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

[Vaynor]

(This is a fairly high procedure thread; please read the entire instructions carefully before posting. Thanks.)

Ever have a simple, straight-forward rules question that you can’t figure out the answer to? Ask it here. No question is too simple. No more worrying about whether your question is “worth” starting a thread. Ask here and receive an answer. You are, of course, welcome to start a thread for your question, and if you think your question is subject to many interpretations or will start a debate, you are encouraged to start a new thread for it.

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Q.1. Are there any Large +0 LA races?
Q.2. As a sorcerer/rogue, do I get to add sneak attack damage to my attack spells?
Q.3. What effect would Dispel Magic have on a golem or similar construct?
Q.4. Is there a feat that allows me to get a familiar?

Please start over with the numbering. When this one reached 50 pages, please report it so that we can start a new one. Thanks.

[Chronos]

(from the other thread)

Q 775: Are there any spells that can raise someone from the dead (in any way, including reincarnation or the like) that does not have an expensive material component?

Specifically, I'm wanting to tie such a spell to an Energy Transformation Field (SpC) for a special location, but Energy Transformation Field cannot power a second spell that requires expensive material components or XP costs.

A 775:

I don't know if it will work for your purposes, but Revenance (Spell Compendium) has no material component. On the other hand, it also only works within 1 round/level after death, and the subject dies again after only 1 minute/level.

[HurinTheCursed]

Q 771 - continued

A 771 No.

As stated, the Crystal of Arrow Deflection protects you from ranged weapon attacks, as if you had the Deflect Arrows feat. That feat doesn't protect against ranged spell attacks; instead, Exceptional Deflection [Epic] is necessary to do that.

You stated in A 773 and A 774 that some of these spells are weapon-like, aren't they considered ranged weapon attacks then ?

Only the flavour text ever mentions "weapons", not the description. Does it mean in general (not only for this item) the name and flavour text have to be taken into account by RAW (not RAI) ?

[HurinTheCursed]

Q 776:Are yuan-ti halfbloods with snake tails considered bipedal or quadrupedal for purposes of determining carrying capacity?

A 776 It's not defined in the rules AFAIK but since they have a vertical position and don't rely on their upper limbs (arms) to walk, they would be considered as bipedal.

[Andezzar]

A 771

The part

A crystal of arrow deflection protects you from ranged weapon attacks.

is not flavor text but the part of the rules that is shared by all three types of crystals (least, lesser, greater). The rules for each individual crystal do not reiterate the restriction to ranged weapon attacks.

Q 1

If a Dervish treats his scimitar as a light weapon he can no longer use Power Attack, right?

Q 2

If you have already cast all your third level spells and level up, can you enter a PrC that requires third level spellcasting?

Able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.

[georgie_leech]

A 776 Continued

Strictly speaking, it doesn't particularly matter if they count as bipedal, so much as that they aren't quadrupedal. Only quadrupeds get the bonus to carrying capacity, and, lacking four leg-like limbs, Yuan-ti don't count.

[Xaroth]

Q 3

Are there any SRD feats that allow one to switch weapons as a free action?

[Andezzar]

A 3

No, but with Quick Draw you can drop your old weapons and draw new ones as a free action.

AFAIK there is no feat that makes sheathing a weapon (normally a move action) a free action.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Q 4
I just need a very strict RAW answer for this:

Would a Wildshape Ranger 5/Master of Many Forms 4 be able to Wilfshape into small or medium fey? The wildshape variant on ranger says "small or medium animals only" and nothing in Improved Wild Shape.seems to overwrite this. Druid's language is similar, but does not specifiy "only."

[Taelas]

A1:
Correct; light weapons cannot be used for Power Attack.

A2:
You are still able to cast the spells even if you have used them up for the day. Even if it were an issue, you could simply wait until the following day for your spell slots to refresh.

A3, addendum:
"Switching" weapons is already a free action, assuming you are wielding them. For instance, if you are wielding a double weapon, you can use either end at will, even without using the Two-Weapon Fighting rules.

A4:
The 'only' phrasing is irrelevant; the Improved Wildshape from Master of Many Forms specifies what you can turn into. That fact alone overrides the wording from Wildshape Ranger.

[Kred]

Q5
A bone weapon + Improved Critical
Will i get 17-20 threat range?

[Andezzar]

A2:
You are still able to cast the spells even if you have used them up for the day. Even if it were an issue, you could simply wait until the following day for your spell slots to refresh.

Got a citation for that? The question is not whether you are going to be able to cast those spells again but whether you can do it at level up. There is no delay between the reception of XP and the level advancement. The prerequisites for a PrC must be met at that point.

A3, addendum:
"Switching" weapons is already a free action, assuming you are wielding them. For instance, if you are wielding a double weapon, you can use either end at will, even without using the Two-Weapon Fighting rules.

If you mean transferring the weapon from your right hand to your left and vice versa, this is not specified in the rules and does not give any benefits, unless you were dual wielding and started with a light weapon in your main hand and a one-handed weapon in your off-hand.

A 5

Most likely not:

This effect doesn’t stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon.

Unless Bone weapons have an explicit rule for stacking with Improved critical they don't

Q 6

Where can I find bone weapons?

[unseenmage]

A6

I do not know about a strictly 3.5 source but I know there are rules for them in the Arms and Equipment Guide.

[Andezzar]

A 5 Correction

Bone weapons do not have any effect that changes the critical range of a weapon. So Improved critical would work normally. If the weapon fashioned from bone has a crit range of 19-20, a character wielding it with improved critical would have a crit range of 17-20.

[KillianHawkeye]

A 1 correction

You may Power Attack with a light weapon; you simply receive no benefit for doing so.

The distinction here is important. Example: Somebody using Two-Weapon Fighting with a double weapon or with a one-handed weapon and an off-hand light weapon can still Power Attack. They get the regular damage bonus with their main weapon, but must still take the penalty on their attack rolls with both.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q7: If you cast Axiomatic Creature (from BoED) does the target acquire a template or LA?

[kkplx]

Q 8:

Can an Erudite (StP) learn spells as powers from creatures that possess them as Spell-like(or Psi-Like) abilities?

[DeltaEmil]

Q 9

How long does the unconsciousness from the blue whinnis and oil of taggit poison last?

[Necroticplague]

A9
1d3 hours

Q10
What are the rest of the stats of surprise weapons? They list damage, price, and weight, but I don't see where it says if they are exotic or martial, and light or one-handed.

[kkplx]

Q 11

With Revive Undead, how does the "willing spirit" clause work for the mostly mindless Zombies and Skeletons, which to my knowledge do not actually possess a spirit anymore?

[Fitz10019]

Q12
If a character has a permanenced Enlarge Person casting, and he drinks a potion of Reduce Person (perhaps accidently or by deception), does the potion dispel the permanenced spell? If yes, completely or just for the duration of the potion?

[Taelas]

Got a citation for that? The question is not whether you are going to be able to cast those spells again but whether you can do it at level up. There is no delay between the reception of XP and the level advancement. The prerequisites for a PrC must be met at that point.

There is no citation needed. There is no precedence for a daily ability being expended leading to one failing to fulfill prerequisites.

You need to be able to cast spells. You are able to cast them. You have simply already done so.

The suggestion that you would not qualify for having expended spells is absurd, and would lead to at least characters with levels in prestige classes from Complete Arcane to routinely lose the benefits from those levels.

If you mean transferring the weapon from your right hand to your left and vice versa, this is not specified in the rules and does not give any benefits, unless you were dual wielding and started with a light weapon in your main hand and a one-handed weapon in your off-hand.

The benefit can be as simple as using a different weapon type (from slashing to piercing, for instance, in the case of a dwarven urgrosh). They can also be made of different materials -- one end of a double weapon can be silvered and the other end made of cold iron, for example. If you have iterative attacks, you can attack with both ends of the weapon interchangeably in the same round -- your first attack could be with the cold iron end, for instance, and upon realizing it failed to penetrate the enemy's DR, you could use the silvered end with your iterative attacks.

You can use a two-handed weapon and still cast spells, despite needing one hand free to use somatic components, and you can resume fighting with the weapon at will. This also holds true for simply turning a double weapon around, and for swapping a sword from one hand to the other.

The converse would also make fighting with a ranged weapon impossible: if it were not a free action (or even a non-action) to let go of your weapon and and resume holding it, it would not be possible to fire multiple arrows with a bow.

Skip Williams covered for the lack in a Rules of the Game article, located here.

This is the relevant bit:

Adjacent Squares and Reach Weapons: There are some tricks you can use to threaten those adjacent squares when you're using a reach weapon. If you're a monk, your unarmed attacks continue to threaten the squares adjacent to you. Even if you're not a monk, you can use a smaller weapon to threaten the adjacent squares. You'll have to hold the reach weapon in one hand and wield the smaller weapon in the other hand. Since most reach weapons are two-handed weapons, you're only holding onto the reach weapon, not wielding it, and you don't threaten an area with it. Although the rules don't mention it, letting go of a two-handed weapon with one hand or putting a free hand back on the weapon is a free action for you. Drawing the smaller weapon requires an action, but if you have the Quick Draw feat, it's a free action. Note that you can take a free action only during your turn.

A12: Reduce person counters and dispels enlarge person, and spells rendered permanent via permanency are subject to dispels as normal:
"Spells cast on other creatures... are vulnerable to dispel magic as normal."
Thus, drinking a reduce person potion would remove the permanent enlarge person for good.

[JDL]

Q 13

Do the half speed penalties for using the move silently and hide skills stack to equal quarter speed?

Q 14

Do the half speed penalties for travelling overland cautiously and using survival to provide food stack to equal quarter speed?

An official source explicitly stating the answer would be very much appreciated.

[Etherion]

Q 15

Could one use prestidigitation to create oil, which would then be used to light enemies on fire?

[ksbsnowowl]

(from the other thread)

A 775:

I don't know if it will work for your purposes, but Revenance (Spell Compendium) has no material component. On the other hand, it also only works within 1 round/level after death, and the subject dies again after only 1 minute/level.

Not the most ideal, but it will suffice if nothing more can be found. Interestingly, nothing seems to stop you from casting it again and again upon the same corpse each time the previous casting ends.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

A8:

They can learn powers from power stones, willing psionic characters and unwilling but unconscious psionic characters. They cannot learn powers based on spells or spell-like abilities.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060406b

I did not properly understand the original question.

[Taelas]

A8, correction:
The questioner was referring to the Convert Spell to Power Erudite from the Expanded Classes article, found here.

The answer remains 'no', however: spell-like abilities are explicitly not spells, which is what the StP Erudite can learn.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

A13:
"Circumstance bonuses stack with all other bonuses, including other circumstance bonuses, unless they arise from essentially the same source."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm

A14:See A13.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

A15: No
"The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/prestidigitation.htm

[Curmudgeon]

A 007 No.

There are no templates or LA associated with Axiomatic Creature. Until dispelled, the affected creature gets the associated benefits simply for the (high) cost of the casting.

Note: Since Axiomatic Creature has an Archon component, the caster must have the archon subtype to cast this spell.

A 013 No.

You've misinterpreted cause and consequence here. The penalties in both cases are those for choosing that speed (the consequences), but do not cause your speed to change. You apply the appropriate penalty for the chosen speed to each specific skill.