The last sentence spoils the fun

[ssampier]

...

Anyway, I just had an instance of that tonight. One of those "I cast grease, then light it on fire" kids from ye olde days. He kept insisting that he could light grease on fire and flambe the baddies with ease.

My 2e group still does that. I think we have been arguing at least for 10 years whether grease is flammable.

 

[cougent]

I have found it a universal truth among D&D mage/priest Players. They always fail to read the last sentence of the spell description. Spells seem to be worded like this:

Have you witnessed this phenominon?

Quasqueton

I think this results from the players buying the "special" edition players handbook that *does not have* the last sentence to any spells. That must be it, because it does seem to be a universal thing that covers all schools and domains of spells.

One game session I just decided to turn the tables, pulled out some new book that I had just acquired, picked a few select spells and conveniently neglected the negative elements and assigned them to some evil NPC opponents. Almost immediately the players started doubting the effects of these spells with "it can't do that" or "are you sure it does that?". Because they had heard me say the same things so many times, they quickly figured out exactly what I had done and were both miffed and embarrased at having the roles reversed. After that night it became a rare event instead of a usual event... for both of us!

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Oh yeah, got one guy, serious power-gamer. Always mis-reads the spells/feats/etc. Been gaming with him for 20 years. He also does the "delay death" die hard combo. I just rule that when he hits -10 he ceases to be able to move due to too many broken bones and cut sinews, ruptured muscles.

As for grease: hell guys, grease burns. It does a whopping 1d3 damage for one round. Spell effect over.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think these days, the fun spoiler is often in the spell description above the written text.

There it says things like "Target: Self", "Range: Touch", "Duration: 1 Round", "Casting Time: 3 rounds" and all these pesky things that make a spell radically less useful than it first appeared.

We have 2 new players in our group, and one of them played a Cleric. He used Divine Power to buff the other new players character. The rest of the players didn't really know what he done (they were not part of the regular party yet, and a lot of communication went along small "DM letters"). But after the encounter, I specificaly asked which spell it was, looked it up again (just be sure), and pointed out that the spell was "Target: Self"...

 

[TerraDave]

casting time...components...(non) stacking...general "(miss)interpretation" of the spell description...general ommission from the spell description...

It has basically been a per session thing for basically all sessions over the years.

But I am sure 4th ed will fix it.

 

[DevoutlyApathetic]

Anyway, I just had an instance of that tonight. One of those "I cast grease, then light it on fire" kids from ye olde days. He kept insisting that he could light grease on fire and flambe the baddies with ease.

I would eventually hand them a stick of butter and a match and tell them to produce some flame from just that.

 

[wingsandsword]

Another example of one line in the spell description making it useless. . .

Back in the 2e days, I was playing a Wizard (actually, only the 2nd D&D game I'd ever played in, and the first wizard), and I'd just got Conjure Elemental rolled as my 5th level spell.

So, the first time we get into a fight, I was itching to bring down an Earth Elemental on somebody, so I start casting. . .

The DM reminds me of the casting time, "1 Turn", and for those who don't remember AD&D, that means 10 Rounds. So, I spend the whole fight casting my spell and by the time it's cast the fight is over.

The whole experience turned me off of summoning spells in D&D, I never got into the habit of using summoned monsters after that.

 

[wingsandsword]

Anyway, I just had an instance of that tonight. One of those "I cast grease, then light it on fire" kids from ye olde days. He kept insisting that he could light grease on fire and flambe the baddies with ease.

I remember those days, but at least then the DM I played with required you to use special components with a Grease spell for it to be so flammable (a small chunk of brimstone from Baator as I recall).

 

[Jhaelen]

Our group has a player who tends to overlook or misread spells -- he tends to play sorcerers. He doesn't make these mistakes intentionally, his mind just somehow interprets things differently from the printed word.

One of my players is a similar case - he tends to play druids, though. I doubt he's trying to cheat but he seems to be in a continous state of confusion and forgetfulness, so I'm always wary of his assertions.

 

[Warren Okuma]

Hmm... once every other session for us.