6
\$\begingroup\$

Spiritual Weapon creates a weapon made of force that can automatically attack creatures at a distance. Normally swarms made up of diminutive creatures, such as wasps, are immune to weapon damage.

Is a swarm of wasps immune to the magic weapon created by the Spiritual Weapon spell?

\$\endgroup\$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6
\$\begingroup\$

Spiritual Weapon says that it's considered a magic attack:

It strikes as a spell, not as a weapon, so for example, it can damage creatures that have damage reduction.

Swarms say this about being attacked by spells:

A swarm is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate),

So by RAW, Spiritual Weapon can't hit a swarm of any size, not just diminutive ones.

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ You seem to be right, but why is it that Spiritual Weapon says "foes" without specific number of creates, and disintegrate itself does not say single-target but in fact produces a ray that can effect a number of creatures, and yet it is supposed to have no effect on a swarm? I'm having trouble figuring out, then, what in Pathfinder can effect a swarm other than something that explicitly says it can, or area-of-effect spells? Perhaps some more on what effects swarms would be helpful here. \$\endgroup\$
    – BrianH
    Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 18:46
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Each attack from the weapon hits one creature, like a weapon attack. It can get multiple attacks at higher levels, so it doesn't specify a number explicitly. As for Disintegrate, it only hits one target: "Only the first creature or object struck can be affected; that is, the ray affects only one target per casting.." Anything that hits a square or an area generally can. Anything that hits a finite number of targets can't (except for the stuff that can, see the swarm description). They're kind of a pain to fight. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tridus
    Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 19:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ Wow, I totally missed the last line of disintegrate, and that makes sense. I would have thought SW would have effected a swarm, but your logic appears undeniable. +1 \$\endgroup\$
    – BrianH
    Commented Nov 2, 2013 at 2:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .