Compiled 3.5 Revisions

[JoeBlank]

Monsters of Faerun lists the Aarakocra as a monstrous humanoid, which I presume is a different type from humanoid, correct?

I'll have to sneak a peek at someone elses Races of Faerun.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sorry, as you were on the Aarakocra (I missed the "Monstrous" when I glanced though). RoF: short version: elf with wings.

New info from Andy Collins:

e. Halflings aren't innately proficient with slings, though they will get a +1 bonus to attacks with slings and thrown weapons.

Rogues are proficient with all simple weapons plus hand crossbow, rapier, shorbow, and shortsword. (This INCLUDES slings!)

r. Swim now has an armor check/gear penalty equal to twice the normal armor check/gear penalty, rather than a flat -1 per 5 pounds (which unfairly penalizes strong characters who are otherwise carrying light loads).

hh. BAB prerequisites for ITWF and GTWF are +6 and +11, respectively. (But we'd pretty much already figured that out)

o. Githyanki and Githzerai are added to the MM.

p. Many dragon CRs went up a point or so, e.g. Great Gold Wyrm: 27 and Great Red Wyrm: 26.

 

[player1]

Andy also said that weight for some armors got changed.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Two bits I missed yesterday:

Some clarification on weapon sizes:

Every size of creature now has a full list of weapons sized for it. A Small short sword is a short sword sized for a Small creature (and does less damage than a Medium short sword, which is sized for a Medium creature). A Large greatsword is a greatsword sized for a Large creature (and does more damage than a Medium greatsword, which is sized for a Large creature). Characters can use weapons one size category smaller or larger than them, but take a -2 penalty to attacks (the DMG provides an option for DMs who want to use "weapon equivalencies"--a Small longsword is treated the same as a Medium short sword is treated the same as a Large dagger, f'rinstance).

k. Neither magic armor nor magic weapons will resize to fit users in 3.5. Weapons and armor will have specific sizes (Small, Medium, Large, etc.) that describe the size of user they're designed for.

 

[Lela]

k. Neither magic armor nor magic weapons will resize to fit users in 3.5. Weapons and armor will have specific sizes (Small, Medium, Large, etc.) that describe the size of user they're designed for.

That's bad for my Centaur Paladin. . .

 

[coyote6]

(the DMG provides an option for DMs who want to use "weapon equivalencies"--a Small longsword is treated the same as a Medium short sword is treated the same as a Large dagger, f'rinstance).

Ah, good. The weapon changes were aggravating me, since it seemed to be "screw the small guys" (there's a halfling PC in one of my campaigns that uses Weapon Finesse w/daggers; in 3.5e, he'd either have to use halfling daggers that do less damage, use halfling shortswords that aren't throwable, pony up for a throwing returning halfling shortsword, or take a penalty to attack to use "Medium" size daggers -- all sucky options) for no good reason (a shortsword isn't throwable because its size unbalances it; a halfling shortsword would be about the size of its dagger, yet it's is [presumably] somehow unthrowable?). Nevermind the no-resizing option, which you confirmed.

So I'm glad to hear that there are options for dealing with those things in ways that don't feel like, "Hey, you should have been Medium-size, pal!"

I'm not sure how I feel about the no resizing -- on the one hand, "one size fits all" does have a bit of a silly feel; OTOH, it seems to be an unnecessary penalty, a la "drow magic items die in sunlight" -- "Haha, you can't use their stuff 'cause it's the wrong size". Finding someone who will buy Huge weapons or armor seems unlikely, since there aren't a lot of friendly giants around, so even selling them for loot ought to often be problematic.

I suspect that I'll invent a way for such items to be resized. Perhaps a spell, or a feature of the appropriate Craft feats (or both; a spell that is only usable by those with Craft Whatever) that lets them (with some cost of time, money, maybe XP) resize items -- probably one size category in either direction, from the base size (e.g., a Medium suit of armor could be made Small or Large, but never Tiny or Huge).

I wonder, does the "no resizing" apply to boots & rings (not to mention amulets, wands, scrolls, etc.), or just to weapons and armor?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

This isn't really a change from 3.0, but it gets asked so often it's nice to know it will be spelled out explicitly in 3.5:

f. Confirmed explicitly for 3.5: a natural 20 is an automatically successful save and an automatically successful attack roll (not counting miss chances from things like incorporeality, of course--that's something you do after you determine whether or not an attack succeeds). Likewise, a 1 is an automatic miss on both saves and attacks. This does not affect skill or ability checks or any opposed checks, of course.

Other info:

q. Blindsense uses nonvisual abilities (like sense of smell or hearing) to perceive things in the world around them. A creature that has blindsense usually does not have to make Spot or Listen checks to pinpoint the location of a creature within range of its blindsense ability, provided that it has line of effect to that creature. There's a little more to it, but that's the gist.

Blindsight is very similar, but is more discerning. It still uses nonvisual senses, but often uses more unusual cues, like sonar, sensitivity to vibrations, keen spell, etc. It fights and moves as well as a sighted creature and things like invisibility, darkness, and most kinds of concealment (not cover) are irrelevant. It also usually does not have to make Spot or Listen checks to pinpoint the location of a creature within range of its blindsight ability. Again, there's a little more to it, but that's the basic idea.

Blindsense tends to be a little more limited than blindsight. Individual creature descriptions discuss what they can do with either sense, as well as how they do it.

 

[Zaruthustran]

ee. Alter self has undergone significant changes. It's now more like a lesser form of polymorph (self only). The gist is that you take the form of a humanoid (or other creature of your same type) within one size category of yours, and of a maximum HD equal to yours. You retain most of your own qualities, but gain the "physical qualities" of the new form, including size, movement, natural armor, natural weapons, racial bonuses, and any "gross physical qualities (wings, extra arms, etc.), though extra arms don't let you make more attacks than normal. You don't gain any extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like abilities of the form.

So, say you're a human and you use Alter Self to take the form of a dwarf. Do you have darkvision? Or are you a dwarf with human eyes?

The description specifically says that you don't get extraordinary qualities, and Darkvision is an extraordinary quality in 3.0. But it also says you get racial bonuses, and Darkvision is a racial bonus for Dwarves.

Hmmm... I wonder how it works.

-z

 

[coyote6]

There still ought to be ways (short of magic) to sneak up on someone with Blindsight. It ought to be difficult, but it ought to be possible, without resorting to spells, magic items, or special abilities (class-, template-, or feat-derived).

If a the protagonists in a high-tech caper movie can cunningly defeat motion sensors, a high level rogue dedicated to stealth ought to be able to sneak up on a basic grimlock, IMO.

 

[Lela]

There still ought to be ways (short of magic) to sneak up on someone with Blindsight. It ought to be difficult, but it ought to be possible, without resorting to spells, magic items, or special abilities (class-, template-, or feat-derived).

If a the protagonists in a high-tech caper movie can cunningly defeat motion sensors, a high level rogue dedicated to stealth ought to be able to sneak up on a basic grimlock, IMO.

You make a good point, though I'm loath to do anything to Blindsight. After all, it is a dragon ability.

Blindsense on the other hand should definitally have some loopholes a very well trained Rogue should be able to easily exploit.