Issue with Holy Avenger sword

Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:38 am

Sometimes these issues don't come up for decades, then suddenly they do. So today I was updating a character, and I realized there is an issue with Holy Avenger swords. Here are the details:

"A paladin using a holy avenger sword projects a circle of power 30 feet in diameter when the sword is unsheathed and held. This power dispels hostile magic of a level up to the paladin's experience level."

- 2E PHB, pg. 27

Bold emphasis mine. Then we look in the DMG and it says:

"In the hands of a paladin, however, it creates a magic resistance of 50% in a 5' radius, dispels magic in a 5' radius at the level of magic use equal the experience level of the paladin...

- 2E DMG, pg. 185

So the PHB says the sword dispels magic in a 30' diameter (15' radius). The DMG says the sword dispels magic in a 5' radius (10' diameter). The dispel effect is 3x wider in the PHB than in the DMG.

So which is it? 10' diameter (5' radius) or 30' diameter (15' radius)? That's a mighty big difference. Personally, I think a 10' diameter (5' radius) is much more sensible. That would cover a party of 5 or 6 standing in a standard attack formation. But a 30' radius? That's a whole damned room, bigger than my front room!

A 30' diameter seems huge to me. The 5' radius for the magic resistance would seem to make the 5' radius for the dispel magic make more sense.

Also, the PHB does not mention the sword's magic resistance, while the DMG does.

Note that the 1E PHB states that the sword dispels magic in a 10' diameter (10"), as does the 1E DMG.

I wonder how the 30' measurement ended up in the 2E PHB?

Has anyone ever used the PHB rule with a 30' diameter?

Post by **garhkal** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:11 am

Most every dM i've known Defaults to what's in the DMG.. NOT THE PHB on the holy avenger..

BUT i've often wondered, HOW THE HELL does the sword KNOW what is hostile magic?
Is it just classified as ANYTHING cast by anyone NOT 'on your team'?

Post by **Halaster Blackcloak** » Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:48 pm

Same here, I tend to let the DMG overrule the PHB.

But yeah, that's a good question. A very odd phrasing of words. "Hostile magic". Makes no sense. As you said, the sword doesn't know. Unless perhaps you have an intelligent holy avenger sword, which I've never seen or heard of (though it's certainly possible to create one). Then, maybe.