Simple Q&A (By the RAW) II

[Velvet Elvis]

Q 281

A creature with Outsider traits has, among other things, a BAB equal to a fighter of its HD, good saves across the board and d8 hit dice.

If such a creature gains class levels, do the class' corresponding numbers take effect or is such a creature always defaulting to their type/subtype aspects while classed? What if the class' numbers are better than those of the type/subtype?

(PS: Thanks to all sage members of this thread for prior answers. Kudos and chocolate bunnies for ya.)

[Fax Celestis]

A279Addendum In that case, the spell specifically states "half of one, half of the other".

[squishycube]

A281
Monster HD are very much like class levels. They are levels, with the HP, BAB, skills, etc. mentioned. When taking class levels, you use all values for that class. There is one exception I know of: most undead templates change all, current and future, HD to d12's. This overrides the default HD for other character levels.

Edit: We have a nice simu-thing going here Fax. I am leaving now so, you can have the rest of the questions for today :-). Maybe you know anything about my question?

[Fax Celestis]

A281 No. A creature's type never alters features gained from class levels such as HD, skills, or BAB. Undead templates alter according to Undead traits, but this is a specific exception.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Q280
I spotted something odd in the SRD and I am AFB. See below

d20 SRD - Under Water Combat

Condition          Movement  Off Balance?-4
...
None of the above  normal    Yes

   ...
   4. Creatures flailing about in the water (usually because
       they failed their Swim checks) have a hard time fighting
       effectively. An off-balance creature loses its Dexterity 
       bonus to Armor Class, and opponents gain a +2 bonus
       on attacks against it.

Is this a mistake? It seems strange that being off balance suddenly enables a land creature to move its full speed under water.

A. 280

It is not a helpful table entry. A dash, "-", would have been more appropriate.

[Fax Celestis]

Q282 Could a monk take Multiattack and reduce the penalties on his Flurry of Blows?

[Shhalahr Windrider]

A 282

No. Multiattack only reduces penalties for making strikes with secondary natural weapons, which have nothing to do with a monk's Flurry of Blows.

[Fax Celestis]

A282Aside I should note I ask questions I don't necessarily have, but know someone will eventually ask.

[asqwasqw]

Q 283

I have 5 Dex, Weapon Finesse, +6/+1 base attack, +11/+6 total attack bonus. I have a 1-H weapon(B) and a off-hand weapon(C). When I make a full attack, if I have TWF and Improved TWF, then my attack bonus will be:

B1:9
B2:4
C1:9
C2:6

Am I correct?

Thank you Jasdoif, and yeah, your right.

[Jasdoif]

A283

No. The -5 penalty on the second offhand attack is on top of all the other modifiers.

If your offhand weapon is light, it looks like:

B: +9/+4
C: +9/+4

If your offhand weapon is not light, it looks like:

B: +7/+2
C: +7/+2


NOTE: Unless you have Weapon Finesse and your weapons can be used with Weapon Finesse, you add your strength modifier on the (melee) attack rolls, not your dexterity modifier. I assumed you had a +5 Dex modifier and were using Weapon Finesse in the examples above.

[Fax Celestis]

Q284 A rukanyr is a Large aberration that deals 1d6 with its claws, 1d8 with its bite and 3d6 with its slam. What do the dice change to if it increases in size?

[Jasdoif]

A284

The table for increased damage by size conveniently matches the longer listing on improved natural attack.

Using that as the standard, a huge rukanyr would deal 1d8 with its claws, 2d6 with its bite, and 4d6 with its slam.

[RMS Oceanic]

A - That rapier question (Should be 273 instead of 271)

Weapon Focus (rapier) only applies to the weapons if question if the weapon description explicitly states it does. As the lightblade and thinblade descriptions to not state this as being the case, Wepon Focus (rapier) doesn not apply to either weapon.

This is no different from the fact that a falchion could be described as "scimitar-like," but you still need seperate Weapon Focus feats for each weapon.

Follow Up

Complete Warrior says nothing about this, but Races of the Wild says for both weapons:

Characters proficient with the elven thin/lightblade treat it as a rapier or a longsword (thinblade)/shortsword (lightblade) for any of the following feats: Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, Weapon Focus or Weapon Specialization.

Does that mean I could do it?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 273

Yes.

[Jasdoif]

Q285

If you have the Crossbow Sniper (PHB2, pp. 77-78) feat, can you use it with a repeating crossbow?

[Matthew]

A 285

I don't see why not.

[Ryuuk]

Q 286

A swordsage's discipline focus gives it Weapon Focus with every weapon of a particular Discipline. Would this also grant the swordsage proficiency with every one of those weapons? (Shadow hand for example has a few Monk weapons and the Spiked Chain as favored weapons)

[Ionari]

Q 287

How does Cloud of Knives (PH2) interact with a scout's skirmish damage? How about Improved Skirmish?

The skirmish rules (C-Adv) say that the extra damage applies to all attacks made during the scout's round, on any round in which the scout moves at least 10'. The rules do *not* say that the scout has to move 10' before the extra damage kicks into effect (though skirmish-based AC bonuses do require such prior movement). The rules for Improved Skirmish (C-Scoundrel) appear to echo this, except they require 20' rather than 10'.

Meanwhile, the Cloud of Knives description says that a knife can be released as a free action on the beginning of your round.

A. Is a knife released from a Cloud of Knives entitled to regular skirmish damage, so long as the scout moves at least 10' later in the round?

B. Is a knife released from a Cloud of Knives entitled to increased skirmish damage from the Improved Skirmish feat, so long as the scout moves at least 20' later in the round?

If possible, please state what RAW you are relying on (if any) in providing your answer.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 287

Skirmish requires prior movement. This was part of the errata.

Page 12: Skirmish (class feature) The second sentence of the skirmish class feature should read as follows (new text indicated in red): She deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet away from where she was at the start of her turn.
The extra damage applies only to attacks made after the scout has moved at least 10 feet. The skirmish ability cannot be used while mounted.
This update should be made wherever the skirmish ability description is presented (see also pages 31, 56, and 177).

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 286

No, the Swordsage class is only proficient with the weapons listed it the Weapon and Armor Proficiency entry on page 15.

[RMS Oceanic]

Q 288

The Swashbuckler can let you add your Int Modifier to damage, and the Champion of Corellion Lorithan can let you add your Dex modifier, both in addition to strength. Neither of these work on creatures immune to critical hits/sneak attack.

If I have a ghost strike weapon (see Magic Item Compendium), which allows me to critical/sneak attack undead as normal, could I add my Int/Dex modifiers to damage against them as well?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 288

When you use a Ghost Strike weapon Undeads are effectively not immune to Critical Hits and Sneak attacks, so you should be able to use those other abilities against them as normal.

[johhny-turbo]

Q289 If a vampire is immersed in running water does it do damage equal to it's total hit points or it's current hit points?

[JellyPooga]

Q290: The Spellstitched template. Is there a Level Adjustment? According to Complete Arcane, no. Does any other book suggest otherwise, or is it 'free' (apart from the XP cost for the 'Spellstitcher')?

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 289

By the wording it suggests that it is hp at the time of immersion.

It does say that it is destroyed at the end of round 3 and for that to be true we would have to rely on current HP and not max.

Similarly, immersing a vampire in running water robs it of one-third of its hit points each round until it is destroyed at the end of the third round of immersion.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

A. 290

The Spellstitched template does not have a listed LA, because the template does not change (increase) it.

Generally, if a template does not cause a change to a certain statistic, that entry is missing from the template description.

[Ryuuk]

Q 291

Technically, 5th level fighter who found a pair of Novice Shadow Hands with Dance of the Spider (3rd level manuever) would be unable to use it because he does not meet the prerequisites, correct? (These being an Initiator level of 5).

[Jasdoif]

A291

Since Dance of the Spider is a stance, which are generally considered separate from maneuvers, I have difficulty believing Shadow Hands could ever give you access.

That said, your initiator level of 2 would prevent you from using a 3rd level maneuver, yes. (I don't see there being an initiator level restriction on stances.)

[reorith]

q 292

can you take 0 on a skill check? if so what are the restrictions?

[Jasdoif]

A292

No. You can choose not to make a skill check, or to automatically fail a skill check, though.