Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

[rasmuswagner]

The Book of Exalted Furries is actually quite explicit that putting your captives in situations where you know that they are going to die (including simply leaving them without food and water) counts as killing them for the purpose of those stupid vows. The Druid is wrong.

That being said, the Book of ED is a terrible book and those vows are fucked and the moral behavior described in those pages is incoherent and shitty.

-Username17

QFT.

[OgreBattle]

In which books can I find the stats for the various elfblades?
Which one is most appropriate for an Elf Samurai?

If I remember correctly the courtlbade is like the best parts of a falchion combined with a greatsword, and finessable.

and call him/her The Penetrator

So, what's the best gish that's playable at level 6? Just a straight up duskblade or what.

[Koumei]

Level 5-7 is that brief moment where a duskblade truly shines. They can chuck +5d6 damage into their weapon, if they manage to get a Spellstoring weapon they can chuck a separate 4d6 into it, and 1/day they can Swift-Cast True Strike and Power Attack for "ALL OF MY BAB" on a two-handed attack, or can Swift-Cast Blade of Blood. With a Greatsword, you can swing 14d6 damage (plus 1, plus Strength-and-a-half) once per day at level 5. At level 7, your spell-stored Scorching Ray is now 8d6.

Later on, people aren't impressed that you can do a bucket of dice of damage, especially seeing as you need to prepare in advance a bit. Great, you can Swift-Fly or whatever. But at that level, you're loving life. Maybe if you can grab one of the broken accelerated-casting prestige classes (it doesn't specify "your Duskblade spells" or even "your Arcane spells" for Arcane Channelling), you have a longer lifespan with crazy stuff to channel (and other spellcasting besides).

I suppose the Cleric also does the job just fine, with the added benefit of being able to wake up the next day and go "I'm tired of being a better fighter than the fighter, I think I'll put my spells to better use".

[TiaC]

With dragon magazine, mystic ranger is nice. Psychic warrior can do a lot. There's also weird options like full BAB class 5/ chameleon 1

[Hicks]

So, what's the best gish that's playable at level 6? Just a straight up duskblade or what.

If using the Tomes: Fighter 1, Thaumaturge 1, Eldritch Knight 8 or 10, then finish with stranger with the Burning Eyes 10 or Incantrix/Initiate of the Seven Veils with a sprinkling of Mindbender 1.

[Draculmaulkee]

How exactly is a flask rogue supposed to work in a Tome game? I can't find a Tome feat which contains Quick Draw.

[Kaelik]

How exactly is a flask rogue supposed to work in a Tome game? I can't find a Tome feat which contains Quick Draw.

Nothing stops you from taking Quick Draw the regular feat. Also I think there is some bullshit you can pull with Sleight of Hand to draw weapons.

[Grek]

How exactly is a flask rogue supposed to work in a Tome game? I can't find a Tome feat which contains Quick Draw.

Nothing stops you from taking Quick Draw the regular feat. Also I think there is some bullshit you can pull with Sleight of Hand to draw weapons.

Not quite. You can take -20 on a Sleight of Hand check to switch the action required from standard to free, but drawing a weapon doesn't require a check and doesn't let you change the action type like that. What you can do is apply that modifier to pickpocketing checks, allowing you to make an infinite number of pickpocket attempts in a round at the "cost" of taking a -20 to the roll to keep them from noticing that you've stolen their pants. Or, as the case may be, to prevent them from noticing that you've stolen one of the 5000 acid flasks you hid in their backpack.

[Kaelik]

Or, as the case may be, to prevent them from noticing that you've stolen one of the 5000 acid flasks you hid in their backpack.

I think you put the flasks on your donkey and steal them from your donkey, but yeah.

[Hicks]

Hypertext d20 SRD[/url]] Check
A DC 10 Sleight of Hand check lets you palm a coin-sized, unattended object. Performing a minor feat of legerdemain, such as making a coin disappear, also has a DC of 10 unless an observer is determined to note where the item went.

When you use this skill under close observation, your skill check is opposed by the observer’s Spot check. The observer’s success doesn’t prevent you from performing the action, just from doing it unnoticed.

You can hide a small object (including a light weapon or an easily concealed ranged weapon, such as a dart, sling, or hand crossbow) on your body. Your Sleight of Hand check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone observing you or the Search check of anyone frisking you. In the latter case, the searcher gains a +4 bonus on the Search check, since it’s generally easier to find such an object than to hide it. A dagger is easier to hide than most light weapons, and grants you a +2 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it. An extraordinarily small object, such as a coin, shuriken, or ring, grants you a +4 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it, and heavy or baggy clothing (such as a cloak) grants you a +2 bonus on the check.

Drawing a hidden weapon is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

If you try to take something from another creature, you must make a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check to obtain it. The opponent makes a Spot check to detect the attempt, opposed by the same Sleight of Hand check result you achieved when you tried to grab the item. An opponent who succeeds on this check notices the attempt, regardless of whether you got the item.

You can also use Sleight of Hand to entertain an audience as though you were using the3 Perform skill. In such a case, your “act” encompasses elements of legerdemain, juggling, and the like.

See also: epic usages of Sleight Of Hand.

Action
Any Sleight of Hand check normally is a standard action. However, you may perform a Sleight of Hand check as a free action by taking a -20 penalty on the check.

All with one rank in Sleight of Hand.

[Kaelik]

Hicks, you are not reading properly, Drawing a hidden object is not a use of the Sleight of Hand skill, and therefore cannot be reduced. Hiding the blade can be reduced, drawing it is not reducible, because it is not an application of the sleight of hand skill.

[wotmaniac]

Hicks, you are not reading properly, Drawing a hidden object is not a use of the Sleight of Hand skill, and therefore cannot be reduced. Hiding the blade can be reduced, drawing it is not reducible, because it is not an application of the sleight of hand skill.

This is correct. I would also add (for completeness) that the sentence about drawing hidden weapons was simply to differentiate that from drawing a normally-worn weapon -- which only takes a move action.
I.e., consequences of hiding a weapon.

OTOH, I think that there is a Skill Trick that lets you draw a hidden weapon as part of an attack that leaves your opponent flat-footed. (prereq = Quick Draw + a pile of SoH ranks)

[NineInchNall]

This argument has been done to death.

Highlights:

Anyone want to field this?

Not really. I mean seriously we could go on all day about whether you need to make a check to draw a concealed weapon (signs point to yes by the way because "drawing a weapon" is otherwise a Move Action while "making a sleight f hand check" is a standard action) or whether you need to get a big Sleight of Hand check and draw your weapons from allies and opponents (DC 40 allows you to take any object away from any character as a Free Action - including weapons which you are then holding).

But really the problem here is that Sleigt of Hand is not written in precise language, so you can't make a literal interpretation about what it means. And not just for the question of "free drawing swords" - but for literally anything it does. Andy changed the item and weapon size rules when making the change to 3.5 and there was vital information loss when he did so.

The information loss in the format change was actually in what sizes items counted as - that's no longer in the book. Daggers are no longer Tiny Weapons which count as Diminutive Objects which therefore grant a Pick Pocket bonus to manipulate for Medium creatures - they are a "Light Weapon" that just happens to have arbitrary rules stating that it is smaller than a Shortsword and therefore presents bonuses (but other similarly sized weapons generally don't have that information on them).

So yeah, 3.5 Wepaon Size rules are so bad that Sleight ofHand doesn't work. The fact that it probably also causes you to pop weapons out on an at-will basis is a completely secondary fact to the problem where it doesn't function.

-Username17

Drawing a hidden weapon is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

How much clearer can the text get?

Any Sleight of Hand check normally is a standard action. However, you may perform a Sleight of Hand check as a free action by taking a -20 penalty on the check.

Again with the clear -- if it's not a check, you can't rush it. Of course, I couldn't care less if people could draw as a free action.

How much clearer can the text get?

Well, for starters it could not be written in the fvcking skill description - where of course the default consideration is that everything described therein requires a skill check. For example, the quote:

Disabling a simple device takes 1 round and is a full-round action. An intricate or complex device requires 1d4 or 2d4 rounds.

in no way means that Disabling Devices doesn't require a skill check.

In fact, any action defined inside a skill description would normally be assumed to require a check of that skill unless stated otherwise.

The statement

Appraising an item takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions).

doesn't mean that you get to avoid the check.

And the statement

Drawing a hidden weapon is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Doesn't mean that you can avoid the check either! It's in the skill description, and it doesn't say that you aren't making a skill check, so you're making a skill check. And the skill also says that you can speed up actions that use that skill check by taking a penalty.

-Username17

[hyzmarca]

Hmm.

Charm Person works by making the target believe that the Caster is a trusted friend and ally, according to the text.

Does this mean that making a tactical decision to immediately murder all of your friends and allies as soon as possible is an effective mundane way to counter the combat applications of Charm Person?

[infected slut princess]

Ok basically, a player in my game wants to be a "Ninja". This game is starting at level 4. I told him he can make a pretty cool ninja with a Rogue, but he wants something a little more supernatural-Ryu-Hyabusa-ninja-kinda-sorta-thing.

The WotC ninja is crap. The wider D&D community seems to make really lame Ninja classes. Koumei's Ninja for Tome games (http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=52755) seems a little ridiculous and needs modification, although it provides an interesting framework.

So I need a well-made "Ninja" class, or method towards making a cool "Ninja" character. What should I do to help my player.

[Koumei]

Honestly, you could handle it just fine with a Rogue (Flasked Avenger) or a Monk. That said, I could see the Ninja as actually being a modification of the Monk as follows:

1. It's the Monk (Tome) class in every way except as noted below
2. It does not get Fighting Styles of any variety
3. It gets the Jutsu Points (and the ways they can be used) and the Mystic Arts
4. It loses the Monk abilities that extend Fighting Styles (which it doesn't have)
5. It gains the Stealth-related abilities
6. Fiddle with the levels things come online so that it's pretty much "something at every level" still
7. Consider letting them attune Jutsu Points for "having one Fighting Style ability" (so they could place a Jutsu Point into having a Stunning Fist), but only ever one at a time. This can upgrade over time. It gives more flexibility but less actual power.

[RadiantPhoenix]

In what way is the rogue class an inadequate representation of the ninja?

EDIT: Oh right, supernatural.

[Koumei]

Also you could basically write "Ninja" on the sheet and use a Warlock or Sorcerer. To tell the truth, the WotC Warlock has the perfect abilities, if only it weren't so limited and crappy - it throws a bunch of magical shuriken out of nowhere that find tiny weaknesses in armour so as to be touch attacks (Eldritch Blast), it can poison people or set them on fire via shuriken (Eldritch Essences), it can turn invisible at will, it can suddenly vanish, leaving behind a dummy clone and when you grab it... you are left holding a log (the D-Door+Mirror Image combo Invocation), it can just know when there are magic traps around (magi-vision), it can create darkness, fly...

[JonSetanta]

Not to offend Koumei's Tome Ninja, but I'd sooner play a Tome Monk/Rogue or Wizard/Rogue than that if i were to replicate, say, Naruto.

[OgreBattle]

Ok basically, a player in my game wants to be a "Ninja". This game is starting at level 4. I told him he can make a pretty cool ninja with a Rogue, but he wants something a little more supernatural-Ryu-Hyabusa-ninja-kinda-sorta-thing.

Tome Monk as the base:
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Monk,_Tome ... _Abilities

But instead of Fighting Styles, you pick a Fiendish Sphere at levels 1, 3, 5, etc. and can take Fiendish Feats (because Ninjas have special bloodlines and stuff):
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Tome_of_Fi ... _and_Feats

Replace 'Walk of a Thousand Steps' at lvl 6 with: "Once per encounter you can cast a spell from a sphere you know as a swift action."


Here's a ninja sphere I just made up:
Ninjutsu
1- mirror image
3- invisibility
5- alter self
7- dimensional door


Talk with your friend about what kind of abilities he wants his ninja to have, you could throw some spheres together based on what he wants.

[DSMatticus]

If your class gives sphere access faster than warlock does, then there's very little reason left for warlock to exist at all. Alternate them instead, and ninjas get fighting styles at levels 1, 5, 9, 13... and spheres at levels 3, 7, 11, 15...

Diamond Soul and Walk of a Thousand Steps are also both abilities that can get axed in favor of more ninja-esque abilities. Diamond Soul could become something like "once per day when striking an opponent who is denied their dexterity bonus to AC with an attack that receives the benefits of your fighting style, you may activate any of your spheres' SLA's as a free action." Feel free to make this 1/encounter or whatever. Immaculate Diamond Soul is just another usage. Walk of a Thousand Steps could become something like "when throwing sufficiently ninja-like projectiles at people who are denied their dexterity bonus to AC, your attacks receive the benefits of any active fighting style."

So at level 1-2, you are a monk in every way. At level 3, you pick up some SLA's instead of another fighting style. At level 4, you can trigger your SLA's by hitting people who are off guard, so you run around hitting people and shouting SOMETHING SOMETHING JUTSU. At level 6, you can do the thing you were doing at level 4, except now with 100% more shuriken.

[Maxus]

I like this idea. I mean, the "genre" ninja has both combat and some weird special abilities...

[Voss]

Talk with your friend about what kind of abilities he wants his ninja to have, you could throw some spheres together based on what he wants.

This seems pretty important. Because when I hear 'ninja', I definitely think of illusions, shadow magic and killing loud noisy idiots before they know you're there. I don't think of morons shouting 'Something Something Jutsu' as they attempt to punch people in the face.

The pathfinder Alchemist could work with some moderate re-theming and skill re-jiggering [meditative ki trance rather than drug infusions], or Taoist Mystical Alchemy theme, and a focus on illusion, transmutation and possibly necromancy (touch spells particularly for necro, including a touch version for finger of death as their 'ultimate attack') in the spell list.

[NineInchNall]

I'd represent the magical Ninja Gaiden or Naruto style ninja with a warrior/wizard build, flavoring all the spells/feats as ninpou, genjutsu, taijutsu, and all the hokanojutsu there are. Use major creation to nab some (by which a I mean a lot of) black lotus poison and be unbearably in flavor for a ninja.

Just choose any of the various base classes or variants of base classes that give Hide and Move Silently as class skills, then go into full on gish mode.

[DSMatticus]

This seems pretty important. Because when I hear 'ninja', I definitely think of illusions, shadow magic and killing loud noisy idiots before they know you're there. I don't think of morons shouting 'Something Something Jutsu' as they attempt to punch people in the face.

Note that shouting "something something jutsu" is totally optional, as SLA's do not actually have verbal components. But being able to attach SLA's to your punching people means you get mystical melee murder techniques, which is very ninja.