21 Huzzahs's page

I would like a clarification in regards to the Polymorph Rules, specifically this:

Now the question: If I shift to a form that has a natural attack that includes say, 1d6 acid damage, and that acid damage is not from a Supernatural (Su), Extraordinary (Ex), Spell Like (Sp) or similar ability, do I still gain the acid damage?
Likewise, what about ability damage and drain on a natural attack?
For consideration: Monstrous Physique and Plant Shape

Examples:
Popobala, Bestiary 3: bite +25 (2d6+6 plus 1d4 Cha drain), 2 talons +25 (1d6+6 plus grab and popobala fever), 2 wings +20 (1d6+3)
Viper Vine, Bestiary 2: bite +23 (2d6+8/19–20 plus 3d6 acid), 4 tentacles +21 (1d6+4 plus grab)

In the Popobala example, I know that I don't get the popobala fever - it's from a supernatural ability with the same name. However, the CHA drain is not from any ability on the monster's sheet. It's not explained anywhere. Do I still get this from Monstrous Physique if I become a Popobala?
Similarly, the viper vine's acid damage is never mentioned in the abilities section or explained.

Are these extra damages/effects bestowed by polymorphing, and part of the natural attack, or are they separate but not called out as such? And if so, how does one know if these add-ons are separate from the natural attacks if they are not called out specifically in the stat block?

This recently came up while building a character, and it seems that there is no clear answer with regards to this specific situation. It's an issue because some monster options for polymorph spells such as Monstrous Physique or Plant Shape are much more appealing if these forms of attack are valid.

I have yet to find a definitive answer in the FAQs or forum search but have seen this question asked many times and never answered.

EDIT: Changed the title and the opening sentence.

--I apologize for the long post, but details are important--

Hello everyone. I don't post here often, but I'm in need of some help.
I'm a new-ish DM, I've been DMing for about 2 years. I've run several campaigns in multiple settings, such as a campaign in a LOTR-esque setting and one in an open world exploration sandbox. Regardless of the setting though, I seem to always run into the same problem. Namely, one of my players doesn't seem to trust me as DM. It started off quite subtly, and I missed the cues that this was occurring. Over time though it's gotten to where this player doesn't even believe me when I tell him a ruling or describe an action.

Here's some detail on the player:

• He is a heavy rules lawyer, he knows at least as many rules as I do as DM and he is more than willing to tell me what I'm doing wrong in the middle of a combat/RP, despite being asked not to.

• He tends to play characters that hog the spotlight. Mainly due to this player's tendency to talk constantly, never giving other players a chance to react or take actions. He does this without cease, every session, to the point where other players are now complaining to me.

• He is a combat lover and rarely RPs.

• He is a nice guy, and is usually willing to compromise in most other situations.

I'll admit that as a DM, I make some mistakes. I'm not perfect. However this player has a behavioral problem where he'll act as though he was the DM; whenever one of the other players asks a question to me he interrupts with his own ruling or answer, even if he's demonstrably wrong afterwards.

This led to an uncomfortable conversation after a particularly tricky move by the campaign's villainess. Here's what happened:

The villainess sent fey henchman into the party's path, resulting in a convoluted but completely rules-legal event where an expensive magic item got stolen from the party (not his character, a monk). The problem player did not once believe me when I told him that everything had followed the rules. He refused to back down, insisting that I was wrong, had made a mistake somewhere, had cheated the characters, etc etc. I also refused to back down, and I told him that what I say, goes. He continued to try to argue with me until we both got tired and he left. It wasn't a shouting match, but it was a bit heated.

This player has constantly tried to argue with me while I DM. It's obvious that he no longer trusts me as DM. He seems to be trying to "backseat DM" me - you know, like a backseat driver.

On top of all the above, he seems to view the game as a DM vs the players thing, not a cooperative effort. This has hindered my ability to communicate my concerns with him.

What do I do? Other players are beginning to complain, but I don't want to lose this player, he really is a kind person but the problems he's causing are sucking the fun out of the game for me.

Okay, so I have a player who is running a level 9 thundercaller bard. His favorite technique is using the thundercall performance to deal lots of damage and stun multiple times in a round. Basically what he does is start a thundercall performance, end it, then start another to deal 6d8 points of damage and 2 stun rolls. The problem is that many of the other players are feeling overshadowed by this damage output, especially the stun (I've had direct comments). We are a new fairly low-power group, this is my second time DMing and I'm not really familiar how to adjudicate the thundercaller. To make it worse, I already had him switch from a soundstriker, so he's been fairly tolerant with me. It's a little awkward to consider rule changes at this point, though they may be necessary.

For reference:

I have some questions regarding the use of this, as well as the use of this and two bard spells (exquisite accompaniment and virtuoso performance).

1. Is using two of the thundercall in a round legal? Does the bard simply produce a single performance effect while maintaining per round, or can he start/stop to use the thundercall effect multiple times in a round (so at 11th when he can start a performance as a swift action, 3 times a round)? What I'm really asking is how does the bard's performance work with thundercall - immediately when the performance starts, or at the beginning of a round while he is maintaining?

2. What is the benefit of using exquisite accompaniment? A bard can already maintain a performance as a free action, so how does this spell help?

3. With virtuoso performance, eh can start a second bardic performance. I have some concerns here: can he use this to do thundercall even more times in a round? If thundercall is indeed "maintained" and has an effect only once per round, this isn't too bad- he'll get two thundercall blasts per round, one from him, one from the performance spell. Otherwise, this could give him six in a round using his current strategy (three from start/stop on his own, 3 from the accompaniment).

Thanks for the help!