Does Dismissal work anymore?

[Particle_Man]

It seems like, with the upgrade in HD for fiends in 3.5, that Dismissal is not going to work very often in CR appropriate encounters.

Am I wrong here?

 

[hong]

Huh? Looking at the demons and devils, they all have HD ~ CR, plus or minus 2. Which means the save DC won't be much affected by the special formula.

 

[rgard]

Huh? Looking at the demons and devils, they all have HD ~ CR, plus or minus 2. Which means the save DC won't be much affected by the special formula.

Yep, you should still be able to send them packing.

 

[frankthedm]

HD advancment can reduce the chance somewhat fast.

 

[James McMurray]

It wasn't hit dice that got upgraded in 3.5, it was hit points. Granted, some of that was done through hit dice, but a lot was done through boosting constitution. For instance, the 3.0 Marilith was 9 hit dice with a 21 con, making her fodder for dismissal. The 3.5 marilith jumped to 16 hit dice and a 29 con. She's still weak against an equal levelled caster's dismissal, especially if he is actually using Banishment and has a few things the demon hates laying around (such as his friend the Cleric of Pelor).

 

[Legildur]

In my live game (homebrew), our party (avg 14th level) has been facing a long term demon threat (recurring villainous organisation you might say). We've used Dismissal through a staff of abjuration a few times now to eject demons in really good tactical positions (ie in the middle of us threatening the sorceror whilst we are fighting on two flanks already).

From memory, we've been successful on 4 from 5 occasions.

It's not guaranteed, but it's been really useful.