Post Your Questions to the D&D FAQ

[Lago_AM3P]

Here's how this shizzle works. We come up with a huge list of questions to ask the game designers. No curveballs, just simple stuff. Then when the list is formulated, we all send the exact same copy of the email at once to The Sage.

This will greatly increase the probability of actually getting some decent questions answered.

For bonus points, lead the question in the way it's supposed to be answered.

I'll start.

1.) From Complete Divine, which divine feats can you use with turning that doesn't apply to undead? The 3.5E rules for Complete Divine completely overturned the standing rule in 3.0E for divine feats, as there are divine feats that don't utilize undead turning. Further, most feats in Complete Divine don't specify any type of turning that will power the feat.

2.) The 3.5E DMG does not mention whether you lose PrC abilities when you lose prerequisites, a change from the previous edition when in fact you did. However, passages in Complete Warrior and Complete Arcane reference this rule. It seems that my assassin who has a change of heart and becomes good wasted most of her levels. Which is the official ruling on this?

3.) Several of the weapon properties in the magic item section in the Dungeon Master's Guide are ambiguous as to what weapon they can apply to, especially when compared against the table. For example, ghost touch and spell storing arrows are not on the table for randomly rolling items, even though the description does not contradict having either of these weapons. Can you, for example, make keen arrows?

4.) Several of the specific magic items in the Dungeon Master's Guide are interesting, but of an otherwise unusable weapon type or enhancement bonus. A new rule for 3.5E states that you can add additional magical item properties to a pre-existing item. Does that apply for specific items? Also, if you wanted to create a Holy Avenger that was a greataxe or Celestial Armor that was applied to a chain shirt, coud you make this?

5.) Can a character that cast glyph of warding on an arrow and fired it at an opponent (taking the proper precautions not to trigger it) get the spell effect from the glyph in addition to regular weapon damage?

[Lago_AM3P]

Goddamnit, people.

I know all of those times you've argued with people who can't even be bothered to read rules or do read them but interpret them in a way that they want to without rhyme or reason.

This is like the perfect time to take that FAQ and staple it directly to their eye with the answers and go, 'look, BITCH. This is what the game designers want'.

There's a small chance that this plan might backfire and the game designers will interpret it in the way they want (i.e. stealth errata/nerf). But it if works, it will be golden.

[Zherog]

6) Will a +4 bane weapon overcome Epic DR against the right creature type?

I can't tell you how many times I've had that argument with people who try to claim the extra +2 from bane doesn't count.

[Neeek]

7) Does changing shape(from Polymorph, Shapechange, Alter Self, etc.), if it increases the size of the creature, count as a "size increase" for purposes of things like Righteous Might, and Enlarge Person?

8) For the Gate spell, what consistutes a "unique being", which can refuse being called?


It wouldn't surprise me overmuch if the second(#8) one was clearly answered in the rules somewhere already. I think I just deal with bigger morons than I should.

[Username17]

Here are some wordings for you:

6> The Epic rules give a number of ways in which a weapon is considered "Epic", these include Total Cost, Gross Effective Bonus, and Enhancement Bonus. Does a weapon count as being "Epic" for the purposes of penetrating Damage Reduction if it meets only one of those criteria? For example, a +4 Dragon-Bane weapon costs only 50,000 gp and has an effective bonus of +5, but against Dragons it has a +6 Enhancement bonus. Alternately, a +5 Vorpal Flying weapon has an effective bonus of +10, and an enhancement bonus of +5, but costs over 200,000 gp. Both of these weapons meet at least one criteria for being Epic, but do they have to meet all three to penetrate DR?

7> If I assume the form of a creature larger than myself with Polymorph, does that count as a "Size Increase" for the purpose of not stacking with size enhancement spells? If I have been transformed into a smaller creature than myself and I subsequently use Alter Self to assume the form of "myself", does that constitute a "Size Increase" for the purposes of not stacking with size enhancement spells? If it does, how would that even work with regards to spells like "Giant Size" that are the larger size increase? What part of the form assumption and/or stat replacement doesn't stack with transforming into a colossal form and adding a strength bonus?

8> The "Gate" spell distinguishes a "specific being" from a "unique creature", which am I? It says that I can summon a "specific being" and that I can call them by name, and they must come. Is Bob the Gelugon a "specific being" that can be summoned? It also says that a "unique creature" can choose whether or not to come. Is Bob the Gelugon a "unique creature"? If so, it says that Bob both can choose to come and has no choice whether or not to come. If Bob is "unique", why do I even have the option of forcing creatures to come by using their name?

-Username17

[User3]

Well Lago, you seem to have covered most of the ones I can think of rather well.

Although it would be nice to know if Polymorph/Wildshape/Shapechange stacking, feat, and special ability cheese is really legal.

And whether HP change with Polymorph+ or not, because there are still people saying that they don't.

And the order of level loss! I can't find it anywhere.
Do you loose your highest level first (as per 3.0 FAQ) or your most recent level, or whatever you like, or something totally random?

The following might be a bit to esoteric:

Are Savage Species, Races of Faerun, Unaproachable East, and similar considered "3.5"? 'Cause that seems to matter to some people.

What should and shoulden't be ported to 3.5 unchanged from 3.0/3.25? Can I just use anything unchanged by the rule changes, or would that be unbalanced. Don't give me that "DM's choice" crap, I can Rule Zero all I want.

I want an official answer on planned obsolescence!


Here is one which is really far to bitter to submit:

When will I have to pawn all of my 3.5 books to buy all of the new 4.0e ones. I don't want to get suckered in by a Ghostwalk again.

[Username17]

In general, don't ask any questions that the designers already answered, because you might get a different answer and that would be awful.

Although it would be nice to know if Polymorph/Wildshape/Shapechange stacking, feat, and special ability cheese is really legal.

That's from a Skip Article, so I'm guessing yes. I suggest not asking them that question, since the best case would be that they say it is not legal and then you have two different things on the WotC webpage that say opposite things. And that's actually the worst thing possible. Worse even than the broken rules we have now. It becomes a game of Icelandic Law with secret rules.

And whether HP change with Polymorph+ or not, because there are still people saying that they don't.

That's had the Sage Advice treatment already. There is nothing more to gain from this. The die hards who insist that hit points don't change just wander around with banners that say "The Sage is Wrong!!!", which in this case, he isn't. So there's nothing to be gained from asking this question again.

And the order of level loss! I can't find it anywhere.
Do you loose your highest level first (as per 3.0 FAQ) or your most recent level, or whatever you like, or something totally random?

As per their own descriptions, the 3.0 FAQ is still an official answer to this question. Nevertheless, the fact that it is a 3.0 answer has gotten many people to ignore it/ not find it.

So making this question makes sense:

9> I am a Cleric 5/ Fighter 2 with 23,000 XP. I just lost a level when I died and was reincarnated as a dwarf. What class level do I lose, what skills do I lose, how many hit points go away? I wasn't actually keeping track of my skill expendiures and such as I leveled and have no idea what my hit dice rolled recently. So what determines what goes away? Once I figure out which level drops, it's fairly easy to recalculate BAB, Saves, and Class Features, but the selectable portions of my character are more opaque.

Are Savage Species, Races of Faerun, Unaproachable East, and similar considered "3.5"? 'Cause that seems to matter to some people.

What should and shoulden't be ported to 3.5 unchanged from 3.0/3.25? Can I just use anything unchanged by the rule changes, or would that be unbalanced. Don't give me that "DM's choice" crap, I can Rule Zero all I want.

They've given an official answer here. Anything that is 3.0 is 3.5 unless a 3.5 book has been written to supercede it. This means that Spelldancers are still legal, because there is no way in hell that people are going to bring back that class, so it doesn't need to be brought back, it's still here.

-Username17

[User3]

1) What properties of Polymorph are inherited for the spell Polymorph Any Object? According to the website and the example table, it completely overturns the rules for creature type (as per the Sage article you can turn into a construct or undead), overturns the rules for size increases, and overturns the hit die limit (turning a marionette into a human or a shrew into a manicore).

2) When you use spells like polymorph, polymorph any object, and shapechange in succession, what properties of each form stack? For example, shapechange states that you keep supernatural abilities; if a druid was high enough level to cast multiple shapechanges, do they keep gaining the supernatural abilities of each form? If a druid who was turned into a choker received an alter self or polymorph spell to turn him back into himself, do they keep the quickness property?

3) What does the form 'non-unique creature' reference for in the shapechange spell? Can you turn into creatures with templates?

4) There is no stat block for humans when polymorphing, even though this is an allowed creature per polymorph any object. What would a typical human look like? What class are they and how are their feats and skill points arranged?

5) Does casting spells with the [Evil] descriptor make you evil? If so, are there exceptions? Does a wizard casts a magic circle against good to summon a celestial become evil? In the example, when Jozan was casting a symbol that had the [Evil] descriptor, would he become evil?

6) Does an anti-magic field protect you against the properties of a plane?

[Zherog]

1112376104[/unixtime]]Here are some wordings for you:

6> The Epic rules give a number of ways in which a weapon is considered "Epic", these include Total Cost, Gross Effective Bonus, and Enhancement Bonus. Does a weapon count as being "Epic" for the purposes of penetrating Damage Reduction if it meets only one of those criteria? For example, a +4 Dragon-Bane weapon costs only 50,000 gp and has an effective bonus of +5, but against Dragons it has a +6 Enhancement bonus. Alternately, a +5 Vorpal Flying weapon has an effective bonus of +10, and an enhancement bonus of +5, but costs over 200,000 gp. Both of these weapons meet at least one criteria for being Epic, but do they have to meet all three to penetrate DR?

<<snippage>>

-Username17

Isn't this really unnecessary, and possibly going to lead Andy into saying something even more dumb? Epic DR is clearly defined:

A few very powerful monsters are vulnerable only to epic weapons; that is, magic weapons with at least a +6 enhancement bonus. Such creatures’ natural weapons are also treated as epic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

So, epic DR is overcome by weapons with a +6 enhancement bonus. I'm just tired of seeing jerkoffs on the WotC boards claim that a +4 whatever-bane weapon doesn't bypass epic DR.

[Josh_Kablack]

If a halfling uses Alter Self to become a medium-sized creature, (or Polymorph to become a giant) how much of her equipment resizes for the new form? If carried weapons do not resize, does that mean that she now sufferes the penalties for wielding an innapropriately sized weapon?

[User3]

If a wizard Magic Jars into a new body, does his original body become a living object (like a tree) or does it retain his mental stats and count as a person? If its a person, can you affect the wizard's mind(in the new body) by casting Confusion on his orginal body? Would a spell effect cast on the wizard in his original form (like Bull's Strength or Confusion) follow a wizard into his new form, or would he leave it behind with his old body?

Do you have a choice about whether you can see into the Ethereal Plane while using True Seeing? If you do, what kind of action is it to switch between "ethereal True Seeing" and "non-ethereal True Seing"?

If you no longer meet the targetting conditions of a spell cast on you sometime before the duration of the spell runs out, does it still affect you? For example, if you die (becoming an object), do people who attack your body still get affected by the Fire Shield you cast on yourself(which can only be cast on people)? Is the spell effect still on your body for the purposes of being a normal spell that a Spellthief could steal?

If you Alter Self into a Lizardman from a human (going from one Humanoid to another, which is legal), can you share the effect with your Familiar and turn it into a Lizardman as well (going from an Animal to a Humanoid, which is not legal with an Alter Self)? If so, does it add its Familiar bonuses (like its bonus to natural armor) to its lizardman form?

Can I cast an illusion of opaque smoke or mist with a Silent Image, and thus make my enemies blind? How often would a person in the illusionary mist get a save if he was in it. Could I make the illusion only surround my enemy's head so that my friends could target him normally? If I make an illusion of a blatantly magical effect (like images of my party doubling like bacteria and then walking side by side with them) do my enemies get a bonus to the save?

[Wrenfield]

I have a good rules issue as well.

Complete Warrior, pg. 90 ... the Warshaper PrC
-------------------------------------------------

Under the class ability, Morphic Weapons (gained at 1st level), the implication is that you can grow as many natural weapons as you want, without limit. Obviously, this can lead to some broken use of natural weapon combat in conjuction with certain feats. An example would be a Warshaper who grows 2 hand claws, 2 foot claws, a bite attack, tail attack, an impaling horn, multiple tentacles, etc. etc.

Is the current wording of Morphic Weapons valid? And if not, what should the revised wording state?

[RandomCasualty]

Falling object rules

If a druid under a shapechange spell flies above an opponent and turns into some heavy creature and drops on him, does this action require any attack roll or grant any saving throw? What if instead of the druid dropping on the target himself he instead drops a big rock?

[User3]

1112377224[/unixtime]]In general, don't ask any questions that the designers already answered, because you might get a different answer and that would be awful.

Although it would be nice to know if Polymorph/Wildshape/Shapechange stacking, feat, and special ability cheese is really legal.

That's from a Skip Article, so I'm guessing yes. I suggest not asking them that question, since the best case would be that they say it is not legal and then you have two different things on the WotC webpage that say opposite things. And that's actually the worst thing possible. Worse even than the broken rules we have now. It becomes a game of Icelandic Law with secret rules.

And whether HP change with Polymorph+ or not, because there are still people saying that they don't.

That's had the Sage Advice treatment already. There is nothing more to gain from this. The die hards who insist that hit points don't change just wander around with banners that say "The Sage is Wrong!!!", which in this case, he isn't. So there's nothing to be gained from asking this question again.
...

-Username17

Good advice, although I think that Skip's Polymorph article could use some clearing up.

I don't think that saying you don't keep all the bonus feats of every creature you've ever Wildshaped into would be a direct contradition of the current rules. It would simple close a loophole which is currently gaping like a 60 year-old prostitute's...nevermind.

As for rules hierarchy, if two PrCs/Feats/Spells/Classes/etc. within the same edition of rules share the same or similar names, does one replace the other? What if they are completely different in effect?

...

I would like to know whether an Elf Bladesinger who casts Alter Self to become a Dwarf looses all PrC abilities until she becomes an elf again.
And whether when said Elf is Reincarnated as a Centaur she permenantly looses all Bladesinger PrC abilities.
And whether, when it is revealed that she was simply a Halfling rogue with a very good Disguise skill bonus, she finds out that she never could have taken the Bladesinger PrC in the first place.

[User3]

And another thing...

If one is adding magical abilities to a specific magic weapon or suit of armor (Rhino hide, 9 lives stealer), are the special weapon or armor properties considered a flat numerical cost?

Or do I have to figure out the cost according to the enhancement equivalent scale, find what the cost of the enhanced weapon or armor would be, and subtract the two to find the cost increase?

Or do I have to do some combination of the two?

And just how balanced are the rules for creating new magic items intended to be? If a player follows them exactly (without doing anything not included in the guidelines), can I just allow the item at cost?

[User3]

And one last thing: What is the deal with Epic BAB and saves? None of the monsters seem to follow them, not even the ones in the Epic Level Handbook!

And the relevant portion of the FAQ seems to disagree with the relevant portion of the Epic Level Handbook it references.

Do creatures only hit the epic BAB/save track once they have 20 class levels, as seems to be indicated by every monster in every book?

[Essence]

Do creatures only hit the epic BAB/save track once they have 20 class levels, as seems to be indicated by every monster in every book?

This needs to be really fully laid out for these people. Something like:

I am playing an advanced (32 HD) Dire Tiger that was recently Awakened (34 total HD). According to the Monster Manual, I count my entire HD toward calculating my BAB (3/4 of 32 is +25). (Do I get 5 iterative attacks per round while wielding an Opposable weapon?)

According to the Epic Level Handbook, I count the first 20 of my HD toward calculating my BAB, then add 1/2 of the remainder as an Epic bonus to attacks (3/4 of 20 is 15, plus 1/2 of 14 is 7, netting me a +22 total).

If the latter is correct, why do monsters "as written" not follow this rule? Are they all calculated wrong? Or do PC monsters for some reason get treated totally differently than NPC monsters?

If the fomer is correct, how do I handle the addition of later attack bonus, either from increased Animal HD (my GM is allowing me to play the "Dire Tiger monster class" if I desire), or from class levels (if I decide to go with Rogue instead)?

That should leave them rushing to avoid *both* answers.

[MrWaeseL]

In the Monster Manual, it says that monsters don't have to meet the prerequisites for any bonus feats they get. Now, the rogue class gets a special ability at 10th level, an option of which is to get a 'bonus feat'. Would this qualify an elf rogue for epic spellcasting at 10th level?

[User3]

1112470593[/unixtime]]In the Monster Manual, it says that monsters don't have to meet the prerequisites for any bonus feats they get. Now, the rogue class gets a special ability at 10th level, an option of which is to get a 'bonus feat'. Would this qualify an elf rogue for epic spellcasting at 10th level?

I would rephrase this question to show where the ambiguity issue arises between a bonus feat that requires no specific pre-req.'s and one that *does* require pre-req.'s. Examples would help too. This is an excellent question though ...

[Neeek]

How many questions do we want to send? Also, do we want to send them all with the exact same text(basically a form), or with slightly different wordings?

[User3]

I dunno how.

I guess they should have slightly different wording to not have the impression of spam.

And there shouldn't be all THAT many. When we get a good bank of questions I guess we can have a write-in vote on people's top X number of questions.

[Boulie_98]

I'd love to see them answer the rogue bonus feats one. All the signs point to 'yes they can', but all the dms point to 'oh no they don't'.

[User3]

I need to remove my True Sight question. I found an article on the website that answers my question. True sight does see ethereal stuff.

Check the " A funny way to beat True Sight thread for the support documentation.

[SuicideChump]

Here is my question:


"Hello, I have a question about the Shapechange spell.
Will it let me turn into a templated form? Now, I think that you've already heard this question, but...
Polymorph won't let you turn into a template creature, but the Shapechange entry states that "You can choose any form except that of a unique creature".
And what if my sorcerer would like to turn himself into a Living Spell (a very peculiar templated creature, which cannot exist by itself beyond its own 'template')?"


and the answer was:


"No you cannot turn into a Templated creature, as they are considered unique for this purpose.

Good Gaming!
[...]
Zephreum H.

Customer Service Representative
Wizards of the Coast"


You can't figure out the brawles this argument has caused in my gaming group...


P.S.: this was a question I asked some time ago. Do we want to make a sort of database of Wizards Customer Service answers? I have some of this stuff (though it is laughable in some cases...)...

[User3]

I'm about to type up the form e-mail.

Anyone else want to add anything?