The brief smirk grows on her face as she start the chanting of another spell. "Muraa Gosdripter Xunauon " with her eyes focused three hundred yards across town. Leaving hands and fingers loss she waves her arms in a whirling pattern at face level. " Hipttres Jaivetous Kitheroz Sapate" A gray pulsating light travels from her elbow sleeves to her finger tips. A cycle of air appears in the distance with in moments a full size tornado has grown and grips undead off the ground hurling them great distances. Earth, bodies, weapons and more are picked up as it makes its pass through the undead army. Weapons and rocks make the tornado even more deadly as there thrown out in to the troops smashing and cutting down the undead that stand out side the wake of the storm. With her mind the mage controls the path the whirl wind takes moving towards masses of undead troops. Keeping her mind clear of all she watches as her magic crush the enemy until her spell dies taking the tornado with it. Though her spell devastated close to six hundred undead she knows still more needs to be done as she flies off the roof top.
Best use of rituals you have seen so far?
- Thread starter Plane Sailing
- Start date
Pbartender
First Post
This one came in handy in a totally unexpected fashion last last night...
We were tailing a small army of marauding giants and ogres, hoping to finding their base camp. Just before we set out, I cast the Traveler's Camouflage ritual, only I had a slip of the tongue, and it came out "Cameler's Travellodge". We all had a good laugh.
Later, we walk smack dab into a patrol of giants. One of the less-than-bright giants turns to us and asks, "Who are you? What're you doing?"
Wanting to save our resources for assassinating the chief, and so not exactly eager for a fight, I replied, "Why, I'm a cameler, of course!"
"A cameler?"
"That's right, I own the travel lodge about a mile down the road. We've the best damn camel you've ever eaten." [Arcane Mutterings + Huge Arcana check == Thoroughly Bluffed Giant]
"Mmmm... Camel. I had camel once, when we were walking across the big desert and ran out of goblins. Pretty tasty."
"Well then, you're in luck... Here, have a coupon. It's buy one camel, get one free all this week."
"Hey, that's a good deal."
"You bet it is... take your friends along, too!"
"Hey Grod! I got a coupon! Let's go get some camel!"
Our DM gave us full XP for the encounter...
Last edited:
If by 'best' we mean 'most entertaining', than this might qualify...
Our party is exploring an ancient castle that was claimed by vampires a hundred years ago, and now we are trying to cleanse it of their evil. We have descended into the catacombs beneath the castle and come across a massive underground lake. Countless forms - possibly bodies - float upon the waters surface.
Going on the assumption that getting close to the lake would be a bad thing, my druid decides to cast Lower Water - which essentially is a 'parting the red sea' style effect that makes a portion of the water temporarily vanish / get moved out of the way, allowing us to move forward and explore without having to go into the water.
So I cast the ritual, and a huge section of water vanishes... dropping dozens of bodies to the ground. All of which, having thus been disturbed... arise as undead and head towards us, while we also draw the attention of the Black Dragon that guards these waters.
Now, the DM's intent for the encounter was that we would encounter the dragon, and during the battle it would work to hurl PCs into the water, where a handful of these undead minions would animate in response and need to be dealt with. Instead, thanks to my genius, we had stirred up dozens of them that swarmed over us right at the start of the battle...
...and we managed to survive, if only barely. (Monster Vault black dragons are nasty!). And it may not have been the smartest use of a ritual, but it did make for a memorable scene, and that is, perhaps, what is most important.
Our party is exploring an ancient castle that was claimed by vampires a hundred years ago, and now we are trying to cleanse it of their evil. We have descended into the catacombs beneath the castle and come across a massive underground lake. Countless forms - possibly bodies - float upon the waters surface.
Going on the assumption that getting close to the lake would be a bad thing, my druid decides to cast Lower Water - which essentially is a 'parting the red sea' style effect that makes a portion of the water temporarily vanish / get moved out of the way, allowing us to move forward and explore without having to go into the water.
So I cast the ritual, and a huge section of water vanishes... dropping dozens of bodies to the ground. All of which, having thus been disturbed... arise as undead and head towards us, while we also draw the attention of the Black Dragon that guards these waters.
Now, the DM's intent for the encounter was that we would encounter the dragon, and during the battle it would work to hurl PCs into the water, where a handful of these undead minions would animate in response and need to be dealt with. Instead, thanks to my genius, we had stirred up dozens of them that swarmed over us right at the start of the battle...
...and we managed to survive, if only barely. (Monster Vault black dragons are nasty!). And it may not have been the smartest use of a ritual, but it did make for a memorable scene, and that is, perhaps, what is most important.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
I've house-ruled rituals to take rounds instead of minutes.. so a 10 minute ritual now takes one minute, but a ritual that takes hours still takes hours. I've also given the group a pitcher shaped like a chicken that provides free components for one free ritual a day. The combination has resulted in a pleasant rise in how many are cast.
My group has used some clever ones (including tree stride, or whatever it's called, to sneak into a guarded and walled estate), but my favorite remains a throwaway ritual I never thought they'd use. Back at first level I gave them two simple rituals, one to catch more fish and one to fix a broken boat. Eight levels later they had thousands of refugees trapped in a lakeside town with no boats available and their enemies advancing. They used lower water to gain access to sunken or waterlogged boats and then used the "fix boat" ritual to rejuvenate them. Charging only their costs when they could have easily profiteered, they managed to evacuate hundreds more people.
My group has used some clever ones (including tree stride, or whatever it's called, to sneak into a guarded and walled estate), but my favorite remains a throwaway ritual I never thought they'd use. Back at first level I gave them two simple rituals, one to catch more fish and one to fix a broken boat. Eight levels later they had thousands of refugees trapped in a lakeside town with no boats available and their enemies advancing. They used lower water to gain access to sunken or waterlogged boats and then used the "fix boat" ritual to rejuvenate them. Charging only their costs when they could have easily profiteered, they managed to evacuate hundreds more people.
Pbartender
First Post
I've considered allowing players to "rush" rituals... The time for completing it goes down by one "category" -- Hours >> Minutes >> Rounds -- but the character must complete a skill challenge with a level equal to that of the ritual to complete the rush job. Once the challenge is complete, you make the "final" skill check (if necessary) to determine the effects of the ritual.
Arlough
Explorer
Due to a ruling at 2nd level that Bloom(PHB2.213) could, if used 3 times in a row, grow a tree from a seed (originally a flavor based ruling entirely), I had a cleric in my group who, with a hour's preparation, could pretty much foul up any of my planned encounters using Tree Stride (PHB2.217).
One time they were paid to free a number of villagers from a slaver camp. I expected them to negotiate, lure the slavers away, sneak into the camp, or fight a really tough battle. They had other ideas.
Since the cleric's Nature checks were so high, in fact, he could set up multiple portals given some extra time. He would stand beside a tree in a grove they created using pinenuts and Bloom, choose one of the large trees near the camp (the slaver camp was on the river in a semi-arid land, so you could see the trees that followed the river from a great distance), perform Tree Stride on an adjacent tree, lather, rinse, repeat.
When they finally invaded the camp, they were popping about so much that it was like the slavers were playing whack-a-mole.
Otterscrubber
First Post
I think there should be some rules for quick casting a ritual. Perhaps with -10 to the check? Who knows. Didn't have time to read all 4 pages of this thread, has anyone posted any houserules on this topic?
Otterscrubber
First Post
In the campaigns I have played in we have not used the spells in super clever way, merely the ways they were intended to be used. Hand of fate has been super helpful when stuck in an other dimension bizarro dungeon for finding our way around. Phantom Steed helped up search for missing friends in a swamp full of trolls without having to slog around in the mud for weeks. Circle of Protection kept us safe from the duergar when we were at our wits end, no surges and HAD to rest. Although we also call this spell circle of protection from xp as we have missed some encounters due to it
In our pirate campaign, controlling winds and being able to breath underwater helped us avoid, then turn the tables on an unfriendly pirate vessel.
Overall I like the rituals and the 10 minute casting time hasn't been that big a deal. We typically read the casting time to mean "not in combat". It's not like we use an egg timer or anything. I do think some rituals should be able to be cast on the fly though, such as knock. If you are being chased and you hit that locked door, that 10 mintues makes that spell useless. Also spells like silence seem to be negated by the fact that you want to be quiet, but I would assume casting the spell in the first place makes noise. So whatever you are trying to be quiet from will simply hear you casting the spell. This does not make sense.
I think some rituals should have a notation or type that indicates you can "rush" cast them, but with some penatly or increase in component cost. Or something, I'll let the creative folks on this board chime in now.......
In our pirate campaign, controlling winds and being able to breath underwater helped us avoid, then turn the tables on an unfriendly pirate vessel.
Overall I like the rituals and the 10 minute casting time hasn't been that big a deal. We typically read the casting time to mean "not in combat". It's not like we use an egg timer or anything. I do think some rituals should be able to be cast on the fly though, such as knock. If you are being chased and you hit that locked door, that 10 mintues makes that spell useless. Also spells like silence seem to be negated by the fact that you want to be quiet, but I would assume casting the spell in the first place makes noise. So whatever you are trying to be quiet from will simply hear you casting the spell. This does not make sense.
I think some rituals should have a notation or type that indicates you can "rush" cast them, but with some penatly or increase in component cost. Or something, I'll let the creative folks on this board chime in now.......
Nemesis Destiny
Adventurer
To alleviate the cost factors preventing ritual use, we have tried a houserule where, you pay for the ritual when you learn it as normal, then you must buy and maintain a "ritual kit" that contains all the necessary accoutrements to perform any ritual you know. This kit costs as much as your most expensive ritual. You still need to purchase and have on hand any focus your rituals require.
When you cast a ritual, it costs 2 healing surges. For rituals lower than your level, there is a discount. Heroic rituals of Level -3 are one surge cheaper, and Level -6 are two surges cheaper (i.e. free, unless they have additional surge costs). Paragon rituals, it's Level -4 and Level -8, and Epic Rituals are Level -5 and Level -10 to reduce surge costs.
So far, in our campaigns ritual use has increased dramatically. Our characters always use Phantom Steeds to travel, the sorcerer often summons unseen servants to give him foot massages, while our cash-poor lower level party used them to make fancy clothes in time for the New Years Ball.
We have an upcoming encounter that I helped plan that involves the use of a Linked Portal to escape from the temple of the BBEGod, very much like one posted on page 1 of this thread. My character will be part way through casting the ritual, when a horde of enemies will approach to try and prevent our escape. I think the idea is that I will be 8-minutes into the casting, so the group will have to hold off the hordes of evil minions for the rest of the time it takes, so we can escape.
We use 15-second rounds, so two minutes is only 8 rounds.
During this time, I will be playing the two NPC companion characters. The idea is, if my mage gets hit, she will have to make an Arcana check against a hard DC or lose that round of progress on the ritual. If she drops, the ritual is disrupted, and if she breaks it off to take any action, the ritual is disrupted. She will be granting Combat Advantage the whole time.
Should be interesting.
When you cast a ritual, it costs 2 healing surges. For rituals lower than your level, there is a discount. Heroic rituals of Level -3 are one surge cheaper, and Level -6 are two surges cheaper (i.e. free, unless they have additional surge costs). Paragon rituals, it's Level -4 and Level -8, and Epic Rituals are Level -5 and Level -10 to reduce surge costs.
So far, in our campaigns ritual use has increased dramatically. Our characters always use Phantom Steeds to travel, the sorcerer often summons unseen servants to give him foot massages, while our cash-poor lower level party used them to make fancy clothes in time for the New Years Ball.
We have an upcoming encounter that I helped plan that involves the use of a Linked Portal to escape from the temple of the BBEGod, very much like one posted on page 1 of this thread. My character will be part way through casting the ritual, when a horde of enemies will approach to try and prevent our escape. I think the idea is that I will be 8-minutes into the casting, so the group will have to hold off the hordes of evil minions for the rest of the time it takes, so we can escape.
We use 15-second rounds, so two minutes is only 8 rounds.
During this time, I will be playing the two NPC companion characters. The idea is, if my mage gets hit, she will have to make an Arcana check against a hard DC or lose that round of progress on the ritual. If she drops, the ritual is disrupted, and if she breaks it off to take any action, the ritual is disrupted. She will be granting Combat Advantage the whole time.
Should be interesting.
Nemesis Destiny
Adventurer
Incidentally, I read a blog a little while ago where they suggested the idea of "pre-casting" a ritual, such that you could release it and trigger its effect with a Standard Action afterwards. Kind of like how all spells were described in the 2e PHB.
I believe there was a limit of 1 ritual pre-cast in this manner. It's a neat idea that I have yet to playtest.
I do believe the blog I read this on belongs to an ENWorld forum member. Can't remember the username or the blog though... "4th edition rules, 1st edition feel" ring any bells?
I believe there was a limit of 1 ritual pre-cast in this manner. It's a neat idea that I have yet to playtest.
I do believe the blog I read this on belongs to an ENWorld forum member. Can't remember the username or the blog though... "4th edition rules, 1st edition feel" ring any bells?
Similar Threads
