Rope Trick vs. Leomund's Tiny Hut and better.

[BlueBlackRed]

I keep reading the spell, and as far as I can tell Rope Trick is better than higher level "sanctum" spells and can't even be detected.

Please point out to me how Rope Trick isn't a "get out a night encounter free spell".

 

[Artoomis]

I keep reading the spell, and as far as I can tell Rope Trick is better than higher level "sanctum" spells and can't even be detected.

Please point out to me how Rope Trick isn't a "get out a night encounter free spell".

And somehow you think this is a bad thing? It does last only 1 hour per level. While you are in it, you do not know what is happening around you (except directly below). While in it you cannot affect anything outside it.

Let them have their safety. They earned it.

 

[Jack Simth]

At 5th level, it becomes all-night safety (extended for a 3rd level spell slot and thus 10 hours).

Mind you, depending on the scenario, it'll be reasonably obvious that they're there.

How?

Well, if the group is systemically clearing a dungeon, they probably stop at the last room cleared. A simple Detect Magic and three to eight rounds later, you know where the door is.

The door is invisible, not incorporeal; blindsense or blindsight will notice it.

See Invisibility is a 2nd level spell, and will be available for a level-appropriet challenger wondering why the trail of bodies ended here.

Rope trick isn't usually advantageous in combat. Tiny Hut it Total Concealment for the entire party over a large area, until the opponents close. Great for archers. Secure Shelter provides cover.

If the group is in a forest or other outdoors setting, someone following tracks will have a decent idea of what's up.

Whether their reaction is "lay a trap" of some sort, or remove the trick (dispel magic, antimagic cone, whatever) it's not perfectly safe.

Also, there's a pesky little note in Rope Trick about the hazards of multiple extradimensional spaces.... apply it, then drop a couple of nifties (say, Handy Haversacks; they're cheap enough not to be too unbalancing) into the party. Then have the Wizard roll a spellcraft/knoweledge Arcana check just in time.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Please point out to me how Rope Trick isn't a "get out a night encounter free spell".

Nothing in the spell description says you can get good rest inside a rope trick. If you rule that anyone trying to spend the night in one wakes up fatigued (as if they'd slept in heavy armor, say), that pretty much solves the problem.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Yeah, the whole place-to-sleep spells generally suck. Extra-dimensional this and concealment that, when what I'd prefer are spells that conjure defences & eventually battlements.

It would be much cooler to have spells that create cool defensive structures.

Anyway, nevermind...

 

[Legildur]

Yeah, the whole place-to-sleep spells generally suck. Extra-dimensional this and concealment that, when what I'd prefer are spells that conjure defences & eventually battlements.

It would be much cooler to have spells that create cool defensive structures.

I don't know about cool, but Arcane Lock (or is it Wizard Lock) and Spike Stones are both quite useful defensively - particularly in dungeons.

 

[3d6]

Whether their reaction is "lay a trap" of some sort, or remove the trick (dispel magic, antimagic cone, whatever) it's not perfectly safe.

You can't actually dispel rope trick. The target of rope trick is "one touched piece of rope from 5 ft. to 30 ft. long" which you can "pull [...] up into the space", where it is "beyond the reach of spells".

Tiny hut is actually a combat spell, despite the name. The most useful function of the hut is that it provides total concealment to creatures within the globe and no benefit to enemies outside it. It is really a (much) better version of darkness or obscuring mist, not a competitor to rope trick.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Well, from my experience, night time attacks can be a good source of fun. Night time attacks put a value on resources used during the day and they allow the heroes to decide on all their cunning tricks of defence.

What I'm talking about when I said "cool" are scenes primed for heroic defensive battles. I think it would be great if abjurations in particular could do layered defences that are more difficult to deal with the higher the spell level.

In fact, at the cost of striking off in a tangent, I would like to see interesting defensive spells to provide a real option to going offence heavy. Effectively, such spells could allow the attackers to shape the battlefield to have the advantages of being the prepared defender.

 

[Jack Simth]

FreeTheSlaves: You mean like Wall of Iron/Stone, Spike Stones, Disintigrate + Illusiory Wall, Alarm, Mage's Private Sanctum, et cetera? It's actually a pretty simple excercize for a Wizard or Sorcerer to build a bit of a temporary fortress past about 10th or 11th level.

 

[Notmousse]

FreeTheSlaves: There are several such spells in Heroes of Battle. You may wish to give it a peek.