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

[rockdeworld]

Q519
Is there any way for a non-Psionic Character to activate a Psi-Crown?

Q520
Can UMD be used to trick a Psi-Crown into activating for a non-Psionic Character?

A519
Yes, with Use Psionic Device.

This skill lets you use a psionic item as if you had the manifesting ability or class features of another class, as if you were a different race, or as if you were a different alignment.

A520
No, it works on magic items, not psionic items (even with the PMT rule in effect).

Use Magic Device lets you use a magic item as if you had the spell ability or class features of another class, as if you were a different race, or as if you were of a different alignment.

[Koury]

Q521

Does Blindsight allow you to determine if there are creatures on the other side of a door or wall, assuming they are with in your normal blindsight range?

Q522

What happens when a Shadow deals damage to a creature with no Str score, such as another Shadow?

Q523

Master of Shadow (pg 121; ToM) grants you a shadow elemental companion. You also gain the ability to will it to be able to interact with physical objects as the spell Unseen Servant.

Can you will it to pick something up, thus placing the item in its possession? This would cause the item to become incorporeal (pg 164 sidebar; ToM) and lose its weight. Could you have your elemental carry any and all gear/loot you find, provided the individual items do not exceed the 20 lb limit of Unseen Servant?

[Norin]

A522:
Nothing happens.

The strength damage can not be directed to a none-existant ability stat on the target creature.

Shadows have Str: -

[Yora]

A521:You need to have line of effect to something to see it with Blindsight.

[Curmudgeon]

A 523

Regardless of other considerations, a Shadow Servant has the limitations of Unseen Servant:

The servant can perform only one activity at a time, but it repeats the same activity over and over again if told to do so as long as you remain within range. ... It has an effective Strength score of 2 (so it can lift 20 pounds or drag 100 pounds).

The Master of Shadows can command their Shadow Servant to pick up a single object of not more than 20 pounds. If the Shadow Servant does that it cannot perform any other activity, including lifting any other objects.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Q524
A level 8 cleric fights with a +1 defending mace. He casts Greater Magic Weapon on the mace giving it an enhancement bonus of +2 (+1 per four caster levels). I understand that the +2 from the spell and the weapon's own +1 don't stack when applied to the same thing, but if the cleric uses the defending property to assign the +2 enhancment bonus (resulting from from Greater Magic Weapon) to his AC, does the weapon still have its own +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage? Basically, does the game "see" two enhancement bonuses and ignore the lower one when they try to stack, or does it only "see" the greater of the two? (I'd assume the mace at least still gets +1 on attack rolls for being masterwork but that's not really what I'm asking about.)

What about the opposite? Could the cleric choose to move the defending weapon's native +1 enhancement bonus to his AC and leave the +2 from Greater Magic Weapon on attack and damage rolls? (I assume not.) Would it matter if he reassigned the bonus first and then cast Greater Magic Weapon?

(I realize this isn't going to matter often because reassigning the bonus is a free action so the cleric can move the greater bonus to the attack/damage to attack and then move it back to AC afterwards. I'm asking mostly to understand the underlying stacking question.)

[Douglas]

A524

For the duration of the spell, the mace is +2 Defending. How it got that way, and how many different sources of enhancement bonus it has, are irrelevant. If you shift 2 points to AC, then it has no enhancement bonus left. If you shift 1 point to AC, then it has +1 left on enhancement.

Also, your parenthetical note is incorrect. Reassigning the bonus is a free action, but it can only be done once per round at the start of your turn. You cannot attack and then shift to AC. You have to shift points to AC (or not) before doing anything else, and then you're stuck with that choice for the rest of the round.

[Andezzar]

A 524

No. The bonuses don't stack, only the highest bonus applies. So once the spell is cast you only have a +2 defending mace.

swordsaged

[Lord Il Palazzo]

A524
...
Also, your parenthetical note is incorrect. Reassigning the bonus is a free action, but it can only be done once per round at the start of your turn. You cannot attack and then shift to AC. You have to shift points to AC (or not) before doing anything else, and then you're stuck with that choice for the rest of the round.

Ah, thanks for catching that. Like I said, my question was more about the stacking mechanics than the specifics, but that's good to know.

[willpell]

Q525
If wishing to build a Psychic Warrior to most nearly resemble a Monk without taking any Monk levels, is there a legal but not terribly cheesy (ie not Dark Chaos Shuffle and friends) way of exchanging my weapon and armor proficiency for Improved Unarmed Strike and Dodge and the like? Some alternate class feature or something? I'd prefer to avoid retraining or "ask your DM" if it can be done.

Q526
Can I get a short list of some creatures that have Damage Reduction 10/magic (higher DR amount is also okay, but anything tougher to bypass is not)? Three to five examples would be ideal; if they can come from the Monster Manual or some not-too-obscure supplement, so much the better. A few player-character examples (spells, prestige class features or whatever) are also okay, but mostly I'm hoping for well-known monsters that the peasants of your average village might know to fear.

[Kuulvheysoon]

A 525

Have you tried looking at the Diamond Warrior prestige class? It's 3.0e, and would thus require some updates, but it's purpose is to give PsyWars many of the traditional monk abilities while improving their existing manifesting.

A 526

If the campaign happens in Eberron near the borders of the Mournland, the Living Spell template (MM3) would work nicely.

[rockdeworld]

A526
Greater Barghest
Abyssal Greater Basilisk
Any 12HD Celestial/Fiendish creature
Mature Adult Black Dragon
Human Monk 20

[willpell]

A516
Custom magic item: Spray Paint
Effect: A liquid that changes the color of whatever it is touches for as long as it touches it (possibly permanently, color change as per Prestidigitation). Comes in a spray can for ease of use.
Cost: 1000gp

Yer adorable, y'know that. How about we restrict it to just spells, and RAW only. (Also: 1000 gold? Sheesh, guess the mayor of Waterdeep got really sick of graffiti...)

[Hirax]

Q527
Do penalties to ability scores stack? I'm not referring to ability damage or drain, which I do know stack. For instance, mushroom powder grants a -2 alchemical penalty to wisdom. Would a second dose of mushroom powder increase this to -4? Would a separate penalty to wisdom from a different source stack?

[Curmudgeon]

A 527

Stacking

In most cases, modifiers to a given check or roll stack (combine for a cumulative effect) if they come from different sources and have different types (or no type at all), but do not stack if they have the same type or come from the same source (such as the same spell cast twice in succession). If the modifiers to a particular roll do not stack, only the best bonus and worst penalty applies.

A second dose of mushroom powder would be a penalty from the same source, and would not stack. A penalty from a different source would stack.

[Yora]

@528: That book is not public content.

[Andezzar]

A 528 Partial

I can't quote the racial features, for the reason mentioned above. Unless your DM allows you to use the loophole from savage progressions (web article), there is no way around the 8 outsider HD. Even with Savage progressions, it is the DM's decision which racial features you get right away and which you only gain once you have taken enough levels in the "racial class".

Q 529

Can a Midgard dwarf, without any class levels really create any magic weapon, armor, ring or wondrous item?

Q 530

Does the treasure entry in a creature's description include the equipment it might have or is this in addition to any carried equipment?

[Yora]

Q531: What happens when a wizard takes other characters with him for an astral projection and the wizards projection or secondary body is destroyed? The spell says any other astral travelers are stranded where they are left. What does that mean?

[rockdeworld]

A531 partial
It means they can't return to their bodies on their own. When the caster's astral form/second body is destroyed, their primary body is revived from its state of suspended animation. The others are not. They stay in their astral form/second body until "you desire to end [the spell], or until it is terminated by some outside means, such as dispel magic cast upon either the physical body or the astral form, the breaking of the silver cord, or the destruction of [their] body back on the Material Plane (which kills [them])."

[Curmudgeon]

A 529 No.

Midgard Dwarves have Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, and Forge Ring as racial bonus feats, and can craft any items requiring only those creation feats if they have all the necessary materials and sufficient gp and XP; they need not supply the spells normally required. However, they have no ability to craft Epic magic items. Furthermore, the amount of XP available for crafting can never be more than 1 XP below the amount needed to gain 2 HD of advancement, of which all of the second HD's worth of XP award must result from a single encounter. Without class levels this maximum amount of crafting XP is necessarily lower than for a higher-level crafter with class levels.

A character cannot spend so much XP on an item that he or she loses a level. However, upon gaining enough XP to attain a new level, he or she can immediately expend XP on creating an item rather than keeping the XP to advance a level.

[Andezzar]

Q 529 Addendum

I hadn't even thought about epic magic items, which obviously are beyond a midgard dwarf's capabilities just like scrolls, rods, staves and wands. So basically you can craft any non-epic item of the above categories, that has a market price of less than 624975 gp (xp cost 24999, amount to get from ECL 12 to one point below ECL 14)? More realistically it should be around 300000 gp (12000 xp), right?
That still pretty much every item in the SRD (except adding ridiculous amounts of non enhancement bonus equivalent special abilities to weapons or armor)

Q 532

Are there non-epic magic item (weapons, armor, rings or wondrous items) with a market price above 300k gp? How about 624,975 gp?

Q 533

Can the special abilities of a weapon/armor be upgraded just like real enhancement bonuses? For example to turn a +1 silent moves chainshirt into a +1 greater silent moves chainshirt, would you have to pay 30k gp (greater silent moves minus silent moves) or the full 33750 gp?

[rockdeworld]

A532
Yes and no. Many weapons can get into this range, eg. a Luckblade with 3 wishes upgraded from +2 to +10 would cost 334,960gp. However, at that point it's considered an epic weapon by virtue of its cost.

Has a market price above 200,000 gp, not including material costs for armor or weapons, material component- or experience point-based costs, or additional value for intelligent items.

On the other hand, intelligent magic items can easily get up over that price if you roll well, and are considered non-epic.

[Curmudgeon]

A 529 Addendum

That extreme case would only occur if the Midgard Dwarf had under the ECL 13 level of XP, then in a single encounter earned enough XP to reach the ECL 14 level, and immediately started crafting to use that full amount of XP rather than advancing a level. Normally the crafting XP available would be at or just over one level's worth, or less than half of the extreme upper limit. The DM fully controls the limit on crafting XP and gp by what they award in the game.

[Qc Storm]

Q 534

Can a character level up twice from the same amount of exp? (e.g, lucky draw from the deck of many things at low level)

I wish to introduce this campaign destroyer to my players, but I'd rather not have one lucky guy power 4 levels ahead due to luck.

Q 535

When determining loot and wealth and all that. Let's say I want to replace 3000 gold pieces with an item worth 3000 gold. Is the item worth half-price in regards to Treasure per Encounter? Or is it worth its full price.

[Dude_Here]

Q536

Can a cleric cast bless and bane without dispelling one of the spells?

[Quorothorn]

Q537
Are outsiders such as the Bearded Devil immune to dessication damage (as from the spell desiccate) due to not having to technically eat/presumably drink, or are they affected by it because they're still a "living creature"? (The only creatures I know are immune are undead, since they lack a CON score, and the only devil I can find in my copy of Sandstorm says nothing about whether or not it's affected.)

[Curmudgeon]

A 534 No.

From page 58 of Player's Handbook:

A character can advance only one level at a time. If, for some extraordinary reason, a character’s XP reward from a single adventure would be enough to advance two or more levels at once, he or she instead advances one level and gains just enough XP to be 1 XP short of the next level. Any excess experience points are not retained.

This holds regardless of whether your starting position relative to the level is at the "floor" (minimum necessary XP) or "ceiling" (1 XP below the next level).

A 535

Jewels, jewelry, and art objects are considered "trade goods" and retain their full value when buying or selling.

A 536 Yes.

Bane applies only to the Cleric's enemies; Bless applies only to the Cleric's allies. It would require an enemy spellcaster to counter or dispel one of these spells.

A 537

Outsiders are subject to dessication damage unless you find a rule which specifies otherwise.

[Dude_Here]

q538

Can a Neutral aligned cleric use a wand of protection from evil?

[TuggyNE]

q538

Can a Neutral aligned cleric use a wand of protection from evil?

A538: Yes. A Neutral cleric of a Neutral deity can cast, or use a wand or scroll of, any of the four protection from <alignment> spells.

In fact, I believe a Good cleric, or a cleric of a Good deity, could use a wand of protection from good, and similarly with other alignments, as it's a spell trigger item that can be used even by characters that can't cast spells yet, as long as it's on their class list.

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 538

In fact, I believe a Good cleric, or a cleric of a Good deity, could use a wand of protection from good, and similarly with other alignments, as it's a spell trigger item that can be used even by characters that can't cast spells yet, as long as it's on their class list.

That's incorrect. From page 245 of Dungeon Master's Guide:

Activation:Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Because activating a wand counts as casting a spell, a Good Cleric is prohibited from triggering a wand containing an [Evil] spell such as Protection from Good.