The Tome of Magic the 4th lvl priest spell called "Dimensional Folding" has the potential to magically age somebody passing through the portal.
If this occurs, does this affect items, equipment, spell components, food and water, etc. as well...or merely living beings passing through the gateway? The spell description says nothing one way or the other.
I got into a discussion/debate with someone about this very same topic.
#1 Rule of thumb: Rules tell you what happens. If it isn't mentioned, it doesn't happen.
And so the effect may age a person, but their food and other stuff will be fine, unless you follow the...
#2 Rule of thumb: It happens because the DM says it happens!
Really your choice, but I would limit it to the character and leave out their food, gear, etc. for simplicity's sake. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Last edited by Cebrion on Tue Jan 03, 2017 3:11 am; edited 1 time in total
I would say yes, objects are affected too. Since the spell theorizes that it is "slippage" in the time dimension, I think it would affect objects as well, just as teleporting high and low affects objects too. Generally I say that if the spell doesn't say something happens, it doesn't happen, but in this case, since it is describing how it works (even if theoretical), it should be applied to objects. Of course, age itself doesn't really do much to most gear; instantaneously getting ten years older wouldn't cause iron to rust if it wasn't exposed to air and water for that time period. Food would certainly spoil, though.
That said, it's possible that it works by jumping a character to a later point on their lifeline (see the Chronomancer supplement), in which case objects wouldn't age, as they don't have lifelines. Still, it appeals to me to have it more than just be a haste-like aging (which is essentially a component of the spell, unlike the aging in Dimensional Folding).
Good points, both of you, and I thank you for your respective opinions and suggestions, as always.
I think that this distortion is based on acceleration of time instead of metabolic processes (initially, I admit, I was not, but the description of the mechanics of the spell lean that way), as the Haste spell indicates. If that is indeed the case, objects would be affected, though many/most items are likely to be OK. But some things, like food and some spell components that are organic or living in nature would be.
Yasir, you are correct! In fact, before I 'realized' that magical aging requires a System Shock roll, only the aging side effect (and costly material component) was the limiting factor.
In fact, there is a LONG list of spells that magically age a character, each of which necessitates a System Shock roll! Some day (soon?) I will compile a list of ALL the spells (that I can discover) and the like that require such a roll...
A 5th level Teleport spell can potentially ki a caster, all from the result of a crappy die roll (teleporting him/her into the ground), so a 4th level Dimensional Folding aging a caster a couple of years seems fitting. Actually, I think any others traveling through either means are affected as well.
As far as nonliving items the caster is carrying, I'll dodge the subject by saying it your game so it's your call. But I'd suggest for player and more importantly, DM sanity, I'd urge taking some time and thinking about each possibility, ultimately, consistency is more important.
1) YES, anyone traveling through the magical gate ages if the roll is 'failed.' One die roll for EVERYONE, and if failed, they all age at the same rate.
2) Most items that age won't be affected if they are metal like armor and weapons. Even wooden items should be fine for the most part. Really, only things like rations, water, and certain perishables really are in jeopardy.
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