Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer 26: Still better than CustServ

[Aliek]

Q154: If I become immune to taint, via being undead/evil subtype, gain loads and loads of taint, and shapechange to another form, what would happen?
Q155: What easy ways are there for one to acquire the evil subtype?
Q156: If a dragonwrought kobold gains a sovereign archetype(I know there's some debate as to whether they qualify, but let's assume they do) and change forms in a way they can still cast spells, such as wild shape with natural spellcasting, can they still use their sovereign abilities, such as clerical spellcasting?

Well, that was more than I thought. Been away from the 'net for some time, but still got my books, so...

~~Aliek

[Sobolev]

Q152: If a psion uses his skill points to buy skill tricks, does his psicrystal gain those same skill tricks, since it has the same skill set as its master?

A152: XPH pg 22 says they gain all skill ranks, but says nothing of skill tricks.  Skill tricks do not say they count as skill ranks, but you buy them instead of skill ranks.  No, a psicrystal does not gain skill tricks from its master.

Q157: How many arms does someone have if you cast Girallon's Blessing on them twice.  In this case I need an actual page number or source for the reason as well.

A157: 4.  From PHB pg 172:
Same Effect More than Once in Different Strengths: In cases when two
or more identical spells are operating in the same area or on the
same target, but at different strengths, only the best one applies. For
example, if a character takes a –4 penalty to Strength from a  ray of
enfeeblement spell and then receives a second ray of enfeeblement spell
that applies a –6 penalty, he or she takes only the –6 penalty. Both
spells are still operating on the character, however. If one  ray of
enfeeblement spell is dispelled or its duration runs out, the other spell
remains in effect, assuming that its duration has not yet expired.

[Vicerious]

Q151.1 Does it loose every benefit it gained from being an animal companion? Including HD? Does the loss of HD counts as negative levels?
Some is obvious, some is not. Are there rules for what happens to an animal companion when it's druid abandons it?

An awakened animal companion immediately ceases to be an animal companion.  It's now a magical beast with the stats of an average example of its kind (meaning the MM entry) with the bonuses awaken grants.

An animal companion released from service looses everything it gained while an animal companion - the HD, bonus tricks, feats, everything.  It simply becomes a normal animal again.

[rot42]

Q150:  are there any 1st level spells that can move an ally?  I am playing a supermount w/ a dragon, and I want to make him a bit more mobile.  I know there's Hustle, Slide, and Greater Slide, along w/ Lion's Charge, but I'm trying to get it as cheap as possible.  It's fine if it's a standard action to cast.  

A150: Benign Transposition (Spell Compendium 27) swaps two allies, but is explicitly not going to work if you want to teleport your mount and take you with it. The first level psionic power Dimension Slip (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pse/20031219a) has the same restriction. Boots of Big Stepping (Magic Item Compendium 76) function as Greater Teleport and do not mention a restriction on bringing another creature, but cost more than a second level wand. An item of Shadow Jaunt maneuver (Tome of Battle 79) would be 1500 if I am reading that correctly (look under Crown of White Ravens, page 149). edit: Actually it looks like Shadow Jaunt would just take the initiator, so this one should probably be considered unanswered./edit

Are you playing a dragonrider of Pern?

[weenog]

Q151.1 Does it loose every benefit it gained from being an animal companion? Including HD? Does the loss of HD counts as negative levels?
Some is obvious, some is not. Are there rules for what happens to an animal companion when it's druid abandons it?

An awakened animal companion immediately ceases to be an animal companion.  It's now a magical beast with the stats of an average example of its kind (meaning the MM entry) with the bonuses awaken grants.

An animal companion released from service looses everything it gained while an animal companion - the HD, bonus tricks, feats, everything.  It simply becomes a normal animal again.

Of course if you're that attached to your beast buddy and you've been nice to him, you can always just try to convince him to join the party as his own entity.  You do have Diplomacy on your class skill list.  If you want something else mechanical to back it up, you could work out his ECL and possibly take him as a cohort with Leadership.

Depending on what sort of game you're playing, I suppose you could also take a new animal companion of the same species and the opposite gender, try to get an attractive one, and see if you can bait him to stick around that way.  That way might render your animal companion or your formal animal companion unfit for adventure during certain parts of the year, though.

[weenog]

Q158:  What's a reasonable price for the sale of a warforged?  One with, say, 6 PC class levels and a 28 point buy, if it makes a difference.

Don't need an exact figure if one isn't available, close enough will do.  I'm mainly trying to fill in the fluff for a non-Eberron warforged that is a demo unit sent by a crafter hoping to sell more to the community, and I need a figure unlikely to screw anything up in case another PC or wealthy NPC decides they actually want to order one.

[Eviltedzies]

Q159 If I have 5 levels in the Dread Witch prc I can bypass Fear Immunity so long as they are within 4 HD of me. What happens if I cast a spell that is [Fear, Mindeffecting] on something that is Immune to mind effecting. Does still work even though they are immune to mindeffecting but not to fear?

[weenog]

A159 No.  An ability to bypass fear immunity bypasses fear immunity only.  You are still trying to affect a creature that is immune to mind-affecting effects with a mind-affecting effect.

[Lycanthromancer]

Q158:  What's a reasonable price for the sale of a warforged?  One with, say, 6 PC class levels and a 28 point buy, if it makes a difference.

Don't need an exact figure if one isn't available, close enough will do.  I'm mainly trying to fill in the fluff for a non-Eberron warforged that is a demo unit sent by a crafter hoping to sell more to the community, and I need a figure unlikely to screw anything up in case another PC or wealthy NPC decides they actually want to order one.

Isn't there a price-guide for slaves in Lords of Madness?

That's basically what it would be.

Otherwise, you'd probably base it on a similar CR'd construct.

[weenog]

Ahh right, the neogi save the day.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

Q158:  What's a reasonable price for the sale of a warforged?  One with, say, 6 PC class levels and a 28 point buy, if it makes a difference.

Don't need an exact figure if one isn't available, close enough will do.  I'm mainly trying to fill in the fluff for a non-Eberron warforged that is a demo unit sent by a crafter hoping to sell more to the community, and I need a figure unlikely to screw anything up in case another PC or wealthy NPC decides they actually want to order one.

There are formulas for slaves in a couple of books, but it might just be best to set it equal to half the WBL of a NPC of the proper level. 5600/2=2800 gp.

Using the formula from Kalamar, I get around (100(class)+25(ability scores))*4(racial mod - warforged make excellent slaves)*6(number of levels)=3000 gp.

So three thousand seems about right

EDIT: Neogi formula is CR^2 * 100, so that would be 3600.  Seems everyone's in the same ballpark.

[X-Codes]

Q135:  Assuming you're a 5th level conjuror that just took level 2 in Master Specialist, what's the best 3rd level conjuration spell you could nab that's not already on the Wizard/Sorcerer spell list (and is also the better choice)?

A135: If you're being allowed to pull from any list, the best option I can think of is either Cure Light Wounds or Lesser Vigor, and that's just so you can craft and use wands without UMD checks.  Other classes get *some* good conjurations at higher level, but Wizards generally tend to just get the best spells.  I don't think there's really anything in other lists that can compete with Stinking Cloud or Sleet Storm for your 3rd-level slot.

[Cephid Arcanis]

I've just realised that druids and clerics don't need sleep to refresh spells, just 1hr to chill out each day.

Q148:
Can my druid wake up at dawn, cast his remaining spells from yesterday, then meditate for an hour and prepare his new set while the previous ones are still in effect?

Q149:
Can my druid cast Owls Insight (pumping wisdom for 1 hour) and prepare bonus spells based off his high wisdom? (if 1hr isn't enough he can extend it)
If so, a) would he have to use them within the hour before Owl's Insight wares off?
b) would he have to cast Owl's Insight before or after he meditated?

Spells cast in the last 8 hours count against your spells recovered the next day, so that probably won't work with either.

Are you sure? Where does that come from?

PHB, Chapter 10, Preparing spells.

Ok, so I could:
1)Wake up
2) cast Owl's Insight (still preped from yesterday, but counting towards todays spells.
3) Meditate for an hour and prepare spells based on my buffes Wis score.

So I effectively swap a 5th level spell for a whole stack of others.

Would I need to use the bonus spells within the time that owl's Insight lasts?
(If so I can just cast all day buffs)

[Sobolev]

I've just realised that druids and clerics don't need sleep to refresh spells, just 1hr to chill out each day.

Q148:
Can my druid wake up at dawn, cast his remaining spells from yesterday, then meditate for an hour and prepare his new set while the previous ones are still in effect?

Q149:
Can my druid cast Owls Insight (pumping wisdom for 1 hour) and prepare bonus spells based off his high wisdom? (if 1hr isn't enough he can extend it)
If so, a) would he have to use them within the hour before Owl's Insight wares off?
b) would he have to cast Owl's Insight before or after he meditated?

Spells cast in the last 8 hours count against your spells recovered the next day, so that probably won't work with either.

Are you sure? Where does that come from?

PHB, Chapter 10, Preparing spells.

Ok, so I could:
1)Wake up
2) cast Owl's Insight (still preped from yesterday, but counting towards todays spells.
3) Meditate for an hour and prepare spells based on my buffes Wis score.

So I effectively swap a 5th level spell for a whole stack of others.

Would I need to use the bonus spells within the time that owl's Insight lasts?
(If so I can just cast all day buffs)

Owl's Wisdom specifically says you don't get bonus spells, but maybe Insight does not have that clause.

[snakeman830]

I've just realised that druids and clerics don't need sleep to refresh spells, just 1hr to chill out each day.

Q148:
Can my druid wake up at dawn, cast his remaining spells from yesterday, then meditate for an hour and prepare his new set while the previous ones are still in effect?

Q149:
Can my druid cast Owls Insight (pumping wisdom for 1 hour) and prepare bonus spells based off his high wisdom? (if 1hr isn't enough he can extend it)
If so, a) would he have to use them within the hour before Owl's Insight wares off?
b) would he have to cast Owl's Insight before or after he meditated?

Spells cast in the last 8 hours count against your spells recovered the next day, so that probably won't work with either.

Are you sure? Where does that come from?

PHB, Chapter 10, Preparing spells.

Ok, so I could:
1)Wake up
2) cast Owl's Insight (still preped from yesterday, but counting towards todays spells.
3) Meditate for an hour and prepare spells based on my buffes Wis score.

So I effectively swap a 5th level spell for a whole stack of others.

Would I need to use the bonus spells within the time that owl's Insight lasts?
(If so I can just cast all day buffs)

Owl's Wisdom specifically says you don't get bonus spells, but maybe Insight does not have that clause.

It doesn't have the clause, no.  I checked myself.

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

Q160: What is that template that makes different kinds of driders? Note: it is NOT the one from SS. The one I'm thinking of is for vermin.

[Cephid Arcanis]

It doesn't have the clause, no.  I checked myself.

So this sounds like a winner! That's excellent. A stack of extra spells to help a druid catchup to the cleric domains and wizard specialist slots.

Any last ideas why this wouldn't work? and do I have an hour to use them? (duration of Owl's Insight)

[snakeman830]

It doesn't have the clause, no.  I checked myself.

So this sounds like a winner! That's excellent. A stack of extra spells to help a druid catchup to the cleric domains and wizard specialist slots.

Any last ideas why this wouldn't work? and do I have an hour to use them? (duration of Owl's Insight)

Well, Druids aren't very feat-dependant, so find a way to get Turn Undead (dip into Cleric works) and get Divine Metamatic (Persist) to make that hour a non-issue.

Even without, just Extend it and use those extra slots for buffs that get cast.

[Sobolev]

Q152: If a psion uses his skill points to buy skill tricks, does his psicrystal gain those same skill tricks, since it has the same skill set as its master?

A152: XPH pg 22 says they gain all skill ranks, but says nothing of skill tricks.  Skill tricks do not say they count as skill ranks, but you buy them instead of skill ranks.  No, a psicrystal does not gain skill tricks from its master.

Q157: How many arms does someone have if you cast Girallon's Blessing on them twice.  In this case I need an actual page number or source for the reason as well.

A157: 4.  From PHB pg 172:
Same Effect More than Once in Different Strengths: In cases when two
or more identical spells are operating in the same area or on the
same target, but at different strengths, only the best one applies. For
example, if a character takes a –4 penalty to Strength from a  ray of
enfeeblement spell and then receives a second ray of enfeeblement spell
that applies a –6 penalty, he or she takes only the –6 penalty. Both
spells are still operating on the character, however. If one  ray of
enfeeblement spell is dispelled or its duration runs out, the other spell
remains in effect, assuming that its duration has not yet expired.

For completeness, I couldn't find anything about identical spells operating in the same area at the same strength, but this may cause the DM to throw a book at you.

[PhaedrusXY]

It doesn't have the clause, no.  I checked myself.

So this sounds like a winner! That's excellent. A stack of extra spells to help a druid catchup to the cleric domains and wizard specialist slots.

Any last ideas why this wouldn't work? and do I have an hour to use them? (duration of Owl's Insight)

It should work, but yes you'd have to use them within the hour. You lose the slots when your wisdom drops.