KarinsDad said:It's not just arcane casters and it's not just NPCs. Anyone who looks like they can get a spell (or psionic power or monster special attack) off is liable to be on the receiving end of the dogpile in our game (both by the PCs and by intelligent NPCs). Hit point damage from a combatant type can be easily healed. Spell, spell like, or supernatural effects sometimes take a lot more effort.
I wonder why a high level ambusher / surprise attacker isn't preparing a see invisiblity spell (or invisibility puge) then (or using UMD to cast it from scroll)?Yeah, you are probably right. In our games, if the NPCs even see someone dressed like they might be an arcane caster, it can become a dogpile and the guy in a funny hat moment! And hidden attacks often come from behind and in front of the party at the same time in an ambush. So, if our casters don't have a good AC, concealment or cover, lots of hit points, or some other way of avoiding melee death, they will be toast pretty quickly. And, even if they do have those things, it still sometimes means they go down (usually faster than anyone else).
Being dead due to hp damage takes the most effort to heal. Curses, Petrification, Temporal Stasis or what ever else as debilating effects you might come up with can be fixed without lasting penalties (like level or constutition loss) and usually cheaper, too.KarinsDad said:It's not just arcane casters and it's not just NPCs. Anyone who looks like they can get a spell (or psionic power or monster special attack) off is liable to be on the receiving end of the dogpile in our game (both by the PCs and by intelligent NPCs). Hit point damage from a combatant type can be easily healed. Spell, spell like, or supernatural effects sometimes take a lot more effort.
Mustrum_Ridcully said:Being dead due to hp damage takes the most effort to heal. Curses, Petrification, Temporal Stasis or what ever else as debilating effects you might come up with can be fixed without lasting penalties (like level or constutition loss) and usually cheaper, too.