hold spell not holding

[Zorinar]

Hi,
I have tested hold person with two of my priests so far. I am noticing that after a successful hold casting, the mobs are still able to attack, flee and cast spells.

Here is an example of my latest observation.

Code: Select all

<100%hp 86m 98%mv> 
A sturdy iron nail glows briefly and a whisp of smoke rises from it.
You immobilize a priest of Gond with your hold spell.


<100%hp 84m 98%mv> You begin to chant.

<100%hp 84m 98%mv> 
Your feet float slowly to the surface.

<100%hp 84m 98%mv> 
Some holly glows briefly.
Your touch causes a priest of Gond to writhe in pain!

<100%hp 79m 98%mv> 
You attack a priest of Gond as he gets within your weapon's reach.
Your crush deftly shreds a priest of Gond's right leg.
    a priest of Gond has suffered mortal injury.
A priest of Gond limps northeast.
A priest of Gond flees head over heels!

[Raona]

I can't reproduce this. When I cast 'hold monster' on a monster, it does stop attacking me until the spell wears off (though there is no echo letting me know when that occurs). Creatures get a save each round against will, so if they have a high will save (you'll know that because they resist the spell often when you cast it), it won't hold for long.

[Selveem]

Could it be that this mob has some special prog that is superceding the hold spell?

As for the by-round check, that's not been my experience with the spell unless it's been changed pretty recently.

I have dueled quite a bit and it seems if that hold spell hits, it lasts its entirety (I don't have exact counts, but I know one was over 8 rounds [the entire duration remainder of the fight] against Casious with his high will save).

I have a log if needed.

[Zasheir]

In my experience, that spell is super short in duration. It's, like, a round per caster level. How long does a round even last in FK? I would guess one-half of a second. Looking at that log, it seems you didn't start fighting until after the Hold spell took effect. A very short duration combined with will saves each round (and a mob that's quite good at those) could be the reason he was able to fight back so immediately.

At the same time, it could be some kind of coded superpower possessed by the NPC, like Selveem said. I've seen a drunken sailor lower the spell resistance that he shouldn't have, then pop out more persisted level 9 spells than Elminster himself can cast (including spells that can't be persisted) without breaking a sweat. NPCs make for bad test subjects. Perhaps try it out with a willing PC participant? He or she would be able to tell you when the Hold effect wears off.

[Selveem]

Casious and I just tested Hold Person out. We see a huge change from what it was to what it does now. As of now, he breaks very quickly (within a round). Looks like Hold Person is working as it should now.

I've informed Zorinar how it works and D&D and why it's not so potent a spell.