Topic: Would Matter Disruption work against a woodwall?

[alloowishus]

It says it turns 1 cu' of any inorganic material to fine powder. Is a wood wall from barrier law considered inorganic? If not then it actually makes it more powerful than a stone wall in some ways.

[rdanhenry]

Wood is organic. So, no, you'll need a different spell. Or maybe an axe.

[MisterK]

I agree with the reply, but it's still odd. The list is matter disruption, and I can't see why the spell should be limited to inorganic matter just because no one wants it to be used on *living* matter. It is an evil Essence list, I have trouble finding a reason why stone and metal would be OK but wood would not. It would be OK if there was a "organic matter disruption" spell somewhere else, but there isn't.

I am squarely under the impression that the authors wanted to avoid the use of such spells on living matter (because it would essentially be a 'RR or die' kind of spell, and we all know that such spells are only found in the Black Channels list :-p). But excluding wood (what about petrified wood ?), cotton and all kinds of cloth, alcohol and basically all kinds of carbon compounds (coal, sugar, oil...), just because the spell is poorly worded seems being overly pedantic to me - having the spell work on water (inorganic) but not on oil, on air (mostly inorganic) but not on methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and others, or on ruby but not on diamond, makes absolutely no sense to me.

I would house rule it into "inanimate" matter. Or "unliving" if you want to be even less restrictive (the difference being "inanimate" doesn't work on a stone golem or an undead, but "unliving" does).

Still, it's a F spell, not a U spell. Matter gets a RR. Wood, if affected, might have a lower level than iron

[EltonJ]

I agree with the reply, but it's still odd. The list is matter disruption, and I can't see why the spell should be limited to inorganic matter just because no one wants it to be used on *living* matter. It is an evil Essence list, I have trouble finding a reason why stone and metal would be OK but wood would not. It would be OK if there was a "organic matter disruption" spell somewhere else, but there isn't.

I am squarely under the impression that the authors wanted to avoid the use of such spells on living matter (because it would essentially be a 'RR or die' kind of spell, and we all know that such spells are only found in the Black Channels list :-p). But excluding wood (what about petrified wood ?), cotton and all kinds of cloth, alcohol and basically all kinds of carbon compounds (coal, sugar, oil...), just because the spell is poorly worded seems being overly pedantic to me - having the spell work on water (inorganic) but not on oil, on air (mostly inorganic) but not on methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and others, or on ruby but not on diamond, makes absolutely no sense to me.

I would house rule it into "inanimate" matter. Or "unliving" if you want to be even less restrictive (the difference being "inanimate" doesn't work on a stone golem or an undead, but "unliving" does).

Still, it's a F spell, not a U spell. Matter gets a RR. Wood, if affected, might have a lower level than iron

This sounds like a good idea to redo a spell to be "Unliving" disruption!

[Spectre771]

The spell specifically states "inorganic."  It could be like Terminator.  Something about living material protects it during teleportation, non-living material doesn't make it through  i.e.: Nude Arnold.  This particular evil spell doesn't affect living material.  If this spell user was in my group, I would have him learn another spell list that would disrupt organic/living material.

[MisterK]

The spell specifically states "inorganic."  It could be like Terminator.  Something about living material protects it during teleportation, non-living material doesn't make it through  i.e.: Nude Arnold.  This particular evil spell doesn't affect living material.  If this spell user was in my group, I would have him learn another spell list that would disrupt organic/living material.

Organic and living are two completely different things.
The fact that people tend to mix them tends to prove my point: this is a poorly worded spell if, by "inorganic", the authors meant "non-living".

[Spectre771]

The spell specifically states "inorganic."  It could be like Terminator.  Something about living material protects it during teleportation, non-living material doesn't make it through  i.e.: Nude Arnold.  This particular evil spell doesn't affect living material.  If this spell user was in my group, I would have him learn another spell list that would disrupt organic/living material.

Organic and living are two completely different things.
The fact that people tend to mix them tends to prove my point: this is a poorly worded spell if, by "inorganic", the authors meant "non-living".

The hardwood floors in my kitchen are non-living and organic.  The trees in my yard are living and organic.  Both made of wood, but either item should survive the spell being cast on them.

Perhaps I chose the incorrect wording when trying to illustrate my example.  Most likely... I misquoted the Terminator movie as I haven't watched it in 20+ years.  Maybe John said "...organic material..." instead of "...living material..."

* - I reread my initial post.  I wrote "This particular evil spell doesn't affect living material."  My mistake.  To clarify, I meant to write "organic material."  My apologies.  MisterK, your reply to my mistype is accurate.

[Majyk]

Agreed that it is rule as written/intended.

Like the old D&D Scrying/Detection Spells, some materials just do a better job of blocking the magic due to material, to the point some materials are beyond the spell’s ability.

It adds to the “one size doesn’t fit” theme that RM is for all of its skills available, especially those from RMSS/FRP, LOL!

It balances the list so that it doesn’t become the Nuke That GM Thing we have to bypass, if a player had the list.