How exactly do incorporeal creatures attack corporeal opponents?

[Delrik]

Do they get a 50% miss chance to hit solid objects and corporeal creatures?

Thanks!

[James Jacobs]

Delrik wrote:

Do they get a 50% miss chance to hit solid objects and corporeal creatures?

Thanks!

Nope. Being incorporeal is a bonus to your defense, not a penalty to your offense. Incorporeal creatures can attack other creatures just fine... and in fact, they do so BETTER than that since they make touch attacks (their attacks generally just pass right though things like shields and armor).

[Delrik]

James Jacobs wrote:

Delrik wrote:

Do they get a 50% miss chance to hit solid objects and corporeal creatures?

Thanks!

Nope. Being incorporeal is a bonus to your defense, not a penalty to your offense. Incorporeal creatures can attack other creatures just fine... and in fact, they do so BETTER than that since they make touch attacks (their attacks generally just pass right though things like shields and armor).

Thanks so much for the clarification!

[Fozbek]

Note, however, that incorporeal creatures cannot use weapons or armor unless said items have the ghost touch enchantment. Ghosts are an exception to this, as they get phantom equivalents to any gear that remains at their final resting place; however, they have a 50% damage penalty with the weapons and don't get an AC bonus from the armor unless they're ghost touch.

Incidentally, the 50% miss chance for magic or magical weapons vs alternately corporeal creatures is gone in Pathfinder. It's a 50% damage penalty now; it speeds up play and removes the "Yay I hit, oh wait, no I didn't." gotcha.

[Kortz]

Very scarefully...