Simple Q&A (By RAW) VI [D&D 3.5e & All Other Games]

[RTGoodman]

A 221 Partial

The ability to charge over difficult terrain is called Acrobatic Charge, and there are several ways to get it. (From here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=662842))


Acrobatic Charge
Duelist 6, ecl 12
Swashbuckler 7, Complete Warrior
Dread Pirate 4, ecl 9, Complete Adventurer
Thief-Acrobat 3, ecl 8, Complete Adventurer
Cloud Anchorite 6, ecl 12, Frostburn

special mention
Drunken Master 2 for the stagger ability, ecl 7, Complete Warrior - charge in a non-straight line.


The Leap Attack feat (Complete Adventurer) allows you to ignore difficult terrain during a charge for the areas over which you jump while you use the feat.

There are a few things that let you make a direction change during a charge, but I can't remember what they are or where they are. I think there are probably some feats that allow it, and most likely an item or two for it in Magic Item Compendium.

[Chronos]

A 221 continued: The psionic feat Psionic Charge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psionicCharge) will let you change direction during a charge.

[Curmudgeon]

A 221 continued

The feat that most closely fits your needs is Fleet of Foot, from Complete Warrior. FoF allows a single turn of up to 90 degrees during a charge or while running, and no psionic ability is required.

[Bag_of_Holding]

A 221 continued yet again 2 Skill Tricks, Nimble Charge and Twisted Charge from Complete Scoundrel allows you to charge through difficult surface and make a direction change during a charge. 2 skill points each.

[SamTheCleric]

Q. 222 If a Warlock uses Maximize Spell-Like Ability on a Vitriolic Blast, is the acid damage on subsequent rounds maximized as well?

[Madmal]

Q 223:(ToB) can a Warforged use his slam attack for the Tiger Claw and Stone Dragon Maneuvers? and a battlefist?

Q 224: Can a shortsword deal slashing damage too? is there a shortsword-like (Light Martial Melee weapon) that can do slashing damage?

[Chronos]

A224: The shortsword only does piercing damage. However, the handaxe, throwing axe, or kukri are all slashing light martial melee weapons.

[Adumbration]

Q 225

Can you use an Attack of Opportunity to do a trip attempt? Say, when someone tries to get up from prone?

[tyckspoon]

A 225

Yes. You can use any normal attack-equivalent option such as Disarm or Trip on an Attack of Opportunity. In the specific case of attacking somebody who is getting up from prone, however, Tripping him does nothing useful thanks to how interruptions in D&D work. An attack of opportunity is resolved *before* the action that triggered it. If you successfully trip a prone opponent, he will just still be prone when he is allowed to take his action and may stand up normally.

[leperkhaun]

A221

Edit: Removed for not paying attention.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A221 addition

I cant for the life of me remember the feat name, but there is one feat that allows you to make one 90 degree turn during a charge.

It requires the run feat as a prereq though.

Curmudgeon already referenced Fleet of Foot above.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 222

Yes, as long as it is a variable numerical effect (dice roll) of the spell/spell-like ability.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 223

Natural weapons are not the favored weapons of either discipline, but that does not mean that you cannot generally use a weapon that is not favored when using these maneuvers.

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q 224: Can a shortsword deal slashing damage too? is there a shortsword-like (Light Martial Melee weapon) that can do slashing damage?

A 224 There's a specific magic item in DMG called Sun Blade (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#sunBlade). It's a bastard sword and a short sword. What it means is it looks and functions like a bastard sword (which deals slashing damage) but it is considered short sword for feats (proficiency, focus etc) and all things that matter.

[Greyen]

Q226

The Arcane Disciple feat on pg. 79 CDiv allows you to add the domain spells of X diety to your class list. Cast each 1 of each level/day.

A Warmage can cast all spells on his, very limited, spell list.

Can a Warmage, using Arcane Disciple, expand his spell list? And there fore add some nice variety to his use in a party.

Could, for example, Bob the Warmage of Pelor take the Arcane Disciple Feat, using the healing domain, and become a nice sponteneous healer and blaster combo?

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q226

The Arcane Disciple feat on pg. 79 CDiv allows you to add the domain spells of X diety to your class list. Cast each 1 of each level/day.

A Warmage can cast all spells on his, very limited, spell list.

Can a Warmage, using Arcane Disciple, expand his spell list? And there fore add some nice variety to his use in a party.

Could, for example, Bob the Warmage of Pelor take the Arcane Disciple Feat, using the healing domain, and become a nice sponteneous healer and blaster combo?


A226 While you may gain an expanded list of spells, you can only cast them 1/spell level/day. This will severely limit your capacity to become a spontaneous healer, I'm afraid.

[Adumbration]

Q 227

Can you disarm shields?

[Torebo]

Q 288

Can spontaneous casters use higher-level spell slots to cast lower-level spells? Unless I'm just blind I can't find it in the spellcasting section. If it's not RAW, it seems like a perfectly reasonable houserule, but I couldn't find anything in the sorcerer/bard descriptions saying they could sit and cast Light or Detect Magic all day long like the Wizard can if s/he feels like it.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 228


Q 288

Can spontaneous casters use higher-level spell slots to cast lower-level spells? Unless I'm just blind I can't find it in the spellcasting section. If it's not RAW, it seems like a perfectly reasonable houserule, but I couldn't find anything in the sorcerer/bard descriptions saying they could sit and cast Light or Detect Magic all day long like the Wizard can if s/he feels like it.

The following appears both under arcane and divine spells with an identical text.


Spell Slots: The various character class tables show how many spells of each level a character can cast per day. These openings for daily spells are called spell slots. A spellcaster always has the option to fill a higher-level spell slot with a lower-level spell. A spellcaster who lacks a high enough ability score to cast spells that would otherwise be his or her due still gets the slots but must fill them with spells of lower level.

The wording suggests that it applies to all spellcasters with spell slots even if it is not spelled out under the bard and sorcerer section.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 227

It is a very good question and the RAW does offer much information about disarming things not held in a hand, but since shields are also strapped to the arm I think a strict application and interpretation of RAW does not support it directly.

However it seems reasonable to allow it with a bonus to the defenders opposed roll, perhaps like that of the +10 the locked gauntlet provides.

[Riffington]

Q 229

What is the initiator level of a 1st level fighter? If it's 0, can he take Martial Study?

[Riffington]

Q 230

How exactly does a buckler work with a bow or crossbow? I know it does not give a penalty to hit with those weapons, but do you get the shield bonus after using one?

a: after using either, you lose the shield bonus until next round?
b: that only applies to melee weapons, and you may keep your shield bonus intact?
c: you only lose the shield bonus if you hold the weapon with the "off hand", and thus lose the bonus with a bow but not with a crossbow?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 229

0, rounded down from 1/2.

There is no prerequisites for Martial Study, but without an initiator level there is no point.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 230

Unless you dual wield crossbows you do not lose your shield bonus.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

A. 229

0, rounded down from 1/2.

There is no prerequisites for Martial Study, but without an initiator level there is no point.Clarification. You can take Martial Study, but without an effective IL, you are not eligible for any maneuvers and therefore don't have a use for it, similar to trying to take Martial Weapon Proficiency as a Fighter.

[Jasdoif]

A226 comment

While you can only cast a single domain spell of a particular spell level per day, Arcane Disciple does add the domain's spells to your class spell list. Because of that, you can cast said domain spells out of a wand or staff without difficulty. It's not as good as spontaneous healing, but can be handy if you can budget some wands of cure light wounds.

[Telok]

Q. 231

Does a warlock count as an arcane caster for purposes of picking feats?

The particular feat involved here is Obtain Familiar which requires an arcane caster level of 3+.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 231

Yes, a warlock has an arcane caster level.

[Astaroth]

Q. 232

How does taking cover behind a tower shield work? One of my unruly players wants to be a psion with a 1-level fighter dip, and he plans to manifest his powers and then take cover behind the tower shield. Does it require an action to take cover, and if so is this spelled out anywhere? Or are there any other penalties besides the specification that you "give up your attacks to do so"? This seems to imply that it takes a full-round action to take cover, but on the other hand it doesn't prohibit movement while taking cover... or, more to the point, manifesting powers, which don't have any somatic components.

If there aren't any official guidelines for this, any suggestions from you guys? My inclination is to require a move action to take cover. In addition, I'm allowing enemies to disarm the shield in order to take away his cover, with an attack roll opposed by his Str check. Seem reasonable?

[Jasdoif]

A232

According to the FAQ, getting total cover from a tower shield requires a standard action.

The FAQ entry for it is pretty big, so I'm spoilering it:

Total cover prevents any attack against you. You can use a tower shield to get total cover if you give up all your attacks. What does “give up all your attacks” mean? Can you move while getting total cover from the shield? Can you cast a spell? Also, do you get total cover from all directions or from just one side of your square? Will the total cover from a tower shield negate spell effects? Will it negate attacks of opportunity from movement or from other actions such as spellcasting? Will it prevent charge attacks against you? What about bull rush attacks? Can it prevent grapple attacks or snatch attacks? Will it stop fear effects, gaze attacks, or clouds of poison gas? Will it defeat traps?

To claim total cover from a tower shield, you must use a standard action. The tower shield rules don’t say that, but that’s what they mean. Since you can take only one standard action each round, you cannot also attack, cast a spell, activate a magic item (except for some use-activated items), use a special ability, use total defense, or start or complete a full-round action during the same round you claim total cover from the shield. You can, however, take a move action before or after you claim cover from the shield.

Like other kinds of cover, the shield has to have a location relative to you on the battlefield. When you use the shield for cover, choose one edge of your space (not a corner). You have total cover against any attack’s line of effect that passes through that side of your space. If an attack’s line of effect goes through the corner of the side of your space that the shield blocks, you get cover from the shield (+4 AC, +2 on Reflex saves) instead of total cover. If an attack’s line of effect passes through a side of your space that the shield does not block, you get no cover from the shield at all. To determine where the line of effect enters your space, draw a line from the attacker’s center to your center. Or, in the case of a magical effect, from the effect’s point of origin and your center.

Once you claim cover from the shield, the shield keeps blocking the side of your space that you chose until the beginning of your next turn, when you can again decide whether you’ll use the shield for cover. Once you choose the side of your space that the shield blocks, you cannot change it until your next turn.

You continue to threaten the area around you while you use the shield for cover; however, it provides your opponents with the same benefits you get. You cannot make attacks through the side of your space that the shield blocks, and should you attack through the corners of that space, your foe gets cover against your attack. Since cover of any kind prevents attacks of opportunity (see page 151 in the Player’s Handbook), the shield keeps you from making attacks of opportunity in a pretty wide swath.

Total cover or cover from a tower shield has the following effects in different situations:
Magical Attacks: A tower shield’s effects on magical attacks depend on the kind of magical attack. Any attack aimed at your equipment is aimed at you. If a magical attack has you as a specific target (that is it does not merely affect the area that contains you but is aimed right at you), the shield has no effect. All rays fall into this category, as does any spell that has a Target entry in its header and any spell that has an Effect entry and affects creatures (provided, of course, that the attacker can and does choose the shield user as a target). Magical attacks that fill areas (bursts, cones, cylinders, lines, emanations, and spreads) are subject to all the rules for cover on page 151 of the Player’s Handbook. Such attacks are completely blocked if line of effect between you and the attack’s point of origin passes through the side of your space the shield blocks. You get cover (+4 AC, +2 on Reflex saves) if the magical attack’s line of effect passes through the corner of the blocked side. Spread effects reach around the shield if they normally would extend into your space, but you still get a Reflex save bonus for cover when they do. A gaze attack is blocked if the shield would give you total cover against attacks from the creature with the gaze attack. If the shield gives you cover only, you’re still subject to the gaze attack (although you could avert or close your eyes to avoid the attack).
Attacks of Opportunity: As noted earlier, cover or total cover prevents attacks of opportunity. So you could, for example, hunker down behind a tower shield and pick up a weapon or rummage around in a backpack and avoid attacks of opportunity against you. If you’re moving while using the shield for cover, things get a little more complicated. You must determine whether the shield gives you cover (or total cover) at the point during your movement when you’d normally provoke an attack of opportunity. Remember that attacks of opportunity are usually resolved before the actions that provoke them. In many cases, the shield won’t be positioned correctly to protect you during your whole move.
Charging and Bull Rushing: Opponents can charge you while you claim cover from the shield. An opponent moves as normal when charging you, moving to the closest square from which a melee attack normally would be possible. If the shield gives you total cover from the attack, the attack automatically fails. Foes can bull rush you normally, moving right into your space in spite of the shield. You normally get an attack of opportunity against someone entering your space, but not if the shield gives your foe cover or total cover.
Grapple and Snatch Attacks: Total cover from a tower shield blocks such attacks (the foe just can’t get hold of you). The foe could, however grab the shield. Conduct such attacks just like any other grapple or snatch attack. Your foe can’t damage you unless he pins you first. You can escape the foe’s hold simply by dropping the shield (a standard action since it’s strapped to your arm), so long as the foe has not pinned you.
Traps: Cover or total cover from a tower shield is just as effective against a trap as it is against any other attack.

[Nazde Bahatur]

Q. 233
I want to make a Goliath character, and I have some questions.
They are related to "Powerful Build".
-If he uses "Claws of the Beast", does he do the 'medium' damage, or the 'large' damage from the table?
-Does he qualify for Prestige Classes that have "Large size" as a prerequisite, for example "Hulking Hurler" from Miniatures Handbook?

[Jasdoif]

A233

No, and no (assuming Hulking Hurler doesn't mention an exception to this). Powerful Build has very specific effects;,which do not include making you Large nor make your natural weapons (or unarmed strike) deal damage as though they were large.


Does the powerful build racial trait change the damage the character deals with unarmed strikes and natural weapons?

No. The powerful build racial trait allows the character to “use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty” but doesn’t say anything about changing the damage dealt by his unarmed strikes or natural weapons.

Does the powerful build racial trait allow a character to take advantage of feats for size Large or larger creatures, such as Awesome Blow? Would a half-dragon goliath qualify as Large for determining whether it has wings?

No and no. The powerful build racial trait (found in the goliath entry in Races of Stone and the half-giant entry in Expanded Psionics Handbook) spells out exactly when the character is treated as one size larger than normal:

Whenever subjected to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check. This includes grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts.
When determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size can affect him. This includes improved grab and swallow whole.
When determining what size of weapons the character can use.


That’s it. The character isn’t treated as one size larger when determining space, reach, Hide check penalty, or for the purpose of qualifying for anything that requires size.

Some feats, prestige classes, or other game elements may specifically allow a Medium character with powerful build to qualify as if he were Large. Such examples are specific and intentional exceptions to the normal rule.

[Vazzaroth]

Q. 234

Do allies gain any kind of bonus when someone declairs a shadow summoned creature is in fact a type of illusion?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 234

Yes, assuming that person has successfully disbelieved the illusion.


If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.

[Adumbration]

Q 235

What's the LA of a Swarm-Shifter (Libris Mortis)? It's listed as Level Adjustment: -. Does this mean that it can't be used or that it has no LA?

If it has no LA - just theoretically, you know :smallamused: - Would it be possible to apply it to a Necropolitan? And if so, could this character theoretically be a level 1 character?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 235

Having no LA ("LA: -") is quite different from having an LA of 0.
If you do not have an LA it means tht the race is not suitable as a player character, so your terminology is a little off.

[kjones]

Q 236

This seems like it should be obvious, but I can't find a reference anywhere. How is a warlock's caster level (specifically, for the Vicious Dispelling invocation) determined? Is it just the warlock's class level? What if he's multiclass?

[Isomenes]

Q 237

Once a Druid's animal companion receives sufficient bonus hit dice to increase its size as listed in the advancement section of its MM entry, does it in fact increase in size and receive the full benefits of the size change as delineated by the table "Changes to Statistics by Size"?

[RTGoodman]

A 236


A Warlock's caster level with his invocations is equal to his class level.

It's sort of hard to find - it's tucked away about 3 lines from the bottom of the first column on page 7. No other classes count toward his CL, unless it's a PrC that says "+1 level" in the spellcasting column.

[Jasdoif]

A237

No, it does not increase size.


When you add Hit Dice to a druid’s (or ranger’s) animal companion as the master’s level goes up, does the animal get any bigger? For instance, when a druid has a wolf companion, the wolf starts out with the standard 2 Hit Dice and is size Medium. By the time the druid is 3rd level, the wolf has 2 bonus Hit Dice. According to the wolf entry in the Monster Manual, an “advanced” wolf with 4 Hit Dice would be Large. Is the example companion wolf also Large?

An animal companion doesn’t get bigger when it adds extra Hit Dice for the master’s levels. The advancement entries for creatures, and the rules for advancing monsters, refer to unusually powerful specimens that are simply tougher (and perhaps bigger) than normal for their kinds.

[Tack122]

Q238

Could a player cast a spell which has a target of "One Medium or smaller creature with humanoid physiology" on himself?

If you need more specifics, I am interested in the possibility of a player using control body ( http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/controlBody.htm ) in order to gain the effects of Int instead of strength when forced into melee.

[Jasdoif]

A238

That depends on if the player is a Medium size or smaller creature with a humanoid physiology (or in this particular instance, if the player is capable of augmenting the power enough to affect their own size category). If so, the answer is yes. The manifester is certainly within their own range, and should have clear line of effect as well.

Do note, however, that the power's duration is Concentration (with a cap), meaning you have to spend a standard action each round to maintain the effect. This could easily prevent you from using powers, and manifesting another power will end the effect (although you could use schism (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/schism.htm) to overcome this.)

[Gorbash]

Q. 239

Next to Geomancer's Spell Versatility are numbers 1-9, does that mean that spell versatility affects only spells of the given lvl?

[Jasdoif]

A239

Spells of that level or lower, yes. (It ranges from 0 to 9, by the way) This is mentioned in the ability's description, although not in a manner easy to follow.


...When he casts them, however, he can mix or match spellcasting parameters from any of his classes to gain the maximum possible advantage for any spell with a spell level equal to or less than his spell versatility score.

[Gorbash]

Q. 240

Regarding Speak Language skill. The description says: You can purhcase Speak Language just like any other skill, but instead of buying a rank in it, you choose a new language that you can speak. I'm a bit unsure what does this mean, do you just pay one skill point per language or how does it work?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 240

Yes, basically you just the necessary skill points and you know the selected languages.
You should note that for most classes speak language is a cross class skill (see the bard for a class where the skill appears on the class list) and you would have to pay two skill points to buy one rank/language.

[Gorbash]

Q. 240a

If it's a Cross Class skill does that mean that at, say, first level, if I invest 4 skill points in Speak Language, I can learn only two, or I can spend all and learn as many languages as I want? Ie, is there a maximum number of languages defined by max skill ranks or no?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 240a

You are not actually buying ranks so it is reasonable to assume that the notion of maximum ranks is meaningless.


The Speak Language skill doesn’t work like other skills. Languages work as follows.

...
* You can purchase Speak Language just like any other skill, but instead of buying a rank in it, you choose a new language that you can speak.

[theterran]

Q241

I'm currently speccing out a sorcerer that will be spending a lot of time as a Displacer Beast via the spell Displacer Form.

My question is this. When I turn into a Displacer Beast, everything I am wearing melds and becomes non-functional, so if I have on a cloak of Charisma, will my Cha drop when I change shapes and therefore lose the spell slots associated w/ that Cha Drop?

Q241a
And would it differ if I went Wizard with prepared spells instead?

Thanks!

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 241

Yes, I am afraid so.
In fact it is even worse, since you lose any unused spell slots first when your score drops.

a

No.

[theterran]

Q242

If I cast Form of the Threefold Beast (turns it into a chimera) on my Familiar, will it still be considered my familiar?

If not, what about when the spell ends, will it be my familiar again then?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 242

Yes, certainly.

[theterran]

thank you for your help Silvanos!

[SamTheCleric]

Q. 243

Is there any RAW ruling on how much wood a woodhuck really could chuck?

...

Ok, serious question time. How long does it take to perform a Craft [Trapmaking] check? I know there's the trapsmith and combat trapsmith classes... but are there any solid rules on crafting traps outside of those classes?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 243

The DMG has dedicated a whole section to traps. The rules are also available in the SRD.

P.s. and the real question not how much wood a woodchuck could chuck, but how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

[Chronos]

A 243: There is no Monster Manual entry for woodchucks, but the closest equivalent is a rat, with a strength of 2. A woodchuck is somewhat larger than a rat, so would probably have a Strength of 3. As a Tiny quadruped, its maximum load would then be 22 pounds. Assuming that "chuck" refers merely to dropping an object on an adjacent square, a woodchuck could then chuck 22 pounds of wood a round.

Oh, the other question... The general Craft rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/craft.htm) say that traps use their own rules for construction, but the trap construction rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#designingATrap) do not modify the creation time from the standard for crafting, and refer back to the Craft skill for determining progress by the week.

[Epinephrine]

Q. 244 About tripping and improved trip -

a) If one has improved trip, does one get an attack on an opponent you trip not on your attack?

Example scenarios:
opponent tries to trip you, fails, you trip him
you are in a form with the trip ability, so you didn't give up an attack to make the trip
you cause a trip by another method, such as the Elusive Target feat

I'm guessing no, because of the "as if you hadn't used your attack for the trip attempt" line, and while the trip is made in melee combat, you didn't use an attack.

b) Improved Trip mentions a +4 on your Strength check to trip an opponent. Does this apply to trips you didn't initiate, such as the above examples? I'm thinking yes, since it doesn't have a caveat, though the preceding line says "You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when you
attempt to trip an opponent while you are unarmed," so it's possible that it refers only to trip attempts that would normally cause an attack of opportunity.

Q. 245 My druid wants to employ poisons (why not? they're natural!) and my DM agrees that poisons aren't evil, they're just illegal in many places, considered dishonourable, and so on.
a) Can I milk vipers summoned by Summon Nature's Ally?
b) Can I milk the venom from centipedes, scorpions, and spiders made using Giant Vermin?
c) Can I collect poison from spells I use, like Poison Vines? (which glisten with a contact poison)

[theterran]

Q246

Alright...one more about my sorcerer in displacer beast form...

Do I lose the ability to use my feats when I cast Displacer Form? It mentions spell-like abilities and special abilities, both derived from form, but retain any super-natural abilities derived from form. Basically, if I go Dragonblooded Sorcerer and take the Draconic Breath feat, will I be able to use it while in Displacer form?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 244

Generally yes and yes.


If I use Mighty Throw (Tome of Battle, page 73) or
another maneuver that allows me to trip a foe, does the
Improved Trip feat grant me an extra attack against that
opponent?

Yes. The Improved Trip feat applies any time you trip a foe
in melee combat, even if that trip comes from a special power.

A. 245

The rules are not as clear as they could be, but presumably the poison disappears when the duration runs out.

[squishycube]

Q245b
So if a summoned poison poisoned a character and then the summoning effect ends before the last poison damage, the character does not get the damage (because the poison is now gone)?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 245b

No, the poisoned condition remains and works independently of the spell that summoned the creature.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 246

I assume that we are talking about a spell from the polymorph subschool here?

If so, you would also lose the breath weapon in the process as you take on the statistics of the new form.

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q246

Alright...one more about my sorcerer in displacer beast form...

Do I lose the ability to use my feats when I cast Displacer Form? It mentions spell-like abilities and special abilities, both derived from form, but retain any super-natural abilities derived from form. Basically, if I go Dragonblooded Sorcerer and take the Draconic Breath feat, will I be able to use it while in Displacer form?

A246 expanded Apart from your alignment, hp, effective HD and understanding language, you lose everything including class features and feats.



Q247 Hey, if you were to lose all your class feature, would you have to gain another familiar? Also, since you 'lost' your familiar, would you suffer the usual XP deduction?
My guess is that since the class feature in itself is the ability to 'summon' the familiar in the first place and so will not affect the familiar already in place. Am I correct?

[Jasdoif]

A247 maybe

I'm very curious what familiar-granting class you have in mind, as I'm not aware of any with a code of conduct that could result in the loss of all class features.

I do believe you're correct, though for a different reason. If you lose your familiar class feature(s), the creature would no longer be able to serve you as a familiar...however, this isn't due to the familiar dying or you dismissing it, so you would not lose XP as a result.

[Chronos]

I'm very curious what familiar-granting class you have in mind, as I'm not aware of any with a code of conduct that could result in the loss of all class features.Probably Wizard, given the context about the Polymorph subschool spells taking away all class features.

[The Great Skenardo]

Q.248

1. Dominate Person: Suppose a character has been reduced to negative hit points, but then made stable: would he or she receive a save against Dominate Person?
2. If the spell was successful, would the target know he/she had been dominated when they awoke if no commands were given?

[Jasdoif]

A248

For the first: Yes. Dominate person doesn't have any special clause about an effect for a willing target, so the rule about "unconscious creatures are automatically considered willing" doesn't come into play here.

For the second: I don't think so, at least not without some magical aid. There's no obvious effect to indicate the presence of a spell, and even conscious creatures don't automatically know they failed a save in the absence of such effects.

[squishycube]

A. 245

The rules are not as clear as they could be, but presumably the poison disappears when the duration runs out.
AND

A. 245b

No, the poisoned condition remains and works independently of the spell that summoned the creature.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me if both these statements are true. I guess that explains the "the rules aren't as clear as they could be". Note that I post this mostly to show that in your games you could decide to rule differently.

[Skjaldbakka]

Q249:
Do you retain the benefit from a buckler of arrow deflection when using a two handed weapon such as a bow? I know you lose the shield bonus to AC, I'm referring to the arrow deflection property.

[Jasdoif]

A249

I don't see why you'd lose the other properties of the shield. The buckler's description says you don't get the buckler's AC bonus when you're using a weapon in your offhand, not that you don't get the benefit of the buckler; so I believe other properties on the shield would function as normal.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 249

The entry is not as clear as one could have wanted.

The text only mentions the armor class bonus rather than saying "you don't get any benefits from your buckler". The intend might very well have been that you lose all benefits, but the text only refers to AC bonus, not enhancements, so a strict reading would not remove the other benefits such as arrow deflection.

Another thing that I think could have been more clear is the following:
You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it.
I think the intend might very well have been that you should not even lose the AC bonus when using a bow or crossbow, but the wording is just not clear enough in the item description.



Buckler: This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm. You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it. You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you don’t get the buckler’s AC bonus for the rest of the round.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

AND


It doesn't make a lot of sense to me if both these statements are true. I guess that explains the "the rules aren't as clear as they could be". Note that I post this mostly to show that in your games you could decide to rule differently.

Poison is a condition that is inflicted when the poisoning happens. You could choose to rule that if a summoned poison disappears the condition is also removed if you feel that makes more sense, but there is no RAW basis from removing poison like this.

Summoned creatures and their possessions disappear at the end of the spell. Bending this rule so you can milk creatures for their poison or sell their horns and fur seems to be at least sprinkled with mozzarella.

So even if the two statements might seem to make little sense there are good mechanical backing for both.

[Adumbration]

Q 250

Questions about the weapon Sugliin from Frostburn. Deals 2d8 damage, but it takes a full-round action to attack with it. It also has a reach of 10 feet, and you can't attack creatures adjacent to you with it.

How do Attacks of Opportunity work with this? In the AoO description in SRD, I don't think it mentions what kind of action the AoO is, just that it's an attack. Does this mean that you can take AoOs with Sugliin?

What about the adjacent square thing. Does it mean that if someone first enters the threatened area ten feet away, and then moves on to the square next to you, you get an AoO? The adversary after all, enters and leaves the threatened area, is it not?

How does Sugliin size, anyway? Say, with a Goliath Powerful Build, would the reach be 15 or 20 feet, and 3d8 of damage?

EDIT: Also, can you make Trip attempts with a Sugliin without them being full-round actions?

[DLoFunk]

Q: 251

Which book are the rules for retraining in?

[Tsotha-lanti]

Q 250

Questions about the weapon Sugliin from Frostburn. Deals 2d8 damage, but it takes a full-round action to attack with it. It also has a reach of 10 feet, and you can't attack creatures adjacent to you with it.

How do Attacks of Opportunity work with this? In the AoO description in SRD, I don't think it mentions what kind of action the AoO is, just that it's an attack. Does this mean that you can take AoOs with Sugliin?

What about the adjacent square thing. Does it mean that if someone first enters the threatened area ten feet away, and then moves on to the square next to you, you get an AoO? The adversary after all, enters and leaves the threatened area, is it not?

How does Sugliin size, anyway? Say, with a Goliath Powerful Build, would the reach be 15 or 20 feet, and 3d8 of damage?

EDIT: Also, can you make Trip attempts with a Sugliin without them being full-round actions?

A 250

AoOs: That's an interpretation question. If it's not specified in the weapon description, well, that's stupid of the writers. AoOs aren't actions, they're just AoOs. The DM will have to rule yes or no. I'd rule yes. (Maybe with the extra stipulation that Combat Reflexes does not apply.) And for reach AoOs in general: If someone moves from two squares (10 ft.) away to adjacent to you, you get an AoO; AoOs take place before the action that provokes them, so when you make the AoO, the opponent is still considered to be two squares (10 ft.) away.

Reach: Reach weapons increase your reach 100%, so if you have 10 ft. reach, you get 20 ft. reach (and are unable to hit within your normal reach, 10 ft.).

Tripping: Does the sugliin state that you can use it to make trip attacks? If it does, then using it thus is a full-round action. If it doesn't, then you're still making your trips unarmed, which is the default, and they're not full-round actions.

A: 251
PHB2.

That's not a rules question, though, that's a book content question. :smallamused:

[Chronos]

Bending this rule so you can milk creatures for their poison or sell their horns and fur seems to be at least sprinkled with mozzarella.Oh, you can certainly sell their horns and fur. If you're quick about it, and don't mind your customers coming after you with torches and pitchforks a few rounds later.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Oh, you can certainly sell their horns and fur. If you're quick about it, and don't mind your customers coming after you with torches and pitchforks a few rounds later.Why do that? Just use the Mount spell.

[RTGoodman]

A 250 Addendum

The Sugliin Mastery feat, also from Frostburn, says "you can attack with a sugliin as if it were a normal weapon, either making a single attack as a standard action or a full attack as a full-round action."

Since you can use it "as if it were a normal weapon," I don't think anyone would disallow AoOs with it as long as you have that.

Regarding reach and damage: A Goliath, as a Medium creature, has no natural reach (and Powerful Build does nothing to your reach), so you would just have a 10' reach as normal. Weapon size and damage, however, are increased by Powerful Build, and would be 3d8.*

*Incidentally, I really want to play a Goliath Barbarian a Sugliin - hello insane damage at ECL 2!

[DLoFunk]

Q: 252

Probably a stupid question but, can a swift action be made between attacks? ex. Spring Attack - Attack 1, Quickened True Strike, Attack 2

Q: 253

Whilst two weapon fighting, can you attack with your off-hand first thus applying you pre-cast True Strike bonus to your off-hand attack instead of your primary?

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q: 252

Probably a stupid question but, can a swift action be made between attacks? ex. Spring Attack - Attack 1, Quickened True Strike, Attack 2

Q: 253

Whilst two weapon fighting, can you attack with your off-hand first thus applying you pre-cast True Strike bonus to your off-hand attack instead of your primary?

A 252 Yes. You can make a swift action at any point during your turn.

A 253 No. Unless you cast a quickened version right before your off-hand attack, TS will discharge with the first attack.

[Demons_eye]

Q: 254-255

Is there a race with no LA that gives bonus to wisdom? Also is there a god thats good but has death domain. (looking for a Chaotic cleric that can kill and heal. IE some god that comes close to death and heal domian)

Edit 256 to 255

[Sstoopidtallkid]

A: 254
Anthromorphic Bat, Killoreen, and there may be a couple more.

[Demons_eye]

Can I get the books for them?

[Mavian]

A254

Anthropomorphic bat is in Savage Species
Lesser Aasimar is in Players guide to Faerun
Killoren is in Races of the Wild.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Buommen is Planar Handbook, Anthromorphic Bat is Savage Species, Jermaline is MMII.

Killoreen is Races of the Wild, but I was wrong, they don't get a bonus. Sorry.

[Jasdoif]

Q: 254-256

Is there a race with no LA that gives bonus to wisdom? Also is there a god thats good but has death domain. (looking for a Chaotic cleric that can kill and heal. IE some god that comes close to death and heal domian)Are you sure that's three questions? :smallconfused: Looks like two to me. Anyway, I'm assuming there's two, and your domain question is Q255.


A255

The repose domain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/domains.htm#reposeDomain) is probably what you're looking for, it's basically the Death domain designed for clerics forbidden from evil spells (even though Deathwatch has the evil descriptor...for some strange reason) . I'm not aware of any of the standard deities that have it, although one of the pantheons in Deities and Demigods features it. Specifically Anubuis, Nephthys and Osiris in the Pharonic pantheon.

Of course, you could choose to worship an ideal instead of a deity and choose Repose as one of your domains.

[Bag_of_Holding]

A255 Nephthys from Deities and Demigods (Pharaonic pantheon) is unusual in that she is a CG deity with Repose domain. Repose domain is simply Death domain but with 'good' fluff in 'em. Although I'm afraid she does not grant you Healing domain.

Her domains include: Chaos, Good, Protection and Repose. All of which are in SRD.



edit: Jasdoif eeza NINJA!

[Demons_eye]

Q: 256

If I chose to be a Anthropomorphic bat dose that mean I cant take class levels from the start?

[JaxGaret]

A256 No, you can start off with class levels right away, since your first class level will replace your single racial HD, and you have no LA as an anthro bat.

[DLoFunk]

A 253 No. Unless you cast a quickened version right before your off-hand attack, TS will discharge with the first attack.

Not fully sure i get this. What I mean is can my off hand be the first attack of the round and then follow that up with my primary attack? ex. Can I attack with the dagger in my left at -8 and THEN with the short sword in my right at -6 (I think those numbers are correct for using a lt. weapon in off hand.)

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Not fully sure i get this. What I mean is can my off hand be the first attack of the round and then follow that up with my primary attack? ex. Can I attack with the dagger in my left at -8 and THEN with the short sword in my right at -6 (I think those numbers are correct for using a lt. weapon in off hand.)

You can attack with your main hand and your off-hand in any order.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 253 Addendum

As Sstoopidtallkid says you may attack with either weapon first when you are TWF, attacks must however be made from highest to lowest bonus for each weapon, so you cannot attack with the iterative attack that has the lowest bonus first.

[gnomas]

Q.257 How exactly does the wield oversized weapon feat (complete warrior epic feat) work? It says it reduces effective size by one and makes it one size lighter. Wouldn't that mean a large two-hander becomes a medium one-hander, and a large one hander becomes a medium light weapon?

[JaxGaret]

A257 Yes, it would seem that you are correct in your interpretation of the feat. The examples contradict the rules text, but by RAW, your interpretation is correct.

EDIT: My answer here is incorrect. Lord Silvanos posts the correct answer below.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 257 Correction

No, the examples listed in the feat description are correct if we view the feat benefits relative to the original weapon.
The reduction are not cumulative but work of the weapon as it was before you applied the effects of this feat.

A two-handed weapon sized for large creatures are normally considered one category too "heavy" to be wielded by a medium creature (two-handed+1 if you will).
The feat reduces this to the two-handed category.

Of course the feat description is then an exercise in redundancy, but at least the examples are now correct.

[JaxGaret]

257 Are you sure about that, Lord Silvanos? In 3.5 rules, a Large 1-handed weapon is not equivalent to a Medium 2-handed weapon like it was in 3.0. In 3.5 weapon size and weapon "lightness" are two unrelated attributes of a weapon - as another example, you can have a Large Light weapon, and it is not the same thing as a Medium 1-handed weapon.

The feat states that "you can treat any weapon as if it were one size smaller than normal and one category "lighter" for the purpose of determining the amount of effort it takes to wield."

Emphasis mine. Wouldn't that mean by the RAW that you treat the weapon as if it were one size smaller (treat a Large weapon like a Medium weapon) and treat the weapon as one category lighter (treat a 2-handed weapon like a 1-handed weapon)?

I'm not understanding exactly how that's not correct, would it be possible to clarify it for me?

[DLoFunk]

Thanks for the clarification.

Q: 258
Is there any way (feat,PrC) to reduce the range of a spell to touch? Basically the opposite of Reach Spell metamagic?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

257 Are you sure about that, Lord Silvanos? In 3.5 rules, a Large 1-handed weapon is not equivalent to a Medium 2-handed weapon like it was in 3.0. In 3.5 weapon size and weapon "lightness" are two unrelated attributes of a weapon - as another example, you can have a Large Light weapon, and it is not the same thing as a Medium 1-handed weapon.

It is correct that things changed between editions, but change in the designation of effort based on difference between wielder and intended wielder still exists.


The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder’s size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. If a weapon’s designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can’t wield the weapon at all.

A large one-handed weapon is effectively a two-handed weapon of inappropriate size to a medium creature. Effort is increased and the weapon size imposes a penalty also.


The feat states that "you can treat any weapon as if it were one size smaller than normal and one category "lighter" for the purpose of determining the amount of effort it takes to wield."

Emphasis mine. Wouldn't that mean by the RAW that you treat the weapon as if it were one size smaller (treat a Large weapon like a Medium weapon) and treat the weapon as one category lighter (treat a 2-handed weapon like a 1-handed weapon)?

I'm not understanding exactly how that's not correct, would it be possible to clarify it for me?


The first part of the text removes the penalty for wielding an inappropriately sized weapon.


Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can’t make optimum use of a weapon that isn’t properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder.

And the next reduces the effort so it corresponds with the way you are treating it with respect to size.

Of course, it is rather silly to make this distinction between effort and size. The first part of the sentence is enough, since it has effectively already done what the second part is doing.

I think the confusion could be due to the designers mixing in the effects of monkey grip in the description, to which errata was later added to clarify that MG overlaps.


Page 153: Wield Oversized Weapon
This feat subsumes the effects of the Monkey Grip feat.
The feats’ effects do not stack.

[JaxGaret]

It is correct that things changed between editions, but change in the designation of effort based on difference between wielder and intended wielder still exists.

A large one-handed weapon is effectively a two-handed weapon of inappropriate size to a medium creature. Effort is increased and the weapon size imposes a penalty also.

You are, of course, correct. I don't know how I missed that bit of the SRD, thanks Lord Silvanos :smallsmile:


Of course, it is rather silly to make this distinction between effort and size. The first part of the sentence is enough, since it has effectively already done what the second part is doing.

Agreed.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 258

I do not think so.

[Curmudgeon]

The repose domain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/domains.htm#reposeDomain) is probably what you're looking for, it's basically the Death domain designed for clerics forbidden from evil spells (even though Deathwatch has the evil descriptor...for some strange reason) . I'm not aware of any of the standard deities that have it
A 255 additional info

According to the Living Greyhawk deities guide, the following gods have the Repose domain:
Chitza-Atlan, Chronepsis, Katay, Sehanine Moonbow, Urogalan, Wee Jas. Since Wee Jas, goddess of Death and Magic, (a core deity) is LN, it makes sense to include both Death and Repose domains in her portfolio.

The FR books list the following Forgotten Realms Deities for Repose:
Jergal, Kelemvor, Osiris, Sehanine Moonbow, Urogalan.

[drengnikrafe]

Q. 259

Is there a feat that allows you to suddenly apply metamagic feats a limited number of times per day to an otherwise normal spell?
Such as... You prepare Fireball one morning, and when it comes time to cast it, you find you need to hit more stuff. So, you apply your Sudden Widen Spell Metamagic Feat, and your Fireball is cast out of your 3rd level spell, still, but you use up your one chance to do that for that day?

And if it's not in the RAW, would this be a reasonable House Rule?

[RTGoodman]

A 259

Complete Arcane has Sudden Empower, Sudden Extend, Sudden Maximize, Sudden Quicken, Sudden Silent, Sudden Still, and Sudden Widen.

These feats work exactly as you say. Once per day, you can use Sudden X to gain the benefit of that particular metamagic feat without using up a higher spell slot. Note that each Sudden metamagic feat has more prerequisites than the normal metamagic feats.

[drengnikrafe]

Q. 259 Cont.

I'm having a heck of a time finding this one more piece of information...
Can you stack Sudden Metamagics?
Like, if you take all these feats as, then could you cast (if you had all the feats for it, and hadn't used them for the day) a silent, stilled, empowered, maximized, extended, widened, maximized fireball?

[JaxGaret]

A259

Certainly.


Multiple Metamagic Feats on a Spell

A spellcaster can apply multiple metamagic feats to a single spell. Changes to its level are cumulative. You can’t apply the same metamagic feat more than once to a single spell.

Since Sudden Metamagic feats are considered metamagic feats, the above rule applies to them as well.

[gnomas]

Q.260 Is there a feat/class/other thing that allows me to full attack on a charge?

[RTGoodman]

A 260

There are a few.

If you're epic level, the Dire Charge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#direCharge) epic feat allows you to do this at the beginning of an encounter.

If you're a Catfolk (from Races of the Wild), you can pick up the Catfolk Pounce feat, though it only works against flat-footed foes.

The Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian class variant from Complete Champion gives Pounce as an alternate class feature at 1st level, replacing Fast Movement. This is generally considered overpowered or broken, but it's the easiest way to get Pounce.


EDIT: Huh. Apparently there are more than I thought. I guess looking at the Lists of Stuff would have been better than just trying to remember stuff off the top of my head. Oh well - Gralamin got it.

[Gralamin]

A 260 continued

In addition, you can gain pounce from the following sources:


1) Snow Tiger Berserker feat (berserker lodge feat (RP restriction), light weapons only, Unapproachable East)
1) Lion Totem Barbarian, class variant, Complete Champion
1) Lion Tribe Warrior (Regional feat, human only, single light weapon only, Shining South)
2) Catfolk Pounce feat (Racial feat: Catfolk, Races of the Wild. Available at character level 1, but listed at level 2 because of Catfolk's +1 LA)
4) Psionic Lion's Charge (2nd level psywar power, augments to add damage to each attack, Expanded Psionic's Handbook)
5) Lion's Charge (3rd level druid / 2th level ranger spell, Spell Compendium)
5) Wild Shape (Fleshraker, Monster Manual III)
6) Lion's Pounce Wild Feat (Complete Divine), only after using wildshape, see text
6) Bestial charge, feat, Complete Champion
7) Polymorph spell (many forms grant Pounce or similar abilities)
7) Metamorphosis power (as Polymorph, but might require Supernatural Transformation)
8) Wild Shape (Tiger) (If Core-only.)
8) Weretouched II: Tiger (Weretouched Master prestige class ability, Shifter only and only while shifting, Eberron CS)
10) Pouncing Ambush (5th level Reachrunner prestige class ability, Shifter only and only while shifting, against flat-footed opponent only, Races of Eberron)
11) Lion's Pounce (4th level Sigh Rager prestige class ability, Oriental Adventures)
11) Lion's Pounce (5th level Lion of Talisid prestige class ability, Book of Exalted Deeds)
13) Drift 4: Pounce like a leopard (7th level Geomancer drift, Complete Divine)
17) Shapechange spell (many forms grant Pounce or an extra move action, or something sicker (Chronotryn (FF), Choker).)
17) Greater Metamorphosis power (As Shapechange, but may require Metamorphic Transfer feat)
21) Dire Charge epic feat (Widely accepted as at least slightly underpowered, but works regardless of your equipment or magic availability. Draconomicon)

Variable level: Claws of the Leopard (spiked gauntlets, Complete Adventurer, priced at 38,305. Only works with the claws themselves).

Note that the Great Granddaddy of Wild Shape, the Mulhorandi Divine Minion, may be able to pull off some of these far earlier than other characters.

With sufficient cheatery twinks, anything is possible.

Runner-ups (those with similar abilities that do not exactly count as charging):
Full Mounted Attack (Cavalier and Halfling Outrider, CW; Kishi Charger, OA, possibly others)
Dervish Dance (Dervish, CW)
Hustle (Psychic Warrior / Egoist power, XPH)
Wild Plains Offensive (Wild Plains Outrider, CV)
Shadow Pounce (Teflammar Shadowlord, UE), ecl 11
Lion Tribe Warrior (Regional feat, two light weapons only, Shining South)
Two-Weapon Spring Attack (Tempest, CV)
Dimension Spring Attack (Elocator, XPH)
Black Magic Oil: Malign Fury (Warrior of Darkness, BoVD)

10) Crinty Shadow Maurauder 5 (shadow pounce) - Shining South (Forgotten Realms)
11) Wildrunner 6 (primal scream: pounce) - Races of the Wild
11) Waverider 6, Savage Species, full mounted attack when mount moves more than 5 feet
12) Ashworm Dragon 7, Sandstorm, full mounted attack when mount moves more than 5 feet, but not on a charge
15) Blade of Orien 10, Eberron: Dragonmarked, full attack after dimension leap

Sphinx Claws, soulmeld, Magic of Incarnum, natural weapons only
Chupoclops, vestige, ecl 12, Tome of Magic
Pouncing Charge, Tiger Claw maneuver, Tome of Battle

Found here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=662842).

[Chronos]

Q 261: [Bigby's] Clenched Fist (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clenchedFist.htm) has an attack bonus which
equals your caster level + your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (for a wizard, cleric, or sorcerer, respectively), +11 for the hand’s Strength score (33), -1 for being Large.
Archivists (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) base their bonus spells and maximum spell level known on Intelligence, but the save DCs for their spells are determined by Wisdom. If an archivist casts Clenched Fist, what stat does he use to determine the hand's attack bonus?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 261 Opinion

I think the RAW is undecided on this question, but personally I would go with intelligence.
(See below for the correction to the base information.)

[drengnikrafe]

Mr. Lord Silvanos, Sir...
How is it you know all of this stuff?

[Gralamin]

261 Correction
Archivists base their DCs and Maximum spell level on Intelligence, and bonus spells on Wisdom.

To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, an archivist must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an archivist's spell is 10 + the spell level + the archivist's Int modifier.

n addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score

[Chronos]

Mr. Lord Silvanos, Sir...
How is it you know all of this stuff?Easy: He can read 11 books at once. You didn't think all of those eyestalks were just for decoration, did you?

And thanks for the correction, Gramalin. I guess the generalization of Lord Silvanos' decision would be to use whichever one determines DCs?

[drengnikrafe]

Q. 262

Is it possible to use Tenser's Floating Disk as a sort of mount, and ride it in leiu of walking, if you and your gear weighed less then it's max carrying weight?

[wadledo]

Q. 263

Any rules for making blind characters from the beginning(flaws, traits, feats taken at first level)?

[RTGoodman]

A 262

I believe no. The text of the spell says that "It floats along horizontally within spell range and will accompany you at a rate of no more than your normal speed each round. If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you." This seems to indicate that it just follows you. If you're not moving, it doesn't move. RAW, I think it's a little up in the air.

However, the FAQ answers this, but some people don't consider it completely "official."


Can you ride your own Tenser’s floating disk?
No. While you could command your Tenser’s floating disk
to move close enough for you to sit upon it, it has no ability to
move under its own power. It can follow you only at a
maximum rate equal to your normal speed.

[Gralamin]

Easy: He can read 11 books at once. You didn't think all of those eyestalks were just for decoration, did you?

And thanks for the correction, Gramalin (Gralamin :smalltongue: ). I guess the generalization of Lord Silvanos' decision would be to use whichever one determines DCs?

I would assume so

A 262
Yes. No, See above post.

A 263, Partial
There are no Flaws or Traits that Make you blind

[Chronos]

RAW, I think it's a little up in the air.Five feet up in the air, to be precise. But what does that have to do with the question? :smallwink:

(you set that one up deliberately, didn't you?)

[Mavian]

A263

There is that one races that is blind... Grimlock or some such.

[JaxGaret]

Five feet up in the air, to be precise.


The disk floats approximately 3 feet above the ground at all times and remains level.

Just a slight correction.

[drengnikrafe]

Are you completely positive you couldn't command it to remain stationairy, thus allowing you to get onto it, and then give it the command to attempt to move ahead of you in X direction without dropping you? It seems plausable to me, since you can appearantly give the disk commands, it just wouldn't be at all effective during battle.
Oh, wait, this is RAW only. Should I post this question in it's own forum section for discussion, then?

[Blinkbear]

Q 264

Is the "Flurry of Strikes"-Ability of the Exotic Weapon Master (Complete Warrior) compatible with TWF?

Say you have a character with a dire flail, two-weapon fighting and flurry of strikes. Let's assume a base attack bonus of +7/+2. What is the maximum number of attacks and what attack bonus do they have? (Let's forget about str as well as weapon boni)

[Tsotha-lanti]

A. 264

Yes.

Your attacks would be, I except, at +3/+3/-2 and +3 on your off-hand. (Assuming the flurry penalty is -2.)

[Demons_eye]

Q: 265

Some one point me to the table for improved Familiars (book and page number please) or a site. Thanks.

[Chronos]

A 265: It's right there in core (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedFamiliar).

[Jasdoif]

A262 comment

For a creative solution, you could use imbue familiar with spell ability (Complete Arcane) to have your familiar cast (Tenser's) floating disk for you. Then you could ride in the disc and have your familiar lead it where you want to go.

On the other hand, if you're interested in efficiency then mount (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mount.htm) is probably a better choice if you want a mount out of a 1st-level spell.

Also.
Oh, wait, this is RAW only. Should I post this question in it's own forum section for discussion, then?That would be the recommended course of action, yes.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 262 Further Comment


A262 comment

For a creative solution, you could use imbue familiar with spell ability (Complete Arcane) to have your familiar cast (Tenser's) floating disk for you. Then you could ride in the disc and have your familiar lead it where you want to go.

This solution has the added benefit of keeping you at a 5 feet distance from your familiar at all times.
For the purpose of share spell this is quite useful and otherwise almost impossible by a strict RAW if you want to be moving with a speed greater than 5 feet. :smallamused:


You didn't think all of those eyestalks were just for decoration, did you?

They are not, but nevertheless I do think that they are quite decorative. :smallcool:


And thanks for the correction, Gramalin. I guess the generalization of Lord Silvanos' decision would be to use whichever one determines DCs?

That was my intended suggestion and I have edited my original answer.

[Jasdoif]

A. 262 Further Comment

This solution has the added benefit of keeping you at a 5 feet distance from your familiar at all times.
For the purpose of share spell this is quite useful and otherwise almost impossible by a strict RAW if you want to be moving with a speed greater than 5 feet. :smallamused:I'm not quite sure we're on the same page here.

The standard share spell won't actually work with floating disk, because you are not the target of the spell (a requirement for share spell). Which is why I suggested the imbue familiar with spell ability spell, which lets the familiar cast the spell itself. As such it'll follow the familiar at its distance of five feet, moving at the same speed as the familiar.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

I'm not quite sure we're on the same page here.

I am still on page 16 and so are you, so I do not see any problem there. (Anyone can change it in their User CP if they have trouble following due to page breaks) :smalltongue:


The standard share spell won't actually work with floating disk, because you are not the target of the spell (a requirement for share spell). Which is why I suggested the imbue familiar with spell ability spell, which lets the familiar cast the spell itself. As such it'll follow the familiar at its distance of five feet, moving at the same speed as the familiar.

I was talking about the difficulty of sharing a standard buff spell, say Mage Armor, while moving.
If you are adjacent to your familiar while sharing a spell and you move 30 feet in one direction your familiar will be more than 5 feet away from you under most circumstances and thus will lose the shared spell and this happens even if your familiar moves to an adjacent position immediately when its turn comes up and even if it is on the same initiative count.
Share spell is hard to utilize if mobility is needed unless you use your TFD trick.

I apologize for diverting on this tangent.

[SamTheCleric]

Q. 266

If a Crusader takes a maneuver at level 9 that has a pre-requisite of 2 Stone Dragon manuevers and then switches out one of his stone dragon maneuvers at level 10 for a Devoted Spirit... does he lose access to the maneuver he acquired at level 9?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 266

This is truly a frequently asked question. :smallsmile:

You only have to meet the prerequisites when you learn the new maneuver. (ToB page 9 & 44)
There is no mentioning of meeting requirements for readying it, as long as you know it of course.

[ArmorArmadillo]

Q. 267

The Martial Study feat from ToB grants you a maneuver from any discipline. Martial Stance grants you a stance and has Study as a pre-req. However, if stances are maneuvers, can't you get a stance with Martial Study?

[SamTheCleric]

A. 266

This is truly a frequently asked question. :smallsmile:

At least you're a pro at answering it now!




You only have to meet the prerequisites when you learn the new maneuver. (ToB page 9 & 44)
There is no mentioning of meeting requirements for readying it, as long as you know it of course.

Thank you.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 267

It would kind of defeat the purpose of the feat if that was the case.
Look at the martial adept classes and you will see that maneuvers and stances known are handled separately.


At least you're a pro at answering it now!

Hardly Sam, it has been a while since we saw it last, so I had forgotten the page references. :smallredface:

[ArmorArmadillo]

A. 267

It would kind of defeat the purpose of the feat if that was the case.
Look at the martial adept classes and you will see that maneuvers and stances known are handled separately.



Hardly Sam, it has been a while since we saw it last, so I had forgotten the page references. :smallredface:

Thanks for the answer, but that does beg a follow up question, exactly how does this work:

If the wielder were actually using maneuvers from both schools-for example, a Stone Dragon stance with a Shadow Hand strike-it would provide a +7 bonus on attack rolls.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Thanks for the answer, but that does beg a follow up question, exactly how does this work:

It works as described in the example, is probably the best answer.

I can understand your confusion though.

If you look at page 5 in the introduction for instance you will see that "a stance is a special type of maneuver", but if you look under one of the primary sources on page 43 you will see that "a stance is not a maneuver".

The terminology is less than consistent and sometimes maneuver is used generally and includes both stances and actual maneuver such as for the magic item you reference. However, this is really an exception and for the purpose of those feats and the class descriptions etc. maneuvers and stances are distinct in the way they are handled.

I hope that helps a little.

[Chronos]

Q268: If a human were to use a longspear designed for a halfling, he would of course suffer a penalty. But if he's willing to accept that penalty, would the longspear be usable in a single hand (since it's a two-handed weapon for a creature one size smaller), and would it still grant reach?

[Jasdoif]

A268

Yes, and no.

As usual, a two-handed weapon meant for a creature one size smaller then you can be wielded in one hand; however according to the FAQ, you don't get reach from a "too small" reach weapon.


How do reach weapons work if they are of a different size than the creature wielding them? Say, an ogre wielding a Small or Medium glaive, or a human with the Monkey Grip feat wielding a Large ranseur? What is the reach for each situation?

A reach weapon doubles its wielder’s natural reach, but only if the weapon is at least of an appropriate size for the wielder. Wielding a “too-small” reach weapon grants no reach. An ogre (Large) wielding a Medium or smaller reach weapon gains no reach from the weapon, and could thus attack foes either 5 feet or 10 feet distant (as normal for a Large creature wielding a non-reach weapon).

A human (Medium) wielding a Large or larger reach weapon could attack a creature 10 feet away (but no further), and could not use the weapon to attack a creature 5 feet away (as normal for a Medium creature wielding a reach weapon). A human wielding a Small reach weapon would gain no reach from the weapon.

The Player’s Handbook isn’t as clear on this as it could be, although an example of reach in action on page 113 in the Player’s Handbook provides pretty strong support: “A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away . . .” [italics underlines added]. While this reference doesn’t mention the ability to wield a reach weapon larger than the appropriate size, allowing such a weapon to grant reach to its wielder is a reasonable extension of the spirit and intent of the rule.

[Chronos]

Huh, so if a halfling and a human were both wielding identical such weapons, the halfling would actually have longer reach than the human? That's counterintuitive.

[Jasdoif]

Huh, so if a halfling and a human were both wielding identical such weapons, the halfling would actually have longer reach than the human? That's counterintuitive.I suppose, in the case of Small and Medium....However, if it was a Medium-sized longspear, a human (medium) and an ogre (large) would get the same reach out of it. Similarly, I have a difficult time believing a halfling would get reach from a Tiny longspear. Incidentally....


Q269

Do Tiny reach weapons actually have reach? I know the usual case is that reach weapons double natural reach. Which in the case of Tiny creatures is 0, which is still 0 when doubled. I have a vague recollection of a special case for this, but I can't find any rules to support the existence of such.

[ArmorArmadillo]

It works as described in the example, is probably the best answer.

I can understand your confusion though.

If you look at page 5 in the introduction for instance you will see that "a stance is a special type of maneuver", but if you look under one of the primary sources on page 43 you will see that "a stance is not a maneuver".

The terminology is less than consistent and sometimes maneuver is used generally and includes both stances and actual maneuver such as for the magic item you reference. However, this is really an exception and for the purpose of those feats and the class descriptions etc. maneuvers and stances are distinct in the way they are handled.

I hope that helps a little.
It does, actually. It's an inconsistent wording, but the explanation clears it up pretty well. Thanks.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

However, if it was a Medium-sized longspear, a human (medium) and an ogre (large) would get the same reach out of it.

I think you mistyped that. The same rule applies to large creatures, they do not gain extra reach for wielding an inappropriately small weapon.


A. 269


Q269

Do Tiny reach weapons actually have reach? I know the usual case is that reach weapons double natural reach. Which in the case of Tiny creatures is 0, which is still 0 when doubled. I have a vague recollection of a special case for this, but I can't find any rules to support the existence of such.


I do not think there are any rules for it.
Extending the reach to 5 feet seems like a reasonable approach though.

[Jasdoif]

I think you mistyped that. The same rule applies to large creatures, they do not gain extra reach for wielding an inappropriately small weapon.No, I just failed to mention the actual point. :smallsigh:

A Large creature has a natural reach of 10 feet, the same reach as a Medium creature with a reach weapon. So each has the same reach when wielding a Medium-sized reach weapon (though the Medium creature can't hit adjacent foes like the Large creature can).

[Vazzaroth]

Q. 270

Do/can slam attacks count as two handed, for purposes of determining 1.5x str modifier on damage?

[Jasdoif]

A270

If the slam attack is the creature's sole natural weapon, then yes; it gets 1.5x Str mod to its damage roll.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 270 continued

However, it does not generally count as two-handed, say for using Power Attack.


No, I just failed to mention the actual point. :smallsigh:

Ahh, my bad, sorry.

[Jasdoif]

Ahh, my bad, sorry.I'd rather have mistyped it then outright failed to make the point clear, honestly...Oh well.

Have some popcorn.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

I'd rather have mistyped it then outright failed to make the point clear, honestly...Oh well.

Well, I am sure every one else understood. :smallwink:


Have some popcorn.

How did you know. :smallamused:

[Mr. Friendly]

Q 271

Is it possible to both Persist and Extend a Spell?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 271

There are no general rules for applying metamagic in a specific order, so yes you could get the benefit of both feats and have a 48 hour spell in effect.

[Duke of URL]

Q 272

Can you apply metamagic feats to spells gained from the Arcane Disciple feat? If so, how would the "bookkeeping" work in terms of what Arcane Disciple spells are available for the rest of the day?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 272

The rules do not consider the application of metamagic to domain spells, but I cannot see anything preventing it.

The bookkeeping would be the same for spells slots as normal and you would be unable to cast a domain of the level used up by the effective level of the metamagic enhanced spell you just cast.

Example a quickened Dominate Animal from the Animal domain would use a 7th level spell slot and prevent you from casting a 7th level domain spell of the Animal domain (Animal Shapes).

[Duke of URL]

Q 272, followup


A. 272

The rules do not consider the application of metamagic to domain spells, but I cannot see anything preventing it.

The bookkeeping would be the same for spells slots as normal and you would be unable to cast a domain of the level used up by the effective level of the metamagic enhanced spell you just cast.

Example a quickened Dominate Animal from the Animal domain would use a 7th level spell slot and prevent you from casting a 7th level domain spell of the Animal domain (Animal Shapes).

But I would still have the level 3 domain slot open for casting dominate animal again, even though the description of Arcane Disciple specifies that each spell may be cast once? (Or would I only be able to use the level 3 slot for a similarly-enhanced lower-level domain spell?)

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Q 272, followup

But I would still have the level 3 domain slot open for casting dominate animal again, even though the description of Arcane Disciple specifies that each spell may be cast once? (Or would I only be able to use the level 3 slot for a similarly-enhanced lower-level domain spell?)

Yes, you could use it to cast the same spell, Dominate Animal, again. The restriction is "one of each level" and not on the individual spells.
When you cast a metamagic version you are not casting a spell of the original un-enhanced level anymore.

[JaxGaret]

Q272, followup

With that ruling, wouldn't that then mean that you could cast the same spell without metamagic, but from progressively higher spell slots?

For example, you could cast Dominate Animal as a 3rd level spell, then as a 4th level spell, etc.

It wouldn't make sense if you could do it via metamagic but not without metamagic - or would it?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Q272, followup

With that ruling, wouldn't that then mean that you could cast the same spell without metamagic, but from progressively higher spell slots?

Yes.


For example, you could cast Dominate Animal as a 3rd level spell, then as a 4th level spell, etc.

It wouldn't make sense if you could do it via metamagic but not without metamagic - or would it?


No, it would not.


A spellcaster always has the option to fill a higher-level spell slot with a lower-level spell.

[Jasdoif]

A. 271

There are no general rules for applying metamagic in a specific order, so yes you could get the benefit of both feats and have a 48 hour spell in effect.

A271 comment/correction

The FAQ's interpretation of Extend Spell disagrees with you, although it seems at least somewhat questionable.


The vigor series of spells (found in Complete Divine) raise an interesting question. Does the built-in maximum duration of each spell limitation override the effect of the Extend Spell feat?

Yes. Extend Spell still increases the spell’s duration, but only up to the spell’s listed maximum duration. Use either the normal maximum duration or the doubled duration, whichever is less. If a 7th-level druid used Extend Spell on her vigor spell, the duration could not increase beyond 25 rounds.

The mass lesser vigor spell has a fixed range (of 20 feet), which makes it eligible for the revised Persistent Spell feat in Player’s Guide to Faerûn. Does that mean a 17th-level druid could use a 9th-level spell slot to give nine creatures fast healing 1 for 24 hours, or does the built-in limit of 25 rounds make that pointless?

Unlike Extend Spell, Persistent Spell replaces a spell’s normal duration with a new duration of 24 hours. In this case, the effect overrides the normal maximum duration of the spell, so it would indeed grant nine creatures fast healing 1 for 24 hours (a pretty reasonable effect for a 9th-level spell).Based on those two entries, you could not meaningfully Extend Persisted spells--Extend can only increase the spell up to its listed maximum duration, which is a set 24 hours in the case of a Persisted spell. A spell could be Extended past 24 hours (for example a spell with a duration of hours/level), but in that case there's no sense in Persisting it in the first place.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 271 Continued


A271 comment/correction

The FAQ's interpretation of Extend Spell disagrees with you, although it seems at least somewhat questionable.

Based on those two entries, you could not meaningfully Extend Persisted spells--Extend can only increase the spell up to its listed maximum duration, which is a set 24 hours in the case of a Persisted spell. A spell could be Extended past 24 hours (for example a spell with a duration of hours/level), but in that case there's no sense in Persisting it in the first place.

The difference with the vigor-series of spells is that the duration has a listed maximum (noted in brackets after the formula for the duration), which is different from having a fixed duration, so the FAQ's interpretation does not apply generally, it only applies to spells that have a specific maximum duration.

Even for these spells, by the second FAQ quote of yours, this maximum duration is removed if the spell is made persistent, making it viable for extension by extend spell.

[Epinephrine]

Q273 Is an invisible foe using ranged attacks easier to Spot?

The rules explain that an active foe can be detected on a DC20, and located on a DC40; at the same time, objects that the inivisble creature is no longer holding become visible. I find it hard to believe that an opponent would be a DC40 to locate when knives keep flicking out of the air from a square; is there a rule or is this not addressed anywhere?

[Jasdoif]

The difference with the vigor-series of spells is that the duration has a listed maximum (noted in brackets after the formula for the duration), which is different from having a fixed duration, so the FAQ's interpretation does not apply generally, it only applies to spells that have a specific maximum duration.

Even for these spells, by the second FAQ quote of yours, this maximum duration is removed if the spell is made persistent, making it viable for extension by extend spell.Hmm. I think it's weird, but then that interpretation of Extend Spell seems weird. Why would you add in a "can't exceed maximum listed" rule? The only thing I could think of was that it's intended to prevent Extended Persisting, most likely in light of DMM (as a 48-hour 1st-level spell taking an 8th-level slot isn't particularly breaking; but the same in a 2nd-level, or a 48-hour 7th-level spell taking an 8th-level slot, likely is). Doesn't mean that's what it actually does, I guess.


A273

The +40 bonus to hide checks for an invisible creature is if the creature is immobile. Throwing things definitely requires movement, even if the creature remains in the same square, so it would only get the +20 bonus.

[Chronos]

A271 continued dispute: Even if it's possible to apply Extend and Persist to the same spell, multipliers in D&D are based on the original, unmodified number. So if a spell normally has a duration of 10 minutes, an Extended, Persisted version of the spell would last 1 day (from Persist)+ 10 minutes (from Extend adding 100% of the original duration). So even if it's possible, it's probably not worthwhile.

[Epinephrine]

I understand the way the rules work, my question (Q273) was whether there are other rules I'm not aware of. Locating an invisible foe by sight is +20DC on the detection of said foe. Hence the 40DC: 20DC for detecting an active foe, +20DC to locate the foe; but in my mind there is a difference between detecting the invisible caster who is waving his arms (and hence disturbing dust motes, making nearby leaves move from the wind?) and spotting the visible daggers spinning out of a point in space. I mean, I'm no eagle-eyed ranger, but if things are materialising out of the air over there, I think I'd notice.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 271 Dispute debunked


A271 continued dispute: Even if it's possible to apply Extend and Persist to the same spell, multipliers in D&D are based on the original, unmodified number. So if a spell normally has a duration of 10 minutes, an Extended, Persisted version of the spell would last 1 day (from Persist)+ 10 minutes (from Extend adding 100% of the original duration). So even if it's possible, it's probably not worthwhile.

Persistent spell is not a multiplier. The duration is simply changed. There is only one multiplier involved and Extend works of the new duration, since no order of application is specified for the metamagic effects.


Hmm. I think it's weird, but then that interpretation of Extend Spell seems weird. Why would you add in a "can't exceed maximum listed" rule? The only thing I could think of was that it's intended to prevent Extended Persisting, most likely in light of DMM (as a 48-hour 1st-level spell taking an 8th-level slot isn't particularly breaking; but the same in a 2nd-level, or a 48-hour 7th-level spell taking an 8th-level slot, likely is). Doesn't mean that's what it actually does, I guess.

I have been a little curious myself about the perceived need to enforce the maximum duration with respect to Extend Spell.
From a balance perspective I see little point in it. The marginal benefit of those extra 24 hours when you already have a 24 hour duration is not particularly high and the extra divine cheese needed is not completely free either.
At the point where this becomes relevant you are already so deep in the cheese fondue that sprinkling cheddar on top won't cause cardiac arrest for the DM any sooner.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

I understand the way the rules work, my question (Q273) was whether there are other rules I'm not aware of. Locating an invisible foe by sight is +20DC on the detection of said foe. Hence the 40DC: 20DC for detecting an active foe, +20DC to locate the foe; but in my mind there is a difference between detecting the invisible caster who is waving his arms (and hence disturbing dust motes, making nearby leaves move from the wind?) and spotting the visible daggers spinning out of a point in space. I mean, I'm no eagle-eyed ranger, but if things are materialising out of the air over there, I think I'd notice.

Based on the following it seems reasonable to grant the direction or even general location depending on distance.


If an invisible creature strikes a character, the character struck still knows the location of the creature that struck him (until, of course, the invisible creature moves). The only exception is if the invisible creature has a reach greater than 5 feet. In this case, the struck character knows the general location of the creature but has not pinpointed the exact location.

An since objects that leave an invisible creatures possession becomes instantly visible a case can be made for noticing the square from where it originated on a spot check high enough to see an object of that size in plain view, modifiers for distance would of course apply.

However, I suggest that a DM applies a little "common sense" to a case such as this.

[Jasdoif]

I have been a little curious myself about the perceived need to enforce the maximum duration with respect to Extend Spell.
From a balance perspective I see little point in it. The marginal benefit of those extra 24 hours when you already have a 24 hour duration is not particularly high and the extra divine cheese needed is not completely free either.
At the point where this becomes relevant you are already so deep in the cheese fondue that sprinkling cheddar on top won't cause cardiac arrest for the DM any sooner.The only scenario I came up with that would exploit this was a staggered schedule: One day you load up on Extended Persisted spells and cast them all, and the next day you prepare other spells in those slots (the 48 hour spells will continue for another 24 hours at this point); basically trading time for spells available. Now this is generally silly unless you really have enough spells and slots valid for Persistent Spell available; but on the other hand if the DM allows multiple Nightsticks to stack for whatever reason, you could DMM a lot of spells.

And yes, at that point there's sufficient cheese quantity that the DM should seriously contemplate popcorn as an alternative. I mean, more seriously then usual :smalltongue:

[TheCountAlucard]

Can a Cleric's daily Domain spells be traded for his Spontaneous Casting?

[Jasdoif]

Can a Cleric's daily Domain spells be traded for his Spontaneous Casting?This would be Q274.


A274

If you're asking whether a prepared spell in a domain slot can be spontaneously converted to a cure spell or similar, the answer is no.


The cleric can "lose" any prepared spell that is not a domain spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with "cure" in its name).Emphasis mine.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Q 275
In the Expanded Psionics Handbook, it states under "Epic-Level Psionic Characters" (Pg. 32), that "...However, a manifester's power points and powers known at each level do not increase automatically after 20th level." But then, under the Epic Psion, it contradicts itself by saying "Each time the Psion attains a new level, he earns two new powers of any level or levels that he can manifest." Whats going on here??

[drengnikrafe]

Q. 276

Time Stop question!
When you cast Time Stop, does that leave the creatures who are suspended in time helpless? And when I say helpless, I mean... would you be able to march over to them, and stick a sword in their eye in an attempt to kill them (Coup de Grace)?

[TheCountAlucard]

A. 276


While the time stop is in effect, other creatures are invulnerable to your attacks and spells; you cannot target such creatures with any attack or spell.

I'd say this is a no.

[Jasdoif]

A275

That particular text was not changed in XPH's errata, and the epic section of the SRD says the same thing; so I'm forced to conclude that the mention of an epic psion continuing to gain new powers is intended to be an exception to the general rule.

[Skjaldbakka]

Q277

Is there a feat that gives you the Poison Use ability?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 277

This was posted in thread V:


I do not think that there is a feat that directly grants you Poison Use, but you can gain Poison Immunity to a specific kind of poison and use that poison on your weapons without risk. (The feat can be found in Book of Vile Darkness or Champions of Ruin)

If you had a natural poison attack you could take Poison Immunity from Savage Species and get immunity to all poisons.

Otherwise it is a one level dip in a class like Assassin.

Complete Scoundrel has other poison related feats and is a good source for that.

[Thurbane]

Q. 278

If a Binder was to bind Balam and Geryon, could he use both gaze attacks (Icy Glare and Acidic Gaze) simultaneously?


Q. 279

Can a Centuar character use Horseshoes of Speed, or do they only work for creatures of the Animal type?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 278

I do not think there is anything preventing you from having two gaze attacks at once.

A. 279

Note that the description use the un-capitalized version of animal, which does not indicate the mechanical creature type, but is more often just another way of saying hoofed creature.

It is possible that the pricing was based on use by non-PC, but there is really no way to be sure.

I believe hooves grant Centaurs a special item slot as seen for other creature types. Note that they are also prevented from wearing standard boots.

The above suggests that they should be allowed to wear them, but an argument could be made for disallowing it based on a more narrow interpretation of the wording.

[shadow_archmagi]

Q. 280

In the Tome of Battle, there is a feat which I believe is called shadow blade. It allows you to add your dex to damage as a bonus.

In Complete Warrior, there is a class known as the Swashbuckler. Its third level class feature is that you can add your int to damage, in addition to any STR bonus.

Do these stack? Can I have a fourth level character with +12 to damage on every attack?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 280

Different bonuses/special abilities from different sources always stack.

I am fairly certain that it is possible to get all stats as a bonus to damage in some way with a little effort.

[RTGoodman]

A. 280

Different bonuses/special abilities from different sources always stack.

I am fairly certain that it is possible to get all stats as a bonus to damage in some way with a little effort.

Yep, you can, and the folks at the CharOps board can help - X Stat to Y Bonus (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=320889).


A 280 Continuation

Do note, though, that Shadow Blade only works if you're in a Shadow Hand stance and wielding a Shadow Hand favored weapon.

[olelia]

Q 281
If I start casting a full round spell, i.e. Summon Monster, on a surprise round, since a surprise round is only a standard action. When does my spell finish?

[Jasdoif]

A281

To do that, you would use the "Start / Complete Full-Round Action" standard action. Which in this case would be a standard action in the surprise round (to start), followed by a standard action in the next round (to complete). So the spell would complete on your turn in the next round, and you would have a move action left afterwards in that same round.

[olelia]

Q 282 In response to A 281
Does two standard actions make up 1 full round?

[Jasdoif]

A282

No, generally in a particular round you get a standard and a move action. You can opt to take a move action instead of a standard action (so you get two move actions and no standard action), but it doesn't work the other way around. Alternatively, you can take a single full-round action.

Anyway, the "Start/Complete Full-Round Action" is a special action for if you want to take a full-round action but you don't have the actions to do so in the current round; it lets you start a full-round action in one turn and finish it in the next, taking a standard action in each of the two turns.


Start/Complete Full-Round Action

The “start full-round action” standard action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another standard action. You can’t use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run, or withdraw.

[Alveanerle]

Q. 283
Mounted Combat:

Can one make full attack while mounted, when not making any movement bigger than 5ft?

On one hand the rules clearly state that it is impossible to make more than one attack if moving more than 5ft (so by contradiction, one would expect to be allowed to make full attack if the no-movement condition is fulfilled). On the other hand, supposedly each round while in combat one should spend one movement action on controlling his mount ( = no full attacks even if mount stays in place).

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 283

Yes, assuming that it is a mount trained for war you can even direct it to full attack along with you.

It is only on an untrained mount that there is a need for controlling the mount to a degree where you have to spend your action(s).


Horses in Combat: Warhorses and warponies can serve readily as combat steeds. Light horses, ponies, and heavy horses, however, are frightened by combat. If you don’t dismount, you must make a DC 20 Ride check each round as a move action to control such a horse. If you succeed, you can perform a standard action after the move action. If you fail, the move action becomes a full round action and you can’t do anything else until your next turn.


Guide with Knees: You can react instantly to guide your mount with your knees so that you can use both hands in combat. Make your Ride check at the start of your turn. If you fail, you can use only one hand this round because you need to use the other to control your mount.

Fight with Warhorse: If you direct your war-trained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally. This usage is a free action.

Control Mount in Battle: As a move action, you can attempt to control a light horse, pony, heavy horse, or other mount not trained for combat riding while in battle. If you fail the Ride check, you can do nothing else in that round. You do not need to roll for warhorses or warponies.

[olelia]

A282

No, generally in a particular round you get a standard and a move action. You can opt to take a move action instead of a standard action (so you get two move actions and no standard action), but it doesn't work the other way around. Alternatively, you can take a single full-round action.

Anyway, the "Start/Complete Full-Round Action" is a special action for if you want to take a full-round action but you don't have the actions to do so in the current round; it lets you start a full-round action in one turn and finish it in the next, taking a standard action in each of the two turns.

Ty for clarifying that for me...It's been bothering me :smallfrown:

[UglyPanda]

Q. 283 Since your armor becomes nonfunctional when you wild shape, do have still have armor check penalties and a decrease in speed while wild shaped? On that note, do you get those penalties if you're wearing wild armor?

[TheCountAlucard]

Q. 284

How would two different types of Damage Reduction work with one another? Let's say someone rolls up a seventh-level Shifter Barbarian and takes the Shifter Defense feat. The Shifter Defense gives him DR 2/Silver. The 7 levels in Barbarian gives him DR 1/-. How would this work?

[AlterForm]

A284 Whichever DR is greater (and still applicable) will apply. They do not stack. For example, striking him with a regular longsword would result in the damage facing 2 points of DR (DR 2/silver), whereas if the longsword was silvered (thus bypassing the 2/silver) it would still be subject to 1 point of DR (DR 1/-).

[Chronos]

A277 expansion: If you're willing to spend two feats and put up with some other hassles, Bind Vestige and Improved Bind Vestige will let you bind Malphas (among others), which grants you poison use.

[Jasdoif]

A283

Armor melds into your form (and becomes nonfunctional) when you wild shape. It's reasonable to assume this means you're no longer wearing the armor, and thus you don't incur the armor check penalty, speed penalties, etc. associated with wearing the armor.

I'm not as certain with wild armor, but the armor property description says explicitly that the armor cannot be seen when you're wild shaped, and only says you keep the armor's AC bonus. So I would surmise that you don't take the armor-wearing penalties then, either; on the assumption that the armor still melds into your new form (so you're still not wearing it), it's just magically able to keep deflecting blows while melded.

[Epinephrine]

A283

Armor melds into your form (and becomes nonfunctional) when you wild shape. It's reasonable to assume this means you're no longer wearing the armor, and thus you don't incur the armor check penalty, speed penalties, etc. associated with wearing the armor.

Re: A 283 By the same token, no mention is made of eliminating such penalties, and one could just as easily conclude that the penalties carry over. I don't know of anything in RAW that is definitive.

I think that one needs to look at the game effect, and decide what one would like. Should the druid be able to carry essentially maiximum load, but have it disappear on shape change? This allows protecting all sorts of gear from damage, as it is closeted away in extradimensional storage. We've opted for carryover of encumbrance levels/penalties in our game, to prevent abuse, and only allow merging of gear from human form to others (no loading up a Dire Bear with a few tons of supplies, then switching to an unencumbered other form). Maybe someone can dig up a RAW answer, but I suspect it's interpretation.

[SamTheCleric]

Q. 285

I know this has been asked before, but my search-fu is failing me. Do you count yourself as an ally for the purpose of White Raven manuevers/stances?

[RTGoodman]

A 285 Partial

I don't know about in general, but I do for White Raven Tactics. I believe ToB doesn't specifically say whether or not you can count yourself as an ally, but the FAQ did attempt to "clarify" this:


Can you use White Raven Tactics (Tome of Battle, page 94) on yourself to gain another turn right after your current initiative score?
No. White Raven Tactics doesn’t work on the initiator himself.

[SamTheCleric]

A 285 Partial

I don't know about in general, but I do for White Raven Tactics. I believe ToB doesn't specifically say whether or not you can count yourself as an ally, but the FAQ did attempt to "clarify" this:

Q. 285 - Continued

I was actually thinking about Leading the Charge. I would -assume- I get the benefit of it when I charge, but I want to be sure.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 285 Continued

The language used for leading the charge is similar. It refers to allies as every one friendly towards you excluding yourself.

[SamTheCleric]

A. 285 Continued

The language used for leading the charge is similar. It refers to allies as every one friendly towards you excluding yourself.

That makes sense. I think I will change the name to "Directing the Charge" since I'm not really leading it... well... not until I use War Leaders Charge. :smallbiggrin:

[FlyMolo]

Q 286

Is there a way to get metamagic'd magic items? Potions of Extended Bull's Strength, for instance. Or maximised CLW. Etc.

[Jasdoif]

A286

For potions, wands and scrolls; yes. If you have the spell and necessary feat(s), you can create metamagic versions of spells in such items. Such will be priced as if their spell level was the slot needed to contain the metamagic spell, and for potions and wands the maximum spell level limit applies based on that as well.


With the right item creation feat, you can store a metamagic version of a spell in a scroll, potion, or wand. Level limits for potions and wands apply to the spell’s higher spell level (after the application of the metamagic feat). A character doesn’t need the metamagic feat to activate an item storing a metamagic version of a spell.

[SithLackey]

Q287

Are there any rules regarding directional changes of a sprinting character? If so, what and where?

Q288

Though the Rage ability states that you cannot rage as a reaction to, say, a fatal attack, could you ready an action to rage if you were affected by a spell, for instance?

[FlyMolo]

A288

Oh, easily. You can prepare any standard, move, swift, or free action in a readied action. Readying an immediate action is a little pointless, though.

[SithLackey]

Was Rage errata-ed as an immediate action? Seems more like a swift because of the no-reactionary-use clause, but if it is, could I get a link to something?

[Jasdoif]

Was Rage errata-ed as an immediate action? Seems more like a swift because of the no-reactionary-use clause, but if it is, could I get a link to something?No, rage is still a free action you take on your turn. The Instantaneous Rage feat in Complete Warrior allows you to rage in reaction to someone else even when it isn't your turn, but it's still a free action. (I think FlyMolo was just being thorough with the various types of actions)


A287

The only rules I know of that are similar is that you need to travel in a straight line when you charge or run, in the absence of abilities that change that (there's a number of feats that let you make a turn when charging, not sure about running).

[SithLackey]

you need to travel in a straight line when you charge or run, in the absence of abilities that change that (there's a number of feats that let you make a turn when charging, not sure about running).

Where is that from, please? I couldn't find it myself, and it may be the deciding factor in an arena match.

[Jasdoif]

Where is that from, please? I couldn't find it myself, and it may be the deciding factor in an arena match.The standard combat rules.


You can run as a full-round action. (If you do, you do not also get a 5-foot step.) When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed if you’re in heavy armor). You lose any Dexterity bonus to AC unless you have the Run feat.If you require a book reference, it's page 144 of the PHB.

[SithLackey]

Wow, okay. I guess I looked so hard I forgot to look at the basic definition of movement. Oops. Thanks for your patience.

[cupkeyk]

q288
Agile shield fighter reduces the twf penalties to zero if combined with the twf feat.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 288

Not quite. When using Agile Shield Fighter your TWF penalties are replaced by those listed in the feat description, which means that there are no penalties for the TWF feat to reduce anymore.

[Valairn]

Q. 289

If I have the feat whirlwind attack, and have a smiting spell on my weapon, does that spell affect all of my targets, or just whoever I decide is the first person to be hit?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 289

The spell is discharged on the first creature you hit.

[Ossian]

Q. 290

Ok, this might sound dumb, and I am asking just out of curiosity. I've so far renounced understanding how CR and Encounter Level interact. Other than "a CR x creature is a good encounter for 4 level 5 PCs" I did not manage to go. So, reversing the reasoning, a party of made of four CR 5 player characters is a good challenge for a single CR 5 creature???? Hey, but isn't it true that twice the number means +2 to the CR? Hence said group of 4 level 5 PCs should be a CR 9?

I have read the DMG in Italian (native speaker) and English (non native, but WTH! I'm not THAT brain damaged), and the text becomes more esoteric everytime, to the point that I need the rosetta stone to grasp what it means while my nose starts bleeding profusely out of intellectual shock.

So far (and we're talking years) I have granted levels on a discretional basis, basically saying "Ok, you all level up" whenever I though the PC had been through enough troubles and roleplayed well.
Still, I'd love to see if somone can reword the description of CR and ECL for dummies, and then simplify it a bit further. I'd love to see how it works...

O.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 290

You should not "reverse the reasoning". They are two different concepts. You match the encounter level to the effective party level, but there is no need to calculate a challenge rating for the party. Challenge rating and encounter level calculations are only relevant for things the party encounters.
(If you were to calculate it for the party the relationship should be roughly 4:1, not equality.)

So first you determine the effective party level (for a 4 member party this is just the average ECL) and then you find an encounter that gives an encounter level close to the effective party level.
XP are granted on the basis of the CRs used in the encounter.

I think this at least covers the basics, but it is possible to get a bit more technical and go into the details. However, this is not really necessary, because there are a number of fairly accurate encounter level calculators available online. They are really easy to use.
Here (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm) is one commonly used, but other versions are available (many used the same backbone as this one, but has a slightly different appearance.)

[Jasdoif]

A290 further comment

Remember, equal CR is not designed to result in a fair fight, where either side has an appromixately equal chance of winning. Such a fight is intended for the PCs to expend about 20% of their resources, but still come out ahead. The party is stronger then the creature(s) they're up against, by design.

Which is why, if you reverse it, you'll see that the party is higher CR then the creature(s) is/were. The party was intended to be stronger.

[Ossian]

q. 291
Ok, now it's a bit more clear, and the utility is somehow useful, but I am not sure I am putting in the data in the right way. So the sort of new question is
How do you get the XP total when you mix different CRs in the same encounter? More specifically, how do you do that in the table you linked me to? I know that x2 CR "K" creatures are CR+2 but....ok, I'll make an example (to myself as much as to you).

The group is made of 4 level 4 PCs.

They go against 1 CR 4, 2 CR 3, 3 CR2 and 4 CR 1 creatures. Such creatures are all in the same room and all of them fight with the PCs.
While there are many progressively weaker creatures, they are still outnumbering the party, 10 to 4. This is supposed to count as something!

Thanks a lot guys, and sorry for the mad English. This CR stuff is really driving me crazy!

[Tsotha-lanti]

A. 291

You get the XP by calculating it separately for every creature. (Unless you're dealing with creatures of CR under 1, in which case you add them up to 1s. Not really necessary, though, since you'd get the same result just giving X/4 for a CR 1/4 creature.)

EL does not have anything to do with XP calculations (partly because it varies; you'll notice that a single CR 4, 5, or 6 creature is EL 5). You calculate XP for each creature based on that creature's CR.

In your example, you look at the table 10 times, in the row for level (ECL) 4: once for the XP for CR 4, twice for CR 3, thrice for CR 2, and four times for CR 1. You total these up, and divide it by four (the number of PCs).

It gets barely more complicated if there are PCs of multiple ECLs. You total it up just the same, but if one PC is, in fact, ECL 5, you look in the row for ECL 5, and again divide by four (the number of PCs), and the character with ECL 5 gets that amount of XP. (Which works out to less than the ECL 4 PCs get.)

Edit:
A bit of an addendum for the previous one... four CR 4 characters make for an EL 8 encounter, which is "Very Difficult" (basically the topmost tier of encounters you'd throw at characters). It's the point where either side has a 50% chance of winning, more or less (assuming both are fresh). That makes perfect sense. If you pit two equal parties against each other, it's a toss-up (or, rather, down to who's more clever; neither is inherently more powerful, in theory). Of course, PCs don't actually have CR, and are more powerful than an NPC of the exact same class and level, because they have more wealth (magic items). In fact, the difference can be pretty drastic. Compare any 20th-level human fighter with NPC WBL to one with PC WBL.

[Fighteer]

Let me take a shot at this, since I've been wanting to contribute something to these boards.

A 291
The combined CR of all obstacles faced in an encounter is used to determine the EL, which tells you the overall difficulty, but XP is still awarded based upon the individual CRs of each enemy or obstacle present.

An encounter with 4 CR 2 creatures is EL 6, but you award XP for four CR 2 creatures.

An encounter with (1) CR 4, (2) CR 3, (3) CR 2 and (4) CR 1 creatures would be approximately EL 8 (the math gets a bit fuzzy when adding multiple different CR creatures together), but each party member would get XP for defeating one CR 4, two CR 3s, 3 CR 2s, and 4 CR 1s, added together and divided by the number of members.

[RTGoodman]

A 291 - Helpful Hit

Or, instead of doing all the math yourself, you could consult the handy d20 Encounter Calculator, found here (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm).

I'm not sure about it's accuracy, but I've never heard anyone complain about it, so I assume it's decent. CR, EL, and such are all sort of fuzzy anyway.

[Awetugiw]

Q292. How does dispelling work with effect from magical items? Is the caster level required for item creation used?

In particular, how hard is it to dispel the bonus from a bead of karma?

[Chronos]

A292: Most magic items don't have a caster level prerequisite. The caster level listed for magic items is specifically there for purposes of interaction with Dispel Magic and the like.

[monty]

Q293

How would adding the Saint template to a gestalt character work? Would it just "freeze" the side that gets the LA or both sides?

[Jasdoif]

A293 sort of

The gestalt rules don't specify how you handle LA in any case. I believe LA is generally shoved onto a single side, however.

[Ossian]

A 291 - Helpful Hit

Or, instead of doing all the math yourself, you could consult the handy d20 Encounter Calculator, found here (http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20encountercalculator.htm).

I'm not sure about it's accuracy, but I've never heard anyone complain about it, so I assume it's decent. CR, EL, and such are all sort of fuzzy anyway.

It was a nice try, really. Thank you guys but this question is going to get a thread all for itsefl. The obscure and contradictory wording and the useless intricacies of the DMG and the CR calculator have given me seizures and more nose bleeding. Why even bother using the concept of ECL or EL? Just call everything CR and be done with that.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the brave attempt at clarifying this thing for me.

O.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

It was a nice try, really. Thank you guys but this question is going to get a thread all for itsefl. The obscure and contradictory wording and the useless intricacies of the DMG and the CR calculator have given me seizures and more nose bleeding. Why even bother using the concept of ECL or EL? Just call everything CR and be done with that.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the brave attempt at clarifying this thing for me.

O.

I am not sure what your problem specifically is, but the concrete example you asked for help with, and that Tsotha-lanti provided the solution to without resorting to the EL program, I can tell you how to insert into the table on the link I provided.


They go against 1 CR 4, 2 CR 3, 3 CR2 and 4 CR 1 creatures.

The first column is for number of monsters and the second is for the CR, so your example should look something like this:
{table=head]#|CR
1|4
2|3
3|2
4|1
0|0
0|0[/table]


The group is made of 4 level 4 PCs.

The third column is for number of characters and the second is for the ECL, so your example should look something like this:
{table=head]#|CR
4|4
0|0
0|0
0|0
0|0
0|0
[/table]

After you have typed that in you press calculate and see that each party member gets 1450 xp for defeating this encounter.

{table=head]#|CR||#|CR|XP
1|4||4|4|1450
2|3||0|0|NaN
3|2||0|0|NaN
4|1||0|0|NaN
0|0||0|0|NaN
0|0||0|0|NaN
[/table]

The following information also becomes available

Encounter Level, Difficulty & Treasure
{table]Party Level:|4
Encounter Level:|9
Difficulty:|Overpowering
% of total:|5%
Treasure Value:|4053.3[/Table]

[AKA_Bait]

Q 294

What are the correct adjustments to make when a character becomes Colossal (as per the Wu Jen spell Giant Size)?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 294

The spell is poorly worded and it assumes that the caster is medium sized, but never mentions that assumption.

RAW you get the following by assuming colossal size through the spell:

Size|STR|DEX|CON|Nat AC|AC/Attack mod.
Colossal|+32|-2|+12|+12|-8

Using the normal rules for size increases in the MM you would instead get
Size|STR|DEX|CON|Nat AC|AC/Attack mod.
Medium-Colossal|+32|-4|+16|+14|-8

[kjones]

Q 295

In general, are Conjuration spells dispel-able? I'm specifically thinking of Solid Fog and Cloudkill here, but in a larger sense, what determines what can and cannot be dispelled?

[Jasdoif]

A295

As mentioned in dispel magic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dispelMagic.htm)'s description, it can't remove the effects of spells with instantaneous durations, because the magic is already gone. A number of Conjuration spells have instantaneous durations, but not all of them. Also, a spell that specifically says it can't be affected by dispel magic (such as wall of force (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfForce.htm)) can't be dispelled.

Otherwise, any spell is potentially subject to being dispelled.


Solid fog and cloudkill do not have instantaneous durations nor do they state they cannot be dispelled, so they are subject to being dispelled.

[Swooper]

Q 296

Is there any way to increase the the Con damage dealt by a Wounding weapon? If so, how can it be done?

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q 296

Is there any way to increase the the Con damage dealt by a Wounding weapon? If so, how can it be done?


A 296 No, there's no way to increase the Con dam. of a wounding weapon. You could however, get two of them and TWF away...

[SithLackey]

Q298
What is the concealment of someone on the edge of a smokestick from someone 20ft away from that side?

[SamTheCleric]

A. 298

Text for Smokestick:

Smokestick

This alchemically treated wooden stick instantly creates thick, opaque smoke when ignited. The smoke fills a 10-foot cube (treat the effect as a fog cloud spell, except that a moderate or stronger wind dissipates the smoke in 1 round). The stick is consumed after 1 round, and the smoke dissipates naturally.

Text for Fog Cloud

A bank of fog billows out from the point you designate. The fog obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target).

A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the fog in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round.

The spell does not function underwater.

So total concealment if it's more than 5' through the smoke.

[Mavian]

Q299.

If I purchase a scroll of a spell with multiple options, such as Resist Energy, do I have to purchase a specific one per energy type, or do I chose when reciting the spell off of the scroll?

I know that for potions, the creator of the potion makes that decision, but I'm not sure about scrolls.

[SamTheCleric]

A. 299

From the Scrolls page on d20srd.org


Determine Effect

A spell successfully activated from a scroll works exactly like a spell prepared and cast the normal way. Assume the scroll spell’s caster level is always the minimum level required to cast the spell for the character who scribed the scroll (usually twice the spell’s level, minus 1), unless the caster specifically desires otherwise.

Emphasis mine.

By that wording, I'd say you can choose the energy type after casting the scroll.

(Potions specifically mention that you can't make any decisions)


The character taking the potion doesn’t get to make any decisions about the effect —the caster who brewed the potion has already done so.

[Enlong]

Q. 300:
In Complete Arcane, there is a Warlock Invocation: Caster's Lament. It allows you to , once per day, use Break Enchantment as the spell. It also says that you can use Caster's Lament to counterspell another caster's spell (of 7th level or lower) as if using Greater Dispel Magic.

My question is this. Does Caster's Lament allow you to counterspell only once per day, like it does for the break enchantment version, or can you use the Counterspell variant infinitely, like with other Warlock Invocations? (This answer is really a sticking point for me on whether or not I want to use this invocation)

[Bag_of_Holding]

Q. 300:
In Complete Arcane, there is a Warlock Invocation: Caster's Lament. It allows you to , once per day, use Break Enchantment as the spell. It also says that you can use Caster's Lament to counterspell another caster's spell (of 7th level or lower) as if using Greater Dispel Magic.

My question is this. Does Caster's Lament allow you to counterspell only once per day, like it does for the break enchantment version, or can you use the Counterspell variant infinitely, like with other Warlock Invocations? (This answer is really a sticking point for me on whether or not I want to use this invocation)

A 300 Caster's Lament invocation from Complete Mage allows you to use Break Enchantment once per ongoing spell/permanent transformation/one magic item per day. So if you fail to dispel a particular effect then you cannot affect the same effect on the same subject again (unless it's recast or something) using Caster's Lament for 24 hours. In terms of counterspelling, I don't see why once-per-single-effect-per-day should apply to that aspect of the invocation.

[TheDright]

Q 296

Is there any way to increase the the Con damage dealt by a Wounding weapon? If so, how can it be done?

A 296

Depending upon the level of the game, you could also add the Marrowcrushing ability to it (+3), which also does 1 Con damage. Only useful at epic level though (+1 enh +2 Wounding +3 Marrowcrushing = +6).

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 296 Addendum


A 296

Depending upon the level of the game, you could also add the Marrowcrushing ability to it (+3), which also does 1 Con damage. Only useful at epic level though (+1 enh +2 Wounding +3 Marrowcrushing = +6).

Marrowcrushing is from BoVD (Book of Vile Shadowy Illumination).

A. 301 Implied Question

A weapon with special abilities that brings the total modifier above +5 is not automatically an Epic weapon. For a weapon to be Epic it must have a straight weapon bonus higher than +5 not including the special abilities OR a total modifier above +10 total.

Your example weapon (+1 Wounding and Marrowcrushing) would only cost 72K gp excluding special material and masterwork weapon costs and be entirely non-Epic.

[MorkaisChosen]

Q.302

For the purposes of Sudden Raystrike, what counts as a ray? Do things like Orb of Acid (ranged touch) count, or only things that actually say Ray in the area?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 302

Only spells that has the Ray under Effect in the spell header are considered rays.

[SithLackey]

Q303
Items in which body slots convert to useful forms in one polymorphs into a bear?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 303

Unless otherwise noted most forms have the same body slots. A bear is similar in form to a humanoid so it probably keeps all the same slots.

Note that armor and weapons do not automatically resize to the new form.

If you are using wildshape it is now based on alternate form instead and for druids all items worn become part of the new form and become non-functional.

[Mushroom Ninja]

Q. 304
Can you use Weapon Finesse on a monk's Unarmed Strikes?

Q. 305
If you are not a martial initiator and take martial study, and then take levels of a prestige class that lets you gain readied and known maneuvers, how do they interact? Can you ready the martial study maneuvers with the the readied maneuvers granted to you? I've been getting mixed messages from the book on this subject.

[Chronos]

A 304: An unarmed strike always counts as a light weapon when favorable, so yes, it's always a valid weapon for Weapon Finesse.

[Frosty]

Q. 306: There's a first level spell that gives +10 to your next caster level check to overcome spell resistance. I thought it was called Sure Casting but I can't find it again (I saw it like a year ago). Can anyone tell me where that spell is?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 306?

I only recall one spell that does what you ask and that is Assay Spell Resistance from Spell Compendium and I think it is a 4th level spell.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 305

Yes, but the maneuvers you gain from the prestige class can be used only once per encounter and has no recovery method as per the description of Martial Study on page 36 and page 96 under the description of prestige classes.
Note that if you have more maneuvers known than the number you can ready you have to choose which ones to ready.

[JaxGaret]

A306

It's called True Casting, from the Complete Mage.

[JaxGaret]

Q307

If you have a character who takes a level in Archmage, and selects Spell Power as their High Arcana, does the CL boost apply only to the spellcasting class that the Archmage progresses, or does it increase all of the character's spellcasting classes' CL - let us say, for example, that the character has a single level of Cleric, would the Cleric's effective casting level then be 1 or 2?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 307

The description does not limit the ability to arcane spells, but it might have been the intend.

[Demons_eye]

Q: 308

What book is the Tatoo monk in?

[monty]

Q 309

If you take a caster class and a "+1 existing class" PrC at the same time in gestalt, what happens when you go above 20th effective level?