Do your players use counterspell?

[Nail]

....In fact, I calculate the probability of a Babau Dispelling (that is to say, using Dispel Magic to counter spell) a level appropriate challenge for a Wiz 13 at 26.3%.

So such a tactic works 1 time out of 4, roughly.

 

[Li Shenron]

I've seen it used only by characters who had some improved abilities such as the Improved Counterspell ("same school instead of same spell") and Reactive Counterspell ("no need to ready an action") feats, otherwise it never happens because it is just better to cast a spell yourself than to try counter.

 

[Shallown]

Theres several both Good and evil on the 7th and above monster summon charts. As I said it was a high level game.

True they didn't always counter but it was an annoyance that worked often enough that it seemed worth it. Since the Summoned creature wasn't actually doing much they didn't often get taken down but simply ignored and if they stop one spell they did their job becuase one spell at that level may cost a character his life. It wasn't a perfect tactic but it was something that worked well with the groups synergy. The group didn't need more muscle so summonings were used in more odd ways.

Later

 

[Nail]

I'm currently playing a Clr 19 that is a summoner. As my PC is NG, the demon option is out......but Avoral works. (I wonder why I hadn't noticed this potential before? Old age? ) In fact, Avoral and Babau are the only 2 that have the at will Dispel Magic ability.

Again, given that their caster levels are so low, the tactic won't work very often....but it's still one to keep in mind. Thanks!

 

[SelcSilverhand]

I have an 18th level bard who uses counterspelling constantly with Greater Dispel Magic. Coupled with a ring of Spell Battle from C. Arc., a Caster Level boosting Ioun stone, and the ability to use Countersong, he can mess up casters when needed. It fits his support role really well. I've probably used a counterspell every fight and it makes all the difference. Countering a Time Stop or Teleport can really save your bacon.

For a pure caster though, it is often a better option to ready vs casting and nuke them hoping that they will fail the concentration check. If I had one, I'd only ready an action to dispel if I knew the creature had spell resistance or energy protection that I couldn't overcome. I've never seen a character with the Improved Counterspell feat. We've always countered spells with dispel magic.

 

[JoshWilhoyte]

I've done it as a player in only one fight. The bad guy was hiding in a bank of fog while we were on a boat, so he was hard to fight and to get to, but we could hear him when he was casting spells. So I used prepared actions to counter him, which helped a little. IMX, it works allright when you outnumber the badguys, so your beat machines can get up close and personal, and your wizard is basically counteracting the enemy's entire actions. It has worked better for us when we know the general spells we want to stop, so we could prepare them for auto-countering as opposed to hoping for Dispel Magic to work. In 3.0, we liked to Slow the mage so his Haste was gone, then use our Haste action to prep a counterspell. When on his turn he'd try to re-Haste, we'd either burn a Haste or a Slow to counter it, so he's wasted his action. But our GM likes to throw massively powerful single guys at us. It also worked when we were fighting a Lich, we couldn't hurt him much, but we got him grapelled, and our wizard kelt him from teleporting out by countering the Teleports and Dimension Doors he tried to cast. But it's never been something we did consistently, though I'd like to try it. (targetted Dispel to drop all their buffs in another thing though)

 

[retan]

For a pure caster though, it is often a better option to ready vs casting and nuke them hoping that they will fail the concentration check. If I had one, I'd only ready an action to dispel if I knew the creature had spell resistance or energy protection that I couldn't overcome. I've never seen a character with the Improved Counterspell feat. We've always countered spells with dispel magic.

This was the method that my players would always use to "counterspell" an enemy. If you inflict a lot of damage on the enemy with a readied action the probability that his/her spell will fail is much higher than if you counterspell with Dispel Magic, and even if the enemy succeeds at the concentartion check you have still damaged him/her, whereas if you fail at the dispel check you have achieved nothing.

I remember the player of the wizard in my first group say that counterspelling was useless unless you took Improved Counterspell and Reactive Counterspell.

-- retan

 

[dcollins]

Counterspelling really amazes me by how limited it is (and hence what a bad bet it is to use it under any circumstances I've thought of). I've had a number of threads recently about counterspelling, and every time there's a new limitation outlined. Among them:

(1) Need for caster to ready an action (wasting a turn if the enemy doesn't cast a spell).
(2) Need to target one enemy caster (wasting a turn if the wrong enemy casts, or is disguised or hidden so you didn't know they were a caster).
(3) Need to make a Spellcraft check (which requires skill ranks & still might waste the turn)
(4) Need to have exactly the identical spell prepared (or waste the turn)
(5) Or, need to use dispel magic which requires a caster level check (failing about 50% of the time on average)
(6) Need to have the target in range with the counterspell (so someone can stand off and freely blast you with fireballs, and it's impossible to use dispel magic to counterspell, due to different range categories).

For example:

I've done it as a player in only one fight. The bad guy was hiding in a bank of fog while we were on a boat, so he was hard to fight and to get to, but we could hear him when he was casting spells. So I used prepared actions to counter him, which helped a little.

Actually, even that's not allowed by the rules-as-written (you need to target the enemy, which is disallowed if you can't see them in a fog bank).

In roughly 10 years of gaming, I have never seen anyone (PC or NPC) attempt a counterspell.

Counterspelling is new to the 3rd Edition ruleset, 5 years ago, right?

 

[Warehouse23]

Any wizard who doesn't counterspell the opposition has not been paying attention around the fire at the local inn or tavern.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Lightning bolts shot from Elvinor the Evil's fingertips, and then the whole room erupted in a firey inferno. And then, the kicker you say, is that Golibrand the Good still bowed down to kiss Elvinor's ring? Gotcha...."

 

[Nail]

I've done it as a player in only one fight. The bad guy was hiding in a bank of fog ...

...and since you can't see him, you can't counterspell! You goofed!

<EDIT: Shucks, dcollins beat me to it.>