Talk:Silessa

Would she also be a Dread Familiar? Which is also to invite the question of whether all pseudo-familiars are dread familiars. I would say yes.Cure 16:34, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Additionally, is a Create Faux Henchman spell the only way, short of a Limited Wish, to explain her condition in 3.5ed? If so, then is she an Expert 8, with skills appropriate to helping out a wizard?Cure 18:29, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Well, there's the slim possibility of a privatly researched spell. I'd make the suggestion, but label it speculation. DeepShadow 22:13, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Disproof: CFH is a 6th level spell. Sarlandril is a Wiz8. He'd need to be Wiz11 to cast it. Counter-proposal: What's wrong with simply Polymorph Other (4th level spell, he can cast it.) Especially since the Carnival sidebar actually uses the word "polymorph," and Polymorph Other is permanent in both 2e and 3e, is there any reason to believe that it's anything more exotic? -- Gonzoron 03:15, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Looking at the SRD (3.5ed), there is Baleful Polymorph, but not Polymorth Other as far as I can see (perhaps too much wine). And as for the former, it does the following: "You change the subject into a Small or smaller animal of no more than 1 HD (such as a dog, lizard, monkey, or toad)." So changing her into an elf wouldn't be possible.Cure 05:32, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

You are correct, I forgot that they nerfed Polymorph Other in 3.5 (and changed the name to Balefull Polymorph). In fact looking again, 3.0 Polymorph Other wouldn't work either, since it can only go up to one size category higher. In any case, 3.5 BP is also a 5th level spell, so again Sarlandril can't cast it. The real answer, of course is that the story was written with 2e rules in mind, and doesn't really work in 3.x. :) I see two possibilities: 1) A privately researched spell, as DS said. (source material says he learned of the technique from wizards in Valachan, which seems to indicate it was not something well known like PO/BP would be.) 2) It was CFH, and Sarlandril once was 11th level or higher and has since been level drained.

In 3.0 I see another possibility, but it would require a generous DM: Repeated applications of 3.0 Polymorph Other. Since the duration is permanent, I see no reason you can't be affected again by a subsequent casting. She could have been turned first into a cat, then a dog, then an elf. Or simply larger and larger snakes up to medium size and then an elf. But this doesn't work in 3.5, as noted. -- Gonzoron 13:39, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

The disproof can be overcome by assuming that the spell was read from a scroll. Perhaps Hazlik sent him one (Hazlik seems to be the master of this spell) given the magical commerce that exists between the two lands. Additionally, perhaps a slight miscasting of the spell itself, as a result of the difference in levels, accounts for Silessa's subsequent independent streak.Cure 22:53, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Ah... excellent point. Sounds like the simplest solution to me. Still speculation of course, but it seems like it works. -- Gonzoron 13:00, 14 April 2010 (UTC)