Quorothorn
2008-05-04, 11:17 AM
By RAW, Disintegrate is fairly straightforward: a green-coloured ray attack that tosses enough d6s at a target who fails their FORT save to make Sneak Attack cry itself to sleep (and even on a failed save inflicts some hurt). It is awesome because, not only does it out-damage (if used properly) a spell two levels higher (y hallo thar Polar Ray), but also because nothing can escape its wrath (unless they posses an extremely high touch AC): it even works on undead or walls of force, unlike, say, Destruction.
But accumulated evidence throughout the holy archives of The Giant's masterwork suggests that, within this wide wonderful world, Disintegrate has even further powers than its entry in the Player's Handbook or Systme Reference Document would suggest.
Note here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0186.html), wherein the mighty wizard Vaarsuvius unleashes the mystical power within her/his deceptively small frame to show us a black dragon's skeletal frame, not once, but in fact twice. Note especially how, after the first dose, the dragon appears as confused as the recipient of a Stunning Fist (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html) does. As the dragon was due to be released from the Suggestion spell previously cast by Vaarsuvius on the round Vaarsuvius first unleashed Disintegrate upon it, it should have been free to act forthwith, but it chose merely to remark on the state of wheels attached to a specific class of mass transportation vehicle whilst stars orbited its cranium. Three possibilities therefore present themselves: 1. Vaarsuvius' second casting of Disintegrate took place, essentially, in a surprise round. 2. Vaarsuvius won Initiative. 3. The dragon was actually stunned for a round by Disintegrate; this seems to me to be the most likely scenario, explaining all parameters of the situation at hand. An intriguing possibility even if there remain alternate explanations as framed above.
Later, the famed cleric known only as Redcloak unleashed (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0480.html) the same spell (aside from it being provided by a Clerical Domain at one spell level higher than it is for Wizards and Sorcerers) against the commander of the Sapphire Guard, Hinjo. This spell not only resulted in one of the heaviest amounts of visible damage ever displayed on one individual's visage (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0481.html), it also actually seemed to knock Hinjo back aboard the ship, even though all his momentum was in a forward leap at the time the ray struck him. This suggests a knock-back effect (perhaps similar to that produced by a spell enhanced by the metamagic feat Explosive Spell: however, this feat not only is outside the bounds of the System Reference Document, and not only is Redcloak not necessarily high-level enough to cast ninth-level spells [as Explosive Spell raises the spell level of the spell it is applied to by two levels], but furthermore it affects only those spells which affect areas in a cone, line, cylinder or burst, not a ray: therefore, no such metamagic could have been applied in this case.) This indicates that Disintegrate may posses a knock-back effect.
And finally, we can look to Start of Darkness for another example. When Redcloak unleashes the Disintegrate spell against his own brother, Right-Eye, it knocks him out of the air and causes him to fall to his death, despite Right-Eye being under the effects of a Potion of Fly at the time. This suggests that Disintegrate may be able to disrupt the energy of an in-place spell in a similar manner to Dispel Magic.
So, it would seem that perhaps the wonderful spell of destruction aptly named Disintegrate might hold secrets beyond its awe-inspiring damage potential, as the case (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfFunny) may be (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool).
P.S. What? It's a different topic than most new threads of late, is it not?
But accumulated evidence throughout the holy archives of The Giant's masterwork suggests that, within this wide wonderful world, Disintegrate has even further powers than its entry in the Player's Handbook or Systme Reference Document would suggest.
Note here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0186.html), wherein the mighty wizard Vaarsuvius unleashes the mystical power within her/his deceptively small frame to show us a black dragon's skeletal frame, not once, but in fact twice. Note especially how, after the first dose, the dragon appears as confused as the recipient of a Stunning Fist (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html) does. As the dragon was due to be released from the Suggestion spell previously cast by Vaarsuvius on the round Vaarsuvius first unleashed Disintegrate upon it, it should have been free to act forthwith, but it chose merely to remark on the state of wheels attached to a specific class of mass transportation vehicle whilst stars orbited its cranium. Three possibilities therefore present themselves: 1. Vaarsuvius' second casting of Disintegrate took place, essentially, in a surprise round. 2. Vaarsuvius won Initiative. 3. The dragon was actually stunned for a round by Disintegrate; this seems to me to be the most likely scenario, explaining all parameters of the situation at hand. An intriguing possibility even if there remain alternate explanations as framed above.
Later, the famed cleric known only as Redcloak unleashed (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0480.html) the same spell (aside from it being provided by a Clerical Domain at one spell level higher than it is for Wizards and Sorcerers) against the commander of the Sapphire Guard, Hinjo. This spell not only resulted in one of the heaviest amounts of visible damage ever displayed on one individual's visage (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0481.html), it also actually seemed to knock Hinjo back aboard the ship, even though all his momentum was in a forward leap at the time the ray struck him. This suggests a knock-back effect (perhaps similar to that produced by a spell enhanced by the metamagic feat Explosive Spell: however, this feat not only is outside the bounds of the System Reference Document, and not only is Redcloak not necessarily high-level enough to cast ninth-level spells [as Explosive Spell raises the spell level of the spell it is applied to by two levels], but furthermore it affects only those spells which affect areas in a cone, line, cylinder or burst, not a ray: therefore, no such metamagic could have been applied in this case.) This indicates that Disintegrate may posses a knock-back effect.
And finally, we can look to Start of Darkness for another example. When Redcloak unleashes the Disintegrate spell against his own brother, Right-Eye, it knocks him out of the air and causes him to fall to his death, despite Right-Eye being under the effects of a Potion of Fly at the time. This suggests that Disintegrate may be able to disrupt the energy of an in-place spell in a similar manner to Dispel Magic.
So, it would seem that perhaps the wonderful spell of destruction aptly named Disintegrate might hold secrets beyond its awe-inspiring damage potential, as the case (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfFunny) may be (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool).
P.S. What? It's a different topic than most new threads of late, is it not?