Spells that are annoying to DMs

[Gundark]

I thought a number of monsters were balanced with the assumption that the party would buff with protection magics. For example, without the party buffing beforehand or having Mass Resist Energy / Protection from Energy spells, dragons are likely to be higher CR than that stated in their description. You almost have to have protection from the appropriate element to survive those encounters.

To an extent this is true. I understand that technically CRs are designed with a balanced group in mine, however who actually plays with a balanced group? I think game designers take that into consideration as well. I hate it when the creature is designed around a certain energy type and only being effective becasue of that energy type. thus the spell dimishes the encounter.

 

[Sucros]

Phantom Steed. I played a Knight phantom in an eberron campaign, and while I loved the feel of the class, being able to move at jet speed at all times had that "too good to be fun" feel.

Evard's Black tenticles. THe game just stops.

Antimagic Field- Never actually dealt with it, hate it just because I'm tired of seeing how this interacts with various spells in other spell texts.

 

[William drake]

As stated in other boards....

healing spells, and resurections spells. All over used...and at times become way to easy to use or get.

 

[Deadguy]

Have the other NPCs keep those NPCs in the dark as much as possible. Cell system!

Yeah, I agree. it's also common sense for people doing secret or dubious things. However DMs want to showcase cool NPCs it seems, and then get upset if they're caught out.

 

[Someone]

Miracle - if treated by a PC as a divine utility spell just kept memorized to function as a 'anything 8th level of lower when I need it'. I'm pretty hard on this one, only letting it be used as such if the eventual use of the spell falls in line with their deity's dogma, the direct benefit of their god, or used in the direct service of defending their followers. Aka treat the spell with respect and keep it in perspective.

Until I arrived at these boards I understood the spell differently. Miracle says that you request a miracle - you say what you want, and then the god does whatever he pleases. He may cast the spell you asked for, or do something entirely different, within the power limits detailed in the spell description.

 

[Thanee]

Is this a joke? What is annoying about FtP?

Well, it makes certain adventures or parts of adventures pretty pointless. It thus requires you to run adventures differently, just because that spell is available, which is potentially annoying.

Bye
Thanee

 

[TarionzCousin]

Entangle: I've heard a few GMs cry out that this spell is "way too powerful" for level 1.

Yeah! Good point. I'm outlawing it in our Planescape Campaign.

\that spell saved our pc's lives twice, I think.
\\ps campaign starts with PC's at level 12.

One house rule I tried was to make Save or Dies into Save or 0 hp. Still scary, but not, "Oh, you failed your save? Roll up another character, sucker!"

This was the one suggestion I remember Monte Cook made after 3.5 came out: he wished that there were no 'save or die' actions in D&D (IIRC).

 

[Peni Griffin]

Most of these things are stuff you can do right back, or plan on. We have a DM who can ALWAYS think of a way to word the answer to a divination spell so as to render it completely useless.

Where is the McGuffin?

On the guy who stole it.

Where is he?

On his boat.

Where's he going?

Nowhere.

At what harbor is his boat?

I'm sorry, you are out of questions.

Yeah, that can be annoying, but it means the DM isn't letting us use divination spells to avoid good solid detective work.

One of the pleasures of playing a caster is finding ways to use spells to make your life easier. One of the pleasures of DMing is watching them do it, and then hoisting them on their own petards later by using their own applications against them. You have to admit, there's a rush to defeating a dragon with Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter despite his high saves. That all-or-nothing factor - it probably won't work, but if it does, it'll be so awesome! - gives a fillip to combat that mere damage dealing can't match.

Save-or-die does indeed suck dead bears. It always has. Poison used to work that way, too, back when I was starting out. It was simple, though.

The closest I've come to being annoyed at a spell my players used against me happened in CH 1 RHOD, twice. The party includes a cleric of Moradin who can cast 4th level spells. (Yes, I've beefed up the module to account for the higher level of the party.) Spike Stones is a 4th level Druid and Earth domain spell that transforms rocky ground and stone floors into longswords, basically - a 20-foot square per level deals 1d8 points of damage for every 5 feet of movement within it, and movement is reduced to half speed. If you fail your reflex save, you also sustain injuries to your feet and legs that slow your movement to 1/3. It lasts an hour per level, can be dispelled but not disarmed, and only a rogue who is actively looking has a chance of spotting it - DC 29. You can pin down a bunch of fighters with this really well, and because the people who can cast it are so few - how many clerics even have the Earth domain available to them? How many druids do you ever use as enemies? - it takes planning to turn the tables and use it against them.

This was frustrating, because the hobgoblins, minotaur, worg riders, and hellhounds that got hit by it could easily have killed themselves trying to get out of the AOE, had no way to see which way to jump to get out of it, and were caught without cover. They had no defense. This is realistic. Since some survivors of Skull Gorge Bridge escaped and can report on the spell that made the ground hurt, the Horde may evolve a defense against it. This is also realistic.

Every challenge is an opportunity.

 

[delericho]

Most of these things are stuff you can do right back, or plan on. We have a DM who can ALWAYS think of a way to word the answer to a divination spell so as to render it completely useless.

Where is the McGuffin?

On the guy who stole it.

Where is he?

On his boat.

Where's he going?

Nowhere.

At what harbor is his boat?

I'm sorry, you are out of questions.

Yeah, that can be annoying, but it means the DM isn't letting us use divination spells to avoid good solid detective work.

That sort of thing is a very quick way to have me walk out of your game. Those divination spells are not intended to be completely useless, and they should not be completely useless. By rendering them so, the DM is signalling that the only valid way to approach his adventure is to follow his linear plot. In which case, he should just read us the novel he wants to write.

What the DM should be doing is constructing his adventure such that it anticipates that the party make use of appropriate divinations. In fact, it should ideally be constructed such that only through the use of near-max level divinations can it be completed at all, while the use of the highest-level divinations available make it easier to accomplish (since such use represents other powerful spells that the party could have used instead, but now can't).

Challenge the party's capabilities, don't just nerf them. (And, if you absolutely have to nerf them, just be upfront about it. Don't allow the spells and then twist them into uselessness.)

All IMO, of course.