Help me break in my 3.5 books! (3.5 Q&A)

[Lord Pendragon]

See the Compiled Revisions. Stats are the same, essentially, but it's now a finessable reach weapon that draws AoOs when used.

Cool, I'll go check it.

MoVal, eh Lord Pendragon? I graduated from MVHS!

Small world! I graduated from Valley View, Class of '93.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Did they get rid of pyrohydras then? And up the CR of hydras in general? Provoking an AoO from each of the heads every time you attempt to cut one off should justify a +2 to +3 CR increase by itself.

I noticed last night that now all hydras are Lernean hydras. That is, all hydras' heads regrow unless stopped via fire or acid. Plus, attacking a head is done as a sunder-- attack roll vs. attack roll, provokes AoO (unless attacker has Improved Sunder), etc. You can attack the body, but it has fast healing 10+# of heads. That's fast healing 22 for a 12 headed hydra.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Pyro and Cyro hydras are still in there. The CRs for the base varieties are the same as the non-Lernaen versions in the 3.0 MM (Pyro/Cryo adds +2 CR). I don't know if that was a decision or an oversight.

I kind of thought baseline 3.0 hydras were a little underpowered for their CR -- the multiple attacks/AoO thing was about all they had going for them (low AC, not particularly stellar HD). With the non-pyro/Lernaen varieties, you could just stand back and hit them with ranged weapons/spells and they'd croak.

Now they're definitely a challenge for their level. I'd have to spend more time looking at the MM to get a real feel for where they balance (I suspect that they're a little under-CR'd now, though).

 

[drnuncheon]

Did they get rid of pyrohydras then? And up the CR of hydras in general? Provoking an AoO from each of the heads every time you attempt to cut one off should justify a +2 to +3 CR increase by itself.

They did not - but pyrohydras head regrowth can be stopped by cold and acid damage (rather than fire and acid).

The CRs did not go up - in fact, the CRs are the same as for /normal/ hydras in the MM, not Lernean versions.

Other changes - you can kill a hydra by attacking its body, but with the amount of fast healing and such it's nearly impossible. Area-effect spells can cauterize multiple stumps at once. Removing a head deals damage to the body.

There's a note that says that hydras are supposed to be "difficult to defeat by conventional means" and reward characters for getting Improved Sunder and parties who learn to coordinate their attacks.

They are probably among the nastiest creatures for their CR now.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

From the Compiled thread:

Bard Starting Weapons: All Simple + Longsword, Rapier, Sap, Short Sword, Shortbow, and whip.

Now, in 3.0 the bard had all simple weapons, and was allowed to choose one extra weapon from a list of choices. Is it the same in 3.5, or does bard actually gain proficiency in all the listed weapons?

 

[drnuncheon]

From the Compiled thread:Now, in 3.0 the bard had all simple weapons, and was allowed to choose one extra weapon from a list of choices. Is it the same in 3.5, or does bard actually gain proficiency in all the listed weapons?

He gets them all.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

He gets them all.

Thanks!

 

[nikolai]

Horrible vague question - sorry...

Can you look at offensive conjuration spells:

• ray of frost
• glitterdust
• Melf's acid arrow
• flame arrow
• stinking cloud
• sepia snake sigil
• etc.

do they allow spell resistance?

nikolai.