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

[Troacctid]

Q182

Can I make my homunculus invisible?

It depends. Refer to the specific text of whatever ability you have that grants invisibility. For example, a Greater Invisibility spell could be used on a homunculus, but a Swift Invisibility spell could not (unless it were cast by the homunculus).

[Andezzar]

A 182

Sure, why shouldn't this guy be allowed to be made invisible?

Q 183

What ways besides Energy Drain are there to inflict level loss?

[Troacctid]

Q 183

What ways besides Energy Drain are there to inflict level loss?

Quite a lot. Many other methods of inflicting negative levels can result in permanent level loss. You can also permanently lose a level as a result of effects like Raise Dead, or by being cured of a lycanthropy affliction that was granting you hit dice.

Remember, energy drain and negative levels are not the same thing. Undead are immune to a specific supernatural ability that grants negative levels; they're not immune to negative levels in general, although, practically speaking, immunity to any effect that calls for a Fortitude save usually does the job.

energy drain: This supernatural attack saps a living opponent's vital energy and happens automatically when a melee or ranged attack hits. Each successful energy drain bestows one or more negative levels (the creature's description specifies how many). If an attack that includes an energy drain scores a critical hit, it drains twice the given amount. Unless otherwise specified in the creature's description, a draining creature gains 5 temporary hit points (10 on a critical hit) for each negative level it bestows on an opponent. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour.

[Sane]

Undead are immune to energy drain, but they can still gain negative levels in other ways, e.g. by holding a holy weapon.

That is... quite interesting. Do you have any other examples?

Edit: never mind. I've just seen your follow-up.

[Andezzar]

Q 184

I don't seem to post my questions precisely enough to get the answer I am looking for. Let's look at a very specific case.
Can you get an undead with several hit dice back to level 1 without changing its creature type?

Or another way:
Q 185

Is there a way to apply both the necropolitan template and the otherworldly feat to an elf (from one of the allowed regions)?

[Jowgen]

Q 186

A Dragon with the Spellhoarding Template (Dragon 3313 p. 80) takes a Wizard's spellbook, casts read magic to understand its contents and then spends a day studying a particular spell so she understands it.

From then on-wards (provided the spell-book remains available), does anything prevent the Spellhoarding Dragon from spending a day "scribing" that specific spell into her hoard, using her Spell Hoard Burning ability to gain the resulting exp/gp for spell component purposes, and then just keep scribing and burning the same spell over and over again to keep increasing her component exp/gp pool endlessly?

[AJK116]

Q187

Is it possible to have a bow similar to the bow a magick archer uses from Dragons Dogma?

[KillianHawkeye]

Q187

Is it possible to have a bow similar to the bow a magick archer uses from Dragons Dogma?

That depends. Can you describe what it does?

[AJK116]

That depends. Can you describe what it does?

In DD it is a hybrid magick bow/rogue class that dosent use arrows instead shooting like a magick missle type attack. Look at the wiki page for a better description, search magick archer Dragons Dogma.

[Chronos]

A 187:

Hank's Energy Bow might be what you're looking for. It's based on the one used by the character Hank in the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.

A 184:

One method would be for the undead to be repeatedly destroyed and then hit by the Revive Undead spell, from Libris Mortis and the Spell Compendium. It's basically like Raise Dead, except that it works on undead and only undead, and it's a 6th-level wizard spell.

[ben-zayb]

Q188
Once you cast Summon Swarm or any other spell that has duration:Concentration, do you need to remain within LoE, LoS, and Range of its effects in order to concentrate on it?

[Feddlefew]

Q189
Is there any official word on what the ability to read musical notation counts as?

[Graypairofsocks]

Q 190:
Would Mystic Surge (from "Player's Handbook II") work on spell-like abilities?

[Debatra]

A 184

There's also the Undead Battery feat from Age of Mortals. It's "officially endorsed" third-party though, making it more or less in line with Dragon Mag.

[Sane]

Q 190:
Would Mystic Surge (from "Player's Handbook II") work on spell-like abilities?

A 190
No. Spell-like abilities are like spells but not spells (MM p315). Mystic surge specifies that it applies to spells.

[Sane]

Q188
Once you cast Summon Swarm or any other spell that has duration:Concentration, do you need to remain within LoE, LoS, and Range of its effects in order to concentrate on it?

A188
Once a spell effect has been created, there is no rule that says the effect ends or that concentration to maintain an effect must end if the effect subsequently moves out of sight or beyond the spell's range.

[Troacctid]

Q189
Is there any official word on what the ability to read musical notation counts as?

A 189

No.

[Metahuman1]

Q 191: Is there a feat that allows a person whom would qualify to do a sneak attack to trade sneak attack damage dice to cost his opponent actions instead? If so, what book and page number can it be located in/on?

[Strelark]

Q 192 (a): When choosing a metamagic feat for a wizard, is the spell it is applied to declared at the time the feat is taken, or whenever the wizard prepares his/her spells?
Q 192 (b): Can a metamagic feat be applied to more than one spell? For example, you take the maximize feat, can you apply it to both fireball and lightning bolt?

[nyjastul69]

A 192(a) The application of most metamagic feats are chosen during spell preparation, not during feat selection. There may be exceptions.

A 192(b) Yes.

[Troacctid]

Q 191: Is there a feat that allows a person whom would qualify to do a sneak attack to trade sneak attack damage dice to cost his opponent actions instead? If so, what book and page number can it be located in/on?

You may be interested in Staggering Strike (Complete Adventurer p112).

[Kafana]

Q 193 Complete Champion, Paragonistic Assembly, Paragonistic Scholar - how long does the bonus last? Until the end of the day? When you choose a different skill I presume you lose the previous bonus? What does this paragraph mean?

Many of the church’s clerics members worship specifi c
deities of knowledge, but some empower themselves through
the worship of knowledge itself. If you are a cleric, you can
choose from the Knowledge, Magic, Trickery, Mind CD , and
Oracle CD domains.

[Andezzar]

A 193

The bonus is for the next skill check after several hours of research.

The paragraph means that a cleric of that church need not worship a particular deity but can worship an ideal instead an thus need not choose his domains from the list of a deity but can chose them from the provided list instead.

[deathbymanga]

Q: Grim Psion says that by taking this prestige class, you become an undead creature. It doesn't say anything about if you could or couldn't become an undead beforehand, such as, say, you were originally a construct?

Could a Psiforged become an Undead through Grim Psion?

[Metahuman1]

Q 194/195 (Depending on if the above counts or not.): If a PC has staggering Strike and Stand Still, and meets the criteria for both, can he use them on the same hit? Follow up: If yes, would he be depriving his target of taking any actions that round, or forcing his target to only take a standard action?

Q 195/196 (Depending on the above.): Is there a way to make a Melee attack deprive a target specifically of the ability to take standard actions?

[Chronos]

A 196:

There's the Stunning Fist feat, and things based off of it. It's only usable a limited number of times per day, and it allows a saving throw, but the stunned condition does prevent all actions.

[heavyfuel]

Q 197

Can you use Skirmish to qualify for things that require Sneak Attack? I know you can it with Sudden Strike, but not sure about Skirmish

[Troacctid]

Q 194/195 (Depending on if the above counts or not.): If a PC has staggering Strike and Stand Still, and meets the criteria for both, can he use them on the same hit? Follow up: If yes, would he be depriving his target of taking any actions that round, or forcing his target to only take a standard action?

No. Stand Still replaces your attack and does not trigger sneak attacks.

Q 195/196 (Depending on the above.): Is there a way to make a Melee attack deprive a target specifically of the ability to take standard actions?

Off the top of my head: there's Stunning Fist, and the Monk-only nauseating alternative variant of it from Complete Mage. The Paralyzing weapon property (BoED) has a chance of paralyzing them on hit. Ironsoul Forgemasters can daze enemies on a hit. The Incarnate Weapon soulmeld has a similar ability with a chakra bind. You can also use poison, such as Drow poison, which renders the target unconscious; it can be applied to a weapon as a swift action using a weapon capsule retainer (CAd). The Bladeweave spell (SpC) dazes enemies that you hit in melee. I'm sure there are many more.

And, of course, to state the obvious, a melee attack that delivers a killing blow will also prevent the target from taking actions.

Q 197

Can you use Skirmish to qualify for things that require Sneak Attack? I know you can it with Sudden Strike, but not sure about Skirmish

No, although the Swift Ambusher feat (CS) allows it for ambush feats.

[Wacky89]

is Unseelie Fey from Dragon Magazine Compendium a npc only template?
Because the template doesnt specify in text?

[Troacctid]

is Unseelie Fey from Dragon Magazine Compendium a npc only template?
Because the template doesnt specify in text?

A 198

Dragon Compendium did not include a level adjustment entry on any of its templates; as you noted, the information was simply omitted. According to the Monster Manual (page 291), we can therefore assume that the template does not change the base creature's level adjustment.

Generally, if a template does not cause a change to a certain statistic, that entry is missing from the template description.

This would mean that the Unseelie Fey template, as well as the Seelie Fey, Bodak, Ghastly, Ghoulish, and Ravenous templates, are all effectively LA +0: if the creature was playable before applying the template, it's playable after.