Disarm/Sunder spell components?

[KarinsDad]

KD, you raise some pretty good points there. Certainly something to think about. but I'm pretty sure that the sorceror doesn't have the Eschew Materials feat and so is reliant on the spell component pouch.

Whether he has Eschew Materials or not is mostly irrelevant to the combat.

What is relevant is completely holding off their spell caster while your own spell casters do Greater Dispel Magics (a lot of confused PCs might be back in the fight), Heals or Mass Heals (bye bye Confusion and damage), Dispel Chaos, Dispel Evil, Black Tentacles, even a Globe of Invulnerability would stop Confusion, etc.

There are a lot of healing spells, combat control spells, dispels, and other useful spells that could easily change the course of this battle for the better. Especially if your side has spells and their side does not.

Plus, you could instead of putting the Chaos Diamond away or throwing it away, just drop your weapon, use your 3 attacks per round in an attempt to grapple the spell caster 3 times and if successful with 2 of them, you can have him grappled and pinned (and have your free hand over his mouth). Grappling only requires one free hand since it is a touch attack. So, the other hand can continue to hold onto the Chaos Diamond.

But, you are not grappling him to do damage. You are grappling him to stop him from casting spells. And, you have 3 attempts of which 1 successful will prevent most spells and 2 successful would prevent all spells (but not all spell like abilities or supernatural abilities).

 

[Legildur]

Hey, forgot about the pinning option. A good option and certainly a possibility.

We have one Heal spell (on a scroll) and one Dispel Chaos.

Dispel Magic is unlikely to work. Our best caster is 11th level. The Chaos Diamond is a 19th level caster item. So it would be a DC 30 Dispel Magic check, so that would require a natural 19 or 20. However, one paladin does have a holy avenger with a Greater Dispel Magic (not sure of caster level), so that might be more likely to happen (if he rolls okay on the Confusion effect).

 

[The Forsaken One]

Readying a melee attack to disrupt spellcasting is useless beyong imagination. Just 5 ft. step as caster....

I'd just charge the caster and put every smite you have into that first round of attacks, or delay till hes his by a targetted greater dispel magic of one of your allies and then do it. If you should hit most or all attacks, which I cant see why not against a sorc who won't be wearing armor (maybe stoneskin dunno that would be harsh though).

If you get it in you'd just destroy him in a few smites. Having an ally with readied counterspells or the improved counterspell feat always works miracles to. But for as far as it goes against casters, if you can reach them... best advice is just to start mauling them they tend do go down pretty fast.

 

[Legildur]

Readying a melee attack to disrupt spellcasting is useless beyong imagination. Just 5 ft. step as caster....

Ahhmmm, except that if you haven't already moved in the round, you could take a 5ft step on the Ready action and follow the caster... And I've only got one Smite Evil left... but it is good idea.

 

[The Forsaken One]

We had an argument lately about the following a 5ft step as part of a ready since readying an action specifically asks for an action that you ready on a specific action. This doesnt include a 5 ft step but the attack on itself.

On the other hand you can take a 5ft step at any point in a round where you havent already moved so its kinda whacky. Namely you move up to the caster and ready he moves 5ft casts. You move 5ft and ready, he moves 5ft and casts ect...

So depending if your DM accepts a 5ft step as part of a ready (mine doesnt which makes it even harder), you will still need an ally to get on the oposite side or at least next to the sorc as well with a ready. Else hell just pull the stunt I just described and you cant do anything about it.

And watch out for Evards black tentacles + acid fog combinations or dunno what level you percisely got going but reverse grav + a prismatic wall in the sky hurts as well -.-.

If you can 5ft move in a ready just disrupt with a smite, then he shouldnt have to much of a chance to make the concentration check.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Given that it's a Wondrous Item, it's very likely that the ranger could use it (and yes, he is Chaotic Evil).

He can use it, yes, but he still needs to know the command word. It's unlikely your DM thought about this yet, though. But, if he thinks about it, then there's a good possibility IMO that the ranger will not know the command word. Anyway, just trying to think out of the box.

And our wizard is about to come back into play (very badly hurt in the early rounds) and I know he has Disintegrate memorised. Would that destroy the Chaos Diamond?

If it failed it's save, I'd say yes. But, it has a pretty good save.

 

[Legildur]

We had an argument lately about the following a 5ft step as part of a ready since readying an action specifically asks for an action that you ready on a specific action. This doesnt include a 5 ft step but the attack on itself.

PHB p160 is explicit that you can a 5ft step with a readied action:

You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round.

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, if you do not have a caster who can cast Dispel Magic (or at least one with a reasonable chance of success), there are other options to get rid of the Confusion:

Globe of Invulnerability: 100%
Antimagic Field: 100%
Spell Immunity: 100% (depending on how your DM rules both immunity, and a 4th level spell effect instigated by an 8th level spell)
Heal: 100%

If the party does not have these, then the PC spell casters have to go on the offensive. They cannot rely on the "10% chance to attack the spell caster and 10% chance of acting normally" of the confused PCs helping out.


One other thing the non-confused PCs can do is get away from their own fellow confused PCs. That way, the chances of the confused PCs attacking the NPCs raises to 50% (since the 30% attacks nearest creature helps if the nearest creature is an NPC).


Stinking Cloud, btw, is a great spell for protecting other PCs from most everything except area effect spells. If your PC has their spell caster grappled and your fellow PCs can cast Stinking Cloud over one or two of the remaining two NPCs (without getting any of the non-confused PCs), that might buy you some rounds if at most only confused PCs are also within that area of effect.

Web spell is nice. Higher level PCs forget that many of the low level spells can work wonders.

The PC arcane spell caster should cast his Disintegrate (or other offensive spells) on one of the two non-spell casting (if you have the spell caster NPC grappled) NPCs.

But, the bottom line is that your spell casters have to let loose with the best spells for the situation considering which spells they have available.

 

[KarinsDad]

PHB p160 is explicit that you can a 5ft step with a readied action:

The debate about it is not whether it can be taken or not.

The debate is about whether it has to be declared ahead of time. The consensus of many here is that it does not have to be declared while declaring which ready action is being taken, otherwise, it doesn't really help that much.

 

[Legildur]

Thanks KD. Only Heal (with slight chance of failure due to lower than minimum caster level) and Dispel Chaos is available (assuming the Cleric lasts that long).