Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #33: Doesn't everything popular die when 33?

[Darrin]

Q 174

If a creature gains an SLA (by whatever means), do they still need to meet special component requirements?

For instance, the spell Dominate Vermin (DotU p.61) has components of "V, S, DF; Drow". Could a Human who has this as an SLA actually use the SLA?

A174:

A human could do so if the human has selected Lolth as their patron deity. This satisfies the Drow requirement.

However, in order to cast dominate vermin as an SLA, I think you first have to address how you're gaining it as an SLA. In general, most methods to gain a spell as an SLA usually involve the ability to cast the spell in the first place. If you can satisfy the component requirements before it's an SLA, then it's usually not a problem to satisfy them after it's an SLA.

But that doesn't exactly answer your question.

From a strict RAW standpoint, "racial" or other special requirements would still be in effect for an SLA, since the rules don't explicitly say they can be ignored. It looks pretty clear that the rules *intended* to remove all component requirements, but if you're comfortable with interpreting what was intended, then I can't imagine you'd be all that worried about the strict RAW.

[Darrin]

Q177:

The tome of battle feat "Shadow blade" says it allows you to ADD your dex to damage.
The table with the feats says you SUBSTITUTE str for dex. (Nevermind the mention of Shadow Sun... lol).

We all know text trumps table, however I can see a reasonable argument for both and I can't discern a clear RAI in the case. Also the min-max errata doesn't seem to address this.

Which is it?

A177:

The Unofficial ToB errata isn't official errata, so it's not entirely relevant here.

A "reasonable argument" does not trump "Text trumps table". You follow the text of the feat, which says "add", not the short description from the table entry.

[Thunder999]

Q 184
What happens if you put a bag of holding inside a bag of holding? The rules just seem to talk about putting one in a portable hole.

[Andezzar]

A 184

Nothing.

[Darrin]

Q 180
A spellcaster has an Item Familiar and choose to invest life energy to gain XP.

When creating a magic item, can the character decide that the XP cost apply specifically to the XP granted by the item familiar? And thus, in a later case of item familiar loss, reduce the amount of XP loss, maybe to just the additional XP?

A180:

No. In the example given on page 170 in Unearthed Arcana, the extra XP generated by the item familiar is not tracked separately from the character's current XP total. The bonus XP is added as the PC earns it, and if XP is reduced (via losing the item familiar or by crafting magic items), the total is adjusted downward without any accounting for how the XP was earned.

[Darrin]

Q 182 How long does it take a sorceror to cast metamagic versions of immediate action spells such as feather fall and greater mirror image?

(I ask because my PHB reads as if it forgets that sorcerors get any spells with casting times less than one round like feather fall, and I don't have a Rules Compendium to see if it got clarified there.)

A182:

By RAW, spontaneous spells with a casting time shorter than one standard action do not increase the casting time when applying metamagic feats. The PHB/Rules Compendium only explicitly change the casting time under two conditions:

1) If the spell has a standard action casting time, increase the casting time to a full-round action.
2) If the spell has a casting time longer than a standard action, then it takes an additional full-round action to cast.

Swift-action, immediate-action, or other types of free-action spells do not fit into either of these categories. By RAW, spontaneous casters can apply metamagic feats to these spells without increasing the casting time (except for Quicken Spell, which explicitly can't be used with spontaneous spells).

Note: If you *want* to increase the casting time of a swift-action spell, such as you want to cast another swift-action spell in the same round, you can accomplish this by either "Readying An Action" to take place immediately after your turn, or you can use the Mobile Spellcasting feat (Complete Adventurer) to combine moving and casting a spell into the same standard action.

[magicalmagicman]

Q 185

When wishing for a scroll of Gate. Is the xp cost...

5000xp (Wish) + 2x(153xp) (Scroll XP cost doubled) + 1,000xp (Gate) = 6306xp

or is it

5000xp (Wish) + 2x(153xp (Scroll XP cost) + 1,000xp (Gate)) = 5,000xp + 2x(1153xp) = 7,306xp

[Venger]

A185
6306xp

Q186
If I am an initiator with 1 class level that is not an initiator, does it count as 1 extra IL or 0?

example: swordsage 10/monk1
is the initiator level 10 or 11?

[Eladrinblade]

Q 187

When you gain an enhancement bonus to speed (like from haste), is that applied before or after armor?

[ksbsnowowl]

Q 188

The Seal of Binding from Elder Evils (presented under the Pandorym chapter) states:

Moderate: As faint, but in addition, summoned creatures no longer return to their native planes. When a summoning spell’s duration expires, the summoned creature is no longer under the caster’s control.

Would such a summoned creature still be unable to use any of its own summoning or teleportation abilities?

I'm conflicted if the summoned creature is still bound by the rules of Summon Monster once the spell that summoned it has ended.

Note that the limitation on teleportation is only found in the spell, not in the text of the (Summoning) subschool, or the Summon entry in the glossary of the Monster Manual.

A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities.

A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning abilities it may have, and it refuses to cast any spells that would cost it XP, or to use any spell-like abilities that would cost XP if they were spells.

A creature that has just been summoned cannot use its own summon ability for 1 hour.

[Sleven]

A186

It's rounded down.

For your example, the best way to think about it is to label it as a 1/2 IL with no functional effect until you take another level in a class other than Swordsage. That way it's easier to keep track of your IL, since each other level gets totaled and divided by 2.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Q 189
If I have sorcerer casting without any sorcerer levels, such as from applying the dragonspawn template, can I still advance the casting with a prestige class?

[Debatra]

Q 190 Are there any magic items that truly provide infinite rope?

A Spool of "Endless" Rope can only provide 500' of rope at a time, which disappears if it's separated from the spool.

[Darrin]

Q 183
If a monster as distinct natural weapon usages (like how a giant crocodile can bite OR tail slap) can it choose to do either on an attack of opportunity?

A183:

Yes. On an attack of opportunity, you can make an attack with any melee weapon that you would normally be allowed to attack with on your turn. There don't appear to be any restrictions on what weapons you can make AoOs with: if you're wielding it and you're ready to attack with it into a threatened square, then it can be used on an AoO.

The crocodile is a bit odd in that it appears to have two primary natural weapons, but neither of them is treated as a secondary attack. This may be a holdover from the 3.0 rules where "facing" was more important, or it could just be a designer trying to rectify an unfortunate incident with a contortionist crocodile that was somehow able to bite and tail slap his character in the same round.

[Darrin]

Q184
Should the "20 feet away" of the first quote follow the rule of the second quote and count even diagonally? (4 squares) or should it be just 3? (2 squares = 10 feet. 3 squares = 15 feet. 4 squares = 25 feet?)

A184:

Based on the RAW text, it looks like when you measure the distance on reach, you count diagonal squares just like any other square. That's a bit... odd, I suppose, making all threatened areas essentially square instead of vaguely circular.

I'm not quite following your math on the 4 squares, though... if you're measuring diagonal movement or distance (rather than reach), as per PHB p. 147 you count every second diagonal space as 10', so it would go: 1 square = 5', 2 squares = 15', 3 squares = 20', 4 squares = 30'.

I think changing how reach is measured was done to prevent medium-sized PCs from "cutting the corner" on large-sized creatures. If a medium creature is standing two diagonal spaces away from a large creature, they are standing 15' from each other using the "diagonal" rule. This means if they both had 10' reach, they couldn't hit each other even though a single 5' step would make them adjacent. The medium creature can move one square diagonally and then be adjacent to the large creature without triggering an AoO. This allows a medium creature to ignore the large creature's reach advantage entirely: just make sure you approach all ogres from a diagonal, and no AoO. By measuring reach without the diagonal rule in place, that diagonal two squares away is in the ogre's threatened area.

[Darrin]

Q 187

When you gain an enhancement bonus to speed (like from haste), is that applied before or after armor?

A187:

Before. PHB p. 147:

"Always apply any modifiers to a character's speed before adjusting the character’s speed based on armor or encumbrance"

[Darrin]

Q 188
Would such a summoned creature still be unable to use any of its own summoning or teleportation abilities?

A188:

Yes. By RAW, it's still considered a summoned creature, so the restrictions would still apply.

I'm conflicted if the summoned creature is still bound by the rules of Summon Monster once the spell that summoned it has ended.

So... explain to me how Pandorym reforming is supposed to be a good thing? You want the end of the world to be *fair*? The manifestation of the sign is supposed to represent the normal rules of reality breaking down. Summoned creatures suddenly getting shafted through no fault of their own is part of showing how things are getting Really Bad. **** happens.

In this particular case, the sign of Pandorym approaching means *all* summoning/teleport/planeshifting effects are getting harder, to the point where they eventually stop working entirely. Even if summoned creatures could use their summon/teleport/planeshift abilities after the summoning duration has run out, the fabric of reality is breaking down to the point where using those abilities is supposed to be *harder*.

[Darrin]

Q 189
If I have sorcerer casting without any sorcerer levels, such as from applying the dragonspawn template, can I still advance the casting with a prestige class?

A189:

Yes, so long as you're meeting the requirements of the prestige class. The Dragonspawn template (from the Dragonlance Campaign Sourcebook) grants arcane spellcasting as a 1st-level sorcerer. However, it does not grant any of the other class features of Sorcerer (such as getting a familiar). Actually... "Summon Familiar" is the *only* class feature Sorcerers get outside of spellcasting.

I'm not currently aware of any prestige classes that explicitly require Sorcerer levels instead of something more generic, such as "must be able to spontaneously cast 1st-level arcane spells" or "arcane caster level 5th".

[Debatra]

...Darrin, you know you can either edit or just make one big post, right?

[magicalmagicman]

Q 191
By RAW can Miracle create magic items like Wish? Or does that require DM leniency/homebrew?

[Thunder999]

A 191

It's not listed as an option for what it can do, so it's up to the GM what happens if you try.

[Thurbane]

Q 192

How does an Waveservant's (F&P) Ocean Spells ability work (or not work) for a Favored Soul (CD)?

Ocean Spells: A waveservant can prepare any spell from the Ocean domain as if it were on his divine spell list. The spell uses a spell slot of a level equal to its level in the Ocean domain list. For instance, a ranger/waveservant could prepare endure elements as a 1st level ranger spell.

..since a FS does not "prepare" spells, does that mean no spontaneous caster can use this ability?

Q 193

Related: is there a feat or ability that will allow a Favored Soul to prepare some or all of their spells?

[Fuzzy McCoy]

Q194:

What happens if a 10th level swiftblade casts a twinned haste out of 7th level slot? Can they choose to subsume only one of the haste effects into a time stop, and have the other cast normally? Or is it an all or nothing proposition?

[zergling.exe]

Q194:

What happens if a 10th level swiftblade casts a twinned haste out of 7th level slot? Can they choose to subsume only one of the haste effects into a time stop, and have the other cast normally? Or is it an all or nothing proposition?

A 194

You don't actually cast the haste spell when you use Innervated Speed. You lose the spell slot and gain the effects of a limited time stop spell instead. As such, you would lose the prepared twinned haste entirely and not gain any benefit from either potential casting.

[Debatra]

Q 192

How does an Waveservant's (F&P) Ocean Spells ability work (or not work) for a Favored Soul (CD)?



..since a FS does not "prepare" spells, does that mean no spontaneous caster can use this ability?

A 192 Spontaneous casters can't normally use it.

Q 193

Related: is there a feat or ability that will allow a Favored Soul to prepare some or all of their spells?

A 193 Sort of. While it requires the "Ability to cast arcane spells without preparation", there's nothing in the Arcane Preparation feat (Complete Arcane, pg73)that stops it from being used with divine spells if you manage to meet that prerequisite.

[AthasianWarlock]

Q198:

If a player creates an ice assassin and then uses True Mind Switch on said assassin, can the player (now in ice assassin body) use body adjustment? Can the player (now in ice assassin body) gain levels?

[gawwy]

Q196: What caster level do deities use for the spells replicated by the Alter Reality SDA?

[King of Nowhere]

Q197: The fiendish template says that when applied to vermin it turns it into a magical beast. Does it mean that the BAB, hit points and saving throws are also modified accordingly? For example a gargantuan scorpion has 20 hit dice and +15 BAB, a fiendish gargantuan scorpion would get to +20 BAB because magical beasts have better BAB progression.

[mattie_p]

A 197: No.

A fiendish creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here. Do not recalculate the creature’s Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saves, or skill points if its type changes.

[King of Nowhere]

Q198: Something that almost happened today: a purple worm swallowed whole a golem. Then polymorph was cast on the purple worm. If the worm had failed the saving throw, what would have happened?