Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #37: 3d12+1

[LibraryOgre]

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Ever have a simple, straight-forward rules question that you can’t figure out the answer to? Ask it here. No question is too simple. No more worrying about whether your question is “worth” starting a thread. Ask here and receive an answer. You are, of course, welcome to start a thread for your question, and if you think your question is subject to many interpretations or will start a debate, you are encouraged to start a new thread for it.

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Sample “Bad” Questions:
How do I play D&D? (Great question, but not for this thread.)
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Sample “Good” Questions:
Q.1. Are there any Large +0 LA races?
Q.2. As a sorcerer/rogue, do I get to add sneak attack damage to my attack spells?
Q.3. What effect would Dispel Magic have on a golem or similar construct?
Q.4. Is there a feat that allows me to get a familiar?

Please start over with the numbering. When this one reached 50 pages, please report it so that we can start a new one. Thanks.

Previous Thread Found Here

[Jervis]

Q 1 wouldn’t this be thread number 37?

[Doctor Despair]

A 1

This is the errata to the old thread. Any answers given here that contradict answers given in the old #36 take precedence.

[Jervis]

Q 2 Are there any feats that give SLA's that scale with character level and don't have an obnoxious feat tax? I know some of them from the fearun books are two feat long chains but preferably i'd like to only take one. I need a caster level for a class that (technically) doesn't have one so i can qualify for some item creation feats and misc other thigs.

[sreservoir]

A 2 partial

• Truebond (DMG2 232) grants you a funky restricted SLA that has "caster level equals your character level", but it's tied to a funky sort-of item creation substitute system
• Aberrant Dragonmark (ECS 47) grants an SLA with CL=half character level, also has some race constraints but pretty broad availability
• Races of Faerun has a couple of race-restricted feats that grant SLAs "with a caster level equal to your character level"
• Godsight (Lost Empires of Faerun 8) is a regional feat that grants a few SLAs with CL=character level

That said, if all you need is caster level, supernatural abilities that don't explicitly specify a caster level are pretty easy to come by and

Unless otherwise noted, a supernatural ability has an effective caster level equal to the creature’s Hit Dice.

so unless we're talking something like straight human rogue entry chameleon, you probably qualify for item creation feats anyway.

[Venger]

A2a (additional) Aside form sreservoir's answers, you can also get this through any sp or su ability you get through race which doesn't otherwise specify a CL. One way I often like to do this is with silverbrow human's racial feather fall ability, for example, but many alternatives exist.

[St Fan]

Q 3

The spell mnemonic enhancer is part of the Spell Domain (Spell Compendium), meaning it's accessible to a cleric.

Since there is no precision that the spells concerned need to be arcane, when using the "Prepare" option...

A) ...a cleric can prepare any level 0-3 cleric spells he can cast normally (i.e. by praying at noon/dusk) at any time of the day, right?

B) Likewise, an archivist who transcribed the spell can prepare any level 0-3 divine spells in her prayerbook, correct?

C) In the case of a multiclassed character (let's say, a Wizard/Archivist), can she prepare a mix of divine/arcane spells with a unique casting of mnemonic enhancer? (For example, a 2nd-level divine spell and a 1st-level arcane spell.)

[Venger]

A3a Yes
A3b Yes
A3c As long as you stuck to what you could prepare normally (i.e. wizard spells in wizard slots, archivist spells in archivist slots) yes.

[Doctor Despair]

Q4a

Is there actually a requirement that paladins need to have a patron deity or ideal like clerics?

Q4b

Are there any rules governing losing the benefits of a base-class substitution level if you lose the prerequisites?

[Troacctid]

Q 2 Are there any feats that give SLA's that scale with character level and don't have an obnoxious feat tax? I know some of them from the fearun books are two feat long chains but preferably i'd like to only take one. I need a caster level for a class that (technically) doesn't have one so i can qualify for some item creation feats and misc other thigs.

A2 Additional

As far as I'm aware, the easiest feat for this is the Born Under the X Moon line of feats from Dragon #340. They are 1st level only, but have no other prerequisites. Fell Conspiracy from Exemplars of Evil is a little more powerful, but requires Knowledge (religion).

However, the fastest option is Celestial Scion from Dragon #315, which is taken at 1st level and immediately grants a flat caster level of 16 for House Naelax's modified true seeing ability. This allows item creation feats to be taken much earlier than usual.

Q4a

Is there actually a requirement that paladins need to have a patron deity or ideal like clerics?

No.

Q4b

Are there any rules governing losing the benefits of a base-class substitution level if you lose the prerequisites?

No.

[Nezkrul]

Q 5: With regards to the rules presented in the PHB for rogue sneak attack, FAQ/Rules Compendium covering the type of damage sneak is once the base attack generating is a different type (like sneak attacking with ray of frost), and the rules regarding the Ethereal Plane and the effects that can cross between the Material and Ethereal, my question is this:

Can a rogue, who is blinking from having activated a ring of blinking, still deal sneak attack damage to a Material opponent, if his attack would hit AC but missed due to blink’s misschance, IF said rogue has the Screaming property on his weapon? (+1d4 sonic damage) Thereby causing his sneak attack to be all sonic damage.

Q 5b Do Sonic attacks cross from Ethereal to Material or did I read it wrong?

-brain hurts

[Venger]

A 5 No
A 5b Still no

[Jervis]

Q 6 What feat and skills are used for crafting magical traps? Yeah I know they aren’t meant to be for player use, at least not for how people actually use them, but what feats would a NPC need to make a mag I’ll trap? Just Craft Wondrous Item or something else?

[Venger]

A 6 Yeah, just craft wondrous item and any spells involved.

[Doctor Despair]

Q7

Tripping and grappling describe how making an unarmed touch attack incurs an attack of opportunity.

The mechanics for casting a touch spell describe how that touch is considered armed with the spell, and so doesn't incur the AoO.

Improved Unarmed Strike states:

You are considered to be armed even when unarmed — that is, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity from armed opponents when you attack them while unarmed.

Does this mean that you would not incur attacks of opportunities when making any melee touch attacks?

I'm confused because Improved Grapple states in its benefit that it negates the AoO, even though it requires Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite. Do the benefits overlap, or have I read IUS wrongly?

[Troacctid]

Q7

Tripping and grappling describe how making an unarmed touch attack incurs an attack of opportunity.

The mechanics for casting a touch spell describe how that touch is considered armed with the spell, and so doesn't incur the AoO.

Improved Unarmed Strike states:



Does this mean that you would not incur attacks of opportunities when making any melee touch attacks?

I'm confused because Improved Grapple states in its benefit that it negates the AoO, even though it requires Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite. Do the benefits overlap, or have I read IUS wrongly?

Here's the relevant rule.

If you hold the charge of a touch spell, you can make a normal unarmed attack or an attack with a natural weapon at a later time. In this case, you’re considered armed only if your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. Otherwise, you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal.

Grappling or tripping would both be examples of normal unarmed attacks for this purpose.

[loky1109]

Q8
I sure Shadowcaster can take the same mistery more than once, but I can't find proof. Ask help

[Jervis]

A 8 you can

You can learn a mystery more than once. Each time you relearn a mystery, you gain another set of uses of that mystery per day.

[Jervis]

Q 9 Is there a spell, feat, or any similar rule that lets a player create a unique non-construct creature? I know Effigy + Incarnate construct can kinda do that but i’m looking for a way to make a creature in the vein of a Owlbear or something that’s obedient

[Troacctid]

Q 9 Is there a spell, feat, or any similar rule that lets a player create a unique non-construct creature? I know Effigy + Incarnate construct can kinda do that but i’m looking for a way to make a creature in the vein of a Owlbear or something that’s obedient

You might be interested in beget bogun and create lantern archon.

[loky1109]

Q10
Shadowcaster again.
Can I select second level mystery in one path more times than I select first level mystery in this path?

[King of Nowhere]

Q11: if you cast a (greater) dispel magic targeted on someone protected by spell turning, the dispel magic is bounced back like any other targeted spell, right? the only way to dispel a spell turning is to cast the area dispel and hope to get lucky - or use the more powerful disjunction.
am i right? there was some doubt at my table last time

[Doctor Despair]

Q12

When using Reincarnate, you benefit from an entirely new body.

"Since the dead creature is returning in a new body, all physical ills and afflictions are repaired."

My question is: how does this interact with templates? Do you keep the benefits of them, or lose them? If you lose them, do you lose the LA associated with them?

[Troacctid]

Q11: if you cast a (greater) dispel magic targeted on someone protected by spell turning, the dispel magic is bounced back like any other targeted spell, right? the only way to dispel a spell turning is to cast the area dispel and hope to get lucky - or use the more powerful disjunction.
am i right? there was some doubt at my table last time

There's a limit to how many spell levels it can turn, so your dispel might exhaust it anyway, and there are other ways to get around it besides the two you listed (such as using a supernatural or touch-range dispel effect), but otherwise, yes, a targeted dispel will be reflected. Spell turning is a great way to protect your buffstacks.

[Sir_Chivalry]

Q13 What is the caster level of Alternate Form (for the Force Shapechange ability of a 6th level Church Inquisitor). If a Church Inquisitor smacks a silver dragon who is in elf form, how much resistance does the silver dragon have to the attack?

Force Shapechange (Su): A church inquisitor of 6th level or higher can force a creature into its natural form. The church inquisitor must make a successful melee touch attack against the creature. If the attack is successful, the church inquisitor makes a caster level check as if casting dispel magic against the shapechanging effect. The church inquisitor’s +4 bonus on dispel checks (the Inquisition domain granted power) applies to this check. This ability undoes the effect of alter self, polymorph, shapechange, and alternate form abilities, whether exceptional, spell-like, or supernatural in nature. The affected creature cannot change its shape again for 1d6 rounds. The church inquisitor can use this ability at will.

One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. You make a dispel check (1d20 + your caster level, maximum +10) against the spell or against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the object or creature. The DC for this dispel check is 11 + the spell’s caster level. If you succeed on a particular check, that spell is dispelled; if you fail, that spell remains in effect.

[Painfool]

Q14

Do racial classes also get feats every three levels, or only if the table explicitly says so? For example, if I wanted to take the Draconic Racial Class from Races of the Dragon (p. 70/71) it is my understanding I can pick a class level and have to progress to the Draconic template on the next level up (so now I am a Lvl1 [class] with an ECL of 2). If I then decide to progress towards the half-dragon template with my next level up and now have an ECL of 3, do I get to pick a feat?

[Troacctid]

Q13 What is the caster level of Alternate Form (for the Force Shapechange ability of a 6th level Church Inquisitor). If a Church Inquisitor smacks a silver dragon who is in elf form, how much resistance does the silver dragon have to the attack?

If no caster level is specified, the caster level is equal to the creature's hit dice.

Q14

Do racial classes also get feats every three levels, or only if the table explicitly says so? For example, if I wanted to take the Draconic Racial Class from Races of the Dragon (p. 70/71) it is my understanding I can pick a class level and have to progress to the Draconic template on the next level up (so now I am a Lvl1 [class] with an ECL of 2). If I then decide to progress towards the half-dragon template with my next level up and now have an ECL of 3, do I get to pick a feat?

Feats are granted every 3 HD, not every 3rd ECL. Level adjustments, including those level adjustments contained within racial classes, do not count for this purpose.

[Promethean]

I saw a comment about a build where a person used 2 pearls of of power as the eyes in a stylized magic cane, and I have to ask are there rules for this?

Does sticking a magic item into/onto another magic item just count as "Enhancing" a previous magic item, would the value of the item being added count as the GP cost? Would this require an XP expenditure as normal?

Edit: Q15. Derp

[Jervis]

I saw a comment about a build where a person used 2 pearls of of power as the eyes in a stylized magic cane, and I have to ask are there rules for this?

Does sticking a magic item into/onto another magic item just count as "Enhancing" a previous magic item, would the value of the item being added count as the GP cost? Would this require an XP expenditure as normal?

A 15 since these items are slotless that is largely cosmetic and thus has essentially no additional cost. At most you could argue that, if the cane has some magical effects, that there would be a 50% increase in the PoP’s cost but honestly there isn’t much of a difference here.

A 10 there are no rules saying one way or the other so you should be able to take them as much as you want assuming you met the prerequisite once

[St Fan]

Q 16

Some feats (such as Precocious Apprentice) can be taken only by a first-level character. This is, however, usually mentioned in the "special" section and not the "prerequisite" section.

I have seen this fact used to argue that you can use the retraining rules to exchange at a later level a feat taken at character level 1 for any of these first-level character feat, since this aspect not being a "prerequisite" per se, it isn't concerned by this rule:

If the new feat has prerequisites, not only must your character meet them in his current state, but you must be able to show that he met at the time you chose the previous feat.

Is this actually correct by RAW?