Priests
Q. Can halflings become clerics? Also, where are the advancement
limits for demihuman characters?
A. Yes, halflings can become clerics. See the upcoming 2nd Edition
Dungeon Master's Guide (page 15) for advancement limits for halfling
clerics and other demihuman characters.
Q. How do you determine how many square feet of faerie fire is
required to cover a creature?
A. Just assume the caster can cover one man-size creature per level.
Assume small creatures equal one-half a man, and large creatures equal
one-and-a-half men.
Q. How long does a produce flame spell last? How many flames can the
caster hurl?
A. Produce flame lasts one round per caster level. The caster can
throw a maximum of one flame per level, but no more than one flame per
round.
Rogues
Q. Can a thief character take the mountaineering proficiency and
improve his climbing chance?
A. Yes, but the character's climbing chance cannot be made better than
95%.
Q. Are you supposed to multiply strength bonuses to damage in a
successful backstab, as described on page 40, or are you supposed to
add strength bonuses after the multiplier, as explained on page 104?
A. The text on page 104 is correct.
Q. What penalties does a bard suffer by using thief abilities when
wearing normal chain mail?
A. Use the Elven Chain column in Table 29 but add another −5% to the
column's values.
Q. Are multiclassed bards allowed? The text on page 45 mentions
multiclassed bards, but the chart on page 44 does not.
A. Page 44 is correct; page 45 is wrong.
Warriors
Q. According to page 13, any warrior with a strength score of 16 or
more gets a 10% bonus to experience. But later on, in the descriptions
of the paladin and ranger, the rules say that members of these classes
must have other high ability scores to get the bonus. Which is
correct? Can a fighter specialize with more than one weapon?
A. No, but he can "save" additional slots as he earns them and
specialize with a weapon later in his career if he doesn't fill those
slots at the start.
Q. Do demihuman fighters get to roll for extraordinary strength?
A. Yes; all warrior characters are entitled to exceptional strength
rolls if they have strength scores of 18.
Q Do demihuman fighters get to roll for extraordinary strength?
A. The text on page 13 is a misprint. Fighters get the 10% for a
strength score of 16 or better; paladins and rangers must have
additional high ability scores.
Q. What happened to the fighter's ability to double specialize with a
weapon?
A. It has been dropped.
Q. Does armour interfere with the new ranger's animal empathy ability?
What is that ability's range? Why don't druids have this ability?
A. A ranger can wear any type of armour and still use animal empathy.
The ranger must be close enough to the animal to attract the animals
undivided attention (about 10 yards in a wilderness setting, less, if
the setting is something like a crowded marketplace that provides
distractions). Individual DMs may give druids animal empathy if they
wish. The rules don't give the druid this ability because a druids
focus is on nature as a whole, not just on animals.
Q. Isn't the new ranger too limited in spells? Can a ranger pick more
than one type of creature for an enemy?
A. The ranger's two spheres give him plenty of spells. However,
individual DMs might want to add a sphere or two; one campaign I am
familiar with allows rangers to use healing spells. The DM has to
decide what constitutes a valid enemy. Since the rules mention giants,
it is probably acceptable to choose a class of creatures. Thus, a
ranger from the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting might be allowed to choose
the goblin races (see Cyclopedia of the Realms, page 46) as an enemy.
A ranger can never choose two or more entirely different creatures as
enemies.
Q. Can rangers wear elven chain mail and still use the special
abilities described on page 28?
A. Elven chain mail interferes with a ranger 's special abilities;
refer to Table 29 (page 39) for a list of penalties. Elven chain mail
also negates the ranger's ability to use two weapons without penalty.
Q. Does the ranger's + 4 attack bonus vs. a specific type of adversary
apply to both attack and damage rolls?
A. The bonus applies only to attack rolls; see page 29.
Q. Can paladins become dual-classed characters?
A. As clearly stated on page 44, there are no restrictions on the
class combinations allowed to dual-classed characters, provided that
alignment restrictions are respected. Most DMs, however, do not allow
characters to combine subclasses (e.g. no bard/thieves,
paladin/rangers, etc.).
Wizards
Q. With the large increase in the number of wizard spells, why wasn't
there an increase in the minimum and maximum number of spells a wizard
can learn? A wizard with an 18 intelligence can learn a maximum of 18
spells a level; that's less than half the number of first level
spells!
A. The AD&D® game is one of choices. The additional spells are
intended to create a greater variety of mage characters, not more
powerful mages.
Q. Table 22 (page 31) shows the minimum ability scores required for
specialist wizards. What is the minimum intelligence score required
for a specialist wizard?
A. Specialist wizards must have an intelligence score of at least 9,
just like a normal wizard.
Q. What happened to the write spell?
A. It isn't needed any more. The primary function of the write spell
was to allow a mage to add a spell to his books after he had failed
his "chance to know" roll for that spell. In the 2nd Edition game, a
mage can attempt a new "chance to know" roll each time he gains a new
level. (See "Spelling It Out", in DRAGON #147, for more information.)
Q. What is the material component for the spectral hand spell?
A. There is none. The "M" in the components' line is. a typographical
error.
Q. Several spells are missing from Appendix 5.
A. Here are the schools for the omitted spells (at least the ones I
know about): irritation deafness, fabricate and slow are alteration
spells (fabricate is also an enchantment); Melf's minute meteors,
evocation and alteration; locate object and know alignment,
divination; geas, enchantment/charm.
Q. Does the delayed blast fireball spell have a damage limit?
A. Yes. The limit is 10d6 + 10 hp damage. Does casting the first
version of a flame arrow spell break invisibility? No, because this is
not an attack.
Q. In Table 22 (page 31), the races allowed entry for diviners is
"any." Does this mean that a character of any PC race can be a
diviner?
No. Only races eligible for the mage class (humans, elves, and half
elves) can become diviners.
Q. What happened to cantrips?
A. Cantrips are still in the game. Just use the first-level cantrip
spell. If you need help figuring out what kind of cantrips to cast,
use your copy of Unearthed Arcana as a guide. Actually, things are
better now for cantrip-using mages because they no longer need to
waste spell book space on cantrips, and they are no longer limited to
the few cantrips in their books.
Q. Since mages start the game with the ability to read spell books and
to write in them, do they also have the ability to read and write
their native languages?
A. No. Magic is written in a special language. Since mages start the
game with the ability to read spell books and to write in them, do
they also have the ability to read and write their native languages?
Q. The new rules mention the possibility of fireballs detonating early
and lightning bolts rebounding because of hitting an obstruction. My
group and I thought these spells always hit, just as a magic missile
spell does. If these spell do not always hit, how does the mage hit
his opponent?
The spells do always hit, after a fashion. In the case of a fireball,
the missile bursts at the designated range unless it strikes an object
before it gets there. Since the missile flies in a straight line
between the caster and the target, it can be blocked by invisible
barriers (such as walls of force) or by a bend in a passage obscured
by an illusion or mirror.
A lightning bolt is similar to a fireball in that the spell begins at
a designated height and range, extending directly away from the
caster. A lightning bolt is always either 40' or 80' long, and the
caster must decide which when he casts the spell. If caster
miscalculates and casts this spell into an area too small to contain
it, the lightning bolt grows to its full length (as measured from the
point where it strikes a barrier), heading back at the caster unless
it smashes through the barrier (see page 151). Some readers have
misread the example on page 151; lightning bolts do not bend or fold
over when hitting a barrier.
The 80' bolt in the example starts 40' away from the caster, travels
10', and strikes a barrier; the bolt must maintain its full length,
however, so the opposite end of the bolt (starting from the point of
origin) instantly grows out in the direction toward the spell-caster,
extending 70' from its point of origin. Thus, the bolt's final length
is 80'. A victim caught between the point of origin and the wall
behind him is not struck twice by the bolt. The use of the word
"rebound" in the spell's description seems to be the confusing
element.
Q. The text under the new identify spell says a fully charged ring of
three wishes radiates only faint magic. Is this an error?
A. There is no error in the spell's description, but you have made an
erroneous statement. The identify spell does not detect magic or its
strength; it reveals an item's functions and charges. A ring of three
wishes has only three charges, so it is faintly charged. Smart wizards
use a detect magic spell, which can determine magical strength and
type, before casting identify.
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