Ask a Simple Question, Get a simple answer

[Maximiano]

Talking about aasimar...
Q95
The lesser tiefling and aasimar (pg 190 Players guide to Faerun) are treated as both humanoinds and outsiders.
In a scale of 1 to 10: How much does it suck?  :-\

[Ieniemienie]

A95 0? I don't see the negatives in it... how many spells are actually targeted to outsiders? (/retorical question)

[Optimator]

A95 0? I don't see the negatives in it... how many spells are actually targeted to outsiders? (/retorical question)

Alter Self... Dwarven Ancestor anyone?

[Smudgy]

Q96: I'm AFB, and can't remember. If I were to apply the Dragonborn template to a Goliath, would I lose Powerful Build? If not, what would I lose?

[AfterCrescent]

A96. Yes If it's not a stat adjustment or something drived from your type/subtype, you lose it.

[Rebel7284]

A96. Yes If it's not a stat adjustment or something drived from your type/subtype, you lose it.

This is not correct, as far as I remember, powerful built and slight built are specific exceptions to that rule.

[AfterCrescent]

A96 add on: Modes of movement and powerful build ARE retained, in addition to what I mentioned before. The rest is lost (good call, Rebel, my apologies).

[Smudgy]

Really? Sick, that makes things much better than what I'd feared.

[Eldariel]

Q97: Could someone help me with this whole Warforged Natural Slam Attack-nonsense? I seem to be relatively confused as to how exactly the natural attack operates with all class features and what things affect it. Heck, the whole Warforged race seems to confuse the heck out of me; maybe someone could clarify the following:

Q97a: Is there a way for natural Slam-attacks to avoid the -4 penalty for using a weapon in Grapple? I recall reading something about if you only have one natural attack and that's your primary, you don't get the penalty - or something. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I read it, so it may very well be total bollocks.

Q97b: If I'm attacking with just the Slam-attack, but use the Whirling Frenzy of UA Barbarian (or Flurry of Blows, for that matter), do I get to make two Slam-attacks with it? Do the Slam-attack(s) deal 1d4+Str or 1d4+1½ Str damage?

Q97c: If I become large (say, through Expansion-power), do I get a second Slam-attack as per Monster Manual (Natural Weapons: All large creatures have two Slam-attacks)? If I do, is it secondary or primary?

Q97d: In what kind of a sitiuation would I get 1d4+½ Str damage? Could the Slam-attack somehow become a secondary natural attack?

Q97e: When initiating Grapple, could I deal Slam-damage instead of Unarmed Damage? It feels somehow natural as an option, but I can't seem to find anything in books supporting it, but perhaps I just don't know where to look...?

Q97f: Would Adamantine Body allow my natural and unarmed attacks to count as Adamantine?

Q97g: Do I threaten area with my Slam-attack when wielding a weapon? For example, if I have a Guisarme in hand, can I use my natural Slam-attack to threaten adjacent? Can I perform Trip-attacks with natural weapons? PHB only defines Unarmed Strikes.

Q97h: If I have Adamantine Body, can I gain benefit of stuff that's prevented by normal heavy armor such as Monk's Unarmed AC-bonus, Barbarian's Fast Movement, Tumble-skill or such? RoE confuses the heck out of me by saying it counts as a heavy armor and then stating how Barbarian is a great class for it, since Barbarian's Fast Movement helps to offset the movement speed penalty.

Q97i: Could I get simple add-ons to Warforged's body like to normal armor - something like Armor Spikes? Or does everything of the sort have to be performed through feats? And how exactly would enchanting the body with Fortifications work; would +1 get Moderate Fortifications and +3 Heavy Fortifications or would I need to get redundant Light Fortifications first?

Q97j: Any good Construct Alter Self-forms for e.g. Potion of Alter Self around 3-4 HD?


Bonus question: Why the hell do Warforged make me feel dumb?

[Runestar]

Talking about aasimar...
Q95
The lesser tiefling and aasimar (pg 190 Players guide to Faerun) are treated as both humanoinds and outsiders.
In a scale of 1 to 10: How much does it suck?  :-\

You would lose martial weapon prof (derived from the outsider type), be susceptible to spells like charm person and hold person, as well as lose access to arguably more advantageous forms from alter self/polymorph. On the plus side, you can benefit from enlarge person...

Still a fairly strong choice given the stat bonuses you get.

[Surreal]

A 97...

a) I don't think so, other than weapon supremacy. There are probably other feats or class features out there that do something similar (I think there's one for daggers, but can't think of one for slams)

b) If you're using some sort of class feature or feat that increases your number of attacks, then simply follow those rules as applied to your slam (assuming you are using your slam as a primary attack). The only difference here is that you don't get to make your iterative attacks since the slam is a natural weapon.

c) DM territory here

d) By default, primary natural weapons deal +Str damage. Secondary deal +1/2*Str. In a few cases the primary will do 1.5*Str, but those are specifically mentioned (and are usually only  bites or gores). If you are using a weapon as a primary and using your slam as a secondary, then it will only do 1/2*Str.

e) It's usually only the unarmed damage. I think for monsters that have improved grab, they can deal the damage of the natural weapon which triggered the improved grab (can't remember the source for this though).

f) I can give a yes and no answer here. Technically the feat give your natural weapons the property. However (and I can't remember the source... Savage Species maybe?) if a creature has damage reduction, typically it's natural attacks will be able to overcome that same DR. In this case you have DR 2/adamantine, so you should be able to pierce that DR. This is arguable though, so check with your DM.

g) Yes, you threaten with your slams. No, you can't trip with your slams.

h) You are not actually wearing armor, but you are considered to be wearing one for the purposes of class abilities and whatnot. What you can and can not benefit from however is a debated point. People have argued that the barbarian example is due to poor editing, or people have argued the other way that the intent was for the barbarian to be able to recover his speed. Yet another "ask the DM" kind of thing.

i) Technically no. It's not actually armor, so you can't put those add-ons. Armor Enhancements are specifically called out as an exception. That said, it's certainly reasonable to do, but given that there are feats to do so, it's probably against the designer's intent. As for fortification, yes it would be redundant.

j) Can't really think of any good ones off the top of my head (check my index though; there might be stuff in the polymorph section). Constructs typically have high hd, but there might be some interesting warforged variants in the lesser Eberron splatbooks. I know there's at least one flying one somewhere.

bonus) Because you're taking a race which already breaks a lot of rules that the designers didn't entirely account for, you're mixing in natural attacks which are also poorly documented, and then you're throwing grappling on top, because apparently you're a masochist.

[Eldariel]

A 97......

My hat off to you, sir. You truly are a d20 prodigy. Few clarifications/further questions:

Q97d & Q97h: The reason for this question is the fact that Page 23 in Races of Eberron (Warforged Classes) states at the Monk-entry:
"Unlike your natural slam attack, your unarmed strikes do not deal 1½ times your Strength bonus in extra damage."

The same paragraph would have me believe that a Warforged Monk with Adamantine Body gets his full AC bonus from Monk-abilities, can Flurry and so on (but can't Flurry with Natural Weapons, just Unarmed Strikes - go figure).

Q97e: So if I acquired Improved Grab from Bear-Totem Barbarian (Complete Champion-version), I could technically use my Slam to grab, dealing Slam-damage in the process? Hell, let's add Crushing Weight of the Mountain to add 2d6+1½ Str to that.

Q97f: If you can think of the section, where in the book it could be, I'd be grateful. I tried to dig for some such phrase but found nada (in SS).

Q97g: So I can use a Slam-attack with my hands full?

Q97i: Is there any way to permanently (e.g. not through Construct Essence-spell) "upgrade" the Light Fortifications to Moderate or Heavy?

Q97j: I actually started there; I only found PAO forms for constructs in a Polymorph-thread and unfortunately they're way too high in HD (8+ for Zelekhut or whatever).


Bonus: Well, at least now I know. Better go burn my hair now.

[CannibalSmith]

A97:

b) Flurry: take all your iterative unarmed strikes normally (with -2 to hit for flurry), then all your natural attacks as secondary attacks (with -2 for flurry and -5 for secondary attack unlesss you have multiattack). Whirling frenzy: same as flurry. If you're using slams only then you just make another slam (or whatever primary attack).

c) No.

d) You deal +1.5*Str with a natural attack when it's your only attack. The previous rule is nowhere stated explicitly, but all monsters (as far as I've checked) follow it.

e) Once you're in grapple, you can attack with whatever weapon you have at hand.

f) By RAW, no. But you might talk your DM into it.

i) You enchant your plating as you would any other suit of armor. Whatever you can do to normal armor, you can do to plating. You can get armor spikes by going into Warforged Juggernout prestige class. As for nonmagical addons, I see no reason why couldn't you screw or weld something onto you. In fact, in Faiths of Eberron there's a sect of warforged that wander Mournland trying to build a god. Their priests weld god-parts onto themselves.

[CannibalSmith]

A97e: Yes.

A97g: No, you need at least one arm free to make the slam attack.

[sombrastewart]

Q98: I know this is a dumb, dumb question, but I can't find it anywhere.  Where are the stats for using Monster Manual races as PCs?

[Eldariel]

A98: The stats aren't typed out anywhere, but generally you can count monsters' stat adjustments by simply subtracting 10 from the even and 11 from the odd numbers in its stat block. Humanoid warriors tend to use non-elite array (13/12/11/10/9/8), but monsters have simple 11/10/11/10/11/10. This is all spelled out page 6-7 under "Abilities" at the start of Monster Manual I.

[Morokael]

A97:
d) You deal +1.5*Str with a natural attack when it's your only attack. The previous rule is nowhere stated explicitly, but all monsters (as far as I've checked) follow it.

Pg 299 of the Monster Manual - "Natural Weapons: A creature's attack gets the creature's full strength damage bonus from Strength, or 1.5 times the Strength bonus if it is the creature's sole natural weapon."

So you're absolutely right, and now you have the reference to prove it. >; - )

as part of A97, pg 299 of the Monster Manual is full of handy info for this warforged question, most of which has been explained above. Check both the "Attack" and "Full Attack" sections, and read carefully. >; - )

Unfortunately, I can't find this information listed in the SRD.

-Mike

[tusk]

Q 99 : What class mesh well with a Warblade in a Gestalt build?

[Callix]

Q 99 : What class mesh well with a Warblade in a Gestalt build?

A99: Nearly anything that wants to get into melee. Cleric and Druid produce some brutal melee machines. Bard covers all your saves, and White Raven + Inspire Courage/Heroism is a very strong support character. Rogues love Tiger Claw and Time Stands Still, while a gishy Wizard or Psion has strong Intelligence synergy.

Really, whatever you want. What sort of character are we talking about?

[AfterCrescent]

A 99. CantripN has a gestalt warblade//factotum build over on gleemax's 3.5 board. It's a great fit.