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I've never found a rules system for organizations that works very well. Some of them are just useless. More often, they include gaping rules loopholes that would quickly allow a minmaxer to take over the world. IMO the best solution is not to involve mechanics in it. After all, as "royal...

If the target saves, the caster knows the spell failed. This is in the rules for targeted spells. If he fails the save yet identifies the spell, he's still charmed. Even knowing that he is under a magical effect doesn't let him ignore it. He thinks something like, "Fred cast a charm on me, but...

There's a point at which the rules have to trust you to understand English. It may not be explicitly stated that a character is hindered by being dead, but that's because you know what the word "dead" means. Dead characters are dead. Pretending otherwise is just playing dumb.

Sorry, no. This was covered in Sage Advice. When a summoned creature vanishes, all objects that came with it go back with it. The line about "summoned objects" applies only to effects that bring in an object directly, like the bardic summon instrument.

We had really good success with a Mystic Theurge for that. As a mix of two spellcasting classes, he has nearly twice as many spell slots to use per day, so he can afford to spend a lot of them on pre-combat buffs. He has lower total caster level (unless you take Practiced Spellcaster twice), so...

If a creature triggers a symbol of pain and then fails the save, it suffers a -4 penalty on most checks. This lasts for an hour after it leaves the 60' radius around the symbol. Is that magic effect on the creature ongoing (and therefore dispellable), or instantaneous? The spell description...

IMC, it's a Knowledge skill check. I have a one-hour library search grant a +2 bonus to the check, or higher if the library is very large or especially well stocked. One or two assistants may use Aid Another to help in this check, as long as they have ranks in the same skill or in Profession...

I don't think AC and specialized resistances are going to do much. When a caster of your own level can one-shot you with magic missile, you've got very serious problems. I think you should reexamine your priorities. You don't have to give up roleplaying to realize that would be sensible. Think...

OK then. That applies to those two templates, because they explicitly say so. A size increase template without that text, granting just "+1 size category" or similar, would not grant the ability score bonuses. This is not complicated.

Nope. A template only increases what it says it increases. The "size increase" table in the MM is only for advancing monsters by HD. The same bonuses do not apply to templates, spells, special abilities, or anything else that increases size.

A greater ring of fire resistance would work. It protects against 30 points of fire damage per attack. Since each ray only does 4-24 damage, you'd be immune except against an empowered casting-- and even then, only an unusually high damage roll would even touch you.

Yes, true seeing beats all illusions, but that's a very specialized defense. I don't know of any way to use true seeing to hurt somebody, and it doesn't protect you against anything but illusion effects. I consider invisibility different because it's a very strong non-specialized defense that...

The spell says it can "move as far as 60 feet and attack in the same round." I read that as a limitation only on its attack. It can still move instantaneously like the other spells, because it shares their powers, but if it moves more than 60' in a given round it cannot also attack that round...

I think the rules are unclear, and I happen to have ruled the other way. IMC, nondetection does not stop see invisibility or true seeing. It seems to me that those effects are not designed to "detect" the creature per se. They merely let the caster see through the magical invisibility effect...

I've got a reference question. What books contain psionic artifacts, or artifacts particularly useful to psionic characters? I have a plot idea for the rather distant future of my campaign, and I need to decide what MacGuffin the players will wind up chasing. My game is in Eberron, but I don't...

Ah, right. I'd forgotten about that ridicuous bug in the half-fiend template. As written, it's a recipe for epic-CL spellcasting at CRs in the low teens, which is not a sane way to make a balanced encounter. IMC, the half-fiend SLAs get the same caster level as the base creature's most powerful...

You could be a Horizon Walker with Aligned Planar Mastery. "Spells and abilities that harm those of the opposite alignment don't affect you." Of course that requires 6 levels in a PrC, so maybe it's not a very useful option in the short term. ;) I think the right solution is for the DM to...

The hand moves instantaneously, ignoring gravity. Note the description of interposing hand, which manages to interpose "regardless of how the opponent tries to get around it." This is made even clearer in the description of foreceful hand, which explicitly "has no speed limit," and will...

For striking "high priority" targets, you really want a disruption weapon, and as many attacks per round as you can manage. The more powerful kinds of undead tend to have either fast healing, tons of hit points, annoying defensive abilities, or some combination thereof; smacking them constantly...

There's a difference for healing, if you use anything that has a number not dependent on your surge value. The simplest example is the warlord's inspiring word which lets you spend a healing surge and heal +1d6 additional hit points. The insubstantial creature has lower hit points and a smaller...