Chill Touch dealing abnormal damage?

[obamafish]

Hi all,

I've been experimenting with the Chill Touch spell, and I can't quite explain what's going on with it. According to the manual, it deals 1d2 melee damage + 1d8 cold damage, which would be 10 damage at most.

However, if I cast the spell and then attack an NPC, the character deals 5-6 melee damage (my STR is 11, so no damage bonuses should apply), and then does the expected magical damage. Moreover, she gains a "+4" for the attack roll out of the blue.

Could someone explain where these additional damage and attack roll bonuses come from?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439708509

[DnD Detective]

Attacking an unarmed opponent grants +4 Thac0 and +4 damage to your attack.

[obamafish]

Автор сообщения: kamster99

Attacking an unarmed opponent grants +4 Thac0 and +4 damage to your attack.

Thanks, I've now found a wiki page about that, and it's almost making sense.
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Unarmed_penalty_in_melee


Curiously enough, the additional damage was not dealt when I was attacking with fists without casting the spell. I'll have to assume the extra damage is only dealt when the attacking character is using a melee weapon, which fists with Chill Touch technically are.


Update:
The rule is also described in the Icewind Dale manual (but lacking in the Baldur's Gate one):

A character wielding a melee weapon receives a +4 bonus to hit and damage when
attacking unarmed opponents. Monks are considered armed with their fists.

[DnD Detective]

Yep its melee only. It also works the opposite way if you aren't a monk.

The IWDEE manuals are the most up to date (I helped proofread it and the BG2EE one during alpha/beta testing of the games). A couple of other important things (that you may find interesting) that were included in the IWDEE manual (which didn't make it into the BG manuals but is equally relevant to them) are the section on the penalties characters take when fighting at melee range

"They must overcome a -8 penalty to strike their attackers,
who themselves receive a +4 bonus to hit and damage against the poorly equipped
combatant."

as well as additional bonuses/penalties for Specialist Mages that are relevant for both the BG series and IWD) get a mention.

" Specialist mages receive a +15%
bonus when attempting to scribe a scroll from their school and a -15% penalty when
attempting to scribe a scroll from any other school. They save against spells from their
school at a +2 bonus."