D&D 3.x 3.5 Misc. Questions

[plunoir101]

Hiya
So i had a few questions that i wasnt able to find anywhere.

-About what Strength score under 10 would a humanoid be too weak to draw and shoot a bow?

-Spot and Listen are obvious, but what skills would you use for smelling something. Say, someone with scent.

 

[Tovec]

Hiya
So i had a few questions that i wasnt able to find anywhere.

-About what Strength score under 10 would a humanoid be too weak to draw and shoot a bow?

-Spot and Listen are obvious, but what skills would you use for smelling something. Say, someone with scent.

As far as I know, rules as written for 3.5. There is nothing stopping a person with strength score of 1 using a bow, except that they can't physically hold the weapon - STR of 1 is BAAAAD news, regular clothes would weigh him down.
- Also, afiak, 10-11 is supposed to be "average" for humans. Forget "average" for halflings or small creatures. Simply making it a STR 10 to use a bow effectively is a huge penalty, especially if you consider halfling rogues with small shortbows.
-- "Average" in this context means not exceptional, but I would also expand the term to mean a median number fall above and below this number. It could flare out as far as say 14 (so 3-4 above) or 6-7 (4 below). Having only half the population physically capable of drawing back a bowstrong seems VERY limiting.

For "smell" there is no skill associated with the skill as far as I know. Since 3.5 doesn't have the "Perception" skill I would probably break smell (and taste) down depending on the range of said smell. Something that is in someone's hands, held up in front of their face (or eaten) I would probably rule a modified Spot check (or maybe even Search for taste). Whereas something that is further away or more indistinct I would say is more like a Listen check.
- You are right there there is now RAW on scent/taste. I don't think it comes up often enough for a new skill to be created just for this use.
-- This is part of what I like about the combined Perception skill of PF and other systems, rolling Spot, Listen and Search into one skill allows it to also include smell and taste without any need to specify.
- Depending on what the "scent" does or what it is trying to do it could possibly be a knowledge check or sense motive - again depending on context but nothing WRITTEN on the subject.

 

[parinho7]

1) longbow weights 3 lb. even with a strength score of 1 you have a max light load of 3 lb. so you need a strength of 0 to not be able to lift a bow (and also be helpless)

here is a table about carrying capacity: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/carryingCapacity.htm

2) scent is an extraordinary ability there are no rules for smelling if you don't have Scent (Ex) as an extraordinary ability. you can use the description and make up a rule by yourself

Scent

This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges.
The creature detects another creature’s presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If it moves within 5 feet of the scent’s source, the creature can pinpoint that source.
A creature with the Track feat and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.
Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures. Water-breathing creatures that have the scent ability, however, can use it in the water easily.
False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.

i'd use survival to detect odors that anyone could smell but you need to have the scent ability to detect enemies or drugs like a police dog or something

 

[Greenfield]

Composite bows come with a Strength rating. Regular Long and Short bows don't, per RAW.

Now looking at Strength in the SRD I see an answer to your question:

STRENGTH (STR)
Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power. This ability is especially important for fighters, barbarians, paladins, rangers, and monks because it helps them prevail in combat. Strength also limits the amount of equipment your character can carry.
You apply your character’s Strength modifier to:
• Melee attack rolls.
• Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown weapon (including a sling). (Exceptions: Off-hand attacks receive only one-half the character’s Strength bonus, while two-handed attacks receive one and a half times the Strength bonus. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies to attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.)
• Climb, Jump, and Swim checks. These are the skills that have Strength as their key ability.
• Strength checks (for breaking down doors and the like).

So low Strength scores apply to attack rolls made with a bow, unless it's specifically a Composite bow made for their Strength.

Looking specifically at the Composite Longbow...

Longbow, Composite: You need at least two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. You can use a composite longbow while mounted. All composite bows are made with a particular strength rating (that is, each requires a minimum Strength modifier to use with proficiency). If your Strength bonus is less than the strength rating of the composite bow, you can’t effectively use it, so you take a –2 penalty on attacks with it. The default composite longbow requires a Strength modifier of +0 or higher to use with proficiency. A composite longbow can be made with a high strength rating to take advantage of an above-average Strength score; this feature allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, up to the maximum bonus indicated for the bow. Each point of Strength bonus granted by the bow adds 100 gp to its cost.
For purposes of weapon proficiency and similar feats, a composite longbow is treated as if it were a longbow.

So there's the answer to your first question.

As for your second question: By the rules, only creatures with the Scent ability get to use their sense of smell in any useful way.

For those with the Scent ability...

SCENT
This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind,
the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at
twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times
these ranges.
The creature detects another creature’s presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If it moves within 5 feet of the scent’s source, the creature can pinpoint that source.
A creature with the Track feat and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.
Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures. Water-breathing creatures that have the scent ability, however, can use it in the water easily.
False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.

So this part contradicts itself. In the first highlighted section it says to use a straight Wisdom check. The second section implies that it's a Survival check.

Now since Survival is a Wisdom based skill, I'd probably go with option #2 .

But that's just me.

 

[Tovec]

1) longbow weights 3 lb. even with a strength score of 1 you have a max light load of 3 lb. so you need a strength of 0 to not be able to lift a bow (and also be helpless)

here is a table about carrying capacity: Carrying Capacity :: d20srd.org

Peasant clothes are 2 lbs. So STR of 1 has a 3lb bow be a medium load, assuming the STR score 1 is wearing clothes. That is also assuming the most basic clothes, no backpack or ANYTHING else, its a medium load.

I assumed that comment was for me, as it does not seem to address the original question.

 

[LiL KiNG]

Now since Survival is a Wisdom based skill, I'd probably go with option [URL=http://www.enworld.org/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=2]#2 [/URL] .

But that's just me.

Since you can use Survival untrained it becomes basically just a WIS check if you have no ranks - I would say use WIS or Survival, whichever is higher, but in this case if you have any ranks whatsoever in Survival it will be the higher modifier.

That is funny though, in all the times I've looked at Scent/Tracking I never noticed they reference both a WIS check and a Survival check in the text like that.

 

[nonsi256]

If you're interested, my codex's "Skills" section contains rules for making Smell checks.