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Characters in units of the same troop type get a "LoS!" roll against templates. (Errata, p. 3)

Lone characters close enough to a unit of the same troop type get a "LoS!" roll against shooting attacks of any kind. (BRB, p. 97)

Hits other than those from close combat count as shooting attacks for figuring out who is hit. (BRB, p. 42, FAQ, p. 6)

The question:

Does a lone character get a "LoS!" roll when hit by Spirit Leech, Caress of Laniph or Fate of Bjuna if the character is standing next to a unit of the same troop type?

Seeing as how all those spells claim they work like the sniper USR – no.
If you want LoS get hit by the metal hounds, since they specifically allow it

None of the Death spells use the Sniper USR, they just tell you to target a specific model (unless there's something I've missed). It's close, but not the same thing.

No they don't they just use the same wording sometimes even mentioning it, also another simmilar spell specifically allowing LoS kinda points as to what happens when that isn't done for these.

Los applies against "templates", death spells and related are not templates and give an explicit exception to the targeting rules to allows a specific model to be hit.

so no there is not LoS.

lixulana wrote:Los applies against "templates", death spells and related are not templates and give an explicit exception to the targeting rules to allows a specific model to be hit.

so no there is not LoS.

As was meticulously explained, you do get los to some non-template things. Therefore I find your answer a bit onedimentional

And all those things are specifically explained.
Not just his answer the whole ruleset is onedimentional as it is permissive

Look out Sir! is different for characters in units and lone characters. I am well aware that characters in units do not get a LoS! against the sniping spells, I'm specifically asking about lone characters.

HoverBoy brought up Gehenna's Golden Hounds giving permission to make a LoS! roll, but that only applies to units consisting of five or more rank and file models (Errata, p. 3), so actually the situation is the same for Golden Hounds and the Death spells.

I think we all agree that a lone character gets a LoS! roll (if close enough etc.) against normal shooting, magic missiles and templates of all sorts. Is there something somewhere that makes non-template direct damage different from those?
Would you treat the Death spells (+Gehenna's) and Casket of Souls (or any other non-template direct damage spell not targeting a specific model) the same way?

They can pick him off when he's in the unit, what makes you think he's got a better chance of someone helping him if he's standing 20 feet away?

LoS has the same requirements weather you are in a unit or just standing nearby, the dice roll is just worse outside the unit.

LoS has the same requirements weather you are in a unit or just standing nearby, the dice roll is just worse outside the unit.

that is not true, as has been explained already.

I do not have a rulebook in hand to double check things, so cannot give my personal ruling. But I think a large part of the important information has been given by the op.

Errata, page 3 wrote:Page 93 – Champions and Shooting
Change the third paragraph to “The only exceptions to this are
attacks that use a template (such as cannons, stone throwers,
breath weapons, magical vortexes and so on).”

BRB, page 97 – Shooting at Lone Characters wrote:
If a lone character is hit by a shooting attack of any kind
(including shots fired using ballistic skill, templates and
so on) a "Look Out Sir!" roll can be attempted, provided
there is a friendly unit consisting of five or more rank
and file models of the same troop type - -

LoS for character in units applies only to templates, because normally that's the only thing that can target characters inside units.
The Death spells are another way to target a character in a unit - and because the spells aren't templates, you don't get a LoS!.
If the spells said "no LoS!" like Sniper does, there would be no question about it even with lone characters. As it is, I can't think
of a (RAW) way to outright deny LoS! for lone characters.

The Death spells are another way to target a character in a unit - and because the spells aren't templates, you don't get a LoS!. If the spells said "no LoS" like Sniper does, there would be no question about it even with lone characters. As it is, I can't think of a (RAW) way to outright deny LoS! for lone characters"

The only thing I can think of is that Direct Damage spells are not shooting attacks. Page 42 of the BRB talks about unusual attacks (as you quoted in the other thread) and how Fireball is considered to be a shooting attack because it causes hits, and those hits have to be distributed as per the shooting rules.

Direct Damage spells do not cause hits, at least not the ones from the Lore of Death. Take Spirit Leech for example...

Both your Wizard and the intended target take Leadership tests. If you win, the target suffers a wound for every point you win by, with no armour saves allowed. This follows none of the shooting rules, and should not (cannot?) be considered a shooting attack.

Because its not a shooting attack, nor is it a template, nor is it a magical vortex, a look out sir cannot be attempted.

As above. Seems like you go straight past anything "shooting"-alike with Death, straight into causing wounds

Chain Lightning is a direct damage spell that causes hits.
Caress of Laniph and Fate of Bjuna are direct damage spells that cause hits, but also target a particular model.
Spirit Leech targets a particular model and also causes wounds, not hits.

For Spirit Leech at least, you could argue that because it causes wounds and not hits, there's no opportunity for a LoS!, even outside units.

Chain Lightning picks a unit within range to suffer hits while the Death spells pick a model within range.
Is that big enough a difference for lone characters to get a LoS! against Chain Lightning, but not against the Death spells?

I believe so.

LoS transfers the hit from the character to the unit. If something goes straight to wounds and bypasses the Hit stage then the opprotunity for LoS is lost.