I need feedback from experienced DM's

[Mr Fidgit]

O.K.

i still stand by 2 things:

ask him for a comprehensive list (sooner rather than later), and

invite him to ENWorld!

 

[Piratecat]

Holy cow! You're trying the ToEE without fully enabled spellcasters? The last thing your DM has to worry about is that the PCs are going to romp over the opposition. It sounds like he's very much in a low magic, 2nd ed. mindset. That's okay, but not of he's running the Temple as written; it was balanced expecyting the group to have the normal (according to the DMG) amount of magic items and power. A 12th lvl party with no magic is more like a 9th or 10th lvl party in terms of power.

What is your opinion on this, is the wizard really too good? And where do I find this high-level story hour stuff?

The wizard is well balanced. It's the cleric that is slightly more powerful than any other class, although this is somewhat arguable.

Since you asked about story hours, I'll tell! The forum is here. High level story hours include:

- Piratecat's story hour, high level mayhem in a highly political city. Lots of back story.

- Wulf's Story Hour. Following the Adventure Path modules from start to finish, this follows one PC as he rises in levels.

- Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Need I say more?

Poke around in there, and read the ones you like! And hopefully, you guys can steal some ideas. Don't be afraid to ask the authors specific questions about how things balance out.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

We have already had 21 or so deaths and we're only halfway through.
Consequently, every difficult encounter has boiled down to one of three: 1) Everyone else goes full defense, hoping my wizard will be able to kill the enemies with Hasted Ice Bursts before we all die; 2) We are forced to retreat using Dimension Doors and Wall of Force; 3) Near-TPK. I'm afraid this has made it look like the wizard is an unbalanced class. What is your opinion on this, is the wizard really too good? And where do I find this high-level story hour stuff?

first of all: ouch. secondly, damn!

i don't think the wizard (class) is too good, i think they're too smart! when the fighters and clerics are running toward the danger, and the rogue is trying to flank the danger, the wizard rests as far away as possible and does his job from there!

if your group doesn't have time for an identify spell, you should try and figure out your items by using them. just make sure the cleric has plenty of remove curses ready!

(btw, i don't know anything about RttToEE, so that wasn't a hint, or anything)

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Well, it would certainly be a good idea to simply talk with your Game Master about why he wants to ban these specified spells. In my own campaign, I haven't banned those particular spells, because I have no problems with them, and they do not conflict or disrupt the world that I have created. I have, however, banned Harm, Resurrection, Raise Dead, and Reincarnate. I want death to be more or less permanent, and I want it to really mean something when someone dies--not have it be a casual set back that the players can remedy by a quick trip to the local temple. I have also changed alignment detecting spells, because I don't want players making simplistic decisions and base assumptions because the character they are looking at checked out as "evil" on the alignment radar.

So, he may have some very good design reasons, flavour reasons, and so on, as to why he wants to ban those particular spells. I would suggest that even if you disagree with his reasoning, go along with it, and enjoy the campaign within the design limits that the Game Master is comfortable with. Remember, banning such spells are often inherently balanced because the villains don't have them to use either, so there isn't anything "missed" by those spells absence. They simply don't exist.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Ormraxes]

Haha, both your posts really made me laugh. That's so rare these days. I could add that my total treasure probably amounts to something like 20,000 gp, but I can't say for sure since I don't know the value of those unidentified items (there's 2 of them). This is because we have lost enormous amounts of treasure when we got near-TPK'ed. Also, when my friends start their new characters they will only get stuff that amounts to 10% of what an NPC at that level has. I'm also struggling with Monte Cook's optional rules for tumbling and combat casting. Basically the monsters oppose my concentration roll with their attack bonus, which makes it a pain to cast spells near giants and dragons. In our favour it has to be said we get really good stats to compensate. I actually had two unmodified starting 18's. I will be sure to check out the story hours, though probably not tonight, as it's getting late in these parts of the world.

 

[Nightfall]

I'm playing a wizard, and my DM has started what I'm afraid will develop into a spell-banning spree. I recently reached level 12 and so far the only 6th-level spells he has banned are Antimagic Field and Project Image. But when I told him about the 7th-level spells I intend to choose at level 13 I was told that several of them would probably be banned. Ethereal Jaunt, Limited Wish, Simulacrum, and Spell Turning were all deemed too much of a problem. And this is just from the PHB. Our DM has always been very reasonable, but all the new stuff in 3rd Edition has put the fear of god in him.

So if you have DM'ed a high level campaign I would like some feedback. Which of these spells, if any, are broken in your opinion? I should probably add that this is a generic campaign, with normal amounts of magic.

None of them. Course I have yet to RUN a campaign that high yet, but I hope to get there soon.

 

[Ormraxes]

Welcome to my thread, SHARK and Nightfall. Your spell bannings are actually very similar to what we have always talked about ourselves in 2nd Edition, SHARK. But we never got around to implementing them, mainly (I think) because the lack of Raise Dead would make it too easy to lose our favorite characters. And back in the 2nd Edition days it took us ages to get to around 9th to 11th level, even with "XP padding". And I can understand the banning of these spells, as this is a question of campaign flavour. But my concern is that the spells banned in our campaign may not be banned for the NPC's (and maybe not even for the PC clerics), and it's really going to hurt when I get my spells Spell Turned.

 

[Nightfall]

After reading more about your Dm, I'm convinced he's doing more for HIS benefit than yours. Admittedly I won't QUICKLY reward my parties BUT I do expect SOME role play as well as combat to keep them interested. That said, I don't see WHY any DM worth his salt WOULD do something like post about how funny each character death was. One or two fine. But I REALLY think it's unfair to you AND the rest to suffer like this. If he's THAT nervous about his power in the game, I don't consider him worthy to be a DM. Part of the fun of BEING a DM is watching the character EVOLVE. Limiting your evolution limits the fun if you ask me.

 

[Ormraxes]

Actually, the player deaths page is only a small part of a larger site with maps and info about Greyhawk. And I assure you there's nothing malicious about it. It started when we had our first real death, because the circumstances were very funny. Suffice it to say that because of a screw-up on the dead players part (and mine) we all laughed our heads off. And many of the quotes and nicknames we invented ourselves. But I'd like to ask one question, since I got the impression from Piratecat's reply that RttToEE is really hard. I don't want any spoilers, of course. But based on the information I have posted in this thread, are we toast when we enter the inner fane and/or the old temple excavation?

 

[Nightfall]

In my opinion? Yes.