RFC: Flesh to Stone

[subtledoctor]

The vanilla version of Flesh to Stone (and other petrification effects) is less than ideal, because it counts as removing the affected person from the party. This can break certain scripted behavior if/when the petrification effect is removed, notably romances. That doesn't seem to make much sense - shouldn't the person being freed from petrification be overjoyed at being (effectively) restored to life?

So Demi changed the way the spell works, applying it over time as a Slow effect, then an irresistible and permanent Hold, with several chances to make saving throw to avoid the grisly end result. SR also enables Break Enchantment (neé Remove Curse) to cure the petrification effect instead of relying on the high-level Stone to Flesh spell. This is good because it doesn't remove the person from the party, so it doesn't break scripts, and you are more likely to have a spell that can cure the condition. However, this is also bad, because you cannot leave the area you are in. If you don't happen to have access to Break Enchantment, then this can be game-breaking.

So it just occurred to me... what if these effects are simply given a duration?  Like, give Flesh to Stone an 8-hour duration.  Then you just have to rest and the target will return to normal and you can leave the map. But it will still be as useful (i.e. utterly deadly) in combat. The idea would be, a mere 6th-level spell is only powerful enough to turn someone to stone for a limited time; to do it permanently you need higher-level magic or some kind of ritual or Permanence spell. So there is some sense to the petrified people you see in e.g. BG1, but the more limited, tactical use the that transformation is available to players without disrupting the game.

(If there are situations where the party cannot rest, could even reduce the duration to 5 turns, or something like that. Again, on the battlefield it will still be utterly deadly. But the long-term effects out of combat won't be as annoying.

[Bartimaeus]

I wouldn't be entirely against it...for the spell Flesh to Stone. I'm a little more undecided about basilisks' petrifying gaze. Feels kind of wrong to have something that is clearly meant to be very permanent in BG1 be reduced to something so temporary instead. To be honest, I really think changing petrification behavior should be stripped out of the main component and put in a secondary component with multiple subcomponents for different options. SRR already has three different options for petrification behavior, but with your idea of making it temporary, I could easily add at least two more.

[subtledoctor]

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

changing petrification behavior should be stripped out of the main component and put in a secondary component with multiple subcomponents for different options

Not a bad idea. Could maybe do the same for Imprisonment, which in my mind faces similar issues.

[Endarire]

I like the notion of petrified party members just staying in the party, preferably with accessible inventories.  Make it so their equipment can't be changed while stoned.  This seems at present to me like a fitting approximation.

Thankee!

[grodrigues]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:34 PM, subtledoctor said:

However, this is also bad, because you cannot leave the area you are in. If you don't happen to have access to Break Enchantment, then this can be game-breaking.

My knee-jerk reaction was "then memorize Break Enchantment" as I definitely do not like the idea of making petrification temporary. It cuts on some of the danger factor, that is, it is a threat vector that the party *must* account for. Unfortunately, my response does not quite work because as you pointed out one cannot leave the area -- or at least one would have to expel the party member before leaving (if at all possible, I think it is but do not quote me on it), which has its own complications.

Sigh. As with imprisonment, I do not have a good solution for this.

[subtledoctor]

Another option: after 9-ish hours, change it to real, honest-to-goodness, script-breaking petrification. If you really came unprepared without any access to Break Enchantment, then there are consequences. But if you have access to it then you can memorize it, sleep once, and cure your friend.

Either way in this instance, you are able to move on with your game after resting once.  

EDIT - though, the timing of this might be a bit too fiddly, e.g. it could get thrown off if you get woken up from sleep. 

As far as permanence and basilisks: making it temporary doesn’t bother me. Maybe basilisk ecology is such they the turn victims to stone, break then into chunks and eat the rocks, and then digest the meat already in their stomach when the effect wears off. Maybe it’s like a spider wrapping victims in web, just to hold them still temporarily so they can be eaten later at the predator’s leisure. 

Edited September 6, 2021 by subtledoctor