Fun Finds v7.0 - Now with +15% more reposts!

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

Psychic Chirurgery requires someone else to be there and to willingly give it to you,

Actually like all StP Erudite things, it's all about who you can capture. For example, Third Eye(power thieve) lets an Erudite directly steal Psychic Chirurgery from a Telepath using a DC 16 Will Save, he can then Manifest Fission and use the burrowed Psychic Chirurgery to permanently learn it.

Or even just say "Hey DM its core to just pay someone. Here's the money."  Yes it's expensive, but it's explicitly cheese-free. It most it will require you learning chirugery yourself, which is a great idea for a dedicated manifester anyway to reduce how much you spend on NPC castings/manifestings.

@"all the powers": I crunched the math on that once and it was sooooooo not worth it. There are just a lot of medicore/bad spells and powers out there.

Archivist and Erudite wanna take a closer look at the Apprentice Spellcaster feat.

It has this unbelievable line :  " ... wizards can copy from their mentor's spellbook at no charge ... "

Obviously a wizard likes this too, but this is MAJOR for Archivist, and an even bigger boon for Erudite.

I suppose the Apprentice feat could be abused, but honestly wizards don't pay to have access to other spells anyway.

In fixed 3e, this still isn't a problem due to the maximum spells known limitations.

Planar Familiar feat http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/feat/Planar_Familiar

... can get a Mirror Mephit at level 7.

I was about to say you found a fixed 3e loophole in the summons-can't-use-their-SLAs to still get the SLAs of a creature by making it your familiar. But then I realized that this only gets you powerful, unbanned SLAs rather than broken ones. Almost!





And to actually contribute: a little Eberron adventure, SotLW page 23 has an effect worth only 800gp  that gives an extra +1enh bonus if mounted (.125+2k+1k+1k)
Page 20 also has a nifty "see through your undead" spell that is useful if you go by the RAI usual debacle on command vs control spells (plants, undead, etc).

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Archivist and Erudite wanna take a closer look at the Apprentice Spellcaster feat.

It has this unbelievable line :  " ... wizards can copy from their mentor's spellbook at no charge ... "

Obviously a wizard likes this too, but this is MAJOR for Archivist, and an even bigger boon for Erudite.

Now we just need a mentor-of-the-month....

iirc it was Lycanthromancer that spotted / pimped the Wiz 1 sells his spellbook with >>>+++ level 0 spells, for a big pile of money.
Now a Wiz 1 can do the same thing, but with as many level 1s as a level 10+ Mentor has come across.
T.O. at level 1 for sure.

[deadkitten]

Archivist and Erudite wanna take a closer look at the Apprentice Spellcaster feat.

It has this unbelievable line :  " ... wizards can copy from their mentor's spellbook at no charge ... "

Obviously a wizard likes this too, but this is MAJOR for Archivist, and an even bigger boon for Erudite.

Now we just need a mentor-of-the-month....

iirc it was Lycanthromancer that spotted / pimped the Wiz 1 sells his spellbook with >>>+++ level 0 spells, for a big pile of money.
Now a Wiz 1 can do the same thing, but with as many level 1s as a level 10+ Mentor has come across.
T.O. at level 1 for sure.

Is there even a restriction anywhere that you have to be abke to cast the spell in order to scribe it into your spellbook?

Cause it could get much more profitable if there isnt any.

I dont know if I was misremembering the rules, but I used to scribe spells into my spellbook that I couldnt cast ahead of time to deal with long adventuring days with no downtime.

[kitep]

Is there even a restriction anywhere that you have to be abke to cast the spell in order to scribe it into your spellbook?

I remember when I realized it doesn't even need to be on your spell list to scribe it into your book (though I do think it needs to be arcane)

[SorO_Lost]

Is there even a restriction anywhere that you have to be abke to cast the spell in order to scribe it into your spellbook?

At each new wizard level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new wizard level) for her spellbook. For example, when a wizard attains 5th level, she can cast 3rd-level spells. At this point, she can add two new 3rd-level spells to her spellbook, or one 2nd-level spell and one 3rd-level spell, or any combination of two spells between 1st and 3rd level. At any time, a wizard can also add spells found in other wizards’ spellbooks to her own (see Adding Spells to a Wizard’s Spellbook, page 178).

ADDING SPELLS TO A SPELLBOOK
Spellcasters who use spellbooks can add new spells to their spellbooks through several methods.

Gained Spells
Spellcasters who use spellbooks perform spell research between adventures. Each time such a caster attains a new level in the appropriate arcane spellcasting class, that spellcaster gains spells to add to the spellbook according to the class’s description and any restrictions from specialization. Spells so gained must be of spell levels the caster can cast. Spells gained in this way don’t have the time and money costs for spell’s copied or researched (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook and Researched Spells).

Copied Spells
Spellcasters who use spellbooks can add a spell to their book whenever they find one on a scroll or in another caster’s spellbook. The spell to be copied must be on the copier’s class spell list. No matter what the spell’s source, it must first be deciphered. Next, the decipherer must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, if the decipherer can learn the spell, he makes a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). If the check succeeds, the spellcaster understands the spell and can copy it into a spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook). The process leaves a spellbook unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a scroll disappears from that scroll. If the check fails, the spellcaster can’t understand or copy the spell. After such a failure, the decipherer can’t learn or copy that spell again until he gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll doesn’t vanish from the scroll in this case. In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.

[deadkitten]

Is there even a restriction anywhere that you have to be abke to cast the spell in order to scribe it into your spellbook?

At each new wizard level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new wizard level) for her spellbook. For example, when a wizard attains 5th level, she can cast 3rd-level spells. At this point, she can add two new 3rd-level spells to her spellbook, or one 2nd-level spell and one 3rd-level spell, or any combination of two spells between 1st and 3rd level. At any time, a wizard can also add spells found in other wizards’ spellbooks to her own (see Adding Spells to a Wizard’s Spellbook, page 178).

ADDING SPELLS TO A SPELLBOOK
Spellcasters who use spellbooks can add new spells to their spellbooks through several methods.

Gained Spells
Spellcasters who use spellbooks perform spell research between adventures. Each time such a caster attains a new level in the appropriate arcane spellcasting class, that spellcaster gains spells to add to the spellbook according to the class’s description and any restrictions from specialization. Spells so gained must be of spell levels the caster can cast. Spells gained in this way don’t have the time and money costs for spell’s copied or researched (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook and Researched Spells).

Copied Spells
Spellcasters who use spellbooks can add a spell to their book whenever they find one on a scroll or in another caster’s spellbook. The spell to be copied must be on the copier’s class spell list. No matter what the spell’s source, it must first be deciphered. Next, the decipherer must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, if the decipherer can learn the spell, he makes a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). If the check succeeds, the spellcaster understands the spell and can copy it into a spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook). The process leaves a spellbook unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a scroll disappears from that scroll. If the check fails, the spellcaster can’t understand or copy the spell. After such a failure, the decipherer can’t learn or copy that spell again until he gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll doesn’t vanish from the scroll in this case. In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.

Gotcha, so as long as the copied spell is on your spell list you can add it through that method regardless of you being able to cast it. That is what I thought.

[SorO_Lost]

Gotcha, so as long as the copied spell is on your spell list you can add it through that method regardless of you being able to cast it. That is what I thought.

Yep, pretty much.

The biggest, and most often overlooked, limit is the Spellbook's limit. The rules use a singular term with a possessive terminology like the wizard's spellbook. For example, "A wizard can use a borrowed spellbook to prepare a spell she already knows and has recorded in her own spellbook". There really are no rules on how to change designation and it's easy for higher level casters to auto-succeed on a DC 15+SpellLevel check so people pretty much ignore it. But in all actuality that book has a wealth value assigned to it that the game does acknowledge and due to the one book concept & page limit, even if you claimed your Wizard could cast Arcane Fusion you don't instantly access every single Spell in the game. Rather a finite limit that you do actually have to detail out.

[nijineko]

Instantaneous Effects
Two or more magical or psionic effects with instantaneous durations work cumulatively when they affect the same object, place, or creature.

Anyone ever notice this line out of the SRD?

What exactly does cumulatively mean here...? Is this basically an exception to the stacking rules, considering that it comes right after the "stacking effects" section?

And surely this can be, ah, abused

[altpersona]

i believe that rule is used cumulatively with the stacking rules, not in place of.

[linklord231]

Instantaneous. That's how magic works normally - Fireballing the same creature deals cumulative damage, rather than only the strongest effect applying.

[Chemus]

@ altpersona: Hmm. For bonuses, that seems to be the case; if there were an instantaneous spell that granted a +2 enhancement Bonus to Str, then casting it 10 times would net you 10 +2 enhancement bonuses to Str. They wouldn't stack, no matter the source. But if there were an instantaneous spell that provided +1 Nat AC (untyped, here) then they would accumulate; 10 castings would have you at +10 Nat AC.

Quick real example: Addiction (BoVD) is instantaneous. Multiple castings would accumulate on one creature if you got them addicted to different things, but they would overlap if you addicted the target to the same thing multiple times.

And it's the rules used in the accumulation of HD and Cha that is Aspect of the Wolf + Awaken.

[nijineko]

Found another possible one:

The wording of the Free Manifesting ability of the Metamind could be technically interpreted as to override the Unique Powers per Day limit of the Erudite.

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

Its in the handbook, and iirc I voted "no" on it. It boggles me how little non-musicians understand playing in a concert how often people misinterpret metaconcert.


So uh, honest question about the 1st party / 2nd party distinction, do any of the old Ravenloft books or the KoK books reprint material under copyright by WotC (beyond the d20 license)? I would think they wouldn't do that because WotC would sue them, even if the D&D logo was used for permission.

I found an example of this in the WotC-endorsed Dragonlance setting: ToHSp40 has the Cold Element Creature reprinted from PlHp195 without mentioning the source. I know Dungeon Magazine & Dragon Magazine would both reprint and reference things. Do any other 2nd party groups do any of these things?

[SorO_Lost]

Do any other 2nd party groups do any of these things?

Dragon Compendium is basically a reprint and the people in charge of Dragonlance published updates to previous books in their newer books which isn't a full reprint but it's at least a revisit. I really don't know much about Kok through other than I love the acronym.

I guess it depends on the license they had drawn up, *shrugs*

[linklord231]

I could be wrong, but I always thought it was the other way around. Things would appear in Dungeon or Dragon Magazine, and then be published in an official book if it got a positive reception.

Of course, there's a lot of cross pollination between the magazines and WotC. Big name authors did side projects with the magazines, and some of the contributors went on to write for WotC.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Found another possible one:

The wording of the Free Manifesting ability of the Metamind could be technically interpreted as to override the Unique Powers per Day limit of the Erudite.

+1
I was sitting on this one, so yeah I agree. BUT only after you've doled out your normal allotment of uniques.  Otherwise the "free" is only referring to cost (probable r.a.i.) , with the wording loose enough to allow this.

Especially good with Linked Power.

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

I could be wrong, but I always thought it was the other way around. Things would appear in Dungeon or Dragon Magazine, and then be published in an official book if it got a positive reception.

Of course, there's a lot of cross pollination between the magazines and WotC. Big name authors did side projects with the magazines, and some of the contributors went on to write for WotC.

But besides the reality of the situation, the question is if the material ever does said reprinting for KoK or ravenloft or whatever. I don't think they do (which tells you something), but I can't check.

[nijineko]

Found another possible one:

The wording of the Free Manifesting ability of the Metamind could be technically interpreted as to override the Unique Powers per Day limit of the Erudite.

+1
I was sitting on this one, so yeah I agree. BUT only after you've doled out your normal allotment of uniques.  Otherwise the "free" is only referring to cost (probable r.a.i.) , with the wording loose enough to allow this.

Especially good with Linked Power.

one of my dm's insists that anything linked with that feat also counts against unique powers per day.

[SorO_Lost]

I was sitting on this one, so yeah I agree.

If you're on the bench ADM then an unreasoned opinion on the matter shouldn't push you.

We know for an absolute fact "free" cannot be interpreted to mean "ignores everything ever" because the Metamind's Free Manifesting Ability still has to pay for Augment & XP Costs. The parenthesis text, intent defining example text, and the entire flavor of the class, is strictly about Point Points and Unique Powers per Day isn't a cost to begin with and limits something else entirely. There is zero overlap and nothing suggestive you can ignore what you like.

one of my dm's insists that anything linked with that feat also counts against unique powers per day.

Seeing how that's how it works in the first place, good.

You don't need BS rulings, shady ways to generate PP, or heck even creativity to break the crap out of the Erudite. Running it exactly as intended for CC/Save-or-X inherently makes it more powerful than a Wizard anyway.

[linklord231]

A sand blaster is a Large exotic ranged weapon made from long tubes. It creates a 10-foot cone of sand, doing 1d8 points of damage (Reflex DC 22 half). Living creatures that fail their saves are tormented by itching skin and burning eyes, imposing a –4 penalty to AC and a –2 penalty on attack rolls for 3 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. (It relies on the user’s ability to blow a hearty gust of air through the tube). A sand blaster uses 5 pounds of sand as ammunition, and packing a sand blaster with one charge of ammunition is a full-round action.

It's an exotic weapon, but that doesn't matter since it doesn't use attack rolls.  Seems like you could get more bang for your buck out of poisons since it seems like they would apply to anyone in the AoE.  Moreover, it uses sand as ammunition, which seems to imply the existence of enchanted sand which I find amusing. 

Fake internet points to the person who can come up with a way to full-attack with one, or to increase the range beyond a 10' cone.