Simple RAW Thread for 3.5: 30. Really? 30?

[LibraryOgre]

(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.

This thread will serve as a catch-all for simple, discreet questions that can be answered quickly according to the RAW (Rules As Written). This thread is for all simple RAW questions about D&D 3.5. If your question is not about the RAW for 3.5, please look in the appropriate threads in the appropriate forums.


The Procedure:

Do:
Label your questions with bold Q#s.
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Dispute Resolution Procedure:
If you dispute someone’s answer – meaning that they got it wrong in a critical fashion – post your answer and suggest that the original questioner start a thread to discuss it further if they want it hashed out.
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Here are some sample questions. “Bad” questions just mean they should be asked in their own thread where you can get many answers and opinions. “Good” questions just mean that these are the types of questions that are amenable to a quick straightforward answer (probably).

Sample “Bad” Questions:
How do I play D&D? (Great question, but not for this thread.)
What is a good 10 level TWF build? (Far too broad and requires much opinion)
What +2 LA race should I take for my sorcerer build? (Again, an opinion question)
Which is better GURPS or D&D?

Sample “Good” Questions:
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.

[Darxbloop]

Q# 01

For the spell Secret Chest, can anyone retrieve the hidden chest as long as they possess the replica, or is the replica "bound" to me and only me? Or something in between (like, a command word of some sort)?

[heavyfuel]

A 001

Only the creature that hid the chest can retrieve it from the Ethereal Plane by casting the spell. A located chest is still a regular chest, and can be opened by anyone that has the means to do it.

You hide a chest on the Ethereal Plane for as long as sixty days and [you] can retrieve it at will.

[Dr TPK]

Q002

Can Blink Dogs understand/speak Common?

[Troacctid]

A 002

Most do not.

A creature can speak all the languages mentioned in its description, plus one additional language per point of Intelligence bonus. Any creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher understands at least one language (Common, unless noted otherwise).

Blink dogs have their own language, a mixture of barks, yaps, whines, and growls that can transmit complex information.

Since they have 10 Intelligence, they have no bonus languages and speak/understand only the blink dog language, as noted in their description. However, if a blink dog started with a non-standard ability score array, it might have Common as a bonus language. Also, nothing stops a blink dog from learning Common by investing skill points into Speak Language.

[torrasque666]

Q003: Is the Stalker of Kharash's Favored Enemy - Evil class feature a valid selection for the Nemesis feat?

[Endarire]

Q4
Assume I'm riding a mount that has Pounce. I also have Pounce. While I'm riding my mount, my mount charges. Who makes a full attack at the end of this charge?

[Thurbane]

Q005

If a Bearded Devil takes the Haft Strike feat, do strikes with the half of his halberd inflict an Infernal Wound?

The infernal wound is a supernatural ability of the bearded devil, not of the weapon.

[Heliomance]

Q006
The Void Disciple in Oriental Adventures has as a prerequisite 10 ranks in Scry. The Scry skill no longer exists in 3.55, and the OA 3.5 update makes no mention of the Void Disciple. Is there any guidance as to what to do in this situation?

[Curmudgeon]

A 003 Ask your DM.

While the prestige class will satisfy Nemesis's prerequisite (Favored enemy class ability), the feat also requires you to "Choose one of your favored enemies." Stalker of Kharash doesn't give you a choice of favored enemies. Some DMs might allow a "choice" of of a single non-chosen favored enemy; others might not.

A 004 Your mount.

Your mount is making the charge, not you. There are special rules which apply to the rider when the mount charges, as follows:

If your mount charges, you also take the AC penalty associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance.

Qualifying for pounce full attacks is not part of these special rules.

A 006 Yes.

Despite Oriental Adventures having been updated to 3.5 rules in Dragon # 318, the Void Disciple class from OA is defunct. The 3.5 version of that class is in Complete Divine starting on page 72. Dragon # 318 is dated 2004 April; Complete Divine was published in 2004 May. The guidance is to use the most recent version of the class.

[HurinTheCursed]

Q.007 Hi giants and pixies in the playground and everything in between

A) By RAW, if a rogue with 30' speed searches for traps in a corridor, how fast can he walk depending on corridor width and his own space (medium, large...) ?
B) In order to use the search skill, does a character have to use touch sense or is sight enough ?
C) How far ahead of the trap/treasure, after he passes the trap/treasure would he detect the trap/treasure provided he rolls normal successes ?
D) Same questions with a character that tries to avoid natural hazards using survival.

[Curmudgeon]

A 007

A)

Action: It takes a full-round action to search a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of goods 5 feet on a side.

The Rogue's speed doesn't matter (as long as it's at least 5'). In a corridor only 5' wide the Rogue can Search 5' every round and take a 5' step. In a wider corridor the Rogue's progress will be slower.

B) No particular individual sense is required by the Search skill. Any Rogue can find traps 10' away, which means Rogues with less than 10' reach will successfully Search without touching.

C) 10' away.

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

Note the Rogue can detect and disable traps without triggering them, so both Search and Disable Device work when within that distance from the trap (all of the trap, out to the trigger radius).

D) As far as necessary.

To avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards, you make a Survival check whenever the situation calls for one.

Your individual DM will have to determine how far away you need to be when you make the check to avoid a natural hazard.

[Chronos]

A 007 addendum:

Note that that time is for every 5' square of surface, so to be thorough, you would need to search the floor, walls, and ceiling separately. Or, of course, you could take your chances that one of those surfaces is not trapped, and only check some of them.

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 007 addendum

Note that that time is for every 5' square of surface, so to be thorough, you would need to search the floor, walls, and ceiling separately.

It's explicitly one round to search a 5' cube of goods, and one round to search a "5-foot-by-5-foot area" (i.e., the game term for a grid square).

square

A square on the battle grid. A square is 1 inch on a side and represents a 5-foot-by-5-foot area. The terms "1 square" and "5 feet" are generally interchangeable.

Grid squares are not limited to planar surfaces, but encompass the volume above them. The Search skill makes no mention of floors, walls, or ceilings; that's only in your addendum.

[HurinTheCursed]

Q 007
Apologize for your time guys, I read the page 3 times without finding.
Fatigue I suppose.

[Uncle Pine]

Q 008
When determining your own encumbrance, do you need to account for your own weight? If your own weight exceed your carrying capacity (i.e. a 125+ tons Colossal creature with Str drained to 1), do you suffer any penalty?

[KillianHawkeye]

A 8

No.

If you want to determine whether your character’s gear is heavy enough to slow him or her down more than the armor already does, total the weight of all the character’s items, including armor, weapons, and gear.

Your basic unencumbered state is whatever is normal for your character wearing only the clothes on their back. The game doesn't have rules for characters being overweight, except maybe as an optional character flaw.

[Story]

Q009: Are there any ways to permanently become younger besides the Steal Life spell in BoVD?

[Troacctid]

A 009 Yes.

Reincarnate (or last breath) gives you a new young adult body. True mind switch lets you steal a younger body. There may be others.

[HurinTheCursed]

Q.010 Can tumble be used to move past an enemy without AoO when flying with a fly speed, swimming with a swim speed, jumping, charging or leap attacking ?

Spoiler: Tumble

Show

Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player’s choice of order in case of a tie). Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC.

[Troacctid]

A 010 Yes.

Tumble can be used as part of your movement, as you quoted. There's no restriction that says it must be land movement.

[LentilNinja]

Q 011
Does a PC using an ability that targets "allies" count themselves?

[heavyfuel]

A 011

Usually yes.

A creature friendly to you. In most cases, references to "allies" include yourself.

[Andezzar]

Q 12

Can you unhorse an enemy with a lance in general or with a lance charge in particular?

Q 13

a) What happens if you make a trip attempt on a rider?
b) What happens if you make a trip attempt on a mount?

[Curmudgeon]

A 012

Not generally, because a lance is not a tripping weapon. However, the Cavalry Charger feat (Complete Warrior, pages 108-110) allows this as a tactical option.

A 013 a)

If the rider takes damage (for instance, if the trip attempt is due to the Knock-Down feat) or the horse reacts to the trip attempt by rearing or bolting, the rider has a chance to stay in the saddle with a Ride check.

Stay in Saddle
You can react instantly to try to avoid falling when your mount rears or bolts unexpectedly or when you take damage. This usage does not take an action.

Should they fail this check (DC 5), they fall off the horse.

Soft Fall
You can react instantly to try to take no damage when you fall off a mount—when it is killed or when it falls, for example. If you fail your Ride check, you take 1d6 points of falling damage. This usage does not take an action.

A 013 b)

If Your Mount Falls in Battle
If your mount falls, you have to succeed on a DC 15 Ride check to make a soft fall and take no damage. If the check fails, you take 1d6 points of damage.

[Aplostor]

Q 014
I am a little bit confused about how grapple/improved grab interacts with iterative attacks and other natural attacks. Let's assume I have 4 attacks with tentacles and improved grab. If I hit a creature, I can start a grapple as a free action. If I decide to take the -20 penalty, since I am not considered grappled, can I use my remaining three attacks against the same creature? If the answer is yes, can I start another grapple with other tentacles?

[Curmudgeon]

A 014

Excepting the one special case of unarmed strike, natural weapons do not use iterative attack rules. If your full attack with natural weapons is 4 tentacles you may use each one once. If you have Improved Grab and attack an enemy smaller than yourself, you may hold the enemy without being considered grappled. The rest of your full attack with your natural weapons can be executed as you desire. If you only had a single tentacle along with iterative attacks, you would only be able to use the tentacle at the appropriate point in your full attack routine, usually second or third due to the secondary natural attack penalty.

If you get multiple attacks because your base attack bonus is high enough, you must make the attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest.

Benefit: The creature’s secondary attacks with natural weapons take only a -2 penalty.

Normal: Without this feat, the creature’s secondary attacks with natural weapons take a -5 penalty.

[Keegan__D]

I cannot find a source for the Ring of Them Songs from the DandDWiki. It doesn't say that it's homebrew on the page, so I'm inclined to believe that it's from a Wizards source, but I was under the impression that the DandDWiki only had material from the SRD, and I'm certain that this isn't in there.

[Andezzar]

Q 015

I cannot find a source for the Ring of Them Songs from the DandDWiki. It doesn't say that it's homebrew on the page, so I'm inclined to believe that it's from a Wizards source, but I was under the impression that the DandDWiki only had material from the SRD, and I'm certain that this isn't in there.

A 015

Dandwiki has lots of user created content and is notoriously bad for marking homebrew content as such. Unless the item is form one of the April Fools articles from WotC, I can't imagine this item not being homebrew.
If you look for easily searchable SRD content you're better off with D20SRD.org.

Please number your question.

[Aplostor]

Q 016
I cannot find the meaning, in game terms, of "wielding a weapon". If I have natural weapons and I attack with them, am I wielding them? I am asking this in order to know if I can use Dancing Mongoose with natural weapons.