Feign Death Spell

[Tonden Ockay]

Does anyone allow their player's to cast this on their selves?

I have a player who really wants to be able to cast this spell on their self. Why you might ask because he played an Shadow Knight (Full Plate Fighter that could cast Necro spells) in EverQuest and they could cast the spell Feign Death on them selves to play dead.

[Tonden Ockay]

It reads You touch a willing creature and put it into a cataleptic state that is indistinguishable from death. Duration:1 hour or until the caster uses an action to touch the target and dismiss the spell.

I my self don't really see the harm in letting them do it to their self. Other then they will not be able to do a thing for one hour.

What do you all think?

[kaoskonfety]

I'm not seeing it swing any fights to allow them to target self...
I'm not seeing it gaining utility to target self... it decreases in utility as you cannot wake yourself, it takes and action...

unless there is an actual rule preventing it and you don't want them doing it, let it fly - I'd let it work just to watch what they DO with it

[Tonden Ockay]

That is what I was thinking

I guess I can see if they where the last one standing and they cast it in a round that they got hit to make it look like they died. That is about the only thing I can think it would be good for playing possum. Which could save your like or you could get eaten.

[mephnick]

That is what I was thinking

I guess I can see if they where the last one standing and they cast it in a round that they got hit to make it look like they died. That is about the only thing I can think it would be good for playing possum. Which could save your like or you could get eaten.

Yeah in my campaigns it would not work great, as enemies tend to try and finish off downed opponents if they can, at least with one attack.

[M Placeholder]

That is what I was thinking

I guess I can see if they where the last one standing and they cast it in a round that they got hit to make it look like they died. That is about the only thing I can think it would be good for playing possum. Which could save your like or you could get eaten.

Or killed, and reanimated as a Zombie:smallsmile::smallsmile:

[kaoskonfety]

I can see a niche few uses... getting smuggled in *somewhere* as a corpse in various iterations. The party has only 1 underwater breathing spell/item. Bypassing a resetting drowning/posion gas trap... niche, but kinda neat. "Not Drowning" seems to be the most common use I can think of aside from "play dead". I'm sure there are others.

But ya, getting eaten, buried, tossed in a pile with the rest of the garbage and burned/eaten by oozes, foes that desecrate the dead, foes that "make sure" (the spells existance is not a secret). In almost all situations the risks are sizable.

[mephnick]

In a world where common healing spells can bring enemies back into the fight, it doesn't really makes sense for combatants to assume an unconscious enemy is no longer a threat. Feigning death would be a decent trick for roleplaying or trickery, but the combat applications (like some videogames that let you lose aggro) are pretty limited.

[Tonden Ockay]

So we all agree that if a player wants to use it on their self that it has a chance to do more harm then good.

So if it makes them feel cool to have an option to do something they man never do I think I will let it.

[Inevitability]

I personally allow it at my table, though no PC has yet made use of it.

One of my villains did, however. He cast the spell with only a few HP left and 'dropped'. The party did not notice he was still alive.

Then the barbarian chopped off the villain's head, as a trophy. I have not used the spell since then. :smallannoyed:

[JFahy]

I personally allow it at my table, though no PC has yet made use of it.

One of my villains did, however. He cast the spell with only a few HP left and 'dropped'. The party did not notice he was still alive.

Then the barbarian chopped off the villain's head, as a trophy. I have not used the spell since then. :smallannoyed:

My group doesn't even have the 'barbarian' excuse. I try to keep track
of all the heads they're packing around and which ones they've left
behind to scare bad guys, and it's nontrivial. :smallconfused:

[kaoskonfety]

My group doesn't even have the 'barbarian' excuse. I try to keep track
of all the heads they're packing around and which ones they've left
behind to scare bad guys, and it's nontrivial. :smallconfused:

Ew...
Just... ew

[Flashy]

My group doesn't even have the 'barbarian' excuse. I try to keep track
of all the heads they're packing around and which ones they've left
behind to scare bad guys, and it's nontrivial. :smallconfused:

Yeah, the default move of the paladin in the group I'm currently playing in is to cut the heads off things and fling them at their surviving friends.

[Gritmonger]

Yeah, the default move of the paladin in the group I'm currently playing in is to cut the heads off things and fling them at their surviving friends.

Default move... of the paladin...

Wow. So far in my group, dismemberment hasn't been an issue - I've had, as of yet, only one issue of players deliberately assaulting a downed foe during combat to "make sure" he was dead...

[themaque]

Default move... of the paladin...

Wow. So far in my group, dismemberment hasn't been an issue - I've had, as of yet, only one issue of players deliberately assaulting a downed foe during combat to "make sure" he was dead...

Strangely, not totally out of character for a Vengeance or even Ancient paladin.

[Flashy]

Strangely, not totally out of character for a Vengeance or even Ancient paladin.

Yup, it's a vengeance paladin.

[Occasional Sage]

As a player, I'd make the argument that catalepsy involves muscles locking and a decrease in heart- and breathing-rate, but not the removal of the senses. While Feigning Death I should be able to see and hear (though obviously not turn my head or swivel my eyes) and thus judge the optimal time to drop the spell in order to ambush the enemy. When pushed by the DM, I'd reduce my lobby to Blindsense and the like but cede ground on sight and hearing (I don't know the medical truth of sensory input during a cataleptic fit).

As a DM I think I'd reward the clever thinking and roll with sight and hearing and thinking working while the body is paralyzed.

[Gritmonger]

As a player, I'd make the argument that catalepsy involves muscles locking and a decrease in heart- and breathing-rate, but not the removal of the senses.

...except that the wording of the spell specifically says "blinded and incapacitated, and its speed is 0"... so, as DM I'd have to say, no - once you Feign-Death yourself, you're down for an hour.

[Occasional Sage]

...except that the wording of the spell specifically says "blinded and incapacitated, and its speed is 0"... so, as DM I'd have to say, no - once you Feign-Death yourself, you're down for an hour.

Ah, rather than cracking the book to read the actual text I used Tonden's recap. He mentioned the cataleptic state, but not the "blinded and incapacitated" part.