Contents
This page lists all game rules having to do with incorporeality, within the rulebooks and other sources relevant to the Beyond Ragnarok campaign.
Player’s Handbook
PHB p. 42 (quivering palm)
Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected.
PHB p. 50 (sneak attack)
A rogue can sneak attack only living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to sneak attacks.
PHB p. 101 (Stunning Fist)
Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be stunned.
PHB p. 128 (holy water)
A flask breaks if thrown against the body of a corporeal creature, but to use it against an incorporeal creature, you must open the flask and pour the holy water out onto the target. Thus, you can douse an incorporeal creature with holy water only if you are adjacent to it. Doing so is a ranged touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
PHB p. 148 (difficult terrain)
Flying and incorporeal creatures are not hampered by difficult terrain.
PHB p. 181 (spell effects and conditions)
If a spell causes its subject or subjects to be affected by one or more conditions (such as blinded, incorporeal, invisible, or stunned), refer to the glossary for details of how that condition affects the subject. Chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide has more information on the various conditions.
PHB p. 200 (antimagic field)
Summoned creatures of any type and incorporeal undead wink out if they enter an antimagic field. They reappear in the same spot once the field goes away.
PHB p. 201 (astral projection)
While you are on the Astral Plane, your astral body is connected at all times to your physical body by a silvery cord. If the cord is broken, you are killed, astrally and physically. Luckily, very few things can destroy a silver cord (see the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information). When a second body is formed on a different plane, the incorporeal silvery cord remains invisibly attached to the new body. If the second body or the astral form is slain, the cord simply returns to your body where it rests on the Material Plane, thereby reviving it from its state of suspended animation.
PHB p. 202 (baleful polymorph)
Incorporeal or gaseous creatures are immune to being polymorphed, and a creature with the shapechanger subtype (such as a lycanthrope or a doppelganger) can revert to its natural form as a standard action.
PHB p. 206 (bless weapon)
The weapon is treated as having a +1 enhancement bonus for the purpose of bypassing the damage reduction of evil creatures or striking evil incorporeal creatures (though the spell doesn’t grant an actual enhancement bonus).
PHB p. 243 (implosion)
Implosion has no effect on creatures in gaseous form or on incorporeal creatures.
PHB p. 249 (mage armor)
Since mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can’t bypass it the way they do normal armor.
PHB p. 256 (Mordenkainen’s sword)
As a force effect, it can strike ethereal and incorporeal creatures.
PHB p. 263 (polymorph)
You can’t cause a subject to assume a form smaller than Fine, nor can you cause a subject to assume an incorporeal or gaseous form.
Incorporeal or gaseous creatures are immune to being polymorphed, and a crea- ture with the shapechanger subtype (such as a lycanthrope or a doppelganger) can revert to its natural form as a standard action.
PHB p. 277 (shapechange)
Unlike polymorph, this spell allows incorporeal or gaseous forms to be assumed.
PHB p. 278 (shield)
This bonus applies against incorporeal touch attacks, since it is a force effect.
PHB p. 282 (spectral hand)
The hand is incorporeal and thus cannot be harmed by normal weapons.
PHB p. 283 (spiritual weapon)
As a force effect, it can strike incorporeal creatures without the normal miss chance associated with incorporeality.
PHB p. 302 (wind wall)
Gases, most gaseous breath weapons, and creatures in gaseous form cannot pass through the wall (although it is no barrier to incorporeal creatures).
PHB p. 305 (armor bonus)
An armor bonus doesn’t apply against touch attacks, except for armor bonuses granted by force effects (such as the mage armor spell) which apply against incorporeal touch attacks, such as that of a shadow.
PHB p. 308 (force damage)
A force effect can strike incorporeal creatures without the normal miss chance associated with incorporeality.
PHB p. 309 (incorporeal)
incorporeal: Having no physical body. Incorporeal creatures are immune to all nonmagical attack forms. They can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better magic weapons, spells, spell-like effects, or supernatural effects. Even when struck by spells, magical effects, or magic weapons, however, they have a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source. In addition, rogues cannot employ sneak attacks against incorporeal beings, since such opponents have no vital areas to target. An incorporeal creature has no armor or natural armor bonus (or loses any armor or natural armor bonus it may have when corporeal), but it gains a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier or +1, whichever is greater. Such creatures can move in any direction and even pass through solid objects at will, but not through force effects. Therefore, their attacks negate the bonuses provided by natural armor, armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against them. Incorporeal creatures have no weight, do not leave footprints, have no scent and make no noise, so they cannot be heard with Listen checks unless they wish it. Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage.
Main 3.5e FAQ
FAQ 21 (monk)
Does the monk’s ki strike (magic) only allow her to overcome damage reduction or does it make her natural attacks count as magic weapons for all effects (such as affecting incorporeal opponents)?
The PH states that ki strike affects the monk’s unarmed strikes “for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction,” but says nothing about any other effects. Thus, the monk’s unarmed attacks aren’t considered magic weapons for any other purpose, including affecting incorporeal foes.
FAQ 52 (armor)
Ghost touch armor is supposed to protect you from attacks by incorporeal foes, but all these creatures have incorporeal touch attacks, and touch attacks ignore armor, so ghost touch armor is really worthless, right?
Wrong. Incorporeal touch attacks and touch attacks aren’t the same thing. If they were, they would not have different names. An incorporeal touch attack actually resembles a slam attack (battering the foe with a fist or other appendage), except that it passes through physical armor or shields. The term incorporeal touch attack simply serves as a reminder that most armor bonuses aren’t effective against these attacks.
Armor and shield bonuses from force effects, such as the mage armor spell, shield spell, and bracers of armor are effective against incorporeal touch attacks, as is ghost touch armor or a ghost touch shield.
Like a ghost touch weapon, an incorporeal creature or manifested ghost can wear ghost touch armor and get an Armor Class benefit from it. Such a creature also can pass through solid objects while wearing ghost touch armor.
FAQ 52 (armor)
Do ghost touch armors and shields function like force effects? It says that the armor and shield bonuses apply against incorporeal attacks, but most incorporeal creatures have a touch attack, to which armor and shield bonuses specifically do not apply.
Ghost touch armor or a ghost touch shield protects you against incorporeal touch attacks, which are not the same as touch attacks. Ghost touch armor and ghost touch shields don’t protect you against regular touch attacks.
FAQ 58 (weapons)
The descriptions of ghost touch weapons on pages 224 and 225 of the DMG says that a ghost touch weapon functions as either a corporeal or an incorporeal object, whichever is more beneficial to the wielder at the time. Does that mean that ghost touch weapons also ignore armor and natural armor bonuses to their target’s AC in the hands of corporeal creatures?
No, it does not. Ghost touch weapons allow corporeal wielders to strike incorporeal targets (and manifested ghosts) with no miss chance. They also allow manifested ghosts to make normal attacks (not incorporeal touch attacks) against targets on the Material Plane. An incorporeal creature or manifested ghost can also pick up and move a ghost touch weapon and can carry it along when the creature moves through a solid object. It is the latter property that’s being described in the text you’re quoting.
FAQ 66 (combat)
Does a shield bonus granted by a force effect protect against incorporeal touch attacks the way an armor bonus granted by a force effect will?
Yes, a force effect, such as a shield spell, that provides a shield bonus is also effective against incorporeal touch attacks.
FAQ 71 (combat)
Given that being prone means you are lying on the ground (PH 311), who can be prone? Can oozes be prone? What about creatures with no limbs like snakes? What about incorporeal creatures?
Anybody can be “prone.” Creatures that use limbs for locomotion can use a free action to drop prone and must use a move action to stand up again. Something with no motive limbs, such as a snake, can go prone or “stand up” as a free action. Such creatures might want to become prone to gain an Armor Class bonus against ranged attacks. (Although giving something like a gelatinous cube that option defies common sense and should not be allowed.) Officially, there’s an attack of opportunity any time a creature stands up. The Sage, however, heartily recommends no attack of opportunity when a snake or similar creature “stands up.”
FAQ 71 (spells)
Exactly how do the tentacles from an Evard’s black tentacles spell attack creatures? For example, does a tentacle have a miss chance when attacking an invisible opponent? Also, how do you figure out where the individual tentacles appear? Can more than one tentacle appear in the same 5-foot square?
The Evard’s black tentacles spell creates a field of numerous tentacles in a 20-foot radius spread. Tentacles sprout from all the surfaces within the spread. The spell actually works something like an entangle spell that’s capable of dealing bludgeoning damage. The spell uses an opposed grapple check instead of a saving throw to determine if creatures within its spread are affected. Any creature inside the spread might become grappled, as noted in the spell description. The spell does not make an initial touch attack as with normal grappling attempts, so it cannot miss, even if a creature is invisible or otherwise concealed. The spell cannot grapple incorporeal creatures, and a creature using a blink spell has a 50% change to avoid being grappled.
As noted earlier, the spell creates a field of numerous tentacles. These tentacles fill up the spread, and it’s not necessary to determine where any particular tentacle is.
FAQ 84 (spells)
What happens if a mirror image user is incorporeal? Are the user’s images also incorporeal? Do attacks aimed at the images have the incorporeal miss chance? If the incorporeal user moves through a wall, can the images move through the wall, too? What happens if the user goes to another plane? Do the images go along? What if the mirror image user employs a blink spell?
Incorporeal spell casters create corporeal effects. So the figments from an incorporeal user’s mirror image spell are themselves corporeal. Attacks aimed at the images have no incorporeal miss chance.
The images, however, appear like the caster and move as the caster moves. If an incorporeal user moves through a wall, its mirror images also appear to move through the wall.
If a mirror image user moves to another plane, the images go along. If the user employs a blink spell, the images blink right along with the user, and any attack aimed at an image has the same miss chance (50%) it has if aimed at the caster.