Paralysis Effects

[CrazySamaritan]

I said to take it out of the Dog House, so here it is.


First, the background;

Slow is considered a paralysis effect. I find this a little odd (you're slow because you are a tiny bit paralyzed?), but that is why they are immune to it (and you can get items/effects of immunity to paralysis and become immune too.)

Gazebo, why is Slow a paralysis effect? It certainly isn't in PnP.

Luckily, Eladrin is still in the office to ask (I implement this stuff, but he makes the decisions as to what is the "right" thing to implement, or at least was around when those decisions got made). He explained that since remove paralysis explicitly removes paralysis "or related magic, including ... a slow spell", that slow is "related" to paralysis, and thus things that make you immune to paralysis should also make you immune to slow.

I'm certainly not going to claim this is obvious or anything -- it's more that we need to draw the line somewhere on all the special cases that abound in the PnP rules, so at some point, if it quacks like a duck, we just start treating it like a duck. So, slow is cured by remove paralysis, and by analogy you are immune to it if you are immune to paralysis, so poof, it's in the "paralysis" bucket, and I start answering questions about it with "yep, it's in the paralysis category".

If I tried to tell My players that slow was a Paralysis effect I would have a mutiny..

paralysis
This special attack (extraordinary or supernatural) renders the victim immobile. Paralyzed creatures cannot move, speak, or take any physical actions. The creature is rooted to the spot, frozen and helpless. Paralysis works on the body, and a character can usually resist it with a Fortitude saving throw (the DC is given in the creature's description). Unlike hold person and similar effects, a paralysis effect does not allow a new save each round. A winged creature flying in the air at the time that it is paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls. A swimmer can't swim and may drown.

And just for good form...

paralyzed
Frozen in place and unable to move or act, such as by the hold person spell. A paralyzed character has effective Dexterity and Strength scores of 0 and is helpless, but can take purely mental actions. A winged creature flying in the air at the time that it becomes paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls. A paralyzed swimmer can't swim and may drown. A creature can move through a space occupied by a paralyzed creature -- ally or not. Each square occupied by a paralyzed creature, however, counts as 2 squares.
As an extraordinary or supernatural ability, this special attack renders the victim immobile. Paralysis works on the body, and a character can usually resist it with a Fortitude saving throw (the DC is given in the creature's description). Unlike hold person and similar effects, a paralysis effect does not allow a new save each round.


I don't see how Slow.. which. Slows them... not renders them immobile can be considered a Paralysis effect. Just because 1 spell says it effects more then just Paralysis, does not mean everything it effect is paralysis...

I which I could find something that out right said Slow is not a Paralysis, but I was unable to.

Now on to the most recent part of the debate:

2) Gazebo said the reason he answered that it was a paralysis effect was because the pen and paper rules the game is based on treated it as such. It was done to make coding easier.

Which was then countered. It can be cured with Remove Paralysis due to an exception in the rule for the spell. Other instances hold no such exception for Slow.

WHAT other instances?

Freedom of Movement
Abjuration
Level: Brd 4, Clr 4, Drd 4, Luck 4, Rgr 4
Components: V, S, M, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal or touch
Target: You or creature touched
Duration: 10 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. The subject automatically succeeds on any grapple check made to resist a grapple attempt, as well as on grapple checks or Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.

The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The freedom of movement spell does not, however, allow water breathing.
Material Component

A leather thong, bound around the arm or a similar appendage.

It says "influence of magic that usually impedes movement," which is not limited to the examples that follow.

[CrazySamaritan]

That's bad. Much worse is that some purely physical nonmagical attacks like Earthgrab are also treated as paralysis.

Freedom of Movement could block Earthgrab on the argument that it gives "auto-success on grapple checks". However, its absolutely senseless for warforged to be racially immune to earthgrab.

WHAT non-magical attack? Earthgrab isn't in the SRD, so I have no knowledge of where it comes from, meaning it could just as easily be mundane as magical. I'm of the figure that it is based on the SPELL, Earthen Grasp, from Complete Arcane. Which does make grapple checks. If the save isn't coded as BAB+STR+d20, then we have a complaint.

(note: this is a Transmutation[Earth] for those who are interested, and has no mention of paralysis effects)

[villainsimple]

Who pointed that out to begin with? I forget. I mean the spells been in the game for hell... months now.