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

[Vaern]

Q 103

Let's have a look at the battlemagic perception spell:



Am I right to think that, as written, it just doesn't work? You can't counterspell "as a free action" since free actions can only be taken on your turn, and another spellcaster isn't going to wait for you before casting his spell.

For this option to be any useful, it should allow counterspelling "as an immediate action", right?

A 103

Under normal conditions for most spells, it appears to be a useless mechanic as written.
However, it could still be useful for occasions when someone casts a spell with a casting time of 1 round or longer. They begin casting the spell on their turn and don't finish until the start of their next turn; this, you have the opportunity on your turn to interrupt them.

It may also be functional in a reverse initiative scenario. Players announce their actions in reverse order, from lowest to highest. Characters then actually perform their designated actions in the normal order, from highest to lowest. So, whoever rolls highest still goes first, but now also has the advantage of knowing what everyone else is going to be deciding what to do.
In this case, the DM might declare that an NPC will be casting a spell. Someone who acts before that NPC then has the opportunity to sense and identify the use of a spell, and thus attempt to counter it.

I'll try to remember to have a closer look at it later and see if I can find any errata or anything on it.

[St Fan]

Q 104

You create an invisible magical sensor that sends you visual information.
You can create the arcane eye at any point you can see, but it can then travel outside your line of sight without hindrance.

What does "any point you can see" exactly entails? Can a spellcaster cast an arcane eye through a scrying device or a spell such as scry location, considering the spell's range is otherwise unlimited?

[Beni-Kujaku]

A 104

Technically yes‚ but since you need to have line of effect to the space you create the arcane eye in‚ Scry Location is generally useless.

[Duke of Urrel]

Q 104

What does "any point you can see" exactly entails? Can a spellcaster cast an arcane eye through a scrying device or a spell such as scry location, considering the spell's range is otherwise unlimited?

A 104

Probably not, but ask your dungeon master.

According to the SRD's description of the Arcane Eye spell:

You can create the arcane eye at any point you can see...

However, there is another general rule:

You must have a clear line of effect to any target that you cast a spell on or to any space in which you wish to create an effect.

Moreover, there is an implied general rule that you cannot cast spells through scrying sensors. In other words, it is implied that there is generally no line of effect through scrying sensors.

• This rule can be inferred from the description of the Scrying spell (which appears here), which explicitly states that you can cast certain spells through the scrying sensor that this spell creates – albeit with only a 5% chance of success per caster level.
  
  
• This inference is strengthened by the description of the Eye of Power spell (on page 87 of the SPELL COMPENDIUM), which explicitly states that you can cast "any spell of 3rd level or lower that has a range other than personal through the eye."

These two descriptions imply that by default, you can't cast spells through scrying sensors.

So this is the question that we must answer: Does the specific rule that you can create an Arcane Eye at any point you can see negate the implied general rule that you can't cast spells through scrying sensors?

I don't think so. It's a good principle to allow a specific rule to negate a general rule, but this specific rule doesn't do this explicitly, only implicitly. If the description of the Arcane Eye spell said "You can create the arcane eye at any point you can see, even if you see it through a scrying sensor," then the general rule would be explicitly negated, but this isn't what the description says. Logically, it is clear that being able to see a point is a necessary condition for being able to create an Arcane Eye at this point. If you can't see a point, then you can't create an Arcane Eye there. But is it by itself a sufficient condition? Does being able to see a point make all other conditions irrelevant?

Again, I don't think it does. But I'm not your dungeon master, so my advice is to ask your dungeon master.

[St Fan]

Q 105

Can you designate a floor covered in caltrops as the "opponent" for your Dodge feat?

[Venger]

A 105 No. ten characters

[King of Nowhere]

Q106: how do you breathe in vacuum? I just checked, and water breathing does not help. an air bottle would have too many physical problems to be worth mentioning. also, you take damage from vacuum, how do you resist?
you are planning a trip that may involve prolonged stay in vacuum, are there simple raw spells to deal with it?

[Troacctid]

Q106: how do you breathe in vacuum? I just checked, and water breathing does not help. an air bottle would have too many physical problems to be worth mentioning. also, you take damage from vacuum, how do you resist?
you are planning a trip that may involve prolonged stay in vacuum, are there simple raw spells to deal with it?

You want a necklace of adaptation or the adapt body power.

[Dimers]

Q 107

The SRD says "If an invisible character picks up a visible object, the object remains visible. ... An invisible creature can pick up a small visible item and hide it on his person (tucked in a pocket or behind a cloak) and render it effectively invisible." If I hit an invisible creature with an arrow, does the arrow stay visible (thus pinpointing the creature's location) until the target covers it up with clothing?

[Venger]

A 106 (additional) If you don't need to be in a vacuum for more than 12 hours, a periapt of the sullen sea will also enable you to survive there as it imparts the ability to hold your breath for up to 12 hours.

A 107 No.

[Beni-Kujaku]

A 107 additional
It's not really that the arrow becomes invisible‚ but by RAW missiles are automatically destroyed when they hit their target‚ so there's no arrow left to remain visible.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Q 108
What happens when your soul is inside something that isn't a creature?

A) Let's say a druid casts Animate Fire‚ and you True Mind Switch with the resulting elemental. What happens when the druid stops concentrating? Are you dead? Do you come back to your body? Does the elemental's soul disappear and does your body die?

B) Is it any different with regular Mind Switch? What happens when the power expires?

C) Is it any different with Magic Jar?

[Troacctid]

Q 108
What happens when your soul is inside something that isn't a creature?

A) Let's say a druid casts Animate Fire‚ and you True Mind Switch with the resulting elemental. What happens when the druid stops concentrating? Are you dead? Do you come back to your body? Does the elemental's soul disappear and does your body die?

B) Is it any different with regular Mind Switch? What happens when the power expires?

C) Is it any different with Magic Jar?

The power fails, because the animated fire is immune to telepathy effects. It's also immune to necromancy, so magic jar won't work either.

More broadly, this is known as the Psionic Sandwich trick, and it traditionally uses polymorph any object. When your new body turns back into a sandwich, you're a sandwich.

[Hitoshura]

Q109: So, i'm a Hathran and i use Shapechange, becoming a Planetar, my type changes from Humanoid (Human,Native) to Outsider (Angel, Extraplanar, Good). The feat Ethran, however, requires me to be Human, and it is a requisite to becoming an Hathran. Do i lose all my class features?

[Venger]

A 109 No. ten characters

[Beni-Kujaku]

Venger, you may explain a bit more when someone is confused.

A 109 additional You do lose the feat, because feats require continuous validation of their prerequisites. However, prestige classes only require to fulfill the prereqs when you take the first level of them, unless explicitly written (or any PrC in Complete Warrior or Complete Adventurer), so losing the feat doesn't make you lose the features.

[MornShine]

Q110: What is the cost to make Black Sand from Sandstorm permanent via the Permanency spell?

[Nihilarian]

Q 111 The centaur has the ability to deal double damage with a lance on a charge, but this ability isn't listed under special attacks or special qualities. If a centaur polymorphs into a human will they keep this ability? If a human polymorphs into a centaur will they gain it?

[St Fan]

A 110

If you look at the permanency spell, you'll see the XP cost and minimum caster level is related to the target spell's level (when cast as a wizard, since most concerned spells are wizard spells).

It's 500 XP/level (0-level spells counting as 1st level).

Black sand is a 3rd-level cleric spell, so the cost for a permanency will be 1500 XP.

[St Fan]

Q 111 The centaur has the ability to deal double damage with a lance on a charge, but this ability isn't listed under special attacks or special qualities. If a centaur polymorphs into a human will they keep this ability? If a human polymorphs into a centaur will they gain it?

A 111
The exact text is: "A centaur employing a lance deals double damage when it charges, just as a rider on a mount does."

So it doesn't need to be in special attacks, since it's just a property of a rider on a mount with a lance, which a centaur count as. Hence a polymorphed one into a human will lose it (unless he starts riding a mount) and a human polymorphed as a centaur will gain it.

[St Fan]

Venger, you may explain a bit more when someone is confused.

A 109 additional You do lose the feat, because feats require continuous validation of their prerequisites. However, prestige classes only require to fulfill the prereqs when you take the first level of them, unless explicitly written (or any PrC in Complete Warrior or Complete Adventurer), so losing the feat doesn't make you lose the features.

A 109 contention

Please note that this interpretation is extremely contested, and usually only advanced by shameless min-maxers. The rules given in Complete Warrior or Complete Adventurer is an addendum/clarification to the general rules for prestige classes, and concern all prestige classes, not only those from these books.

[Venger]

A 109 correction No it's not, and no they don't. Beni-Kujaku had it right. Neither cwar nor cadv is the primary source for prestige classes, so neither has authority to modify the rules for prestige class qualification. Even if you accept the idea that they can impose disqualification rules on prcs introduced in those books (which itself isn't raw), they can't be generalized to prcs in other books since it causes some to auto-disqualify and become dysfunctional, such as dragon disciple and ur-priest. Either way, further discussion of this is probably best put in a different thread since it's definitely not simple RAW.

[Troacctid]

A 109 contention

Please note that this interpretation is extremely contested, and usually only advanced by shameless min-maxers. The rules given in Complete Warrior or Complete Adventurer is an addendum/clarification to the general rules for prestige classes, and concern all prestige classes, not only those from these books.

A 109 Additional

This addendum is correct in the general case, but incorrect in the specific case. If you lose the prerequisite for a prestige class, you lose the features, according to RAW. However, losing the prerequisite for a feat does not cause a collapsing chain of lost prerequisites. You lose the benefit of that one feat, but you still HAVE the feat, so anything else that has that feat as a prerequisite, be it prestige classes or other feats, will typically be unaffected.

For example, the reaping mauler prestige class requires the Clever Wrestling feat. Clever Wrestling requires you to be Small or Medium sized. If a reaping mauler receives an enlarge person spell and grows to Large size, she no longer gets a bonus to escape grapples from Clever Wrestling, but she retains all the features from reaping mauler. Only an effect such as psychic reformation that actually removes the feat would cause a disqualification.

A 109 correction No it's not, and no they don't. Neither cwar nor cadv is the primary source for prestige classes, so neither has authority to modify the rules for prestige class qualification. Even if you accept the idea that they can impose disqualification rules on prcs introduced in those books (which itself isn't raw), they can't be generalized to prcs in other books since it causes some to auto-disqualify and become dysfunctional, such as dragon disciple and ur-priest. Either way, further discussion of this is probably best put in a different thread since it's definitely not simple RAW.

This is incorrect, or at least unfounded. RAW does not define any one book as a primary source for prestige classes.

[St Fan]

A 109 Additional

This addendum is correct in the general case, but incorrect in the specific case. If you lose the prerequisite for a prestige class, you lose the features, according to RAW. However, losing the prerequisite for a feat does not cause a collapsing chain of lost prerequisites. You lose the benefit of that one feat, but you still HAVE the feat, so anything else that has that feat as a prerequisite, be it prestige classes or other feats, will typically be unaffected.

For example, the reaping mauler prestige class requires the Clever Wrestling feat. Clever Wrestling requires you to be Small or Medium sized. If a reaping mauler receives an enlarge person spell and grows to Large size, she no longer gets a bonus to escape grapples from Clever Wrestling, but she retains all the features from reaping mauler. Only an effect such as psychic reformation that actually removes the feat would cause a disqualification.

Ah yes, you are correct on this particular point. I had believed otherwise for a while, but I realized since then that "losing a feat" and "losing the prerequisite for a feat" are indeed two very different things.

[Jowgen]

Q 112

A character with the Spellfire Wielder feat and wearing a Ring of Feather Falling readies an action absorb an incoming spell and steps off a 10 ft ledge.

Does he absorb the Feather Fall as to gain 1 stored spell level?

[Venger]

A 112 Yes. There was an iron chef dish a while ago that built around this, using dragon shaman's feather fall to accumulate spellfire.

[remetagross]

Q113

Is there a feat, template or any other permanent means of giving a land speed to a purely aquatic PC race that has none ?

[Venger]

A 113 Yes. No feats or templates that spring to mind. (While amphibious lets terrestrial creatures gain a swim speed, it won't do the inverse despite the name.) As far as other means, being turned into something else (like single or double paoing) technically does it but I imagine this is not what you're looking for since you likely want to keep most of whatever your aquatic base form is. The simplest solution that will probably be most broadly applicable is to get grafts that give you legs or other means of terrestrial locomotion like the maug rollers and such. A permanent item of fins to feet also obviously works.

Is there an actual rule stating that a movement mode you lack is treated as a null value and can't be improved by bonuses? (like a mindless creature not being able to get +2 to int with a headband of intellect.) I can't seem to find one. If none exists, then options in this vein (such as the cerulean sandals and dread carapace soulmelds) also technically count. If this rule does exist, then nevermind these.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Is there an actual rule stating that a movement mode you lack is treated as a null value and can't be improved by bonuses? (like a mindless creature not being able to get +2 to int with a headband of intellect.) I can't seem to find one.

Considering some creatures have 0ft movement speed (and they don't just lack it), like the formian queen or the shrieker fungus, and that all the "improve all your movement speeds by Xft" don't just magically give you a flight speed or a climbing speed, I don't see why that would be different for land speed. You can't just improve a stat that doesn't exist.

[Painfool]

Q114

If I have a bite, two claws, and a tail, then make a full attack - do I make four attacks in total (so one for each claw), or do they count as a single attack?

Furthermore, can I decide which natural weapon is my "primary" in regards to which of them should enjoy the full attack bonus?

Lastly, do the two claws and a tail already allow me to pick the Multiattack feat, or do the claws count as one natural attack for this?