The spell is kind of weird. First, why are the penalties applied for a limited duration? If the targets fail the saving throw against poison, they should be afflicted until they exit the AoE or until the AoE expires.
Second, why is the caster of this spell immune? Yes, I know that this is consistent with the d20 rules, but this simply makes no sense! Unless the caster is immune to poison, of course.
I changed the spell for myself, it now applies penalties permanently as long as the AoE is active or as long as the targets stay in the AoE. If they exit, effects are removed, if they re-enter, effects are re-applied. And caster ain't immune. Don't care if this is compliant with some rigid d20 rules, common sense dictates that this spell should work this way. WRFan 08:33, August 5, 2010 (UTC)