Gate

[Tiberius]

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...

Heh. I think they'd hurt me if I tried that.

Res/True Res only works if they can get their hands on the body. If the BBEG Gates the party mage to her location where she, assisted by a bunch of her buddies, dispatches him, then sticks the corpse in her handy Portable Hole, his friends are kinda out of luck.

-Tiberius

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Res/True Res only works if they can get their hands on the body. If the BBEG Gates the party mage to her location where she, assisted by a bunch of her buddies, dispatches him, then sticks the corpse in her handy Portable Hole, his friends are kinda out of luck.

Nope. True Res works without a body and you can always Wish the remains back if you had to.


Cheers,

A'koss.

 

[Tiberius]

Nope. True Res works without a body and you can always Wish the remains back if you had to.

True Res still needs the body. It can do the job if it doesn't exist anymore, but according to the SRD:

Target: Dead creature touched

...This spell can even bring back creatures whose bodies have been wholly destroyed, provided the character unambiguously identifies the deceased in some fashion (reciting the deceased’s time and place of birth or death is the most common method).

So it looks like they've gotta burn 5,000 XP, which is tough without their mage. Of course, I suppose Miracle would work just as well.

-Tiberius

 

[Artoomis]

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

Assuming the creature called is not unique and is not more than twice the caster's hit die, either of the above scenarios works just fine.

Of course, the creature called is free to do whatever it likes after going back from whence it came - including, perhaps, using a gate to come back and visit the caster to remind the caster that gates should only be used for a really good reason.

 

[Hypersmurf]

True Res still needs the body.

I agree, but you'll find it's a hotly-disputed interpretation, that comes down to your reading of the word "even".

-Hyp.

 

[Otterscrubber]

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.

I have to agree with this althoguh honestly it seems to hamper a good caster. Evil casters are not likely to worry about forcing others to do their work for them, but good casters have to worry about it. Summoning something, even of your alignment, and commanding it to do something is kinda evil, except in rare situations where it might want to help you for purposes of storyline. Evil caster however are free to summon evil demons and force them to do evil things they might be inclined to do anyway.

As far as them gating back and punishing the caster, isnt there some kinda rule stating that demons and such cant just get to the material plane, they have to be invited or something? Just curious.

 

[Kraedin]

As far as them gating back and punishing the caster, isnt there some kinda rule stating that demons and such cant just get to the material plane, they have to be invited or something? Just curious.

Not anymore. It left with 2nd edition. However, as only the bebilith has the innate ability to plane shift, I wouldn't worry to much about it.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Not anymore. It left with 2nd edition. However, as only the bebilith has the innate ability to plane shift, I wouldn't worry to much about it.

I would. What do you think the Pit Fiend does when he gets back to his office in the Nine Hells? Calls up a pack of bebeliths to make sure his next conference call with Asmodeus is not interupted.

Really, I think Gate is far more useful for good casters, depending. If you're of high-enough level to cast Gate in the first place, then many of your toughest battles will probably be against the Forces of Evil. Gate in a Solar, and kindly beg her assistance in the battle against Evil. She'll probably agree. After all, you're talking about the forces of Evil. So long as you don't Gate her in for anything trivial, but only life-and-death struggles, you should be fine.
'
The evil caster Gating in the Pit Fiend is in trouble, though. No matter how many gold dragons the sorcerer allows him to slaughter, that Pit Fiend is still going to resent being brought into a battle at the sorcerer's whim. Most likely, he's going to send bebiliths.

If you want something where you can control the creatures willly-nilly, go with Summon Monster IX and choose a few heavy-hitters like Elder Earth Elementals, dragons, etc. But if you want a Really Big Gun for the really tough battles, Gate is the way to go, IMO.

 

[Kraedin]

Note: Bebiliths are demons who hunt and kill other demons. High-ranking devils can't boss them around. Nor can high-ranking demons, for that matter.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A'koss

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

Isn't this like a DM who abuses harm?

Anyway, IMC there are only 12 solars, and since someone else is always gating them they're unavailable.