Doctor Despair
2020-12-21, 08:33 AM
A riverine weapons has this quality:
Being enclosed in magical force, it is immune to all damage and is unaffected by most spells. However, disintegrate immediately destroys an item made of riverine, as does a rod of cancellation, a sphere of annihilation, or a Mordenkainen’s disjunction spell, causing the water to spill out in a sudden rush.
That seems rather unambiguous; it somewhat follows the description of how the disintegrate spell works, too:
A thin, green ray springs from your pointing finger. You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit. Any creature struck by the ray takes 2d6 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 40d6). Any creature reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by this spell is entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. A disintegrated creature’s equipment is unaffected.
When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as one 10-foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted. The ray affects even objects constructed entirely of force, such as forceful hand or a wall of force, but not magical effects such as a globe of invulnerability or an antimagic field.
A creature or object that makes a successful Fortitude save is partially affected, taking only 5d6 points of damage. If this damage reduces the creature or object to 0 or fewer hit points, it is entirely disintegrated.
Only the first creature or object struck can be affected; that is, the ray affects only one target per casting.
The spell seems to suggest that an object (or perhaps only an attended object?) would be entitled to a save to avoid the full effects of the spell. Is it therefore a unique effect of riverine that it would not receive a save, or is it that, as it is immune to damage normally, even partial damage is enough to destroy it?
Also, what about an intelligent item?
Intelligent items can actually be considered creatures because they have Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. Treat them as constructs.
An intelligent item is not an object, but a creature. Does that change how we should read the interaction between disintegrate and riverine?
I asked in the RAW thread about a possible workaround I'm considering. If the weapon has the spellblade property, it may be able to circumvent the disintegrate effect; failing that, a fiend of possession becomes part of the object or creature it possesses, so if a fiend of possession wields a spellblade and possesses a riverine sword, intelligent or otherwise, that should cover it. I'm hopeful a second weapon won't be necessary, however.
Being enclosed in magical force, it is immune to all damage and is unaffected by most spells. However, disintegrate immediately destroys an item made of riverine, as does a rod of cancellation, a sphere of annihilation, or a Mordenkainen’s disjunction spell, causing the water to spill out in a sudden rush.
That seems rather unambiguous; it somewhat follows the description of how the disintegrate spell works, too:
A thin, green ray springs from your pointing finger. You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit. Any creature struck by the ray takes 2d6 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 40d6). Any creature reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by this spell is entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. A disintegrated creature’s equipment is unaffected.
When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as one 10-foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted. The ray affects even objects constructed entirely of force, such as forceful hand or a wall of force, but not magical effects such as a globe of invulnerability or an antimagic field.
A creature or object that makes a successful Fortitude save is partially affected, taking only 5d6 points of damage. If this damage reduces the creature or object to 0 or fewer hit points, it is entirely disintegrated.
Only the first creature or object struck can be affected; that is, the ray affects only one target per casting.
The spell seems to suggest that an object (or perhaps only an attended object?) would be entitled to a save to avoid the full effects of the spell. Is it therefore a unique effect of riverine that it would not receive a save, or is it that, as it is immune to damage normally, even partial damage is enough to destroy it?
Also, what about an intelligent item?
Intelligent items can actually be considered creatures because they have Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. Treat them as constructs.
An intelligent item is not an object, but a creature. Does that change how we should read the interaction between disintegrate and riverine?
I asked in the RAW thread about a possible workaround I'm considering. If the weapon has the spellblade property, it may be able to circumvent the disintegrate effect; failing that, a fiend of possession becomes part of the object or creature it possesses, so if a fiend of possession wields a spellblade and possesses a riverine sword, intelligent or otherwise, that should cover it. I'm hopeful a second weapon won't be necessary, however.