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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 3878932" data-attributes="member: 151">While at first I found the tactic disconcerting, I eventually realized (particularly after following Piratecat's story hour) that requiring its use was a far better tactic than simply ruling it didn't work.  I'd rather grant my players the ability to do a thing rather than remove it arbitrarily.  I certainly don't fault anyone for saying 'this is too much' and removing or limiting it...but that's not my approach.  There are/were several tactics I used.BBEG's often work through obfuscation and lies.  In my current Shackled City game, the players have virtually no idea who the Cagewrights actually ARE.  Scrying them requires at least some idea of who they're targeting, when they're in a place where they CAN be scanned.  Piratecat once used a brilliant job of trickery when he had an evil NPC give the name of a good NPC nearby to the party as his identity.  When they tried to scry on him later by name, they got the wrong guy.  Frequently they encountered bodies possessed or animated by the bad guys that made finding the real BBEG much harder.I made the various threats the players handled at later levels (and all the way to 28th level) spread out and requiring things like Teleport to function.  Some BBEGs had Teleport abilities of their own, too...in one case the players gave up when they found that knowing where the BBEG was NOW didn't mean he'd stay for more than 6 seconds after they arrived.  After a quick game of teleport hop-scotch, they ran out of the ability to trace him using the B-S-T method.  They found another way and found it very satisfying when they outwitted him.Having villains who are coordinated enough to try and split the party across a continent or mutiple planes is not unknown.  Sending players to fight the BBEG on his own demi-plane, where he controls the ability to teleport has happened.  But on other occasions, BST has worked exceptionally well.  Bounty hunters have been found.  Kidnappers have been stopped.  Evil doers found in their lairs and shown that they can't hide from justice.  All of this, of course, makes the blatant assumption that BST's effectiveness is absolute.  It is not.  The players have successfully used it, but that didn't make the assault on a demon lord any easier.  It got them safely into fighting position...but that doesn't make it an easy fight.  Catching the evil wizard Boris unawares may be possible (though with some buffs reaching 24 hour durations at later levels, it's unlikely to find a totally unbuffed BBEG), but catching the ultraloth or ancient red dragon with his pants down?  Much less likely.Personally, I don't think that B-S-T needs to be removed, but it wouldn't hurt to implement some of the spells that have been introduced in the various supplements afterwards that blunt it's edge slightly.  Stuff like teleport alarms or teleport shunts that don't prevent the spell from being effective, but do change the certainty of it's effectiveness never hurt.And of course, you have things like the lead lining defense and this little ditty from Teleport: "You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination. The clearer your mental image, the more likely the teleportation works. Areas of strong physical or magical energy may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible."There are ways right in the RAW of 3.5 to stop the B-S-T tactic if the DM so desires.</blockquote>

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