Simple Q&A (by RAW) X (All Systems)

[Roland St. Jude]

(This is a fairly high procedure thread; please read the entire instructions carefully before posting. Thanks.)

Ever have a simple, straight-forward rules question that you can’t figure out the answer to? Ask it here. No question is too simple. No more worrying about whether your question is “worth” starting a thread. Ask here and receive an answer. You are, of course, welcome to start a thread for your question, and if you think your question is subject to many interpretations or will start a debate, you are encouraged to start a new thread for it.

This thread will serve as a catch-all for simple, discreet questions that can be answered quickly according to the RAW (Rules As Written). This thread is for all simple RAW questions from all systems. Be sure to specify which system you're talking about.

If your question is about real world weapons and armor ask it here.
If your question is about homebrew rulings start a thread here.
If you are looking for the meaning of an acronym or abbreviation look here.

The Procedure:

Do:
Label your questions with bold Q#s.
Note what game/edition you are asking about
Label your answers with the bold Q# that you are responding to and/or quote the question.
Be sure that your answer is correct before you post it; if you are the least bit uncertain, just let it pass and get the next one.
Try to give your answers in as clear and straightforward terms as possible.
Feel free to quote or link to relevant rules in the SRD, Errata, or FAQ that supports your answer. (You may want to give your answer and then modify it to add support – otherwise someone else may answer while you’re assembling yours.)
Specify if your question is for a system other than D&D (the default for this thread).

Don’t:
Ask Homebrew rules questions here.
Ask trick questions or attempt to “stump the panel,” so to speak.
Answer a question that’s already been answered.
Offer contradictions, clarifications, exceptions, or extensions of prior answers unless, in your opinion, the answer give is plainly and completely wrong.
Post to debate the answers given.
Post to carry on other conversations whether tangentially related or wholly unrelated.

Dispute Resolution Procedure:
If you dispute someone’s answer – meaning that they got it wrong in a critical fashion – post your answer and suggest that the original questioner start a thread to discuss it further if they want it hashed out.
If someone disputes your answer, don’t respond. Just wait to see if the original questioner starts a new thread to discuss it.
If your question leads to a disputed answer, start a new thread if you’d like it discussed further.

Here are some sample questions. “Bad” questions just mean they should be asked in their own thread where you can get many answers and opinions. “Good” questions just mean that these are the types of questions that are amenable to a quick straightforward answer (probably).

Sample “Bad” Questions:
How do I play D&D? (Great question, but not for this thread.)
What is a good 10 level TWF build? (Far too broad and requires much opinion)
What +2 LA race should I take for my sorcerer build? (Again, an opinion question)
Which is better GURPS or D&D?

Sample “Good” Questions:
Q.1. D&D 3.5 Are there any Large +0 LA races?
Q.2. D&D 3.0As a sorcerer/rogue, do I get to add sneak attack damage to my attack spells?
Q.3. AD&D 2e What effect would Dispel Magic have on a golem or similar construct?
Q.4 D&D 3.5. Is there a feat that allows me to get a familiar?
Q.5. GURPS What is the main source book for GURPS?

{The first several versions of this thread seemed to run pretty efficiently, but if you have any comments about how this thread could be improved please PM me.}

Please start over with the numbering. Thanks.

[Salt_Crow]

Q 1 D&D 3.5

On ECS pg 278, a daelkyr seems to gain iterative attacks with its slam natural attack. Does anyone know if it's a mistake or not?

[Fax Celestis]

From last thread:

Q639

Is there some general rule for converting free actions from books before swift/immediate actions were adopted into swift actions (or leaving them as free)?

No, there is no official rule. However, if something says "a free action that you can only perform once per round," it basically a swift action. And if something says "a free action that you can take on someone else's turn", it's basically an immediate action.

[quick_comment]

Repost from old thread
Q2

3.5

If a spellguard of silverymoon (in PGtF) casts a selective antimagic field on himself, are his spells and items supressed? He can definitely still cast spells, but would they be supressed as soon as he is done casting them?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

((For clarity, please post the Game/System/Edition to which the question belongs))

[PId6]

Q 3 (D&D 3.5)

Where does it list how size affects ability scores?

[Curmudgeon]

A 3

You'll find the answer here.

[RTGoodman]

A 1 Partial

The official ECS errata does not address the issue, even though it makes a change to the same monster. If the creature does not have the Rapid Strike feat, then this is most likely a misprint, as natural weapons do not gain iterative attacks.

[Da Pwnzlord]

Q 4

In the 3rd edition Green Ronin book "Psycic's Handbook" it says Psycic skills are only avalible to characters who take levels in Psycic. I was wondering how this would work in conjunction with Factotum, who says all skills are class skills.

[Kosjsjach]

Q 5 [3.5]

Do Goliaths have darkvision?

Their type is monstrous humanoid, but there's nothing in their racial traits that explicitly mentions it.

<edit: ninja'd on the question number again>

[Curmudgeon]

A 4

There isn't a RAW answer for this. Green Ronin and Wizards of the Coast are separate companies, and thus there's no guiding principal for which of a conflicting pair or rules should take precedence. It's up to the DM when 3rd-party works conflict with official game rules.

[Fax Celestis]

A5 Technically, since their racial features don't specifically delineate that they don't receive all the abilities associated with their type, they do. It's not horribly gamebreaking (it's just Darkvision, after all), but it is an example of poor editing.

[Curmudgeon]

A 5 Yes.

A monstrous humanoid possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

• Darkvision out to 60 feet.

The goliath racial traits are described on page 56 of Races of Stone, and there's nothing to "note otherwise" there regarding darkvision.

[Thurbane]

Q 006

What's the CR for a 1/2 Ogre (RoD)? Obviously, it's based on it's class levels, but does it have a base CR that the levels are added to? Would it be the same as Drow, being a +2 LA race with no racial HD?

[ColdSepp]

A 5 Yes. The goliath racial traits are described on page 56 of Races of Stone, and there's nothing to "note otherwise" there regarding darkvision.

A5 Continued

It's even addressed in the FAQ.

[erikun]

Q 006

What's the CR for a 1/2 Ogre (RoD)? Obviously, it's based on it's class levels, but does it have a base CR that the levels are added to? Would it be the same as Drow, being a +2 LA race with no racial HD?

A 006 (D&D 3.5e)

Any 1/2 CR monster who has class levels has a CR equal to their class levels. A 1/2 CR Ogre is treated like a 1/2 CR Human. One lv.12 Ogre Monk would be a CR 12.

(Note: I don't have the RoD book, so I'm assuming you're saying the Orge is a CR 1/2 by default.)

Anything with a CR of 1 or more adds their class levels to their CR. In this case, it specifically says in the SRD that a Drow with NPC levels has a CR equal to class levels (a lv.12 Drow Adept would be CR 12) and a Drow with PC levels has a CR equal to class levels +1 (a lv.12 Drow Wizard would be CR 13).

[Mando Knight]

Any 1/2 CR monster who has class levels has a CR equal to their class levels. A 1/2 CR Ogre is treated like a 1/2 CR Human. One lv.12 Ogre Monk would be a CR 12.

(Note: I don't have the RoD book, so I'm assuming you're saying the Orge is a CR 1/2 by default.)

Clarification on Q 06 (D&D 3.5)
Half Ogre (like Half-Elf, Half Dragon, Half Orc...), not 1/2 CR Ogre.

[Origomar]

Q 07 v3.5

Is there a flying version of spring attack?

[PId6]

Q 07 v3.5

Is there a flying version of spring attack?

Flyby Attack

[Gralamin]

Flyby Attack

A 07 Expansion
Adroit Flyby Attack is even closer.

[Claudius Maximus]

Q 8 [D&D 3.5]

The feat Insidious Magic from Player's Guide to Faerûn says that anyone trying to reveal the effect of your spells with divinations must make a CL check against a DC of "11 + your caster level". My question is what caster level does this use? My standard, unmodified CL? My current CL? The CL of the spell they're trying to discover? What if I have many spells up, each with different CLs?

Q 9 [D&D 3.5]

Can Insidious Magic defeat True Seeing, provided the caster fails their CL check?

[Eloel]

Q10 (3.5)
Is there a flying version of Shot on the Run?
Q11 (3.5)
Is there a casting version of Spring Attack?
Q12 (3.5)
Is there a casting AND flying version of Spring Attack?

[Curmudgeon]

A 8

It's the caster level of the spell they're trying to detect.

The Weave user may check only once for each divination spell used, no matter how many of your spell effects are operating in that area.

[Curmudgeon]

A 9

Yes, provided it's not a spell you cast from the schools of evocation or transmutation.

[blazinghand]

A 10
A 12
Flyby Attack allows for a standard action, letting you make a ranged attack or cast a standard-action spell mid fly-move.

[Fitz10019]

Q 13
3.5e

If a PC fails his Will disbelief against an illusary flight of stairs, do the 'stairs' function normally for that PC?

[Myou]

A 13

No. And he disbelives the second he touches them, as their lack of physical presence proves them to be illusionary.

[Fitz10019]

A 13 rebuttal
3.5e

Isn't that simply a new save, which the character could fail again? With the spell Phantasmal Killers, an illusion, characters who fail their save take damage for the images. Note, I'm looking for RAW, not logic.

[Random832]

A 13
The spell description for phantasmal killer has special save rules.

Here's the RAW for what Myou said:

A character faced with proof that an illusion isn’t real needs no saving throw.

Anyway, for the original question you'd really have to know what spell - or at least what subschool - the spell creating the illusion of the stairs is. There is a strong argument that stairs made with shadow conjuration would support the weight even of someone who does successfully disbelieve them (and that there would therefore not be the "proof" required to bypass the save)

[Myou]

A 13 rebuttal
3.5e

Isn't that simply a new save, which the character could fail again? With the spell Phantasmal Killers, an illusion, characters who fail their save take damage for the images. Note, I'm looking for RAW, not logic.

Please, that's not what the rules say at all. I gave you the RAW answer.

"A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw."

Edit: Beaten to it.