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Also, regarding scrolls.... In order to activate a scroll, do you have to get into that "proper mental state" in order to be able to read it? Clearly the answer to that is NO. This helps to clarify the issue at hand. That mental pre-preparation is already done for you with scrolls, and all...

How does it work for scrolls anyway? I had always thought that after you had deciphered the scroll, it only took a standard action to activate it. But just now i looked in the DMG, and it says that in order to cast a spell, there are two steps: deciphering and activating. The activating step...

Isn't reading the spell the majority of casting the spell? I had thought that casting a spell meant (in most cases), reading it, then doing a gesture of some sort, often involving a little token of some sort, and then saying a trigger phrase. Reading it is the only part of this process that...

I should mention that on p. 154, in the Player's handbook, it states that the minimum of 15 minutes reflects the fact that it takes a certain period of time simply to achieve the "proper mental state." Presumably, spell preparation time should be fifteen minutes + 1 minute per page. According...

Let’s say a wizard has a spell slot open, has rested adequately, and wants to cast a spell directly from his spellbook—in other words, without the intermediate step of “preparing” the spell before casting it. Would this require the same minimum of 15 minutes of preparation time that a wizard...

There's no question, it is a nice feature of raven familiars that they can speak, but on the other hand, all familiars eventually learn to speak, though only with their masters.

Those are illuminating examples. I am reminded also of sheepdogs, which, being raised with the sheep, come to think of themselves as being sheep too. However, these are exceptions to the norm, and would require at least a little bit of training, wouldn't you say? It would be a lot easier to...

IF the creature naturally had a 12 con, it MAY get a bonus added to its hitpoints, but ONLY if its natural hitpoints are higher than half of the master's hitpoints. Usually though, a familiars hitpoints are determined by halving the master's hitpoints, and in such cases, its CON bonus would be...

If you have two animal companions, one of which is a natural predator of the other, would you be able to train them to coexist in peace? Same for familiars. Would my hawk companion kill your weasel familiar? Would this require a special "trick" to be acquired by the animal? Woud a trick even...

It would have a direct effect. Only permanent changes to the master's hit points would result in an indirect increase to the familiar's HP.

Thanks for your help. Here's another question: It also says on p.18 that if the familiar shares your square, it gets +4 AC, no AoO and +2 reflex saves because of cover. I didnt know about that before! They should say that in the PHB

Definitely, yes, elves CAN wear heavy armor while trancing. A trance is not sleep. (And "rest" for elven wizards is not sleep either!) Nothing in the rules, explicit or implicit, says that trance or rest should be treated as sleep as regards the matter of wearing armor. The burden of proof...

A technical question: Tome and Blood, p. 13 states, "In addition to their own special qualities, all familiars grant their master the Alertness feat, improved evasion, empathic link, and shared spells at 1st level ..." Is it really true that the MASTER gets improved evasion?! I can find...

That would be true, Greg, if "willingly and well" means that it is trained for combat, as a warhorse. But, i think others have been leaning towards interpreting it as meaning simply trained as a riding horse. In my wishful thinking, I had hoped that there was a middle ground between these...

So, when it says "willingly and well" it means no more than that the horse is trained for riding, like a normal horse.

in my campaign, we ALWAYS have to make some kind of ride check or calm the animals ... almost every time we get on the horses. If I take one of these summoned mounts into combat, would it get spooked and be hard to control?

Does anybody ever use this spell? When does it come in handy?

It says this summoned mount serves willingly and well. What does that mean? Are ride checks determined the same way as with a normal mundane riding horse, or is this magical animal exceptionally cooperative. Should the caster get a bonus to ride checks? Would the mount be less likely to be...

Dr. Zoom has it right, I believe. Since the caster is invisible and flying, I would say it would be impossible to use the search skill. In orde to search, there has to be some sort of tangible clue. If the invisible spellcaster were on the ground at least, then MAYBE a search check would...

There is a difference (I would think) between personal powers and personal range spells. I power is not a spell. Probably the reason they made a "special" allowance for personal powers is that they are not spells and therefore you would not assume that you would be able to make a tatoo based...