Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #36: The Triple Dozen

[Thurbane]

Q 256

I'm a bit confused by the Dragon 318 update of the Crow-Headed Tengu and its SLAs. In OA, it has change self, ghost sound, minor image and shout, all at will.

The magazine update says SLAs shout, 1/day.

Does this mean it loses all other SLAs besides shout, or that it retains all SLAs, but shout becomes 1/day instead of at will?

Also, as a bonus question, what is the 3.5 equivalent of change self? Is it disguise self, or alter self?

[Debatra]

A 256B

Disguise Self.

[Arkhios]

Q 257

Let's assume I had a dwarf druid, with proficiency in heavy armor, and wore a stoneplate [pathfinder chronicles campaign setting (written for D&D 3.5), page 212]. As written, a dwarf doesn't give a damn about the speed adjustments of any armor they're wearing, meaning that even a stoneplate wouldn't slow them down.

Spoiler: Stoneplate description and statistics for reference

Show

Crafted by dwarven stonesmiths from alchemically strengthened plates of shale or basalt, stoneplate is heavy and unwieldy, but it offers unparalleled protection to its wearer.

Armor (Heavy)	Cost	Armor Bonus	Maximum Dex Bonus	Armor Check Penalty	Arcane Spell Failure Chance	Speed (30 ft.)	Speed (20 ft.)	Weight
Stoneplate	1,800 gp	+9	+0	–8	40%	15 ft.	10 ft.	75 lb.

Question: Would the dwarf's base land speed, with the special ability that they can move at their normal speed regardless of medium or heavy armor or medium or heavy load, still count while in wild shape? Could a dwarf druid move at their normal speed while wearing a (Wild) Stoneplate?

[YellowJohn]

Q 257

Let's assume I had a dwarf druid, with proficiency in heavy armor, and wore a stoneplate...

Could a dwarf druid move at their normal speed while wearing a (Wild) Stoneplate?

A 257

Per RAW, ANY druid could move at their normal speed while wearing a (wild) Stoneplate.

The text for Wild Shape states that

Any gear worn or carried by the druid melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional.

Thus, entering Wildshape removes all qualities of the armour, including ACP and speed penalties (as well as AC bonus and any other properties such as the Mobility enhancement etc)

Meanwhile, Wild Armour states that

The wearer of a suit of armor or a shield with this ability preserves his armor bonus (and any enhancement bonus) while in a wild shape.

The Wild property only restores the AC bonus - but the rest of the armour's properties remain nonfunctional.

Since this includes ACP, you don't even *technically* need proficiency if you plan to spend your whole life in wild shape - although Antimagic will *really* suck if you go this route 😏

[Zerryzerry]

Q 258

About the "Assume supernatural ability" feat from Savage Species.

Text:
You learn to use a single supernatural ability of another kind of creature while assuming its form through a polymorph self spell or a similar effect. [gibberish about save DC removed]
You can take this feat multiple times. You cannot apply it more than once to the same special ability in order to improve the Will save DC. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a different special ability.



To me, looks like you have to choose which ability you can use when you get this feat. If more then one creature has the same ability, you can use it with any compatible form, but you cannot use it or another when assuming a different form.
For example, if I select Breath Weapon, i can use it while assuming any dragon form (with energy type and area depending of the dragon type), but i won't be able to use it if i assume the form of a Mind Flayer (while not being able to use the abilities of the mind flayer)

The guy that wants to select this feat instead thinks that he selects the ability each time his Druid assumes a new form with Supernatural abilities choosing from the list of the supernatural abilities of that creature.
Who's right?

[Nihilarian]

Q 259
Elven Spell Lore says "Choose a single spell in your spellbook when you take this feat." Does an Archivist's Prayerbook count as a Spellbook for things like this?

[Venger]

A 258 Neither of you is right. ASA requires you pick a specific ability from a specific form. In the example you gave, you might have ASA (shadow dragon's breath weapon) so when you turned into a shadow dragon, you could use its breath weapon. It would not let you use the breath weapon of a gorgon, red dragon, etc.

Your friend's reading of the ability is also not how it works. Metamorphic transfer, a psionic feat, does this, so if you wanted to allow it you could make up a spell version for him to take.

A 259 Yes.

[Ruethgar]

Q260
There is a lycanthropy-adjacent template that for the life of me I cannot find. It was on the WotC site, but trying to search the archives just pulls up true lycans. It was a weak template as I recall, but I cannot remember the details. I’m pretty sure it prevented you from getting lycanthropy in the future because this inherited template was basically the expression of the disease. Anyone happen to have a link or know what the template was?

Edit: Thank you. Quasilycanthrope was the template I was looking for. A little more useless than I recalled, but has a niche.

[H_H_F_F]

A 260

I believe you may be talking about the Quasilycanthrope template, which you can find at the end of the page here:

http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...d/mb/20040721a

[St Fan]

Q 261

Corrupt spells (Book of Vile Darkness) and Sanctified spells (Book of Exalted Deeds) are described as being accessible for any prepared spellcaster, including wizards, who cast them as arcane spells.

However, these spells still have associated schools (for example, forbidden speech is an enchantment). So, is a specialist wizard forbidden to cast a Sanctified or Corrupt spell belonging to one of his barred schools?

[Khedrac]

A 261 Correct a banned school is a banned school.

[ApologyFestival]

Q 262
Do metamagic cost reducers -- that is, feats or abilities that allow a crafter to prepare or cast metamagic spells in a lower spell slot -- also lower the cost of creating a metamagic-enhanced magic item, such as a scroll of maximised fireball?

[Troacctid]

Q 262
Do metamagic cost reducers -- that is, feats or abilities that allow a crafter to prepare or cast metamagic spells in a lower spell slot -- also lower the cost of creating a metamagic-enhanced magic item, such as a scroll of maximised fireball?

Depends on the ability.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Q 262
Do metamagic cost reducers -- that is, feats or abilities that allow a crafter to prepare or cast metamagic spells in a lower spell slot -- also lower the cost of creating a metamagic-enhanced magic item, such as a scroll of maximised fireball?

The cost of a metamagic object is tied to the "effective spell level". Most metamagic reducers only say that you can "prepare the spell on a lower spell slot", not that you can reduce the effective spell level. So no, the cost of the metamagic item is not reduced. The same thing happens if a caster prepares a low level spell on a higher one. The level of the spell itself doesn't change depending on the level of the slot it is prepared in or cast from.

[totadileplayz]

Q 263 I have to ask. When do you qualify for having a template when taking template classes? Say you were going for the vampire template class. When would be the minimum level you could take lifedrinker?

[Troacctid]

Q 263 I have to ask. When do you qualify for having a template when taking template classes? Say you were going for the vampire template class. When would be the minimum level you could take lifedrinker?

DM discretion.

[loky1109]

Q 263 I have to ask. When do you qualify for having a template when taking template classes? Say you were going for the vampire template class. When would be the minimum level you could take lifedrinker?

I think you are vampire immediately, but you must take all vampire template class levels before you can take any else classes.

[totadileplayz]

I think you are vampire immediately, but you must take all vampire template class levels before you can take any else classes.

http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...d/sp/20030824a

As specified here, the vampire template class can be stopped mid-template to take a different class.

Characters are not required to complete all the levels of a given template class in uninterrupted succession. For example, a character who takes a level of wereboar could then take a level of fighter and a level of rogue (or any other combination of other class levels) before taking another level of wereboar. A character must still take the first level of wereboar before taking the second, just as with a normal class.

[Morof Stonehands]

Q264

If an Ordained Champion could cast arcane spells, and used his channel spell ability with one, would it be subject to arcane spell failure?

[St Fan]

Q 265

Can a wizard (or an archivist) prepare a spell directly from a scroll and skip the step "scribing the spell on her spellbook/prayerbook" first?
(That is, besides the use of anyspell or lesser anyspell...)

[Troacctid]

Q264

If an Ordained Champion could cast arcane spells, and used his channel spell ability with one, would it be subject to arcane spell failure?

No. Channel Spell is tagged with (Sp), indicating that it is a spell-like ability. Spell-like abilities have no somatic components and are therefore unaffected by arcane spell failure.

Q 265

Can a wizard (or an archivist) prepare a spell directly from a scroll and skip the step "scribing the spell on her spellbook/prayerbook" first?
(That is, besides the use of anyspell or lesser anyspell...)

No, that's what casting from the scroll is for.

[H_H_F_F]

Q 266

How does devoted tracker (CAdv) interact with advanced Paldin mounts? Can the benefits of animal comoanion be granted to a celestial warhorse, or a hypogriff? If I have a rhino as a special mount, do I take a -6 penalty to my effective druid level when making it a companion?

[Elves]

A 266
There's no statement that an advanced paladin mount would gain reduced AC benefits. In other words, you don't have to double-dip on the penalty.

[Mrark]

Q267
While casting magic jar, can I still cast spells while I am possessing another body?

If the answer is yes, assume I am possessing an animal: would I still be able to cast spells?

[Arkhios]

Q268
Does armor interfere with wings or wings with armor? If so, how?

Q269
As a Dragon Disciple, if you are using a light shield, which leaves the hand free, can you make one claw attack with the hand the shield is strapped onto?

[Vaern]

Q267
While casting magic jar, can I still cast spells while I am possessing another body?

If the answer is yes, assume I am possessing an animal: would I still be able to cast spells?

A267a
Magic jar says that you keep your class, level, and mental abilities, so you should be able to cast spells in another body.

A267b
An animal body typically doesn't have proper limbs/hands for somatic components or the ability to speak for verbal components. If you clear those hurdles (such as using still spell and silent spell to remove these components) I'm not aware of anything explicitly preventing you from casting in an animal body.

Q268
Does armor interfere with wings or wings with armor? If so, how?

Q269
As a Dragon Disciple, if you are using a light shield, which leaves the hand free, can you make one claw attack with the hand the shield is strapped onto?

A268
I don't think wings and armor interact with each other in a meaningful way by default, though you will probably need to have armor custom made to accommodate for the wings; ie, a suit of mundane armor pulled off of a regular human body won't fit. Magic armor can typically be adjusted to fit creatures of a variety of shapes and sizes, so it shouldn't be an issue.

A269
If I'm not mistaken, you can make an attack with a hand holding a buckler or a shield, but you lose the shield bonus to your armor class until your next turn.

[Thurbane]

A 268 continued

Some specific creatures mention that their ability to fly is hampered by armor: Avariels, for instance, are specifically noted not to be able to fly in heavy armor.

As mentioned, it would be reasonable for a DM to require armor to me specially made to accommodate wings, and might incur the cost modifier for nonhumanoid creatures.

[Thurbane]

Q 270

The Sylph entry in MM2 says "A sylph can cast arcane spells as a sorcerer. Caster level = sylph’s Hit Dice + 4".

Does this mean only it's CL increases by HD, or does it's effective Sorcerer level (spells known, access to higher level spells) increase?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Q271: Do SLAs count as "spellcasting" for the purposes of Craft (Alchemy)? Specifically, I want to use factotum levels to allow me to craft alchemical items, because apparently only spellcasters are capable of mixing chemicals together.

[Arkhios]

Q268
Does armor interfere with wings or wings with armor? If so, how?

Q269
As a Dragon Disciple, if you are using a light shield, which leaves the hand free, can you make one claw attack with the hand the shield is strapped onto?

A268
I don't think wings and armor interact with each other in a meaningful way by default, though you will probably need to have armor custom made to accommodate for the wings; ie, a suit of mundane armor pulled off of a regular human body won't fit. Magic armor can typically be adjusted to fit creatures of a variety of shapes and sizes, so it shouldn't be an issue.

A269
If I'm not mistaken, you can make an attack with a hand holding a buckler or a shield, but you lose the shield bonus to your armor class until your next turn.

Q272 (follow-up from A269)
Would you be able to keep shield bonus to armor class if you have Improved Shield Bash after attacking with the claw? My guess is no, because attacking with a claw is not a shield bash, and Improved Shield Bash specifically refers to shield bash, but I'd like to see some facts/confirmation to my deduction, just to be sure.