D&D 3E/3.5 3.5: Spells and items to look out for?

[Votan]

If you were DMing a 3.5 core game, what spells and items would you look out for?

I already know about the issues with Polymorph. What about spells like teleport and planar binding? Have people had issues with them?

What is the best solution? Should they be banned? Restricted? What have others found???

 

[WarlockLord]

Teleport - don't allow it with scry.

Haven't really had any xp with planar binding, so I don't know.

 

[Dirty Magurdy]

I'm new here so you'll have to forgive my ignorance; what are the issues with teleport and polymorph?
Seems to me that the majority of problems seem to arise when you go non-core with spells and classes.

 

[Votan]

I'm new here so you'll have to forgive my ignorance; what are the issues with teleport and polymorph?
Seems to me that the majority of problems seem to arise when you go non-core with spells and classes.

There is a good article on Polymorph from the design and development team:

Design & Development: The Polymorph Problem

The major issue with polymorph is that the spell breaks several design constraints (on things like physical statistics) and does too much.

Telport and Scry, tomgether. would allow optimal buffing before every combat. Some classes, like cleric, have amazing short duration buffs that can make a fight much easier than the CR would suggest.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I found Suggestion surprisingly problematic as written; the activity must be worded to sound 'reasonable'. I have no idea what this means. Depending on the circumstances, almost anything could be 'reasonable'; I realized the problem after a character was made to attack his own party (for 1 day/level!). This one is fixable; the PF version made much more sense to me. In general enchantments have to be carefully monitored.

Teleport is 'fixed' by having important areas blocked in some way (might want to invent means for NPCs to do this relatively easily) or by making the requirements for knowing a destination tougher.

Polymorph is best banned and replaced by creature-specific spells (as was the trend later 3.5).

Planar Ally/Binding type spells are fine because you as the DM are bargaining or assigning a modifier to a charisma check; if the players want a lot ask for a lot from them.

 

[Votan]

Teleport - don't allow it with scry.

Thanks. Teleport seems like a "fun and Iconic" spell but it seems to cause no end of agony when actually used!

 

[Votan]

I found Suggestion surprisingly problematic as written; the activity must be worded to sound 'reasonable'. I have no idea what this means. Depending on the circumstances, almost anything could be 'reasonable'; I realized the problem after a character was made to attack his own party (for 1 day/level!). This one is fixable; the PF version made much more sense to me. In general enchantments have to be carefully monitored.

I hadn't thought about it but it makes a lot of sense. 'Reasonable" is a slippery definition and i makes nobody happy to have a diagreement about a judgment call in the middle of a session.

I appreciate the tip!

Teleport is 'fixed' by having important areas blocked in some way (might want to invent means for NPCs to do this relatively easily) or by making the requirements for knowing a destination tougher.

Polymorph is best banned and replaced by creature-specific spells (as was the trend later 3.5).

Planar Ally/Binding type spells are fine because you as the DM are bargaining or assigning a modifier to a charisma check; if the players want a lot ask for a lot from them.

My worry with Planar binding and ally was what would happen if they got stacked with Moment of Prescience -- absurd Charisma checks seem to be the order of the day!

Teleport also seemed to remove time and travel. It's been, hands down, the spell that has annoyed me the most in my current campaign (and nobody was coupling it with scry which would make me shudder).

After a bad experience witht e full WotC 3.5 line (and players who prefer 3.5), the back to the basics and remove anything really problematic seem to be the way to go.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I think Enervation can be really nasty. Especially with metamagic feats like empower and split ray*. Xykon from OotS loves spamming the level 9 version, Energy Drain, over and over, but the level 4 is actually better mechanically when metamagic is applied. Negative levels are really killer in 3E, especially on spellcasters. I'd recommend a "clarification" (it might even be the correct RAW, for all I know) that multiple castings of Enervation are considered multiple instances of the same spell effect, and thus overlap, but do not stack.

*Not in core, guess that part's irrelevant

 

[Votan]

I think Enervation can be really nasty. Especially with metamagic feats like empower and split ray*. Xykon from OotS loves spamming the level 9 version, Energy Drain, over and over, but the level 4 is actually better mechanically when metamagic is applied. Negative levels are really killer in 3E, especially on spellcasters. I'd recommend a "clarification" (it might even be the correct RAW, for all I know) that multiple castings of Enervation are considered multiple instances of the same spell effect, and thus overlap, but do not stack.

*Not in core, guess that part's irrelevant

That is a very nice fix and one that is pretty party friendly too (their spellcasters are just as much at risk as enemy casters).

Thanks!

 

[azhrei_fje]

I don't like Tasha's Hideous Laughter (too debilitating for such a low-level spell).

The lyre of building is WAY too functionalty for its cost and requires a Perform check to build something instead of a Craft check (which is what the prerequisite spell, fabricate, requires). Btw, I rule that fabricate cannot create anything more valuable than what the casting of the spell would cost as performed by an NPC.

The silence spell is problematic and you need to decide in advance how you're going to rule on it (can it be disbelieved? do creatures entering the area receive Will saves?).

Also, web and entangle are pretty good for their level, so those are other spells to keep an eye on.

You need to decide whether blade barrier produces blades along a grid line or through the squares. Ditto for wall of fire.

Search here on ENworld for quite extensive threads regarding each of these topics. (You can use Google's site:enworld.org option in the search bar.)