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

[broodax]

Q 16a Can the thing "treated as a creature" created by the spell Earthen Grasp attack things that are obscured from vision (specifically, obscured from the vision of the caster such that the caster cannot direct it to attack, and it therefore attacks a random target in range)?

i. If there is no light source?
ii. If there is obscuring fog or shadow?
iii. If the potential target is invisible?
iv. If the potential target is ethereal?
v. If there is some other circumstance I have not thought of?

Q 16b If the "creature" can attack those things, what sort of penalties and miss chances does it incur?

[Shin]

Q 17
Can humanoids without the (human) subtype (like catfolk) take the human heritage feat from Races of Destiny to become (human) in addition to their subtype and gain the human racial bonus feat and bonus skill points?

[Necroticplague]

A17
Yes, they may take the feat, but it does not grant them human traits. They would merely add the human subtype.

[Andezzar]

A 17 Contention.

A17
Yes, they may take the feat, but it does not grant them human traits. They would merely add the human subtype.

Such creatures can only take the feat if they are either of a Half-human race or a human-descended Race. AFAIK Catfolk are neither.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q18: The various "Utterance" warlock invocations are based on Dark Speech from BoVD, is there any alignment requirement to use them?

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q19:Would an Efficient Quiver work for storing wands, rods, and staffs?

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q20:
A. Is it legal to use the Adding New Abilities rules for crafting magic items to make one Eternal Wand with multiple spell effects?

B. Would each spell effect have it's own daily charges or would they share a pool?

[Andezzar]

A 19

Yes, only the relative size of the object not the nature of the object to be placed in the quiver. Wands and Rods should be roughly the size of arrows and Staffs explicitly fit in the largest compartment.

A 20

A & B) Ask your DM. Custom magic items are purely in the purview of the DM. He decides if and how such items can be created.

[Khedrac]

A18 No.
The only link the warlock "utterances" have to Dark Speech is the bad fluff text. Since all of a warlock's invocations have a somatic component only they are not even spoken...

Note, I call the fluff text "bad" because the link to Dark Speech potentially causes so many issues, like the one you just raised, it really should not be there.

[Necroticplague]

A 17 Contention.


Such creatures can only take the feat if they are either of a Half-human race or a human-descended Race. AFAIK Catfolk are neither.

A17 Clarification
I was adressing the general of the question, while ignoring the example. The main thing of importance was that human traits were not gained.I don't know anything about catfol, and thus could not respond to the specific example.
Which should be freaking obvious. Why would a feat be able to give you a bonus feat in addition to any other benefits?

[heavyfuel]

Q 21

A Factotum with 18 Int can pick the Font of Inspiration feat 4 times, giving him a total of +10 IP. This way, a lv6 factotum would have a total of 14 IP per encounter.

If he were to use 4 IP, and proceed to take 1 point of Int damage, he would no longer qualify for the fourth FoI feat, and would lose 4 IP.

Now, how many IP does he have left? 10 (because the lost 4 IP would have already been used) or 6 (because the used IP cannot be lost)?

[Irk]

Q 21

A Factotum with 18 Int can pick the Font of Inspiration feat 4 times, giving him a total of +10 IP. This way, a lv6 factotum would have a total of 14 IP per encounter.

If he were to use 4 IP, and proceed to take 1 point of Int damage, he would no longer qualify for the fourth FoI feat, and would lose 4 IP.

Now, how many IP does he have left? 10 (because the lost 4 IP would have already been used) or 6 (because the used IP cannot be lost)?

A 21
6, you can't lose something that has been expended, it just does not make sense.

[Chronos]

It also doesn't make sense to not be able to lose something expended. What if the factotum used 5 IP, and then got his Int damaged all the way down to 10? Would he have a negative number of IP?

[Curmudgeon]

A 16a

Quoting from the spell (Spell Compendium, page 76):

Effect: Animated earthen arm
...
If you are unable to choose a target, the arm attacks a random creature within reach (possibly including your allies).

This arm has no visual or other sensory detection systems. If undirected, it attacks "a random creature within reach", with no other provisos. Thus the answer to all your questions is yes. (If you want an explanation, you'll have to settle for "It's magic." )

A 16b As specified.

Having established that the attacks do occur as stated in the spell, the penalties established in the rules apply. An attack against an incorporeal creature will have a 50% chance to be ignored (because the arm is a spell effect); an attack against a creature with concealment will have a 20% miss chance; and so on.

[Irk]

It also doesn't make sense to not be able to lose something expended. What if the factotum used 5 IP, and then got his Int damaged all the way down to 10? Would he have a negative number of IP?

I don't know if it really matters, they are all replaced at the end of an encounter. I'm probably wrong though.

[Ranting Fool]

Q22

Animal companion Spell Bond.

A: Does it work if you gain spells with another class? Level 1 Druid with Levels in Wizard for example.

B: If so what about spells like Dimensional Hop, would the pet go with you?

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 021

I don't know if it really matters, they are all replaced at the end of an encounter. I'm probably wrong though.

You're wrong about that, at least. IPs are refreshed at the beginning of a new encounter, not at the end.

[Ranting Fool]

Q23

RAW do you need to use all your skill points when you level or can you save them till the level after?

e.g Level in class X but wanting to save skill points till gain Class Y so don't cross class.

[Curmudgeon]

A 023

The Level Advancement steps are detailed in Player's Handbook on pages 58-59. Your only chance to spend skill points is at step 6. of that sequence. Skill points are a function only of the class granting them. You cannot, therefore, spend skill points gained from class X under the rules for class Y. Or, as the rule states it:

Remember that you buy skills based on the class you have advanced in, so that only those skills given as class skills for that class can be purchased as class skills for this level, regardless of what other classes you may have levels in.

There is no provision for "saving" skill points; if not spent, they're still done once you leave Step 6. Skill Points.

[Irk]

Re: A 021

You're wrong about that, at least. IPs are refreshed at the beginning of a new encounter, not at the end.

Oops, you're right, that was careless on my part. I guess just change it to this:
"I don't know if it really matters, they are all replaced at the beginning of an encounter."
and it's all good.

[Silentone98]

Q24

Are there any ways to age a player outside of actual ingame time passing.

Effects I am looking for, Spells, creature with this effect, pre-existing planes where time flows faster, magical items(equipment or consumable)

basically near any method you can think of to cause fast aging without resorting to homebrew or DM's creativity.

[Sith_Happens]

A 24

The victim of a Phane's Stasis Touch ages 1d4 years per round.

For a sufficiently loose definition of "outside of actual in-game time passing," you could put the character on a plane with Flowing Time.

[ksbsnowowl]

Q24

Are there any ways to age a player outside of actual ingame time passing.

Effects I am looking for, Spells, creature with this effect, pre-existing planes where time flows faster, magical items(equipment or consumable)

basically near any method you can think of to cause fast aging without resorting to homebrew or DM's creativity.

A 24
The Realm of Faerie from Manual of the Planes has flowing time that catches up with the mortal when they leave. It defaults to 7 days material plane to 1 day Faerie Realm, but there is a sidebar to make it nastier, two weeks material plane to one hour in the Faerie Realm. (That's 48 weeks for each day on the Plane of Faerie; nearly a year).

So, send your PC's to the Plane of Faerie for a few days, and when they come back, they'll be nearly starved and age a few years.

Edit: Manual of the Planes p. 210-211

[Sliver]

Q 25

A Babau has multiattack, yet his bite attack is at +7, instead of +10. Is that correct, or is it an error that wasn't addressed?

[KillianHawkeye]

A 25

That looks to be an error. Monster/NPC stat blocks are notorious for being poorly edited and rife with numerical errors.

[kkplx]

Q 26


Does the spell Glowing Orb at its maximum intensity provide 60ft illumination, 30ft illumination and another 30ft shadowy illumination, or 60ft illumination and another 60ft shadowy illumination?

[Chronos]

A 24 continued:
One of the listed uses for Bestow Curse (I think in Book of Vile Darkness) is to advance the subject by one age category. This could be removed via Remove Curse or similar, though, so it's not true aging.

[Curmudgeon]

A 026

D&D has bright illumination and shadowy illumination. A Glowing Orb has an unspecified illumination level, so your individual DM will have to decide which one it is. The only thing clear about this light source is that it's just that one level of illumination inside its radius, with no secondary illumination radius. (Mechanically, that makes it more consistent with other D&D light sources if the DM decides that the Orb tops out at creating shadowy illumination and no bright illumination.)

[Andezzar]

(Mechanically, that makes it more consistent with other D&D light sources if the DM decides that the Orb tops out at creating shadowy illumination and no bright illumination.)

Ha, that however makes the area illuminated by a glowing orb, just as well lit as the area affected by a darkness spell.

[Shin]

Q 27

Does the dimension door + shadow pounce combo enable sneak attack?