GameBanshee Forums

Hiya.

Just have some questions about the spell Death Spell since my mage just got it and is using it very freely.

First I want to know what kind of targets does it actually kill, or have a possibility to kill?

I remember the spell says something about creatures with 8 hit dice or lower, what does this mean?

That it for now atleast. Nice spell though, even it's alittle bit random when it works Sometimes a normal Shadow Thief was immune, while some mages died. Vampires was also sent to the grave, but small skeletons didn't...

Thanks

Every monster and character in the game has "hit dice". You can think of it as a creature's "level" if you wish. For example, a Mind Flayer is an 8-Hit Dice monster. It can be killed by the Death Spell if it fails its saving throw. But a Vampiric Illithid is a 12-Hit Dice monster (I think), so it is not affected by the Death Spell. There are a large number of monsters in the game that can be killed by the Death Spell, including Umber Hulks, Orcs, Kobolds, Goblins, Orogs, Kua-toa, Sahuagin, most animals, etc. The Death Spell also kills summoned monsters no matter how many Hit Dice they have. However, it doesn't work on "gated" monsters such as Pit Fiends (which is why your Mage should use gated monsters against opponents who can cast the Death Spell instead of summoned monsters). The Death Spell also doesn't work on undead creatures, for obvious reasons. I think that Trolls have 6 Hit Dice, but I can't remember what the Death Spell does to them.

It's nice to see that you're using such a cool spell. I also suggest Spook, Glitterdust, and Emotion, which seem to be overlooked by a lot of players.

Death Spell is an awesome spell, in SOA it's able to finish most fights instantly. One of the best situations to use it is when one's party is "Way laid by robbers".

It's invaluable against the antics of Umberhulks too.


I'm not sure if it's any good versus illithids though, since they have massive magic resistance.

One monster that should always be countered with deathspell is Nishruu and the Hakashar, the fact that they destroy items per attack is something that shouldn't tolerated. Djinn are something that needs to be killed with death spell too, they are extremely hard to kill ordinarily as well.