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<blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 4739317" data-attributes="member: 53980">So why is it that it's okay for dragon flight to be explained away by magic but you can't have magic-infused lava that radiates less heat?&nbsp; Why is it okay for an anti-magic zone to suppress some magical effects but not others (beyond the fact that it would be so broken if beholders inside it couldn't do anything but flop around helplessly, dragons fell out of the sky, and golems deanimated)?Don't get me wrong, I think the room filling with lava trap/test was inherently very flawed (encounter hammering, DM didn't think the trap through, etc), but I think it has more to do with the DM than anything else.&nbsp; Magic is a very powerful dramatic tool in fantasy.&nbsp; If you want to have a fight over a pit of lava, then the cult currently inhabiting the volcano used rituals to reduce the radiant heat within so that the volcano could be habitable (and PCs can notice and decipher the runes used to enact this ritual using Arcana).&nbsp; Alternately, it could just be magic lava, prized by wizards for use in their eldritch research (which could also be why the cult chose this particular lair in the first place).I think the &quot;realism problem&quot; often has more to do with DMs who don't consider the basic justifications/reasons (5 W's) and implications of their settings than anything else.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Fanaelialae, post: 4739317, member: 53980"] So why is it that it's okay for dragon flight to be explained away by magic but you can't have magic-infused lava that radiates less heat? Why is it okay for an anti-magic zone to suppress some magical effects but not others (beyond the fact that it would be so broken if beholders inside it couldn't do anything but flop around helplessly, dragons fell out of the sky, and golems deanimated)? Don't get me wrong, I think the room filling with lava trap/test was inherently very flawed (encounter hammering, DM didn't think the trap through, etc), but I think it has more to do with the DM than anything else. Magic is a very powerful dramatic tool in fantasy. If you want to have a fight over a pit of lava, then the cult currently inhabiting the volcano used rituals to reduce the radiant heat within so that the volcano could be habitable (and PCs can notice and decipher the runes used to enact this ritual using Arcana). Alternately, it could just be magic lava, prized by wizards for use in their eldritch research (which could also be why the cult chose this particular lair in the first place). I think the "realism problem" often has more to do with DMs who don't consider the basic justifications/reasons (5 W's) and implications of their settings than anything else. [/QUOTE]

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