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Re: (TFT) Pentagrams and arrows



At 01:22 PM 3/8/04 -0600, Mark Tapley wrote:
...
If no magic, I assume the pentagram doesn't get involved at all.

Right.

What if the Bow is enchanted to +DX? I think of +DX on a bow as just meaning it helps the archer aim better - in which case the magic is done with when the arrow leaves the bow, and the pentagram won't affect it.

A very small touch of grey, but I think you are correct. The arrow is crossing the pentagram, but not the bow. Two possible other interpretations, though, are:

1) The arrow's +1 DX attack relies on magic carried with the arrow through the attack - it therefore is completely stopped by the pentagram!

2) The bow's aiming magic fails to work against targets outside the pentagram. The magic in the bow can't interact with the target. The arrow can get through, but the archer doesn't get a bonus to DX.

What if the Bow is enchanted to +Damage? I think of +Damage on a bow as just meaning it shoots harder, so again, it's just a plain arrow crossing the pentagram, so the archer still gets the bonus.

Again, I'd tend to side with you, but I could see the same above two arguments, depending on interpretation of how the magic bow works. Just like above, the arrow might be blocked, or the damage bonus might not work.

What if the bow shoots Flaming arrows? I think it would go out as it crossed the pentagram border, although this may be at variance with my opinions above on Bow enchantment.

In this case I see your logic, and it's an acceptable interpretation, but I think that a Flaming arrow from a magic bow is not just a natural arrow with natural fire on it. Real natural fire arrows require a bunch of burning medium (which spoils their aim, etc). Even if you could set an arrow on fire and then fired it, I don't think it would give +1 damage reliably. So, I think the arrow from a Flaming enchantment does still have magic in it as it flies, and is therefore a magical attack, and would get stopped in its tracks. Again this goes back to the spell wording: "The only thing it will NOT stop is a totally "natural" thing - such as a purely physical attack by a non-magical creature."

What if the Arrow is enchanted to either +DX or +Damage? I think of these as little magic heat-seeking AIM-9 style fins on the arrow, or little turbo-boosters on the arrow, and I think the pentagram would shut those down as the arrow crossed its boundary, so it reverts to a plain arrow and the archer would not get either DX or Damage bonus from the arrow.

I agree with your premise but I would have the pentagram stop the arrow itself. A pentagram is NOT de-enchantment field. It stops enchanted and magical things, but doesn't dispel enchantments. You can't walk through a pentagram to remove cursed magic items stuck on you, for example. Someone with a cursed item gets prevented from crossing by the cursed item.

What if the Arrow came out of a Quiver of Replenishment? I assume it just wouldn't work to try to return it, since one can't teleport in/out of a pentagram.

The arrow is part of the enchanted set, and so is a magic item. I'd say it gets stopped before leaving.


What if the Intruder had a Reverse Missiles spell up? Does all that magic take place at the Intruder himself, or does Reverse Missiles actually have to guide the missile all the way back to its source? I think of it as just being a corner-cube reflector for arrows, with a little windage thrown in for gravity and drag, so that the Reversed Arrow would cross the Pentagram with no trouble and no change (since the pentagram stripped all magical effect from the arrow on the way out) and hit the archer.

Again a grey area. One view is that the attack going out must be non-magical, so the attack going back must be non-magical. Another view is that Reverse Missiles is way too accurate to be non-magical. Reverse Missiles NEVER misses on the way back, which realism-oriented players like myself will either make house rules to allow a chance to miss on the way back, or will perhaps make up a rationalization involving magic helping the missile back to the firer... in which case they might well argue that the attack coming back _is_ magical, and so gets stopped by the pentagram.

PvK
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