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The spell's description says

"...or as an immediate action when brought to below 0 hit points. If cast as a standard action, you are immediately reduced to -1 hit points, but stable, after casting the spell..."

And what happens if you cast it as an immediate action? Are you at -1 and stable too or does this apply only if cast as standard action?

For example you have 10hp and get a damage of 30hp.

Eric
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Francesco
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2 Answers2

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If you cast it as an immediate action, your HP will not be changed. You are not put at -1 HP and are not automatically stabilized. (The healing affect caused by the spell should still stabilize you, assuming it is successfully cast and you are a good creature.)

For your example:
Start: 10 hp
You take 30 Hp in dmg, leaving you at -20HP.
You immediately cast Blaze of Glory, roll xd6, lets say you roll an 18, and heal that amount.
You end at -2HP. You are unconscious but stable.

Colin D
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  • so the stabilization occurs in both cases? As the sentence is wtitten, I understand that the -1 AND stabilization occur only if you cast it as a std. action. Otherwise you are dead anyway (like a swan song)... – Francesco Nov 22 '13 at 14:28
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    @Francesco Any amount of healing is enough to stabilize a dying character. Since you are already below 0 and dying when you cast the spell the healing should stabilize you. – Colin D Nov 22 '13 at 14:32
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    Interestingly, I believe you can also cast the spell if the damage will kill you, but it won't actually help you survive. If, in the example, the character had less than 21 Con, he would actually die, although the spell could still go off and heal or harm those around - see http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions#TOC-Dead - you can't heal when dead. – YogoZuno Aug 30 '17 at 20:46
1

It will not move your hp to -1 when cast as an Immediate action

You have two options when casting Blaze of Glory:

  • Using a Standard Action, you decide that you want to go unconscious in combat (for whatever stupid reason) to trigger the spell effect. This drops your HP to -1 and unconscious but will keep your character stable (you won't bleed unless you take additional damage);
  • Using an Immediate Action when something drops you below 0 HP, which could mean the spell cannot be used to save you from death, as Immediate actions do not happen before the condition that triggered them (see this answer for a full explanation);

Either of those methods does not affect how the remaining of the spell works:

When you cast this spell, any good creature within range is healed for 1d6 points of damage per two caster levels. All evil creatures within range take the same amount as damage instead (a successful Will save halves this damage). In addition, all allies and enemies within range are affected as if by the prayer spell for 1 round per caster level.

*"Any good creature" and "all allies" includes the caster, if they are actually a Good creature for the first part, and always for the second part because you are always your own ally. It is possible for a neutral, or even evil, character to cast this spell and not be affected by the first part of the spell.

The first part may heal you back up, for 1d6 per two caster levels. So this is why you use this as a standard action, because you will be healed back up. But regardless, you will still drop unconscious and will be prone when happens, so be careful to not cast it while within range for attacks of opportunity or you could drop unconscious again. And you certainly shouldn't use it when you are above 10 hp, as the amount healed is not worth the loss of action and all the extra hp lost.

And for the second part, you are affected by an effect similar to the Prayer spell, which will grant bonuses to your allies and penalties to your enemies.

ShadowKras
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