So, how do you keep'em from just 'porting away?

[WayneLigon]

Most times the area they are trying to get to might be just 'viewed casually' or 'viewed once', and I've seldom seen a party gamble that they'll make it even with a 75% chance.

Also, "Areas of strong physical or magical energy may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible." Pop a couple areas like that in the adventure area, have the mishap put them a half-mile up in the air or 25 miles underground in the Underdark. They usually won't have the spell prepared more than once, so now they have to get out of a worse situation than they left. Do that three or four times and they won't be so quick to pop out the ol' Teleportation spell.

If you want to go third-party, there are some nice spells in The Complete Book of Eldritch Might that specifically deal with teleport. One wards against teleport so it simply doesn't work, while another one redirects all teleports in an area to a place designated by the caster (so every person that teleports winds up in a water-filled cell with about an inch of breathing space in it or something).

 

[Felon]

Teleport is partially at that level so parties can start skipping the tedious random encounters likely to be encountered on long overland treks (not to mention skipping the tedious overland treks themselves). Its hard for a party of mid-to-high level adventurers to go on world-spanning missions if it takes them a month to get anywhere.

Teleport actually works the opposite way that you describe. Players still go on the trek to get somewhere if the wizard doesn't know exactly where to teleport to, which he usually doesn't, but once he's there he can whisk the party back to safety in a snap.

Wind walk is also a long-distance transportation spell, but it at least has some restrictions on how to keep it managable. Most divination spells have provisions made so that they can provide useful information, but can't be casually abused--usually by stating that the divination can't penetrate certain substances of a specified thickness. If a thin layer of lead blocked TP, it'd still be a good travel spell, or even a combat spell, but it could be blocked as a means of nigh-foolproof escape.

My advise would be that if the PCs can cast Teleport, start using a different sort of plot!

This is the advice that D&D's designers give, and it's lousy. It assumes DM's should run their campaigns according someone else's vision of how to play the game. And that vision is likely not to be compatable with a lot of DM's, because it's very narrow and not particularly representative of the fantasy genre as a whole. The onus of adaptability is entirely on the DM, and that's not healthy.

One answer is "lower levels," though that's probably not very useful at this point. It seems that in creating an adventure like that, the tantamount thing is that the PC's constantly feel the pressure around them. Rather than ban teleport, I'd make heavy use of scrying and teleporting NPC's. If the character can't go buy a round of drinks at the local tavern without mysteriously robed monsters porting in and killing him (perhaps that have had their tongues cut out, making them incapable of explaining themselves). The idea of being constantly watched, knowing at any moment your life could be in danger, and knowing that there is no safe place to go, because there's no way of telling how you are being scried...That's claustophobia and paranoia D&D style, AFAICT. Not trapping them, but finding out where they run to when they're trapped....

See, this is the sort of advice I'm expecting from Heroes of Horror. I have something I want to do that has only one or two hard-n'-fast requirements. The advice, to use the term loosely, is "well, you can't do that with D&D--it's too over-the-top, which according to our demographics is how everyone but you likes it--but you can do something else that we think is pretty cool..."

 

[clark411]

Were I to plan a mid-level dungeon with claustrophobia and fear in mind, I'd set up separation traps, and focus on many weaker encounters and environmental hazards. On the whole, by this point, being alone is about the only thing that adventurers are afraid of when it comes to dungeons (and with good reason). The party, individually, will have a much more frightening time handling even the most mundane obstacles, with the threat of "oh i'm gonna be dropped and dragged into a dark hole and never found and they'll never be able to raise me" bouncing through their heads. Also, "steering mid-level characters into danger" seems to translate as "having them interact with threats they might not be suited to deal with mechanically"... so it's great when you have the party cleric dealing with the room full of pit traps, or the wizard trying to bypass the golem, and the fighter tip-toe-ing past the giants. Otherwise they'll (rightfully) just shove the best guy for the job up front, and hope for the best- no extraordinary worry in that.

Mechanically, I don't have my book with me, but does forbiddance also work in terms of keeping wizards from teleporting out of areas, or only into areas? Wouldn't be much of a stretch to make up such a spell if not. Having magical turrets (can't recall the origin of them... Mini's Handbook?) toss Dimensional Anchors on players randomly each round in a major battle is sure to blow any hopes of escape.

A wall of force would also do fine in dealing with the party's teleport for the day. Wizard can see the other side clear as day, but can't get there without either a disintegrate or a teleport- pick yer 5th level spell and go.

Tactically, an ambush encounter (big hide skill, good environment) can easily divide a mid-level party sufficiently to cause Teleport to not be an immediately viable solution without the loss of a player. Scouts, rogues and rangers have the dubious honor of being the PCs who tend to have the Ninja Half Fiend Advanced Tauric Bulette Chokers pop out of nowhere between themselves and the party, so if the wizard ends up having to evacuate with a tear in his eye, that's their call to make. Splitting the party, and then putting major pressure on the wizard, does the trick.

Grappling also does. If you've ever had a Purple Worm treat a level 10 wizard like a lollypop, you may have seen the wizard's player sigh in relief that Teleport is Verbal Only. If you've given a purple worm the winged template, you're my kind of dm. ^_^

By the time the players start getting Teleport, it's good to inject the stereotypical archnemesis who they probably won't want to face, but has the capability to scry on them, lob Teleportation Circles of baddies to their location, and generally hound them. Although it's perhaps not claustrophobic as say, a 20x20 ft room filling with water, by the time characters get to 9th or so, it's a fine thing if they're feeling too easy to find and attack while on the Prime Material Plane. Wizards start clawing for plane shift at that point.

Really, although it might seem like a cop-out to say "as your players advance, either you deny them spells to fit what you want, or change your view to deal with mechanics" it seems that's the only advice that has any long term chances of working without rewriting the rules completely. Were we to come up with 50 ways to thwart this single spell, it'd still only work about 50 times before becoming repetitive- and is really just a round-about way of nerfing the spell anyway.

 

[Zappo]

Areas of strong magical of physical energies may make teleportation hazardous or even impossible. Set the adventure in a volcano or something like that.

Another strategy could be to stick the PCs with a bunch of people they have to protect. They won't be able to teleport everyone.

Or, you can have enemy spellcasters counterspell the teleports. Against wizards this is pretty good since they usually won't have more than one or two teleports prepared. Sorcerers with teleport are trickier.

This is the advice that D&D's designers give, and it's lousy. It assumes DM's should run their campaigns according someone else's vision of how to play the game.

Huh. The whole game is designed around a certain style of play. Come to think about it, that's true of every game on the face of the planet - at least of those that are any good.

If you want the perfect solution, ban teleport. Or, I dunno, give it a one minute casting time so that it is useless in combat. Don't demand that an unmodified game will do everything you want.

 

[frankthedm]

It seems that in creating an adventure like that, the tantamount thing is that the PC's constantly feel the pressure around them. Rather than ban teleport, I'd make heavy use of scrying and teleporting NPC's. If the character can't go buy a round of drinks at the local tavern without mysteriously robed monsters porting in and killing him (perhaps that have had their tongues cut out, making them incapable of explaining themselves). The idea of being constantly watched, knowing at any moment your life could be in danger, and knowing that there is no safe place to go, because there's no way of telling how you are being scried...
....
Steered into danger is as easy as a lying, swindling NPC (though that trick only works once or twice before Zone of Truth comes into play). And when the PC's start using magic, it's time for the villains to start doing the same thing...

Or have NPC's use potent magic against the PC's (nothing's more fearful than knowing your enemies outclass you).

Not everyone likes to run games of "the magical arms race" and "Whoever scrys, buffs and teleports first, Wins!.

Don't be afraid to slice out spells that don't fit the style of game you chose to run. No one spell should make or break a class.

As far as teleport goes, You do need to change it from the get go and don't forget to play fair and pull it from the monsters. Dimension door is good enough for a "verbal only" spell to get out of grapple with and for fiends to move about with "at will".

i recommend either 1E fatal mishaps or requiring teleport to transport between fixed places [stone-henges, faery rings, teleporter pads etc.]

Make sure you slice out or alter similar spells like plane shift and wind walk, which can do similar things.

don’t forget to add in cool conveyances that fit the style of game you want. Give me an airship over a teleport spell any day.

 

[MerricB]

One way of dealing with teleport is to have time-dependent adventures.

If the PCs *need* to save the princess before the day is out, they can't teleport home, rest, and then come back again.

Another way is to have them with no home base they can return to.

Cheers!

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Use creatures that can follow the PCs wherever they go. Many demons/devils/etc. can greater teleport all day long.

Make the goals of the game to defend something that can't be teleoported. Whole cities or villages, large cites of magical wonder (and power), etc. If the PCs up and leave, the bad guys will be able to achieve their nasty plans.

 

[Romnipotent]

a stone of teleport capturing that "summons" those teleporting out of the room.. into the room

 

[gizmo33]

According to the SRD, interplanar travel is not possible with teleport. So one idea is to set your adventure in a demi-plane or pocket dimension with one (or no) way out.

Another option is the develop wizard and cleric spells that ward an area from teleport (and probably astral travel, since I think the one includes the other). A villain who wanted to create a prison for high level people would probably ward the area, the same way he'd probably have fire resistance if he was afraid of fireballs.

 

[Thanee]

For claustrophobic, site-based adventures it's basically required, that some greater influence prevents the use of certain magics (i.e. like in Ravenloft where teleporting doesn't work, IIRC).

Bye
Thanee