Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is it fair to cast save-or-suck spells on the players?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="FrogReaver" data-source="post: 7149870" data-attributes="member: 6795602"><p>Why? It's fun when used by the PC. The game doesn't need to be symmetrical to be fair or be fun (and thank goodness it isn't). It would get kind of boring if enemy mechanics worked exactly as PC mechanics all the time. I like fighting ghosts and mummys and dragons and phase spiders and etc. To really make those different enemies shine they need abilities that the PC's cannot get!</p><p></p><p>If an NPC gets an ability that is unfun then either don't use that ability or pick a different NPC or pick a different ability for the NPC that you think will make the game more fun! You are the DM. You have countless more fun ways to challenge the players than picking the 1-2 unfun ways to do so. </p><p></p><p>Now that said, as with most things, moderation is key. Having an occasional save or suck ability is fine and should even enhance the game making it more fun as long as it has a way for the team to work on ending the ability! Concentration does this for most abilities! Repeated saves are usually another mechanism. The way the OP was running anti-magic fields would also be another. Throwing out enough save or suck abilities to take away a large portion of the party is a good hint there were too many save or suck abilities being thrown out. The biggest unfun thing was the banishment. Maze was iffy. The caster had a high concentration concentration. Also it provides a chance for escape (albeit a very low chance for escape that the party can't try to boost).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FrogReaver, post: 7149870, member: 6795602"] Why? It's fun when used by the PC. The game doesn't need to be symmetrical to be fair or be fun (and thank goodness it isn't). It would get kind of boring if enemy mechanics worked exactly as PC mechanics all the time. I like fighting ghosts and mummys and dragons and phase spiders and etc. To really make those different enemies shine they need abilities that the PC's cannot get! If an NPC gets an ability that is unfun then either don't use that ability or pick a different NPC or pick a different ability for the NPC that you think will make the game more fun! You are the DM. You have countless more fun ways to challenge the players than picking the 1-2 unfun ways to do so. Now that said, as with most things, moderation is key. Having an occasional save or suck ability is fine and should even enhance the game making it more fun as long as it has a way for the team to work on ending the ability! Concentration does this for most abilities! Repeated saves are usually another mechanism. The way the OP was running anti-magic fields would also be another. Throwing out enough save or suck abilities to take away a large portion of the party is a good hint there were too many save or suck abilities being thrown out. The biggest unfun thing was the banishment. Maze was iffy. The caster had a high concentration concentration. Also it provides a chance for escape (albeit a very low chance for escape that the party can't try to boost). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is it fair to cast save-or-suck spells on the players?
Top