Would you be able to take the form of an Atomie Lich using Undead Anatomy III?
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This question came up the other day. . . . Corporeal spells and effects that do not cause damage only have a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal creature. Does the spell Command Undead really have a 50% miss chance against incorporeal undead? Would you need the Ectoplasmic metamagic feat to affect incorporeal undead normally?
So, I'm playing a gnome sorcerer with the arcane bloodline. Whoo-hoo I have a weasel familiar! He's pretty awesome. But I'm trying to understand exactly how the scent ability works. And in searching for an answer, there's some internal disagreement about how this ability works. PRD Core Scent Glossary:
Scent
This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges. The creature detects another creature's presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If the creature moves within 5 feet (1 square) of the scent's source, the creature can pinpoint the area that the source occupies, even if it cannot be seen. A creature with the Survival skill and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Survival check to find or follow a track. A creature with the scent ability can attempt to follow tracks using Survival untrained. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry's odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Survival skill in regards to tracking. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility. Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures. Water-breathing creatures that have the scent ability, however, can use it in the water easily. False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10. Core Glossary Invisibility:
A creature with the scent ability can detect an invisible creature as it would a visible one. So given that above, it seems sensible to assume that if a creature with the scent ability detects an invisible creature as it would a visible one, the same action that would be used by a creature to detect a visible creature by sight would also be used to detect an invisible creature by scent. In most cases, that would be no action; I see the creature in front of me, therefore I know the creature is there. No action is required. I smell the creature in range with the scent ability, therefore I know the creature is there. No action is required. Certainly a creature can't always see a visible creature with vision. If someone is miles and miles away, you can't see them. And certainly a creature with scent can't always smell a creature in the scent range. An overpowering stench can make detection difficult. And I know that the scent range can vary. And I also know that it takes an action or actions to determine where exactly a creature is. But as far as the ping that says a creature is in range in most situations, it should be instant. My understanding of 3.X was that the detection abilities went in this order of power (weaker to powerful): Scent -> Blindsense -> Blindsight. Scent would make you immediately aware but not tell you where in range -- actions are required to tell you direction until you're within 5 feet. Blindsense would make you immediately aware of a creature in range and tell you where they are -- but concealment still applies. Blindsight mostly functions like blindsense but with the concealment penalty gone. I totally understand that the perception skill in PF was made to be used for scents -- and that detecting a faint smell or a trace amount of something by smell would require a perception check. But you don't need a perception check in most cases to see a creature within 30 ft of you. You shouldn't need a perception check to smell a creature within 30 ft of you in most cases if you have the scent ability. After a quick search on the forum I found this from a dev: James Jacobs says:
People who treat Scent as "autodetect anything within 30 feet" aren't reading the rules for scent properly; nowhere in the rules for scent does it say something like "...most kinds of concealment are irrelevaqnt..." like it does for blindsight. It only says "you can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet." The word "automatic" does not appear in there at all. This is not a rules problem as much as people not paying attention to the words or making assumptions about things that aren't really there, I guess. It doesn't even grant any intrinsic bonus to Perception either. It basically just ALLOWS you to roll a Perception check to notice a non-unusually scented creature by smell. None of that would be fixed by a reorganization of the skills system. I was very surprised reading this, considering that nowhere have I ever read/seen/heard in 3.X that actions were needed for the detection capability of scent. Maybe I always played it wrong? ): But then I found this from a dev from a blog about a proposed changed Stealth system. The new system proposed a change to the scent ability that a hidden creature could not be found immediately unless within 5 feet: Stephen Radney-MacFarland says:
You still need to make clear how someone/thing with Scent can detect a scent (DC? Automatic?)and how and if Stealth affects that. If it is within range, it is automatic. Stealth doesn't help you when going up against a creature that has scent. That's the long and short of it. So what's the right answer? I'm totally confused at this point ):
When creating a spiritual weapon wand, the base caster level is 3. The duration of the spell is 3 rounds. The spell doesn't have a DC, but it does use "your base attack bonus (possibly allowing it multiple attacks per round in subsequent rounds) plus your Wisdom modifier as its attack bonus". Does this use the same Wisdom modifier as a wand would use for DCs (+2) or the wisdom bonus of whoever activates the wand? Is the base attack bonus tied to the person wielding the wand?
Given: 3.5 UD:
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a rogue can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if she is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, she still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.
If a rogue already has uncanny dodge from a different class she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead. PF UD:
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a rogue can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She cannot be caught flat-footed, even if the attacker is invisible. She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A rogue with this ability can still lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action (see Combat) against her.
If a rogue already has uncanny dodge from a different class, she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead. My question: How has PF changed in relation to invisible attackers attacking a character with uncanny dodge? PF mentions those with UD not being flat-footed to an invisible attacker. But, isn't that. . . unhelpful information?
And since being flat-footed means a character "loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) and cannot make attacks of opportunity", do you get no real bonus against an invisible attacker other than the lack of the "flat-footed" status? Why include any text referencing an invisible attacker?
All, I'm trying to see if I can accurately do the Goliath Spider stats. This means (I assume) an advancement of the Giant Spider using the monster advancement rules. I'm just **trying to focus on hp** for now, then get to the other stats. This involves the following changes: CR 1 to CR 11
From the CR increase, I'm using the Monster Advancement table. According to the text under the heading Step 2: Add Hit Dice, I'm going to assume I add the values in the table, then add the average hp for the added hit dice, then I'm adding the Con bonuses for size increases. I'm adding a total of 11 HD. Since I'm going from CR 1 to 11, I'm going to add a total of CR 2 through CR 11, giving 5+10+10+15+15+15+15+15+15+15 or 130 hp. Each size increase is cumulative, so the giant spider will gain +16 Con for a total of 28 Con, which would be 9 (new Con modifier) x 14 (total hit dice) or 126 hp. Since the spider had 3 HD with a 12 Con before, we can subtract 3 from the previous number and add a total of 123. Adding 11 d8 HD, that would be 4.5 * 11 = 49.5, which since the base number of HD on the giant spider is odd (3), I'm rounding up to 50. Thus the monster's hp is 13 (old HD) + 3 (old Con) + 50 (new HD) + 123 (new Con) + 130 (value from table) = 319 hp. This is a large increase from the colossal monstrous spider in 3.5 (208), even though the creature's hit dice is significantly less (32 to 14). Does this mean that I shouldn't add the table's values, or does it mean in PF the goliath spider is has around 50% more hp than the colossal monstrous spider in 3.5?
I have three questions about the iconic paladin, Seelah, in the blog preview: Why would Seelah ever use a heavy shield? The heavy shield means that in order to have a free hand to cast spells with somatic components or use Lay on Hands, Seelah needs to sheathe her sword or drop it. Both of those options are not good in melee. Sheathing a weapon provokes an attack of opportunity, so that's a bad idea. Dropping a weapon is usually a bad idea in melee, especially if it's a +3 defending longsword. Was it intended to make Seelah use spells/lay on hands primarily out of melee? That's fine on paper, but since the paladin is usually at the front line of combat, they're going to be awkward at best to use during combat. I guess the question should read, "Should these abilities be intended to be used out of combat?" Was Seelah playtested with the rules for somatic components for spells and/or the rule for requiring a free hand for lay on hands? |