Ninja-to
First Post
I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, though I'm having a hard time finding threads on it. Forgive me I'm new on these boards relatively speaking.
Anyway there are certain spells I consider overpowered. A recent problem I see arising is Silence.
It's a 2nd level spell capable of shutting down nearly all spells of a spellcaster, including the use of wands/scrolls etc. The 'Saving Throw - None' for an object makes it far too easy to cast it on a nasty lich (right in front of his head for example) and have it rendered spell-less. People have said before 'But he could just move', sure he could, but what happens when you corner said lich or magic using evil guy in a 20x20 room? It would seem that BBEG spellcasters would fear small spaces and thus have a nasty case of claustrophobia, just in case that pesky 3rd level cleric comes with his Barbarian buddy to wipe him out.
It's an exaggeration, but take it less extreme and say put up 10th level players against an 18th level lich. If they can corner it in a small space, the lich is completely boned (no pun intended). Ok, he can take feats etc to cast Silent spells, but the cleric is using up a 2nd level spell while the lich is wasting a far higher level spell slot, just to get out the way. Of course, the cleric can just cast silence again until the Lich has used up many of his higher level spell slots just to avoid the area.
The wording of the Silence spell is a little ambiguous. I'm going to get flamed here I think, but it's worth it. It says saving throw 'None' for objects, which is fine, but I rule that even though objects don't get saving throws, it doesn't mean creatures don't get their own saves if brought into the area. Just like a fireball cast on an area grants saving throws for all involved, while an unattended object gets no save. I know there's a difference, but I think it helps balance Silence.
Anyway there are certain spells I consider overpowered. A recent problem I see arising is Silence.
It's a 2nd level spell capable of shutting down nearly all spells of a spellcaster, including the use of wands/scrolls etc. The 'Saving Throw - None' for an object makes it far too easy to cast it on a nasty lich (right in front of his head for example) and have it rendered spell-less. People have said before 'But he could just move', sure he could, but what happens when you corner said lich or magic using evil guy in a 20x20 room? It would seem that BBEG spellcasters would fear small spaces and thus have a nasty case of claustrophobia, just in case that pesky 3rd level cleric comes with his Barbarian buddy to wipe him out.
It's an exaggeration, but take it less extreme and say put up 10th level players against an 18th level lich. If they can corner it in a small space, the lich is completely boned (no pun intended). Ok, he can take feats etc to cast Silent spells, but the cleric is using up a 2nd level spell while the lich is wasting a far higher level spell slot, just to get out the way. Of course, the cleric can just cast silence again until the Lich has used up many of his higher level spell slots just to avoid the area.
The wording of the Silence spell is a little ambiguous. I'm going to get flamed here I think, but it's worth it. It says saving throw 'None' for objects, which is fine, but I rule that even though objects don't get saving throws, it doesn't mean creatures don't get their own saves if brought into the area. Just like a fireball cast on an area grants saving throws for all involved, while an unattended object gets no save. I know there's a difference, but I think it helps balance Silence.
