Warlocks & the Mortalbane Feat

[kitep]

The Mortalbane feat can be found in BOVD, pg 49.  It says

MORTALBANE [GENERAL]
The creature can make a spell-like ability particularly deadly to mortals.
    Benefit: A mortalbane ability is a damaging spell-like ability that deals 2d6 points of additional damage when used against living nonoutsiders, but only half damage (rounded down) against outsiders, undead, and constructs. For example, if a mortalbane cone of cold from a gelugon would normally deal 45 points of damage, it actually deals 45 + 2d6 points of damage to a humanoid, but only 22 points of damage to a night hag. Creatures immune to cold—regardless of their type—still
take no damage from a mortalbane cone of cold.
    Mortalbane can be applied to each of a creature’s spell-like abilities five times per day, though the feat does not allow the creature to exceed its normal usage limit for any ability.  Thus, if a gelugon chooses to apply Mortalbane to its cone of cold ability, it can use a mortalbane cone of cold up to five
times that day. Thereafter, it could use its cone of cold ability again normally (since it can use cone of cold at will).
    Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, the creature can apply it to each of its spell-like abilities five additional times per day.

A warlock's invocations are spell-like abilities, not spells.

Q1:  Will this add +2d6 to each eldritch blast?  That is, up to 5/day.

Q2: How does this combine with Chilling Tentacles?
 - no extra damage
 - +2d6 to the cold effect (making it 4d6), add nothing to grapple damage
 - add +2d6 to ONLY ONE grapple damage (making it 3d6+4), nothing to other grapple attacks, and nothing to the cold damage
 - add +2d6 to ALL grapple attacks, nothing to the cold damage
 - add +2d6 to ALL grapple attacks, AND add +2d6 to the cold effect

Q3: If I take the feat only once, do I get to add the +2d6 to 5 eldritch blasts AND 5 chilling tentacles, or is it just a combination of 5?

[TheAbyssDragon]

A1:  Yes, this is typically how the feat is used.

A2:  Personally I would say that only the initial damage gets the +2d6, but the feat description implies that all the effects would gain the added damage.

A3:  It specifically says it may be applied to each spell-like ability five times per day.

[kitep]

Thanks.

[X-Codes]

To clarify...

A3:  It specifically says it may be applied to each spell-like ability five times per day.

Emphasis mine: +2d6 to the grapple damage, +2d6 to the chilling effect.

[Empirate]

You sure about that reading? After all, the Chilling Tentacles are only one spell-like ability, even if they deal two kinds of damage.

To use a possibly bad analogy: if somebody wielded a +1 Frost Longsword for 1d8+5 damage plus 1d6 cold damage on a successful attack - would you let the bonus on "damage rolls" from Inspire Courage or Knowledge Devotion apply twice (once to the 1d8+5, and once to the 1d6)???

[X-Codes]

That's really not the same thing.  A more apt comparison would be to allow, say, a Warmage with the Babau Slime spell to apply his Warmage Edge to both the reactive damage dealt when the subject is hit, and to the damage a grappled target takes at the beginning of the turn, which it pretty clearly would.

[Cagemarrow]

Could it be used to increase the damage of a warlocks's summon swarm invocation? Would it add +2d6 to each creature damaged by the swarm?

[X-Codes]

Could it be used to increase the damage of a warlocks's summon swarm invocation? Would it add +2d6 to each creature damaged by the swarm?

I'd say no.  The effect of the invocation is the swarm itself, not the damage done by the swarm.  It might work with Dark Discorporation, but that could be figured to be more of a Polymorph-style effect with the Swarm attack being a natural weapon.

[Cagemarrow]

That's what I was afraid of. Trying to figure out a way for my warlock to be able to affect this custom template my DM has been placing on monsters. Gives them the Fiendish template without the spell resistance and a minimum DR 5/magic. My swarms have been nigh useless since that has come into play. Being able to blind enemies, using the raven swarms, up until then has saved our group numerous times.

We're playing E6 so getting the locust swarm is never going to happen.