Persistent Spell?

[danielxcutter]

I've read the description, and it says it only works on "fixed or personal range" spells... what exactly does that mean? I get personal spells, such as say, Wraithstrike or Shield... but what does "fixed" mean? Does that mean examples such as "targets 1 character/level", like Haste? Or am I misunderstanding?

[tyckspoon]

It's commonly understood to mean spells that have a range given as a single unvarying number, usually in feet. They tend to be things that are fixed on a point or centered on the caster and affect a range measured from the caster - see Bless and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful for examples of this type of format.

[Nifft]

I've read the description, and it says it only works on "fixed or personal range" spells... what exactly does that mean? I get personal spells, such as say, Wraithstrike or Shield... but what does "fixed" mean? Does that mean examples such as "targets 1 character/level", like Haste? Or am I misunderstanding?



Detect Evil
Divination
Level: Clr 1
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min./ level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You can sense the presence of evil. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.


^^^ fixed range.

Could have been Personal since it's always an effect originating from you, and its effect is just giving you information.

Here's a very similar spell, except with a non-fixed range:



Detect Animals or Plants
Divination
Level: Drd 1, Rgr 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

[Silva Stormrage]

Generally it is taken to mean spells with a set ranged like "30ft" rather than the variable "Close/Medium/Long" ranges that most spells have. Spells like Prayer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/prayer.htm) are good examples of fixed ranged spells.

Some people take it to also apply to touch spells as well having a fixed range of "0ft" basically.

[Pleh]

This has been subject to some amount of debate for a long time and there was actually a pretty recent thread that went over the old argument points about exactly how Persistent Spell works. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?574315-New-find-age-old-debate-about-persistent-touch-spells)

There's a bit of ambiguity in some of the terminology.