Death Knell
Spell Information
Spell level :	Innate level: 2, Cleric: 2
School :	Necromancy
Descriptor(s) :	Death, Evil
Components :	Verbal and Somatic
Range :	Touch
Target/Area :	Living creature touched
Duration :	Instantaneous / 10 minutes / level
Save :	Will negates
Spell resistance :	Yes

Description Edit

The target takes 2d4 points of negative energy damage. If this damage is lethal, the target decomposes and you gain 1d8 temporary hit points and a +2 bonus to Strength. You can only benefit from one casting of this spell at a time; its effects do not stack with itself.

Bug Notes Edit

NW_S0_DeathKnel.nss

Line 88: The saving throw type is negative, yet this is not in the Descriptor (which is Death and Evil) or the description at all.

Line 93: This suggests that the module is only using "die at 0 hit points" for PC's. For NPC's this line works fine, but if a PC, they may die at only -10 hit points. This is likely intentional however, since death is essentially 0 hit points.

In fact, if the target is immune to negative damage (for instance: a spell like Shadow Shield (although in that case, it stops necromancy spells - thus this one)) then the spell may do 0 damage but the caster still gains the bonuses.

To remedy this, it might be a case of having a slightly delayed new function, at 0.01 delay, to check if the target is dead (via. GetIsDead() probably). A delay is not really necessary, as damage is applied instantly (no delay), so checking for the target's HP right after the damage is applied returns the proper current hp amount. A call to GetIsDead should return a proper value as well. It might be necessary to add a further check to check if the object is valid, in case the game despawns the dead object too quickly.