How does Gaseous Form spell work?

[Ols]

Greetings to everyone!

I’ve been DMing for several years yet never needed a deep understanding of title spell mechanism. Sure, I can use my personal judgment but I wish to ask people who know the rules much better than me, if there are any clues in the rules about these points.

The questions are the following:
1. The spell description states:”A gaseous creature can’t run, but it can fly at a speed of 10 feet (maneuverability perfect).” Does that mean flying is the only form of movement allowed for a gaseous creature, or it can still move at its base land speed (30ft for most unencumbered medium humanoids)? I would assume that no (only flying), but that’s my guess based on common sense, not rules.
2. Next, the spell description states: “The creature is subject to the effects of wind”. Does the wind affect the creature as it would affect gas or the creature itself? I would say gas, but still it’s my guess.
3. The creature in gaseous form can pass through small holes. Can it feel anything while doing so? For example, can a rogue in a gaseous form peer into a lock (either see its mechanism or feel it by touch) and get bonus on his open lock check later on (after returning to his normal state)? Or can a PC pass his/her head through a keyhole to see, what’s there behind the door, while the body remains on the other side?

Thank you in advance.

[Fluxxdog]

OK, talked to a couple DM friends of mine and here's our thoughts:

1a: Only movement is flying.
1b: A gaseous creature has its normal forms of movement, but is not allowed the ability to run (or related movement such as charging), and gets a fly speed of 10 (perfect).
Never forget rule 0

2: See Fog Cloud for an idea how to apply "effects of wind". If a character is dispersed, you can either rule them as damaged or dead. That's what we've done. (Really, would you want to be in a gaseous form in a hurricane?)

3: This is a nifty idea. Depends how you rule it. We've gone with a rule that a gaseous creature has no real strength score, so touch would be out of the question, since it can't press against anything to get a sense. But there's nothing to imply that sight is an impossibility. So if a you have enough light to look into a keyhole, certainly it could grant a circumstance bonus. And gassing through a keyhole to look on the other side? That would be an excellent idea. Might even have to try that myself sometime

[nijineko]

that sounds about how we've always handled it.

[Raphir]

I'd just like to add that, for questions 1 and 2, I usually find that using common sense is the best way to go, regardless of how the rules are phrased...
The answer Fulxxdog put down for 2 created another question for me, though: what conditions will the body be in when he turns back to normal? The aftermath of that little experience might prove to be quite gory...
Question 3 indeed is more debatable... If it was me DMing, I'd allow it purely on the grounds of it being an extraordinaraly creative way to use the spell. In this case, specially, since it's not an overpowering ability to grant to that spell: using a 3rd level spell to get a +2 bonus on a skill check hardly seems unbalancing to me.

[Ols]

Thank you for the answers. You have proved most of my guesses.

Damaging in moderate and stronger winds is an idea that I didn't think of. Thanks.

>If it was me DMing, I'd allow it purely on the grounds of it being an extraordinarily creative way to use the spell.

Me too. I also like to encourage party to use their capabilities creatively. That's the fun of the game. But DM'ing a highly creative party is a challenge, because you need to account for all the possibilities beforehand. Otherwise you can miss some opportunity a party can use and solve the problem bypassing all the encounters, you have prepared.

As an example. The topic question was born when I was preparing a module for a 5-6 level party. The main quest is to discover a secret of a mage, which he preserves in a closed chamber. And I don’t want the party to just break in by force. And I don’t doubt that the party will invent the trick with gaseous form spell to peer into the chamber and see everything with their own eyes. So I needed to put enough protection to make the party use the game world around them, not only the game mechanics alone.

[Ols]

>what conditions will the body be in when he turns back to normal?

First of all I don’t think the PC should die just because he was dispersed. I’d rather assign some damage to each type of wind according to its strength. Otherwise ANY gaseous creature can be instantly killed by a single spell of 3d level. I mean Gust of Wind spell, which imitates severe wind (as I can judge by its description), which, in turn, should disperse gases in 1 round. Looks a bit overpowered.

Second, I think a creature should return to its original form as soon as it is dead. Like with Polymorph spell or Alternate Form ability. I would assume that the wind will tear the subject starting from the surface, thus when he returns to his normal state (at the point he is dead) he will be badly damaged but relatively “whole”. I mean whole enough for spells like Raise Dead or Resurrection to function.

Of course it is my own ideas. May be a bit twisted ones because I hate instant killing. It leaves little chance for party to struggle for the life of their friend (comparing to HP loss). Just go and spend money at a temple for resurrection.