Phantom Wolf questions

[glitterboy2098]

ok, in the Madhaven book, there are these big wolves called Phantom Wolves, which have an ability called "phantom walk".

Phantom Walk: can turn itself and rider semi-transparent and intangible.
Duration: 1 minute per level of the wolf. double duration near leylines/nexus. can be maintained indefinitely on a leyline. requires 5 minute rest between uses.
Effects: wolf and rider become completely silent, cannot be detected by technological sensors/scanners (including heat and motion sensors). bonus of +20% to prowl. can only be seen, not heard, even if rider speaks. blocks all technological communications out. only magical/psionic communications can reach the outside world.
In phantom form, mount and rider can harm ghosts, entities, astral beings, and other intangible things. can also be harmed by such directly. can be harmed by attacks that would harm such beings. cannot by attacks from the physical plane while in phantom form. not even by magic or psionics that effect the physical body. mount and rider also cannot inflict damage to objects on the physical plane.
CANNOT pass through walls or physical objects while in phantom form. also if rider dismounts, the rider will immediately become physical again.

the wolves also can cast a few spells, like chameleon.


i'm revising one of my less used characters, who has one of these wolves as a mount. and in cleaning up the character sheet i'm rereading the above (which is my summarized version, btw, not the book's exact wording), and started wondering..

can the phantom wolf ability be combined with the Chameleon spell, to result in a wolf (and rider) that is both very stealthy (the phantom walk) and nearly invisible (the chameleon spell)?

also, in regards to the dismounting. since it only mentions the rider, i'm guessing the wolf can stay stealthed even if the rider falls/gets off. presuambly any other otems dropped while on the wolf in that mode will become tangible too.
would the sound hiding effect vanish the moment it leaves body constact with the wolf/rider, or would it remain active till the object hit the ground?

i'm wondering if i could have a wolf, phantom walking while chameleon ed for near unpredictability, and use it to drop remote sensors, landmines, and the like in such a way that an enemy nearby would not be warned..

[Blue_Lion]

If I recall right the chameleon spell only works nearly invisble while holding still. You would also need to cast the spell for both rider and mount. I would recommend lesser invis over it as it has a longer duration.

[ShadowLogan]

The Chameleon Spell's effectiveness increases with a lack of movement, so yes you could combine it, but for maximum effect you would need to be stationary.

I don't think I would require you to double cast the spell, since from certain POV the rider could be considered "equipment" for the mount which the spell would cover,.

[Blue_Lion]

The Chameleon Spell's effectiveness increases with a lack of movement, so yes you could combine it, but for maximum effect you would need to be stationary.

I don't think I would require you to double cast the spell, since from certain POV the rider could be considered "equipment" for the mount which the spell would cover,.

By that logic my charter has a tank, the tank is my equipment so if I cast it on myself the tank is covered.

Although reasonable gear is covered at a certain point you have to draw a line. In this case you have two distinct life forms so each would be a separate target.

The person is the master not the pet/equipment and does not belong to the mount, people are not equipment/gear.

[ShadowLogan]

By that logic my charter has a tank, the tank is my equipment so if I cast it on myself the tank is covered.

Although reasonable gear is covered at a certain point you have to draw a line. In this case you have two distinct life forms so each would be a separate target.

The person is the master not the pet/equipment and does not belong to the mount, people are not equipment/gear.

I would agree that the tank would not be covered if you cast it on yourself while in/on the tank (a TW could equip it on the tank).

As I said, from a certain Point of View the Rider could view the mount as equipment. The two are linked as the wolf can take a rider along with it, which means in that state the two might count as a single entity for spell magic (for damage, it wouldn't be any different than something with multiple hit locations). My answer was also more directed toward this specific case scenario than in general, I don't think I was clear in this case.

i'm wondering if i could have a wolf, phantom walking while chameleon ed for near unpredictability, and use it to drop remote sensors, landmines, and the like in such a way that an enemy nearby would not be warned..

It would depend on a few variables, some of which can come down to the GM's call:
-speed the wolf is going to be moving (slower is better)
-level of the caster to determine duration (however the slow speed also likely requires it to be a higher level)
-and abilities of the enemy (can it sense super natural effects like magic, psychic, etc) that might give the wolf away or the item away (someone with 6th Sense might get a trigger from a dropped landmine for ex)
-it also depends if the active effects cloaking the dropped items are a type of uniform bubble (ex energy Field or Globe of Silence Spell) or conform to shape (ex Armor of Ithan spell) that determine when the effect stops being in effect sense the general rule is that once it is out of the sphere of influence it is no longer protected