Surprised by a ritual

[MerricB]

During our play of Demon Queen's Enclave yesterday, Greg, who is playing a dragonborn cleric, suddenly decided to use a ritual. Which one? Last sight vision[/url], allowing him to see the last thing seen by a set of bones the party had discovered.

Given how little the group has been using rituals, it was a surprise - I didn't even realise he had it. However, it provided one of those great moments that D&D occasionally gives us: the corpse had been a member of a merchant caravan travelling through the Underdark when it had been overwhelmed by ghouls from a nearby hidden passage. So, Greg got to see where the ghouls came from as well of the nature of the threat, which made the entire encounter run a lot easier for the party.

(Don't try to look for this encounter in the adventure; this is something I added based on the module's advice to make travelling through the Underdark something special).

Rituals are slowly gaining traction in our group. I would still like a few more fun utility powers, but both Comprehend Languages and Enchant Magic Item have seen use, and I think more will appear as we get better acquainted with them.

Cheers!

 

[Filcher]

That's funny, I was just checking this out:

Goodman Games

Rituals are gaining traction in our group, too. Looking forward to adding some variety and spice.

 

[the Jester]

Funny you should say this- the party imc has really picked up their use of rituals since about 8th level or thereabouts, too.

I was just re-reading DQE today- what a great module!

 

[Gothmog]

My players have really taken to rituals- I see about two or three used per session. I also place residuum as treasure in adventures, or materials specific for certain rituals. Favorites include Last Sight Vision, Explorer's Fire, Animal Messenger, Comprehend Languages, Gentle Repose, Make Whole, Seek Rumor, Undead Ward, Hand of Fate, Knock, Magic Circle, and Object Reading. Especially in the group I run that has five new players, they use rituals all the time (both a wizard and cleric in that group).

What I really like about rituals is the group has them when they need them, and don't have to devote spell "slots" to fun utility and roleplaying powers. They have also been pretty creative with their ritual use, and have taken several adventures in ways I didn't anticipate. They still have their combat capabilities, AND the ability to use the non-combat related spells. Its a win-win situation!

 

[Almacov]

One of my favourite parts about the Ritual Casting system is that anyone can take Ritual Casting, or even a more advanced version from a class feature, with just a feat (or Multiclass feat).
I think this opens the doors for some really cool character concepts.

 

[Pseudonym]

One of my favourite parts about the Ritual Casting system is that anyone can take Ritual Casting

My eladrin warlord is picking it up next level. I've already done a ritual from a scroll as his Arcane is far and away higher than anyone else in the party. The trick now is to think up thematically appropriate rituals for a warlord to learn. I'm really loving this change from prior editions.

 

[Stalker0]

Funny you should say this- the party imc has really picked up their use of rituals since about 8th level or thereabouts, too.

I noticed that my party started using rituals towards the paragon levels. I think at that point, lower level rituals start looking cost effective.

I also made a few adjustments to rituals, wizards in my game can do one free ritual per day if the ritual is arcana based and is at least 5 levels lower than the wizard.

I also dropped 10 minute casting time rituals to 1 minute casting time, mainly just to satisfy flavor more than mechanical needs.

 

[Jack99]

My players have been using rituals a lot. At least 2-5 per session.

 

[wedgeski]

I encourage the use of rituals by dropping reagents quite regularly, or allowing the wizard to "farm" reagents from in-place effects like teleportation circles, magical traps, and the like, depending on the result of an Arcana check. The message is slowly getting through.

 

[Nebulous]

My group doesn't use rituals very often, maybe every three sessions one might be used. If that. I think they just get forgotten. But i was also looking at that Book of Rituals from Goodman, so i'll pick that up and i think i'll start dropping them more heavily into the campaign.