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

[Sane]

Q94
Does using a bardic knowledge check to replace a knowledge check to discover a personal truename take the truename research amount of time or the typical bard knowledge check amount of time? p.197 ToM

A94
It isn't made entirely clear and I'd talk to your DM about it. My reading of it is that while a bardic knowledge check can substitute for one of the required knowledge(type) checks required to research a personal truename, the research described is still required. This is because although the research uses knowledge checks as the mechanism by which you establish whether or not you discover a personal truename, they do not take the form knowledge checks take in the PHB (where a check is instant; you know something or you don't and no retry is possible). Here they're used specifically as steps in a process of research, with each step (check) taking one week (less with the appropriate feat and/or access to special libraries, and so forth, as described on ToM p197).

[Eladrinblade]

Q 143

Does a barbarian's damage reduction stack with that granted by adamantine armor?

[Troacctid]

Q 143

Does a barbarian's damage reduction stack with that granted by adamantine armor?

No it does not.

If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.

[Demonic_Spoon]

Q144
I seem to recall one of the Dragon Magazines statting out the para-elemental plane for 3rd edition, but I can't find the correct issue. Which one was it? Alternatively, is there another official source which fully writes out the para-elemental planes with traits and all?

EDIT: I may have confused para and quasi elemental planes again. I'm talking about the type that has the Elemental Plane of Lightning.

[torrasque666]

Q 145: Would taking the first level of the Draconic Racial Class and then becoming a Dragonborn of Bahamut preclude one from taking the second "level"? Or is this a way to get an inherited template applied to a Dragonborn?

[Wacky89]

Q146
Does monk's fast movement work for racial flyspeed? or does it only affect land speed?

[Chronos]

A 146:

The monk's ability just says it applies to her speed, without any further qualifiers. It thus applies to all movement modes she has available, including walking, racial movement modes like flight or burrowing, or movement modes granted by a spell or item.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Q 147

Shinomen nagas have the telepathy special quality, but it does not work like telepathy normally does. My question is can they take the Mindsight and, if so, how does it work?

[Debatra]

A 147

The only prerequisite for Mindsight is "Telepathy special quality", so a Naga could take it. The feat works normally, out to 30'. Range is the only relation between a creature's telepathy and the Mindsight feat.

[Deepbluediver]

Q148

In the tome of battle, Maneuvers have levels (1st through 9th). How do you determine what level you need to be to learn a particular maneuver? Ignoring other prerequisites.

[Debatra]

A 148 Everything you need to answer this is on page 39 of the Tome of Battle. It's right there in the same book.

[Troacctid]

Q144
I seem to recall one of the Dragon Magazines statting out the para-elemental plane for 3rd edition, but I can't find the correct issue. Which one was it? Alternatively, is there another official source which fully writes out the para-elemental planes with traits and all?

EDIT: I may have confused para and quasi elemental planes again. I'm talking about the type that has the Elemental Plane of Lightning.

The quasielemental planes do not exist in this edition. They were removed from the default cosmology.

Q 145: Would taking the first level of the Draconic Racial Class and then becoming a Dragonborn of Bahamut preclude one from taking the second "level"? Or is this a way to get an inherited template applied to a Dragonborn?

This works AFAICT.

Upon transformation from her initial race to a dragonborn, a supplicant loses many racial traits and gains those of the dragonborn.
[...]
You still count as a member of your original race for the purpose of any effect or prerequisite that depends on race.

To use this option, you must declare when creating your character that you are creating a draconic character.

You lose your racial traits upon transforming, not as a continuous effect that applies after the transformation, so any racial traits gained after the transformation still apply. (This is why acquired templates can still work on dragonborn.)

In order to use the draconic racial class, you must meet a racial prerequisite (declaring that you are a draconic creature during character creation). You still qualify for this after becoming a dragonborn, so you can keep taking the racial class.

So yeah. You should be fine.

[Andezzar]

Q 149

If two creatures hostile to each other are side by side in adjacent squares, can one creature make a diagonal 5 ft step? Illustration: the creature foes from 1 to 2 around the enemy (E)

	1
2	E

[KillianHawkeye]

A 149 Yes.

Other creatures, hostile or not, don't normally impede a character's ability to move diagonally. Even a gelatinous cube, the classic example of a monster which actually fills the entirety of its 10x10 space, has no explicit rule prohibiting diagonal movement in its vicinity (although it might be a reasonable house rule in that specific instance).

[Strigon]

Q 150:


When attempting to hide in plain sight (appear inconspicuous in a place you don't belong, or blend with a crowd to escape guards, for example), which skill check should be used?

[Sane]

Q 150:


When attempting to hide in plain sight (appear inconspicuous in a place you don't belong, or blend with a crowd to escape guards, for example), which skill check should be used?

A150
In case of blending in (or being inconspicuous), you just use the hide skill. From the PHB, emphasis mine:

Use this skill to sink back into the shadows and proceed unseen, to approach a wizard’s tower under cover of brush, or to tail someone through a busy street without being noticed.

The emphasised example covers blending in. In your example, you might want to add a bonus to the guards' opposed spot check, if they know what the person they're looking for looks like or if their quarry is dressed incongruously (in a prison uniform, an enemy soldier's uniform or civilian garb in an area in which those with a legitimate presence would be wearing something else, for example).

However, blending into a crowd isn't the same as the ranger's hide in plain sight ability. Blending into a crowd allows for a sense in which you can hide, because you look just like all those around you. The hide in plain sight ability applies to rangers in natural environments being able to use the hide skill to avoid being seen even while being observed. In this case, the ranger presumably makes like a tree, whether he then leafs or not. (Sorry, mine's the one with all the third edition books in the pocket.)

If you want to hide in plain sight in the sense that you want to appear as though you belong where you do not, and blending in isn't an option, I would suggest it's a case of bluff versus sense motive. People bluff their way into places they don't belong just by confident use of body language, after all.

[KillianHawkeye]

Q 151

Am I correct in my reading that a Rakshasa keeps its natural armor when it takes a humanoid form with Change Shape?

[Sane]

Q 151

Am I correct in my reading that a Rakshasa keeps its natural armor when it takes a humanoid form with Change Shape?

A 151
You are.

[KillianHawkeye]

A 151
You are.

Seems odd, but okay!

[Nohwl]

Q152

the spell thunderlance from the spell compendium...does it actually create a lance? would i get the bonus damage when i'm mounted and charging that a regular lance gives?

[ManicOppressive]

A152

but it always remains a straight lance of force. This effect gives you a natural reach of 20 feet.

It's definitely a lance. And

A lance deals double damage when used from the back of a charging mount.

So yes, Thunderlance should act as a lance and deal double damage (6d6!) from horseback.

[Strigon]

Q 153:

Do a soulknife's summoned weapons count as magic when attacking incorporeal targets, or only for DR?

[Sane]

Q 153:

Do a soulknife's summoned weapons count as magic when attacking incorporeal targets, or only for DR?

A 153
The text only states that it counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming DR. There's nothing in the errata or FAQ to suggest otherwise. However...

I think it's wonkily worded (as in, if it's only intended to count as magical for the purposes of countering DR, it would have helped for the text to explicitly state 'only'). Clearly, the mind blade is intended to serve throughout the soulknife's potential 20-level career. And at 4th level, the ability explicitly states that the blade gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. At the very least, I would rule that it counts as a magical weapon (in general, as in, it can hit incorporeal targets) from 4th level onwards. Prior to that, it is at least eligible for spells like magic weapon to apply to it (see the last sentence of paragraph four). I think that's the way it's intended. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with it being ruled as being considered a magic weapon right from the start.

[Graypairofsocks]

Q 154:

What is the casting time for spell-like ability versions of spells with casting time longer than 1 standard action?
Is it still 1 standard action, or is it longer.
D20srd.org and the one from the wizards website contradict each other.

[Debatra]

A 154 SLAs have a casting time equal to the spell they emulate unless otherwise stated. If they don't emulate a spell, then it's a standard action unless otherwise stated.

[heavyfuel]

Q 155

What is the "slowed" condition? (Staggering Critical, DotU)

If it's "as the slow spell", can the creature take 5ft steps, free, swift, or immediate actions?

[HobbesB]

Q 156


Hi, I'm trying to find the biggest weapons I can throw around with Telekinetic Thrust at 5th level. In the Arms and Equipment Guide, there is information on increasing the size of weapons. Specifically, increasing an item by a size category increases its damage and cost by 50% each increase. So I take a medium bastard sword that does 1d10 damage, increase it by five size categories, and I now have a Colossal+ weapon that deals 8d8 damage whenever I chuck it at someone. According to the book it now weighs ~45 lbs and and costs ~265 lbs. But how much physical space does it take up, by RAW? Will it fit in my Bag of Holding?

[Sane]

Q 156


Hi, I'm trying to find the biggest weapons I can throw around with Telekinetic Thrust at 5th level. In the Arms and Equipment Guide, there is information on increasing the size of weapons. Specifically, increasing an item by a size category increases its damage and cost by 50% each increase. So I take a medium bastard sword that does 1d10 damage, increase it by five size categories, and I now have a Colossal+ weapon that deals 8d8 damage whenever I chuck it at someone. According to the book it now weighs ~45 lbs and and costs ~265 lbs. But how much physical space does it take up, by RAW? Will it fit in my Bag of Holding?

A 156
First, I admire your approach to finding things worth throwing. Second, giving you a definitive answer is tricky, because the books don't tell us the dimensions of a bastard sword.

On PHB p117 the bastard sword is listed as doing 1d10 as a medium weapon weighing 6lb. Nowhere does it give the dimensions of the weapon. However, page 113 says that the size category of a weapon refers to the size of its wielder. Generally, a light weapon is two size categories smaller than its wielder (so a medium creature's dagger is a tiny object). However, it says that two-handed weapons are generally the same size category as the wielder, and the bastard sword is two-handed for anyone lacking the exotic weapon proficiency for it, so it's reasonable to describe it as a medium sized object. That makes increasing it to colossal a four size category change.

Both the DMG (p28) and the AaEG (p4) agree that this changes the damage to 6d8. Increasing its weight by a half for each size increment gives us a colossal result of 30.375lb (forgive my mixing metric with Imperial). (It's perhaps worth noting that the AaEG differs slightly from the 3.5 PHB in its rule on determining the weight of a weapon made for a different size category. While the AaEG says multiply the weight by 50% for each size category increase, the PHB, on p114, says that while weights are given for medium sized weapons, these values should be halved for small versions and doubled for large ones. But let's stick with the AaEG's version, which has the merit of addressing all weapon size and weight changes.)

So far, so good. Comparing the different types of bags of holding on p248 of the DMG, it''s clear that, in terms of weight, any BoH will accommodate your colossal bastard sword. Will it fit, though? Maybe. Probably. A Type I BoH has a volume limit of 30 cubic ft. While the weapon in question is likely to be in the region of twenty feet long, it's still going to be less than 30 cubic feet in volume (its blade will still only be inches thick at its thickest point, and so on). Once in the bag, I don't think it would leave much spare capacity though.

[ZamielVanWeber]

A 156 Follow Up
Bag of Holding type 1 does not give the dimensions of its 3 dimensions; we only have the final volume. If the bag has 3 ft x 10 ft x 1 ft the sword won't fit. If it is a perfect cube then each side is 3 ft x (cube root of 3) ft which is clearly smaller than the sword.
End result is you need to ask your DM if it will fit.

[zergling.exe]

A 146 Additional

Colossal+ is a virtual size category reserved for the largest of dragons.

Colossal+ Size: Although there is no size category larger than Colossal, the largest advanced dragons have a greater reach and deal more damage with their attacks than other Colossal dragons. These dragons are said to be of Colossal+ (“Colossal plus”) size.