3e Main FAQ.pdf

D&D ® Frequently Asked Questions

Last Updated 6/27/03

Table of Contents

About the FAQ..........................................................................................................................................................................................1

Character Races and Classes .....................................................................................................................................................................2

Skills ........................................................................................................................................................................................................15

Feats.........................................................................................................................................................................................................20

Equipment and Magic Items ....................................................................................................................................................................26

Combat and Initiative ..............................................................................................................................................................................36

Spells .......................................................................................................................................................................................................47

Miscellaneous ..........................................................................................................................................................................................64

About the FAQ

If you have a question about the D&D game rules, chances are that you’ll find them within this FAQ. There are several sections, as you

can tell by the Table of Contents that we’ve included in this PDF. Any new additions or major corrections in a version are provided in

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6/27/03

Character Races and Classes

The following questions deal with general character creation,

races, and classes and are divided by general character creation

(in total), race (in total), and class (by each class). Questions

about multiclass characters and prestige classes come at the end

of this section.

after spending points? The cost could work out differently

de pending on when those are applied. For example, if you

bought an ability score up to 16 and then took a racial

adjustment of +2, you would have a score of 18 and save 6

points over purchasing the 18 directly.

The order is indeed important. Buy ability scores first, then

adjust for race.

Some of my friends and I have been arguing about the

character reroll rule from the Character Creation Basics

section at the beginning of the Player’s Handbook. Some of

us say you can reroll your character only if your ability

modifiers total 0 or less and your highest ability score is 13

or lower. (That is, you must meet both conditions before

you can reroll). Others say you can reroll if you meet either

condition. For example, which of the following characters

would be playable?

General Classes

Some classes start off with proficiency in an exotic weapon,

and some of those weapons can be used as either martial or

exotic weapons. For example, the samurai from the Oriental

Adventures book is proficient with the katana. Does a

character using such a weapon start off with the martial or

exotic level of proficiency in such a weapon?

It ’s exotic, unless the class description specifically notes

otherwise. Note that the Oriental Adventures samurai is not

proficient with the katana specifically, just with simple and

martial weapons. A samurai needs Exotic Weapon Proficiency

(katana) to wield a katana in one hand.

12 (+1)

14 (+2)

10 (+0)

9 (–1)

10 (+0)

9 (–1)

10 (+0)

9 (–1)

10 (+0)

9 (–1)

10 (+0)

9 (–1)

Suppose my 1st-level rogue gains enough experience to

become a 2nd-level character and decides to add a wizard

level. Does my rogue get a spellbook? Does my rogue get all

the other equipment in a wizard starting package?

The initial spellbook a wizard gets at 1st level is free, just as

the two spells the wizard can add to the spellbook at each

wizard level thereafter are free.

In general, however, you get starting cash or starting

equipment only when you’re a 1st-level character, so the

example character gets no other extra equipment for becoming

a 1st-level wizard.

Both sets of example abilities meet one condition or the

other. The first example has a high ability score of 13 or lower.

The second example has ability modifiers that total –3. Both

sets of ability scores allow rerolls.

The rule on page 4 of the Player’s Handbook says you may

reroll your character if your total modifiers (before racial

adjustments) are 0 or less or if your highest score is 13 or

lower. That means you reroll if you meet either condition.

Races

Why do half-orcs take a net penalty of –2 to their initial

ability rolls?

You refer, I presume, to the half-orc’s racial ability

adjustments of +2 Strength, –2 Intelligence, and –2 Charis ma.

(Add up all those numbers and you do indeed get a net –2.) The

game’s designers decided that a +2 bonus to Strength scores

more than outweighs the –2 penalty to Intelligence and

Charisma, especially considering the half-orc’s 60-foot

darkvision and favored class of barbarian. The numbers don’t

always tell the whole story.

Barbarian

The rules say a barbarian must spend 2 skill points to gain

the ability to read and write any language he can speak. Is

this per language or once for all languages? What happens

if a barbarian becomes multiclass?

When the barbarian spends 2 skill points, he becomes literate

in every language he speaks and in any language he learns to

speak in the future.

Barbarians who become multiclass automatically become

literate in all languages that they currently speak and in any

future languages they learn.

I’ ve noticed that it is possible for some races to obtain a

Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution of 20, yet there are no

modifiers for that particular score. What would they be

respe ctively?

An ability score 20 or 21 has an ability modifier of +5 (see

Table 2–1). Note that in the current rules all ability scores use

the same chart for bonuses and penalties.

The Player’s Handbook says barbarians are the only

characters that do not automatically know how to read and

write. A barbarian must spend 2 skill points to gain the

ability to read and write any language he can speak. The

rules for multiclass characters say the character gets all

class features of all classes, but must also take the

consequences of all special restrictions of all classes, except

that a character who acquires the barbarian class does not

become illiterate. Does this mean that a barbarian who

picks up a second class automatically becomes literate? If

not, is literacy a class skill or a cross-class skill? If so, what

When using the optional rule in the D UNGEON M ASTER ’s

Guide for buying character ability scores with points (for

example, the 25-point-buy method on page 19 of the

D UNGEON M ASTER ’s Guide ), should you apply the

character’s racial modifiers to the ability scores before or

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happens if the barbarian has spent the 2 skill points on

literacy? In any case, how many languages can a literate

barbarian read and write?

A literate barbarian can read and write any languages he can

speak, just as any other literate character can. If a barbarian

becomes literate and later learns to speak more languages, the

barbarian can read and write those languages. This also is true

for any literate character.

If a barbarian adds a nonbarbarian class level, the barbarian

becomes literate. If the barbarian already has spent the 2 skill

points, there is no extra benefit, and the barbarian does not get

those 2 skill points back.

What about other combat conditions that deny a character

his Dexterity bonus, such as climbing, grappling, and the

like?

The uncanny dodge ability is a function of the senses. It

allows a character to retain his Dexterity bonus when others

cannot because they don’t have sufficient sensory information

to do so, such as when one is surprised or facing an unseen foe.

If the character is actually rendered im mobile (or nearly

immobile) by some physical or magical effect, uncanny dodge

doesn’t help. If you’re a barbarian hanging by your fingers and

toes on a rock face, your feral senses don’t improve your

mobility. You can’t use your Dexterity bonus, and you’re

subject to sneak attack. Grappling is a similar situation—if

you’re in another creature’s grasp (or if you’re gasping another

creature), you lose your Dexterity bonus despite any uncanny

dodge ability you might have.

Creatures with the improved grab special attack can retain

their Dexterity bonuses while grappling by taking a –20 penalty

on any grapple checks they make. There’s no reason why a

character couldn’t take that penalty and also retain his

Dexterity bonus while grappling.

When a barbarian is fatigued for the rest of the

encounter after raging, how long is that exactly?

In this case, an “ encounter” continues until the DM stops

tracking the encounter in combat rounds. That usually happens

when the last foe is defeated or escapes, or it lasts until the last

PC is defeated or forced to escape. A creature has escaped from

an encounter when its foes decide not to pursue it or until they

have no reasonable chance of catching the fleeing creature.

Bard

What, exactly, is a bard’s countersong effective against?

Will it work on effects that don’t allow saving throws? Will

it work against a thunderstone?

Countersong works on sonic magical effects—that is any

spell, supernatural ability, or spell-like effect that has the sonic

or language-dependent designator. But it does not work against

extraordinary abilities and nonmagical sound, such as a

thunderstone.

Since countersong allows you to use the bard’s Perform

check result as your saving throw result, it is not effective

against spells or effects that have no saving throw to begin

with.

If a barbarian became undead (by gaining the vampire

template, for example), how would you determine how long

his rage lasts? He no longer has a Constitution score. Could

an undead barbarian theoretically rage until all opponents

were defeated or someone takes him down? Or does his

rage simply last 3 rounds (base 3 + 0 for no Constitution

score)? Or do you assume that the undead barbarian has a

Constitution score of 4 (0 + 4 bonus from rage) and so

cannot rage at all, since the modifier for an ability score of

4 is –3? Does this Constitution “boost” have any other

effects on the undead barbarian? Does he actually lose hit

points?

An undead creature uses its Charisma modifier wherever its

Constitution modifier would normally apply (except Fortitude

saving throws, for which the creature must use its +0

Constitut ion modifier if it needs to make a Fortitude save at

all). Thus, the example barbarian rages for a number of rounds

equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier (but always for at least 1

round).

An undead creature has no Constitution score at all and

cannot gain one by receiving a bonus. Therefore, the +4

Constitution bonus from rage has no effect on this barbarian.

Do you need to hear a bard’s countersong to benefit from

it?

No, you have to be within 30 feet of the bard (the

countersong follows the rules for a spread) and be subjected to

an effect that the countersong can counter (see previous

question). Note that if you’re deafened, you probably aren’t

subject to anything the countersong can counter.

If a barbarian character is normally capable of using a

wand (perhaps because he has a level of cleric or some

other ability that allows the use of such items), can he still

do so while he is raging?

A character using the barbarian’s rage ability cannot activate

a wand. If a class has a rage ability that does not allow

spellcasting (as with barbarian rage), a character of that class

also cannot use a magic item activated by spell trigger, spell

completion, or command word while using the rage ability. It is

possible, of course, that a class could have a rage ability that

does allow spellcasting. If so, members of that class could also

activate magic it ems by spell trigger, spell completion, or

command word while raging.

Under the description for the bard’s inspire courage

ability, it says that the bard can affect allies. Does this mean

he can’t affect himself with this ability? What about the

other bardic music abilities whose descriptions say they

affect allies but make no mention of the bard himself? Also,

which bardic music abilities are spell-like and which are

supe rnatural? (Some are labeled, but not all of them are.)

The details are as follows:

Inspire Courage (Su): Affects allies and the bard.

Countersong (Su): Affects all creatures within 30 feet of the

bard, including the bard himself.

Fascinate (Sp): Affect s a single creature other than the bard.

Inspire Competence (Su): Affects an ally but not the bard.

Suggestion (Sp): Affects a single creature but not the bard.

The description of the barbarian’s uncanny dodge class

feature says a barbarian retains his Dexterity bonus unless

immobilized or held motionless due to magic. I understand

this includes avoiding being caught flat-footed and sneak

attacked unless the attacker has the barbarian flanked.

Inspire Greatness (Su): Affects allies and the bard.

What is the difference between a Kn owledge check and a

bardic knowledge check? When a bard uses his bardic

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knowledge ability, does he use the DCs listed in the

Knowledge skill? If not, how do you determine the DC for a

bardic knowledge check? When he uses a Knowledge skill,

does a bard add his level to the roll as he does for a bardic

knowledge check?

To put it simply, bardic knowledge is a feature of the bard

class and as such it is available only to characters with one or

more bard levels. The various Knowledge skills are simply

skills, and as such they are available to anyone who spends

skill points to get ranks in them.

The bardic knowledge class feature and the various

Knowledge skills also represent knowledge gained in different

ways. The class feature reflects a bard’s ability to pick up

tidbits of information on almost any topic, just by virtue of

being a bard and doing the things that bards do. Knowledge

skills reflect the deliberate study of specific topics.

When a bard character uses his bardic knowledge class

feature, you determine the DC according to the table on page

29 in the Player’s Handbook . A quick reading of the table

should make it clear that the basic factor in determining the DC

for the check is how many other people know the information

the bard seeks. The more people who know the information the

bard seeks, the more likely the bard has picked up that

information serendipitously.

When any character, including a bard, uses a Knowledge

skill, the factor that determines the DC is how easy or hard the

question is. The more general and simple the question, the

lower the DC. The more precise or exacting the question, the

higher the DC.

In many cases, the DC for a bardic knowledge check or for a

Knowledge check will be very similar, because not many

people know the answers to really tough questions. On the

other hand, some questions might be very difficult for a bard

using bardic knowledge, but absurdly easy for anyone with the

correct Knowledge skill. For example, a bard and a cleric with

the Knowledge (religion) skill recov er an idol from a ruin near

a large city. Both characters might have a fairly easy time

identifying the deity the statue depicts, but for different

reasons. Let’s say that idols just like the one the characters

have found are fairly commonplace, and that the idol also

depicts a deity who was once fairly popular, but was killed in a

very famous, heroic fight with the biggest, nastiest evil deity in

the land. Because many people have seen idols like the one the

bard and cleric have found, and because many people are

familiar with the story of the deity’s heroic death, the bardic

knowledge DC will be pretty low, say DC 10. The cleric

likewise would have an easy time (DC 10), not only because

the deity is well known but because the deity once played an

important role in divine affairs.

Now suppose the idol was found in some remote crypt far

from civilization. The deity it depicts died in almost complete

obscurity and has now all but passed from living memory and

is known only to religious scholars. In this case, the DC for a

bardic knowledge check would be fairly high, say DC 25 or

even DC 30. On the other hand, the cleric with the Knowledge

(religion) skill is a religious scholar and has a much easier time

naming the deity, say DC 15 for the Knowledge (religion)

check.

It’s probably true that any task with a low bardic knowledge

DC also will have a low DC for the appropriate Knowledge

skill (because scholars tend to know at least as much as

common folk know), but tasks with high bardic knowledge

DCs might not be so difficult for people with the right

Knowledge skills. In contemporary society, a bard probably

would have no difficulty identifying a photograph of a famous

actor or politician (such as Chris Rock or Bill Clinton). A bard

might have a much harder time identifying a “famous” game

columnist (Skip Williams, for example), which would not be

such a tough task for anyone familiar with roleplaying games.

In any case, having the bardic knowledge class feature does

not help a character make Knowledge skill checks, and vice

versa. A character who has both, however, can make checks

against both (which is more useful than it sounds because you

can’t retry either check if you fail).

Cleric

Does death touch, the granted power of the Death domain,

have a saving throw?

No, it does not.

When using the granted power from the Luck domain,

do you have to decide to make the reroll before you find out

what the result is, or do you get know if you’ve failed or not

before deciding to reroll? For example if I roll an 18, but I

need at least 19, do I get to know that an 18 is a failure, or

do I have to decide before then?

Technically, you have to decide to reroll before you know if

you’ve succeeded or failed; that’s why the power description

says you’ve got to keep the reroll even if it’s worse than the

original roll. It ’s incumbent on the DM to allow a player at

least a moment to decide whether to use the ability. If the DM

simply blurts out the result immediately, it’s okay to let the

player reroll.

The section on alignment in the cleric class description

(pages 29–30 in the Player’s Handbook ) says most clerics of

Heironeous, god of valor (who is lawful good), are lawful

good themselves, but some are lawful neutral or neutral

good. This seems to conflict with the statement that a cleric

cannot be neutral unless his deity is neutral. I don’t

understand what this restriction was intended to be.

In this case, “ neutral” means neutral on both the good-evil

axis and on the law -chaos axis or “ true neutral” ( Player ’s

Handbook , page 89). A cleric’s alignment must be the same as

his deity’s alignment or within one step of his deity ’s

alignment; that is, adjacent (but not diagonally adjacent) to the

deity’s alignment on the alignment chart (see Table 6– 1). The

true neutral alignment is an exception. You can’t have a true

neutral cleric of a deity who is not true neutral. Note that St.

Cuthbert, a lawful neutral deity, allows only lawful good or

lawful neutral clerics, even though the lawful evil alignment is

within one step of St. Cuthbert ’s alignment.

The Players Handbook says ex-clerics lose all class

features; presumably clerics don’t lose their armor and

shield proficiencies, or their weapon proficiencies (except

those granted as domain powers), both of which are listed

as class features.

Armor, shield, and weapon proficiencies are indeed class

features for clerics and for any other class. Nevertheless, you’re

correct. Ex- clerics lose spells, domain powers (including

domain-based weapons), spontaneous casting, and power over

the undead. They retain proficiency in simple weapons and all

types of armor and shields.

Can true neutral clerics of true neutral deities, such as

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Fharlanghn, cast any Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law spell? Does

a true neutral cleric’s choice of whether to turn or rebuke

undead affect what spells she can cast?

True neutral clerics can cast any spell with the Chaos, Evil,

Good, or Law domain, provided the spell in question is on the

cleric spell list (see pages 160–163 in the Player ’s Handbook )

or in one of the cleric’s chosen domains. The cleric’s choice of

whether to turn or rebuke undead do es not affect what spells he

can prepare, but it does affect what spells he can cast

spontaneously, as noted on page 32 of the Player ’s Handbook .

I was wondering if a cleric can turn an outsider. (For

example, can a lawful good cleric attempt to turn a

demon?) Under the old rules, you could do that (with

difficulty), but I can’t find any rules for it in the core books.

Turning affects only undead. Some cleric domains allow you

to turn, rebuke, or command creatures other than undead. See

pages 162–166 in the Player ’s Handbook. No domain grants

that power over good, evil, chaotic, or lawful outsiders.

You could reintroduce this power into your campaign by

creating a new feat or by creating a prestige class.

Page 90 in the Player’s Handbook has a rule that says the

various racial deities can have only clerics of the correct

races. For example, only dwarves can be clerics of Moradin.

Does this rule also apply to other divine spellcasters, such as

rangers and paladins?

No. The rule is only for clerics. Technically, the rule

governing cleric alignments on page 30 of the Player ’s

Handbook also applies only t o clerics. Paladins and rangers, for

example, can have alignments considerably different from the

deities they serve. (Though paladins by practical necessity

serve good deities—usually lawful good deities.)

When you have a domain power that lets you turn or

rebuke something other than undead, does using that power

count against your daily uses of power to turn undead as a

cleric? Can you trade a use of undead turning for a use of

another turning, or vice versa?

No on all counts. A domain turning ability is separate from

the cleric’s undead turning ability. You track the daily use of

each separately and you can’t trade uses between abilities.

Say you have a cleric with access to the domains of both

Sun and Water. If the cleric used a turning attempt to try to

turn a fire -based creature, could he use a greater turning

(the Sun domain power) to destroy the creature? The

greater turning description says it destroys undead

creatures instead of turning them. Can this be used for

other things a cleric can turn, such as the power granted by

the Fire or Water domain?

The greater turning affects only undead, not other creatures

the cleric might be able to turn.

Good clerics can lose a prepared spell to spontaneously

cast any cure spell. Can any good cleric do this even if

Healing is not one of his chosen domains? If so, why is there

even a Healing domain?

A cleric’s domains have nothing to do with spontaneous

casting; only the cleric’s alignment matters. (In the case of

neutral clerics, it ’s the deity’s alignment that matters.) See page

32 in the Player ’s Handbook .

There’s a Healing domain because many deities concern

themselves with healing. Extra cure spells aren’t the only

benefit clerics with the Healing domain get. They get a caster

level boost when casting their Healing spells, which makes

them slightly better healers than other clerics. Also, their

domain spells of 5th level and higher are not cure spells, so

other clerics cannot spontaneously cast them.

What happens when undead are destroyed in a turning

attempt? Is there a difference between undead destroyed in

regular turning attempts and undead destroyed by greater

turning?

In either case, the creatures’ bodies are destroyed and

reduced to dust or ashes. Dungeon Masters can describe the

process any way they like. I suggest an effect just like the

destruction spell: The creature is slain and its remains are

consumed by holy fire.

The other players in my group insist that my lawful good

cleric cannot cast the 1st-level doom spell. Is that correct? I

know my character can’t cast inflict light wounds , but

where is the rule that says I can’t cast doom?

There is no such rule. Perhaps your other players are

thinking about the general one that bars clerics from casting

certain spells that have an alignment designator. (See Chaotic,

Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells on page 32 in the Player ’s

Handbook. ) Doom , however, has no alignment designator, and

a cleric of any alignment can cast it.

The inflict light wounds spell doesn’t have an alignment

designator, either, so any cleric can cast that as well. What your

lawful good cleric cannot do is use the spontaneous casting rule

to cast inflict light wounds . As a good cleric, you can

spontaneously cast only cure spells.

I have a query about how ubiquitous the Hit Dice

modifier for turn resistance is. The description of the ability

says a creature with turn resistance has effectively more Hit

Dice to resist turning attempts. Exactly where in the

process of making a turn attempt does this apply?

It applies at every point where the subject creature’s Hit Dice

are relevant. The subject creature’s Hit Dice are relevant when

a character makes the initial turning check. The check has to be

high enough to affect the subject creature’s modified Hit Dice.

For example, a wraith has 5 Hit Dice and a +2 turn resistance.

Any turning check made against the wraith fails unless it is

high enough to affect a creature with 7 Hit Dice.

The subject creature’s Hit Dice are relevant when assessing

turning damage. For example, it takes 7 points of turning

damage to turn a wraith.

The subject creature’s Hit Dice are relevant when

determining what undead a cleric can destroy. For example, it

takes a 14th-level cleric to destroy a wraith.

The subject creature’s Hit Dice are relevant when

determining how many undead creatures a cleric can control.

For example, a wraith counts as 7 Hit Dice worth of undead

controlled by the cleric.

The granted powers for some of the cleric domains (such

as Travel and Magic) specifically say effectiveness is linked

to your cleric level. Other granted powers (such as

Protection and Strength) do not; they just say “your level.”

In the case of a multiclass cleric, would domain granted

powers that don’t specify “cleric” level be based on

character level instead?

A cleric’s domain abilities are class abilities and as such are

based on cleric level only.

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