Hey! I have a couple quick questions about the scout's skirmish ability.
The description for the scout's skirmish ability is as follows:
Skirmish (Ex): A scout relies on mobility to deal extra
damage and improve her defense. She deals an extra
1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during
any round in which she moves at least 10 feet. The extra
damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout’s
turn. This extra damage increases by 1d6 for every four
levels gained above 1st (2d6 at 5th, 3d6 at 9th, 4d6 at 13th,
and 5d6 at 17th level).
The extra damage only applies against living creatures
that have a discernible anatomy. Undead, constructs,
oozes, plants, incorporeal creatures, and creatures
immune to extra damage from critical hits are not vulnerable
to this additional damage. The scout must be able to
see the target well eough to pick out a vital spot and must
be able to reach such a spot. Scouts can apply this extra
damage to ranged attacks made while skirmishing, but
only if the target is within 30 feet.
My question is this: Am I correct in thinking that this extra damage can be applied to any action in which a) there is an attack roll made and b) there is damage done? So, obviously, this would not apply to a monk's stunning fist or a wizard's fireball. But it would apply to a sorcerer's scorching ray, so long as all the other criteria are met (target within 30 feet, can be critted, etc.).
Would you say that this is a correct interpretation? And if so...
1. Would you say that this extra damage would appy to magic missiles? Yay or nay?
2. The description says that this extra damage aplies to the attacks (plural) that the scout makes on his current turn. How does that apply to spells where multiple attack rolls are made, such as the previously mentioned scorching ray? Does each ray receive the additional damage?
I realize that all of this is up to the GM to rule on, but I want to understand what the rules are saying so that I can talk to my GM about it (I'm considering multiclassing my warmage in levels of scout).
tobyspit - (no subject) [+2]
2. You roll the extra dice for every attack roll. Treat skirmish damage as sneak attack damage, it is basically the same in all respects except for method.
IIRC, in Complete Arcane there is a brief blurb explaining "weapon-like spells", which confirms that you get to add stuff like Skirmish, Sneak Attack, Point Blank Shot, etc. to spells with attack rolls. Just in case you need rules to back you up.
any round in which she moves at least 10 feet."
This criteria must be met for the skirmish damage to be applied. It applies to ALL attacks.
It would not apply to Magic Missile, as it's solely a spell effect and not an attack.
Another good combination is Warlock/Scout, since their Eldritch Blast qualifies as long as you meet the requirements and move. This is entirely not the case, here, but I felt I needed to throw it into the hat.
If you're using gestalt rules, scout/warlock does get you 3d6/4 levels, which is almost as good as a straight sorcerer (but has a lot of other features).
Without gestalt, a scout/warlock multi-class would give you decent damage dealing capability, stealth and a lot more arcane power than a pure rogue or scout. If your interested in an Arcane Scout concept, this is a pretty good combination.
If your EBs are offset by Skirmish dice, in instances where you run up against SR you can whip out a ranged weapon and still do some decent damage.
That and EB goes up with PrCs that raise CL, so if you shoot for a PrC that combines Roguish classes with magic, you're kinda golden.
"A warmage adds his Intelligence modifier to any damage dealt by his spells. This applies only to spells cast as a warmage, and occurs only once per casting (e.g. only the first bolt from a magic missile gains the bonus). This effect applies to magical staves, but not to other magic items."
This seems to be the rationale on how to add bonus damage to spells, almost as if they are reminding you of the rules rather than laying them down for this class only. Either way, that might be a good argument that you do get your bonus damage, but only on the first missile.
Spells are different from attacks (or attack rolls, if you prefer).
Some spells have attack rolls included in them. Ray spells, for instance, require an attack roll to hit.
Magic Missile does not require an attack roll to hit. It is considered an "attack" for the purposes of abilities like Invisibility, but is not considered an "attack" for the purposes of things like Sneak Attack damage, because it does not require an attack roll to hit.
Warmage Edge gives bonus damage to each spell, per spell--not per missile/ray/unit of the spell.
Skirmish/Sneak Attack/Sudden Strike gives bonus damage to each attack (defined as something with an attack roll) that meets the prerequisites of S/SA/SS.
Is that clearer? I could try to draw a flow chart, but I kinda suck at ASCII art... :-(