Ghost Touch vs. Blink

[RubyChaslor]

I've been looking for an answer to this question and while I've found several, none of them have been very thorough or direct.

Can a ghost touch weapon indeed reduce the miss chance of a blink spell from 50% to 20% as specified? Keep in mind, that this spell apparently labels the creature as ethereal, and then goes on to label ethereal creatures as incoporeal, which is already confusing since ethereal and incoporeal are indeed two different things.

Both Blink and Ghost Touch verbage can be found very readily @ d20srd.org

[Darrin]

Can a ghost touch weapon indeed reduce the miss chance of a blink spell from 50% to 20% as specified? Keep in mind, that this spell apparently labels the creature as ethereal, and then goes on to label ethereal creatures as incoporeal, which is already confusing since ethereal and incoporeal are indeed two different things.


There is some sloppiness in the spell description that is making this question very hard to untangle. The text in blink states:

"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." (emphasis added)

The text for ethereal jaunt has slightly different wording:

"An ethereal creature is invisible, insubstantial, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down, albeit at half normal speed. As an insubstantial creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures." (emphasis added)

As you've noted, "ethereal" and "incorporeal" are two different terms with two different effects. An ethereal creature is not considered incorporeal unless they have an ability or effect that allows them to "manifest" on the material plane, at which point they become incorporeal. A ghost touch weapon only affects incorporeal creatures. It doesn't have any effect on an ethereal creature, unless it's brought to the ethereal plane where it's treated like any other weapon. So you have two options here, depending on how you want to interpret the text from blink:

A) RAW is RAW. Blink says it makes you incorporeal as well as ethereal, so that's exactly what it does. Ghost touch weapons have a 20% miss chance against you because you keep turning invisible, granting concealment. (Being able to see invisible removes the miss chance.)

B) The text in blink is a mistake. The designers intended to use the word "insubstantial" as per the text of ethereal jaunt. Ghost touch weapons have no effect against blink because when you're ethereal you're not incorporeal, so there's nothing on the material plane for the weapon to hit. 50% miss chance is still in effect regardless of whether the weapon can hit incorporeal creatures. (Weapons with [force] effects would reduce the miss chance to 20%, since [force] effects exist simultaneously on the material and ethereal planes. Ghost touch is not a [force] effect.)

[RubyChaslor]

Thank you so much for your thorough explanation. Going on to point out the slight error on the designer's part actually makes so much sense. You are greatly appreciated for taking your time to answer this! THANK YOU!! :D

[Kelb_Panthera]

If you want logical consistency, darrin's B is the correct answer. An ethereal creature is not on the material plane at all but, rather, in a corresponding location on the ethereal. In the moment the blinking character is not visible or tangible, it's because he's not there.

Ghost touch weapons have no ability to reach across the planar boundary into the ethereal and, therefore, cannot effect ethereal creatures at all, as they are not a force or abjuration effect. Therefore, blink maintains its 50% miss chance.

The riverine special material in stormwrack is planes of force shaped into a weapon. That'll slice right into ethereal creatures but you still have to contend with the 20% miss chance for concealment with blinking creatures.