Gate

[Otterscrubber]

I have a 17th level sorceror who is considering Gate as his 1st 9th level spell. I had some questions though. I find it odd that you can summon either multiple creatures, up to your HD or one kickass creature up to twice your HD. Why would I ever summon a bunch of weak creatures rather than a titan or solar?

Also, is there any enmity for summoning these creatures as with a Planar Binding? My sorceror is Chaotic Good so I thought that Titans would be appropriate thing to summon, but I was curious what the creature's opinon on being summoned is. Usually in the other summoning spells it seems to state if this spell upsets the creature, in Gate it does not. It does not say whether they server willingly or unwillingly, they are merely "controlled" which does not sound good. I would hate to use this spell if it upset the powerful creatures it summoned, especially if they are the same alignment as me.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Imagine, you are sitting at lunch, your children and/or your wife at your side, happily chatting.

Suddenly, a great vortex of arcana energy appears, and sucks you in ...

You reappear in an unknown place, and a creature that seems not much more than an insect says to you: "Hi, I am Galstaff, Sorcerer of Light. Er, could you please open this freaking big admantite door over there - it seems as if our rogue and my Knock Spell can`t open it"..

Compare this to the following:
[Same Beginning]
"Hi, I am Elminster, I am sorry to bother you, but unfortunately, this Demon Army over there is going to invade my world and spread chaos, destruction and disease all over it - I would be glad if you`d help me a few minutes, until we got the situation back in our hands. If we are fast enough, I might be able to offer you some of the finest tea of my world..."

Finally, it all depends on the situation at hand..

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Otterscrubber]

Hmm....good input and sounds fair based on the lack of consequence description in the spell. Sadly that makes it a bad choice for a sorceror as far as summoning things to help out goes as you would only cast it in a fairly limited number of situations unless you are unconcerned with celestial or demonic wrath. Still great for gettin around the multiverse though.

 

[A'koss]

One... interesting use of the Gate I've heard recently was using on a different plane than your target as a trap for your enemies.

If you know his name you can summon him through the gate - No Save, No SR. And since the range of the gate is decent you can open the gate into whatever instakill trap you can devise (50 ton crushing ceiling for example).


Cheers!

A'koss.

 

[Tiberius]

One... interesting use of the Gate I've heard recently was using on a different plane than your target as a trap for your enemies.

If you know his name you can summon him through the gate - No Save, No SR. And since the range of the gate is decent you can open the gate into whatever instakill trap you can devise (50 ton crushing ceiling for example).

The problem with that is that it invokes the as-yet-unresolved (AFAIK) question of what constitutes a unique creature, as unique creatures get saves. Do they mean unique as in there is but one of these beings in the entire multiverse, or do they mean unique as in the pit fiend Bar'thling, not Random Pit Fiend #413? I say the latter, but I am sure I will soon have people looking to show me the error of my ways.

-Tiberius

 

[A'koss]

The problem with that is that it invokes the as-yet-unresolved (AFAIK) question of what constitutes a unique creature, as unique creatures get saves.

I think I can clear this up. Unique creatures are things like the Tarrasque or a Fiend Prince. Tyric the Human Ranger isn't unique because humans aren't unique...

HTH,

A'koss.

 

[gfunk]

Check out my Story Hour (link below) ~ page 4 or 5 to see what happens when a NE sorcerer attempts to Gate in LG Solar. (Hint: not good )

 

[Tiberius]

I think I can clear this up. Unique creatures are things like the Tarrasque or a Fiend Prince. Tyric the Human Ranger isn't unique because humans aren't unique...

[EDIT]Hmm... never mind. A re-reading of the SRD text supports your interpretation. Seems kinda overpowered, though. There's no good reason for the foes of upper-level PCs not to pick them off one by one in this manner.

-Tiberius

 

[A'koss]

A re-reading of the SRD text supports your interpretation. Seems kinda overpowered, though. There's no good reason for the foes of upper-level PCs not to pick them off one by one in this manner.

It's your DM's uber-hand to play when the PCs are getting a little big for their britches.

Don't worry though, at those levels PCs will have access to Res/True Res and death is merely an annoyance...


Cheers,

A'koss.

 

[ruleslawyer]

True. Of course, I prefer to house-rule this far, far away.

IMC, gate confers no control whatsoever over the summoned creature. That's right, no control. The caster had better have a good relationship with the summoned being, a good way to enforce control, something really nice to offer, or a party member with a really good Diplomacy skill bonus.