Simple Q&A D&D 3.5 (by RAW) XXIII

[Curmudgeon]

A 91 No.

The "If You’re Grappling" rules specify only a few attack options, of which the following lists all the non-spell possibilities.

Attack Your Opponent

You can make an attack with an unarmed strike, natural weapon, or light weapon against another character you are grappling. You take a -4 penalty on such attacks.

A 92 Ask your DM.

The -20 penalty to Improved Grab lets the character act outside of the limited list specified in "If You’re Grappling". However, the "If You’re Pinning an Opponent" rules aren't inside that section of the rules, but in their own following section. As such, your DM will have to decide whether this parallel rules hierarchy makes "not considered grappling" apply to pinning as well — or not.

[TuggyNE]

A93 partial: Bow of the Wintermoon (MIC) does this, I believe, but it's a relic; Hank's Energy Bow also works for this.

There may be others, but those are the two I know of.

[hokorippoi]

Q 94

Withdraw is a full-round action, but by the PHB it can be used as a standard action if you only can do a standard.
A person who is Disabled (0 HP) can do a half move fine, but will start dying if she does a standard.
In RAW does it say anywhere if Withdraw can be done as a move in that case?

[Cybris75]

Q 95

Can I add armor enhancements (like e.g. Fearsome) to Bracers of Armor?

[Curmudgeon]

A 94 No.

Restricted Withdraw

If you are limited to taking only a standard action each round you can withdraw as a standard action. In this case, you may move up to your speed (rather than up to double your speed).

There is no move action version of Withdraw. Moving up to your speed is the most basic move action; if you can Tumble as part of that movement you can avoid attacks of opportunity while leaving threatened squares.

A 95 Yes.

Arms and Equipment Guide first created rules specific for adding non-numerical enhancements to Bracers of Armor; see page 130. Magic Item Compendium regularized the rules for armor enhancements for items in Arms (existing example: Bracers of Armor) and Body (existing example: Robe of the Archmagi) slots; see pages 233-234. Starting with an Arms or Body slot item, once you add the minimum +1 armor numerical enhancement you can add non-numerical armor special abilities.

[Cybris75]

Q 96a
Does the Ring of Force Shield grant a shield bonus to AC? The SRD just says +2 AC.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems...tm#forceShield

Q 96b
Can I enchant the Ring of Force Shield for a higher bonus?

[TuggyNE]

A96a: Yes. More specifically, it says it gives a +2 bonus to AC as a heavy shield.

A96b: Maybe. You'll need to use the custom magic item creation guidelines to do so, though.

[St Fan]

Q97
A changeling (Races of Eberron) with the Racial Emulation feat can emulate any humanoid subtype.

97a
Does that mean the changeling would suffer the disadvantages of the subtype as well as the advantages? For example, if a Ranger with the appropriate Favored Enemy targets such a changeling?

97b
The feat allows the changeling to take prestige classes, racial levels, or a racial paragon class of the subtype emulated. But what of the class features (especially from racial paragon) that are increase of normal racial abilities (which a changeling doesn’t have, even with Racial Emulation)? For example, if a racial bonus is increased, would the changeling get the full bonus, only the increase, or none at all?

[powerdemon]

Q 98
Is there a way, magical or otherwise, to change the str bonus on a composite bow after it is made?

[Urpriest]

Q 99

What is the base Spot DC to see someone who is not Hiding?

[Mando Knight]

Q 98
Is there a way, magical or otherwise, to change the str bonus on a composite bow after it is made?

A? 98

Nope (at least, not that I'm aware of). The strength bonus on a composite bow is determined when the bow is constructed.

(Though I suppose that a DM may allow someone to develop compound bows, which would theoretically allow you to change the bow's strength by swapping out the cams...)

Q 99

What is the base Spot DC to see someone who is not Hiding?

A? 99

None is given.

(Based off of the "People talking" Listen DC (0) and the bonus to Hide from being Invisible (+20, the same value as the DC 20 Spot check to generally become aware of an invisible creature), I would say that it is 0, modified by the kind of concealment and/or cover provided by other objects.)

Q 100

What happens when an intelligent undead or construct gains Barbarian levels and attempts to Rage?

[Andezzar]

A 100

They get +4 STR and all the drawbacks of Rage for 3 rounds. The lack of a CON score and immunity to mind-affecting effects removes the other benefits as well as the increased duration. At the end of the Rage the characters will not be fatigued.

[powerdemon]

Additional 98
What about the polymorph spell?

[Andezzar]

A 98 Additional

Polymorph would not work, but Polymorph any Object should work.

[powerdemon]

98 That is what I meant. Thank you.

[Phelix-Mu]

Q101

Can you plane shift or otherwise instantaneously move via magic between non-dimensional/extradimensional spaces such as portable holes, rods of security, mordenkainen's magnificent mansion, and the like. Does any form of transport work? How about planar ring gates (Planar Handbook)?

Thanks.

Q100 Follow Up

So undead can rage despite being immune to morale effects? Or is it only the bonus to Will saves that is a morale bonus? I may be misremembering some 3.0 stuff, but clarification would be appreciated.

[Curmudgeon]

A 99

The base Spot DC to see someone Large who is not hiding is 0; see Table 4–3: Difficulty Class Examples in Player's Handbook on page 64 and also here. The size modifier opposing Spot when creatures are hiding is +/- 4 per size step (see here). It's not explicitly stated that these would apply as penalties to Spot rather than bonuses to Hide when the creature is in plain sight, but I find no other guidance in the rules. After adjusting the Spot DC for size, apply the usual -1 penalty for each 10' of distance. Putting these together as an example, you would see a Medium creature at 30' if you had a Spot score of 7 or better.

A 101 No.

Demiplanes

This catch-all category covers all extradimensional spaces that function like planes but have measurable size and limited access.

Only extradimensional spaces which are stated to "function like planes" can be transited via magic like Plane Shift. Thus you could access the result of a Genesis spell with Plane Shift or the like, but there is no stipulation in the description for a Portable Hole or a Rod of Security that these spaces function like planes. Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion explicitly disclaims access via such planar transit spells:

Since the place can be entered only through its special portal, outside conditions do not affect the mansion, nor do conditions inside it pass to the plane beyond.

[Andezzar]

A 100 Follow Up

The STR and CON bonuses are unnamed bonuses. Only the save bonus is a morale bonus. Activating the Rage ability is not forbidden by being undead/a construct. The CON bonus of course is irrelevant because CON Ø +4 is still CON Ø.

[Kornaki]

Q 102
Inspired by question 101... if I cast genesis I have a 180 foot radius demiplane. If I plane shift to that demiplane, I arrive 5 to 500 miles off of my intended destination. So..... where am I?

Q 103
This is a stupid one.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planeShift.htm

From the Material Plane, you can reach any other plane, though you appear 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from your intended destination.

Does this mean that if I'm not on the material plane I can target myself perfectly? I kind of suspect in an actual book it's worded differently

[Curmudgeon]

A 102

Once your demiplane is created, you can travel to it using astral caravan, plane shift, or some other power or permanent link that you arrange for separately.

Because the power says you can travel to the demiplane using one of these effects, you can.

A 103 No.

It doesn't mean that you can arrive perfectly at your destination if starting from somewhere other than the Material Plane; it just means that if you start elsewhere there is no specification of how far off you arrive. You'll have to ask your own DM how far off they want you to to arrive for other planar starting points. Personally, I use the same off-target formula for all planes, as that makes my job as DM easier.

[Kornaki]

Q102 follow up
OK I accept that I'm on the plane, but if my plane is 5 square feet of land and the rest is lava, should I feel confident in my plane shifting abilities or is a levitate spell called for before casting?

Also, remarkably, that wording doesn't appear in the wizard version of the spell (although that's not totally relevant to the discussion)

[Sugashane]

Q. 104

If someone has a +5 buckler while using a greatsword, does that magic enhancement still get added to their AC?


Thank you for the answer Tuggyne

[TuggyNE]

A102, continued: Levitate or fire resistance is suggested, since there seems to be no guarantee where you'll end up.

A104: No. The enhancement bonus is an enhancement bonus to the shield bonus, and cannot be separated from it. This is also why +5 full plate and +5 buckler stack for a total of +19, rather than their enhancement bonuses overlapping.

[Verditude]

Q 105

If I have the Maximize and Invisible Spell metamagic feats, along with Practical Metamagic for both, can I cast a maximized invisible Fireball in a fourth-level slot?

[Raendyn]

Q 105

If I have the Maximize and Invisible Spell metamagic feats, along with Practical Metamagic for both, can I cast a maximized invisible Fireball in a fourth-level slot?

A 105 No

[Flame of Anor]

A 105 dispute

I believe you can. The text of the feat says:

When applying the chosen metamagic feat to a spontaneously cast spell, the spell uses a spell slot one level lower than normal for the applied metamagic feat, to a minimum of one level higher than a spell's normal level.

You would apply Maximize Spell first. This would make it three levels higher (sixth level), but Practical Metamagic makes it "one level lower than normal for the applied metamagic feat" so it is instead a fifth level spell.

Now you apply Invisible Spell. Now, fifth level would be "normal for the applied metamagic feat" in this case. With Practical Metamagic, you get to go "one level lower than" that, which is fourth level.

The big question mark in here is, of course, the "minimum of one level higher than a spell's normal level". But this would only prevent you from casting an Invisible Fireball as a second level spell, not the trick you want to do. The reason? Well, the "normal level" for a Fireball is third. If you apply Maximize Spell before Invisible Spell, the level of the Fireball never goes below fourth.

The important thing to remember here is that, no matter what Maximize Spell does, the minimum spell level imposed on Fireball by Practical Metamagic is always fourth!

- - - - - - - - - -

Here's another way of looking at it. Consider these three values:

X = the original, PHB level of the spell.
Y = the level of the spell right before applying Invisible Spell.
Z = the level of the spell right after applying Invisible Spell.

Here are the rules we have to follow:

• Normally for Invisible Spell, Z = Y, because there is no spell level modification.
• With Practical Metamagic, Z = Y - 1.
• Restriction: it must never be the case that Z < (X + 1).

The second point, Z = Y - 1, forbids using Practical Invisible Spell without other metamagic, because without other metamagic, X = Y. That would mean that Z = X - 1, which would mean Z < (X + 1), which must never be the case.

But if we apply Practical Maximize Spell first, then Y = X + 2. We can then apply our equation Z = Y - 1 to get Z + 1 = X + 2, which tells us Z = X + 1. Since X = 3 for Fireball, Z = 4. So you can indeed cast it as a fourth level spell.

[Raendyn]

IMO you cant decide the applying order.

Thats why youc ant say "its maxxed 1st and then invis" cause its maxed and invis at the same time.

Thats why you can't persist + extend for 48hours.

Just look at the PHB empower + max example. Both apply to the original unmodified spell. otherwise Empower would have no effect if maxed was applied 1st, and dunno about the other way arround.

[Andezzar]

I'm pretty sure there is a rule that says you can choose in which order you apply benefits. I can't find it at the moment though.

Concerning the metamagic spell slot reduction this is irrelevant though. Neither use reduces the spell slot below the normal slot +1, because 4 is 3 (original spell level)+1. Both metamagics and reductions are applied simultaneously resulting in a 4th level slot.

[Mongrel]

Q106: What action is it to activate a Bracelet of Friends? The description describes grasping a charm and speaking the name of the one it's keyed to. Since speaking is a free action (as is, I assume, simply gripping something) does this make it a free action? If so, could I grab all the charms on the bracelet at once and speak each name keyed to them in order to summon all people the charms are keyed to in one round? Would I then get my normal action allotment for the turn?

If this doesn't work, are there any other items or spells that let you summon multiple people to you?

Q107: What is the carrying capacity of a Carpet of Flying? There are three sizes, so we'll just say the biggest one (10ft. by 10ft.). Is it only four (one medium sized creature per 5ft. square)?

[danzibr]

Q108

Are the spikes given by binding Manticore Belt to your totem considered natural weapons? I ask this for the purposes of Necklace of Natural Weapons.

Q109

When you loose a "volley" of spikes using Manticore Belt, is it technically considered a volley attack? Though MoI uses the word volley, I was under the impression a volley attack only needs one attack roll, whereas with Manticore Belt you need an attack roll for each spike.