Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sevrawd 08-04-06, 05:08 PM	Help ! I'm getting confused about combat between corporeal, incorporeal and/or ethereal creatures (see articles "There, not there") There is a dwarf in our group with a: magical Half-plate +1 Armor of Etherealness which allow the wearer to become ethereal as the Etherealness Jaunt spell would (see DMG v3.5, p 218); he also carries a dwarven waraxe +1 After he becomes ETHEREAL (as well as his equipment I suppose), 1- does it mean he can attack an ETHEREAL creature with his waraxe (with all the bonuses) ? 1a- while in combat with an ETHEREAL creature, are all the bonuses on his armor in effect (+7 and +1), if that ethereal creature attacks him in melee with a weapon (if they can) ? 2- If a ghost (unmanifested) tries a "ghost touch" on him, are all the bonuses on his armor in effect, or the attack still bypasses armor and shield ? 2a- What about manifested ghost (i.e INCORPOREAL on the material plane, but partly still on ethereal plane) ? 3- Is the dwarf able to attack an INCORPOREAL creature with his waraxe (with all the bonuses), but having a 50% chance of failure ? 3a- are all the bonuses on his armor in effect (+7 and +1), if that INCORPOREAL creature attacks him in melee with a weapon (if they can) ? Is there a 50% chance of failure ? Well, there you have it. If an " expert" can detangle this for me, it would be appreciated. Sevrawd
Archmage Atrus 08-04-06, 06:00 PM	1- does it mean he can attack an ETHEREAL creature with his waraxe (with all the bonuses) ? Yes. And he would hit it normally, without needing the 50% miss chance. 1a- while in combat with an ETHEREAL creature, are all the bonuses on his armor in effect (+7 and +1), if that ethereal creature attacks him in melee with a weapon (if they can) ? The creature can and he would get all of his armor bonuses, without miss chance. You can hurt them and they can hurt you. 2- If a ghost (unmanifested) tries a "ghost touch" on him, are all the bonuses on his armor in effect, or the attack still bypasses armor and shield ? A ghost is an ethereal creature, so he can't ghost touch another ethereal creature. 2a- What about manifested ghost (i.e INCORPOREAL on the material plane, but partly still on ethereal plane) ? Same thing. The ghost is only visible on the material. He is still fully in the ethereal, so he's solid and can't "ghost touch". 3- Is the dwarf able to attack an INCORPOREAL creature with his waraxe (with all the bonuses), but having a 50% chance of failure ? Not if the creature isn't in the ethereal. If the incorporeal creature is in the ethereal, he can attack it normally, still suffering the 50% miss chance. Remember that the ethereal plane is an entirely different plane of existence than the material, and only allows you to see into the material. 3a- are all the bonuses on his armor in effect (+7 and +1), if that INCORPOREAL creature attacks him in melee with a weapon (if they can) ? Is there a 50% chance of failure ? The incorporeal creature shouldn't be able to even see him, let alone target him, if he's in the ethereal plane and it's on the material. If they're both in the ethereal, then it's fair game, and combat continues as normal. If the creature can see him (by... magic, I can't really think of any other way for it to do so,) then if the creature's natural weapons count as magical, the creature can still attempt to attack the ethereal creature. The dwarf's armor would not have its effect on that ethereal creature's touch. And there would would be a 50% miss chance. If the creature's touch attacks don't count as magical, the creature can't attack the ethereal dwarf at all.