D&D Guru:Answers to your D&D Questions, and general D&D Chat

[Elaith_X]

Ruddigger wrote:
Elaith_X wrote:
I've got a problem with my character. Hes an ascended high elf with 9 levels in ranger and 10 level in ninja . I wanted him to be a rouge mostly but to be able to hold his own, thats where the ranger comes in. But then I kept getting killed by Death Spells and took the ascended template for elves since it gives me immunity to Death effects. The problem is that it makes him equal to a Sorrocer of his character level (in spells cast) so now all the party members treat him like a wizard and I dislike wizards. What should I do?


Don't cast offensive spells. Cast spells that assist you further in your combat and sneaking around. Silence, Invisibility, and Cat's Grace are your best friends for the sneaky part, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Greater Magic Weapon, and the various skin spells are your friends when you get into melee combat. Heck, take Tensor's Transformation in there, that should make you a god on the battlefield. I don't know where this 'ascended elf' comes from, but it sounds increadibly twinkish.


I've never heard of a template that gives a character with no arcane spellcasting levels the abiliy to spontaniously transform into a 19th level sorcoror.. Did I read that right? Where is that template?


It's in the quintessential elf by Mongoose publishing, it gives you the ability to cast spells as a Soocer of your character level and other stuff but it gives you a +5 ECL

[Spiritual WD40]

Brahm

I have a question in a similar vein. I have a player who fights with a reach weapon in one hand (Halberd for a small character, which keeps the reach,though he does take the -2 size penalty) and a shield in the other. He mainly uses the shield as his primary weapon and doesn't use the halberd in his round of attacks, but uses the halberd for attacks of opportunity when enemies enter his threatened area.
I don't really like this practice from simply a moral standpoint, but I was wondering if there are actual rules to prevent this kind of thing.

Similarly we have Hypothesized of a monk who fights unarmed bu who carries a halberd in his hand to get the free reach attacks of opportunity.

How wrong is that?

[Edit]: Are we thinking of the right weapon... by the book, Halbards do not have Reach, Glave's do.. so most of this arguement is null and void! I'll assume you are refering to a Glave for this entry though!

[Another Edit] *Reads your origional post properly!* AAH! I've answered all the problems you've made, just in the wrong order and for the wrong reasons! I got there eventually though!

I'd say you've got a lot of explaining to do to your friends!

Let's address the first point: A halfling using a Glave as a primary weapon, and shield bashing when an opponent comes in reach, retaining his ability to AOO other creatures he threatens...

*Looks up Sheild Bash... Takes ages because it's in Equipment, not with combat rules! Agh!* the fact that your PC is using a two-handed weapon ends the arguement! You cannot use a shield bigger than a buckler with a 2-handed weapon.. and you can't bash with a buckler..

You might want to look up a few things though, I cant figure out where you're getting this -2 Size penalty from.
[Edit]: I got it! your halfling is using a glave too big for him! Small Glaves still have reach, so you need not worry about the size penalty! It's still two handed though, remember Small creatures cannot use medium-sised two-handed weapons at all! They'd use Heavy weapons two-handed and apply the -2 penalty to those!

Second Point... a Halbard-Weilding Monk.. The player is actually right on ths one! to Quote the PHB Page 41 "a Monk may even make Unarmed strikes with her hands full" ! I thnk I might have to use that myself! Monks are not proficient with the Halbard, however, so make sure your player has got the MWP: Halbard feat!

Introduce your characters to the Spiked Chain.. 10ft Natural reach, and can be used Hand-To-Hand!

[Spiritual WD40]

Elaith_X

It's in the quintessential elf by Mongoose publishing, it gives you the ability to cast spells as a Soocer of your character level and other stuff but it gives you a +5 ECL

Of course.. Mongoose... that explains it! (and people wonder why I don't like the Mongoose products!)

So your character is ECL 24? Jeez! I'd do as Ruddigger said... Consentrate on Illusion and Personal combat effect spells... Haste, invisiability, Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Blur, Mage Armor ETC. Stay as a fighter and wade on in there!

[elindred]

Brahm

I have a question in a similar vein. I have a player who fights with a reach weapon in one hand (Halberd for a small character, which keeps the reach,though he does take the -2 size penalty) and a shield in the other. He mainly uses the shield as his primary weapon and doesn't use the halberd in his round of attacks, but uses the halberd for attacks of opportunity when enemies enter his threatened area.
I don't really like this practice from simply a moral standpoint, but I was wondering if there are actual rules to prevent this kind of thing.

well, i hate to say this, but i don't think there are any rules that stop you from wielding those things at the same time.
however, if you don't take the attack roll penalties for fighting with two weapons, then you're not considered to be wielding your halberd, so you can't threaten squares with it, and so no attacks of opportunity are drawn.

Quote:

Similarly we have Hypothesized of a monk who fights unarmed bu who carries a halberd in his hand to get the free reach attacks of opportunity.

How wrong is that?

same restrictions as above. the halberd would be considered an off-hand weapon.

[Brahm]

Kev3480

Brahm

I have a question in a similar vein. I have a player who fights with a reach weapon in one hand (Halberd for a small character, which keeps the reach,though he does take the -2 size penalty) and a shield in the other. He mainly uses the shield as his primary weapon and doesn't use the halberd in his round of attacks, but uses the halberd for attacks of opportunity when enemies enter his threatened area.
I don't really like this practice from simply a moral standpoint, but I was wondering if there are actual rules to prevent this kind of thing.

Similarly we have Hypothesized of a monk who fights unarmed bu who carries a halberd in his hand to get the free reach attacks of opportunity.

How wrong is that?

[Edit]: Are we thinking of the right weapon... by the book, Halbards do not have Reach, Glave's do.. so most of this arguement is null and void! I'll assume you are refering to a Glave for this entry though!

[Another Edit] *Reads your origional post properly!* AAH! I've answered all the problems you've made, just in the wrong order and for the wrong reasons! I got there eventually though!

I'd say you've got a lot of explaining to do to your friends!

Let's address the first point: A halfling using a Glave as a primary weapon, and shield bashing when an opponent comes in reach, retaining his ability to AOO other creatures he threatens...

*Looks up Sheild Bash... Takes ages because it's in Equipment, not with combat rules! Agh!* the fact that your PC is using a two-handed weapon ends the arguement! You cannot use a shield bigger than a buckler with a 2-handed weapon.. and you can't bash with a buckler..

You might want to look up a few things though, I cant figure out where you're getting this -2 Size penalty from.
[Edit]: I got it! your halfling is using a glave too big for him! Small Glaves still have reach, so you need not worry about the size penalty! It's still two handed though, remember Small creatures cannot use medium-sised two-handed weapons at all! They'd use Heavy weapons two-handed and apply the -2 penalty to those!

Second Point... a Halbard-Weilding Monk.. The player is actually right on ths one! to Quote the PHB Page 41 "a Monk may even make Unarmed strikes with her hands full" ! I thnk I might have to use that myself! Monks are not proficient with the Halbard, however, so make sure your player has got the MWP: Halbard feat!

Introduce your characters to the Spiked Chain.. 10ft Natural reach, and can be used Hand-To-Hand!

First I'm sorry for the long quote.

Ok so I guess I didn't explain myself correctly, the character is medium size, using a reach weapon for a small character in one hand, thus the -2 size penalty, but he still gets to keep the reach (and yes I did mean glaive instead of halberd, always get those polearms confused). So this character can actually use a medim shield, but i guess the point would still hold if he was just holding another weapon

Elindred points out that you'd have to take the two weapon penalties to be able to threaten with the weapon, but no rule says that you have to attack in a round to be threatening with your weapon, so he is technically threatening with the glaive by simply knowing how to use it.

[Spiritual WD40]

Brahm

First I'm sorry for the long quote.

Ok so I guess I didn't explain myself correctly, the character is medium size, using a reach weapon for a small character in one hand, thus the -2 size penalty, but he still gets to keep the reach (and yes I did mean glaive instead of halberd, always get those polearms confused). So this character can actually use a medim shield, but i guess the point would still hold if he was just holding another weapon

Elindred points out that you'd have to take the two weapon penalties to be able to threaten with the weapon, but no rule says that you have to attack in a round to be threatening with your weapon, so he is technically threatening with the glaive by simply knowing how to use it.

Dude, Seriously... Trade in your players for some who don't cause so many problems!! lol

So, you have a Medium PC, using a Small Glave in one hand (Taking a -2 Size penalty) This weapon can only be used for attacking creatures 10ft away. He has a Shield on his other arm, which he uses to bash opponents who get inside his range....

Yes you PC is correct... He's exploiting the rules something cronic in my opinion! But by the letter of the book, what he's doing is possiable. Medium and Small creatures have the same (5ft) feach, and reach weapons double this but prevent effective attacks within it's range (on the whole, Whips and Spiked chains are exceptions to this).

When making an attack of oppotunity with the Glave, he will do so at his full attack bonus. An AOO is a single attack with a single weapon, so Two-Weapon Rules will not apply.

When in close, shield bashing, he will have to take the off-hand two-weapon fighting penaltys as described in the Shield Bash rules on page 125 PHB. Your player would probably be better off putting a weapon in that hand. and taking the Two-Weapon Fighting Feats..

Your player will have to state wether he is using his primary or off-hand for holding his Glave, and you will have to apply penaltys as described on page 160 PHB. If the Glave is in his primay hand, his off-hand attacks are limited by the number of TWF feats he has.
So He'd be better off putting the glave in his off hand, exploiting the rules around AOO's, (ie, TWF penaltys no applying)

Hope that settles it!

[elindred]

Brahm

Elindred points out that you'd have to take the two weapon penalties to be able to threaten with the weapon, but no rule says that you have to attack in a round to be threatening with your weapon, so he is technically threatening with the glaive by simply knowing how to use it.

that's right, he wouldn't need to attack someone with it during the round to threaten with it later (though if there are people in reach, he might as well attack them), but if he wants to be considered wielding both weapons (and threaten with them) then he'll have to say he's fighting with both weapons, and take attack roll penalties for two-weapon fighting.

[elindred]

Kev3480

When making an attack of oppotunity with the Glave, he will do so at his full attack bonus. An AOO is a single attack with a single weapon, so Two-Weapon Rules will not apply.

if you declare that you are wielding two weapons (which you must do before your first attack*), the effects of that declaration last the whole round until your next action, so any attacks of opportunity made in the meantime are still affected by the rules for two-weapon fighting.

*this isn't explicitly listed in the rules, but it's the simplest and most logical way of running two-weapon fighting. otherwise, players will swing their greatsword in two hands and later decide to punch someone, and you'll have to decide when he takes the attack penalty, how many off-hand attacks he has left, etc, etc...

[Brahm]

heh yeah as a group I guess we enjoy trying to abuse the rules as much as possible for fun, the points you two guys make sense and I'll bring them up at our next session.

Now here's another rule bending that I think is legal but I'm not totally certain, we figured this one out by luck. Tumble says that you can only tumble if your speed is reduced by encumberance, but a dwarf moves normally even when in full plate. So does that mean that a dwarf can tumble in heavy armor?

[elindred]

by the letter, i suppose they can. following from this, they can also tumble even when encumbered.

[Raven_Akamura]

I gots a prob i have a level 12 lychenthrope monk with a 15/ silver damage reduction
is he too power full?

[Raven_Akamura]

and to clarify he's a were wolf

[Brahm]

Raven_Akamura

I gots a prob i have a level 12 lychenthrope monk with a 15/ silver damage reduction
is he too power full?

That really depends on if you are playing version 3.5 or 3.0.

In 3.5 damage reduction can only be overcome by that specific material or weapon type, so only people who specifically have silver weapons (which is usually rare) would ever have a chance to do any real damage. in 3.5 Damage reduction of 15 is reserved only for the most powerful creatures in existence( like the Tarrasque).

In 3.0 damage reduction 15/silver isn't as powerful because any creature or NPC with weapons equivalent to silver or better (essentially any magical weapon) will defeat that damage reduction. Damage reduction of 15/silver is the norm in 3.0.

In any case a level 12 monk werewolf should be a powerful character, but if you are asking specifically about the damage reduction, then it's fine.

[elindred]

Raven_Akamura

I gots a prob i have a level 12 lychenthrope monk with a 15/ silver damage reduction
is he too power full?

is this a 3.0 werewolf? in 3.5 his damage reduction should be 5/silver or 10/silver at most.

[RavenDrake]

Brahm

heh yeah as a group I guess we enjoy trying to abuse the rules as much as possible for fun, the points you two guys make sense and I'll bring them up at our next session.

Now here's another rule bending that I think is legal but I'm not totally certain, we figured this one out by luck. Tumble says that you can only tumble if your speed is reduced by encumberance, but a dwarf moves normally even when in full plate. So does that mean that a dwarf can tumble in heavy armor?

I'm assuming you mean you can only tumble if your speed is NOT reduced by encumberance....

The answer is: Not a Chance. First, encumbrance is a factor of weight as well as restritction, so a character carrying a medium or heavy load is as encumbered as a character in medium or heavy armour for the purposes of encumbrance. The weight of a standard adventurer's gear plus fullplate armour would be at least a medium load unless your strength is greater than 20... which means no tumbling.

Also, EVERY CHARACTER'S SPEED is reduced by wearing medium or Heavy armour. Characters with a base speed of 30ft+ lose 10ft from thier speed in medium/heavy armour, characters with a base speed of 20ft or less lose 5ft of speed while in medium or heavy armour. Look at the armour chart, it lists off the speed modifiers for medium and heavy armour.

However, wearing Mythril Medium armour would allow you to tumble, since it reduces the effective wieght class by one step. But not even mythril Full Plate would allow you to tumble.

Sorry, kid, no dice.