[3.5] Chill touch and channelling

[macdaddy]

The Duskblade, Enlightened Fist, and SpellSword classes allow a caster to channel touch spells into an attack.

Seems simple enough, until you try to do it with Chill Touch (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/chillTouch.htm)

"A touch from your hand, which glows with blue energy, disrupts the life force of living creatures. Each touch channels negative energy that deals 1d6 points of damage. The touched creature also takes 1 point of Strength damage unless it makes a successful Fortitude saving throw. You can use this melee touch attack up to one time per level."

How does the 1/level work with these attacks? is it over a number of rounds until discharged (like holding the charge)? or is it whatever you can use in 1 round (via a full attack if possible?). Or something else?

[Flickerdart]

The relevant text is in the arcane channeling ability: "...you can use a standard action to cast any touch spell you know and deliver the spell through your weapon with a melee attack. ... If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved."

RAW all you get is the ability to use a standard action to hit a guy with your sword to inflict the sword's damage on the target, and then apply the effect of your spell normally. But nothing about the spell is overwritten - so you hit them with the sword, and then gain the ability to touch them for cold damage and STR damage.

Of course, RAW is dumb, and Chill Touch is just very poorly written. I would let you add the rider effect to every sword strike until the spell ran out.

[Warrnan]

Yea. This is sort of a grey area. I can see a DM ruling two ways.

A) that first attack gets your melee damage and your chill touch. After that, you can touch people with the remaining duration of the spell, if they are a very strict dm.

B) a flexible dm would allow you to host keep the proc on your sword and finish attacking for sustained damage.

I don't think that B is a particularly OP effect as chill touch is only a level one spell. Seems legit.