When I use the Bard spell Good Hope, I find that whenever another character buffs the bard, I get the message "<Bard's name> attempts Concentration - Failure!" and the Good Hope buff is removed from all party members. I also noticed that when Good Hope is maintained, there is an option to "Stop Concentration" under the Bard's radial menu (spells section). Choosing this option cancels Good Hope. Note that the Bard is able to cast spells while maintaining Good Hope without issues. Why is this spell behaving this way? According to the documentation, it appears to be an ordinary buff, not a song that requires concentration. Did I stumble on a bug or are the limitations of Good Hope legitimate?
I hope (no pun intended) that I'm not the only one who uses this spell, considering that its boost to morale rolls is unmatched at the level it's available. Having to pass a DC20+ concentration check whenever a friendly buff is cast on the bard to maintain the spell seems rather odd and inconsistent with all other buffs in the game...
I've looked into it, and have a question for the rules lawyers. The issue is that the game is implementing the "distracted by spell" mechanic, as noted here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/concentration.htm But, ToEE also applies it to helpful spells. Basically, it looks like "Distracted by nondamaging spell" wasn't defined with helpful spells excluded, at least in ToEE's interpretation. While it does sound intuitive that a helpful spell shouldn't trigger a concentration check, I'd say it's debatable. E.g. the onset of the rush from that Haste spell catches you by surprise, requiring a concentration check. For that matter, should a Slow spell trigger a concentration check? I suppose you could make the case that anything that triggers a saving throw counts, plus spells that don't have a saving throw but are otherwise clearly harmful (e.g. power word blind). I'm inclined to change it but I'd like a rules lawyer to weigh in first
"Friendly" spells don't trigger saving throws in PnP, as far as know, so I would assume that a concentration check wouldn't be required either.
From the SRD: If you are affected by a spell- the friendly vs unfriendly issue does not come up. Someone drops a buff on your head, you are affected by a spell.
I extensively tested the interactions of most buffs in this game and reviewed the rules at d20srd.org and found no reason for Good Hope's special treatment by ToEE. Please see the links below to the rules for Good Hope, as well as couple of other buffs, Bull's Strength and Haste, and compare the differences among them. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/goodHope.htm http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/bullsStrength.htm http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/haste.htm If a Bard casts any buff, such as Haste, and is then buffed by something else, Haste is not broken by a concentration check. If the same Bard casts another buff, such as Greater Invisibility, and is then buffed by Haste or any other buff, Greater Invisibility is not broken. Good Hope's behavior is inconsistent with all buff combinations that I tested; none of the other buffs implement "Distracted by nondamaging spell." Based on the rules, it appears that either all buffs have to be changed to support "Distracted by nondamaging spell," or Good Hope needs to be fixed to become consistent with other buffs. Needless to say, the former would constitute a huge nerf to all buffs and classes that use them, making buffing impractical until Concentration skill is extremely high. Considering that the game was balanced for making use of buffs, this appears ill-advised, so fixing Good Hope seems like the logical course of action, assuming it's technically possible and not buried within the game's engine.
The reason Good Hope was breaking and other buffs weren't is that it requires Active Concentration. There aren't many other spells in ToEE that are as such so you might not even be aware of it. (the others include Animal Trance, Rage, Meld Into Stone and a few others). That in itself is a bug, however! It shouldn't require active concentration by 3.5ed rules. Looks like it's a leftover from 3.0ed (when it was part of the spell Emotion: Hope). So, that will be fixed (Temple+). The question about friendly spells seems rather moot now but if someone cares to argue the case I can change it quite easily.
There is no spell check to make when receiving a friendly buff spell in pnp because the character is choosing to accept the spell. It is assumed that when a friendly spell caster hits you with say, haste, that you are aware that the spell was cast by a team member and therefore allowed it. Remember in pnp DnD we usually assume the party is aware of everything the party members are doing unless there is something completely obstructing you from viewing or hearing a team member.
