Creature Entry seems off

[Aurorius Leyrin]

I was looking at the Hell Knight creature block and noticed something fishy going on with the feat section. How does the Hell Knight have Improved Critical, Critical Focus and Sickening Critical? When it is a Fighter 5, Hell Knight Commander 6?

Cause if you build the npc out from 1st level they have access to

1st level feat
Human feat
Fighter 1 feat
Fighter 2 Feat
3rd level feat
Fighter 4 feat
5th level feat
7th level feat
9th level feat
11th level feat

10 feats, which matches up with the amount they have listed. but... Improved Critical requires a BAB +8 putting that as the 9th level feat, critical focus requires a BAB +9. And Sickening Critical requires BAB +11 and Improved Crit. So how do they get the feats?

Are there some retraining rules or something that I am not aware of that they used? Cause as it currently stands they have only 2 feat slots that all 3 of those feats need to sit in right?

Or am I mistaken in assuming that retraining a feat slot requires you to retrain that level's feat so if i retrain a 3rd level feat i have to make sure i qualify at 3rd level? Or is there no limitation of that sort and you can retrain that 3rd level feat into say sickening critical because you now qualify for it?

[Jeraa]

Ultimate Campaign FAQ:

Quote:

Retraining: Can I retrain a feat to replace it with a feat I didn't qualify for at the level I originally gained that feat?

Yes. As long as the new feat is a valid feat for your current character, you can retrain the old feat and replace it with the new feat.

For example, if you are a 3rd-level rogue who took Improved Initiative at 1st level, you can retrain that feat and replace it with Weapon Focus. Even though Weapon Focus has a prerequisite of "base attack bonus +1" (which means you couldn't take it as a 1st-level rogue), it is a valid feat for your current level (3rd), and is therefore a valid choice for retraining.

(Note: Likewise, the fighter class ability to retrain fighter bonus feats does not require you to meet all of the new feat's prerequisites at the level you originally gained the feat.)

So the hell knight in question could have those feats by retraining. I don't know if that is what was intended for that character or if its creator made a mistake, but it does work within the rules.

[James Risner]

+1 it could be:

1) The author used retraining (look at wealth difference than WBL)
2) The author built the character at 11th level stats and didn't consider level by level advancement.
3) The author intentionally made a better character without retraining.

[Aurorius Leyrin]

Yeah that seems like what could have possibly happened...

Also a question slightly off topic that came up. A player insists ALL spells are Line of Effect and some spells have the additional caveat of Line of Sight. Now, my argument was that a mind affecting, enchantment spells still goes through a force wall because the creature's mind is not a physical thing. Cause by this definition of "all spells are line of effect" you can never say look through a pane of clear glass and cast a control spell on someone and get them to do something.

What is the actual ruling here... cause either hes right and now magic just sucks donkey dongers cause non emanation/creation magic can't go through the simplest of obstacles or it works and hes just being too strict with the ruling

[dragonhunterq]

if it creates an effect or targets you need line of effect to where you want the effect to appear or to your target. There is no exception for mind affecting enchantment spells.

[Aurorius Leyrin]

So all spells are kinda donkey sh*t when it comes to "You can't cast through a pane of glass or a Force wall" even though thematically it makes sense for a mind related thing to permeate physical barriers... Cause honestly how does a caster live in the fantasy world when all people have to do is carry around glass doors with stands and then just wave at the caster who is trying his hardest to mind fu*k them but can't now because Line of effect is blocked by this see through door lol

Also "If it creates an effect"... doesn't literally EVERY single spell create an effect?

[Tarik Blackhands]

If you think that's bad, you should remember that being underwater also breaks line of effect and counts as total cover.

It's pretty dumb, yeah, but frankly casters complaining about pretty minor things illicits me playing sad songs on the world's smallest violin for them.

[Majuba]

Aurorius Leyrin wrote:

... how does a caster live in the fantasy world when all people have to do is carry around glass doors with stands

If they are carrying the glass door, they are target-able - similar to how a tower shield can provide total cover, but doesn't stop targeted spells.

Aurorius Leyrin wrote:

Also "If it creates an effect"... doesn't literally EVERY single spell create an effect?

See Effect spells (such as all the ray spells), and Area spells. True Strike does not create an effect, it just affects you. Dimension Door does not create an effect, and does not require line of effect.

If you're in a force, or glass, bubble then there is very little you can cast that directly affects people outside your bubble.

So Yes, if you want to charm the prince, you have to open his window first.*

*: or otherwise have a 1 square foot opening to provide line of effect.