DM's: How do you deal with Improved Invisibility?
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Ridley's Cohort
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The simple answer is to use fog or magical darkness. If everyone has concealment than Invisibility is not a big edge.
There are lots of spells in 3e that counter invisibility.
BTW, we have found that when half the party uses Improved Invisibility, the other half of the party is in for a very rough time. Guess who soaks up twice as many attacks? You can easily get PC deaths that way.
If the whole party uses Improved Invisibility, they are burning a lot of resources for a single combat. You may be letting them control the pace of their adventuring too easily. If you let them fight then rest as they wish, there are a lot of nasty power combos PCs can pull -- Improved Invisibility is just the most obvious choice.
There are lots of spells in 3e that counter invisibility.
BTW, we have found that when half the party uses Improved Invisibility, the other half of the party is in for a very rough time. Guess who soaks up twice as many attacks? You can easily get PC deaths that way.
If the whole party uses Improved Invisibility, they are burning a lot of resources for a single combat. You may be letting them control the pace of their adventuring too easily. If you let them fight then rest as they wish, there are a lot of nasty power combos PCs can pull -- Improved Invisibility is just the most obvious choice.
Re
I just let the players kick ass over things that can't see invisible.
For end game or major encounters, I include a means of bypassing invisibility such as an enemy wizard or cleric.
The simple fact that all DM's must face is that an enemy party without a caster is at a severe disadvantage in combat. There is no getting around it.
If the spell list of an NPC in the book doesn't have a counter invisibility spell of some kind, well, that is just bad adventure design. Invisibility counter spells should be standard on any casters list just like Nightvision equipment is standard on any military operation.
I just let the players kick ass over things that can't see invisible.
For end game or major encounters, I include a means of bypassing invisibility such as an enemy wizard or cleric.
The simple fact that all DM's must face is that an enemy party without a caster is at a severe disadvantage in combat. There is no getting around it.
If the spell list of an NPC in the book doesn't have a counter invisibility spell of some kind, well, that is just bad adventure design. Invisibility counter spells should be standard on any casters list just like Nightvision equipment is standard on any military operation.
Hatchling Dragon
First Post
Another simple trick/countermeasure would be to have a room filled with a couple inches of water. I don't care if you're transparent, you're still going to leave very easily spotted wakes as you splash around.
Now, if the BBEG happened to have some form of Electrical attack, like Lightening Bolt, and were to target the water with it....
And this sort of situation is one of the key reasons I love Craft Wonderous Item as the all-time bestest Item Creation Feat. Can everyone say Goggles of See Invisiblity? I knew you could! Darn, now I'm going to have to make a note to have my own Wizard create/craft a set or three of these in the campain I'm currently in.
You could also make up something like a Lamp of Invisibility Purge. If it's not inconsipicuous enough just add the Purge spell to an Everburning Torch, it's already a known magical item and would be assumed to have a magic aura. These would be ideal for placement at any Palace/Castle gate or portal to keep those sneaky types from slipping past your sleepy guards. Ok, that's two notes I have to make to myself, I love PDA's.
If you want pure Core stuff there's the old stand-by of Dust of Appearance, dirt cheap (as magic goes) and oh so effective, not to mention anyone can use it (especialy the blow-tube version). And it's 100% core as well.
Hatchling Dragon
Now, if the BBEG happened to have some form of Electrical attack, like Lightening Bolt, and were to target the water with it....
And this sort of situation is one of the key reasons I love Craft Wonderous Item as the all-time bestest Item Creation Feat. Can everyone say Goggles of See Invisiblity? I knew you could! Darn, now I'm going to have to make a note to have my own Wizard create/craft a set or three of these in the campain I'm currently in.
You could also make up something like a Lamp of Invisibility Purge. If it's not inconsipicuous enough just add the Purge spell to an Everburning Torch, it's already a known magical item and would be assumed to have a magic aura. These would be ideal for placement at any Palace/Castle gate or portal to keep those sneaky types from slipping past your sleepy guards. Ok, that's two notes I have to make to myself, I love PDA's.
If you want pure Core stuff there's the old stand-by of Dust of Appearance, dirt cheap (as magic goes) and oh so effective, not to mention anyone can use it (especialy the blow-tube version). And it's 100% core as well.
Hatchling Dragon
Last edited:
Lord Pendragon
First Post
The trick, as I see it, is to keep the BBEG alive, while at the same time not make the player feel like his spell was purposefully countered, and he would have been better off taking a fireball.
Lots of good ideas have already been given. For me, the easiest is to simply up the encounter level of the Final Battle with a few extra lackeys. Have the BBEG stay a few rounds, then see how the wind is blowing and retreat further into the castle/dungeon/lair (locking the door behind him!) Then the party can invisibly deal with the lackeys, before following after the BBEG.
After the fight, the party will feel as if they would've gotten creamed by the lackeys without Improved Invis, and missing the fact that they didn't have it with the BBEG. So for both parts, the spell is still very useful, even if you did shunt its effect off on your villain's underlings.
Lots of good ideas have already been given. For me, the easiest is to simply up the encounter level of the Final Battle with a few extra lackeys. Have the BBEG stay a few rounds, then see how the wind is blowing and retreat further into the castle/dungeon/lair (locking the door behind him!) Then the party can invisibly deal with the lackeys, before following after the BBEG.
After the fight, the party will feel as if they would've gotten creamed by the lackeys without Improved Invis, and missing the fact that they didn't have it with the BBEG. So for both parts, the spell is still very useful, even if you did shunt its effect off on your villain's underlings.
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