Undeath's Eternal Foe - FIXED

[Xandor Loriland]

The description of this spell says that it affects all allies in the area but I think there is a diety relation aspect as I have recently seen some people in the party that get unaffected.  Is there such an effect and if there is can we get the description updated so I can figure out who I would have to cast deathward on.  I would hate for someone to get killed by death magic thinking I had protected them when I didn't because of this effect. Thanks.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

But, uh, Xandor... You're forgetting something. Why would he cast Death Ward on the follower of an Enemy deity?

[Xandor Loriland]

Well actually that would depend on who your deity was and your evangelical philosophy.  Rawkwin is a follower of Aeridin who respects all life and in particualr is not judgmental.  Rawkwin also considers it a way to sway people to follow Aeridin by portraying a great deal of respect for life even of those he may not agree with.  Another reason is that in a party every member is important and even a follower of an enemy deity may act to preserve the life of others in the group as long as they are alive so I think its a good idea to protect everyone when in group play even if the ultimate goal is the preservation of some few in the group.  When you are on a quest another reason is that you don't get to pick your company and as a courtesy to other players I consider it the job of the healer cleric to do all he can to preserve the life of everyone in the party.  So, there are actually a lot of in character and out of character reasons for it I think.

[Pankoki]

Undeath's Eternal Foe is indeed linked to the deity system. It needs a description update.

[willhoff]

I was curious how this effects the use of a black dragon scale.  The scale, when activated, gives everyone in the area of effect undeath's eternal foe.

Does the script use the activator's deity to check who will be protected and who will not?

Or does the scale itself have a specific deity tied to it that is used as to who is protected or not?

For example, Vrebel who has his deity field blank uses the scale, how is it determined who gets the protection from the scale?

Thanks,

~Willhoff

[miltonyorkcastle]

As far as I know, the black dragon scale does not take into account a deity, as it's not getting the power from a deity, unlike a cleric or druid.

[Serissa]

I'm pretty sure either it or the book does.  Sala keeps one for folks she can't cover with foe, but one of them has to use it for it to work.

[Dorganath]

What's very possible is that someone without a deity using the item will allow it to take effect on everyone, since by default, that is a "neutral" reaction.

[willhoff]

I thought that is how it worked too but events on a rescent LC quest make me question that:

On the arachnaphobia quest, Vrebel used a black dragon scale and got everyone I thought in our group, including Brandin Fleetfeet.  Brandin died shortly after due to a wail of the banshee.

Vrebel, at almost the instant Brandin died, missed his will save vs. death (some other death spell besides the wail cast around the same time) but was immune to death magic because of the scale.

I havent talked to Brandin about this but it would probably help if he gives some imput.

Anyways, it would be nice to know who you are covering and, more importantly, who you are not covering when using the scale and the dusty old tome.

[Acacea]

As far as I know, the black dragon scale does not take into account a deity, as it's not getting the power from a deity, unlike a cleric or druid.

For spells that have multiple sources, the difference is on-paper only, not multiple spells for each source. So if druids, clerics, bards, and books could all cast Foe, all of them would check for a deity unless someone went in specifically wiggled them apart.

A good example of this is the bard's Healing Circle, whose hp healed is determined by distance from deity because it is also a cleric spell. Acacea will heal max for Lucindites and allies, and none at all for enemies of Lucinda. This was kind of mused over when it was first changed and brought up, and then decided, "Why not?" and stamped working as intended.

I've never really minded, but there are cases when I wish items could be flagged as cast from certain deities. But then again, I also wish all clerical crafted items were tagged with that deity, be it raise dead or bless. That would be nice... "Selling Xeen's blessings...!"

Oops, topic...

Anyways, it would be nice to know who you are covering and, more importantly, who you are not covering when using the scale and the dusty old tome.

Is it possible that it was not a wail but a Weird without True Seeing? Neutral should work on everyone - when sharing out items it is usually the blank deity field that has to use it, or risk someone being skipped.

[willhoff]

Okay *blushes*, checked the logs again, seems there was a Weird cast right around that time too so most likely he did not have true sight and died to the Weird.

So, guess the consensus is that if your using a scale or a dusty tome, the diety field of the pc who actaully activates or uses the device is used to check who is covered and who is not.

Good catch Acacea *winks*

[ycleption]

Acacea, are you sure that healing circle works that way for bards? the LORE description is "Bards heal 1d8+1 points per caster level," which needs to be deleted if it is linked to deities for them too (I know it works that way for druids...)

[Acacea]

It is possible that it has been since changed, but as an example, Acacea's healing Circle did jack for Abiorn, who had Goran in his deity field. So yes, I know it works that way for me...

I would have to either dig up logs or check in game when I get home, as it is possible it is set with the arcane censor of devotion - I remember talking about it but not all the details It's all a blur!

[miltonyorkcastle]

Hm... yeah, if the Arcane Censor is what does the trick for bards and druids, that should be mentioned on the spell's description. Any testing would be appreciated.