[3.5] Enormous number of changes - some make me wonder why...

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Interesting rule on critical hits with magic weapons (DMG p222)

Weapons which have a special quality or special effect on a critical hit *does* function against creatures immune to critical hits. e.g. a flaming burst weapon can get its flaming burst damage against undead or constructs etc.

A roll which is a threat is rolled to confirm as per doing a critical hit, and if successful the special power (bursting damage, mace of smitings construct destruction etc) takes place. The weapons regular damage isn't multiplied of course.

Hey, lucky me! That's the way I've always played it; nice to see it clarified.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Hey, lucky me! That's the way I've always played it; nice to see it clarified.

I always played it that way as well. I thought the rule that it didn't work this way was lame.

 

[Celtavian]

I disagree on its uselessness; it actually returns it more to its 2nd edition roots, but it does make it less effective against middle-level threats.

I don't quite understand how you can make this statement. The change to DR where any magic weapon bypasses #/Magic DR combined with the change that any arrow fired from a magic bow, even a +1 magic bow, is considered magical for bypassing DR makes this spell fairly useless and easily defeatable. Any cleric or wizard or class with any spell that provides a magical bonus to its arrows can bypass Protection from Arrows.

So once a caster gains Greater Magic Weapon, Protection from Arrows becomes an utter non-factor, just like before. And any character or enemy with a +1 or better bow can blow through the DR of a person with Protection from Arrows.

I modified this spell and gave it DR 10/-. Otherwise it is never used because of its utter uselessness, even in 3.0 it was marginally useful because of the way it scaled compared to GMW. I mean for both enemy and ally.

The archers characters I have run as a DM blow through 10/- DR of any enemy casters. Enemies usually never use archers or rarely do. They usually have a mage or cleric deal with the PC casters.

Except that wind wall is higher level, and not mobile, both of which make protection from arrows more attractive, and making it a true "mook protection" spell.

Windwall while flying is a much more effective defense for PC's who normally face archers en masse as part of enemy troops. If the DM specifically creates an archer specialist to deal with a caster, then that archer is going to kill the PC caster so quick he may not have time to cast Windwall, which will be his only defense now besides Stoneskin.

I don't know your experience with archers, but specialized archers blow through 10 points of DR like nothing. I see that now specialization has no 30 foot limit, which means they will blow through 10 DR even easier and from farther away.

What would you have a wizard do if he is getting bombarded by arrows and Protection from Arrows doesn't really protect?

 

[Staffan]

I don't quite understand how you can make this statement. The change to DR where any magic weapon bypasses #/Magic DR combined with the change that any arrow fired from a magic bow, even a +1 magic bow, is considered magical for bypassing DR makes this spell fairly useless and easily defeatable. Any cleric or wizard or class with any spell that provides a magical bonus to its arrows can bypass Protection from Arrows.

So once a caster gains Greater Magic Weapon, Protection from Arrows becomes an utter non-factor, just like before. And any character or enemy with a +1 or better bow can blow through the DR of a person with Protection from Arrows.

You do realize that protection from arrows is a 2nd level spell? It's not supposed to be all that great once you're past level 6-7 or so. I think DR 10/magic is rather appropriate for a 2nd level spell.

That said, a higher-level spell that gave a better DR would be quite allright.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'll be house-ruling it to be DR 10/adamantine, so it is a lower-level version of Stoneskin which only works against projectiles. That seems fair to me.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another welcome change that I've noticed in PHB skills (a house rule of mine made flesh, yay!).

Intimidate can be used in combat against and opponent who can see you. If you successfully intimidate them they become shaken with the normal penalties for this.

At last the skill gets its own niche!

 

[Plane Sailing]

[Evil] descriptor weirdness...

Deathwatch is a Necromantic [Evil] spell ?!?

I can understand Animate Dead being [Evil], but in a world where Bestow Curse isn't [Evil] and a bunch of other ways of killing people horribly are not [Evil], I wonder why on earth the ability to see who was dead, who was dying and who was faking would be merely useful

 

[Plane Sailing]

Just noticed another nice touch in the magic weapon options:

I think it is called "ki power", and for the cost of a +1 enhancement it allows a monk to use all his ki powers through the weapon (IIRC DR penetration, quivering palm and stunning attack(?)).

A really nice monk-specific option.

Cheers

 

[Celtavian]

re

You do realize that protection from arrows is a 2nd level spell? It's not supposed to be all that great once you're past level 6-7 or so. I think DR 10/magic is rather appropriate for a 2nd level spell.

That said, a higher-level spell that gave a better DR would be quite allright.

This type of thinking is one of the reasons why Andy Collin's is not one of my favorite game designers. You have just repeated a sentiment straight from his mouth.

I'm sorry. Even my 1st level spells should be useful as I level. It is all I have as a caster for use during adventuring. If I have to combine all my defensive, offensive and utility spells into higher level slots, then I am really limited while the fighter still gets to swing his weapon as often as he likes.

All spells should have a general usefulness at any level whether they are first or ninth. The level should be more of a guide for effect, not usefulness. Protection from Arrows should be just as useful for a level 18 caster as it should be for a level 3 caster because the effect is inline with other 2nd level spells.

Some of you seem to have very little experience playing casters, or so it seems when you spew the above kind of rubbish. It is hard to survive as a caster period. At high levels you can barely survive a round of melee combat, that is why it is of the utmost importance that you avoid it.

Casters are very nicely balanced due to the fact that they can completely avoid melee. If they could not, they would die a very quick death and be reduced to an ineffectual nothing. I have been at plenty of games where an archer absolutely obliterates a caster by taking continous ready actions on the caster to disrupt casting. One of the only saving graces a caster has is the spells he can use to protect him from being utterly annihilated.

I can guarantee you that more people will carry magic bows to since busting through Protection from Arrows can be done by a simple, cheap +1 Magic bow. Its well worth the investment because it renders Protection from Arrows useless, utterly and absolutely useless.

 

[Anubis the Doomseer]

You do realize that protection from arrows is a 2nd level spell? It's not supposed to be all that great once you're past level 6-7 or so. I think DR 10/magic is rather appropriate for a 2nd level spell.

That said, a higher-level spell that gave a better DR would be quite allright.

Fine. Then give me a mana-point spell system that allows me, as a higher-level caster, of bypassing my lower level spells and make more use of my higher-level ones. Otherwise, you had best make my lower-level spells at least worthwhile to bother memorizing.

The philosophy only works when you go the whole distance with it.

Edit: attack removed.

- Ma'at