Simple Raw Thread for 3.5 #28

[SecretFlyer]

Q88:

What happens if an awakened wolf takes Improved Trip?

The wolf's Trip(ex) gives it a free attempt to trip an opponent after hitting with it's bite, and Improved Trip gives would give it a free attack after it successfully trips someone. It's unclear whether these chain off of one another, though, because Improved Trip gives the attack "as if you hadn't used your attack for the trip attempt", and this hypothetical wolf didn't use an attack to trip.

[heavyfuel]

A 87

Yes to all.

A 88

Indeed, you don't get the extra attack because you didn't make a trip attack, but instead used an Ex ability that allowed you to make a trip attempt on an attack. You still get the regular +4 from the feat though

[heavyfuel]

Q 89

Can you flank a target with Perpetual Flank from Clarion Commander if the target has Improved Uncanny Dodge?

What if the person who used Clarion Commander is a Rogue able to flank the target?

What if one of the flankers is said Rogue?

[Nettlekid]

Q90
What's the Truenamer DC for the Lexicon of the Crafted Tool? I can't seem to find it. The regular 15+2xCL doesn't make sense for items.

[Thurbane]

Q 091

A.) How much would a statue of an average human male weigh (assume 5' 9'' tall) if made of platinum?

B.) What is the hardness of platinum? Is it defined anywhere?

[heavyfuel]

A 91

A.)Note that magically treated platinum in D&D weights twice as much as steel, but no stats are given, as far as I know, to regular platinum (see answer B). I also don't think the volume of a 5'9" body is ever mentioned in a book, but Wolfram Alpha says that the average human body has a volume of 66.4 Liters. Using the link you provided, that would give it a weight of 66.4*21.45, or 1424.28 kilos, or 3140 pounds.

B.) Platinum's hardness is mentioned in MoF on page 180. MoF gives hardness 10 to magically treated platinum, the platinum used as weapon/armor special material. They do mention that regular platinum is too malleable when compared to steel, which is why the magical treatment makes it as hard as steel, so the hardness would be lesser, although the book doesn't mention its hardness specifically. I don't know of any other source where platinum's hardness or wheight is mentioned

[Yogibear41]

Q92

Do I have to be a psionic character(have power point reserve etc.) to put ranks in and use the Autohypnosis skill. If I could get a reference to the answer as well that would be great.

[AvatarVecna]

Removed due to repeating numbers.

[AlanBruce]

Q. 93

If someone is struck by Stun Ray in round 1 and passes the save, he's stunned for 1 round…

Does that mean they get to act normally on round 2 on their initiative turn, or do they miss out and remain stunned for the duration of round 2?

[Khedrac]

A 93 A 1 round stun lasts until the same point in the initiative order is reached the following round - so in this case, the start of the turn of the caster of the spell.

If they have a higher initiative the victim will take a turn in round 1 but not 2.
If they have a lower initiative they will take a turn in round 2 but not 1.

No - they cannot Delay their action until the stun ends.

[AvatarVecna]

Q94

Can I cast Time Stop while already within a Time Stop? If so, what happens?

[bjoern]

Q94

Can I cast Time Stop while already within a Time Stop? If so, what happens?

A94

Yes you can.

You cast TS1 and then once inside you cast TS2. Take all your actions for TS2 and then return to TS1 and complete your actions there.

[ILM]

Q95: Gotta ask for a call here: do the Dragon Rider prestige class in DLCS and the Dragon Cohort feat in Draconomicon stack for the purposes of ECL reduction?

Relevant:
- the class ability is also called Dragon Cohort, but the text is different (though to be fair it's not that different)
- the following text is in the class ability's description: A dragon rider counts a dragon's Effective Character Level as being 3 lower than its actual value. "A dragon's,", not "the" or "this dragon's" - any dragon's, presumably one gained from the feat as well.

[nimmo0110]

Q96 can a wizard cast a spell while useing a) a two handed weapon b) two weapons like a sword and shield

[bjoern]

Q96 can a wizard cast a spell while useing a) a two handed weapon b) two weapons like a sword and shield

A96

The only time this would matter is if the spell had an [S] under components. He would need to be able to use at least one hand to cast it.
Sword and shield no, both hands are always full.
Great sword or quarterstaff I'd say you would be able to because you can hold the weapon in one hand while youre not attacking with it.

EDIT-- if you are casting a spell in the same round as you're attacking with the great sword, you'd have to take an attack penalty for wielding it one handed.

[Andezzar]

Great sword or quarterstaff I'd say you would be able to because you can hold the weapon in one hand while youre not attacking with it.

While the forum consensus is that removing a hand from a two-handed weapon falls under dropping an item (the hand), the rules are silent what action is required to grip the weapon with the dropped hand again. It might be a move action as drawing a weapon.

EDIT-- if you are casting a spell in the same round as you're attacking with the great sword, you'd have to take an attack penalty for wielding it one handed.

That is mostly wrong. Two-handed weapons of appropriate cannot be wielded with one hand.

[bjoern]

While the forum consensus is that removing a hand from a two-handed weapon falls under dropping an item (the hand), the rules are silent what action is required to grip the weapon with the dropped hand again. It might be a move action as drawing a weapon.

That is mostly wrong. Two-handed weapons of appropriate cannot be wielded with one hand.

Count it as an improvised weapon. There is nothing stopping a one armed man from using a great sword to defend himself.
There is no supernatural force that zaps him and prevents him from swinging it when he tries to use it at a penalty to hit and damage.

[Andezzar]

While that would make sense, it contradicts the rules as written:

Improvised Weapons

Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat.

A greatsword is an object crafted to be a weapon. So it is not an improvised weapon regardless how someone tries to wield it.

[Fax Celestis]

A96Cont You might be interested in the Somatic Weaponry feat from Complete Mage.

[Ianuagonde]

Q97

Is the lore feature of the Loremaster (DMG) dependent on class level or character level?

[Fax Celestis]

A97

At 2nd level, a loremaster gains the ability to know legends or information regarding various topics, just as a bard can with bardic knowledge. The loremaster adds her level and her Intelligence modifier to the lore check, which functions otherwise exactly like a bardic knowledge check.

Since it functions identically to a bardic knowledge check, let's look at that ability.

Bardic Knowledge
A bard may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his bard level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. (If the bard has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), he gains a +2 bonus on this check.)

A successful bardic knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.

Thus, a Loremaster's Lore ability is d20 + Loremaster level + Intelligence modifier. Also note you retain the +2 bonus for having 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (History).

[No brains]

Q 91 additional info
While there are no in-depth answers as to the weight of platinum, copper, silver, gold, and platinum pieces all weigh "fifty to a pound". One could extrapolate that in D&D all these metals have the same weight, but only the size of a gold piece is shown, and copper, silver, and platinum pieces may have different dimensions to make their densities match their real-world counterparts.

There is a sidebar in Draconomicon that implies that all these coins have the same size. When discussing dragons sleeping on treasure piles, their calculations for coins fitting into a set volume assumes all metal coins share the same size.

[qwertyu63]

Q98

Can a wizard prepare their spells in an antimagic field?

Q99

What about a dead magic zone?

[Curmudgeon]

A 086 Ask your DM.

Giantbane doesn't specify what action is involved in the opposed grapple check. The most likely answer is that this follows the pattern of most grapple checks and takes the place of an attack, but you'll need to have this adjudicated by your individual DM.

A 087 [correction] No, no, and no.

Independent Research: A wizard also can research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one. The Dungeon Master’s Guide has information on this topic under Creating New Spells in Chapter 2.

Nowhere in the treatment of independent spell research do the rules specify that the researched spell is added to the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list.

known spell

A spell that an arcane spellcaster has learned and can prepare. For wizards, knowing a spell means having it in their spellbooks. For sorcerers and bards, knowing a spell means having selected it when acquiring new spells as a benefit of level

No other Wizard has learned that spell, and thus no other Wizard can treat the newly researched spell as a known spell.

A 089 No; yes; no.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A rogue of 8th level or higher can no longer be flanked.

Perpetual Flank from the Clarion Commander tactical feat will let you treat the target as flanked if it is flankable and you succeed on the check. However, a target with Improved Uncanny Dodge is only flankable if the attacker has at least four more Rogue levels than the target does, so yes, a character with Clarion Commander and 4+ more Rogue levels than the target can be flanked via Perpetual Flanks. Perpetual Flank does not help an allied Rogue; it only helps the character with that feat.

A 094 [correction]

You cast TS1 and then once inside you cast TS2. Take all your actions for TS2 and then return to TS1 and complete your actions there.

Time Stop has no exception to the usual stacking rules for spells.

Stacking Effects: Spells that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves. For example, two bless spells don’t give twice the benefit of one bless. Both bless spells, however, continue to act simultaneously, and if one ends first, the other one continues to operate for the remainder of its duration.

Time Stop works identically, with the second casting acting simultaneously with the first; the apparent time ends when both castings expire.

A 098 Yes.

Spell preparation is not itself magical.

A 099 Yes.

See above.

[heavyfuel]

A 87 - Contention

If the spell isn't added to the Wizard list, then he can't cast this spell

From the SRD:

A wizard casts arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list.

For him to cast the spell, it must first be on the list

If it's part of the Wizard list, then any Wizard can add it to his spellbook when he gains a new level because it's assumed he has spent time researching new spells.

Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for the spells she gains for free at each new level. She simply adds these to her spellbook as part of her ongoing research.

It might be hard to justify this without major meta-knowledge, but it can happen by RAW

[Oddman80]

Q 100
The spell NO LIGHT says that "The caster creates an area of darkness. Normal light sources cannot illuminate the area, but darkvision allows a creature to see within the area." I assume this means a creature with dark vision can see while within the effected area. But does it also mean that a creature with darkvision that is outside the spell's area of effect has no difficulty seeing things that are inside the effected area as well?

[bjoern]

Q 100
The spell NO LIGHT says that "The caster creates an area of darkness. Normal light sources cannot illuminate the area, but darkvision allows a creature to see within the area." I assume this means a creature with dark vision can see while within the effected area. But does it also mean that a creature with darkvision that is outside the spell's area of effect has no difficulty seeing things that are inside the effected area as well?

A100

Yes

Dark vision allows a creature to see with no light . There are exceptions such as the Darkness spell which state that dark vision won't work.

The spell No Light doesn't say that dark vision won't work. In fact it reinforces the RAW that it does work by stating it in the spell.

If the line in the spell regarding dark vision were to be removed, it would still work the same in regards to creatures with dark vision: They can see.

[Fax Celestis]

A100 Yes. The spell creates what is basically magical nonmagical darkness.

[bjoern]

A100 Yes. The spell creates what is basically magical nonmagical darkness.

Woah.
There is no spoon.

[dextercorvia]

Q 101

Suppose character A is grappled, and character B is free. If they switch positions via Benign Transposition, is character B now grappled in A's place, or just occupying the square of the former?