Best creative use of an obscure or "weak" spell?
- Thread starter CruelSummerLord
- Start date
Just recently our party was fighting for their lives against a horde of zombie pirates raiding our ship. The other wizard was clever enough to set up nets on both sides of the ship, buying us some time as the pirates hacked away at the netting trying to get in past the fighter's arrows.
My alchemist had improvised some bombs using some gunpowder. He lit one, handed it off to the summoned unseen servant and told him to float across to the other side.
Unseen servant suicide bomber. Took out half the zombie pirates and the servant on a lucky damage roll.
My alchemist had improvised some bombs using some gunpowder. He lit one, handed it off to the summoned unseen servant and told him to float across to the other side.
Unseen servant suicide bomber. Took out half the zombie pirates and the servant on a lucky damage roll.
spades1013
First Post
Years ago in a 1E game, party magic-user somehow ended up with a permanent Tenser's Floating Disc. He also had a fairly low level henchman (cleric/magic-user, I think) with a Wand of Magic Missiles.
Having little use for the Tenser's for hauling treasure or the like, it seldom got used. Until we returned to town and commissioned a man-height iron barrel, with eye slits all around.
Placing the henchman (with wand) in the barrel and the barrel on the Disc, he found himself with a floating, personal gun turret.
Having little use for the Tenser's for hauling treasure or the like, it seldom got used. Until we returned to town and commissioned a man-height iron barrel, with eye slits all around.
Placing the henchman (with wand) in the barrel and the barrel on the Disc, he found himself with a floating, personal gun turret.
djdaidouji
First Post
spades1013 said:
That is a really awesome idea. Why aren't my players so imaginative? I guess I need to tell them to try and abuse things rather then following the examples. Sure, I might have to say no more, but not as much as they think.
spades1013
First Post
djdaidouji said:
Renny, the original Henchman-in-a-can. Or, the XP vending machine (as I referred to him). "Insert sword into slot for 1200 XP". I think I actually painted that on once.
Give your players time. We used to run "Mortal Kombat-like" PvP matches when it got late and people started to have to leave. Those helped players experiment with spells and magic items that might otherwise not get used or be properly understood.
The same magic-user had a Robe of Useful Items that turned out to be one use per item, but they were permanent. He found that out by placing the "window" item on the wall that seperated his and my characters rooms. From then on, I made a point of waking up, swinging the window up and taking a leak into his room every morning. But, then, I MADE the DM follow the intoxication rules from the DMG, and my character was "greatly intoxicated" a good deal of the time (as was I).
And then there were the Polymorph Other spells involving "A one legged chicken with no respiratory system"
And it was a fun time of "stump the DM", since Unearthed Arcana and the Survival Guides were "new" to him. It was a fairly loose, "Old-School" game but it was one helluva lot of fun.
BTW, Happy belated Birthday. Mine is the same day (although I was graduating high school when you were born).
A high-level F/MU/Th cast Item and Reduce on several campfires, flasks of oil, and some giant boulders.
She then caused all of her pebbles and "Girl Scout Badges" to be dropped from a height upon the mage at the center of the (high-level) party...his Contingency spell activated, and a Globe of Invulnerability flared up around him.
...Negating the Item and Reduce spells, thus causing the party to be buried under a mass of falling boulders (doing damage), upon which the flasks of oil shattered, said oil which was then lit by the campfires. The fires burned hot while they extricated themselves from underneath the boulders.
Result: a high-level party crushed and burned (but not killed!) by a pair of low-level spells because the hunter knew her target.*
*The campaign in question was a long-running campaign with 3 DMs sharing the load round-robin style, and running PCs when they weren't behind the screen. The F/MU/Th was a partymember who was being forced to kill her adventuring companions because her husband (another partymember) had been kidnapped. Thus, she knew quite intimately the party's tactics, and was aiming to injure rather than kill them, hoping they'd follow her back to where her hubby was being held, to assist in his rescue.
The tough part was keeping a straight face when someone asked "Is Item a good spell?" while we were in pre-game prep.
She then caused all of her pebbles and "Girl Scout Badges" to be dropped from a height upon the mage at the center of the (high-level) party...his Contingency spell activated, and a Globe of Invulnerability flared up around him.
...Negating the Item and Reduce spells, thus causing the party to be buried under a mass of falling boulders (doing damage), upon which the flasks of oil shattered, said oil which was then lit by the campfires. The fires burned hot while they extricated themselves from underneath the boulders.
Result: a high-level party crushed and burned (but not killed!) by a pair of low-level spells because the hunter knew her target.*
*The campaign in question was a long-running campaign with 3 DMs sharing the load round-robin style, and running PCs when they weren't behind the screen. The F/MU/Th was a partymember who was being forced to kill her adventuring companions because her husband (another partymember) had been kidnapped. Thus, she knew quite intimately the party's tactics, and was aiming to injure rather than kill them, hoping they'd follow her back to where her hubby was being held, to assist in his rescue.
The tough part was keeping a straight face when someone asked "Is Item a good spell?" while we were in pre-game prep.
Well, we've had two sessions so far of a little gestalt one-shot. Our wizard/archivst focuses on primarily on summoning, but she's also got illusions and some utility spells.
So far, she's done a few points of damage with her summoned creatures. However, she's managed to force a bunch of goblins and gnolls to surrender by creating a silent image of a wall of fire across a bridge and river they were retreating over, after using the illusion of a wounded boar to lure them out of their fortified camp.
Then last night, they triggered a trap that caused one party member to drop into a pit and the room they were in to begin flooding. She used benign transposition to swap the trapped party member for the Air Goblin (variant UA race that, among other things, can't drown) - possibly saving one character from drowning and making the entire fight much easier. She then summoned a squid - how often does that happen - though it didn't roll terribly well.
Been a whole lot more useful than a bunch of magic missiles and scorching rays would have been.
So far, she's done a few points of damage with her summoned creatures. However, she's managed to force a bunch of goblins and gnolls to surrender by creating a silent image of a wall of fire across a bridge and river they were retreating over, after using the illusion of a wounded boar to lure them out of their fortified camp.
Then last night, they triggered a trap that caused one party member to drop into a pit and the room they were in to begin flooding. She used benign transposition to swap the trapped party member for the Air Goblin (variant UA race that, among other things, can't drown) - possibly saving one character from drowning and making the entire fight much easier. She then summoned a squid - how often does that happen - though it didn't roll terribly well.
Been a whole lot more useful than a bunch of magic missiles and scorching rays would have been.
Benign Transposition is a great 1st level spell. Benign Transposition within the area of an Anticipate Teleportation is also a great way to pull some injured allies out of a fight for one round. Baleful Transposition within the area of an Anticipate Teleportation is a great way to temporarily keep two baddies out of a fight (for one round). Baleful Transposition within the area of an Greater Anticipate Teleportation is a great way to pull two baddies out of a fight for three rounds.
Anticipate Teleportation isn't just a good counter for the cheese of Scry-Buff-Teleport, there's lots of fun to be had there, at the DM's expense...
Anticipate Teleportation isn't just a good counter for the cheese of Scry-Buff-Teleport, there's lots of fun to be had there, at the DM's expense...
Mechnomancer
First Post
the red dragon dracolich cast protection from Cold. Our Wizard and Cleric spend the next three or so rounds trying to dispell it so we could hammer it with cold spells...... which it is immune to. I've never so pissed at myself for falling for a head fake like this. We all laughed. It was a great session.
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