Hold Person vs Hold Animal - what's the diff?

[bariumdose]

I'm a little confused by the descriptions for these two spells. I understand that Hold Person works on humanoids of less than giant size, which would include lizardmen. But Hold Animal confuses me: would it work on lizardmen? The spell description says it doesn't work on "strange" animals like wyvern. What other "strange" animals does Hold Animal not work on? Would it work on phase spiders and the bombadier beetles that are almost as annoying as the High Summoner in the Dragon's Eye?

[mr_sir]

i honestly don't know but would be interested in hearing if it does if you try it out (i'm too lazy to try it lol)

[Aerich]

"Strange" animals in general are ones that do not appear in the real world in some form; dragons, wyverns, whatever. Lizardmen are humanoid, so Hold Animal shouldn't work on them, either. Try Hold Person.

The beetles and spiders may be affected, and it's worth a shot on winter wolves, rhinoceros beetles, etc.

I generally don't use Hold Animal, and only use Hold Person on things that I'm sure will be affected (e.g. something that is listed as an example in the spell description).