My campaign has reached a new, exciting level.

[WizarDru]

Wasn't Wulf's Story hour where that came from? Or maybe The Liberation of Tehn?

Wulf gave us "Heward's Handy Bodybag'" and 'torch issues'.

Sep, or more appropriately Mostin the Metagnostic, gave us 'Scry and Fry', as far as I knew. (contact)'s LoT used 'Scry and SPY', as far as I know. The first time they used the phrase 'scry and fry' was 7/03, according to a quick search, and then it was a reader making a comment about the tactic the Liberators had just used. Sep gave us this little gem in 3/03, which is the first place I saw it:

"Mostin, however, had felt no such compunction. Griel had to go, before he could be effectively used as a tool by Graz’zt. Ortwin had concurred, and Iua had come along for kicks. Griel, a noted Evoker, never had a chance to evoke anything. His location determined, he had been Anchored, struck by two powerful sonics, and then ripped up by Ortwin, Iua, and the monstrosities that Mostin had brought with him. Scrying and Frying, as Mostin had come to know the process."

Which isn't to say they came up with it, but it was the first place I heard it, anywho.

 

[dravot]

Wise words, all. Case in point: we reached a new plateau in a recent session: the party cleric was in a pocket dimension called 'the library', created by the mage's guild. He was working on a magic item for the party's use, when some of the party fell under attack, about a quarter mile away. He used a Gate spell to instantly arrive on the scene. The party was alternately horrified and amused at such a turn of events. "Wait...did you just use a 9th level spell to save yourself a two rounds of travel?!?" Said the player, with a smirk: "Yup."

As the person who cast the Gate spell in question, I'm surprised that they were surprised. In combat, 2 rounds is for-ev-ar. I looked at my resources and decided that a 9th level spell to let me get into the fight was worth it. I had a 2nd Gate memorized that day, so the use seemed imminently practical. It's not like I used it to go to the Elemental Plane of Convenience Stores for a Squishy or anything.

WizarDru has it right...make them use their resources. Know the limitations of the spell and enforce them, but most importantly, let them use those resources, since they earned the right to use them.

 

[kigmatzomat]

If I were to offer any advice, it would be to start being a little more aggressive with encounters. The PC's now have the potential to pop back to town for supplies if they need them. They have the potential to travel across the nation to warn that outpost that a surprise attack will be coming. They have the potential to respond to any number of things. Start integrating those possibilities into your game. Don't be afraid to create situations that require those types of magic to solve.
.....
Finally, they realize the only solution is higher level magic and then they start to understand that they have earned their wings, in a manner of speaking.

This is exactly the tact to take. The last arc in my game gave the players 24 hours to get halfway across the country, get past the defenses of a very anti-social Tower of High Sorcery, either convince the residents to help them or fight through, and then use a mystic portal hidden under the tower to petition the gods for help in person.

They bought up two cities' available scrolls, potions and wands, teleported, rested, and buffed like mad. The encounter had consumed almost half their expendable magic items and daily spell allotments before even stepping foot on the Tower's grounds.

The kind of adventure that forces them to use their high level spells, think both tactically and strategically, and feel like they aren't just the target for the GM's ever-larger monster ammunition.