Two Quick Questions

[afroakuma]

1) Does a monk's belt confer Wis to AC to wearers who are not monks?

2) Project image specifies that spells cast originate from the image and not from the caster. Would an evil caster speaking a holy word be safe from its effects in this fashion?

[Flickerdart]

1) Does a monk's belt confer Wis to AC to wearers who are not monks?

2) Project image specifies that spells cast originate from the image and not from the caster. Would an evil caster speaking a holy word be safe from its effects in this fashion?

Yes, and, I would rule, that is an illegal action, since it's centered on you, making it a range less than Touch.

[afroakuma]

Holy word's Range entry stipulates 40 ft.

[Atelm]

Belt, Monk’s

This simple rope belt, when wrapped around a character’s waist, confers great ability in unarmed combat. The wearer’s AC and unarmed damage is treated as a monk of five levels higher. If donned by a character with the Stunning Fist feat, the belt lets her make one additional stunning attack per day. If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-level monk. This AC bonus functions just like the monk’s AC bonus.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems....htm#beltMonks

I always assumed that it just meant the AC bonus granted by what level of monk you are (i.e +1 at 5th level, +2 at 10th, etc.), and not the wisdom bonus to AC that real Monks gain. But that's just how I interpret this little piece of text.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems....htm#beltMonks

I always assumed that it just meant the AC bonus granted by what level of monk you are (i.e +1 at 5th level, +2 at 10th, etc.), and not the wisdom bonus to AC that real Monks gain. But that's just how I interpret this little piece of text.

That's almost certainly RaI. But as written, the issue is the lines:

If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-level monk. This AC bonus functions just like the monk’s AC bonus.

When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five monk levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level).

The Monk's belt refers to the Monk's AC Bonus entry. That, in turn, states that a Monk gets Wis to AC as well as the +1 bonus at every 5 levels.

Yeah, it probably wasn't meant to be that useful an item, but RAW seems clear.

[Douglas]

That's almost certainly RaI. But as written, the issue is the lines: The Monk's belt refers to the Monk's AC Bonus entry. That, in turn, states that a Monk gets Wis to AC as well as the +1 bonus at every 5 levels.

Yeah, it probably wasn't meant to be that useful an item, but RAW seems clear.

On the contrary, I think that is exactly how it is intended. 13000 gp for +1 AC and a slight unarmed damage boost is ridiculously expensive to the point of being completely useless until very high levels. Wisdom+1 to AC, on the other hand, is potentially worth it - if you have wisdom so high that the requirement to not use a shield or armor doesn't more than balance it out, and having to match full plate and a +5 heavy shield means your wisdom would typically have to be in the 30+ range.

[afroakuma]

Any other opinions on the second question?

[Dacia Brabant]

2) Project image specifies that spells cast originate from the image and not from the caster. Would an evil caster speaking a holy word be safe from its effects in this fashion?

I would say as long as you're outside its area of effect when it's cast then you should be fine, so just make sure your projected image is more than 40 feet away.

That's a pretty good trick actually, and not one to be expected since they're on completely different spell lists.

[JackMage666]

However, you generally cannot cast divine spells with an opposing descriptor. It would be possible, for example, for an evil cleric of Olidammara to cast Holy Word (since Olidammara is not in opposition to Good), but a Cleric of Nerull would be unable to achieve this (since Nerull is an Evil diety.)

[KillianHawkeye]

2) Project image specifies that spells cast originate from the image and not from the caster. Would an evil caster speaking a holy word be safe from its effects in this fashion?

First, you would have to find some way of casting it using your arcane casting, since an Evil cleric cannot cast holy word. Assuming you find a way to do that (using UMD, for instance), then casting it through your image should work only if the image is further than 40 feet from you. On the bright side, if it closer than that the worst you will get is being deafened for 1d4 rounds (as long as your HD are equal to your caster level).

[afroakuma]

Which A) they are not and B) I'd also blast myself off-plane.

I'm just picturing this character discovering holy word for the first time.

"Ahh, I finally understand what the holy word is! It's *KA-BOOM* OH GOD MY EARS AND EYES I CAN'T MOVE and where the Hell am I?"

[KillianHawkeye]

B) I'd also blast myself off-plane.

Actually not, since holy word only banishes nongood extraplanar creatures to their home plane when the caster is on his own home plane. Since you are the caster, you'd be banishing yourself from your home plane to your home plane, which is where you already are.

And this is now reminding me of when one of my players in the last D&D game I ran planar allyed a LG outsider (I forget which) and had it use dictum, when the enemies were all LE and almost everyone in the PC party was Chaotic. Yeah... that was a bad day for the PCs, lol....

EDIT: Wait, is your Caster Level actually higher than your Hit Dice? How is that possible?? Because if it's the other way around (HD > CL) then you shouldn't have any negative effects from holy word at all. Unless we are talking about a scroll or something with a fixed CL higher than your HD... ... bah, I'm confused now!

[afroakuma]

Actually not, since holy word only banishes nongood extraplanar creatures to their home plane when the caster is on his own home plane. Since you are the caster, you'd be banishing yourself from your home plane to your home plane, which is where you already are.

She's never on her home plane, when she can help it.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

EDIT: Wait, is your Caster Level actually higher than your Hit Dice? How is that possible?? Because if it's the other way around (HD > CL) then you shouldn't have any negative effects from holy word at all. Unless we are talking about a scroll or something with a fixed CL higher than your HD... ... bah, I'm confused now!

Bead of Kharma, Ioun Stone, Divine Spell Power, about 5 seperate spells...there are a lot of ways, and most of them are Cleric-only.

[KillianHawkeye]

Well then you won't have to worry about banishing yourself!

[Zherog]

However, you generally cannot cast divine spells with an opposing descriptor. It would be possible, for example, for an evil cleric of Olidammara to cast Holy Word (since Olidammara is not in opposition to Good), but a Cleric of Nerull would be unable to achieve this (since Nerull is an Evil diety.)

This is incorrect.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

An evil cleric of Olidamarra can't cast [Good] spells, because the spell opposes the cleric's alignment.

A neutral cleric of Pelor can't cast [Evil] spells, because the spell opposes the deity's alignment.

[Devils_Advocate]

Ah, but Neutral Good deities don't have Neutral clerics! Haha!

[ericgrau]

1) Does a monk's belt confer Wis to AC to wearers who are not monks?

According to the FAQ, yes, and the +1 AC from monk 5 too. However, it's also granted in the same way which means you must be unarmored to gain the benefits.

[monty]

On the contrary, I think that is exactly how it is intended. 13000 gp for +1 AC and a slight unarmed damage boost is ridiculously expensive to the point of being completely useless until very high levels. Wisdom+1 to AC, on the other hand, is potentially worth it - if you have wisdom so high that the requirement to not use a shield or armor doesn't more than balance it out, and having to match full plate and a +5 heavy shield means your wisdom would typically have to be in the 30+ range.

It is a bit more useful than that, though, since it also applies to touch AC, and doesn't have any of the penalties of wearing armor (ACP, movement, etc.). Still expensive for what it does unless your Wis is really high, but more useful than you make it out to be, I'd say.

[Chronos]

It is a bit more useful than that, though, since it also applies to touch AC, and doesn't have any of the penalties of wearing armor (ACP, movement, etc.).

So, for instance, if you have a wizard who happens to have decent wisdom, it's very useful, since he wouldn't be wearing armor anyway.

[afroakuma]

And what a coincidence, I do!

[DrizztFan24]

And Actually you could make the AC higher and gain the bonus unarmed damage from the belt with a proper UMD check . Or so RAW seems to state.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

And Actually you could make the AC higher and gain the bonus unarmed damage from the belt with a proper UMD check . Or so RAW seems to state.

*slowclap*

You sir, win the thread, and deserve the TO of the week award.

[Heliomance]

How do UMD checks on continuously active magic items work? Do you have to make a check every round, or what?

[JackMage666]

This is incorrect.



An evil cleric of Olidamarra can't cast [Good] spells, because the spell opposes the cleric's alignment.

A neutral cleric of Pelor can't cast [Evil] spells, because the spell opposes the deity's alignment.

Ah, I misread. I thought it was just the Dieties alignment that mattered, not the the Clerics.

[Person_Man]

Using the normal interpretation of a Monk's Belt (gives you your Wis to AC +1) is also an important component of many Wisdom based builds. Although on it's surface it's far weaker then every other stat (except Cha), it does quite well with some X to Y jiggering.


Sir Wisdom the SAD
Elan Paladin 4/Sanctified Mind 1/War Mind 5/Sanctified Mind 2-6

Spoiler

Show

A Paladin using the Serenity feat (Dragon Magazine, also on Crystalkeep) uses Wis instead of Cha for all of his class abilities. So now your Wis improves all of your Saves (and it effectively doubles up on your Will Save), and you can use it for Smite (bonus to hit) and Turn Undead uses (various Divine feats).

Sanctified Mind (Lords of Madness) is 6 level, full BAB PrC which provides 5/6 caster or manifester progression (player's choice, and you can explicitly change which you take each level) with the dead level being the first level of the class. Unlike most other classes, you can enter it at ECL 5. It also has some semi-useful class abilities, including Power Resistance based on your HD, which counts as Spell Resistance if your DM is using the transparency rules.

War Mind is a nifty PrC. His best class feature is Sweeping Strike, which can be abused all kinds of ways with Attack of Opportunity combos. But he also gets Wis based Psychic Warrior power progression. It's relatively fast progression, too. At ECL 15, you essentially have the same powers as a 15th level Psychic Warrior.

Intuitive Attack (Book of Exalted Deeds) which allows you to use your Wis bonus for your To-Hit bonus with simple or natural weapons.

Enhanced Elan Resilience (Complete Psionic) improves your Elan ability to spend your Power Points (based on Wis) to negate damage to 4 points per power point spent. You can also burn 1 point to get +4 to your Saves for 1 round. Though you need to be careful about this, as both are an Immediate Action, and thus can be done once per round. Alternatively or in addition, you can also get temporary hit points with the Vigor power, and/or heal with Hostile Empathic Transfer when you need to. And/or you can set up the standard Claws of the Beast + Claws of the Vampire + Expansion combo.

And Mage Slayer feats have no effect on caster levels, as the transparency rules have no effect on feats (otherwise a Psychic Warrior could take Practiced Caster and metamagic feats, which they can't). So casters have a lot to fear from you.

Buy a Monk's Belt, and you get Wis to AC (including Touch AC). Improve both AC's even higher by using the Shield and Inertial Armor powers. And since you're not wearing armor, you can buy a Ring of Evasion, just to be extra cautious.

To top it off, take a look at the Travel Devotion (Complete Champion) to get free movement every turn, so that you can make a full attack every round. (Not that you need it. You have Hustle. But it's nice to be thorough).

Put it all together, and you get a PC who has Wis based Turn Undead, Saves, To-Hit, AC, and (essentially) hit points, with full BAB, 15th level Psychic Warrior abilities, plenty of divine and psionic options, and numerous useful class abilities.

[Chronos]

It's [War Mind] relatively fast progression, too. At ECL 15, you essentially have the same powers as a 15th level Psychic Warrior.

The same level of powers, but much fewer of them known, so choose wisely.

[Fax Celestis]

How do UMD checks on continuously active magic items work? Do you have to make a check every round, or what?

You make the checks hourly.

Check

You can use this skill to read a spell or to activate a magic item. Use Magic Device lets you use a magic item as if you had the spell ability or class features of another class, as if you were a different race, or as if you were of a different alignment.

You make a Use Magic Device check each time you activate a device such as a wand. If you are using the check to emulate an alignment or some other quality in an ongoing manner, you need to make the relevant Use Magic Device check once per hour.

You must consciously choose which requirement to emulate. That is, you must know what you are trying to emulate when you make a Use Magic Device check for that purpose. The DCs for various tasks involving Use Magic Device checks are summarized on the table below.

[Chronos]

Thinking more about that Sir Wisdom the Sad build, how many skill points does Sanctified Mind get? You'll need at least 5 points that level to meet the Know(psi) req for War Mind, which might imply a dependence on Int, too.

[ericgrau]

Emulating a higher monk level to get more AC out of the belt seems questionable. The UMD rules are for the purpose of activating the item. Maybe that's ambiguous whether it means turning certain features ON/OFF only or boosting them too, but I'd err against interpreting it in the broken way. I mean, I would think it works by boosting some internal power, like when you get a +2 to strength to go from 18 to 20 strength. Not something you could trick, just like trying to pretend to have a 24 strength so you can boost it to 26. "Emulate an ability score" is another UMD option, but it still makes no sense. Otherwise every rogue would be pun pun; just emulate a high cha on a cloak of charisma, use that to boost your even UMD higher, repeat infinitely, then apply to the other 5 ability scores.

However, using the monk's belt to provide a nice boost the AC for an already unarmored character like a wizard with good wis is a perfectly legitimate way to boost AC by any measure. RAW, FAQ, probable original intent, etc.