Questions about Gate

[James McMurray]

Ok, so I've got a sorcerer in my campaign who is a little under 4000xp away from getting Gate. The thing is, I can think of tons of evil things to do with it besides just summoning creatures and planar travel.

1) Opening a Gate to the Abyss in front of a charging foe. What would be the DC to avoid this? Reflex Save?

2) Cast Water Breathing, then Open a gate to the Plane of Water to flood the place.

3) When facing undead, open a gate below the surface of Mount Celestia's Ocean of Holy Water, the thing will either flee or be sizzled to death.

4) Gate to the Positive Material plane to heal up rather quickly, and even gain some temporary hit points. Of course, it requires two gates (since you want to return rapidly) but it can certainly be worth the effort if the cleric has managed to get himself squished.

What I would like from you fine people is ways to adjudicate these situations, and any other Gate-type areas you can think of.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Fade]

Same thing as the holy-water ocean, but try opening a gate to the paraelemental plane of magma, then teleporting out very rapidly. This trick could be demonstrated harmlessly using the paraelemental plane of ooze.

 

[gfunk]

Ok, so I've got a sorcerer in my campaign who is a little under 4000xp away from getting Gate. The thing is, I can think of tons of evil things to do with it besides just summoning creatures and planar travel.

1) Opening a Gate to the Abyss in front of a charging foe. What would be the DC to avoid this? Reflex Save?

2) Cast Water Breathing, then Open a gate to the Plane of Water to flood the place.

3) When facing undead, open a gate below the surface of Mount Celestia's Ocean of Holy Water, the thing will either flee or be sizzled to death.

4) Gate to the Positive Material plane to heal up rather quickly, and even gain some temporary hit points. Of course, it requires two gates (since you want to return rapidly) but it can certainly be worth the effort if the cleric has managed to get himself squished.

What I would like from you fine people is ways to adjudicate these situations, and any other Gate-type areas you can think of.

Thanks a lot!

1. This is a toughie. This stategy was also tried with a Prismatic Wall (ouch!). I think a Reflex Save at Gate's DC is fair, since a charging opponent is not a really common occurence.

2. I'm not sure if environmental effects would come through the Gate. I'm not sure if this is addressed in MoTP, but I would rule that the effects don't come through. For example, there could be permanent Gates to the Elemental Planes on the Prime but they would allow travellers through in either directions and not inclement planar conditions.

3. Good idea, but the DM may allow a Reflex save to avoid this (I would). A more foolproof strategy would be to cast Haste, then cast a 20' diameter Gate above the offender followed by Reverse Gravity.

4. Just remember that the Positive Material Plane has no air. Therefore, you cannot cast spells with verbal components. For this reason, sending enemy casters to the Negative Material Plane is a good idea. A silenced Teleport won't help...

 

[James McMurray]

Actually, I'm the DM, and I'm looking for help adjudicating. I also run the NPC sorcerer, so any fun Gate ideas would also be appreciated.

The positive plane has no air, but I will rule that both it and the Negative Plane allow for verbal components (as they are not true vaccuum, the atmosphere provided may not be breathable, but you can still take it in and talk with it). Of course, this assumes you aren't gasping for breath. . . Otherwise, as you say, Gate to the Negative Plane would mean that any creature could be killed practically without fail if you can send it to one of those Planes.

Also, I may lower the DC for the spell to avoid Gates in front of you, since it is not designed as an instant kill spell.

Thanks for the help, keep the ideas coming!