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

[Belkarseviltwin]

A 7
No. You're not in the cold North any more, you're on the Ethereal Plane.

[AvatarVecna]

Q18

Can inherited templates be applied in any order, as long as its legal to apply them? For example, could a Half-Giant take the Primordial Giant template and the Half-Dragon template as long as the Primordial Giant template was applied first?

Q19

Is it RAW legal to have multiple "Half-_____" templates on the same base race, despite that not strictly speaking making any logical sense?

Q20

If a creature has multiple type-altering inherited templates (ex: a Half-Troll Half-Dragon Wolf, however that would work), and they advance their HD, is their CR calculated using whichever template was applied last (calculated as Giant if Half-Troll was applied last, for instance)?

[Curmudgeon]

A 018 Yes.

A 019 Yes.

A 020 No.

Advancement by HD is a racial property, not a template property. A Wolf has an Advancement entry in its stat block, but A Half-Troll (Fiend Folio, pages 93-94) does not. You calculate the Wolf CR for the updated HD, than apply the Half-Dragon (+2) and Half-Troll (+2) adjustments. The Wolf uses Animal HD (+1 to CR for each 3 HD added). The CR adjustments for changed type are constant for each template.

[Huldaerus]

Q21

How does associated and non-associated class work with a race that doesn't have racial hit dice? Is an Orc Wizard 3 a CR2 or CR3? How about a Orc Bard? A Ranger? a Cleric?

Thanks!

[Chronos]

Re: 19:

The math does actually work out. When you apply a "half-whatever" template to a creature, the result is a creature that's half whatever, and half what you applied it to. For instance, a human with the half-troll template is half human, half troll. If you then apply the half-dragon template, then you have a creature whose parents were a dragon and a half-troll human. A half-fiend half-dragon half-troll human would have one parent (and other ancestors on that side) who was a fiend, one grandparent (on the other side) who was a dragon, and one great-grandparent each (on the other other side) who was a human and a troll. It's not one and a half creatures.

[Chronos]

A 21:

A class is only nonassociated if your levels in that class are less than or equal to your racial hit dice. Past that, a class is always associated, no matter what it is. Thus, for a creature without RHD like an orc, all classes are associated.

Note also that, because this portion of the rules is the sole domain of the DM, the rules for associated and nonassociated class levels deliberately leave a lot of room for interpretation. A few classes are specifically said to be associated for some monsters, and NPC classes are specifically said to be nonassociated, but beyond that, it's all up to the DM to decide whether a given class plays to a monster's strengths. So a DM could decide, for instance, that sorcerer is an associated class for a bugbear, if the bugbear's spells known are Enlarge Person, Bull's Strength, and other combat buffs.

[Troacctid]

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.)

A 4

Since the Overchannel feat causes you to take damage during the manifestation of a power, you must succeed on a Concentration check, DC 10 + the power's level + the damage dealt, as a free action in order to complete the manifestation. If you succeed on the check, the power is manifested normally; if you fail the check, the power points are lost and the power is not manifested.

[FocusWolf413]

Q 22

How much would a magebred boar cost?

[Tarlek Flamehai]

A22

Technically, 6gp would be the cost of a male magebred domesticated pig. Not a warbeast, not trained in anyway.

SRD, pig 3gp. ECS pg 124, a magebred animal costs twice as much.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q23
Two parter.

A. How much do wands weigh?

B. At what weight does an object become insignificant to encumbrance?

[Curmudgeon]

A 023

From here:

Physical Description

A typical wand is 6 inches to 12 inches long and about ¼ inch thick, and often weighs no more than 1 ounce.

An object is insignificant in terms of encumbrance when its entry in the weight column is "—". Examples: candle, fishhook, sewing needle.

[heavyfuel]

A 7
No. You're not in the cold North any more, you're on the Ethereal Plane.

Q 7 - Clarification Request

If he was already cold, does going ethereal make the cold go away? If so, could you provide a rules quote to support your argument?

A 23 B - Addition.

Curmudgeon is right. However, in cases of a lacking entry, anything weighing less than a tenth of a pound is typically considered insignificant. (ie: there's no entry for an item weighing, say, 1/11th of a pound or less.)

If a wand (often having a maximum weight of 0.0625 pounds) fits this description weighing less than 0.1 pounds, you should ask your individual DM if he considers the wand to have insigificant weight, especially since "often less than an ounce" is extremely broad and not definded by the rules.

[Curmudgeon]

A 23 B - Addition.

Curmudgeon is right. However, in cases of a lacking entry, anything weighing less than a tenth of a pound is typically considered insignificant. (ie: there's no entry for an item weighing, say, 1/11th of a pound or less.)

There are exceptions. The aforementioned wands (1/16th of a pound) and also coins (1/50th of a pound) are worth noting as not insignificant per the RAW.

[heavyfuel]

There are exceptions. The aforementioned wands (1/16th of a pound) and also coins (1/50th of a pound) are worth noting as not insignificant per the RAW.

I had forgotten about coins, but wands don't weigh 1/16th of a pound, they often weigh less than an ounce. This can be anything from several pounds (in case of a particularly heavy wand) to almost zero pounds (in case of a particularly light wand).

[Sir Chuckles]

Q24
Can Tumble be used during a charge?

[Endarire]

Q 25
I heard that Magic Item Compendium has rules for officially making psionic versions of magic items. Where is this listed? Is that even in this book?

[Andezzar]

Q 26

If you polymorph or shapechange into a hydra, can you move or charge and still attack with all heads as a normal hydra?

[Troacctid]

A 25

In the sidebar on page 232.

[heavyfuel]

A24

No.

Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement, so a Tumble check is part of a move action.

Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action.

While Rules Compendium may say on pg 27 that you can Tumble during a charge, primary source rules say you go by the Player's Handbook, which says you can't.

[Andezzar]

A 24 Contention

That is not what the Tumble rule says. It says that no separate action is required and that tumbling is part of movement. It also says that the check is made as part of the move action. It does not say that the tumble check cannot be made during movement that is not a move action (like a charge).

[heavyfuel]

RE:A 24 Contention

Yes, it is. It's literally how it's writen in the book. It says it's part of a movement, so a Tumble check is a move action. Emphasys on the "so".

However, further discussion should be held in a separate thread.

[Troacctid]

A 26

Yes. You gain the creature's natural attacks and natural abilities, including its bite attacks (natural weapons) and the ability to make them all even during a round where you move or charge (a natural ability).

A 24 contention

You can explicitly tumble during a charge. The rules are very clear on this point.

You can tumble during a charge, as long as you continue to meet all other criteria for making a charge before, during, and after tumbling.

The Rules Compendium takes precedence over all sources that predate it, so in the case of a contradiction, it overrides the SRD. However, in this case, that's moot, because a contradiction here merely indicates that charging is an exception to the normal rules of tumbling, and exceptions always trump general rules, regardless of the source. Primary sources are therefore irrelevant.

[St Fan]

Q 027
Question about the Dragonblood Spell-pact. I understand the Rule As Intended of this one (that it is supposed to be used between sorcerers or creatures casting spells like sorcerers), however I've naturally seen some jokers thinking it could apply to prepared spellcasters.

27 A: Does something in the RAW wording prevent prepared spellcasters from benefiting of the spell (beyond it being a sorcerer-only spell and both caster and subject needing to be dragonblooded)?

27 B: Does something in the RAW wording prevent spontaneous spellcasters other than sorcerers to benefit from it (beyond it being a sorcerer-only spell, yada, yada)?

27 C: What does it mean for a spontaneous spellcaster like a beguiler or warmage, for whom the known spells is their spell list, to have a spell "no longer in the repertoire of the trader"? And is the spell received actually added to the spell list?

[ZamielVanWeber]

Q 28
Can Detect Magic detect supernatural effects?

[Curmudgeon]

Re: A 024

Rules Compendium is questionable as a source, for four reasons:

• Its authority is entirely self-granted.
• The Primary Sources Errata Rule says RC can't give itself that authority.
• Rules Compendium didn't just collect rules, but also changed them. It didn't note in this case (page 27) if it was collecting or changing the Tumble rules.
• RC's claim to primacy is limited to pre-existing sources, and the later Premium Player's Handbook includes the text heavyfuel cited. Premium Player's Handbook also backed out every change made by Rules Compendium. Consequently, without a statement as to whether RC's "Tumbling during a Charge" paragraph is a collected and clarified rule (still in effect) or instead a changed rule (reversed by the new PH), we have no help from that book.

Luckily for us, we don't have to look to Rules Compendium for an answer to this question. As Troacctid noted, there's no necessary contradiction in the rules, but merely a lack of explicitness. We can find a sufficiently clear rules statement elsewhere. For example, the Tiger Claw Sudden Leap maneuver (Tome of Battle, page 89):

As with any movement, you can attempt a Tumble check to avoid any attacks you provoke with this sudden leap.

Ergo, Tumble's claim to work with "normal movement" includes all movement which is normal for you, as well as the most common case of using a move action to move up to your speed. If you have a listed land speed, Charging (or Running or Withdrawing) across the land is normal movement for you.

A 028 No.

Detect Magic detects magic auras. Supernatural abilities do not create auras by default, and most auras are Extraordinary anyway. If there's a Supernatural ability which explicitly creates an aura that would be an exception, but I don't know of any such cases in the rules.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Q29
When figuring NPC wealth by level; is it Racial HD + Class Levels + Level Adjustment? If not, what does calculate the level in wealth by level?

[Drynwyn]

Q29
When figuring NPC wealth by level; is it Racial HD + Class Levels + Level Adjustment? If not, what does calculate the level in wealth by level?

A29
Yes. WBL is based on Effective Character Level, which both LA and RHD contribute to.

[Chronos]

Q 29 addendum:
So how does one calculate NPC WBL for a creature with an undefined LA?

[Andezzar]

A 29 Addendum

If creatures do not have an LA or LA:+0 their ECL is not modified by it, so the WBL is calculated by their ECL, which then is RHD+Class Levels.

[Seto]

Q30 : Just to be absolutely sure (lest my players cry foul), when you Channel a spell into your weapon (as per Ordained Champion), and you hit, the target takes normal damage and is subject to the spell, correct ?