Limitations of Teleport

[Schmoe]

So, I was re-reading the spell descriptions of the Scrying and Teleport spells, deep in thought about the prevalence of the Scry/Teleport tactic that seems to dominate high-level play, when I came across an interesting passage in the Teleport spell that I was unaware of:

"Areas of strong physical or magical energies may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible."

Booya. Right there in the spell description, DM fiat is granted to prevent teleporting at their judgment call, even without resorting to Rule Zero. Although overuse of this limitation would strain credibility, at least I can now rest easy that if I really don't want my PC's teleporting someplace, I don't have to scramble to think up a reason that they can't.

Anyway, this passage has allowed me to breathe a little easier, and perhaps it will help some other DM who wasn't previously aware of it.

 

[Schmoe]

Oh yeah, one more thing. I also think the Scry DC's listed with the Scrying spell are ridiculously low, and I've decided to increase the difficulty by +10 across the board. Now PC's will actually have a reason to try to obtain pictures or personal effects of those they scry, and scrying on an unknown person is actually a difficult affair.

 

[reapersaurus]

Anyway, this passage has allowed me to breathe a little easier, and perhaps it will help some other DM who wasn't previously aware of it.

Good post, but I'm wondering:
Why should a DM be worried if he denies the players a tactic that severely impacts their gaming experience in a bad way?

 

[James McMurray]

Reaper:

You mean like banning spells altogether, such as Polymoorph Other?

Just had to razz you a bit, its been too long since we argued over my campaign.

 

[Piratecat]

This limitation on teleport is a direct descendent of D1-3, the drow modules by Gyxax. Once you got underground a fair distance, you couldn't teleport farther than the cavern you were currently standing in. The immense pressure of the earth, and the odd magical radiations, limited teleport. It was done to make the players feel more stranded, so that they couldn't simply teleport back to fresh air, sunshine, and clean sheets every evening.

 

[drothgery]

If I ever run a high-level 3e campaign, I'll do a write-up for 'teleport block' spells, which unofficially exist in my high-level 2e campaign. I'm not quite sure how to word them, but the idea would be that

- a 5th-level spell blocks Teleport into and/or out of an area about the size of a room (level-dependent, probably) for a period of time
- a 7th-level spell blocks Teleport, Teleport Without Error, and Teleportation Circle into and/or out of an area about the size of a room (level-dependent, probably) for a period of time
- a 9th-level spell spell blocks Teleport Without Error and Teleportation Circle into and/or out of an area about the size of a mansion (level-dependent, probably) for a period of time
- all of these spells can be made Permanent

 

[RangerWickett]

I just had a form of magical rock that was a teleportation magnet, and a divination sink. One important tomb was surrounded by shards of the stuff for miles in every direction, so you couldn't scry on it, and you couldn't teleport into it (you'd be redirected to the nearest rock in your path). The builders of the tomb had set up very specific conditions that they wanted people to experience as they journeyed to the tomb, as it was supposed to be a giant warning of the dangers of magic being abused.

Of course the PCs were able to get around some of the restrictions, and they even took some of the rock along with them, and used it as a tactic against one villain, stopping him from teleporting to safety.

But they already have dimensional anchor, and dimensional lock. You could make those permanent if you want. I think in the future, though, I don't like easy access teleportation, so I'll just get rid of the 5th level teleport, and just go straight to teleport without error.

 

[pontus]

The Book of Eldritch Might contains the spell Teleport Block. You may want to check it out.

 

[Memory]

There's also a spell in the Manual of the Planes called Zone of Respite that blocks any dimensional travel in its area of effect.

 

[Broken Fang]

We do this know in most important areas: temples/shrines/etc. Dwarves can imbue the earth and stone around them, elves do the same thing with the living earth around them, plus spells like teleport block that have been created in defense of teleportation.
Once parties reach high level, they can scry, turn invisible / reduce / fly around to recon, any number of things to circumvent a well laid out defense. The DM could have permanent dispells, lanterns of revealing, dogs, etc, etc, etc...but does that fit the realm of reality? At high levels it is possible that PC's can use spells to get around almost anything...if this is what you want great...if not why not make a counter to spells? It happens now and has always happened in warfare...better offense...new defense....repeat!