Ask a Simple Question, Part 18: Lucid Dreaming Ghost Pixie Hood Edition

[Emo_Duck]

Q 231: If a psionic power can be taken by both psion/wilders and psychic warriors, but the power is of a lower level on the psychic warrior list, can a psion/wilder take Expanded Knowledge to learn that power early?

[betrayor]

That would only matter if the power is two levels lower than normal,but yes I don't see the reason why it shouldn't work....

[snakeman830]

That would only matter if the power is two levels lower than normal,but yes I don't see the reason why it shouldn't work....

It only needs to be a difference of one.

The Sage addressed this, in fact, using Body Adjustment as the example (3rd level Psion/Wilder, PsyWar 2).  Primary use of this is to get better augmentation.

[betrayor]

That would only matter if the power is two levels lower than normal,but yes I don't see the reason why it shouldn't work....

It only needs to be a difference of one.

The Sage addressed this, in fact, using Body Adjustment as the example (3rd level Psion/Wilder, PsyWar 2).  Primary use of this is to get better augmentation.

True enough,I did not think about the augmentation,I only thought about the power itself....

[betrayor]

Q232:Can I use wish to duplicate a spell to scribe a scroll?
I don't mean the create magic item function of the wish just the duplicate spell function....

[Kuroimaken]

Q 230 What spell is it that copies nonmagical text?

Amantheusis. I probably butchered the spelling, but it's in SC.

Amanuensis, if I'm not mistaken.

[kevin_video]

Q 233 Book of Vile Darkness says the Mortal Hunter needs to have the skill "Speak Language (Common)". You don't actually need to put a rank in there if you speak it normally, do you?

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

[betrayor]

Q 233 Book of Vile Darkness says the Mortal Hunter needs to have the skill "Speak Language (Common)". You don't actually need to put a rank in there if you speak it normally, do you?

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives?

A233: I suppose that this requirement are for races that don't get common as an automatic language.....

[NeverGetDrunkButStaySober]

Q226: A friend of mine in an epic game needs a massive boost to spellcraft. I told him the 765,000 gp +120 item with four different types totally isn't worth the cost. How to do it?

How long does he need it for? What are his casting/alignment restrictions? What's the makeup of his party?

Several things come to mind:
-Artificers have the Skill Enhancement infusion, which grants an uncapped circumstance bonus to the chosen skill. It's only IL 1, so he could easily Extend its duration (ten minutes per CL) to last all day if necessary. For reference, the bonus is 2 plus half the artificer's CL.
-Artificers have the related Item Alteration infusion, which changes the bonus type that an item grants. Combine it with Spellcraft-boosting items...and Skill Enhancement on the Spellcraft-boosting items. This is IL 4, but it also lasts for ten minutes per level. And as infusions are usually cast on items rather than characters themselves, it doesn't fly afoul of the restrictions on combining spell effects.
-Book of Vile Darkness has the Power Leech spell (Corrupt 5), which grants its caster a +1 enhancement bonus to a chosen ability score per round it affects the target. The effect lasts for a round per CL on the target, so to double the enhancement bonus you just have to Extend the spell. (The effect on the caster lasts for ten minutes per CL.) It also deals one point of ability damage to the chosen score per round to the target, so you'll want to be able to heal the ability damage taken by your punching bag.

It's an epic game. He needs it for epic spells (naturally), so it should be available for a relatively long amount of time. We don't have any artificers in the party, though.

...Power Leech is awesome and I didn't know of it. My character suddenly gained a buttload of enhancement bonuses to all his ability scores.

Note though that it is a corrupt spell so you have to evil, or if your dm allows it you may be able to Umd it....

Incorrect. It's only Sanctified spells that carry an alignment restriction. (I asked to make sure of this two months back.) Mind you, Corrupt spells are still evil, so they're unavailable for certain good-aligned divine casters.

@ Kuroimaken: That may not work, given the same restrictions on Combining Spell Effects. (The reason Skill Enhancement + Item Alteration doesn't matter is that as above, they're not all cast on the same target.)

I'm casting them on Simulacrums of my character, who will then cast a spell to make themselves immune to stat damage/drain when they're closest to kicking the bucket.

Giving them immunity to ability damage won't help; strictly speaking, you get bonuses based on how much you drain from the targets (which in turn is affected by the duration). Thus outright immunity or even Strongheart Vest won't help, but any method of actually healing the damage will help.

[Kuroimaken]

Q226: A friend of mine in an epic game needs a massive boost to spellcraft. I told him the 765,000 gp +120 item with four different types totally isn't worth the cost. How to do it?

How long does he need it for? What are his casting/alignment restrictions? What's the makeup of his party?

Several things come to mind:
-Artificers have the Skill Enhancement infusion, which grants an uncapped circumstance bonus to the chosen skill. It's only IL 1, so he could easily Extend its duration (ten minutes per CL) to last all day if necessary. For reference, the bonus is 2 plus half the artificer's CL.
-Artificers have the related Item Alteration infusion, which changes the bonus type that an item grants. Combine it with Spellcraft-boosting items...and Skill Enhancement on the Spellcraft-boosting items. This is IL 4, but it also lasts for ten minutes per level. And as infusions are usually cast on items rather than characters themselves, it doesn't fly afoul of the restrictions on combining spell effects.
-Book of Vile Darkness has the Power Leech spell (Corrupt 5), which grants its caster a +1 enhancement bonus to a chosen ability score per round it affects the target. The effect lasts for a round per CL on the target, so to double the enhancement bonus you just have to Extend the spell. (The effect on the caster lasts for ten minutes per CL.) It also deals one point of ability damage to the chosen score per round to the target, so you'll want to be able to heal the ability damage taken by your punching bag.

It's an epic game. He needs it for epic spells (naturally), so it should be available for a relatively long amount of time. We don't have any artificers in the party, though.

...Power Leech is awesome and I didn't know of it. My character suddenly gained a buttload of enhancement bonuses to all his ability scores.

Note though that it is a corrupt spell so you have to evil, or if your dm allows it you may be able to Umd it....

Incorrect. It's only Sanctified spells that carry an alignment restriction. (I asked to make sure of this two months back.) Mind you, Corrupt spells are still evil, so they're unavailable for certain good-aligned divine casters.

@ Kuroimaken: That may not work, given the same restrictions on Combining Spell Effects. (The reason Skill Enhancement + Item Alteration doesn't matter is that as above, they're not all cast on the same target.)

I'm casting them on Simulacrums of my character, who will then cast a spell to make themselves immune to stat damage/drain when they're closest to kicking the bucket.

Giving them immunity to ability damage won't help; strictly speaking, you get bonuses based on how much you drain from the targets (which in turn is affected by the duration). Thus outright immunity or even Strongheart Vest won't help, but any method of actually healing the damage will help.

Unless the immunity itself can be turned on AFTER the drain takes place.

Or, y'know, the Simulacra die.

[Agita]

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

A 234

Just like attack bonuses can go into negative numbers, there's no reason AC shouldn't be able to go negative.

[kevin_video]

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

A 234

Just like attack bonuses can go into negative numbers, there's no reason AC shouldn't be able to go negative.

That's what I wondered, but what's to stop you from doing what you can to have -56 for an AC? Unless you roll a 1, you're always going to get hit anyways. That is unless of course the guy's got -57 for an attack.

[NeverGetDrunkButStaySober]

Unless the immunity itself can be turned on AFTER the drain takes place.

Or, y'know, the Simulacra die.

Sounds good - guess I just misunderstood you.

Q210*: Is there any class ability that functions similarly to Beastland Ferocity (ie, allows you to ignore the disabled/dying conditions) and that has few restrictions? (For instance, Deathless Frenzy would work if it didn't require one to be in a frenzy.) This is intended for an Illithilich/Illithid Savant (arena), so just about any class is fair game.

Copied/tweaked from a few pages back.

[Kuroimaken]

Unless the immunity itself can be turned on AFTER the drain takes place.

Or, y'know, the Simulacra die.

Sounds good - guess I just misunderstood you.

Q210*: Is there any class ability that functions similarly to Beastland Ferocity (ie, allows you to ignore the disabled/dying conditions) and that has few restrictions? (For instance, Deathless Frenzy would work if it didn't require one to be in a frenzy.) This is intended for an Illithilich/Illithid Savant (arena), so just about any class is fair game.

Copied/tweaked from a few pages back.

Polymorph into a Dire wolverine? Sadly, that forces raging.

[Agita]

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

A 234

Just like attack bonuses can go into negative numbers, there's no reason AC shouldn't be able to go negative.

That's what I wondered, but what's to stop you from doing what you can to have -56 for an AC? Unless you roll a 1, you're always going to get hit anyways. That is unless of course the guy's got -57 for an attack.

I fail to see the practical difference between that and AC 1.

[kevin_video]

I fail to see the practical difference between that and AC 1.

It has to do with the reckless charge, rage, and frenzy abilities. If you're allowed to go into the negatives, and it not be hindered, you could lower your AC as much as you wanted for as many bonuses as you wanted. If, however, you can't go into negatives, then you stop at 0, which means your bonuses are limited as well. Case in point, got a player with a character who has 7 AC, and would like to do all of the above. If the character can't go past 0, then the bonuses won't be there. Just looking for something that says yes or no.

[Agita]

I fail to see the practical difference between that and AC 1.

It has to do with the reckless charge, rage, and frenzy abilities. If you're allowed to go into the negatives, and it not be hindered, you could lower your AC as much as you wanted for as many bonuses as you wanted. If, however, you can't go into negatives, then you stop at 0, which means your bonuses are limited as well. Case in point, got a player with a character who has 7 AC, and would like to do all of the above. If the character can't go past 0, then the bonuses won't be there. Just looking for something that says yes or no.

There's nothing that says yes or no as far as I'm aware, and neither is there anything that says you wouldn't get the bonuses if the penalties don't apply. That's sort of like saying elves can't become Undead because they take a hit to Con, which is negated by Undead lacking a Con score.

[kevin_video]

I fail to see the practical difference between that and AC 1.

It has to do with the reckless charge, rage, and frenzy abilities. If you're allowed to go into the negatives, and it not be hindered, you could lower your AC as much as you wanted for as many bonuses as you wanted. If, however, you can't go into negatives, then you stop at 0, which means your bonuses are limited as well. Case in point, got a player with a character who has 7 AC, and would like to do all of the above. If the character can't go past 0, then the bonuses won't be there. Just looking for something that says yes or no.

There's nothing that says yes or no as far as I'm aware, and neither is there anything that says you wouldn't get the bonuses if the penalties don't apply. That's sort of like sayign elves can't become Undead because they take a hit to Con, which is negated by Undead lacking a Con score.

Fair enough. Just needed to know.

[Maat_Mons]

q 215. what is the level adjustment for the paragon template out of the epic level handbook?

A215: There's no official LA for it, but the consensus across various boards was that it was in the range of +15 to +20.

q 230. What was the formula used to figure that out? The example says ecl 26, but its with a mind flayer.

I'm not seeing a listed ECL for a paragon mind flayer.  Where exactly is it? 

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

A 234 Just like attack bonuses can go into negative numbers, there's no reason AC shouldn't be able to go negative.

That's what I wondered, but what's to stop you from doing what you can to have -56 for an AC? Unless you roll a 1, you're always going to get hit anyways. That is unless of course the guy's got -57 for an attack.

Reckless charge is a fixed -4 penalty unless there's a more recent version than Miniatures Handbook.  The only variable AC penalty I can think of is heedless charge (part of shock trooper), but that is limited by your base attack bonus.  I don't know how you'd get down to -57. 

[betrayor]

q 215. what is the level adjustment for the paragon template out of the epic level handbook?

A215: There's no official LA for it, but the consensus across various boards was that it was in the range of +15 to +20.

q 230. What was the formula used to figure that out? The example says ecl 26, but its with a mind flayer.

I'm not seeing a listed ECL for a paragon mind flayer.  Where exactly is it? 

Q 234 What's the lowest AC you can possibly ever have? Zero? Or can you go in the negatives? If AC can not go below 0 does that mean that a person can not use Reckless Charge for more than the number that leads to 0? What happens if you want to Rage and/or Frenzy?

A 234 Just like attack bonuses can go into negative numbers, there's no reason AC shouldn't be able to go negative.

That's what I wondered, but what's to stop you from doing what you can to have -56 for an AC? Unless you roll a 1, you're always going to get hit anyways. That is unless of course the guy's got -57 for an attack.

Reckless charge is a fixed -4 penalty unless there's a more recent version than Miniatures Handbook.  The only variable AC penalty I can think of is heedless charge (part of shock trooper), but that is limited by your base attack bonus.  I don't know how you'd get down to -57. 

In epic level handbook paragon mind flayer is listed in page 156 as a 26 ecl.....
Well maybe not -57 but my character which is the question about will be able to have -23 ac....