Banned Spells!

[Craer]

In the process of creating my homebrew campaign, I've gathered material from all over the internet as well as generated many nuggets of tasty D&D goodness myself. Feats, spells, etc. I now realize that, though it is important to have lots of fun new things in a campaign, it is also important to make sure none of the not-fun stuff gets in. So, in order to keep my campaign as fun as possible, I'm going to need to ban some stuff. In this particular thread, I ask my fellow ENeighbors:

What spells have you banned or seen banned in the campaigns you run or play in? Any source is fair game - splatbooks, third party publishers, and especially the core books. I'm not asking for slightly shady spells; which bits of arcana (divinia? naturalia?) have you out-and-out put the big red "DENIED" stamp on?

 

[Crothian]

I don't ban spells, I do make certain spells a lot more difficult to aquire. For instance no one can cast Teleport and any similiar spell unless they are part of the Wayfarer's Guild or worship a certain God and are part of a specific sect of his.

 

[Chronosome]

The only official spell I've ever banned in my old campaign was miasma (from MotW). Too deadly (and damn sadistic!) for a low-level druid spell. They recently "revised" it in Complete Divine, and I was hoping it'd be toned down, but from what I hear it wasn't. When I run again, I think that'll be nixed.

And I'm going to limit teleport's range, to lessen the chance of a PC going somewhere I haven't prepared for.

Hope that helps.

 

[Anubis]

You shouldn't limit teleport. It's the most useful travel spell to avoid wilderness travel, which is already a pain in the ass to run. Just, if they wanna go someplace they shouldn't, have something or someone stop them; all you need is a good excuse.

Oh! Your sister just got kidnapped! Or another party member disagrees! Of course you can always say "I don't have that area prepared, so if you wanna continue gaming today, pick another destination."

 

[Crothian]

WEll, in our games travel through the wilderness is not a pain and the ass. THe players really like having teleport limited and no one made any attmept to try to aquire it when they learned it was limited (ie at the beginning of the campaign). REally makes for a more interesting game when the players have to worry about travel time and choosing between adventures because they are far apart. This one change has really influenced the way the game is run and played, and it improved things tha thousand fold for us.

 

[Khristos]

I made miasma a 9th lvl spell for druids. Other than that I merely control access to spells in the game. Priests and druids get PHB spells for list and may go to remote monestaries etc to add the "new" spells. My argument is that the spells were added to the spell lexicon by spell creation within the campaign... once some old codger teaches them the rite or prayer they can add it to the alotment. Arcanists work much the same way.
This actually has the effect of me letting spells that are slightly broken lower level spells remain at that level but not be learned until a latter level. Oh and as I have placed the spells in the game if a player starts in an area where the spell can be learned I let them add (cleric/druid) or potentially add (bard/sorceror/wizard) the spells from other books that are known in the locale.

 

[reiella]

Sorta odd-ball set for me.
I use 'different' Necromancers, and have pretty much removed the school of necromancy from both arcane and divine magic. You can still obtain those spells through indep research, but would have heavy consequences because if you're not a necromancer, most folks don't think ya should be studying necromancy. Evil Clerics get some limited necromancy access for their negative energy spells [Cause Wounds + harm predominantly].

Time Stop... Fits into a Ban On Chronomancy. However, clerics of one god in my campaign are able to cast the spell.

There are also some places where Teleportation or Divination don't really work so well. But those are locations with flavor, as opposed to an outright world rule.

They aren't really banned for power reasons though, just for world flavor.

 

[Thanee]

You shouldn't limit teleport. It's the most useful travel spell to avoid wilderness travel, which is already a pain in the ass to run.

Some campaigns, however, build upon the standard fantasy image of traveling.

Maybe you have already noticed, that in most classic fantasy novels, teleporting magic does not exist (i.e. Lord of the Rings).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Particle_Man]

Mord's Disjunction?

 

[0-hr]

Teleport and plane travel were highly restricted in my last campaign. If you're just playing "Diablo with Dice", then sure you want the dungeon 10 yards (or 10 seconds) outside of town. But if it's heroic fantasy you're after, then it's about the journey as much as the destination.

In a previous campaign my cleric could get any PHB spells as desired, but could only pray for "splatbook" (Relics & Rituals at the time) spells while in a temple of his god.