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

[Andezzar]

Q 559

Can you combine the maneuver Time Stands Still with a Charge if you have the Pounce ability? Would other charging bonuses apply to the second full round action as well?

[Curmudgeon]

A 559 No.

A full attack action and a charge are different full-round actions. The fact that pounce allows a full attack action at the end of a charge is irrelevant because Time Stands Still does not permit a charge.

[Menteith]

Q560

Does a 3rd level Swiftblade cast Haste as a Free Action or a Swift Action? The line said, "You can cast haste as a free action once per round, as if augmented by the Quicken Spell metamagic feat", which is nonsensical.

[Andezzar]

A 560

It is not nonsensical as according to the PHB Quicken Spell reduces the casting time to a Free action but limits the number of quickened spells to one per round. Swift and Immediate Actions were invented later. Quicken Spell was subsequently changed.

[Menteith]

A 560

It is not nonsensical as according to the PHB Quicken Spell reduces the casting time to a Free action but limits the number of quickened spells to one per round. Swift and Immediate Actions were invented later. Quicken Spell was subsequently changed.

So...is it a Swift action, Immediate action, or Free Action to cast Haste?

[Andezzar]

Quicken spell uses a Swift Action according to the SRD.

[willpell]

Q561

From the SRD:

Your Hide check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone who might see you. You can move up to one-half your normal speed and hide at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than one-half but less than your normal speed, you take a -5 penalty.

Does this mean that if you move your full normal speed, you accrue a penalty greater than -5? They use Lidda as an example, saying that she takes a penalty for moving more than 10 feet while hiding, but does she have to restrict herself to 15 even if she takes the -5 to Hide, or is she free to move 20 with that penalty?

[Curmudgeon]

A 561 Ask your DM.

The rules don't specify the penalty for moving at your full speed. Some DMs will continue to use the -5 penalty for moving at more than half speed but less than your normal speed, and some will impose a -10 penalty.

[Andezzar]

Q 562

Is there a longer list of Faerunian names than the one in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Book?

[willpell]

Q563
If a character is trying to sneak around in combat-time, does he make one Hide check and one Move Silently check during every move action he takes, of which there are potentially two each time he takes his turn? So if there's a fight in the forest and one guy is just trying to sneak through, he moves 15 feet, makes a check with no penalty, and moves another 15 and makes another such check? Or does he take the penalty for moving 30 feet because that's his total movement for the round? Also, do both Hide and Move Silently apply in this situation? In the scene, I opted to use just Move Silently because the character was a fair distance away and behind some trees, so any Hide check would have received substantial circumstance bonuses. But I was unclear whether MS was applicable at all since the character isn't sneaking up behind someone but directly approaching them from the front while staying out of sight. It'd be nice if these skills were clarified a bit more, perhaps explaining that someone you've Listened to but not Spotted has total concealment or something like that.

Q564
If I take a 5-foot step to come adjacent to a character, can I then use a combat maneuver which involves entering their space, such as Bull Rush or Grapple? The 5-foot step can't be used if you've already moved in the round, and it disallows you from perfoming a move action after it, but I don't know whether it is capable of "looking ahead" and prohibiting any and all options whereby you might move.

[Curmudgeon]

A 563

There is no "sneaking up behind someone" in D&D, because D&D has no facing. The minimum time unit of the game (the 6 second round) is long enough for combat-trained characters to check around them in all directions; they don't have any particular front or back facing that holds for that full duration.

A Move Silently check is included in your movement or other activity, so it is part of another action.

Note that the check is for "your movement", not "your move action". Any uninterrupted movement requires only a single check. That could include moving 3x your speed (a double move plus extra movement as a swift action via Travel Devotion), or up to 5x your speed using Run (a full-round action). However, if you move, do something (maybe drop an item, or cast a swift action spell), and move again, each movement requires its own check. The same applies to the Hide skill, done as part of movement: it's one check per uninterrupted movement in the round.

A 564

You may only move if the specific maneuver permits it.

Step 4: Maintain Grapple. To maintain the grapple for later rounds, you must move into the target’s space. (This movement is free and doesn’t count as part of your movement in the round.)

You may move to maintain a grapple after taking a 5' step because that grapple movement doesn't count and thus is specifically permitted. You may not make a bull rush after taking a 5' step because that movement doesn't have any such exception.

[DeusMortuusEst]

Q565 When a Sublime Chord is choosing spells known, can it pick a spell of a lower level, eg. is it possible when choosing lvl 4 spells to pick Mage Armor.

[willpell]

A 563
Note that the check is for "your movement", not "your move action". Any uninterrupted movement requires only a single check. However, if you move, do something (maybe drop an item, or cast a swift action spell), and move again, each movement requires its own check. The same applies to the Hide skill, done as part of movement: it's one check per uninterrupted movement in the round.

So the character who hustles for the round while moving at half speed is moving 30 feet and takes the -5? What if he moves his normal speed for two actions and thus crosses 60 feet; the text specifies no penalty for that movement, since it's not a charge or a run, just a brisk jog. Say the character wants to move 30 feet but not take the penalty; could he move 15 feet with an unmodified check, take a free action to fiddle with his shoelaces or something, and then move another 15 feet with another unmodified check?

A 564
You may only move if the specific maneuver permits it. You may move to maintain a grapple after taking a 5' step because that grapple movement doesn't count and thus is specifically permitted. You may not make a bull rush after taking a 5' step because that movement doesn't have any such exception.

Okay, well, Bull Rushing is still only a standard action, so I guess he can move the same five feet as a move action instead of a 5FS, but he takes an attack of opportunity as a result, correct?

Q565
Can a character with Combat Reflexes and a sufficient DEXMOD make multiple attacks of opportunity against a single opponent while they move through several threatened squares?

Q566
When you're bull rushing someone and pushing them across the battlefield, any attacks of opportunity the two of you provoke while moving have a 25% chance of targeting the wrong one of you. The text specifically says to make an attack roll first and then roll to see whether the attack "goes astray". But what if your attack options are different for those characters, such that an attack option against one is illegal against the other? (I'm being intentionally broad there; one possible example would be if one of the characters was incorporeal and the other somehow capable of bull rushing them despite this.)

Q567
On a completely unrelated subject, do 3.5 stats exist for either of the following creatures?
* The Urd, a flying kobold.
* The Dvati, a 4E creature which is a single mind occupying two humanoid bodies.

[Medic!]

A565
You can only take one attack of opportunity per provocation. Moving out of a threatened square DOES provoke, but it's only one provocation for the entire movement. i.e. If a kobold runs past your PC you would get an attack of opportunity once for his movement through your threatened area, but not 3 attacks of opportunity for him leaving a threatened square 3 times.

[willpell]

A565
You can only take one attack of opportunity per provocation. Moving out of a threatened square DOES provoke, but it's only one provocation for the entire movement. i.e. If a kobold runs past your PC you would get an attack of opportunity once for his movement through your threatened area, but not 3 attacks of opportunity for him leaving a threatened square 3 times.

Then explain the Half-Ogre with the spiked chain...he AoO's Roy twice each time Roy charged him (or at least he said "AoO" twice, and if this is a case of someone calling an attack they're not actually making, it's one of only two such incidents, the other being a deliberate joke but this one isn't called out as such).

I was pretty sure that each threatened square you leave is a new provocation.

[DeusMortuusEst]

Q568 When a Sublime Chord is choosing spells known, can it pick a spell of a lower level, eg. is it possible when choosing lvl 4 spells to pick Mage Armor.

Reposting with new number since Willpell missed that I posted Q565 already.

[willpell]

Q568 When a Sublime Chord is choosing spells known, can it pick a spell of a lower level, eg. is it possible when choosing lvl 4 spells to pick Mage Armor.

Reposting with new number since Willpell missed that I posted Q565 already.

You must have posted while I was posting.

[Medic!]

Combat Reflexes and Additional Attacks of Opportunity
If you have the Combat Reflexes feat you can add your Dexterity modifier to the number of attacks of opportunity you can make in a round. This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity, but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate attacks of opportunity (since each one represents a different opportunity). Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn’t count as more than one opportunity for that opponent. All these attacks are at your full normal attack bonus.

Emphasis mine.

This puts a hillarious image in my head of a Dervish bouncing back and forth between two opponents like a ping-pong ball with swords...
To answer the Roy issue, the half-ogre had ranks in Bluff

[KillianHawkeye]

Then explain the Half-Ogre with the spiked chain...he AoO's Roy twice each time Roy charged him (or at least he said "AoO" twice, and if this is a case of someone calling an attack they're not actually making, it's one of only two such incidents, the other being a deliberate joke but this one isn't called out as such).

I was pretty sure that each threatened square you leave is a new provocation.

No, the Half-Ogre in comic 216 is making a rules mistake. He shouldn't actually get two attacks of opportunity just by having a 15' reach.

The RAW in this situation is quite clear:

Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn't count as more than one opportunity for that opponent.

[Curmudgeon]

No, the Half-Ogre in comic 216 is making a rules mistake. He shouldn't actually get two attacks of opportunity just by having a 15' reach.

The Half-Ogre doesn't have to be getting 2 AoOs just from Roy's movement; he mentioned 5 feats. With the Mobility armor enhancement, they could be the following:

1. Dodge
2. Exotic Weapon Proficiency (spiked chain)
3. Spring Attack
4. Combat Reflexes
5. Hold the Line

Hold the Line grants an AoO specifically when a charging opponent enters an area you threaten, which is exactly the scenario in the comic. One AoO for entering a threatened square, plus the usual one for leaving a threatened square.

A 567

I'm pretty sure there's no 3.5 Urd. The 3.5 Dvati is in Dragon Compendium on pages 14-17; before that it was a 3.0 creature.

[killem2]

Emphasis mine.

This is said a lot, and I never understand what you are pointing out, can some one clarify this?

[Duke of URL]

This is said a lot, and I never understand what you are pointing out, can some one clarify this?

A 569

When quoting from text, but adding your own bold, italics, color, etc., to highlight a particular sub-passage, the writer will use "emphasis mine" to point out that the original source text is not bold, italic, color, etc.

[Douglas]

This is said a lot, and I never understand what you are pointing out, can some one clarify this?

It's used when someone quotes something and the quote contains some portion that is bold or italics. It means that the bold or italics formatting was added by the person doing the quote rather than being present in the original source of the quote, and it's used to indicate that a particular portion of the quote is being singled out as important by the person saying it.

[roguemetal]

In 3.5 is there an Arcane Strike equivalent for ranged weapons? Closest I seem to find is the Abjurant Champion's Arcane Boost ability from CM... A weapon enhancement that does the same thing would work too.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Q 570

In 3.5 is there an Arcane Strike equivalent for ranged weapons? Closest I seem to find is the Abjurant Champion's Arcane Boost ability from CM... A weapon enhancement that does the same thing would work too.

A 570

I can think of two options -

• Spell-storing ammuntion: Cast spells into the ammunition. Note that this can get very expensive very quickly.
• Arcane Archer: lets you imbue an arrow with an area spell. I'm sure that there's some way to finagle this, though.
  
  

[Saintheart]

Q 571 The variant Paladin of Freedom has an Aura of Resolve, which is operative against compulsion effects. Does this aura function against the spell Cause Fear?

[Medic!]

A571
Aura of Resolve wouldn't affect Cause Fear since it isn't a Compulsion effect. It would function against spells like Dominate Person since it has the (Compulsion) tag.

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 570

• Spell-storing ammuntion: Cast spells into the ammunition.

That doesn't work, for two reasons.

Any time the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately cast the spell on that creature as a free action if the wielder desires.

Generally speaking, ammunition that hits its target is destroyed or rendered useless, while normal ammunition that misses has a 50% chance of being destroyed or lost.

A damaged magic item continues to function, but if it is destroyed, all its magical power is lost.

Ammunition is not wielded after it leaves the attacker. And since it's destroyed on impact and no longer has any magical properties, any spell which had been stored in the ammunition would be irrelevant even if the ammunition were wielded.

[Andezzar]

Q 572

Is there a list somewhere that tells us which books are 3.0 and which 3.5?

[Mythestopheles]

A 572
Is this the sort of thing you're looking for?

Q 573
Does the Dread Witch's Horrific Aura count as Frightful Presence for the purpose of meeting the requirements for feats? What about spells that boost your Frightful Presence?

Edit: For clarification, the Dread Witch is from Heroes of Horror.