Game Breaker Spells - What are they?

[Lurks-no-More]

True Seeing does totally scrap any plots about polymorphed or shapeshifted creatures, and renders all illusions pointless.

 

[Zaruthustran]

These tend to break games/lessen the fun of classic obstacles and plots.

Scry & Teleport ("You must take this ring on a long, perilous journey through-" "No, we don't. *POP*")

Dimension Door ("Find the controls to extend the bridge!" "Bridge? Who needs a bridge? *POP*")

Fly ("The villain lives behind the stout walls of Castle Cragsmere, atop the Tower of Ruin" "Really? Okay, we go there. Roll for initiative, villain.")

 

[Kraydak]

Discern Location has no save or spell resistance, and gives you the exact location of the thing or person you are looking for.


The problem, as others have said, is not that you can't protect against scry-buff-teleport attacks; it's that everybody must do so, or they're at the mercy of any determined high-level hit team. Altering teleport so as to prevent this is, IMO, preferable to having every bad guy equipped and prepared so as to make it impossible.


Greater Teleport: "If you attempt to teleport with insufficient information (or with misleading information), you disappear and simply reappear in your original location. Interplanar travel is not possible." It's not that dangeorus, really.

Seeing that the SBT attack is a tactic that appears, independently, in game after game, and is very commonly seen as problematic and setting-damaging, I think you're underestimating the impact it has on the game.

Do you also worry about the need for every adventuring party to have access to magic weapons (to counter incoporeal foes), some form of anti-invisibility magic, some form of long range attack/flight (to counter flying foes) etc...?

Defending against SBT is easy (in 3.5 at least, I forget about 3.0), as long as you have access to 5th level spells. That just means that people without access to such level of abilities aren't viable at 9th+ level. In the same way that people without Fly and See Invis (or similar) aren't. Why then is Teleport the game breaker, as opposed to Greater Invisibility or Fly? If you can't teleport in some fashion, Forcecage is a further I WIN button.

In DnD, at certain levels, you need to have some counters or you lose. It is that binary and, baring immense game changes, will remain so. Invis and Fly are core fantasy concepts, as is Teleport. Removing them would be immensely damaging.

 

[sidonunspa]

Speak with Dead:
Just ask the victim who it was. Solves most murder mysteries, unless you always have a story that ensures that the murderer wasn't seen by the victim, or the murderer was disguised or controlled by someone else. (Meaning the case is a bit more contrived than usual.)
Possible Fix: Not really one. Might in fact be okay, if you stick to the above limitations. The same as for Zone of Truth and Discern Lies might also apply here.

Dear OP...

You are missing a chance to use this spell to drop additional clues... remember in a world where people can talk to the dead, killers would make sure they can't be identified, a hood over the face or even a mask can not only be a “calling card” but even a clue for your players. Speak with dead only gives you knowledge from the dead persons point of view, if they were attacked from behind they would have no idea who killed them.

Instead of seeing this spell as a barrier see it as a tool… the dead can give the characters clues they need to get on the right track, anyone who says you can’t do a good murder mystery in D&D is sadly mistaking (we have had several successful Murder Mysteries in the Living Arcanis campaign)

If you would like some hints and so on… drop me a line off list and I will be happy to help you craft a better murder mystery… remember divination spells can be used to give the players clues, you just need to expect them to cast spells and plan for them.

Now let me add one to the list of game braking spells: Force Cage

 

[sidonunspa]

Fly ("The villain lives behind the stout walls of Castle Cragsmere, atop the Tower of Ruin" "Really? Okay, we go there. Roll for initiative, villain.")

Ummm Dispel Magic.. heros fall.. go boom...

any smark villain would be ready for a fly in attack.. it leaves the characters open to one spell which will make them drop..

Oh.. and the villain just called all his guards, who attack the players.. all at once.

 

[ruemere]

In my campaigns I have employed the following solutions:

- Magic flows in streams. Spells redirect such streams and channel them into effects. By building walls in a specific (mundane) way, it is possible to confound or redirect effects of higher complexity, if they pass through them. Gothic architecture projects bordered on mystical - all I did was to add a little flavor and delicate effect. Transportation spells may veer off target, fireballs could cause a little less damage, finally, warding spells may function for days instead of minutes.

- In Scarred Lands divine influence is very strong. Any prayer can go a long way and they are often answered. In game, some difficulties may be raised, and weird coincidences may negatively influence those ignoring such protections.

- Finally, magic users of high level are rare.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[Zaruthustran]

Ummm Dispel Magic.. heros fall.. go boom...

any smark villain would be ready for a fly in attack.. it leaves the characters open to one spell which will make them drop..

Oh.. and the villain just called all his guards, who attack the players.. all at once.

And if the villain isn't a mage?....

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

And if the villain isn't a mage?....

Well, then the smart non-mage villain has hired a mage, or rather a network of mages for every corner of his stronghold, or rather a network of mages for every corner of his stronghold at all hours of the day. Basically, the smart villain needs to has to build a massive network of deathly loyal mages who never think to over thrown him while he sleeps.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

And if the villain isn't a mage?....

Precisely.

Or what if (metagame level now) you do this all the time? Your players will justifiably start to complain that you're targeting their prized special abilities.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Do you also worry about the need for every adventuring party to have access to magic weapons (to counter incoporeal foes), some form of anti-invisibility magic, some form of long range attack/flight (to counter flying foes) etc...?

In my experience, incorporeal foes show up rarely enough that the players don't bother with ghost touch weapons, unless they happen to find them. As for defeating invisibility, it takes either some fairly low-level spells (Glitterdust, Detect Invisibility) or someone with high perception skill bonuses, something which high-level parties will certainly have. And honestly, an adventuring party with no bows or other means to engage distant enemies deserves to be hosed by kobolds dropping flaming oil on them from the top of a wall.

None of those are as problematic or, more importantly, as setting-snapping (IMO at least) issues as the ability of high-level characters to burst into your bedroom, weapons ready and fully boosted, unless you can afford some very specific and expensive defenses.

Defending against SBT is easy (in 3.5 at least, I forget about 3.0), as long as you have access to 5th level spells.

Which spells do you mean? The only thing that reliably works, AFAIK, is forbiddance, and that's costly (meaning it's only useful for warding your personal sanctums, leaving you open to an attack when and if you go anywhere) and 6th level.

That just means that people without access to such level of abilities aren't viable at 9th+ level. In the same way that people without Fly and See Invis (or similar) aren't. Why then is Teleport the game breaker, as opposed to Greater Invisibility or Fly?

I'm not saying that Greater Invisibility or Fly aren't problematic; just that teleportation is IMO more problematic than that. (If the scry-buff-teleport attack is employed by the DM against a party that hasn't prepared for it, they're going to get hurt badly, which isn't really any fun for anyone. And given how obvious a tactic is, it breaks the suspension of disbelief if the characters' high-level enemies never seek to use it against them.)

If you can't teleport in some fashion, Forcecage is a further I WIN button.

The problems of Forcecage are well known, and do not in any way reduce the problems with teleportation.

In DnD, at certain levels, you need to have some counters or you lose. It is that binary and, baring immense game changes, will remain so. Invis and Fly are core fantasy concepts, as is Teleport. Removing them would be immensely damaging.

Actually, of those three, only invisibility is common in most non-D&D fantasy that I know of, and even then it's frequently seen as a pretty big thing. Flight is more commonly achieved through flying mounts or items; and although portals and such are relatively common, the D&D-style Teleport is quite rare. (Incidentally, in Harry Potter, where apparation is relatively common, it's implied that it's also fairly easy to screen against, unlike teleportation in D&D.)