Plane). You strike as an invisible creature (with a +2 bonus on attack rolls), denying your target any Dexterity bonus to AC."
Bring in "Area attacks" which is a bit vague when things like avalances and falling rocks come into it. Once again throws invisibility in there, for the purposes of striking creatures only though.
6. "You take only half damage from falling, since you fall only while you are material."
Straight forward falling damage halving.
7. "While blinking, you can step through (but not see through) solid objects. For each 5 feet of solid material you walk through, there is a 50% chance that you become material. If this occurs, you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet so traveled. You can move at only three-quarters speed (because movement on the Ethereal Plane is at half speed, and you spend about half your time there and half your time material.)"
Brings in interaction with the physical world. Moving through less than 5 ft of solid seems to have no penalty. The movement speed reduction, as written, seems to apply at all times, rather than just when stepping through physical things.
8. "Since you spend about half your time on the Ethereal Plane, you can see and even attack ethereal creatures. You interact with ethereal creatures roughly the same way you interact with material ones."
Bring in interaction with Ethereal. Entirely unclear on whether you interact with them the same way you do with materials while under the effect of blink or while not under the effect of blink.
9. "An ethereal creature is invisible, incorporeal, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down. As an incorporeal creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures."
A seemingly token explanation of how ethereal creatures work. Then, suddenly out of God-damn nowhere, it seems to say that Blink makes you incorporeal.
10. "An ethereal creature can see and hear the Material Plane, but everything looks gray and insubstantial. Sight and hearing on the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet."
Seemingly a token explanation of how the physical looks from the ethereal. Then again, this might have meant to be something to explain how your perception skills work while blinking. According to Afroakuma, the ambient light on the ethereal plane is constant diffuse-misty, in which case this would mean that Blink gives you effective Darkvision 60.
11. "Force effects and abjurations affect you normally. Their effects extend onto the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, but not vice versa. An ethereal creature can’t attack material creatures, and spells you cast while ethereal affect only other ethereal things. Certain material creatures or objects have attacks or effects that work on the Ethereal Plane. Treat other ethereal creatures and objects as material."
This final section seems to be a token explanation of material-ethereal interaction. If it were anything else, it would create conflicts with earlier sections of the spell.
Now this is how I'm trying to make sense of Blink, which may or may not be accurate.
1. The 50% miss-chance stems from two factors, namely partial etherealness and concealment. By themselves, each of those provides a 20% miss-chance, but together they syngergize to give a full 50%. Additionally, when both are in effect, they give the equivalent attack advantage of being invisible. However, based on the visual description given, Blink does not meet the conditions for making Hide-Checks, as you're still observable despite the concealment. Ex HiPS would fix that.
2. Blind-fight doesn't help against the miss-chance because of said synergy, as blind-fight teaches how to fight specifically against things that are just hard to see, rather than hard to see and not always there. Blind-fight does, however, negate the +2 to AC and let you keep your Dex against Blinking attackers, as the explicitly strike as invisible.
3. As a result of number 1, Magic Missile has a 50% chance of failing against someone using Blink, as it is a targeted spell, and the text makes no allowance for reduced or undo the failure chance for spells that affect ethereal creatures. Likewise, See Invisibility does not reduce the failure chance. See Invisibility Ethereal plus something like magic missile are required to avoid the 50% chance.
4. For things like avalanches, traps and falling objects, a DM will have to adjudicate whether it counts as an area attack for half damage or as a physical attack for 50% miss chance.
6. You can move through any creature or object that is less than 5 ft thick without risk of failure.
7. You always move at 3/4 speed.
8. The rules for battling Ethereal creatures become identical to those to battling material ones while under the effect of a blink spell.
9. While blinking, you can see both the ethereal and the material. As a result, any form of lighting conditions on the material within 60 ft are inconsequential to you. As spells like Darkness or Deeper Darkness are neither force nor abjuration, those are inconsequential while blinking as well.
10. You are not incorporeal while blinking, but you can affect incorporeal creatures as you can ethereal/material.
So yeah, does this look right?