D&D 5E Again the Banishment spell ruined my game !

[maritimo80]

Again the Banishment spell ruined my game ! It is a very powerful spell to 4th-level !!!

At the end of our meeting yesterday gaming session, the sorcerer character used banishment against the enemy cleric (stronger enemy), and he failed to save. The cleric was banned on another plane for 1 minute and the Wizard allies killed the other enemies with relative ease, and when the priest returned, they together killed the cleric also easily. That is, the banishment spell unbalanced my game!


But has a very important detail in this spell, which is their material component .... "(an distasteful to the target item)" ... and this created much confusion yesterday. This item is very subjective and is not something clear, so the wizard used its sulfur as material component, claiming that remind one demon to the cleric, and this would be "distasteful to the target."

I would love your help to improve my game, and time be fair to the players, only accepting component materials that are valid and consistent with the rules.


So I ask all of you ..... and ask for help:


1) What exactly would be "(an item distasteful to the target)" for example?


2) Tell me some examples according to the enemies down ... "(an item distasteful to the target)":


- According to the type of enemy
a) Aberrations
b) Beasts
c) Celestials
d) Constructs
e) Dragons
f) Elementals
g) Feys
h) Fiends
i) Giants
j) Humanoids
l) monstrosities
m) Oozes
n) Plants
o) undead


- According to monsters and NPCs


a) Cleric / Paladin
b) City Guard
c) powerful Mage
d) Orc / Goblin
e) Troll
f) Mayor of a city
g) King / Queen
h) Elite Soldier
i) Merchant
j) Bard
l) Thief / Assassin
m) Village People
n) Warrior / Gladiator / Barbarian / Veteran
o) Extra planar creature
p) Titan / Empyrean / God
q) Demon Lord
r) Ranger / Druid
s) Tarrasque
t) Vampire
u) Drow / duergar
v) Noble
x) Rakshasa
z) Tiefling


Other useful examples?

 

[Boarstorm]

Fey are easy. Cold iron.

I'll let someone else do the other 39.

 

[wedgeski]

The target is being banished. So, thematically, the material component needs to be something that causes him to recoil, something he wants to get away from.

For some monsters this will be quite easy (trolls, vampires, etc. all have their weaknesses). Use the MM as a guide. For NPC villains (who are going to be quite powerful to require the use of a 4th level spell on them), something more personal should be required, for exactly the reasons you mention. A lock of hair from the murdered brother. The holy symbol of the fallen paladin's old god.

 

[DMZ2112]

Ultimately this is a subjective decision you have to make on your own. Given that your players are clearly abusing the spell, I recommend being stricter with your requirements. I might think about this as follows:

Imagine two routes to the same goal. One is a straight path, the other winding such that it would take ten times longer to navigate.

The winding path is long, but clear. The straight path has a pedestal in the middle of the corridor, such that anyone passing that way would have to squeeze past it.

On this pedestal is the "distasteful object."

Is the object distasteful enough to force the target to take the winding path? If not, then it is not distasteful enough to power the spell.

 

[tragicjones]

Because the component isn't given a price, it's assumed to be in a component pouch. If the character uses a spellcasting focus, they don't need to provide non-priced material components.

So as far as the rules are concerned, players don't have to worry about the specific item. It's just for flavour.

 

[Boarstorm]

The best way to end these shenanigans is to hit the wizard. Hard. Once concentration drops, the spell ends and the banished creature gets right back in the action.

 

[Mistwell]

It doesn't sound like this ruined your game. Were the players happy with how the game went? If so...then it helped your game.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

It might be worth pointing out that by the rules, since there is no gold cost listed with the components, a spell focus for caster's class is all that is needed to cast the spell. As the DM you are of course free to change this, but personally I think it is only putting a minor obstacle in the way of the PCs.

The spell requires concentration, which can be countered. You mentioned that there were minions present, so you could have the minions switch focus to the spell caster to try to break the concentration. Also keep in mind that the banishment will end if the caster casts another concentration spell. You could also start building encounters where the minions have access to dispel magic (having acolytes prepare the spell, equip wands or scrolls, etc).

I'm also curious as to why you think your game was ruined by this? From your description it seems to me that the party faced off against an encounter and the wizard cast a spell to make the encounter easier. That's what the wizard is supposed to do.

 

[fjw70]

If you don't like it then just ban the spell. no justification needed beyond you don't loke the way it is affecting your game. Others can disagree with you but it's your game. Take charge of it.

 

[SilverfireSage]

It doesn't sound like this ruined your game. Were the players happy with how the game went? If so...then it helped your game.

As a DM, once I stopped worrying about balanced encounters, making all of them challenging, and just focused on the happiness of my players, it became a much better experience for all of us.