Ethereal and Incorporeal

[green slime]

This is mainly posted in a feeble attempt to get somethings straight in my head before the PCs leap off into the void, leaving me with the ruins off a smoking argument...

From the SRD: (regarding ghost touch)
A ghost touch weapon deals damage normally against incorporeal creatures, regardless of its bonus. (An incorporeal creature’s 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to ghost touch weapons.) Further, it can be picked up and moved by incorporeal creatures at any time. A manifesting ghost can wield the weapon against corporeal foes. Essentially, a ghost touch weapon counts as either corporeal or incorporeal at any given time, whichever is more beneficial to the wielder.

and

From the SRD: (concerning blink)
The blink effect rapidly cycles the character in and out of the ethereal plane. Blinking has several effects:

Physical attacks suffer a 50% miss chance, and the Blind-Fight feat doesn't help (since the blinker is ethereal and not merely invisible). If the attack is capable of striking ethereal or incorporeal creatures, the miss chance is only 20% (for one-half concealment). If the attacker can see invisible creatures, the miss chance is also only 20%. If the attacker can both see and strike ethereal creatures, he suffers no penalty. Likewise, the character's own attacks suffer a 20% miss chance, since the character sometimes goes ethereal just as the character is about to strike.

While blinking, the character takes only half damage from area attacks (or full damage from those that extend onto the Ethereal Plane). The character strikes as an invisible creature (+2 attack), denying the character's target any Dexterity bonus to AC. The character suffers only half damage from falling, since the character falls only while the character is material.

This implies that Blinking and being ethereal is an incorporeal effect, and yet being ethereal is not the same as being incorporeal. While on the Ethereal Plane, you are invisible to ordinary vision, whereas Incorporeal creatures may be seen on the Material Plane... Certain undead spring to mind. Is Etherealness some sort of Improved Incorporeality?

So this implies that being incorporeal is some sort of half-way house towards the Ethereal.

It becomes rather wierd when trying to adjucate certain combinations of effects.

The Ghost touch weapon makes no mention of damaging creatures on the Ethereal Plane, only Incorporeal. But with true seeing they are visible.

BTW: Isn't the blinking-falling rule rather strange? Shouldn't it be 50% chance to take the damage, as the character may be ethereal at the time of impact?

Another Side note, Does Turning extend into the Ethereal? I would assume as Ethereal creatures can "see" into the Material, that it would, provided that the cleric knew (through True Seeing or some such) that the undead was there.

 

[Grayswandir]

Correct. When ethereal, you are "more incorporeal".

I was busy trying to figure out the miss chances in my head (what about blind-fight? what if you have Ghost Touch but no blind-fight? true seeing? true seeing and Ghost Touch both?) but then I reread your post and the blink spell covers such contingencies nicely. Seems pretty simple, for the conditions I can envision arising.

Your Ghost Touch weapon will harm blinking creatures just fine - provided you can see them to hit them.

Note that ethereal creatures are unaffected by gravity. Thus, the creature only falls when material, not when ethereal. So I suppose the fall is slowed somewhat by the blinking.

As far as Turning goes, I'm not quite sure how it works, but I know that Clerics can turn Wraiths with no problem, even though Wraiths are Incorporeal and thus semi-Ethereal. For that matter, Clerics can turn Ghosts with no problem (aside from the turning check itself), and Ghosts are often fully Ethereal. I would rule it like the gaze of a medusa, which also pierces the Ethereal boundary. If the undead is aware of the Cleric, it can be affected by the turning.

Hope this helps.