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

[Thurbane]

A 246 continued

Only other option I can think of, and this is highly questionable (I'm not going to push it as RAW), is a Sorcerer 4 (or other spontaneous caster who can cast Phantom Steed) to get a Knowstone (Dragon 333) of Phantom Steed, and use Versatile Spellcaster (RotD) to cast it?

[Zombimode]

Q231:

A mimic hits with its slam attack. Does it's crush ability trigger?

A 231

It doesn't. It is not completely clear when Crush applies* but one Thing is certain: a successful Grapple Check needs to be made. As there is no Grapple Check involved in Adhesive, Crush does not interact with Adhesive.

* personally I treat Crush as a replacement for the damage a creature of the mimic's size would normally do with a successful grapple check made to damage a grappled Opponent.

[Misery Esquire]

Q 247

A) If one has a wand of a spell that has a peculiar requirement, such as a racial requirement or dragonmark requirement (say, the spell Summon Marked Homunculus in the book Dragonmarked), does one need to meet the requirement to cast the spell from the wand, or is that requirement met at the time of item creation (such as with a spell with a costly material focus)?

A 247 (a)

As part of Use Magic Device you can emulate another race, alignment, having a spell ability, or another class's features. So racial requirements can be ignored when you are using a Wand of X. I'm not certain about Dragonmark requirements.


Q 248
Is it clarified anywhere in regards to Tower Shield sizes and usability in order to gain Full Cover, or (e.g.) can a Large Creature take cover behind a Small Tower Shield? Or more extreme size steps?

[Sargentpsychooo]

Pls help me, my dm gave me a +2 adamantine battle axe saying that it wasn't a normal adamantine battle axe and that it was from a book. He then told me to figure out what 3.5 book it was from to get a reward. PLS HELP

[Thurbane]

Pls help me, my dm gave me a +2 adamantine battle axe saying that it wasn't a normal adamantine battle axe and that it was from a book. He then told me to figure out what 3.5 book it was from to get a reward. PLS HELP

A 249

Firstly, please number your questions.

Secondly, this is not a RAW question. You'd probably be better off posting a new thread.

[edit] I can see you already have: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...ine-battle-axe
[/edit]

[Pleh]

Q 250

Does a monster's racial hit dice (and related benefits, such as base attack bonuses, feats, skill points gained from racial hit dice) qualify them to take prestige classes without taking any base classes (assuming they could still theoretically meet the prerequisites for the given class)?

[mattie_p]

A 250: Yes.

From the SRD:

Prestige classes offer a new form of multiclassing. Unlike the basic classes, characters must meet Requirements before they can take their first level of a prestige class. The rules for level advancement apply to this system, meaning the first step of advancement is always choosing a class. If a character does not meet the Requirements for a prestige class before that first step, that character cannot take the first level of that prestige class. Taking a prestige class does not incur the experience point penalties normally associated with multiclassing.

The RAW requires that the prerequisites be met, but doesn't specify the manner. Additionally...

Monsters And Class Levels
If a creature acquires a character class, it follows the rules for multiclass characters.

The creature’s Hit Dice equal the number of class levels it has plus its racial Hit Dice. A creature’s "monster class" is always a favored class, and the creature never takes XP penalties for having it.

A monster that takes additional class levels essentially treats their racial hit dice as a base class for every purpose, to include qualifying for other classes or feats.

[KillianHawkeye]

A 250

Yes, basic prerequisites such as BAB, Base Saves, and Skill ranks can easily be met with any kind of Hit Die, including Racial Hit Dice (depending on the class skills of the creature in question).

[Afgncaap5]

A 247 (a)

As part of Use Magic Device you can emulate another race, alignment, having a spell ability, or another class's features. So racial requirements can be ignored when you are using a Wand of X. I'm not certain about Dragonmark requirements.

Indeed they can, thanks. My question, though, has more to do with whether or not the requirement exists in the first place by default.

Say, consider the spell Furnace Within from Races of Eberron. To cast it, you must be a dwarf (and, in fact, the spells in that book even call out the fact that UMD can't emulate them, but polymorphing into being a dwarf will allow it.) Were a dwarf to put that spell into a wand, would it be castable by anyone regardless of race or creature type? Or would only other dwarfs be able to use the wand?

[Thurbane]

Q 251

I believe I asked this already a long time ago, but I don't think I got any replies.

Other than a scroll of a quickened spell, does anyone know of any published (i.e. non-custom) magic items that can produce an Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud effect as a free, swift or immediate action?

[Metahuman1]

Q 252: Does invisibility help make you harder to see by simply giving spot check DC = Infinite, or by giving a +20 on the check? Please site were it says so. Thanks! (I need this clarification for an actual game. )

[KillianHawkeye]

A 252

You cannot see an invisible creature, but you can notice one's presence as they interact with the environment.

A creature can generally notice the presence of an active invisible creature within 30 feet with a DC 20 Spot check. The observer gains a hunch that “something’s there” but can’t see it or target it accurately with an attack. A creature who is holding still is very hard to notice (DC 30). An inanimate object, an unliving creature holding still, or a completely immobile creature is even harder to spot (DC 40). It’s practically impossible (+20 DC) to pinpoint an invisible creature’s location with a Spot check, and even if a character succeeds on such a check, the invisible creature still benefits from total concealment (50% miss chance).

Note that +20 DC is the standard increase for "practically impossible" tasks.

EDIT: Specifically, the above is an excerpt from the glossary entry on Invisibility, DMG 3.5 page 295. I do recommend reading the entire entry.

[TorsteinTheRed]

Q 253

An incarnum user binds Crystal Helm, giving their attacks the [Force] descriptor. This makes incorporeal creatures lose their miss chance against said attacks. Does this also automatically overcome all Hardness and DR? This isn't implied by description, but other [Force] damage effects, like all other energy types, are not affected by DR; hardness I imagine still counts?

I've seen arguments for all sides of this one, so any citations that can be given would be appreciated.

[Nion]

Q254

If you shovel some dirt onto a Floating Disk, can you create another Floating Disk that hovers 3 feet above the first Floating Disk?

[Nion]

Q 251

I believe I asked this already a long time ago, but I don't think I got any replies.

Other than a scroll of a quickened spell, does anyone know of any published (i.e. non-custom) magic items that can produce an Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud effect as a free, swift or immediate action?

A251

A rod of Lesser Quicken Metamagic would do the trick.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems...tamagicQuicken

[King of Nowhere]

Q255: Contingency triggers when a condition is met. You can't set two conditions, at least that seems pretty clear to me. But what exactly constitutes a single condition is less clear-cut.
I'm thinking of having a villain use the trigger "if I'm hit by one of the following spells: dimensional anchor, disjunction, (greater) dispel magic, then teleport me to a predetermined safe location". But would that be a valid trigger, or it would count as multiple triggers and therefore invalidate it? If it was a bad trigger, how about "teleport me away if this contingency is going to be prevented from working", which would include everything that would make the contingency fail to work, either by dispelling it or by preventing dimensional travel on the character. Only problem of that one is that it would trigger every time the wizard is going to enter a dimensionally locked place, which includes his own home. Of course he could then use "teleport me away if this contingency is going to be prevented from working unless the cause is entering the few specific places", but that seems overly complicated.
I want to keep a strict limit of one contingency per wizard, casters are already strong enough without giving them extra help.

[ksbsnowowl]

Q256: Is wingless flight always considered Supernatural? Logically you would think "yes," but the rules don't seem to actually state that anywhere.

Take, for example, a Flaming Skull (LEoF p. 171), which only has a fly speed, and is merely a floating skull.

Speed: Fly 50 ft. (good) (10 squares)

In the glossary of the MM1, under Movement, it has an entry for Fly speeds. It makes no mention of (Ex) vs (Su).

Fly: A creature with a fly speed can move through the air at the indicated speed if carrying no more than a light load. (Note that medium armor does not necessarily constitute a medium load.) All fly speeds include a parenthetical note indicating maneuverability, as follows:

Perfect: The creature can perform almost any aerial maneuver it wishes. It moves through the air as well as a human moves over smooth ground.
Good: The creature is very agile in the air (like a housefly or a hummingbird), but cannot change direction as readily as those with perfect maneuverability.
Average: The creature can fly as adroitly as a small bird.
Poor: The creature flies as well as a very large bird.
Clumsy: The creature can barely maneuver at all.

A creature that flies can make dive attacks. A dive attack works just like a charge, but the diving creature must move a minimum of 30 feet and descend at least 10 feet. It can make only claw or talon attacks, but these deal double damage. A creature can use the run action while flying, provided it flies in a straight line.

Elsewhere in the glossary is an entry for "Flight"

Flight (Ex or Su): A creature with this ability can cease or resume flight as a free action. If the ability is supernatural, it becomes ineffective in an antimagic field, and the creature loses its ability to fly for as long as the antimagic effect persists.

There are monsters with "Flight" listed as a specific ability in their stat blocks, such as the Ravid (see below), but the Flaming Skull has no such entry listed.

Flight (Su): A ravid can cease or resume flight as a free action. A ravid that loses this ability falls and can perform only a single action (either a move action or an attack action) each round.

The Ravid also has a (slower) land speed listed in addition to its fly speed, unlike the Flame Skull.

[KillianHawkeye]

A 256

No, not always. It depends on the creature.

Beholders are another prime example of a monster that can fly with neither wings nor magic.

[ksbsnowowl]

A 256

No, not always. It depends on the creature.

Beholders are another prime example of a monster that can fly with neither wings nor magic.

Ah, I was a bit sloppy with my question, then. Granted, the Beholder's flight is specifically listed as being Extraordinary:

Flight (Ex): A beholder’s body is naturally buoyant. ...

Allow me to restate the question.

Q256: Is unspecified wingless flight* always considered Supernatural? I'm generally talking about wingless creatures that have a fly speed listed in their stat blocks, but do not have the "Flight (Ex or Su):" special quality.

*As opposed to that which is specifically called out as being Extraordinary, like the Beholder.

[Andezzar]

A 256

No. Special abilities that are not otherwise classified are natural.

This category includes abilities a creature has because of its physical nature. Natural abilities are those not otherwise designated as extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like.

[Malimar]

Q257

By my reading, Evard's black tentacles does not re-attempt to grapple creatures within its area every turn. That is, if a creature succeeds at their initial grapple check, and then remains within the area of the black tentacles without leaving and re-entering it, they're pretty much completely safe from the tentacles (other than moving at half speed), even on the subsequent turns of the creature who cast the black tentacles. Is this an accurate reading?

[Debatra]

A 257

Yes.

[Boggartbae]

Q258

Is there a feat that lets you dual-wield with a sword and shield as though you had Two-weapon Fighting, but without having to actually get TWF feats?

[St Fan]

Q 259

According the epic skills rules, a character (lacking any feat, class feature or skill trick allowing to stand instantly) can stand up as a free action with a DC 35 tumble check.

If a character attempt the check but fail it, he can still stand up normally, with a move action provoking attacks of opportunity. My question is, is he obligated to stand up this way after taking the check, since it's the intended action, or can he renounce and use the move action differently?

[Andezzar]

Re: Q 258

Please explain what you are trying to accomplish. I see no point in substituting the TWF feat with a differently named feat that does the same thing.

A 258

Multiweapon fighting lets you do that, if you have more than two hands.

The Gloves of the Balanced Hand (MIC p. 105) give you the benefits of TWF or ITWF if you already have TWF, so these might help too.

A 259

Free Stand and Standing Up are two separate actions. There is no rule saying that if one action is failed the other must be taken.

[silly RAW]There is no restriction on Free stand other than the vague rule that the DM can say how many free actions can be used on your turn. So if at first you don't succeed...[/silly RAW]

[KillianHawkeye]

Q258

Is there a feat that lets you dual-wield with a sword and shield as though you had Two-weapon Fighting, but without having to actually get TWF feats?

A 258

Agile Shield Fighter, Player's Handbook 2. Requires Improved Shield Bash and Shield Specialization, but doesn't require any particular Dexterity.

Note that there are no improved versions that would get you additional off-hand shield bash attacks like there are for the standard Two-Weapon Fighting feat chain. It's just one and done.


EDIT:

Please explain what you are trying to accomplish. I see no point in substituting the TWF feat with a differently named feat that does the same thing.

Aside from not requiring any Dexterity, the main benefit of Agile Shield Fighter is that it sets the TWFing penalty to -2 but doesn't care what kind of weapon or shield you're using. It could be a one-handed weapon and a heavy shield, and it's still just -2.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Q 260

Is there a way to craft magic items without paying the XP cost?
If there are ways please help me find them(book name and page will make me very happy).

[Thurbane]

Q 261

Besides Aerenal Beastmaster, is there any RAW method to get a baboon as animal companion, familiar, or wild cohort?

Q 261b

If the answer to this is "no": is there any way for a human to qualify for the Aerenal Beastmaster feat?

[AthasianWarlock]

Q 262 Can you use a thought bottle (Complete Arcana) to mitigate the XP loss from casting a spell like Wish?

[Debatra]

Q 263

Is there any way to Turn and/or Rebuke Constructs?