ZucchiniSpooks's page

I actually learned something, though. I wasn't aware you could stack a damaging spell on to an unarmed strike or natural attack.

Normally you can, and I've played characters that do, but I think not with Produce Flame. Since it doesn't actually have Range: Touch you aren't technically holding a charge. To deal it's damage you have to make it's specific attack. Could be wrong about that. Not exactly batting a thousand right now.

That said, even if you can use it to punch people I'll probably stick with thrown. More flexible, higher AC, and I really like the idea of pelting someone with fire from half a battlefield away. Really, I made this thread because I wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something before I dumped Strength ^_^

Alright, thanks for clearing that up guys. Nice to know we haven't been misusing the rules all these years. I'm gonna wander on over to Advice and see if I can stack up any more damage bonuses.

So then Produce Flame doesn't count as a "weapon-like spell"? Does that mean it wouldn't gain the bonuses from Inspire Courage either? Do you not count as armed while wielding it?

Why not? Is there anything official that says you don't add strength to touch attacks? Again, this is an assumption I've been running on for 10+ years, but I've never seen any rules stating it.

A longsword does 1d8 damage. I add my strength because it says I do under Damage. A melee touch attack is still a melee attack. A Thrown Weapon that makes a ranged touch attack is still a thrown weapon. If the hang up is "equal to", what about Shocking Grasp or Elemental Touch? They don't use the same language.

I've had a build based on Produce Flame bouncing around in my head for a while, and while I was working on optimizing it I ran into a question. Can I add my Strength Modifier to damage?

The description for Produce Flame says that you can "hurl the flames up to 120 feet as a thrown weapon [...] and deal the same damage as with the melee attack". In the section on Damage in Combat, "When you hit with a melee or thrown weapon, including a sling, add your Strength modifier to the damage result."

First, this made me wonder whether I could add my Str Mod to damage with the thrown version, but another question came up while I was searching for an answer. Flame Blade has a very similar effect, but it specifically calls out that your Strength Mod doesn't apply to the damage. That made me wonder if you're generally supposed to apply your Strength Mod to damge with Touch spells. After all, you're considered armed when making a touch attack with a spell, and the section for damage only refers to whether or not your attack hits, not what kind of attack it is. Most modifiers that apply to weapon attack damage apply to "weapon-like spells", eg. Inspire Courage and Weapon Specialization. Beyond that, Power Attack and Deadly Aim specify that they can't be used with touch attacks.

I've been playing various d20 games for years now and every group I've ever gamed with has been under the impression that you don't add Strength to your touch attacks, but it's one of those rules that I picked up from someone who had been playing longer than I had and never questioned.

I've spent a few days scouring the forums and the SRD for any kind of official ruling on this, but I've come up empty. I can't seem to find any kind of answer to the question anywhere. It seems pretty reasonable that you could add your Strength Modifier given how many of your modifiers you can add, but I still feel like I'm missing something.