Little Known Rules of D&D

[Legildur]

3. Again mentioned but not fully spelled out. Reach weapons can't attack 2 diagonals but creatures with reach can. Thus 10 ft reach you can attack 2 angles away.

Source??

 

[mvincent]

I'd have to reread it to get his full thoughts on it.

Ok, I went to my archives. Here's the full answer from Dragon 352, Pages 86-87:
"Does a celestial or fiendish animal, which has a 3 Intelligence, understand a language?
The celestial and fiendish templates don't indicate that the creature gains the ability to understand any particular language, but it's reasonable to grant sych a creature the rudimentary ability to understand a single spoken language. Celestial (for that template) or Abyssal or Infernal (for the fiendish template) seem like reasonable options, but a DM can alter this as desired"

 

[Goldmoon]

Ok, I went to my archives. Here's the full answer from Dragon 352, Pages 86-87:
"Does a celestial or fiendish animal, which has a 3 Intelligence, understand a language?
The celestial and fiendish templates don't indicate that the creature gains the ability to understand any particular language, but it's reasonable to grant sych a creature the rudimentary ability to understand a single spoken language. Celestial (for that template) or Abyssal or Infernal (for the fiendish template) seem like reasonable options, but a DM can alter this as desired"

See, that answer makes no sense to me. Its not the template that gives them the ability to understand the langusge its the intelligence boost.

 

[Hypersmurf]

See, that answer makes no sense to me. Its not the template that gives them the ability to understand the langusge its the intelligence boost.

I can see the sense in the answer, I just feel it's ignoring the rule that tells us which language it is.

In most cases, there's a difference between a Triceratops with a Headband of Intellect +2, and a Fiendish Triceratops. One is a normal animal that has had its Intelligence increased from 1 to 3. The other is a creature that has an Intelligence of 3... in most cases, the Fiendish template won't be added later to an existing dinosaur... rather, it's a dinosaur which was born with a greater-than-animal brain.

So the question, I think, isn't really "What language does an animal understand if you add the fiendish template to it?", like you might ask "What language does an animal understand if you put a Headband of Intellect on it?" Rather, it's "What language does a fiendish animal understand?"

It just happens that, since the template mentions no language, the answer is still "Common". The answer "Infernal or Abyssal" is intuitive, and makes sense, but it isn't the rule.

-Hyp.

 

[Asmor]

Something I learned the hard way at an RPGA game: Warforged can't use potions of Enlarge Person (or have the spell cast on them). Enlarge Person specifically targets a humanoid, which of course a Warforged is not. Similarly, I suppose, aasimar and tieflings don't get to enlarge themselves.

 

[pawsplay]

Right.

And one of the abilities that changes is Intelligence. Would you say that if a Fiendish Triceratops has an Int of 3 instead of 1, its Search modifier remains unchanged? Or should it increase by 1, since the Int modifier has increased by 1?

-Hyp.

No, and I don't see how saying "no" weakens my point in the slightest. A language may be common to Int 3 creatures, but it has to be assigned. No such assignation occurs in this case. And the template does not assign one. It's not as if casting a spell that removes the need to breathe makes you not a living creature.

 

[Hypersmurf]

A language may be common to Int 3 creatures, but it has to be assigned. No such assignation occurs in this case. And the template does not assign one.

Having an Int of 3 means you understand at least one language... Common, unless otherwise noted.

It doesn't need to be assigned, because there is a default case for when no such assignation is made... as in the case of the Fiendish template.

If the Fiendish template assigned a language, that would override the default case, because it would be 'otherwise noted'.

-Hyp.

 

[eamon]

Something I learned the hard way at an RPGA game: Warforged can't use potions of Enlarge Person (or have the spell cast on them). Enlarge Person specifically targets a humanoid, which of course a Warforged is not. Similarly, I suppose, aasimar and tieflings don't get to enlarge themselves.

Wow, that's obvious, but I'd missed that one entirely! Thanks! That also means stuff like Hold Person etc. don't work on Warforged... how do I explain this to a player of mine playing a warforged... he's not going to like it!

 

[KarinsDad]

Something I learned the hard way at an RPGA game: Warforged can't use potions of Enlarge Person (or have the spell cast on them). Enlarge Person specifically targets a humanoid, which of course a Warforged is not. Similarly, I suppose, aasimar and tieflings don't get to enlarge themselves.

We had this happen a few weeks ago in our game. The PCs attacked a much larger group in the middle of the night and part of the plan was to Enlarge the Warforged. They got to that part of the fight and the Artificer suddenly realized that he couldn't do that.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Additionally, any time you're forced to make a balance check (such as from uneven flagstone, a narrow surface, a slippery surface, so on), you automatically lose your Dexterity bonus to AC unless you've got 5 ranks in Balance.

Actually, you are considered flat-footed. Which is a 'condition' that normally only occurs at the beginning of combat. This is important to note, because certain things affect people when they are flat-footed (see OA Iajitsu Focus) vs. just simply losing your Dex bonus to AC.