Reserve Feats and SR

[Brother MacLaren]

AMF on familiar - have familiar fly over to barbarian friend... barbarian friend CHAAARGE?

Does this work? The "Share Spells" ability works on targeted spells (such as Shapechange), but AMF is an area spell, not a targeted spell.

 

[frankthedm]

I think the whole point is that if you are facing the monster with impossible SR, then you can still have something useful to do during that combat other than going out and picking up the pizza for your group while they fight the thing.

If it has "impossible SR", then it is intended the caster not to be able to get around that.

Whether the reasons and repercusions for this are good or bad, the issue is the creature in question is not supposed to be effected directly by a caster. As was mentioned there are other ways for the caster to pull his weight in the fight.

 

[AuraSeer]

AMF on familiar - have familiar fly over to barbarian friend... barbarian friend CHAAARGE?

You can only share spells with your familiar while it is within 5' of you. If it moves outside of that range, the shared spell immediately ends.

 

[AuraSeer]

Hold the phone! Since supernatural abilities ignore SR, does that mean reserve feats work on golems and other magic-immune creatures? It seems to me that would take all golems down a few notches on the threat meter.

If any damaging reserve feat will bypass both the magic immunity and DR, even some badass turbonium golem with DR 25/epic starts looking like a chump. I think I'll need to start giving my golems ranged weapons, or maybe just increase their speed, so the party can't simply run them in circles while the mage plinks them to death.

 

[lukelightning]

Hold the phone! Since supernatural abilities ignore SR, does that mean reserve feats work on golems and other magic-immune creatures?

This highlights the problem with SR. It's an arbitrary all-or-nothing affair. SR should be like DR, so that SR 10 lowers damage from spells by 10 points or something like that. This would get rid of the stupid fact that fireballs can't hurt stone golems but alchemist's fire can.

 

[frankthedm]

This highlights the problem with SR. It's an arbitrary all-or-nothing affair. SR should be like DR, so that SR 10 lowers damage from spells by 10 points or something like that. This would get rid of the stupid fact that fireballs can't hurt stone golems but alchemist's fire can.

Giving the stone golem hardness helps with that as well.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Hold the phone! Since supernatural abilities ignore SR, does that mean reserve feats work on golems and other magic-immune creatures? It seems to me that would take all golems down a few notches on the threat meter.

Against a prepared foe, any golem is a non-threat. Acid or alchemists' fire are so cheap, so effective, and so readily for sale, and golems have no defense against them. The reserve feats would make golems equally ineffective against even unprepared foes.

I'd revise the "magic immunity" to give golems immunity to all non-magical energy attacks, and immunity to all magical energy attacks except as noted in the description.

As written, a clay golem is healed by Acid Arrow or black dragon breath (both magical acid), hurt by regular acid (non-magical), hurt by alchemists' fire (non-magical), hurt by red dragon breath (magical no-SR), and immune to Fireball (magical w/SR).
As I'd change it, the clay golem would be healed by Acid Arrow and black dragon breath and immune to everything else on that list.

 

[frankthedm]

Against a prepared foe, any golem is a non-threat. Acid or alchemists' fire are so cheap, so effective, and so readily for sale, and golems have no defense against them. The reserve feats would make golems equally ineffective against even unprepared foes.

I'd revise the "magic immunity" to give golems immunity to all non-magical energy attacks, and immunity to all magical energy attacks except as noted in the description.

As written, a clay golem is healed by Acid Arrow or black dragon breath (both magical acid), hurt by regular acid (non-magical), hurt by alchemists' fire (non-magical), hurt by red dragon breath (magical no-SR), and immune to Fireball (magical w/SR).
As I'd change it, the clay golem would be healed by Acid Arrow and black dragon breath and immune to everything else on that list.

IIRC that was how previous editions handled them. Immune to everything except as listed.

Hell, Animated Objects tend to be more durable than a golem

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I was thinking of house-ruling them to spell-like abilities, but I'd like some commentary.

I do this.

Each reserve feat's primary benefit is a spell-like ability useable at-will. The spell level of the spell-like ability is equal to the level of the spell that allow's the ability's use. Unless otherwise stated, it requires a standard action to activate and provokes attacks of opportunity, as normal. If a saving throw is allowed, the DC is equal to 10 + the level of the spell allowing the ability's use + the ability modifier you would apply to that spell's save DC. For example, if a wizard with a +3 Intelligence modifier and a reserved 3rd level sonic spell succeeds on a touch attack using the Clap of Thunder reserve feat, she causes the target to make a DC 16 Fortitude save or be deafened.

Later
silver

 

[hong]

Sno big deal. In practice, what seems to happen is that eventually the novelty of plinking (level/2)d6 wears off, and the wiz goes back to casting boom spells.