Simple RAW thread for 3.5 #31. By now, your question has probably been answered.

[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.


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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.

[Drynwyn]

A653 to question from previous thread

The "Giant Size" spell does not specify what would occur if it was cast while surrounded by creatures. However, Enlarge Person states that "If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it—the spell cannot be used to crush a creature by increasing its size."

It's not too much of a stretch to apply the same rules to Giant Size. Presumably, in the case of people, this would mean a Strength check to push the people back.

[Troacctid]

A 653

Since the creatures are two size categories smaller than you, they can share your space, so you end up occupying the same squares as them.

[Psyren]

Q1: Is the thread title meant to say, "By now, your question has probably been answered?"

Spoiler

Show

[Jowgen]

Q2 (single-digit question number looks just wrong...)

I've heard that D&D uses a 5000 ft mile. Is this true, and if yes, where does it say so?

[heavyfuel]

A2 (Single digits do look weird)

Looking at Movement in the SRD, we see that a character with walking speed of 30ft per round (5ft per second) of movement walks 3 miles in one hour.

Same character has a hustle speed of 60ft per round, and can hustle 6 miles in an hour.

Therefore, a mile in D&D is 5ft*60(seconds)*60(minutes)/3(miles) = 6000 not 5000

[Debatra]

Q 3 What if anything happens if you ingest an injury poison?

[St Fan]

Q 4
(Reposting since this was lost in the thread switch.)

What happens when a psionic character low on hit points tries to manifest a power along with the Overchannel feat, and the damage brings him below 0 hit points?

Does he still pays the power points cost before passing out? Does the power still manifest itself? (That's important with a power like Metamorphosis, which involves healing some damage and thus can bring back the character to positive hit points.)

[Curmudgeon]

A 003 Nothing.

It's the same thing that happens if you touch an injury poison: you don't get poisoned.

[VisitingDaGulag]

Q5: If a little critter like a Rat gets level drained, does it turn into a medium-sized 4HD wight?

[Andezzar]

A 005

Yes, unless the source of the level-drain says otherwise.

A character with negative levels at least equal to her current level, or drained below 1st level, is instantly slain. Depending on the creature that killed her, she may rise the next night as a monster of that kind. If not, she rises as a wight.

[Thurbane]

Q006

Can Incarnate Construct be cast on an Animated Object (say, a medium statue of a humanoid) if the Animate Object spell has been made Permanent?

Q006b

If yes, does it retain its Hardness? The Incarnate Construct template says that the creature loses all Special Qualities - but from the Animated Object creature entry, I'm not entirely sure that Hardness counts as a Special Quality?

[Curmudgeon]

A 006 No.

The spell does not work on constructs that are only constructs temporarily (such as objects affected by an animate objects spell).

In D&D, "Permanent" duration is temporary; it lasts only until dispelled.

Permanent
The energy remains as long as the effect does. This means the spell is vulnerable to dispel magic.

[Dmdork]

Q7 if I'm in the cold north, and I go ethereal, am I still cold?

[With a box]

Q8
can I really go to demiplane by plane shift?
plane shift says that you appear min 5 to max 500 miles (5d%) from your intended destination, and as most demiplane doesn't large then a square mile, I think you would reach somewhere outside of said demiplane itself.

[Curmudgeon]

A 008

Generally, no. If the demiplane was created by you using the psionic power Genesis, yes; there's a specific proviso allowing that to work despite the usual error.

Once your demiplane is created, you can travel to it using astral caravan, plane shift, or some other power or permanent link that you arrange for separately.

It's up to your DM where exactly in your demiplane you arrive.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q009

Will Animate Breath and Breath Weapon Admixture stack?

They are spells from Draconomicon, pages 76 and 78.

[Curmudgeon]

A 009 Maybe partly.

Let's start by acknowledging that Breath Weapon Admixture is dysfunctional. Instead of generating an Effect, this spell specifies "Target: Your breath weapon". Your breath weapon has no physical manifestation (i.e., does not exist as a target) unless you use (attack with) it.

Using a breath weapon is typically a standard action.

Breath Weapon Admixture requires a standard action for the casting.

The modification applies only to the breath produced as part of the casting.

There is no statement of the spell overriding the standard action use requirement and no other mention of the breath being triggered by casting Breath Weapon Admixture, so there is no valid target. Thus, the spell can never succeed as written.

Skipping over that (i.e., assuming the spell actually does trigger your breath weapon with no action required), the spells would partially combine. The total number of damage dice in the breath weapon would double, thus the Animate Breath Construct would have twice the HD. The Construct's Damage would not change:

... plus energy damage equal to one die of the same size as your breath weapon damage.

The extra energy damage added by Breath Weapon Admixture would not be reflected here, because "one die" does not change. Similarly the Speed and Special Qualities properties are set by a single breath energy type; you don't get two choices when you add a second energy type with Breath Weapon Admixture.

[Chris in Duluth]

Q 10 If an arcane caster has a spell up that requires concentration to maintain, can he cast another spell yet keep the concentration spell going? So for example, could you cast 2 illusions in a row that both require concentration for their duration and have both going at the same time?

[FocusWolf413]

Q11
Are there any simple or martial light throwing weapons with an increment of 30' or more?

A10
Yes. As long as he spends his standard or swift action to maintain concentration, he can cast another spell. For example, if you spend your standard to hold concentration, you can cast swift haste.

[Curmudgeon]

A 010 [correction] Generally no.

Concentration

To cast a spell, you must concentrate. If something interrupts your concentration while you’re casting, you must make a Concentration check or lose the spell.

Excepting special circumstances, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time in D&D. Concentrating to cast a new spell almost always means you're interrupting your concentration on an existing spell, so having maintained concentration on that existing spell no longer matters once you start casting the new spell. From page 96 of Complete Arcane:

When you cast this spell as a swift action (see page 86), you increase your ability to concentrate on a spell you have already cast. This spell is one of only a few spells (finding the center being another) that you can cast while maintaining concentration on another spell.

Aiming at the Target has been updated in Spell Compendium, but still contains the special proviso. From page 8:

You can cast this spell while maintaining concentration on another spell.

[Andezzar]

A 10 Addendum

It is also explicit that you cannot maintain concentration on one spell while casting another unless the spell says otherwise:

You can’t cast a spell while concentrating on another one. Sometimes a spell lasts for a short time after you cease concentrating.

[Thurbane]

Q 012

When a Druid assumes Wild Shape, all worn items are absorbed into the new form - do these items still have weight and/or encumbrance value?

Q013

Is it possible to craft a Pearl of Speech with Druidic set as its language?

[Curmudgeon]

A 012

There is no stipulation that the melded items become weightless, so that doesn't happen. When melded into the character's form they don't count as gear and thus have no impact on encumbrance.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

A13

No, Pearl of Speech is created with the Tongues spell. Tongues allows the target to speak and understand any racial or regional language. Druidic is a secret language and does not apply.

[Chronos]

A 13 contention:

A magic item need not function in the same way as the spell that's used to create it (if it did, then flaming weapons, being created using Fireball, would be much more dangerous), and the listing for Pearl of Speech specifies no limits on the language that it can be created for. In fact, it doesn't even require that the creator know the language.

Furthermore, even the Tongues spell doesn't actually contain that limitation. It grants "the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature, whether it is a racial tongue or a regional dialect.". This means that a language would not be ruled out by being in either of those categories, but does not mean that only languages in those categories are valid. The only restriction is that it be "the language of any intelligent creature", and Druidic qualifies for that.

[Dread_Head]

Q14
A Ghost Fighter 2 with the Dungeoncrasher ACF uses their Telekinesis ability to bullrush an opponent into a wall. What damage is dealt by the bullrush? 4d6+2*Str as standard for a dungeoncrash or 4d6+2*cha as cha is used in substitute of str with the telekinesis spell?

Q15
What action does the Full Attack Telekinesis ability of the Master of the Unseen Hand take? Is it the standard action required to maintain concentration on Telekineses or is it a full round action as it is a full attack?

Q16
Is there any way to boost the CL of a ghosts Telekinesis ability other than adding more HD or taking Master of the Unseen Hand levels?

[Curmudgeon]

A 014 STR bonus, or N/A; ask your DM.

The rules for Dungeon Crasher's Bull Rush attack specify "your momentum" as the agent for causing damage.

In addition, you gain a special benefit when making a bull rush. If you force an opponent to move into a wall or other solid object, he stops as normal. However, your momentum crushes him against it, dealing an amount of bludgeoning damage equal to 4d6 points + twice your Strength bonus (if any).

An attack using Telekinesis for Bull Rush has no momentum, and the Ghost also cannot have momentum for normal Bull Rush attacks due to having no mass.

Incorporeal Subtype

An incorporeal creature has no physical body.

A strict reading of Dungeon Crasher would not work sans momentum. Should a DM allow use of Dungeon Crasher without momentum, it would function as stated using the character's Strength bonus.

A 015

Each use of the Full Attack Telekinesis requires multiple attacks. An attack is not itself an action, but an option for various actions including a standard action attack (1 attack) and a full attack action (number of attacks dependent on Base Attack Bonus).

base attack bonus

An attack roll bonus derived from character class and level. Base attack bonuses increase at different rates for different character classes. A character gains a second attack when his or her base attack bonus reaches +6, a third with a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, and a fourth with a base attack bonus of +16 or higher. Base attack bonuses gained from different classes, such as when a character is a multiclass character, stack.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q017

Do the wands in a Rod of Many Wands all have to share the same target?

[Curmudgeon]

A 017 Yes.

Although you are not required to fill all three depressions, you cannot selectively activate the wands that you have loaded; activating the rod triggers every wand connected to it.

Activating a wand includes specifying a target.

To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area.

Because you cannot selectively activate the wands in a Rod of Many Wands, you cannot selectively point each wand at a different target; it's just one action to activate all the wands, pointing at a single target.