Can you choose to only touch attack?

[Nightshade19]

Hi, I'm just asking this hopefully simple question because I couldn't find an answer anywhere online.

Can you choose to only oppose touch AC when you make melee attacks? Obviously you wouldn't deal damage from the weapon if you did, but you would proc any touch effects.

I'm making a build that utilises on touch effects quite heavily and while my attack bonus is probably passable it would be even better if I could just oppose touch AC (the weapon damage would be pretty negligible anyway)

[AmeVulpes]

Could you specify the touch effect at play? Normally, you have to jump through hoops do do anything other than simply hit the touch AC with such things. That is, touch effects almost always use touch AC by default.

[Telonius]

The Stormguard Warrior feat (from Tome of Battle) explicitly allows you to make touch attacks in place of regular melee attacks; if they hit you get bonuses to damage on your next turn. (The feat's wording does specify that "these touch attacks deal no damage," so as long as the effects you're planning don't deal hit point damage you should be fine).

[Nightshade19]

Could you specify the touch effect at play

So specifically in this case I am looking to force multiple saves against contracting a disease, but I will also likely be adding other effects such as Chill Touch which only requires the target be touched.

[Ashtagon]

A lot of effects depend on the base attack doing damage. If all you are doing is giving them a gentle slap (touch), you're not doing damage, so you're not meeting the requirement for the attack's rider effect to take place. Double check whether what you've got is a damager rider effect or genuinely a touch effect.

[Troacctid]

Chill touch includes the ability to make touch attacks as part of the casting.

[Seto]

It depends on the disease - many monsters inflict it upon a successful claw attack for example, in which case you need to hit the full AC and do damage. If on the other hand it's a spell, or a class feature called "(Su) Touch of disease" or similar, it probably works on a touch.
In the case of touch spells, you get a free touch attack as part of casting it. It has to be a touch attack: using a weapon for it requires some kind of gish class like Magus or Duskblade.

As for the question of whether you can combine them and proc them both on the SAME touch attack, it depends on the specific disease ability and whether it's passive or takes an action.

[AmeVulpes]

In the case of touch spells, you get a free touch attack as part of casting it. It has to be a touch attack: using a weapon for it requires some kind of gish class like Magus or Duskblade.

According to Complete Arcane, anyone can do this with unarmed strikes (and Improved Unarmed Strike), requiring to hit the full AC but allowing damage.