Rope Trick & Gelatinous Cube

[Tiew]

Just to clarify, they will be dealing with a group of intelligent opponents trying to assasinate them. I was just wondering what intelligent enemies with access to magic would do if they came into the room where the PCs were staying and saw it empty. I woulnd't throw random cubes around, but I think the arguments against cubes are pretty solid.

I don't want to screw them over, I just want to force them to be clever against opponents. It would be very cool if they did stuff like renting one room and then secretly moving to another or found other ways to keep themselves safe at night. I just want it to have to involve more thinking than just using a 2nd level spell.

Hope that explains my position better. Thanks for explaining why the cube wouldn't work.

Tiew

 

[smetzger]

Yes detect magic can find the location of a rope trick.

 

[Scion]

Since scents will likely cross the boundary then that is another good way to find it.

Also, if sounds cross the boundary (which would also seem likely) then the cube may very well sit just beneath it for hours.. after all, they arent exactly very bright

 

[Felix]

Detect Magic will show a weak (2nd level) Transmutation (?) spell aura in effect; it will not tell them that a) the party is there or b) they are definitely using Rope Trick. If you want intelligent enemies to employ anti-Rope Trick tactics against the party it means that someone will have to walk into the room with either See Invisibility or True Sight up, otherwise they will not know.

A Detect Magic could lead to someone casting See Invis, but it would not produce the best tactics automatically.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Detect Magic will show a weak (2nd level) Transmutation (?) spell aura in effect; it will not tell them that a) the party is there or b) they are definitely using Rope Trick. If you want intelligent enemies to employ anti-Rope Trick tactics against the party it means that someone will have to walk into the room with either See Invisibility or True Sight up, otherwise they will not know.

Actually, a detect magic and a DC 22 spellcraft check is probably sufficient to work out what the spell is. Although I'm not sure whether seeing a spell's aura counts as "being able to see or detect the effects of the spell".

 

[Felix]

Although I'm not sure whether seeing a spell's aura counts as "being able to see or detect the effects of the spell".

What are the spell effects?
-Causes a rope to rise up into the air.
-Creates a 3ft by 5 ft invisible window at the top of the rope.
-Creates a non-dimensional space that you can't see into even if you can see the window.

The only non-invisible spell effect is the rope, and that can be brought up into the rope trick. I'm telling you, you needs must be able to see invisible things to form plans to thwart a rope trick.

 

[mmu1]

I think the fundamental problem with summoning the gelatinous cube in the spot where the Rope Trick was cast is that there's no way it'd work unless the player were cutting it really close in terms of spell duration - I mean, you want to leave, so you throw out the rope, which... just plops onto something gelatinous instead of extending down to the ground. Kind of a dead giveaway.

 

[Piratecat]

You'd have a very hard time convincing me that detect magic wouldn't detect the invisible window hanging in mid-air. It detects invisible things too, just very slowly (giving the invisible person a chance to move out of range), and this is no different.

Anyways, if the bad guys know that the group is in a rope trick, a herded gelatinous cube may be overkill. Just build a huge roaring bonfire under the spot and gather quite a bit of firewood. They have to come out sometime.

 

[Felix]

You'd have a very hard time convincing me that detect magic wouldn't detect the invisible window hanging in mid-air. It detects invisible things too, just very slowly (giving the invisible person a chance to move out of range), and this is no different.

I can't believe I'm saying this...

Sorry PC but I have to disagree with you here. Detect Magic will not tell you a Rope Trick is functioning in the area, nor will it show you an invisible window. What it will do is:

1st Round: Tell you there is a magical aura present in the room.

2nd Round: Tell you how many auras are present. It will also tell you the strength of the Rope Trick aura, but only if Rope Trick is the most powerful magic aura in the room.

3rd Round: If the Rope Trick is the most potent magical effect in the area of effect (and that possibly includes the NPC's gear) then it will tell the caster there is a Faint Transmutation aura in the room.

And that's it. No invisible window, no non-dimensional space, nothing else; it won't even tell you if it's Arcane or Divine.

But that does not mean that a wizard couldn't think: "Hmmm, a 0 to 3rd level Transmutation spell. I know they were in here... *spellcraft check* ... it might be Rope Trick since no other 0 to 3rd level spells would make sense. I'll just cast See Invisibility and find out if that invisible window is actually there."

... *whew* ...
:embarassed/regretful smile at PC:

 

[Scion]

I think the fundamental problem with summoning the gelatinous cube in the spot where the Rope Trick was cast is that there's no way it'd work unless the player were cutting it really close in terms of spell duration - I mean, you want to leave, so you throw out the rope, which... just plops onto something gelatinous instead of extending down to the ground. Kind of a dead giveaway.

If they drop the rope down and it hits the cube then the cube will disolve the rope and thus end the spell which will cause the party to fall into the cube