Complete Arcane - Whirling Blade

[Oberyn]

Wow, i suppose you are right... So pretty much my dark elf psion/wilder and rogue sorcerer team become the musicians from Kung Fu Hustle... Maybe i wont change this to see if they can think this one up themselves. They need to learn thier tactics better.

 

[Endovior]

Well, as a DM, you should never have ALL the foes standing in an easily-targeted formation, especially not a straight line. If the baddies are dumb enough to do so, they deserve what they get.

 

[Oberyn]

As i said above the psion player could easily herd at least 6 guys into a straight line with one power.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I think you're missing the point of the melee attack statement. That means that the effecive attack range is 5', so each attack is a sneak attack.

'Effective range' has nothing to do with it. A Kraken Rogue can sneak attack with a tentacle from 60 feet away... because it's not a ranged attack, and it's only ranged attacks that carry the 30 foot restriction for sneak attacks.

-Hyp.

 

[Bront]

'Effective range' has nothing to do with it. A Kraken Rogue can sneak attack with a tentacle from 60 feet away... because it's not a ranged attack, and it's only ranged attacks that carry the 30 foot restriction for sneak attacks.

-Hyp.

Much better explanation for what I said. Thanks.

And, um, keep that Kraken Rogue away from me...

 

[Caliban]

As a DM, I would probably treat this the same way as a volley attack (such as Scorching Ray or Manyshot): Only the first attack get's the sneak attack damage.

 

[outlier]

'Effective range' has nothing to do with it. A Kraken Rogue can sneak attack with a tentacle from 60 feet away... because it's not a ranged attack, and it's only ranged attacks that carry the 30 foot restriction for sneak attacks.

-Hyp.

I stand corrected.

So... my Dwarven runesmith with the item crafting feats needs to make a pair of gauntlets of whirling blades for himself and the party rogue. What would they cost? By formula, we're talking about 12,000gp for unlimited use. The equivalent powers from weapon enchantments would be 2 or 3 times that, but then again, I think weapons are overpriced.

 

[Shellman]

As a DM, I would probably treat this the same way as a volley attack (such as Scorching Ray or Multishot): Only the first attack get's the sneak attack damage.

Then you would be ruling it incorrectly, this is not a ranged attack by the description of the spell. It has a line of effect out to 60 ft. Other than that this is a melee attack at each target in the 60 ft line.

However, sneak attack would only apply if the target/ targets would be denied there Dex bonus to AC. IMO, getting sneak attack using this spell would be difficult to set up. Realistically this spell would only work in specific situations (i.e. an adventuring party that is bottlenecked into a dungeon corridor etc). Other than that I think the spell is not all that useful.

 

[Caliban]

Hmm.... It looks like you could use Arcane Strike (feat from CW) and Wraithstrike (spell from Complete Adventurer) with it and then power attack. You could also use the Sculpt Spell feat to make it a 20' burst or a Cone...


Ftr2/Wiz4/Spellblade1/Eldritch Knight2 with Power Attack, Arcane strike, and Sculpt spell:

BAB = 7
Str: 18 (base 14, Belt +4)
3rd level spells.

Free Action: Use Arcane Strike, sacrifice a 3rd level spell = +3 attack, +3d4 damage on each attack.

Swift Action: Cast Wraithstrike. All your melee attacks are touch attacks for one round.

Power Attack for 7.

Cast a Sculped Whirling Blade and throw your +1 Greatsword: +8 melee touch attack on everyone in the area, 2d6+21+3d4 damage to everyone it hits, can crit, no DR, No SR, and no Energy Resistance.

Look possible to you guys, or am I overlooking something? (I'm basing the caster off my roommates character.)

 

[Caliban]

Then you would be ruling it incorrectly, this is not a ranged attack by the description of the spell.

No, I don't think I'm being incorrect there. I know it's not a ranged attack, but it is a single spell that allows multiple attacks as part of the same standard action, like scorching ray or the manyshot feat. Ranged is not what matters here.

Since all the attacks happen at effectively the same time, I have no problem ruling that you can only aim the first attack well enough to apply precision damage. That is the logic behind the sneak attack limitation on Manyshot and Scorching Ray, and this looks like an equivalent situation to me.

However, sneak attack would only apply if the target/ targets would be denied there Dex bonus to AC. IMO, getting sneak attack using this spell would be difficult to set up. Realistically this spell would only work in specific situations (i.e. an adventuring party that is bottlenecked into a dungeon corridor etc). Other than that I think the spell is not all that useful.

If you can cast this spell, you can probably cast invsibility as well. At higher levels you can get Greater Invisibility, Blink, or Greater Blink.