Edena_of_Neith here. Hey there, Gary. Another frivolous question from Yours Truly!
I never played the super-module T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil.
But I finally obtained a copy (long ago) and had a look at it.
I saw, therein, a super-dungeon with 10 or so levels.
And I thought ...
One mage with a Rock to Mud could take out the whole place.
How?
He, being 10th level, casts Rock to Mud. This liquifies an area of 20 feet by 20 feet by 20 feet per level. So a 10th level mage could liquify 10 of these 20x20x20 foot cubes. He could thus liquify an area of rock equal to 60 feet x 60 feet x 20 feet with the spell.
He throws the spell on level 1 of the Temple of Elemental Evil, liquifying the 60x60x20 foot parcel of rock.
Most everyone and everything (except undead and the like) on level 2 drowns as a good part of level 1 melts onto them.
The mud then roars down the stairs into level 3 and wrecks the place, drowning half the monsters there. It flows down further stairways to become a real annoyance on level 4, a slight annoyance on level 5, and everything below level 5 is probably wondering what in Iuz's name just happened?
It is possible that some of the major structural support of the place goes, creating cave-ins that bury more of the Temple, and perhaps causing a cascading effect.
The mage then departs via Teleport, and (cautiously) returns the next day to continue the procedure, until the entire Temple is destroyed.
If there are two or more mages of 10th level or higher present, the destruction of the Temple of Elemental Evil via Rock to Mud is accelerated.
Of course, the 10th level mage probably took the time beforehand (having long planned his attack on the Temple of Elemental Evil) to prepare Scrolls with Rock to Mud written many times on them. Thus, his initial attack involves many Rock to Mud spells, most of level 1 of the Temple is destroyed, and the mudflow drowns most everything below level 1 right off the bat (assuming, the entire Temple down to level 10+ doesn't collapse from the sheer weight of the mud!)
This form of attack could also be used against Castle Greyhawk and other dungeons, it seems to me.
And it seems to me this tactic - although bad as far as retrieving treasure goes - is quite good for destroying an enemy target with minimal risk to the mage and his party.
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My questions are:
Would this tactic work?
If yes, how would Mordenkainen (when he was 10th level) pull it off?
If no, then why wouldn't it work?
If yes, have you ever used this tactic or a variant of it?
If yes, have your players ever used this tactic or a variant of it?
Yours Sincerely
Edena_of_Neith