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

[Andezzar]

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

Yup, Thanks

[Lonely Tylenol]

Q 574
The Shadow Creature template (Lords of Madness, p.168-9) says "Shadow Creatures also have one special ability for every 4 Hit Dice they possess (minimum of one additional ability)".

Does that make the progression of abilities gained 1, 8, 12, 16, 20 (divide HD by 4, round down, min 1), or 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 (divide HD by 4, round up; effectively "at 1 HD, and every 4 HD beyond that")?

[Andezzar]

A 574

In D&D you always round down (PHB p. 304). So it is 1, 8, 12, 16, 20.

Q 575

Can Polymorph be dispelled? Does the target revert to its natural form if it enters an Antimagic Field? What happens if it exits again?

Q 576

Can you discern whether someone is a real creature of a certain species or a polymorphed one?

[Curmudgeon]

A 575

Yes, Polymorph can be dispelled. If someone under the influence of most any spell with a duration enters an Antimagic Field their ongoing spells are suppressed; if they leave the Antimagic Field before the duration of the suppressed spells expires, those spells resume their previous function. So someone under the influence of Polymorph would indeed revert to their natural form inside an Antimagic Field, and then their Polymorph form again after leaving the Antimagic Field.

A 576

The True Seeing spell does exactly that.

[Andezzar]

Q 575 Corollary

Would you have to use a Free Action to change into any non-natural form after exiting an AMF if you used Shapechange instead of Polymorph?

Q 576 Addendum

Is there a non-magic way? You only get a disguise bonus, if you use polymorph as a disguise. Otherwise you simply look like the creature you want to change into, right?

[Curmudgeon]

A 575 Corollary

You would immediately revert to the last form you had assumed via Shapechange, with no other action on your part.

A 576 Addendum

On first inspection, any character is entitled to a reactive Spot check to see through a disguise effect of Polymorph; that or similar form-changing magic grants +10 to the opposed Disguise check, with various Spot and Disguise modifiers depending on the particular form chosen. After that penetrating a disguise takes extra effort.

Trying to spot something you failed to see previously is a move action.

Unless the observer makes a move action Spot recheck, they will never penetrate a disguise they failed to see through at first sight.

[Andezzar]

The problem is you only get the +10, if you use the spell as a disguise and it is not an illusion.

You can freely designate the new form’s minor physical qualities (such as hair color, hair texture, and skin color) within the normal ranges for a creature of that kind. The new form’s significant physical qualities (such as height, weight, and gender) are also under your control, but they must fall within the norms for the new form’s kind. You are effectively disguised as an average member of the new form’s race. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on your Disguise check.

The way I read it, if you want to look like an ooze, you look like a ooze. If you want to look like the ooze Oscar you would get a +10 on the disguise check and Suzy the Succubus, who knows Oscar, can roll a spot check to determine that you are not Oscar.

I'm talking about the first case, where you assume the form of a specific species not a specific specimen of that species. Can anyone spot that you are not a genuine representative of that species?

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 576 Addendum

The problem is you only get the +10, if you use the spell as a disguise and it is not an illusion.

I'm afraid you're misreading the spell and making up something beyond what is written. Alter Self provides a disguise capability, but its function is not based on the spellcaster's intentions for such use.

You can change into a member of your own kind or even into yourself.

While almost all uses of Alter Self create a disguise, that last one does not. "If you use this spell to create a disguise" applies if you assume a form not your own; it does not apply if change into yourself. It's also worth noting that the spell text cannot override the capabilities of the Disguise skill, so coming to such a conclusion would be a clue that you might have overlooked something.

Special: Magic that alters your form, such as alter self, disguise self, polymorph, or shapechange, grants you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks (see the individual spell descriptions).

Table 4–4: Example Opposed Checks in the Skills chapter of Player's Handbook lists "Pretend to be someone else" as a typical opposed Disguise vs. Spot check. That means Alter Self's use to pretend to be "an average member of the new form’s race" is valid if a Spot check is not successfully used to penetrate that disguise. Any disguise is effective until someone sees through it.

[willpell]

It's also worth noting that the spell text cannot override the capabilities of the Disguise skill, so coming to such a conclusion would be a clue that you might have overlooked something.

Isn't overriding your mundane capabilities the entire point of spells?

[RFLS]

Q 577
Do the aging penalties and bonuses stack? I.e, does venerable give you -6 to physical stats and +3 to mental?

[juicycaboose]

Q 547

Can the Duskblade's Arcane Channel ability be delivered through a trip attack?

reposting so it doesn't get lost :>

[Flame of Anor]

I don't think there's any such thing as "underground breathing"

Reminds me of The Mouser Goes Below.

[Curmudgeon]

A 577 Yes.

With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative.

[Ranting Fool]

Q578

Sorry about this but I keep looking and can not find it.

Psionics, are they effected by being silenced / defensive casting ?

[Kuulvheysoon]

A 578

Psionics are purely mental actions - there are almost never any verbal, somatic or material components to them. So they are not affected by a silence spell.

You may defensively manifest to reduce the Concentration check to avoid AoOs while manifesting within an opponent's reach.

Don't worry about asking questions - that's what the thread is for.

[Dude_Here]

Q579

I'm taking the knowledge devotion feat for my character and was wondering
if all humans fall into the Knowledge Local skill for purposes of this feat?

thanks

[Curmudgeon]

A 579 Yes.

All Humanoids are covered by Knowledge (local). That includes all the Player's Handbook races, including Humans.

[Meianleader]

Q580
if someone who is making a spot check knows what he is looking for, he gets a bonus to his check (in relation to spot vs hide)
if at all, where do the books say this?

[Curmudgeon]

A 580

That's in the Favorable and Unfavorable Conditions treatment in the Skills chapter of Player's Handbook, on page 64. See also here.

[Menteith]

Q581
Is there a way for a Paladin to gain access to their Special Mount for a longer time span than 2 hours/paladin level per day?

[Kuulvheysoon]

A 581

I believe that there's an Extend SLA feat in Savage Species.

[Ranting Fool]

A 578

Psionics are purely mental actions - there are almost never any verbal, somatic or material components to them. So they are not affected by a silence spell.

You may defensively manifest to reduce the Concentration check to avoid AoOs while manifesting within an opponent's reach.

Q582

How would one stop Psionic caster if you had one knocked out. A wizard chained up and gagged is fine unless he has a few meta magic feats. But if Psionic is just pure will (with added sound effects for some of the abilities) how can you safely capture one at low-to-mid level range?

[willpell]

A582
Depending on your definition of "mid-level range", Psionic Restraints (damping) at 24K gold might be affordable; someone wearing such a restraint cannot spend Power Points at all. Otherwise the methods for stopping a psion are pretty much all equally effective against Wizards, such as dropping an AMF/NPF, or hitting them with a poison that drops Intelligence below 10.

[KillianHawkeye]

A 582 additional

Hit them on the head so much that they'll be unconscious for a week.

[Urpriest]

Q 583

Suppose a Medium character is under the effect of the spell Giant Size, becoming Gargantuan. They then cast Alter Self. Which of the following is the case:

a) Their ability scores remain modified by Giant Size. They may take the form of a Small, Medium, or Large creature.

b) Their ability scores return to their values pre-Giant Size. They may take the form of a Small, Medium, or Large creature.

c) Their ability scores remain modified by Giant Size. They may take the form of a Huge, Gargantuan, or Colossal creature.

In addition,
d) Do the answers to any of these questions change if the order in which the spells is cast is reversed?

[Andezzar]

Q 584

With low-light vision a creature "can see twice as far as normal in dim light", but how far can a creature without low-light vision see under that condition?

[mattie_p]

A 584 See the table linked to here. You need to check the bright and shadowy illumination radius for each light source, then double it for low-light vision characters.

[Andezzar]

Q 584 Addendum

This does not help much for "global" conditions like dusk and dawn. It also does not help with the observer in darkness and observed in dim light - unless the expected result is that no observer can see in that situation.

[Menteith]

A 581

I believe that there's an Extend SLA feat in Savage Species.

Nope. There's an Empower, but no Extend.

[whibla]

A583

I think you may have hit on something here...

Since Alter Self states "The new form must be within one size category of your normal form" and "You retain your own ability scores" (with the lack of a qualifier in here I take this to mean your current scores, not your base scores) the correct answer (just imo, by my reading) is a).

Note, that i think this is the 'wrong' answer, as presumably the stat modifications from giant size should be size bonuses, but the spell, like many others in CA, doesn't specify this, so RAW, they are just a.n. bonus.

If you reverse the order of the spells the answer instead becomes c), as Giant Size will still increase your size after the Alter Self has taken affect.