Unhallow

[Zergrusheddie]

Alright, this happened a while ago. The DM did something that I just have no understanding off. He was using the spell Unhallow to "channel" Dispel Magic. Basically, the evil Cleric was using Dispel Magic every round and casting while in the Unhallow if you were a PC required you to beat his Dispel Check as per Counterspell. One of the players called foul on this because it is essentially Antimagic Field lite.

Reading the spell, I was under the impression that you use Dispel Magic when being targeted against worshipers of X. So when Y people walk in, they are hit with a Dispel Magic. Any thoughts?

[ericgrau]

Hmm that is a bit ambiguous. But realize he could have also targeted the area with a silence and you'd have even more trouble casting. A dispel against everything you cast while in the unhallowed area wouldn't be any stronger.

What's questionable is whether or not the cleric is subject to his own dispel, as normally you automatically dispel your own spells. The part where a bunch of undead assault you isn't what's annoying; the part where he can cast and you can't is what's annoying.

[KillianHawkeye]

It's a little unclear, but it definitely should NOT allow the enemy cleric to automatically attempt to counter every spell the players try to cast. Personally, I'd have a targeted dispel affect every eligible target once upon entering the area (thus possibly dispelling any pre-cast buffs or whatnot).

[Caphi]

A continuous area-targeted dispel magic is present within the unhallowed ground.

Area Dispel

When dispel magic is used in this way, the spell affects everything within a 20-foot radius.

For each creature within the area that is the subject of one or more spells, you make a dispel check against the spell with the highest caster level. If that check fails, you make dispel checks against progressively weaker spells until you dispel one spell (which discharges the dispel magic spell so far as that target is concerned) or until you fail all your checks. The creature’s magic items are not affected.

For each object within the area that is the target of one or more spells, you make dispel checks as with creatures. Magic items are not affected by an area dispel.

For each ongoing area or effect spell whose point of origin is within the area of the dispel magic spell, you can make a dispel check to dispel the spell.

For each ongoing spell whose area overlaps that of the dispel magic spell, you can make a dispel check to end the effect, but only within the overlapping area.

If an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by monster summoning) is in the area, you can make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured that object or creature (returning it whence it came) in addition to attempting to dispel spells targeting the creature or object.

Whether this is once per round or only to creatures/objects that enter the unhallowed ground isn't really spelled out in the text of unhallow, but remind the GM that his ruling on the matter applies to you too.

Either way, it seems that an area dispel magic can't counter spells.

[Sinfire Titan]

Finally, you may choose to fix a single spell effect to the unhallowed site. The spell effect lasts for one year and functions throughout the entire site, regardless of its normal duration and area or effect. You may designate whether the effect applies to all creatures, creatures that share your faith or alignment, or creatures that adhere to another faith or alignment. At the end of the year, the chosen effect lapses, but it can be renewed or replaced simply by casting unhallow again.

From the looks of it, the fact that the caster has to choose every time the spell is cast means the effect is set once Unhallow is cast (so whichever version of Dispel Magic happens is determined once and only once). It is legal for him to use the Counterspell version to negate magic, but only if the caster of the spell is within the radius of the Unhallow spell.

It works, but the counterspell ability has no effect on magic items. This is the distinction that needs to be made.

If the caster chooses, it affects any creature who is not a member of his faith, thus normal PCs would enter the area and be on spellcasting lockdown. The way around this type of effect is to boost your Caster Level until Dispel Magic can't threaten it (you need to make sure the DC for them to dispel your spell is 31 or higher, as Dispel Magic can't go higher than 30).

[ericgrau]

Oh so he could have made a silence that only affects the PCs and not him. That would have been worse than any interpretation of dispel here, except for the PC's buffs and magic items.

IMO the reasonable interpretation seems to have it work against all ongoing effects that the PCs bring in or create in the unhallowed area. IMO the check should be made 1 time per effect, but that's open to interpretation. So a fireball would not be affected since it's not ongoing, but a grease spell or haste would.