Prison and Laugh Poison as weapon qualifiers

[Cúangol]

Hi,

There has been some confusion when the following types of effects come up, so I was wondering what defenses are applicable:

a) 5 Laugh (from an arrow in the dark): Can this be stopped by a Magic Armor (because of the number) and by a Poison Shield (because of the Laugh)? Or just one of them? What about Resist Poison?

b) 30 Prison Slay (from a weapon blow): Can this be stopped by a Magic Armor (because of the number) and by a Spell Shield (because of the Prison)? Or just one of them? What about Resist Magic?

I thought (a) could be stopped by a Poison Shield, but when (b) happened a few weeks ago I believe I heard that Spell Shield did not work against it. But I assume the answers to (a) and (b) should basically be the same...

I know that the Laugh and Prison effects only take effect if it gets to Body (past armor and defenses) - so does this mean that Poison/Spell Shields and Resists can only be used if it gets to body? If so, does it stop just the effect, or the damage too?

Thanks!
Patrick

 

[Gandian Ravenscroft]

A. Whilst Laugh is most frequently used in a poison delivery (Laugh Gas Poison, etc.), the Laugh effect itself is not inherently a Poison effect, and therefore is not stopped by a Poison Shield. The arrow in your example would be stopped by a Magic Armor, because it is a weapon attack, and a weapon attack alone. An arrow with a Laugh Coating applied to it (thrown for "<Damage> Laugh Poison!") is a different matter. Essentially, if it doesn't have Poison in the incant, your Poison Shield won't help.

B. Just like Laugh is not inherently a Poison, Prison is not inherently a spell, and is therefore not stopped by a Spell Shield. As a weapon attack, the 30 Prison Slay in question would only* be stoppable by your Magic Armor, and is not resistable with Resist Magic.

In short, the applicable defensive depends on the delivery type of the effect, not the effect itself (which is not inherently tied to any form of delivery).

When Resists and such are used, it negates the entirety of the effect: Any weapon damage and any carrier effect are negated.


*: When I say "only stoppable by", I am simplifying things here for the sake of comprehension. We're just assuming that "dumb" defensives like Magic Armor, Spell Shield, and Poison Shield are in action for this scenario. Be aware that there are many other applicable defensives that could apply, such as Cloaks, Banes, Parries, Ripostes, Guards, Resists, etc.

 

[Avaran]

A)
This can be defended against just like any other arrow (the delivery mechanism). So, like any weapon blow, you can use a Parry, Riposte, Evade, or call that Magic Armor.

Laugh is in the "alteration" effect group; you could use a Bane or Cloak alteration to defend against it, but not a spell shield or a poison shield since it is being delivered via weapon, not spell or gas globe.


B)
Same as above, this can be stopped by a Magic Armor, Parry, Riposte, or Dodge (can't evade a PTD). You can also use a cloak/bane Eldritch Force since a Prison is in the Eldritch Force effect group.

Again, because it is a weapon delivered blow (30 Prison Slay), you may not use a Spell Shield or Reflect Magic since the effect (Prison) is being delivered with a weapon strike.

For more information, look up the "Effects", "Deliveries", "Qualifiers", and "Effect Groups" sections of the ARB. I believe those sections start on page 96 of the PDF version.

If you negate a part of an attack in Alliance, you negate the whole attack. So if you cloak that 5 Laugh arrow with a cloak alteration, you take no damage and you are not under the influence of the Laugh effect.