Simple Q&A D&D 3.5 (by RAW) XX

[ajfonty]

Q1004

Are most item bonuses to ability scores enhancement? I was looking through them, but it seems they'd stack with spells such as Eagle's Splendor and the like.

[Curmudgeon]

A 1004

Yes, most magic item effects that improve ability scores do so as enhancement bonuses. These are common item effects, and you can find a chart of them on Magic Item Compendium page 234. Enhancement bonuses from multiple sources overlap rather than stack; you get only the best of multiple overlapping bonuses. Non-enhancement bonuses to ability scores exist, but those are uncommon item effects and generally both more expensive and harder to come by.

[Andezzar]

A 1004

You are wrong. Both the spells and the items give an Enhancement bonus to the ability score. Bonuses of the same type do not stack.
For example look at Eagle's Splendor and a Cloak of Charisma

Swordsage'd by Curmudgeon. BTW which spells/items give another type of bonus?

[willpell]

Q1005
A scenario involving attacks of opportunity that I'm not clear on. An attack of opportunity usually interrupts the triggering activity, right? So say that I'm in square A1 (think of a chessboard), my buddy is in square A2, and an enemy is in square B3, threatening square A2. If I move through my buddy to get to square A3 and the enemy hits me with an AoO, do I make it through to square A3? I can't stop in an occupied square, and I would never have triggered the AoO if I hadn't left my original square.

Q1005b
Same scenario as before, only now my buddy is in square A3 and I want to move past him to square A4. When I leave square A2 and get hit by an attack of opportunity, am I prevented from entering square A3?

Q1006
Say I have 10 hit points and have taken 7 damage. I manifest Vigor to gain 5 temporary hit points. My buddy then heals me for 6, leaving me at a permanent HP total of 9. Do I still have the Vigor THP on top of that, or were they overwritten by the healing?

[Khedrac]

A1005
Most Attacks of Opportunity do not prevent the triggering action - unless they leave the subject unable to complete it. Certain specific action descriptions (e.g. attempting to grapple without appropriate feats) specifically state that the AoO negates the action - movement is not one of them. Certain class abilities may be able to override this.
Now, on your move through example an AoO for moving would only prevent you completing your move if it was able to immobilise you (e.g. a trip or certain class abilities) at which point it becomes DM's call - the obvious two being either that you fall out of the occupied square in the most sensible direction or you and your buddy are squeezing until someone gets to move.
An important point to note on movement AoOs is that as the movement is a single action you only provoke once per opponent no matter how many threatened squares you leave - walking in a circle round someone with combat reflexes provokes once and once only.

A1005b
See above - not unless it was a "special" AoO.

A1006
Healing and Temporary Hit Points do not interact - so yes, you still have the THP on top of your current hp total.

[Andezzar]

Q 1007

Is it possible to add other +X special abilities to a Holy Avenger? What's the cost?

Q 1008

Is there a rule how specific magic items like the holy avenger interact with the Morphing special ability?

[willpell]

Q1009
I have not read all of Complete Psionic, but I was glancing through the feats in it and I saw that in the Skin of the Construct feat, it says "This construct, once absorbed into your body, does not count against your limit of astral constructs crafted (in most cases you can have only one astral construct active at a time)." I see nothing in the EPH itself which indicates that the parenthetically quoted clause actually existed prior to the publication of this feat. As far as I know, astral constructs, like summoned monsters or nature's allies, can exist in whatever numbers the character wants to whistle them up. If a rule limiting your construct supply does exist in the EPH, can someone give me a page reference?

Q1010
If you use the Postpone Enervation feat and then you spend all your Power Points within the 3-round delay, do you suffer any added effect when Enervation hits because you aren't able to fulfill its demand? Would they come out of your PP for the next day or something?

[Curmudgeon]

A 1007 Yes.

This was covered in A 1001.

A 1008

There are no rules to deal with this interaction. Your individual DM will determine if the combination is possible in their game, and if so what the consequences are.

[Andezzar]

Q 1007 addendum

So what happens if you want to add for example Shock to the Holy Avenger? Would you have to pay:
1.) 18000 gp (+3 Enhancement) +2000 gp (Cold Iron Tax) -10000 gp (enchantment cost of a +2 cold iron weapon) = 10000 gp
2.) 18000 gp (+3 Enhancement) +2000 gp (Cold Iron Tax)- 120015 gp (Cost of Holy Avenger minus masterwork cold iron longsword) = -100015 gp

I know the only option that makes sense is number one but is RAW also clear on that?

Q 1011

Can a Holy Avenger receive additional special abilities worth +8 Enhancement bonuses or only +5?

If a +8 is possible, does a paladin receive the benefits of all of them or only +5?

[Urpriest]

Q1009
I have not read all of Complete Psionic, but I was glancing through the feats in it and I saw that in the Skin of the Construct feat, it says "This construct, once absorbed into your body, does not count against your limit of astral constructs crafted (in most cases you can have only one astral construct active at a time)." I see nothing in the EPH itself which indicates that the parenthetically quoted clause actually existed prior to the publication of this feat. As far as I know, astral constructs, like summoned monsters or nature's allies, can exist in whatever numbers the character wants to whistle them up. If a rule limiting your construct supply does exist in the EPH, can someone give me a page reference?

A1009

No such rule exists in the EPH. Astral Construct was reprinted in Complete Psionic, and the new description of the power includes that restriction.

[willpell]

A1009
No such rule exists in the EPH. Astral Construct was reprinted in Complete Psionic, and the new description of the power includes that restriction.

So they just nerfed the power for no particular reason? Or did it gain some extra utility as a result of some other rule they also changed in the same book? (If the answer is long we should maybe make a new thread.)

Q1012
Does the feat Empower Power power powers that....er, hang on. Does this particular metapsi affect the following in the ways that appear to be indicated, or am I misreading or unaware of some rule that indicates otherwise?

1. Empowered Matter Agitation deals 1d4+1d2 damage on the second round of concentration; on the third round it deals 1d6+1d3 damage to a direct target, or 1d4+1d2 damage to anyone touching a metal object which is targeted.

2. Empowered Hammer enables each of your melee touch attacks to deal 1d8+1d4 damage for however many turns the Hammer power lasts.

While we're discussing that one:
Q1013
If you have extra standard actions, can you make more than one melee touch attack per round with the Hammer power (or any other power that turns your touch into an attack but isn't directly an attack power, if Hammer is not the only one that works this way)?

[Curmudgeon]

A 1007 addendum

The fact that the rules allow the possibility doesn't mean that the rules also contain the formula for doing so. Talk to your individual DM about the item cost breakdown. The formulas you propose do not reflect the capabilities of the item: a Holy Avenger functions as a +5 longsword with a 1/round spell effect; it just has use limitations. Your DM will need to determine a formula, likely ranging between +5 cost enhancement and +8 cost enhancement, plus fixed costs. (Or the DM could say they aren't going to produce a formula and thus only fixed cost enhancements can be added in their game.)

Also note that the formula one DM uses may be disallowed if you try to use such an altered Holy Avenger in a different game.

A 1011 Yes.

All of these improvements are allowed by the rules, and the cost will depend on what formula your DM provides. It will necessarily involve Epic pricing, because any such improvement will push the item price above the 200,000 gp threshold even if the enhancement cost basis does not exceed +10. Increasing numerical enhancements will apply generally if the Paladin's capabilities are included (i.e., the existing item formula is at least +5 enhancement cost).

A 1013 Yes.

If you have extra standard actions you can use them for standard action attacks, unless there's a limitation elsewhere. Hammer does not include such a limitation.

[Urpriest]

So they just nerfed the power for no particular reason? Or did it gain some extra utility as a result of some other rule they also changed in the same book? (If the answer is long we should maybe make a new thread.)

Not terribly long. Legend says the guy who wrote the book was troubled by a Wilder in his campaign who Wild Surged constructs to trivialize encounters. Several other powers are nerfed in the book as well, as a sort of stealth errata.

[willpell]

Q1014
Does the Synad race in Complete Psionic have a Level Adjustment that the text forgot to mention? It seems a bit strong otherwise, with 3 bonus power points and a built-in ability to manifest a power as a swift action in addition to their other actions (not manifesting another power, but still, full attacking plus tossing off an Energy Ray or something seems pretty strong for no LA). It's once per day, so it might not be utterly broken, but it still seems rather good.

Q1015
If an Ardent takes a power on one of his primary mantles which is also present on a secondary mantle's list, and later switches the priority of those two mantles, does the power count toward his number known for both lists or only the one that switched? For example, Animal Affinity is on both Natural World and Physical Power, so if I started as a Life/Natural World ardent, took Physical Power as my third mantle at level 2 (and learned a power from it), took Animal Affinity as a Natural World power at level 3 (it's not legal to learn it on Physical Power here, since that would give me more powers in a secondary mantle than in my primaries), and then much later on switched Physical Power to primary and Natural World to secondary, having learned the same number of powers from both except for having one more on Natural World, can I "switch" Animal Affinity to be under Physical Power? Or does it count on being both lists?

[Andezzar]

Q 1016

If you get a spellcaster to make magic items for you, can he freely put alignment, race and/or class restrictions on the item at your request for a cost reduction?

[Lateral]

A 1014

No. Synads are good, but not that good- for a Psion, they're about as good as a human.

Q 1017

Are there any creatures that are immune to wind effects?

[Mindstab_Thrull]

Q1018

A creature with a fly speed has sufficient levels of monk to gain a speed boost due to levels (say, 9 levels for +30'). Does this increase apply to land speed only, fly speed only, or any?

[Curmudgeon]

A 1016 Ask your DM.

The Dungeon Master's Guide sidebar on page 282, "Behind the Curtain: Magic Item Gold Piece Values", discusses many factors to be considered when determining magic item costs. Use restrictions are fairly low on that list. The main consideration is comparable existing items. This means that use restrictions may not result in any decrease in price, or possibly even a price increase, depending on the prices of other items. Ultimately your individual DM will be the one to determine the price of any custom magic items ─ or even if such things are possible to be obtained in their world. There is no RAW answer other than it's up to your DM, and a custom item allowed by one DM may be ruled out of existence in another DM's campaign.

A 1018

Fast Movement is an enhancement bonus to a Monk's speed, so it applies to all movement forms for which the character has a listed speed.

[killem2]

Q 1017

Are there any creatures that are immune to wind effects?

A 1017:

The only reference to immunity to wind effects i can find, is the spell Stormrage.


I thought for sure an air elemental would be, but it makes no mention of it.




Q 1018: Improved Darkvision, do I seriously have to wait until level 21 to get double range on dark vision?

[Lateral]

A 1018 Yes, if you're trying to get it through the epic feat. Guess what? Epic feats are dumb.

[Curmudgeon]

A 1018 additional info

There's a small workaround which can apply here. A Dragon of at least old age can choose Epic feats regardless of class levels. A Kobold with the Dragonwrought feat becomes a Dragon. So a low-level Dragonwrought Kobold of sufficient age is eligible for Improved Darkvision [Epic].

[Larkas]

Q1019: Improved Trip says that "If you trip an opponent in melee combat, you immediately get a melee attack against that opponent as if you hadn’t used your attack for the trip attempt." Does that mean that, by using this feat and considering you didn't move this turn, you can perform a full attack against the tripped opponent?

[TypoNinja]

A 1017 Addition

There is a prestige class in Stormwrack (I think) that makes you immune to non-magical weather problems. It's been absolutely ages since I've looked at that book though so I can't remember if it was only while you were aboard ship or not.

[willpell]

Q1019: Improved Trip says that "If you trip an opponent in melee combat, you immediately get a melee attack against that opponent as if you hadn’t used your attack for the trip attempt." Does that mean that, by using this feat and considering you didn't move this turn, you can perform a full attack against the tripped opponent?

A1019
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the decision of whether to attack full is made first, and then you decide what to do with those attacks, including using Improved Trip. They even given an example of Tordek having three attacks, using the first to trip and missing, using the second to trip and get a free attack on the now-prone target, and then using the third to attack the prone target again. All this would be within one full attack which included two attempts at an Improved Trip.

[Andezzar]

The Choice of Standard Attack or full attack is made after the first (standard) attack:

Deciding between an Attack or a Full Attack

After your first attack, you can decide to take a move action instead of making your remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out. If you’ve already taken a 5-foot step, you can’t use your move action to move any distance, but you could still use a different kind of move action.

So in case of Improved Trip, since you get an attack as if you didn't trip before, I'd say you get a Full attack, unless you moved that round.

[MrLemon]

A1019 Addendum

You can try to trip an opponent as an unarmed melee attack

I think what was failed to be seen here, is that Tripping is a melee attack. Not a standard or full action in and of itself.
As such, it can be made as part of a full attack (and maybe even as part of an AoO, not sure about that though). You can actually trip as many people as you have attacks, albeit at the lower BABs.

Now with improved trip, you explicitly get a melee attack. I.e. you get the melee attack you used to trip in the first place "back".

Edit: quote inserted

[Andezzar]

Q 1020

If an Archivist casts an arcane spell form his prayerbook, does he suffer from arcane spell failure while wearing armor?

[Curmudgeon]

A 1020

That's not possible.

Spellcasting: An archivist casts divine spells, drawn primarily from the cleric spell list although he can eventually uncover, learn, and prepare noncleric divine spells.

If it's arcane, an Archivist can't cast it.

[Duke of URL]

A 1019, Additional

An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack

You can use any special attack that normally requires a melee attack, such as a trip attempt, as an attack of opportunity. (Of course, that can provoke its own attack of opportunity...)

[Aeryr]

Q 1021
Can you benefit from travel devotion while mounted?