Simple Q&A D&D 3.5 (by RAW) XXI

[Curmudgeon]

A 12

The Eidetic Spellcaster variant (Dragon # 357, page 89) doesn't require you to give up the ability to prepare spells from a spellbook; it instead states that you do not need to put them into a spellbook. To meet that Ultimate Magus requirement you'd simply need a spellbook with 2nd level spells. (Interestingly enough, the variant doesn't strip you of your Wizard's starting spellbook, so all you'd need is the special inks.) This won't satisfy any spontaneous casting requirement, of course; you would need some other class abilities for that one.

[longlivesquare]

Q14 Does attacking from the invisibility caused by the Ninjas (from Complete Adventurer's) Ghost Step break that invisibility?

[willpell]

Q15
In the Expanded Psionics Handbook, the Maenad's Energy Ray PLA says "the save DC is Charisma-based", but Energy Ray doesn't use a saving throw. Just a goof? Or is there some obscure reason why it would matter?

[Aeryr]

Q13
I remember hearing about a Rogue variant (either an ACF or an entirely altered class similar to the Unearthed Arcana variants, though not in that book) which gives up some amount of Sneak Attack to gain some fighter bonus feats and possibly a d8 or so hit die. Does anyone know where I can find such a class? UA gives the Fighter variant "Thug" which gets more skills than a normal fighter but still no Sneak Attack; I was looking for something one step closer to Rogue on the same continuum.

A013

The Thug can be combined with the sneak attack fighter ACF also from unearthed arcana. You would get full sneak attack progression and no feats though.

Fighter
Some fighters prefer stealth and cunning over martial skill. This variant can also be combined with the thug variant.

Gain
Sneak attack (as rogue).

Lose
Bonus feats.

Other than that you could be a Generic Warrior detailed here and select SA feats but that would probably require DM approval since:

If you use these generic classes, you shouldn't also use the standard character classes

[willpell]

Q16 - Expanded Psionics handbook again:

Psi-Like Abilities and Feats
Creatures with access to psi-like abilities can use the feats Empower Spell-Like Ability and Quicken Spell-Like Ability (see pages 303 and 304 of the Monster Manual). These feats can be used only on psi-like abilities that do not have increased effects due to augmentation.

What exactly does the bolded sentence mean? Does it mean Empower SLA can't improve a PLA which could be augmented, or one which is? A level 1-3 Wilder has Energy Ray 1/day at a ML of 1, which deals 1 die of damage; once he reaches level 4 and has an ML of 2, his Energy Ray automatically augments itself as if he had spent 2 pp to manifest it. Does that mean he can never empower his Energy Ray PLA, or that he can only do so at levels 1-3?

[Lonely Tylenol]

A013

The Thug can be combined with the sneak attack fighter ACF also from unearthed arcana. You would get full sneak attack progression and no feats though.

A013 CORRECTED:

Willpell, the variant you are looking for is the Martial Rogue, which can be found here. It trades Sneak Attack at 1, 3, 5, ... 19 for Fighter bonus feats at 1, 2, 4, 6, ... 20. It does not gain a d8 Hit Dice, though, and it's an "all-or-nothing" affair; you don't and can't trade "some" Sneak Attack progression.

My question is actually related to Martial Rogue and is twofold, in an attempt to resolve an issue elsewhere in this section:

Q17.a:
Does a Sneak Attack Fighter 3/Swashbuckler 3, upon taking Daring Outlaw at level 6, gain:
A: +2d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter and a 3rd-level Rogue equivalent separately);
B: +1d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 6th-level Sneak Attack Fighter, as Sneak Attack Fighter 3 is effectively a third-level Rogue, because it gains Sneak Attack (as rogue), and adding the three levels of Swashbuckler together to count as a 6th-level Rogue); or
C: +0d6 Sneak Attack (because no Rogue levels are present, the Swashbuckler has nothing to stack with)?

I believe it's A:, but I'm only even asking to set up the following:

Q17.b:
Does a Sneak Attack Fighter 3/Swashbuckler 3/Feat Rogue 3 who takes Daring Outlaw as their 9th-level feat gain:
A: +3d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter and a 6th-level Rogue separately);
B: +2d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter and a 3rd-level Rogue equivalent separately, ignoring the Martial Rogue levels as Daring Outlaw does not stack Rogue levels, as Rogue does not grant Sneak Attack);
C: +1d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 6th-level Sneak Attack Fighter, as Sneak Attack Fighter 3 is effectively a third-level Rogue, because it gains Sneak Attack (as rogue), and adding the three levels of Swashbuckler together to count as a 6th-level Rogue); or
D: +0d6 Sneak Attack (counting as a 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter only, because Martial Rogue removes Sneak Attack damage as a class feature of Rogue, and Swashbuckler stacks with Rogue levels for determining Sneak Attack Damage, of which there is none, and thus gains 3+null Rogue levels for determining nonexistent Sneak Attack damage); or
E: None of the above?

Can I please get a reason for each?

Mahalo!

[willpell]

Q18
Can you manifest Animal Affinity again while the duration of the first one is still running, as long as you pick a different Ability to boost (since boosts to the same Ability won't stack)?

Q19 (asked on the previous thread, never answered AFAICT)
If an Ardent takes a power on one of his primary mantles which is also present on a secondary mantle's list, and later switches the priority of those two mantles, does the power count toward his number known for both lists or only the one that switched? For example, Animal Affinity is on both Natural World and Physical Power, so if I started as a Life/Natural World ardent, took Physical Power as my third mantle at level 2 (and learned a power from it), took Animal Affinity as a Natural World power at level 3 (it's not legal to learn it on Physical Power here, since that would give me more powers in a secondary mantle than in my primaries), and then much later on switched Physical Power to primary and Natural World to secondary, having learned the same number of powers from both except for having one more on Natural World, can I "switch" Animal Affinity to be under Physical Power? Or does it count on being both lists?

Q20
If a scroll or power stone contains multiple powers, do you multiply its market price? I feel silly even having to ask, but you would have thought that the RAW would have mentioned this, when table 7-10 in the EPH says that minor power stones have 1d3 powers, meaning that 2/3 of them have more than one power, and then table 7-11 makes no mention of a "per power" price.

Q21
When you set a higher-than-average Manifester Level for a power stone or other crafted power-storing item, does that cause the power to be augmented? Say I make a Stone of Energy Ray with an ML of 3; does it do 3d6 damage, or just 1d6 damage at a slightly greater range than if the ML had been left at 1?

Q22
For Energy powers and others that involve a choice, does the creator encode a specific version, the way potions of Energy Resistance have one specific energy type when you buy them, or does the user choose any output as if it were their own power? Is it possible to make more or less expensive versions where the answer is different? (Eg, you'd have one Power Stone of Cold Ray which is cheaper, and another Power Stone of Choose Your Own Energy Ray which costs more, though I'm not sure which one would be the 25-gp default mentioned in the book.)

[Curmudgeon]

A 017.a

It's close to A., but actually none of those. What you get is +2d6 (from 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter) and +2d6 (from 3rd-level Rogue equivalent). However, that's not the same as just +2d6; instead, you roll both each time and add the better bonus to your damage.

A 017.b B.

If you've selected the Rogue variant which has Fighter bonus feats instead of sneak attack, that's the only Rogue you get.

Multiclassing And Variant Classes

Multiclassing between variants of the same class is a tricky subject. In cases where a single class offers a variety of paths (such as the totem barbarian or the monk fighting styles), the easiest solution is simply to bar multiclassing between different versions of the same class (just as a character can't multiclass between different versions of specialist wizards).

Daring Outlaw will give you more of the sneak attack progression that that Rogue variant provides: nothing. You would gain the +2d6 of sneak attack variant Fighter 3, and nothing else.

[cd4]

Q23
a) Are there any spells or powers that have a casting time of 1 move action?
b) Is there any way of making spells or powers have a casting time of 1 move action?

[Lonely Tylenol]

A 017.a

It's close to A., but actually none of those. What you get is +2d6 (from 3rd-level Sneak Attack Fighter) and +2d6 (from 3rd-level Rogue equivalent). However, that's not the same as just +2d6; instead, you roll both each time and add the better bonus to your damage.

A 017.b B.

If you've selected the Rogue variant which has Fighter bonus feats instead of sneak attack, that's the only Rogue you get. Daring Outlaw will give you more of the sneak attack progression that that Rogue variant provides: nothing. You would gain the +2d6 of sneak attack variant Fighter 3, and nothing else.

I may have been unclear in the options: I meant +xd6 relevant to what was already there (which was the Fighter's 2d6). That means A017.b sounds more like D to me, and... I don't know what to make of A017.a.

So if I have Sneak Attack Fighter 3/Swashbuckler 3, I get +2d6 Sneak Attack from each, but instead of rolling, say, (5+2 from Ftr) + (4+6 from Swash) = +17 damage, I'd roll (5+2 from Ftr) < (4+6 from Swash) = +10 damage?

Just wanted to make sure I'm reading this right.

[deuxhero]

q24
Does the arrow of force from a Hank's Energy Bow benefit from an Arcane Archer's class abilities that relate to non-magical arrows? They are created by magic, but do not seem to be magic weapons.

[Curmudgeon]

So if I have Sneak Attack Fighter 3/Swashbuckler 3, I get +2d6 Sneak Attack from each, but instead of rolling, say, (5+2 from Ftr) + (4+6 from Swash) = +17 damage, I'd roll (5+2 from Ftr) < (4+6 from Swash) = +10 damage?

Just wanted to make sure I'm reading this right.

Yes, you are.

A 024 No.

Although unstrung, it fires arrows of pure magical force that deal 2d6 points of damage.

These are purely magical projectiles, so no effect specific to nonmagical arrows will apply.

[Doomboy911]

Q 25 Are there any magic items besides staffs or wands that let you make minor images?I`m looking for something someone can wear.

[Metahuman1]

Q 26: Other then using one of his breath effects, are there any ways for a Dragonfire Adept to gain different Damage types to his breath weapon?

Q 27: Is there any way to improve the Dragonfire Adepts base fire damage from his breath weapon in such a way that fire resistance and Immunity do not concern it?

[Stannum (IV)]

Q 28

Can I maximize or empower dispel magic?

Q29

If I create a Mechanatrix character, from the fiend folio, must I have a racial hit die? It seems that I would by RAW as I understand them, but it seemed that way for tieflings and the aasimar, yet numerous supplements note them as playable with merely the level adjustment, without the racial hit die.

[deuxhero]

Q30
Does any official source introduce Favored Enemy: Deathless?

[Curmudgeon]

A 028

The answer depends on how your DM matches those feats to the rule specifications. A dispel check is a numerical computation with a final Boolean (true/false, yes/no, 1/0) result.

You make a dispel check (1d20 + your caster level, maximum +10) against the spell or against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the object or creature. The DC for this dispel check is 11 + the spell’s caster level. If you succeed on a particular check, that spell is dispelled; if you fail, that spell remains in effect.

If it's possible for the spell to be dispelled and your DM sees this formula with a random d20 variable as at maximum dispelling 1 spell and at minimum dispelling 0 spells then it qualifies.

Maximize Spell [Metamagic]

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of a spell modified by this feat are maximized. Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables. A maximized spell uses up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell’s actual level.

The dispel check is a "variable, numeric effect of a spell". A 0/1 value resulting from that check is probably just a different type of variable effect than you're used to considering, given the prose expression of the Dispel Magic formula. In essence you're computing a variable numeric effect as a Boolean result.

Dispel Number = (1d20 + dispeller's CL) - (11 + target spell CL)

Boolean (Dispel Number >= 0)

If your DM doesn't see "true = 1 spell dispelled" and "false = 0 spells dispelled" as the result of the variable numeric computation, this isn't going to work. So ask your DM.

[Andezzar]

Q 31

Can you use a metamagic rod of Extend spell to double the duration of a persisted spell? Would the duration be 48 h (2*24h) or 24 (2*original duration->24h)

[willpell]

Q29
If I create a Mechanatrix character, from the fiend folio, must I have a racial hit die?

That topic is being heavily debated here.

Q32
Does someone who is subjected to a Detect {Alignment} effect, such as a Paladin's Detect Good, have any ability to tell it's happening? Would a Spellcraft roll apply, even if the source of the Detection isn't a spell?

[Curmudgeon]

A 31 No.

Metamagic rods give you 3/day use of a metamagic feat, so this is just a question about the combination of Extend Spell and Persistent Spell.

Benefit An extended spell lasts twice as long as normal.

Benefit: Spells with a fixed or personal range can have their duration increased to 24 hours.

Extend Spell sets the duration to 2x the normal duration: i.e., that specified in the spell's Duration field. Persistent Spell sets the duration to 24 hours. Whichever metamagic feat you apply last determines the duration.

[Duke of URL]

A 25

Well, scrolls, of course. But that's not what you're after.

Beyond that, I don't recall ever seeing one, but the normal item creation rules can be used to define a custom item, subject to your DM's approval.

[MrLemon]

A32 No
Spellcraft in particular does NOT work (my emphasis)

Identify a spell being cast. (You must see or hear the spell’s verbal or somatic components.) No action required. No retry.

A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component

Note that Detect {alignment} has rules for overwhelmingly strong auras resulting in a 1round stun effect, although that only starts at higher levels. This can be used as an "indicator" for the evil cleric in disguise (TM)

[Andezzar]

Q 33

If an arcane caster (Level <26) transforms into a creature with 11 or more HD and the Evil Outsider type, does he get an overwhelming evil aura? What if his alignment is not evil.

A 14

Neither the class feature nor the condition specify that an attack cancels invisibility. So the ninja remains invisible. An Invisibility potion or spell has this restriction, unless it is greater invisibility.

[willpell]

A32 No
Spellcraft in particular does NOT work (my emphasis)


Note that Detect {alignment} has rules for overwhelmingly strong auras resulting in a 1round stun effect, although that only starts at higher levels. This can be used as an "indicator" for the evil cleric in disguise (TM)

Okay, spellcraft is a "no". So what chance does the recipient of the Detect have to know that the guy staring at him might be learning something more than the obvious? It might be more like the equivalent of using Psicraft to identify a power, but I'm guessing that says "you have to perceive the display", and neither SLAs nor PLAs have that. But surely they must have some kind of "tell"? (And for the record, I am the DM and am trying to figure out whether to inform the player of what an NPC is doing, so "ask the DM" is not a terribly useful answer here. If I knew I'd already have told me. :smallbiggrin)

[danzibr]

Q 034

What's the most number of natural attacks a Totemist can get from a race with no level adjustment and soulmelds and chakra binds on a full attack (excluding LA buyoff, gear and spells and whatnot)? There are probably a bunch of ties.

For example, a level 12 Warforged with the feats Jaws of Death, Second Slam and Double Chakra with Girallon Arms and Lamia Belt on the totem chakra would give one bite, two slams, four claws (upper body), two claws (lower body) for nine attacks.

However, something like Girallon Arms and Sphinx Claws shouldn't stack.

[Curmudgeon]

A 033 Yes.

If the spellcaster's transformation picks up the Evil subtype, they will detect as Evil regardless of their alignment.

Evil Subtype

A subtype usually applied only to outsiders native to the evil-aligned Outer Planes. Evil outsiders are also called fiends. Most creatures that have this subtype also have evil alignments; however, if their alignments change, they still retain the subtype. Any effect that depends on alignment affects a creature with this subtype as if the creature has an evil alignment, no matter what its alignment actually is.

[Andezzar]

Q 35

Character's are described as either right- or lefthanded. Is there any penalty for using the non-dominant hand?

Q 36

Can clothing be enchanted like armor? What other options are there for someone who does not want to wear armor to increase his armor bonus through items?

[Curmudgeon]

A 035 No.

D&D 3.0 had handedness as a significant trait, with Ambidexterity as a feat to overcome that and treat hands equally. D&D 3.5 has removed those. Instead, your main hand is whichever hand you choose to use as such for the round, and your off hand is the other one. As the LOOKS header (Player's Handbook, page 110) should indicate, handedness is purely a matter of appearance.

Your character can be right- or left-handed.

A 036 Some.

Magic Item Compendium lists common magical effects that can be added to items on pages 233-234. Items in Arms and Body slots can have armor enhancements added to them. (Bracers of Armor and Robe of the Archmagi are examples of existing items with armor enhancements in Arms and Body slots, respectively.) If the character wears a robe (a Body slot garment) they can get it enhanced with an armor bonus. After the item has at least a +1 numerical bonus other armor enhancements can be added. Note that there is no non-magical armor bonus from an ordinary garment.

Other garments (shirts, hats, gloves, boots, & c.) not in the Body slot can only be given armor enhancement if created as a custom item subject to individual DM approval. The DM would have to determine the price and other crafting requirements (or they could simply say no: only Arms and Body slot items can have armor bonuses).

[Dark Kerman]

Q37
Does anyone know of a spell (I forget the name) that makes evil creatures that may have glamours (like a succubus) take on the true for of there alignment. It's accompanied by a picture of a succubus, running away, with her feet turning cloven. Thanks. :D

[Andezzar]

Q 35 Follow-Up

So you could take two spiked gauntlets or one weapon in each hand and attack with one in one round and with the other in the next round and incur no penalties for either attacks? That does not sound like left-or right-handed, it sounds like ambidextrous

Q 36 Follow-Up

Is there any reason for a character without armor proficiency who does not want to suffer Arcane Spell Failure to buy either bracers of armor +3 (9000 gp, + 3 AC) or more if he can get a +X twilight mithral chain shirt (5100 gp, +5 AC)?

All I can think of is weight (probably negligible) and availability of mithral.