Simple RAW Thread for 3.5: Score and Nine

[Thurbane]

Q 114

When I apply an inherited template to a creature which changes it type, if I advance it by RHD, do I increase challenge rating as per the new type, or base type?

i.e. If I had a 1/2 Dragon Satyr,do I increase CR by 1 per 4 HD (as Fey), or 1 per 2 HD (as Dragon)?

I'm assuming Dragon, but this seems harsh as the 1/2 Dragon template does not increase BAB etc. (it does increase HD by one step).

[Curmudgeon]

A 114

You follow Table 4–4: Improved Monster CR Increase (Dungeon Master's Guide, page 294) for the altered creature type, then apply the following rule:

Compare the monster’s improved attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, and any DCs of its special abilities from the HD increase to typical characters of the appropriate level and adjust the CR accordingly.

[Venger]

Q115 I am in a form with a con a great deal higher than my natural one. When I take con damage while polymorphed/metamorphosed/etc, do I lose HP straight away, or only when it would cause it to dip below my normal con score?

Q115b Does ability damage gained in polymorph carry over once the duration has elapsed?

[Curmudgeon]

A 115 Straight away.

From page 290 of Dungeon Master's Guide:

If a character’s Constitution score drops, then he loses 1 hit point per Hit Die for every point by which his Constitution modifier drops.

A 115b Yes.

Upon changing, the subject regains lost hit points as if it had rested for a night (though this healing does not restore temporary ability damage and provide other benefits of resting; and changing back does not heal the subject further).

[Belkarseviltwin]

A 108 correction?
Would a contingent spell (using Craft Contingent Spell with a trigger of "when I turn into a wolf") work?

If not, Extended Persistent Aspect of the Wolf has a duration of 48 hours if you allow the two metamagic feats to stack, and I don't see why they wouldn't. The controller of effects chooses in which order they are applied, so you can choose to first increase the duration to 24 hours then double it.

[Thurbane]

Q 116

A spear is a two handed simple weapon, with a range increment of 20 ft - does it require one or two hands to throw?

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 108 correction?

Would a contingent spell (using Craft Contingent Spell with a trigger of "when I turn into a wolf") work?

Benefit: You can make contingent any spell that you know.

known spell

A spell that an arcane spellcaster has learned and can prepare.

Awaken is a Druid-only spell, not learnable by arcane spellcasters.

If not, Extended Persistent Aspect of the Wolf has a duration of 48 hours if you allow the two metamagic feats to stack, and I don't see why they wouldn't.

The reason they do not stack is because they do not have special provisions to let them stack. Instead, you follow the duration specified in the RAW in each case.

Benefit: Spells with a fixed or personal range can have their duration increased to 24 hours.

Benefit: An extended spell lasts twice as long as normal.

The normal duration of a spell is what is listed in its description. You can apply these metamagic effects in whatever order you like; the last-applied effect dictates the duration:

• If Persistent Spell is applied last, the duration is 24 hours.
• If Extend Spell is applied last, the duration is twice that listed in the spell description.

[Duke of Urrel]

Q 116

A spear is a two handed simple weapon, with a range increment of 20 ft - does it require one or two hands to throw?

A 116

I don't believe any rule suggests that merely because a mêlée weapon must be wielded with both hands, therefore it must also be thrown with both hands. The following passage from the SRD applies to spears:

It is possible to throw a weapon that isn’t designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn’t have a numeric entry in the Range Increment column on Table: Weapons), but a character who does so takes a -4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action.

The boldface text applies specifically to the spear, as opposed to the shortspear. The longspear both requires a full-round action to throw and imposes the -4 penalty on the attack roll.

[Morof Stonehands]

Q 117

A Medium Sized weapon has a base damage of 3d4 damage. If increase to large sized (i.e. via Enlarge Person) what would its new damage be?

[Curmudgeon]

A 117 3d6.

Table 2–2: Increasing Weapon Damage by Size (Dungeon Master's Guide, page 28) shows that a 1d4 weapon increases to 1d6 damage when boosted one size, and a 2d4 weapon increases to 2d6 damage when boosted one size. Though the table doesn't include your specific example, the pattern is obvious and also is the linear combination of these two (1d4+2d4) components.

[Thurbane]

A 116

I don't believe any rule suggests that merely because a mêlée weapon must be wielded with both hands, therefore it must also be thrown with both hands. The following passage from the SRD applies to spears:


The boldface text applies specifically to the spear, as opposed to the shortspear. The longspear both requires a full-round action to throw and imposes the -4 penalty on the attack roll.

A 116 - clarification

But the spear does have a range increment: 20 feet? The rule cited specifically calls out the penalty for weapons without a range increment (and goes on to say they have a range increment of 10 feet).

Thrown Weapons: Daggers, clubs, shortspears, spears, darts, javelins, throwing axes, light hammers, tridents, shuriken, and nets are thrown weapons. The wielder applies his or her Strength modifier to damage dealt by thrown weapons (except for splash weapons). It is possible to throw a weapon that isn’t designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn’t have a numeric entry in the Range Increment column on Table: Weapons), but a character who does so takes a –4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

[Duke of Urrel]

A 116 - clarification

But the spear does have a range increment: 20 feet? The rule cited specifically calls out the penalty for weapons without a range increment (and goes on to say they have a range increment of 10 feet).

No -4 penalty applies when you use a spear, for exactly the reason you mention: because it has a range increment of 20 feet.

Actually, let me correct myself. The actual condition for imposing the -4 penalty is not whether the thrown weapon has a range increment at all. The condition is whether the weapon has a numeric entry in the Range Increment column of the "Table Weapons." The spear has a numeric entry in this table; therefore, no -4 penalty applies when you throw a spear.

But a -4 penalty does apply when you throw a longspear, because this weapon doesn't have a numeric entry in the Range Increment column.

I shouldn't even have mentioned the longspear in my previous posting; that muddied the waters unnecessarily. However, since both the spear and the longspear are two-handed mêlée weapons, it takes a full-round action to throw either of them.

[ILM]

Q118:
I think I've been mis-using Pounce all these years. Re-reading the text, it says "When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can follow with a full attack." Does this mean that you make a normal (single) attack as part of the charge, and in addition to that get a full attack? If so, given the wording, does this full attack get the charge's +2 to attack?

What I've been doing so far was replacing the charge's single attack with a full attack that got the benefit of the +2 bonus, but it seems one should treat the full attack as a distinct component.

[Curmudgeon]

A 118

You haven't been misusing Pounce, despite the word "follow" being unclear. Pounce does not grant you a separate full-round action (full attack) after the Charge full-round action. For clarification we can turn to the Lion Tribe Warrior [Regional] feat (Shining South, pages 20-21) and its specification of how Pounce attacks work: "as part of a charge action". Accordingly, the full attack replaces the normal single melee attack allowed on a Charge ("follow" meaning "to result as an effect; occur as a consequence") rather than taking place after the Charge has ended ("follow" meaning "to happen or occur after something else").

[NeoPhoenix0]

Q 119

If an Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil attempts to grapples an opponent with a personal warding active it does not harm the creature they grapple. Is the creature harmed if the grapple is successful and latter the creature successfully escapes the grapple?

[Curmudgeon]

A 119 No.

The Personal warding has the following restriction:

It moves with her, but she cannot force another creature to pass through it (for example, by attempting to grapple an enemy). If she does force a creature to pass through, the warding has no effect on that creature.

The restriction has no time limit. Once the IotSV forces the opponent to pass through the warding by grappling them, the warding has no effect on that creature, ever.

[Metahuman1]

120 Q

What feats increase a characters natural reach?

[Curmudgeon]

A 120

Deformity (tall) (Heroes of Horror, page 121) grants +5' reach to an Evil Medium creature. Prerequisite is Willing Deformity (Heroes of Horror, page 125).

Extended Reach (Savage Species, page 34) grants +5' reach to a Small+ creature with flexible body parts. Apart from creature types with tentacles and the like, you can satisfy that requirement with any of the following:

• Aberration Blood feat (Lords of Madness, page 178) with the "flexible body" option
• Mourning Mutate [Aberrant] feat (Dragon # 359, page 110) with the "unnaturally flexible" option
• Silthilar Flexible Spine graft (Lords of Madness, page 216)

Inhuman Reach (Lords of Madness, page 180) can extend reach by a further +5', but at a cost of -1 to all melee attack rolls. Prerequisite is either Aberration Blood or Mourning Mutate [Aberrant].

Martial Stance (Dancing Blade Form) feat (Tome of Battle, page 31) provides another +5' of reach while in the stance, but only during the character's turn (so generally useless for attacks of opportunity). Prerequisite is Martial Study (Tome of Battle, pages 31-32).

[Dmdork]

Q121 can you search something (like a chest for traps) without actually touching it?

[Dmdork]

Q122 a word about the shadow mastiffs shadow blend SU:....if the conditions are met, can the shadow mastiff attack and stay hidden, or is it like the hide skill?

[Dmdork]

Q123can magic missile be used to take out mirror image, shooting one missile for each image?

[Dmdork]

Q124 can detect magic/evil, be used to detect the exact location of an invisible enemy?

[Curmudgeon]

A 121 Yes.

Check: You generally must be within 10 feet of the object or surface to be searched.

You generally must be within 10' of the object or surface to be searched, but if you're a Rogue there are explicit provisions in the rules that state you're capable of finding (and also disarming) many spell traps with ranges up to 60':

• Explosive Runes can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Fire Trap can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Glyph of Warding can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Spike Growth can only be found by a Rogue.
• Spike Stones can only be found by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Death can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Fear can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Insanity can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Pain can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Persuasion can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Sleep can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Stunning can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Symbol of Weakness can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.
• Teleportation Circle can only be found or disabled by a Rogue.

Being dead due to approaching within 60' of a Symbol of Death trap would make it impossible to disarm such a trap, yet the Rogue can find and disable such a trap without triggering it. There are several ways of interpreting this RAW requirement:

• The Rogue cannot trigger the spell until they're close enough to disarm it, even if they're not Searching for traps. (This works mechanically as an extension of the "generally" limitation for Search, but I have found no other RAW support for this interpretation.)
• The Search and Disable Device skills can be used at any distance by a Rogue. (This has better support because of all the above spells making explicit statements that a Rogue can handle them.)
• Search (and presumably also Disable Device) works within 10', but that can be 10' from the outside of a spell trap's effective area. (This has perhaps the best support because of all the above spells making explicit statements that a Rogue can handle them, and doesn't require extending the "general" range limit of Search.)

Regardless of the interpretation used, there is no RAW requirement to touch anything to find it with Search or deactivate it with Disable Device.

A 123 Yes.

You can attempt to use a spell even if what you aim at turns out to be an invalid target. Most of the time, this has no effect.

If you ever try to cast a spell in conditions where the characteristics of the spell (range, area, or the like) cannot be made to conform, the casting fails and the spell is wasted. For example, if you cast charm person on a dog, the spell fails because a dog is the wrong sort of target for the spell.

The Target specification does not provide you any information to keep you from attempting to cast the spell. Furthermore, Magic Missile is explicitly usable, successfully, against targets which do not meet the specification of "Targets: Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart"; see Prismatic Wall. Finally, this proviso of Mirror Image requires that Magic Missile work against figments:

Enemies attempting to attack you or cast spells at you must select from among indistinguishable targets. Generally, roll randomly to see whether the selected target is real or a figment. Any successful attack against an image destroys it.

[TheCrowing1432]

Q 125

I am improving my animal companion and adding skill points.

Problem is, animals have 2 int, giving them a -4 to their int modifier.

Animals advance as 2 skill points per HD + int mod.

But their int mod is -4

So do animals not get skillpoints?

[Andezzar]

A 125

No, every creature gets at least one skill point regardless of INT modifier.

[TheCrowing1432]

A 125

No, every creature gets at least one skill point regardless of INT modifier.

So animals always get 1 point per HD?

Or does the 2 stay?

[Andezzar]

No it's only 1. 2+INT mod, minimum 1

You apply your character’s Intelligence modifier to:
[...]

The number of skill points gained each level. (But your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level.)

[Khedrac]

A123 additional
Note that since Magic Missile is a volley one must decide on targets for all the missiles before the effects of any single missile are known.
With the maximum 5 missiles against a mirror-imaged target it makes more sense to spread them (against a person with 4 images this would guarantee one hit and remove all the images, assuming no magic missile immunity) than to put all 5 on the same target (20% chance they all hit, otherwise one image is removed).

[jimthepocket]

Q126

Can a native outsider (a cambion, in this case) be bound?

[ComaVision]

Q127

Does the Feat Natural Heavyweight and the item Belt of the Wide Earth stack for x4 to carrying capacity? Or should it be x3 by RAW?