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How long can someone survive being petrified?

SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,584
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)

This is something that I've always wondered about - how come certain characters can be "saved" after being petrified, but not others? I had assumed that this was because characters eventually die from being in the petrified state for so long, but Tamah was apparently petrified for so long that her house corroded and sunk underwater.

Comments

  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    If a petrified character takes damage, he or she will shatter and it will be impossible to recover them. Use Stone to Flesh on them before they take damage and they will be recoverable--but talk to them quickly to get them back in the party, as they should only have 1 HP left, and cannot be resurrected if they're outside the party.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,584
    edited October 2015
    elminster said:

    semiticgod said:

    If a petrified character takes damage, he or she will shatter and it will be impossible to recover them. Use Stone to Flesh on them before they take damage and they will be recoverable--but talk to them quickly to get them back in the party, as they should only have 1 HP left, and cannot be resurrected if they're outside the party.

    I think SharGuidesMyHand is referring to the random petrified people you find in a place like the caves underneath Candlekeep. The ones who are just part of the background art (who you can't resurrect).
    Yes, I should have clarified that I was referring to non-party member characters, like the ones that you meet in the basilisk (Shar-Teel's) region. There are a number of people and animals that are petrified there, but only Tamah is save-able. Even so, in the dialogue options, you acknowledge that she has likely been petrified "for some time" - so I imagine that petrification is like a form of suspended animation or cryogenic sleep that slows the aging process, but people do seem to "die" eventually.

    There's also that group of adventurers that you can find petrified in Baldur's City, but I can't remember if the game says anything about how long that they've been petrified.

    Post edited by SharGuidesMyHand on
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    As far as I recall the game doesn't have any info point telling you about the ones under candlekeep.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,584
    elminster said:

    As far as I recall the game doesn't have any info point telling you about the ones under candlekeep.

    Sorry, I didn't mean to say Candlekeep - I was thinking of that pack of adventurers that are being kept as trophies in that mansion in Baldur's City.
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    I would say the longer the stoned character stands there, the more chance of them taking damage. So the ones that we can't revive, are those that have cracks or chips that are bad enough to have killed the creature permanently, but we can't see the damage at the game's resolution.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Come to think of it, into what kind of "stone" does the spell even transform people? Or does the caster decide the type aggregate on a whim? I surely could see a high demand of turning enemies into soapstone and allies into granite for that matter.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Kamigoshi: That's sort of a trick question. "Flesh to Stone" is a little misleading. The spell doesn't turn people into stone. It actually turns them into rock.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Thing is, a "rock" is just one or more minerals or mineraloids combined. Then there are igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks and all those remaining specific varieties of rocks which are not really petrographically or genetically distinct. That's a real lot of rocky Flesh To Stone possibilities.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    elminster said:


    Presumably the reason for this has to do with time. Tamah might have been petrified for several years. Whereas other adventurers could be petrified for decades.

    Although I agree with this point of view, in a MMORPG called Neverwinter they have Minsc and Boo back, many years later (nearly 2 hundred years later). They say Minsc and Boo were victims of a petrification spell.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    bengoshi said:

    elminster said:


    Presumably the reason for this has to do with time. Tamah might have been petrified for several years. Whereas other adventurers could be petrified for decades.

    Although I agree with this point of view, in a MMORPG called Neverwinter they have Minsc and Boo back, many years later (nearly 2 hundred years later). They say Minsc and Boo were victims of a petrification spell.
    Boo is a powerful miniature giant space hamster. While he could not stop the petrification spell itself he was able to prevent himself and Minsc from aging and dying while it was in effect.
  • YannirYannir Member Posts: 595
    I don't think there is a clear limit on how long you can survive. It mostly comes down to the conditions you are in when petrified. In an outside area you will be pelted by rains, winds, storms and hours and hours of burning sunlight. Essentially the elements become your worst enemy. A cool, dry keep is the best place to be petrified.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,584
    Mathsorcerer said:

    I have always taken it for granite ...

    This one made me LOL.
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