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<blockquote data-quote="Veril" data-source="post: 3809154" data-attributes="member: 33452">Some of the spells OP has a problem with really aren't an issue.&nbsp; Smart people who live in the world know about these and use them to their advantage (i.e. the BBEG), dumb people don't (i.e. the BBEG's minions)Zone of truth:&nbsp; This allows a save.&nbsp; Do you know who saved when you are asking question?&nbsp; No way.&nbsp; People can refuse to answer.&nbsp; Spells can block this effect.&nbsp; No law court would accept this as 100% proof - it's good evidence, but not enough.&nbsp; Speak with Dead.&nbsp; People know it exists.&nbsp; &quot;Smart Murder&quot; (a rogue) uses Disguise Self spell (via UMD) with Disguise skill to look like &quot;Unfortunate Character&quot;.&nbsp; Runs up and kills &quot;Hapless Victim&quot;.&nbsp; &quot;Guiilble Law Enforcer Cleric&quot; casts speak with dead on the corpse.&nbsp; &quot;Hapless Victim&quot;'s corpse says &quot;Unfortunate Character&quot; did it.&nbsp; Oops.&nbsp; There are so many ways of avoiding speak with dead that it's trivial to negate it.&nbsp; After I kill someone I rip out their tongue and take it with me.&nbsp; No tongue = no speak.&nbsp;&nbsp; Speak with dead should be used to find out supporting information i.e. &quot;who do you think might have you killed?&quot;.&nbsp; Teleport can be blocked by strong magical or natural energy - that's what the spell says.&nbsp; Let it work on the BBEG's minions - which is good for the players, they get to feelk good about things.&nbsp; Other times (for the BBEG), it fails because of the strong natural or magical energy.&nbsp; A Waterfall is a strong natural energy as is a Volcano - caves in (or behind) either of those can trivially be defined by the referee as no-teleport.&nbsp; Doen't matter how familiar you are with it.&nbsp; You can defined areas of your world as having strong magical energy and BBEG site their HQ there.&nbsp; No Teleport allowed.&nbsp;&nbsp; Fly.&nbsp; Very problematic spell.&nbsp; Have to fix in game.&nbsp; Chenge the spell so that it requires a material component of a Broomstick (at 5th) or a Carpet (higher level caster = bigger caepet).&nbsp; That can help some.&nbsp; Save or XXXXX spells.&nbsp; Generally these things suck.&nbsp; Equip BBEG's with 1 off automatic-dispells vs these effects.&nbsp; Minions just get to suck it up and die.&nbsp; Heck as the GM you determine the effect of what players do simply say BBEG makes his save vs takeouts.&nbsp; For most spells it's not too hard to solve thing, providing you remember that people in the world know &quot;something&quot; about magic.&nbsp; Minions and stupid people fall afowl of it.&nbsp; BBEG and smart people use it to their advantage more.&nbsp; This lets magic be more effective against mooks and less effective against the BBEG</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Veril, post: 3809154, member: 33452"] Some of the spells OP has a problem with really aren't an issue. Smart people who live in the world know about these and use them to their advantage (i.e. the BBEG), dumb people don't (i.e. the BBEG's minions) Zone of truth: This allows a save. Do you know who saved when you are asking question? No way. People can refuse to answer. Spells can block this effect. No law court would accept this as 100% proof - it's good evidence, but not enough. Speak with Dead. People know it exists. "Smart Murder" (a rogue) uses Disguise Self spell (via UMD) with Disguise skill to look like "Unfortunate Character". Runs up and kills "Hapless Victim". "Guiilble Law Enforcer Cleric" casts speak with dead on the corpse. "Hapless Victim"'s corpse says "Unfortunate Character" did it. Oops. There are so many ways of avoiding speak with dead that it's trivial to negate it. After I kill someone I rip out their tongue and take it with me. No tongue = no speak. Speak with dead should be used to find out supporting information i.e. "who do you think might have you killed?". Teleport can be blocked by strong magical or natural energy - that's what the spell says. Let it work on the BBEG's minions - which is good for the players, they get to feelk good about things. Other times (for the BBEG), it fails because of the strong natural or magical energy. A Waterfall is a strong natural energy as is a Volcano - caves in (or behind) either of those can trivially be defined by the referee as no-teleport. Doen't matter how familiar you are with it. You can defined areas of your world as having strong magical energy and BBEG site their HQ there. No Teleport allowed. Fly. Very problematic spell. Have to fix in game. Chenge the spell so that it requires a material component of a Broomstick (at 5th) or a Carpet (higher level caster = bigger caepet). That can help some. Save or XXXXX spells. Generally these things suck. Equip BBEG's with 1 off automatic-dispells vs these effects. Minions just get to suck it up and die. Heck as the GM you determine the effect of what players do simply say BBEG makes his save vs takeouts. For most spells it's not too hard to solve thing, providing you remember that people in the world know "something" about magic. Minions and stupid people fall afowl of it. BBEG and smart people use it to their advantage more. This lets magic be more effective against mooks and less effective against the BBEG [/QUOTE]

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