D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Incorporeality now gives Crit immunity!!

[Pax]

Check it out for yourselves. DMG, page 294-295; Incorporeality now grants you immunity to criticalhits, favored-enemy bonus damage, and sneak attacks.

Just thought folks might want to sit up and take note of that. As a result, IMC, I'll be moving the T&B spell "Ghost Form" up a level or two (7th sounds about right, IMO).

 

[James McMurray]

And don't forget that by the RAW only Incorporeal Undead wink out in an Antimagic Field, leaving other incorporeal beings free to cause whatever havoc they want to.

 

[Pax]

Yeah. Like a Telthor Lizardfolks Rogue (10), with skill mastery(hide and use magic device) and a Staff of Incorporeal Cheesiness [counts as a +1 Quarterstaff of Ghost Touch; can cast Antimagic Field (1 charge), Transdimensional Antimagic Field (2 charges), Widened Antimagic Field (2 charges), or Transdimensional Widened Antimagic Field (3 charges)].

+5d6 sneak attack, easily hides from sight, doesn't even MAKE noise, incorporeal touch attacks, incorporeal, and you can't hit it back, because anything that hits incorporeal creatures is cancelled by the Antimagic Field.

All this for a mere ECL 15.

 

[ruleslawyer]

EXcept that the staff's ghost touch ability won't work in an AMF, Pax.

But yeah, they should have said "incorporeal creatures," not undead. Might want to e-mail that to Wizards R&D for errata...

 

[green slime]

What on earth is a transdimensional antimagic field? in which book is this gem found?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I think the favored enemy bonus damage is a typo, since it isn't bound to criticals anymore.

 

[James McMurray]

The lizardfolk has natural attacks, so he doesn't need the staff while in the AMF. It is only Ghost Touch so that he can hold it to activate it in the first place.

Transdimensional is a metamagic feat from Unapproachable East. It makes the spell also take affect on coterminous planes. It has a level adjustment of +1.

Edit: The spell also has full effect on Incorporeal creatures.

 

[CrimsonTemplar]

Yeah. Like a Telthor Lizardfolks Rogue (10), with skill mastery(hide and use magic device) and a Staff of Incorporeal Cheesiness [counts as a +1 Quarterstaff of Ghost Touch; can cast Antimagic Field (1 charge), Transdimensional Antimagic Field (2 charges), Widened Antimagic Field (2 charges), or Transdimensional Widened Antimagic Field (3 charges)].

+5d6 sneak attack, easily hides from sight, doesn't even MAKE noise, incorporeal touch attacks, incorporeal, and you can't hit it back, because anything that hits incorporeal creatures is cancelled by the Antimagic Field.

All this for a mere ECL 15.

Ummm...has Incorporeal changed so that you don't get your 50% miss chance anymore? It may not be great, but it's something.

Also, how would you rule a situation where someone takes Supernatural Blow against these puppies (waste of a feat I know, unless they show up everyday)? How about without the AM Field?

 

[Jeremy]

Immune to non-magical weapons, immune to non-magical attacks, 50% miss chance to all spell and attacks that do get to affect you, ability to pass through almost all barriers, fly, charisma bonus to AC, immunity to crits and sneak attacks, the perfect guerrila warfare device, especially for a spell caster...

The 50% miss chance on spells and attacks seems like it should be 7th level by itself, that's not even taking into mind the new greater fortification ability.

 

[Pax]

What on earth is a transdimensional antimagic field? in which book is this gem found?

Antimagic Field is in the PHB.

Transdimensional is a wonderful metamagic from Unapproachable east -- +1 level, affects anything existing in or partly in adjacent planes (Astral, Ethereal, Shadow), hiding in extradimensional or nondimensional spaces whose exit(s) are within the spells AoE (rope trick, mordenkainen's magnificent mansion if the doors are open), negates the miss chance vs incorporeal or blinking targets.

KaeYoss said:
I think the favored enemy bonus damage is a typo, since it isn't bound to criticals anymore.

I don't think so. 3.0 didn't specify ANY of the three. And simple immunity to critical hits would cover Sneak Attack, but they specify sneak attack seperately.

Perhaps they were planning on incorporeal, crit-NOT-immune (a special vulnerability for a specific monster?) creatures, who still were not subject to favored enemy and sneak attack damage ... ?

Crimson Templar asks:
Ummm...has Incorporeal changed so that you don't get your 50% miss chance anymore? It may not be great, but it's something.

You only GET that chance, if you're wielding a magic weapon. Inside an AMF, you don't HAVE a magic weapon, you have a masterwork weapon. Ergo, you have no chance to damage an incorporeal non-undead while within an antimagic field.

Also, how would you rule a situation where someone takes Supernatural Blow against these puppies (waste of a feat I know, unless they show up everyday)? How about without the AM Field?

Supernatural Blow? I don't know the feat/ability. Are you perhaps thinking of Spectral Strike (ELH, epic feat, p66) ... ? That one would work fine, AMF or no AMF. However, at epic levels, people tend to be fairly reliant on their magic items ... strip them away, and they get very unhappy, very quickly.

Unless, like my example Telthor-Abuse character, they're BUILT for antimagic combat.

Jeremy muses:
Immune to non-magical weapons, immune to non-magical attacks, 50% miss chance to all spell and attacks that do get to affect you, ability to pass through almost all barriers, fly, charisma bonus to AC, immunity to crits and sneak attacks, the perfect guerrila warfare device, especially for a spell caster...

The 50% miss chance on spells and attacks seems like it should be 7th level by itself, that's not even taking into mind the new greater fortification ability.

Actually, you can get that miss chance with Blink (3d level) and Improved Blink (5th level, from UE). Ghostform was reasonable at a strong 5th level spell. It MIGHT have been okay at 6th ... as a somewhat weak 6th level spell.

With the crit-immunity, I do believe 7th level is reasonable (it'd be slightly strong there, but, I don't really think it's good enough to peg as 8th level).