Fun Finds v4.0

[Maat Mons]

I've meant to figure out these numbers before.  This just reminded me of it. 

A cleric needs his holy symbol for about 29% of his spells.  A druid needs his holly and mistletoe for about 37% of his spells.  And a sorcerer or wizard needs his spell component pouch for about 44% of his spells. 

Those first two numbers should be pretty solid.  The last number might actually be lower.  IMarvinTPA's search function doesn't distinguish between material components a spell component pouch provides and those it doesn't. 

[Gazzien]

I've meant to figure out these numbers before.  This just reminded me of it. 

A cleric needs his holy symbol for about 29% of his spells.  A druid needs his holly and mistletoe for about 37% of his spells.  And a sorcerer or wizard needs his spell component pouch for about 44% of his spells. 

Those first two numbers should be pretty solid.  The last number might actually be lower.  IMarvinTPA's search function doesn't distinguish between material components a spell component pouch provides and those it doesn't.

Does Catpnq's spellbook help?

[zook1shoe]

Some fun finds in the Author's Notes of this fic.

D&D Tip #1: You know how Milo can Shatter wands and render wizards helpless? You can do that in D&D, too! If you destroy or steal (say by Shatter, Sunder, or Sleight of Hand) a Cleric's Holy Symbol, a Wizard's Spell Component Pouch, or a Druid's Holly and Mistletoe, that caster is now an Expert, Commoner, or Grizzly Bear, respectively.

D&D Tip #2: Speaking of Sleight of Hand, it's a DC 20 check to swipe something from another character. This is a fixed DC. That means that pick-pocketing Pelor is just as easy as pick-pocketing the city watch (caveat the first: the higher the target's level, the harder it is to get away with that without getting caught. So if you pick pocket Pelor, hope you have your smite-resistant pants on). You can take a -20 penalty to make a pick pocket attempt as a free action. You can do infinite free actions per round, so, if you can make a DC 40 Sleight of Hand check (even if it's only on a 20) then you can brute force every single item off of your mark on your turn. Curiously, this doesn't include 'sheathed weapons,' which have an insane DC of 50 (70 as a free action). You also can't steal held items, which takes a Disarm attempt. However, you can probably steal:

-Clothes, armour, etc.

-Wands, potions, etc.

-Many, many coins

-Holy symbols, spell component pouches, and the like

-Artifacts of Doom

(caveat the second: don't actually use this trick. It breaks the game in an un-fun way, and in any case, the 'infinite free actions' thing is kind of a myth—the rule is that you have a 'reasonable' number of free actions.)

D&D Tip: Complete Scoundrel's Nimble Charge skill trick (CS 83,87) allows you to charge or run over "a difficult surface" without needing to make a Balance check once per encounter. Consult your DM for the limits of that ability, but by a strict (ie, unrealistic) reading of the rule, it lets you run across clouds (DC 120) once a combat at level 2.

Under more realistic interpretations, you can still do really, really cool things with 100% reliability, such as charge across ropes, rigging, and (with Tumble) the weapons of your enemies. Combine with a Grapple-Firing Crossbow for extreme awesome.

Happy gaming, folks!

nice! charge across a thread after shooting the needle out of a blowgun

[Captnq]

Does Catpnq's spellbook help?

I'd offer to help, but life is a never ending litany of pain, suffering, and misery. Misery without any sign of end or relief. Every waking moment is pain and I never sleep. So maybe I'll have time to look into this on Thursday. No promises.

[Gazzien]

Does Catpnq's spellbook help?

I'd offer to help, but life is a never ending litany of pain, suffering, and misery. Misery without any sign of end or relief. Every waking moment is pain and I never sleep. So maybe I'll have time to look into this on Thursday. No promises.

Oh no! I hope you feel better soon... :/

[Lo77o]

Only if you're not immune to Electricity and Fire, which was Step 1 in his combo.  You'd only be taking 2d6 sonic (maybe, unless you energy sub'd it out).  The spell still requires a concentration check even if no damage is dealt, but that's a flat 15 + spell level - should be no problem.

Indeed, as a 5th level Bard Spell you could say this combo is 13th level and higher, by then you simply cannot fail (16 ranks, no natural 1 fail).

Provided you obtain immunity or mitigate the damage of course.

Ok, im confused. Let me know where im getting this wrong.

Lets say you get Discordant Malediction cast, with the 2 rings you mentioned. That means every time you cast a spell with a verbal effect, you will deal 2d6+14d6+14d6 (30d6 total) damage to everyone within 10 feet, including your self. So that's an average of 105 damage per person.

So far i think im right on the spot.

So even if you only have 1 thing within 10 feet of you. Such as an enemy, or some poor little bird or rat who happens to be near by, and if you happen to be immune to all the damage your self, it is still a DC 125 check.

It might be the following sentence that confuses me. (She must then succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + damage dealt + spell level) to avoid losing the spell.)

I might be messing up "damage dealt: as in how much damage you dealt" with "damage received: as in how much damage you received"

Ohh well...

[zook1shoe]

damage dealt to you

[Jackinthegreen]

Damage dealt will almost always mean damage actually dealt, not damage rolled or some such.  So if you had Ice Axe cast and got an AoO against a caster that had 10 Cold Resistance, and only rolled 8 damage, the caster wouldn't have to make a concentration check because no damage was actually dealt.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

I suspect it was a giant middle finger to someone.

The presentation is actually pretty normal. The author of the ToB Errata opened CM's Errata and started editing the document. This is a quick and easy way to match font type & size for content that spans multiple files, when you are ready to finish your work you simply use Save As and save it as a new, renamed, file. However, CM's entries were not cleaned up prior to being published.

Either the guy working on that is making a point out of being told to immediately stop working on 3.5 and move to 4.0, or was fired during the Gleemax BS that hit the 339 (a consequence of such spawned these MMX boards btw), or perhaps the worst element it was a ploy by WotC to tell you 3.5 ended NOW. Either way, it was published to appear like someone had to save it and upload it without so much as being able to proof read it. So it's a middle finger to someone, either a worker-to-WotC or WotC-to-us for not moving onto and buying their shitty 4.0 products.

Boss shows up at underlings desk:  "Hey stop working on that 3e errata."
underling says: 
Boss:  "You're being reassigned to the 4e Carpet Errata/Nerf Bombing department."
underling says:  "Can I bring my friends ?!"

[zook1shoe]

thats what i meant by dealt to you

[linklord231]

It might be the following sentence that confuses me. (She must then succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + damage dealt + spell level) to avoid losing the spell.)
I might be messing up "damage dealt: as in how much damage you dealt" with "damage received: as in how much damage you received"

It's the damage dealt to you.  It uses the same language as the Concentration skill. 
Say you're a rogue trying to use Disable Device, and are damaged during the attempt.  You have to make a Concentration Check (DC 10 + damage dealt).  Under your reading, you'd only have to make a DC 10 check because you didn't deal any damage by using Disable Device, which is obviously not the intent.

[Maat Mons]

I'm pretty sure Lo77o doesn't view the concentration check from discordant malediction as having any connection to the concentration check made for taking damage while casting.  Actually, I agree with this assessment.  RAW, casting a spell while under the effects of discordant malediction requires the DC 15 + damage + spell level concentration check noted in the spell and then, if the caster actually took damage, a separate DC 10 + damage + spell level concentration check per the normal rules of taking damage while casting spells. 

Now, I do think the phrase "damage dealt" in discordant malediction was intended to mean "damage dealt to the caster," not "damage dealt by the spell," but I can see the ambiguity.  I think the wording in the spell was meant as a parallel for the wording for being damaged while casting in the concentration skill, but can't offer more than opinion. 

[TiaC]

Some fun finds in the Author's Notes of this fic.

D&D Tip #1: You know how Milo can Shatter wands and render wizards helpless? You can do that in D&D, too! If you destroy or steal (say by Shatter, Sunder, or Sleight of Hand) a Cleric's Holy Symbol, a Wizard's Spell Component Pouch, or a Druid's Holly and Mistletoe, that caster is now an Expert, Commoner, or Grizzly Bear, respectively.

D&D Tip #2: Speaking of Sleight of Hand, it's a DC 20 check to swipe something from another character. This is a fixed DC. That means that pick-pocketing Pelor is just as easy as pick-pocketing the city watch (caveat the first: the higher the target's level, the harder it is to get away with that without getting caught. So if you pick pocket Pelor, hope you have your smite-resistant pants on). You can take a -20 penalty to make a pick pocket attempt as a free action. You can do infinite free actions per round, so, if you can make a DC 40 Sleight of Hand check (even if it's only on a 20) then you can brute force every single item off of your mark on your turn. Curiously, this doesn't include 'sheathed weapons,' which have an insane DC of 50 (70 as a free action). You also can't steal held items, which takes a Disarm attempt. However, you can probably steal:

-Clothes, armour, etc.

-Wands, potions, etc.

-Many, many coins

-Holy symbols, spell component pouches, and the like

-Artifacts of Doom

(caveat the second: don't actually use this trick. It breaks the game in an un-fun way, and in any case, the 'infinite free actions' thing is kind of a myth—the rule is that you have a 'reasonable' number of free actions.)

D&D Tip: Complete Scoundrel's Nimble Charge skill trick (CS 83,87) allows you to charge or run over "a difficult surface" without needing to make a Balance check once per encounter. Consult your DM for the limits of that ability, but by a strict (ie, unrealistic) reading of the rule, it lets you run across clouds (DC 120) once a combat at level 2.

Under more realistic interpretations, you can still do really, really cool things with 100% reliability, such as charge across ropes, rigging, and (with Tumble) the weapons of your enemies. Combine with a Grapple-Firing Crossbow for extreme awesome.

Happy gaming, folks!

There are a few other tricks I've liked from this such as casting Locate Object on clothing to find someone. Recently, in attempting to scry someone who they knew of, they wanted a possession of that person. The two ideas they came up with were using a public building as it belongs to all citizens of that nation, and writing a legal document that transferred ownership of a sheet of paper.

[SorO_Lost]

Please don't RAWtard this. All Concentration Checks in the game use "damage dealt", even the Concentration Skill it's self.

Try not to make wild claims like you need to succeed on a DC 10+20d6*Targets Concentration Check to cast because Maw of Chaos bitch slapped some creatures. Or Quickened Fireball prompts a DC 10+10d6 Concentration Check to cast your next Spell.

It's retarded and 100% against the Concentration Skill entry.

[Prime32]

The blood frenzy^SpC spell (Druid 2) activates the targeted creature's pre-existing rage ability without expending a daily use of that ability. An item of continuous blood frenzy is 12,000gp.

[linklord231]

I'm pretty sure Lo77o doesn't view the concentration check from discordant malediction as having any connection to the concentration check made for taking damage while casting.  Actually, I agree with this assessment.  RAW, casting a spell while under the effects of discordant malediction requires the DC 15 + damage + spell level concentration check noted in the spell and then, if the caster actually took damage, a separate DC 10 + damage + spell level concentration check per the normal rules of taking damage while casting spells. 

Now, I do think the phrase "damage dealt" in discordant malediction was intended to mean "damage dealt to the caster," not "damage dealt by the spell," but I can see the ambiguity.  I think the wording in the spell was meant as a parallel for the wording for being damaged while casting in the concentration skill, but can't offer more than opinion.

The fact that you need to make 2 concentration checks is correct, but my point was that since the spell so obviously mirrors the Concentration skill, it would be absurd to think that they mean two different things. 

[Kasz]

The blood frenzy^SpC spell (Druid 2) activates the targeted creature's pre-existing rage ability without expending a daily use of that ability. An item of continuous blood frenzy is 12,000gp.

That's my secret...

(click to show/hide)

[zook1shoe]

another table mistake that makes a class better

the Eidoloncer's spellcasting increases by every level, not just 1-19

Spellcasting: An eidoloncer advances her spellcasting ability at every level in the eidoloncer class.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

The blood frenzy^SpC spell (Druid 2) activates the targeted creature's pre-existing rage ability without expending a daily use of that ability. An item of continuous blood frenzy is 12,000gp.

That's my secret...

(click to show/hide)

Wow  ... feels like Psi recharge.
Does it work on other semi-Rage-like things?

[awaken_D_M_golem]

While casting about looking to save my butt on a different thread
... I found this, from ---> http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a

(click to show/hide)

Psychic Sight [Psionic]

You can enhance an already existing ability to detect psionic energies.
Prerequisite: Must have detect psionics on your list of known powers.
Benefit: Once per day, you can expend your psionic focus while manifesting detect psionics and gain the psionic equivalent to the arcane sight spell.

Arcane Sight
Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level (D)

This spell makes your eyes glow blue and allows you to see magical auras within 120 feet of you. The effect is similar to that of a detect magic spell, but arcane sight does not require concentration and discerns aura location and power more quickly.

You know the location and power of all magical auras within your sight. An aura's power depends on a spell's functioning level or an item's caster level, as noted in the description of the detect magic spell. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Spellcraft skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + one-half caster level for a nonspell effect.)

If you concentrate on a specific creature within 120 feet of you as a standard action, you can determine whether it has any spellcasting or spell-like abilities, whether these are arcane or divine (spell-like abilities register as arcane), and the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability the creature currently has available for use.

Arcane sight can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

So a level 1 psion can now fest a level 3 power 1/day.
Early entry gold ... can you say Mind Mage.