Simple Raw Thread for 3.5 #28

[Telok]

A 27
As much as I would like to answer this question...

Thanks man, I thought it was like this but I don't have access to everything published so I thought I would check. It wasn't a 30' cube anyways but 30 cubic feet, more like 3' x 5' x 2'.

[Andezzar]

A 41

Yes you must succeed on a ranged touch attack for each ray. As far as I can tell, the rules are silent whether the caster has to roll once for SR or as many times as rays hit the target with SR. Personally I'd lean towards once per ray.

[Psyren]

A41 correction: Rules Compendium 130 covers this - you check SR just once.

Check spell resistance only once for any particular casting of
a spell or use of a spell-like ability. If a creature’s spell resistance
fails the first time, it fails each time the creature encounters
that same casting of the spell. Likewise, if spell resistance
succeeds the first time, it always succeeds. If a creature has
voluntarily lowered its spell resistance and is then subjected
to a spell, the creature still has a single chance to resist that
spell later, when its spell resistance is again functioning.

[Coldsturm]

Q 42

Do dreadful wrath and frightful presence stack with each other?

[No brains]

Thanks man, I thought it was like this but I don't have access to everything published so I thought I would check. It wasn't a 30' cube anyways but 30 cubic feet, more like 3' x 5' x 2'.

Whoops, I was calculating for square feet. Shoot.

[Curmudgeon]

A 042 No.

Dreadful Wrath conditionally grants you the Frightful Presence ability. Frightful Presence doesn't stack with itself.

[Coldsturm]

Q 43

If, as a wizard, I know spells in the enchantment school and it later become a prohibited school due to a prestiege class, can I still cast the spells I know or are those spells now useless in my spellbook?

[bjoern]

Q 43

If, as a wizard, I know spells in the enchantment school and it later become a prohibited school due to a prestiege class, can I still cast the spells I know or are those spells now useless in my spellbook?

A43

They are useless.

From SRD
"Spells of the prohibited school or schools are not available to the wizard, and she can’t even cast such spells from scrolls or fire them from wands. She may not change either her specialization or her prohibited schools later."

There are however feats and methods that you can take to circumvent this prohibition. But I'm not overly familiar with them.

[Andezzar]

Q 44

a) What is the form of the area covered with Kelgore's Grave Mist?

Area: 20-ft. radius spread, 20 ft. high

Is it a cylinder a cone or some other form?

b) can this form be oriented as the caster sees fit? E.g. if it is a cylinder, can the circular part be parallel or perpendicular to the ground?

Q 45

If the lowest point of an area effect is 5ft off the ground are medium creatures (especially those that are taller then 5 ft) safe from the effect, but large and larger ones are not?

[Jowgen]

Q 46

I have a question about 'killing' the ghost of a creature one has just finished killing. I know Ghostwalk has rules for the time it takes for a dead-creature's soul to rise and appear on the etheral plane before possibly being swept away by the etheral current. I do not know how the soul leaving the body works outside Ghostwalk rules, and whether the non-ghostwalk raw even covers that. My question is, depending on the rules in play, if a character has access to the clarity of vision skill trick (or an other method of perceiving invisible/etheral creatures) and is capable of affecting etheral creatures (e.g. force attack), can said character wait around next to a just-died body for the ghost to rise, perceive that ghost, and then attack/kill the ghost of the creature to prevent it from being ressurected?

[bjoern]

Q47

If a creature has dark vision 60', such as a kobold, how exactly does it measure away from him if the area immediately around him isn't dark at all?

Example:

A kobold is carrying a torch with him which gives illumination to 20' and shadowy illumination another 20' beyond that (40' total with at least some amount of light on it) does his darkvision allow him to see 20' beyond the edge of the shadowy illumination? Or does the darkvision distance begin at the point where the light stops, so at 40' from him he can see into 60' of pure darkness for a total of 100' away he can see? If its the latter, then even creatures with darkvision can benefit from a light source as it extends their ability to see. (Other than the negative points of having a light source like having everything else see your light and know you're there.)

[Khedrac]

A 44 Another one where they forgot to read the rules.

Area: 20-ft. radius spread, 20 ft. high

So let's take this apart:

20' high means 20' high, so we limit whatever shape is created to 20' high.

Spread means

Burst, Emanation, or Spread
Most spells that affect an area function as a burst, an emanation, or a spread. In each case, you select the spell’s point of origin and measure its effect from that point.

A burst spell affects whatever it catches in its area, even including creatures that you can’t see. It can’t affect creatures with total cover from its point of origin (in other words, its effects don’t extend around corners). The default shape for a burst effect is a sphere, but some burst spells are specifically described as cone-shaped. A burst’s area defines how far from the point of origin the spell’s effect extends.

A spread spell spreads out like a burst but can turn corners. You select the point of origin, and the spell spreads out a given distance in all directions. Figure the area the spell effect fills by taking into account any turns the spell effect takes.

Whilst Bursts and Emanations can be cone shaped not spherical, this does not really apply to Spreads because they turn corners, not to mention the default is a sphere unless specified otherwise - base shape without obstructions is a sphere.

So put the two together - you get a spread of 20' from the point of origin in all directions with the caveat that the top cannot be more than 20' above the base - presumably a bottom-half hemisphere if created in mid air. Definitely a hemisphere if created on flat, unobstructed ground.

A 45 Yes, but the rules do not clarify if the mist is lighter or heavier than air. By default I think it should be neutral buoyancy (i.e. it will neither sink nor rise) as some spells specify that their vapors sink.
However, because it is a "thin mist" any disturbance of the air could move it. It should remain fairly still normally, but this is worth clarifying with your DM and they (or you if it is you) should try for consistency - a person walking through it should not have any effect, but a Colossal creature might well!

Edit: Creatures not touching the mist are not effected by it. The rules are weird for creatures taller than their space but I think Curmudgeon is right and creatures taller than 5' will be affected.

[Miss Disaster]

Q 048

If my 12th level elf wizard uses Alter Self to transmute into a Raptoran (from RotW), how do I adjudicate the Raptoran's unique HD-based Flight ability for my elf wizard? Reference RotW pg. 68 for the Raptoran Flight ability.

I'm primarily wondering if the Alter Self's 5HD limitation correlates to the HD-based Flight mechanics of the Raptoran race.

***
Thank You!

[Curmudgeon]

A 045 No.

If any part of a creature is inside the effect, they're inside the effect. Dwarves (less than 5' high) would be safe, but not most Medium creatures.

A 047

Darkvision radius is from the creature, so the creature would perceive things in that radius in plain sight, but outside illuminated areas, as black & white.

Edit: Ninja cross-fire.

[Khedrac]

A47 The Darkvision starts at the creature and is measured independently of any light sources. The Darkvision not only allows the kobold to see 20' beyond the edge of the torch's shadowy illumination, it also covers the shadowy illumination thus relying on the torch shadows to hide in (i.e. not behind an object) will fail as there is no concealment from the darkvision. It is black-and-white though so the torch is still potentially useful.

[Seppo87]

Q 048
What is the correct way to calculate reach when having the Inhuman Reach feat?
Medium with no reach weapon: 10ft
Medium with reach weapon: 20ft
Large without reach weapon: 15ft ??
Large with reach weapon: 30ft ??

[Curmudgeon]

A 048 Yes.

All of those are correct. Inhuman Reach increases your natural reach, and reach weapons double your natural reach. (Don't forget the -1 to attacks, though; this feat isn't without its downside.)

[Seppo87]

Thank you Curmudgeon

Q 49
What's the correct way to calculate reach with the Long Reach feat on larger creatures?

Large creature with a Shortspear: 5-20ft or 5-15ft?
Large creature with a longspear: 20-30ft or 20-25ft?

Q 49.b
Assuming you had both Inhuman Reach, Long Reach and a long spear, what would your reach be?

[Miss Disaster]

I already had Q 048 posted, but Seppo87 overlapped it. So I'll repost with a new number.

Q 050

If my 12th level elf wizard uses Alter Self to transmute into a Raptoran (from RotW), how do I adjudicate the Raptoran's unique HD-based Flight ability for my elf wizard? Reference RotW pg. 68 for the Raptoran Flight ability.

I'm primarily wondering if the Alter Self's 5HD limitation correlates to the HD-based Flight mechanics of the Raptoran race.

***
Thank You!

[Curmudgeon]

A 049

Benefit: When you wield a spear or shortspear, you can use the weapon to attack opponents 5 or 10 feet away. When you wield a longspear, you can attack opponents 10 or 15 feet away.

The benefit of the Long Reach feat is in fixed distance figures. So a Large character wielding any of these weapons with Long Reach would not gain any extra capabilities. A Huge character (15' reach) would be able to attack opponents at 10' with a longspear thanks to Long Reach, a capability they would normally lack. Gargantuan and Colossal creatures would also be able to attack at 10' and 15' with a longspear; again, these reach distances are not normally possible for them.

(The Normal section of Long Reach may provide ground for arguing for a house rule with your DM, but that's outside the scope of this thread.)

A 050

You cannot assume any form with more than 5 HD. If you find a 5 HD Raptoran you can assume that form, and you would gain the movement capabilities of that form.

[Andezzar]

Re: A 45

I didn't mean in relation to Grave Mist but in a more general sense. Do medium creatures that are taller than 5 ft occupy more than one 5 ft cube? Can they be affected by area effects that are not in the cube they are supposed to be in but in an adjacent one that would contain some of their body.

Re: A 050

Isn't the Flight of a 5+ HD Raptoran and Extraordinary ability and as such would not be conferred to the beneficiary of an Alter Self spell?

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 045

I didn't mean in relation to Grave Mist but in a more general sense. Do medium creatures that are taller than 5 ft occupy more than one 5 ft cube? Can they be affected by area effects that are not in the cube they are supposed to be in but in an adjacent one that would contain some of their body.

Yes, they're subject to effects in all the cubes they occupy. The Movement in Cramped Spaces section of Dungeon Master's Guide II (page 55) explains the ramifications of the squeezing rules for characters moving through spaces which are smaller vertically than a creature’s height. A character between 5' and 10' tall can squeeze through using just their bottom 5' cube, but normally they occupy multiple 5' cubes.

Re: A 050

Isn't the Flight of a 5+ HD Raptoran and Extraordinary ability and as such would not be conferred to the beneficiary of an Alter Self spell?

You acquire the physical qualities of the new form while retaining your own mind. Physical qualities include natural size, mundane movement capabilities (such as burrowing, climbing, walking, swimming, and flight with wings, to a maximum speed of 120 feet for flying or 60 feet for nonflying movement), ...

You do not gain any extraordinary special attacks or special qualities not noted above under physical qualities, such as darkvision, low-light vision, blindsense, blindsight, fast healing, regeneration, scent, and so forth.

[Chronos]

Q 51:

Is Dragonborn of Bahamut officially considered a template? Specifically, could you use Alter Self or similar to turn into one? It's treated effectively like a template, of course, but I don't think they ever actually use the word "template" in relation to it.

[bjoern]

Q52

Ocular Spell

( Lords of Madness, p. 181)

[Metamagic]

Your study of the terrible powers of the beholder has given you insight into new ways to prepare and cast spells.
Prerequisite
Knowledge (dungeoneering) 4 ranks, two or more eyes,
Benefit
You can cast a spell with a casting time of 1 full round or less as an ocular spell. An ocular spell does not take effect immediately, but is instead held in one of your eyes for up to 8 hours. You can store only two ocular spells in this fashion, even if you have more than two eyes. Only ray spells and spells with a target other than personal can be cast as ocular spells. When you choose, you can then cast both of the ocular spells as a full-round action; the spells become brilliant blasts that shoot out from your eyes. You can choose different targets for the two ocular spells. When you release an ocular spell, its effect changes to a ray with a range of up to 60 feet. If the spell previously would have affected multiple creatures, it now affects only the creature struck by the ray. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike your target with an ocular spell, and the target is still permitted any saving throw allowed by the spell.
Example: Ferno, an 11th-level wizard with the Ocular Spell feat, could prepare two scorching ray spells as ocular spells, casting them at the beginning of the day. In combat, he can take a full-round action to fi re off both scorching ray spells. He can fire each spell at a different target, and he gets all three rays from each spell. An ocular spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell's actual level.

Does a spell have to meet both criteria or just one?

ie , must be a ray AND range other than personal

Or is it
Any ray spell, or any spell with range other than personal?

[Andezzar]

A 52

It is only ray spells can be cast as ocular spells and only spells with a target other than personal can be cast as ocular spells. Otherwise the metamagic could be applied to no spells at all, because ray spells do not have a target entry.

[bjoern]

A 52

It is only ray spells can be cast as ocular spells and only spells with a target other than personal can be cast as ocular spells. Otherwise the metamagic could be applied to no spells at all, because ray spells do not have a target entry.

Oh duhhhr.
Pretty obvious

[Tempestfury]

Q53

If I have an ability that increases the critical range of a weapon by a flat amount (say, 1, turning a 19-20 longsword into 18-20). Does Keen and/or Improved Critical apply before or after the flat increase to critical range? Or do they not work together at all? (So, does the longsword turn 17-20 like a normal keen sword. 16-20 with the keen +increase ranged. Or 15-20 due to increased range, then Keen?)

[bjoern]

Q53

If I have an ability that increases the critical range of a weapon by a flat amount (say, 1, turning a 19-20 longsword into 18-20). Does Keen and/or Improved Critical apply before or after the flat increase to critical range? Or do they not work together at all? (So, does the longsword turn 17-20 like a normal keen sword. 16-20 with the keen +increase ranged. Or 15-20 due to increased range, then Keen?)

A53

I want to say that you apply them in the most beneficial order. The big thing would be if either effect has a blanket statement saying that it doesn't stack with any other effect. If it specifically lists a few effects that are excluded then you should be fine.

[Curmudgeon]

A 051 No.

The word "template" is never used for Dragonborn; "transformation" is used instead. Operationally, it functions as an acquired template; it just lacks that label.

[St Fan]

Q 054
Is there a spell or power that allows to divine which exact plane of existence you are on, either directly or as a secondary effect? For example, after a random banishment or plane shift...