Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #36: The Triple Dozen

[dragonsamurai77]

Q 17: When an 8 is rolled to determine the effect of Prismatic Spray, you are instructed to roll twice more, ignoring any 8s. Does this mean to reroll further 8s or just to not do anything for each 8 rolled?

[St Fan]

Q 16: When a template states that it grants a special ability or bonus that is affected by the creatures Hit Dice, and the creature advances in level, are those values re-calculated for the creature's new Hit Dice total?

A 16 Yes, any ability, whether from a template or not, that depends on hit dice is modified when the hit dice are changing. That's true from gaining levels or from losing them.

[ApologyFestival]

Q 17: Do the rules for rebuilding ability scores (Player's Handbook 2, p. 196) allow a character to rebuild their ability scores after applying racial, inherent, and other permanent ability score modifiers?

A sensible reading would be that a character should only be able to rebuild their base / rolled ability scores, before modifiers. But, this is a RAW question. There is no mention of removing the character's racial and miscellaneous ability modifiers before rebuilding. The tables also go as high as 30, which is an insanely high number for a base ability score to reach.

[Venger]

A 17 Reroll further 8s until you have two rolls from 1-7.
A 18 There is no mention of ignoring racial/template/inherent/etc boosts to scores and only using the rolled value, so you use your actual value for your ability score after all that permanent stuff, and ignore boosts from temporary stuff like equipment, spells, etc.

[madangrypally]

Q19 How does the Artificers 3rd level Infusion Metamagic Item work in terms of number of times used?

From SRD:

You temporarily apply a metamagic feat you know to a single spell contained within a spell trigger item. For the duration of this infusion, anyone who casts that spell from the item gains the benefit of that metamagic feat.

So will putting empower into a wand of magic missile only affect the first time I use a charge (if within infusion duration) or every time I cast magic missile with a charge during the Infusions duration as long as it is Magic Missile? I read it as only once but multiply places which mention blaster builds imply it is for entire duration as long as it is the same spell and im not sure if they are twisting the wording of if there is a RAW source that clarifies it.

[Gelcur]

Q20 Is there a +2 attack bonus associated with attacking someone who is climbing?

I ask because the feat Treetopper reads:

Normal: A climbing character loses his Dexterity bonus to
Armor Class while climbing, and an attacker gains a +2 bonus on
attack rolls made to hit him.

This is from Player's Guide to Faerun, p46. If this is in fact a rule, can someone point me to where the rule hides with page number or srd link. Thanks.

[Venger]

A 20 This is a rule from 3.0 which no longer exists. In 3.5, you lose your dex to ac while climbing and are unable to use shields, but attackers do not receive a +2 bonus to attack you. They also no longer receive the +2 bonus to attack you while you are using the balance skill walk while on a tightrope.

[H_H_F_F]

[b]Q 21[b]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but what book is considered the primary source on a deity's domains, favoured weapon, etcetera? That is, if they're described in multiple sources.

[Khedrac]

A 21 This isn't really a RAW question, and even then it really depends on the campaign world - i.e. the same deity can have different domains in different worlds (though usually only the non-human deities are common to "official" worlds).

That said, the usual answer seems to be "all of them" - i.e. if you can find an official source for a deity to have a given domain then it does, so a cleric can potentially have two domains neither of which are listed in the same book as the other for that deity. This partially comes from the way a lot of the generic setting expansion books (e.g. Stormwrack) work - when they add a new domain they simply list which deities have that domain rather than re-listing the deity's full domain portfolio.

I think technically RAW would exclude domains listed for the deity in a campaign-setting specific book for a different campaign setting (e.g. a FR book for Greyhawk).

[sreservoir]

A 19

Nothing in the text suggests that it should function only once. The duration is also listed as "1 round/level" with no "until discharged" (cf. spell storing item) or "see text" qualifications. The effect description says it applies for the duration of the infusion.

[Temotei]

Q 22

The healing hymn alternate class feature in Complete Champion on page 47 states in its second paragraph that you can use the ability for a minute before "retiring for the night" to heal you and your allies as if you had all rested for 24 hours. Does this healing apply immediately as long as you all start resting (in which case it should add on to the normal healing from resting), does the healing happen after the rest (but still add on to normal healing from resting), or does it happen after the rest and simply set its healing amount to 24 hours of rest, regardless of how long you rested?

[Venger]

A 22 It applies after you are done resting for the night, so as soon as you wake up. It explicitly stacks with normal hp gain from resting for the night.

[Dunsparce]

Q 23

What would be the 3.5 price for a magic item that grants a +1 Competence bonus to a single skill check with no other abilities in place.

[Venger]

A 23 100gp.

[Troacctid]

Q 23

What would be the 3.5 price for a magic item that grants a +1 Competence bonus to a single skill check with no other abilities in place.

Sounds like you're looking for the skill shard. MIC only has versions of it that grant +2 or +5, but the original printing in XPH includes a +1 option for only 10 gp.

[Venger]

Those are consumable, though. A custom item following the generic rules could be used indefinitely.

[Troacctid]

Those are consumable, though. A custom item following the generic rules could be used indefinitely.

The question asked for one that works for a single skill check. That describes a skill shard to the T. Alternatively, a wand or scroll of guidance would do it.

Besides, if you want one that gives a +1 competence bonus to ALL skill checks for a particular skill with no other abilities, there isn't any item in the game that does that. Circumstance bonus, sure. Competence bonus, no such thing. You would have to homebrew an item, which takes us out of the bounds of simple RAW (the previous answer is an opinion, not RAW), or use something more expensive, like a +5 competence bonus, which will usually run you about 2500 gp, although not all skills have such an item.

[Heavenblade]

Q 24
When a prc requirments say "Alignment: must match that of a chosen deity", does it mean it has to be the same alignment, or just be within the regular 1-step like clerics etc?

[Venger]

A 24 It must be the same as the deity's.

[Shpadoinkle]

Q 25

If I have a suit of +2 Ghost Ward armor as well as a +2 Ghost Ward shield (Magic Item Compendium page 11, basically grants you the enhancement bonus on the armor, but not the items' "mundane" AC bonus to your touch AC,) would the total bonus from these to my touch AC be +2 (they're sort-of from the same source, which don't stack) or +4 (since they're from different pieces of equipment, like how body armor and shields both increase your AC)?

[Troacctid]

Q 25

If I have a suit of +2 Ghost Ward armor as well as a +2 Ghost Ward shield (Magic Item Compendium page 11, basically grants you the enhancement bonus on the armor, but not the items' "mundane" AC bonus to your touch AC,) would the total bonus from these to my touch AC be +2 (they're sort-of from the same source, which don't stack) or +4 (since they're from different pieces of equipment, like how body armor and shields both increase your AC)?

DM discretion. It seems like an inefficient way to boost your touch AC, though, if you don't mind my injecting an opinion. Compare the crystal of screening.

[Venger]

A 25 They're both enhancement, so do not stack. You would get +2 enhancement to your touch ac.

[Shpadoinkle]

A 25 They're both enhancement, so do not stack. You would get +2 enhancement to your touch ac.

Do you have a passage that supports this interpretation? Because it seems that by that logic, you shouldn't be able to receive the AC bonus to your base AC from both magic armor and a magic shield at the same time either.

[Khedrac]

A 25 +4 They Stack (err maybe - make that DM's call)

Q 25

If I have a suit of +2 Ghost Ward armor as well as a +2 Ghost Ward shield (Magic Item Compendium page 11, basically grants you the enhancement bonus on the armor, but not the items' "mundane" AC bonus to your touch AC,) would the total bonus from these to my touch AC be +2 (they're sort-of from the same source, which don't stack) or +4 (since they're from different pieces of equipment, like how body armor and shields both increase your AC)?

The items are admittedly badly worded. The enhancement bonus for a magic piece of armor or shield only ever effects the bonus that that armour or shield provides.
What the ghost ward property does is allow that portion of the item's armor (or shield) bonus to count to one's touch AC - the enhancement bonuses themselves cannot directly affect one's AC.
(I am told there is one official item where the author made the mistake of it giving an enhancement bonus to the user's AC - this item is a special case.)

So, in your example a +2 ghost ward chain shirt provides a +6 armor bonus to regular AC and a +2 armor bonus to touch AC; similarly a +2 ghost ward light shield provides a +3 shield bonus to regular AC and a +2 shield bonus to touch AC.

Edit: Hmm, re-reading the entry this may be that one item that provides an enhancement bonus to AC - the author clearly forgot how AC bonuses actually work:

A suit of armor or shield that has this property allows you to add its enhancement bonus (but not its armor or shield bonus) to your Armor Class against touch attacks (including incorporeal touch attacks).

This actually qualifies as a rules disfunction because the enhancement bonus in question is an armor or shield bonus once applied to the item and thus is barred from application by the text of Ghost Ward!

To a fair extent this is DM's call, and a DM could rules that the bonus being applies is an enhancement bonus and thus they won't stack, but now I re-read the ability it is just as much a DM's call as allowing them to stack. RAW the items don't work!

[Yael]

Q26. If a character uses the Death Devotion feat to imbue a dagger he is holding with negative energy, then throws it, would the effect still apply? As the feat requires to be holding a melee weapon, but the wording doesn't specify a melee attack, just an attack, and the power is bestowed into the dagger.

[Doctor Despair]

Q27

Fiends of Possession can possess objects:

Spoiler: Possess Object (Su)

Show

A fiend of possession in ethereal form can possess an object on the Material Plane. The object must be at least Tiny and no larger than Huge. Magic items and attended items receive Will saving throws. Unattended nonmagical items are automatically possessed. A fiend of possession becomes part of the object it possesses, so it is no longer ethereal. The fiend is aware of what is going on around the object: It can see and hear up to 60 feet away as if using its normal senses (it does not gain blindsight). In any round in which it takes no other action (such as using a spell-like ability), it extends its senses to twice its normal range (120 feet).

The fiend is vulnerable to spells that specifically affect outsiders or creatures of the fiend's alignment (such as holy word and holy smite, as well as chaos hammer or order's wrath) and mind-affecting spells or effects, but it is unaffected by physical attacks or standard magical effects (such as fireball). Harming the object does not harm the fiend, although if the object is destroyed, the fiend is forced back into its ethereal form.

While possessing an object, a fiend of possession can use any ability it has that requires no physical action, such as using a spell-like ability or telepathy. It cannot cast spells (since it can neither speak nor move), attack physically, or perform any other physical action, until it reaches a high enough level to make the possessed object perform these tasks for it.

A Fiend of Possession takes one level of psion, taking the Nomad discipline and the Personal Space ACF:

Spoiler: Personal Space

Show

You have an extradimensional storage pocket available.

Class: Nomad.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: The bonus feat at 1st level.

Benefit: You gain an extradimensional storage space within your body. You can access it as a psi-like ability by expending your psionic focus. You may send an item to it or retrieve an item as you wish. The size of the storage space grows with your own power. At 1st level it is equivalent to a belt pouch, at 5th level it equals a sack, at 10th level it is the size of a backpack, at 15th level it is the size of a chest, and at 20th level it is the size of a Medium creature.

You cannot store anything that has extradimensional properties, such as a bag of holding , within your personal space. Any attempt will fail.

Suppose the Fiend first possesses an object, then expends their psionic focus to send that item to their extradimensional space.

The Fiend is part of the item, so they should logically be transported or teleported if the object is teleported.

However, the extradimensional space is inside the Fiend's body. The fiend's body is part of the item.

The possession ability has provisions for ejecting the fiend if the object is destroyed, but not if it is transported.

What would happen?

[Venger]

A 26 Yes.

A 27 Nothing.

[Gelcur]

Q28 Can a Tiny creature or smaller, with a reach of 0, use the charge special attack?

Since the charger needs to end its move in the space containing the enemy does the the charger not meet the charge attacks requirements.

[Venger]

A 28 Yes, but they provoke an aoo when they enter the enemy's square.

[MaienM]

Q29: Constructs are immune to "necromantic effects". Am I correct in reading this as "any effect that comes from a spell from the necromancy school" or is there some other definition of what constitutes a necromantic effect?