Banning Fly, Improved Invisibility, Dimension Door, and Teleport

[Piratecat]

Yep. Me too.

It's worth pointing out that there are very few people who have played in a convention game I've run where I finished the session and thought "Man, I'd join his campaign in a heartbeat." Zarathustran is one of them. I think #4 is one of the reasons why.

 

[molonel]

I'd modify your changes. I'd allow Dimension Door, but give it a range of Personal. Grappling is a real killer for arcane spellcasters, and sometimes it's the only way to get out.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I've always felt that one of the weakest things about D+D is that it entirely removes the "travel" part of the fantasy world.

There's the rub. If you're looking for a campaign that can gloss over what might otherwise be boring travel, then no changes are needed. But if you're looking for a campaign that requires PCs to travel by foot (or hoof), then restrictions on travel spells could be what you're looking for.

I think it's campaign-specific.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Yep. Me too.

It's worth pointing out that there are very few people who have played in a convention game I've run where I finished the session and thought "Man, I'd join his campaign in a heartbeat." Zarathustran is one of them. I think #4 is one of the reasons why.

Aw shucks. For what it's worth, I had the same reaction. Any DM that rolls with the players when they decide to hack into Onstar and use it to disable the engine of a pursuing car, sending said car hurtling over a cliff into an exotic sea, is a good DM.

Ogrork, you bring up a good point and the setting is actually one of the other reasons behind this change. On of the themes of the Savage Tide adventure path is isolation. It's you and your party in a tiny enclave of civilization on the edge of the Isle of Dread. Being able to pop back to Greyhawk City for afternoon tea kind of kills the mood.

-z

 

[Elethiomel]

I am also behind you when it comes to cutting out core spells that are cliche, trite, or otherwise don't fit into the campaign.

However, I'd like to make one comment to those who have been saying that teleportation ruins the fantasy world - read the Dragaera books by Stephen Brust (start either with Taltos or with Jhereg, depending on whether you want to start with the in-world chronologically first book or the book first published, respectively) to see a fully functioning, interesting fantasy world where teleportation is commonplace.

 

[Allanon]

...
Ogrork, you bring up a good point and the setting is actually one of the other reasons behind this change. On of the themes of the Savage Tide adventure path is isolation. It's you and your party in a tiny enclave of civilization on the edge of the Isle of Dread. Being able to pop back to Greyhawk City for afternoon tea kind of kills the mood...

That's the reason that in my STAP campaign (currently in 'Here There Be Monsters') long range teleport spells don't work nicely on the Isle of Dread. This is due to the residual effect of an activated shadow pearl. It wil take several more centuries for the effects to have waned to such a point that long range teleporting will again be viable. The first time a player tried a long range teleport he got a short glimpse of a very nasty place

Spoiler

(Demigorgon's realm)

before being shunted back to his former location. He had already tried using stuff like dim door etc. which worked perfectly normal. Through a knowledge check he's been able to guess to some extent what is going on, but he's hesitant to teleport again. If by chance the adventure in Dungeon #147 requires teleportation I can always allow the use of a powerfull spell component or some carefull preparation to bypass the shadow pearls effect.

Just my two cents...

 

[JiffyPopTart]

However, I'd like to make one comment to those who have been saying that teleportation ruins the fantasy world - read the Dragaera books by Stephen Brust (start either with Taltos or with Jhereg, depending on whether you want to start with the in-world chronologically first book or the book first published, respectively) to see a fully functioning, interesting fantasy world where teleportation is commonplace.

Also included in that great series is a way to limit resurrections of high level PCs.

DS

 

[NilesB]

Tides of Dread just doesn't work without some means of long distance travel faster than hiking. The adventure has a timetable, and it can't be met slogging through dinosaur infested swamps the whole way.


Also so many of the foes in the later adventures of the savage tides path fly and/or teleport, it seems particularly unfair to disallow the PCs doing the same.

 

[entr0py]

Am i in the wrong section? Again a house rule discussion in the wrong area!

 

[nittanytbone]

I think you might just be letting the party rest too often. Using spells to get past mobility challenges (crossing a ravine with Fly for example) means that fewer spells should be available for combat encounters.

I also like the idea of just bumping the offensive spells up one level.

Finally, I'd be careful messing with Dimension Door. Its more of a defensive spell, IMHO, than anything else.