Let's ban Teleport!

[Thanee]

@Li Shenron: Yeah, as I said somewhere, Resurrect has a very high impact on a gaming world (so this is usually simply ignored).

I also considered to add a hefty price to Teleport, but I think it's better to just remove it altogether, or at least push it to very high levels.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

teleport block and teleport redirect are in Monte Cook's Book of Eldritch Might, ...

BoEM is not D&D. Is it now required to use non-D&D sources to make D&D work properly?

Besides, it doesn't change this "problem", just limit it in some (very few) cases, unless you encounter these rare spells all the time and everywhere.

Teleport still is a force, that dominates campaign play (and in some ways destroys atmosphere (in some situations, it also creates atmosphere, it's not like Teleport is all bad, just sometimes it is)), to such an extent, that there are specific countermeasures necessary, because it is so dominant! That's more of a proof to what I am saying, than anything else.

Bye
Thanee

 

[starkad]

IMO - Don't ban anything. I like options. Removing it from a book makes it so nobody can use them, and a lot of people *LIKE* teleport, even if only in certain campaign styles. Don't forget, the core books are more like guidelines, and GMs are encouraged to remove anything they deem innappropriate for their games.

I mean heck, I loathe psionics with a passion, but I don't ask to have them banned, or removed from the Eberron campaign book. Options are gud!

 

[Thanee]

Note, that I do not propose to ban it completely, just for some specific campaigns.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

What if we bring Teleportation spells into the LotR epic?

One thought crossed my mind, which would also explain the difference between teleport and movement enhancing stuff (like giant eagles ).

The Fellowship chose to go by foot, because it is a very unsuspicious way to travel. They wanted to get as close as possible without being detected.

If they were seen as a threat, there would be too much obstacles in their way, because Sauron simply has the better resources there.

That's why they didn't use horses, or giant eagles, even though the option surely was there.

Now, if they had teleportation magic available. Who cares for being detected, he only has seconds to react (surely fewer than when Frodo moves up to Mount Doom by foot, once he has been detected inside the stronghold).

But that's only a sidenote, as stated a few times already, I'm not looking to recreate the LotR feel or atmosphere, this is a much more general topic.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have to fault the DM, it is his/her job to direct the players and if they give out the spells without thought and foresight, then come back with whines about its use...sorry.

The players have to copy the spell (adventure?), then learn the spell (DC15 + level of spell). Oh, cleric of travel you say, god gives spell, yea maybe in dire need but really says see the world, travel the highways only way to see anything.

The teleport has loop holes built into it as stated above: Physical and Magical. This could be why it would not work in LotR, BBEG would know and be on you before you knew it, teleporting to your location! In the Underdark, the radation and darkness (unable to see). A DM can easily say 'teleport is a beacon on the ether plane, this means there is a chance (random encounter) of something being attracted to that beacon', after a few attacks, players may hold off.

You do not have to do away with a spell, you have options.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

I've been struggling with the "problems" of teleportation magic myself lately, for some of the same reasons thatThanee has, but also because teleportation magic just doesn't make sense to me in a typical pseudo-medieval D&D world. While everyone haggles over the mechanics of teleportation spells, I'm curious if anyone elses think that teleportation would simply alter the fundamental way in which a society develops and functions? Trade and exploration, the two foremost drivers of human cultural and technological advancement, would be changed so drastically that I simply cannot work out the society which would result. I find it hard to reconcile instantaneous transport over unlimited distances with some high fantasy world populated by peasants, questing knights and dragons.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Thanee]

@Hand of Evil: Like many others, you certainly misunderstand me here. I have no problems to deal with Teleport! I just think it shouldn't exist in some campaigns. That has nothing to do with foresight, but rather with campaign and setting considerations, and how the existance and easy access to Teleport would force changes to such settings. As I said, Teleport is a very campaign dominating force. Also there is the atmosphere disrupting nature of Teleport, which make some adventures (not only for low levels) rather pointless.

Also, I do not tell my players what spells to learn, they choose them freely (at least the free spells, if they want anything beyond that, they either have to go with what they find, or search for someone to teach the spell to them).

And the loopholes of Teleport are fine, but I would have more issues with constantly screwing teleportation, just because it doesn't fit well in the moment, than to make a clean cut and remove it from the beginning (not in the middle of a campaign, at the start).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

Oh, and for extra kicks... my considerations come from being a player more than being a DM, actually.

Bye
Thanee

 

[diaglo]

you have to learn to crawl before you can walk.

i ban walking.

the players have to crawl everywhere, beg for food & drink, and pay homage to the DM.