Touch attacks do damage?

[Bear]

Thanks folk... it's all so clear to me now.

/stumbles off into the darkness.

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

If you wait to hit with an unarmed strike, as Tabarnak said, you have to remember that it won't be a touch attack, and a miss ruins the spell IIRC.

Hm. I beg to differ. Can't really find a quote to confirm this, though.

TS

 

[Particle_Man]

If you wait to hit with an unarmed strike, as Tabarnak said, you have to remember that it won't be a touch attack, and a miss ruins the spell IIRC.

I thought that if you missed, the spell just stuck to your hand until you either touch attacked someone with it, regular attacked someone with it, or cast another spell deliverable by touch attack, which then replaces the spell stuck to your hand with a different spell stuck to your hand.

 

[Cybern]

Hm. I beg to differ. Can't really find a quote to confirm this, though.

I couldn't quote either, since I remember seeing this in the Sage's advice in some dragon mag... but I won't check them all out just for this... I'll accept house rules as it happens.

 

[RigaMortus]

If you miss with the regular attack, then you are still holding the charge, so it wouldn't be dispelled. However, you could house rule that if you miss with the regular attack (miss with the unarmed strike) but would have otherwise hit with a Touch Attack, then the charge goes off (but not the unarmed damage).

Ex:

AC 18
Touch AC 15

Roll to attack with an unarmed strike (while also holding a Shocking Grasp charge), and get a 16. This misses the regular AC, but you still technically "hit" their armor (you just failed to penetrate it). This would then cause the Shocking Grasp charge to go off.

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

If you miss with the regular attack, then you are still holding the charge, so it wouldn't be dispelled. However, you could house rule that if you miss with the regular attack (miss with the unarmed strike) but would have otherwise hit with a Touch Attack, then the charge goes off (but not the unarmed damage).

Ex:

AC 18
Touch AC 15

Roll to attack with an unarmed strike (while also holding a Shocking Grasp charge), and get a 16. This misses the regular AC, but you still technically "hit" their armor (you just failed to penetrate it). This would then cause the Shocking Grasp charge to go off.

That would be the most logical way of handling it, although having to deal with 2 different AC's for a same opponent isn't something they like to do.

TS

 

[RigaMortus]

It's not that difficult to keep track of. The new Character Sheets have a seperate listing for AC, Touch AC, and Flat-Footed AC. As well as the monsters in the MM (I think).

 

[eryndel]

Beat me to the punch...

That's how I house rule it. If you miss but hit with the touch attack AC you do the spells damage but no other damage. It doesn't really seem to slow things down for us.

I ruled it similarly with weapons of spell storing.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Remember that you can cast-and-punch in the same round if:

a. you have a Quickened Shocking Grasp.
b. you're Shapechanged into a Choker.

Alternatively, you can cast the spell and have your familiar deliver it with a natural weapon in the same round. Especially if the familiar is Polymorphed (though not, oddly, Shapechanged) into something big and nasty.

-Hyp.

 

[Crass]

Referring to the 3.5 SRD, under Standard Actions/Cast A Spell/Touch Spells In Combat:

"Holding the Charge: ... If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges ... Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack ... while holding a charge ... If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge."

Hope that helps, Bear.