| 3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
What is the definition of "Special Quality"? I've not been able to find a definition. I know that some abilities, such as Amphibious (Ex), state that they are special qualities but I've not been able to find anything saying that all abilities are special qualities.
I know monster entries have a SQ row. However I do not think this necessarily is all the special qualities the monster has.
Two examples of this:
* Shield Guardian says it gains the special quality Fast Healing which is listed under HP
* Skeletons/zombies made of creatures with low-light vision loses it and low-light vision is listed under Senses. The only reason I see for them losing it is "A skeleton loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks.".
So, is there a definition of "Special Quality"? If there is not, is there an official response about exactly what counts as special qualities?
Essentially, a "Special Quality" is every ability the creature has that isn't a "Special Attack", a Spell progression, or a Spell-Like Ability.
Many such special qualities are listed elsewhere in the statblock, such as fast healing, regeneration, auras, and so on.
Essentially, a "Special Quality" is every ability the creature has that isn't a "Special Attack", a Spell progression, or a Spell-Like Ability.
Many such special qualities are listed elsewhere in the statblock, such as fast healing, regeneration, auras, and so on.
Interesting. I am however interested in RAW (or at least official) in this case . Do you have a reference for this? (as I mentioned I haven't been able to find one)
Where do you get the idea that Spell-Like Abilities are not Special Qualities? Shield Guardian lists the two Spell-Like Abilities Spell Storing (Sp) and Shield Other (Sp) as Special Qualities.
I've always been under impression that Special Ability is simply anything that isn't Special Attack or Special Defense, just for sake of sub-categorization. So a critter with Petrifying Gaze, Immunity : Fire and Dimension Door has a SA, SD and a SQ :P I believe it's sorted this way simply to make it easier to tell at a glance what's relevant for which part of encounter.
Channel Resistance (Ex) is a Special Quality that is listed under Defensive Abilities. This means being listed in Special Defense does not equal not being a Special Quality.
I'm pretty sure the Special Attack and Special Defense locations in the monster entries are just there to quickly find what you are looking for and not actual type of abilities. The Special Qualities location is there to handle abilities that don't fit into other locations.
Channel Resistance (Ex) is a Special Quality that is listed under Defensive Abilities. This means being listed in Special Defense does not equal not being a Special Quality.
I'm pretty sure the Special Attack and Special Defense locations in the monster entries are just there to quickly find what you are looking for and not actual type of abilities. The Special Qualities location is there to handle abilities that don't fit into other locations.
Some typos. Special Defense should be Defensive Abilities. I don't think there's anything called Special Defense?