Protection From Evil
(Abjuration)
Reversible: Protection
From Good
[default: cleric, mu: magic-user]
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Explanation/Description:
When this spell is cast,
it acts as if it were a
magical armor upon the recipient.
The protection encircles
the recipient at a one foot distance,
thus preventing bodily contact
by creatures of an enchanted or conjured nature such as aerial
servants, <should read 'extra-planar' monsters, I think>
demons,
devils,
djinn,
efreet,
elementals,
imps,
invisible
stalkers,
night
hags,
quasits,
salamanders,
water
weirds,
wind
walkers,
and xorn.
Summoned animals or monsters
are similarly hedged from the protected creature.
Furthermore,
any and all attacks launched
by evil creatures incur a penalty of -2 from dice rolls ”to hit” the protected
creature,
and any saves caused by
such attacks are made at +2 on the protected creature‘s dice.
<note: the above list
should be updated to incl monsters from the FF, MM2, etc.>
<does the spell work
against deities?>
Protection
From Good: This spell can be reversed to become protection from good,
although it still keeps
out enchanted evil creatures as well.
Q: In TSR's D&D
module B2, several
monsters are equpped with
Amulets of
Protection from Good, which
cause
them to be treated as Undead
of the
next higher type. Would the
reverse of
the first level clerical
spell Protection
From Evil enable Undead to
perform in
a similar manner?
A: The Amulets in
question are magic
items, created by a difficult
and expensive
process. The spell would
NOT
have the same effect, and
wearing more
than one Amulet will have
the same effect
as wearing more than one
Ring of
Protection (only one will
apply).
(Polyhedron #2)
Q. Does a protection
from evil spell
keep out undead?
A. This is a common
misinterpretation
of the spell. However, the
PHB quite
clearly states the protection
from
evil produces a magickal
barrier which
prevents bodily contact by
enchanted
or summoned creatures only.
So,
unless an undead has been
conjured
from another dimension, for
example, it
would not be held at bay
by this spell.
Moreover, if any attacks
are launched
from within the protective
circle of
th espell, the barrier is
immediately
negated and cannot be raised
against
that particular monster again.
Of
course, the bonuses to the
caster's
AC and saves will
remain effective in all cases.
(Imagine #13)
DMG.Cleric: Note that this excludes (keeps out) monsters using natural (body) weapon attacks which require touching the protected character.
DMG.MU: This spell
prevents attacks which employ parts of the body of affected creatures.
(Cf. cleric spell of the
same name.)
MC: To complete this
spell,
the cleric must trace a
3’ diameter circle upon the floor
(or ground)
with holy water for protection
from evil,
with blood for protection
from good --
or in the air using burning
incense or smoldering dung with respect to evil/good.
MC.magic-user: With
the differences shown above,
and the requirement of powdered
iron && silver as the material components
for tracing the magic circle for protection from evil,
the spell is the same as
the first level cleric protection from evil spell (q.v.).
Question: Can a Magic-user
of an evil alignment cast a
Protection from Evil around
himself to protect him from other
evil creatures?
Answer: Sure, he can.
Just because he is evil doesn’t mean he can’t
protect himself from others
that are evil. Also, he can cast a Protection
from Good, which will keep
out good as well as enchanted evil
creatures.
Q: In issue #138,
you said that protection
from evil effects do not
keep
undead at bay, except for
ghouls.
Come on! Since all undead
are magically
created, they're all enchanted
monsters and all are thwarted
by
protection from evil. While
we're at
it, you also said that banshees
turn
as specials, if they can
be turned at
all. Come on again! The
rules say
that clerics have power
over the
undead, not some undead.
A: The only undead
that are magically
created are skeletons and
zombies, which
are created with the animate
dead spell.
However, enchanted monsters
are those
brought into being with
conjuration/
summoning spells, and animate
dead is
necromantic. Ghouls
are hedged out because
their descriptions in the
1st Edition
Monster Manual and 2nd Edition
Monstrous
Compendium say they are.
Still, the
DM could rule that the normal
undeadcreation
process (in which a being
killed
by certain undead beings
becomes an
undead creature, too) is
magical. Expanding
the list in this fashion
logically would
include lycanthropes (which
suffer from a
quasi-magical curse), golems
(which are
ritually created), creatures
such as
owlbears and bulettes (commonly
known
to be magical crossbreeds),
and gargoyles
(which have ?magical natures?)?and
the
list goes on.
It's much better to draw
the line early on.
_________________________________
The rules don't say that
clerics have
power over all undead. Banshees
were left
off the clerics vs. undead
table in the
AD&D 1st Edition
DMG because they
couldn?t be turned in those
rules (see the
1st Edition Monster Manual,
"Groaning
Spirit").
Currently, banshees can be turned
as ?special? undead (see
?Groaning Spirit,?
Monstrous Compendium, Volume
2).
(155.57)
Runecrow wrote:
Hello Gary, I have a quick
question. I am almost ashamed to ask it because I'm sure it's probably
been asked a million times; but I am having somewhat of a time coming to
a conclusive call on this.
I was wondering about the original intent behind the protection from evil spell. This was brought up by a player recently and I've been contemplating it for a few days. Now, was it originally meant to be that the "hedging out of enchanted/summoned creatures" effect was to be suspended if the spell recipient attacked such a creature; or was it meant to be that the cleric/magic-user could attack and the "hedging" ability remained effective? I have looked and looked but found nothing stating that the "hedging" effect is suspended if the recipient attacks.
If the "hedging" ability
was meant to be suspended, was it meant to be universally suspended?
That is, if the cleric were
fighting 4 elementals, and attacked
one, would all 4 now be able to attack the cleric?
If a paladin
attacks, and the intent is for the "hedging" to be suspended, for what
duration, since the paladin's ability is effectively continuous?
Is the paladin's aura suspended
in relation to that attacked creature permanently?
Or only for the combat duration?
As I read the rules, it seems to me that attack should not suspend the "hedging" ability, from a 'written rules' point of view. I thought I would ask you so that, if the intent was originally to suspend the "hedging" upon attack, I could at least say, "Because Gary Gygax said so" to answer my player's question of, "Why?" when I said the effect would be suspended.
Also, I hope all is going well, and that any personal studies beyond the game are also going well.
Thanks.
The protection from evil
spell keeps said foes away from the protected.
If the latter chooses to
move into range to assail the evil opponents, there goes the hedge.
simple as that.
It is a protective spell,
not one of offense.
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally Posted by haakon1
Hi Gary -- I have would
like to access your encyclopedic knowledge of fantasy for a query on silver.
That is, what would the magical uses of silver be? In particular, I'm thinking of the material component for Protection from Evil 10' Radius (sprinkled in the appropriate way) and anti-werewolf material. Anything else come to mind?
I'm trying to think of a good reason my villain is interested in a secret silver mine/making silver weapons.
It helps if you figure out the plot before you begin the adventure . . . but the PC's weren't supposed to find this anyhow!
You are spot on.
In folklore, silver
is indeed valued for its proctetive qualities against evil.
The use of silver
against were-creatures is an example of how it an an inimical metal to
creatures of evil, just as cold iron is reputed to be inimical to denizens
of the Fairy realm.
Cheerio,
Gary