Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #36: The Triple Dozen

[King of Nowhere]

Q457: regarding the "drown" spell from spell compendium: the spell specify that you can stabilize a victim with a heal check, but it says nothing about heal spells. would a healing spell be successful in reverting the effect of drown? or would a healed victim come back to positive hit points, but then still die in the third round? what about the unconsciousness that also immediately hits the drown victim (which is not caused by hit points loss, otherwise the victim would just be staggered)?

[ciopo]

Q458
Where is it defined that features that are X/day uses, such as the barbarian rage, are recovered on a long rest? more in general "what is the recovery method of x/day resources?"

Q459
Is long rest defined at all as such or is it only an emergent term? In relation to things other than recovering arcane spell slots

[Debatra]

A 459 "Long Rest" didn't become an actual rules term until 5e. You may see it used when talking about earlier editions just because it's a bit easier to say than "rest for eight hours", etc, but it doesn't exist as a game term.

[loky1109]

Q 455
What constitutes an epic character? Which of the following does or does not constitute an epic character?
21+ levels of a class (ie fighter 21)
21+ class levels (ie fighter 11 + barbarian 10)
21+ hit dice (ie fighter 19 + 2 RHD)
ECL 21+ (ie fighter 16 + 2 RHD + 3 LA)

21+ hit dice (ie fighter 19 + 2 RHD)

Q 456
Once you become an epic character you stop gaining BAB and start gaining epic attack bonus, which effectively prevents you from gaining additional iterative attacks...
But, if you managed to gain a BAB significantly greater than your HD before actually reaching epic levels, would you be able to gain more iterative attacks than what is normally expected?

No. 4 is maximum.

[St Fan]

A 453 clarification

I tend to agree with the outcome, but what's your reasoning or citation for ignoring the line I quoted in the Living Construct subtype?

The reasoning is that the line "Does not need to sleep, but must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells." is certainly just an omission resulting from too much brevity, whoever having written that forgetting that rest isn't necessary with divine spells. The line should be read as "Does not need to sleep, but must rest for 8 hours before preparing arcane spells."

[Doctor Despair]

Q460

When you reach level 3, you may reduce your level adjustment if you have LA+1 and you are using the buy-off rules. I am a little confused at how this process works. Do you pay the XP immediately upon reaching level 3, thereby going down to level 2 (and functionally not seeing gameplay at level 3 at that time)? Or do you pay the XP at some point while you are level 3 such that it does not reduce your class levels?

[mattie_p]

A 460. Assuming no racial hit dice and LA+1, this transaction occurs when the character attains ECL 4 (3 class levels +1 LA).

The character spends the XP, going from 6,000 to 3,000. ECL drops from 4 (3 + 1 LA) to 3 (3 class levels only). The character goes through ECL 3 twice, but never drops in levels.

[Maat Mons]

A458: I'm not aware of any universal mechanic.

What exactly does “once per day” mean? Does it mean “once per 24-hour period” or is it recharged after the character has rested for 8 hours, like spells?
It means that in any given day, the ability can be used once. So what constitutes a day? That’s where things get a little tricky and rely on the DM’s common sense.
The Sage advises using daybreak as the start of a “day,” meaning that all daily-use abilities are recharged in full each morning, regardless of exactly when they were used during the previous 24-hour period. For the vast majority of games, that’s when most abilities are recharged anyway (spells, for example), which makes it easy to use.
If your players try to abuse this flexibility—such as by adventuring through the night and then suddenly getting all their abilities back when the sun comes up—the DM should feel free to be more restrictive. It’s entirely reasonable to require a full 8 hours of rest before allowing daily-use abilities to recharge (even for those characters who don’t require sleep).

As noted earlier, spell-like abilities with daily use limits become available to the creature automatically each day. The creature doesn't need to rest, study, or prepare for them in any way. In this case, a "day" is any contiguous period of 24 hours. There is no set "recharge" time for a spell-like ability. Instead, the creature can use the ability a set number of times in any given period of 24 hours. For example, a lillend can use its darkness spell-like ability three times a day. The lillend cannot create three darkness effects at 11 PM one day, then create three more two hours later (at 1 AM the next day). Instead, the lillend can use darkness up to three times during any period of 24 consecutive hours. If she creates darkness at 11 PM on a given day, she can use the ability only twice more during the following 24 hours. Let's say she uses the power again at 1 AM the next day and again at 7 AM that same day. She has exhausted her daily limit on her darkness ability at 7 AM. The earliest she can use the ability again is 11 PM on the second day, when she can use the power only once (because she already has used the power twice during the preceding 24 hours). If she doesn't use the power at all after 7 AM the second day, the earliest that she will have three uses available again will be 7 AM on the third day.

Many magic items have a limited number of uses per day. When the last of these uses is used, that power is no longer
available for the day, but the item is still magical and might have other powers available. Unless otherwise noted in an
item’s description, any item that has daily uses regains all those uses at dawn each day.

[Zaq]

A 459 "Long Rest" didn't become an actual rules term until 5e. You may see it used when talking about earlier editions just because it's a bit easier to say than "rest for eight hours", etc, but it doesn't exist as a game term.

459 commentary

While it doesn't 100% address the specific question at hand, the sidebar "recovering power points" on pg. 63 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook gives a little bit of insight into the dev mindset regarding how per-day abilities should come back. The primary justification is simply ease of play. While this is clearly an indicator of RAI rather than anything RAW, I do believe it to be evidence that the intent of per-day abilities is to come back after a period of rest between scenes rather than making notes about the actual clock time at which each ability was used.

(Also, 4e used the "long rest" term before 5e did, but that's immaterial overall.)

[Thurbane]

Q 461

The Abyssal Specialist ACF (DotU) lets you ban a single school, and get the effects of specialization with spells of certain descriptors.

My question is, could you ban Divination (which a normal specialist Wizard cannot)? I'm guessing no, due to the wording (underlining mine), but I thought I would check anyway.

You must select one school of magic to serve as your prohibited school, and you can never cast spells from it or use spell completion and spell trigger devices connected to it, as per normal specialist rules.

Q 462

Could a specialist Wizard (or Abyssal Specialist) chose the Universal school to ban? i.e. are Universal spells considered their own school?

[KillianHawkeye]

A 462

No, "universal" is not one of the schools of magic.

Spells that do not fall into any of these schools are called universal spells.

Universal: Not a school, but a category for spells that all wizards can learn. A wizard cannot select universal as a specialty school or as a prohibited school. Only a limited number of spells fall into this category.

[Thurbane]

I was going to make a thread, but probably simpler if I just keep this all here:

Q 463 more Abyssal Specialist questions

A. Do you have to be a Drow to take the ACFs in DotU? I'm sure that was RAI, but is it RAW?

B. What happens if a spell is from a school you've banned, but has the relevant descriptor? Say you banned Enchantment: would Suggestion be a banned spell because it is Enchantment, or a specialized spell that you can cast because it is a Compulsion?

C. Can Abyssal Specialist be combined with the Domain Wizard variant from UA? I'm guessing no, because domain wizard states "A domain wizard cannot also be a specialist wizard", and AS is still a type of specialist wizard?

[Beni-Kujaku]

I was going to make a thread, but probably simpler if I just keep this all here:

Q 463 more Abyssal Specialist questions

A. Do you have to be a Drow to take the ACFs in DotU? I'm sure that was RAI, but is it RAW?

B. What happens if a spell is from a school you've banned, but has the relevant descriptor? Say you banned Enchantment: would Suggestion be a banned spell because it is Enchantment, or a specialized spell that you can cast because it is a Compulsion?

C. Can Abyssal Specialist be combined with the Domain Wizard variant from UA? I'm guessing no, because domain wizard states "A domain wizard cannot also be a specialist wizard", and AS is still a type of specialist wizard?

A 463
A. Not explicitly stated, but the section is "Drow options"and the name of the paragraph are "Drow [name of class]". Not just the name of the ACF, but the paragraph. Since the name of the paragraph tells what class can take the ACF, the fact that "drow" is stated means that only, for example, Drow Clerics can take the Master of Spiders ACF. Plus, Master of Spiders explicitly states "Spiders—the favored of Lolth and the totems of your race". This implies that your race must be drow, since spiders are not the totem of any other race (maybe driders, but driders are transformed drows, so...).
In the end, the RAW becomes inconsistent if you allow it for other races, so I'd say it is RAW that only Drows can take these ACF (that would mean that the name of the paragraph is only fluff, and that, for example, any class could take the Drow Fighter Hit-and-Run ACF, if they have proficiency with tower shield and heavy armor).

B. "Spells of the prohibited school or schools are not available to the wizard, and she can’t even cast such spells from scrolls or fire them from wands."
It doesn't matter if you're specialized in the spell or not, it is just not available for you to prepare or cast. It's not a matter of number, so being able to "prepare one additional spell" doesn't change anything.

C. "Benefit: You are considered specialized, but not in a specific school." (from Abyssal Specialist) Since Domain disallows specializing, you can't take the ACF.

[St Fan]

Q 464

Undead are normally immune to sneak attacks, although there exists some ACF or magic tricks (such as the grave strike spell or a Greater Truedeath Augment Weapon Crystal) that allow you to bypass this immunity.

However, the SRD's description of Incorporeality (in the section Special Abilities) also mentions:

Incorporeal creatures are immune to critical hits, extra damage from being favored enemies, and from sneak attacks.

This immunity is separate and independent from the one enjoyed by undead. So, if a character benefiting from the grave strike spell or the aforementioned Weapon Crystal attacks an incorporeal undead in the proper conditions to deal sneak attack damage, is the target still immune to this extra damage?

Q 465
Not directly related to the above, but that made me think about it:

A Least Augment Weapon Crystal can be attached to a masterwork weapon even if not magical, and it "provides a magical effect".

Does this means the weapon can then be considered magical, for example with its chance to affect an incorporeal creature?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Q #466

What happens when warlocks take the Precocious Apprentice feat (Complete Arcane)?

Warlocks can clearly qualify; they have an arcane spellcaster level, they can be 1st-level characters, and they can have a Charisma of 15 or greater. But none of their invocations have schools listed. Do they just get a 2nd-level spell slot they can't use?

[Troacctid]

Q 461

The Abyssal Specialist ACF (DotU) lets you ban a single school, and get the effects of specialization with spells of certain descriptors.

My question is, could you ban Divination (which a normal specialist Wizard cannot)? I'm guessing no, due to the wording (underlining mine), but I thought I would check anyway.

No.

A. Do you have to be a Drow to take the ACFs in DotU? I'm sure that was RAI, but is it RAW?

No.

B. What happens if a spell is from a school you've banned, but has the relevant descriptor? Say you banned Enchantment: would Suggestion be a banned spell because it is Enchantment, or a specialized spell that you can cast because it is a Compulsion?

You can't cast it.

Q #466

What happens when warlocks take the Precocious Apprentice feat (Complete Arcane)?

Warlocks can clearly qualify; they have an arcane spellcaster level, they can be 1st-level characters, and they can have a Charisma of 15 or greater. But none of their invocations have schools listed. Do they just get a 2nd-level spell slot they can't use?

DM discretion.

[Elves]

Q 467

What is the range of feinting?

[ciopo]

Q 468

On page 78 of the fiendish codex II, where the hellbred race is defined, on the favored class: paladin, it is stated that an hellbred paladin can leave and reenter the class without penalty.

is this a property of favored class in general? meaning that races with favored class: monk can leave and reenter? or in general those with favored class : class with restriction about reentering ( only monk and paladin to my memory)

[Khedrac]

A 468 No, if it was it wouldn't be stated here - it's a racial "ability" of the hellbred.

[AvatarVecna]

Q469

A 5th level wizard with Int 12 dons a Headband Of Intellect +2 (giving him base Int 12, total Int 14) before resting and preparing spells. When he wakes up, can he prepare 3rd level spells?

[Zaq]

Q469

A 5th level wizard with Int 12 dons a Headband Of Intellect +2 (giving him base Int 12, total Int 14) before resting and preparing spells. When he wakes up, can he prepare 3rd level spells?

A 469
Yes, that is valid.

[loky1109]

Q470
Stirge

Attach (Ex)
If a stirge hits with a touch attack, it uses its eight pincers to latch onto the opponent’s body. An attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. The stirge loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 12, but holds on with great tenacity. Stirges have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above).

An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge.

Is prey of a stirge considered grappling? Or only stirge itself?

[Troacctid]

Q470
Stirge



Is prey of a stirge considered grappling? Or only stirge itself?

Just the stirge. It's like a reverse of improved grab. The stirge afflicts itself with the grappling condition, but not its target.

[Thurbane]

Q 471

Which Sor/Wiz spell of 5th level or lower, available to a single classed Wizard 9, which deals direct damage, has the highest inbuilt damage cap?

By direct damage, I mean excluding spells that summon creatures or collapse a ceiling onto someone or similar; and by inbuilt damage cap, I mean without relying on class features, feats (Reserves of Strength etc.) or other ways to modify the spell.

Cone of Cold has a 15d6 cap. Is there higher?

[Troacctid]

Q 471

Which Sor/Wiz spell of 5th level or lower, available to a single classed Wizard 9, which deals direct damage, has the highest inbuilt damage cap?

By direct damage, I mean excluding spells that summon creatures or collapse a ceiling onto someone or similar; and by inbuilt damage cap, I mean without relying on class features, feats (Reserves of Strength etc.) or other ways to modify the spell.

Cone of Cold has a 15d6 cap. Is there higher?

Dalamar's lightning lance caps at 39d6 damage. Storm touch has no cap.

[St Fan]

Q 472

Can a wizard casting shadow evocation uses it to copy some sorcerer-only spells of the evocation school, such as ghostly tail, tail slap, tail sweep, wings of bounding, wings of flurry, or wings of swift flying?

[Venger]

A 472 Yes ten characters

You tap energy from the Plane of Shadow to cast a quasi-real, illusory version of a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell

[Thurbane]

Q 473

Would an Extended Dispel Magic suppress an magic item's properties for 2-8 rounds rounds on a successful check? I'm guessing no, since the duration line of Dispel Magic is Instantaneous, but I thought I'd check anyway.

[unseenmage]

Q474
There is a non flammable dwarf made clothing materialmafe of stone (or asbestos!) in a Dragon magazine somewhere..

Does anyone know the source of such?

[Thurbane]

Q474
There is a non flammable dwarf made clothing materialmafe of stone (or asbestos!) in a Dragon magazine somewhere..

Does anyone know the source of such?

A 474

I checked the Special Materials Index and didn't find anything. Not to say it doesn't exist, and it's possible I missed something on the list, but I thought that might be a starting point.