Underpowered Spells
- Thread starter Cheiromancer
- Start date
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
I can see blur as being potentially useful at those levels but disagree with AC being useless/meaning nothing. It's difficult to get good ACs relative to your enemies attack bonusses at high levels but not impossible. I've seen a lot of 6th-8th level characters with normal combat ACs of 28 to 34 which is good enough that even their foes with the best attack bonusses usually need to roll well (usually 16+, 11+ for the upper range of attack bonusses and the lower range of armor classes) in order to hit them on their primary attacks. At higher levels, that can continue to rise and stay at a similar level. Of course characters can decide to put their effort, feats, spells, and treasure into offense instead of defense and have the kind of ACs that their foes hit on a roll of a two but that's their choice. . . .
The problem with blur is that, even in the latter case of a character who ignored defense almost entirely, a protection from evil spell will usually prevent almost as much damage (if the opponent needs to roll a 6 to hit (a rather ideal situation for blur), it only prevents 15% of the total damage the character would otherwise take (75% chance to hit x 20% miss chance) while the +2 AC from protection from evil will reduce the total damage taken by 10%) and has significant other advantages (including not being negated by true sight, blindsight, tremorsense, true strike, etc). Displacement is worthwhile at that point, but not, IMO blur.
The problem with blur is that, even in the latter case of a character who ignored defense almost entirely, a protection from evil spell will usually prevent almost as much damage (if the opponent needs to roll a 6 to hit (a rather ideal situation for blur), it only prevents 15% of the total damage the character would otherwise take (75% chance to hit x 20% miss chance) while the +2 AC from protection from evil will reduce the total damage taken by 10%) and has significant other advantages (including not being negated by true sight, blindsight, tremorsense, true strike, etc). Displacement is worthwhile at that point, but not, IMO blur.
Thanee said:
WelcomebackPotter
First Post
101 uses for a live horse
Mount? Weak? Are you kidding! It's one of the best 1st level spells, ever! And I'll tell you why. It's Monster Summoning on steroids, pulling a DC creature outside of the curve which comes with a staggeringly long duration. Let's see what uses we can come up with!
1) Ride it. Duh.
2) Bait! Ogres, Giants, Dragons ... everyone loves the taste of horse!
3) Distraction -- Let it run wild in an enemy camp.
4) Trap detection - Let it run down hallways in a dungeon.
5) 1st level Knock spell - It can kick open doors, or tie ropes or chains to it and pull gates down.
6) Seige Weapon - Nothing says "I love you" quite like summoning a horse on top of the ladder the bad guys are trying to climb.
7) Cover - Caught in the open and have nowhere to hide? A horse makes for a nice TaunTaun.
8) Money Machine - Ride it into town, sell it to a local, then cast again and ride away before the old one vanishes. Free money!
9) Flank Protection - Too many ways for the Goblins to flank you? Stand beside a Mount and cut your facings by a third!
10) Food - Meat on the hoof. Never need rations again, thanks to a night's worth of home-cooked hoofer.
And that's just off the top of my head.
Mount! It's what's for supper.
Mount? Weak? Are you kidding! It's one of the best 1st level spells, ever! And I'll tell you why. It's Monster Summoning on steroids, pulling a DC creature outside of the curve which comes with a staggeringly long duration. Let's see what uses we can come up with!
1) Ride it. Duh.
2) Bait! Ogres, Giants, Dragons ... everyone loves the taste of horse!
3) Distraction -- Let it run wild in an enemy camp.
4) Trap detection - Let it run down hallways in a dungeon.
5) 1st level Knock spell - It can kick open doors, or tie ropes or chains to it and pull gates down.
6) Seige Weapon - Nothing says "I love you" quite like summoning a horse on top of the ladder the bad guys are trying to climb.
7) Cover - Caught in the open and have nowhere to hide? A horse makes for a nice TaunTaun.
8) Money Machine - Ride it into town, sell it to a local, then cast again and ride away before the old one vanishes. Free money!
9) Flank Protection - Too many ways for the Goblins to flank you? Stand beside a Mount and cut your facings by a third!
10) Food - Meat on the hoof. Never need rations again, thanks to a night's worth of home-cooked hoofer.
And that's just off the top of my head.
Mount! It's what's for supper.
Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
the Jester said:
If you haven't disbelieved the spell, your finger doesn't go through it. That's the point of an illusion. And that's the point of an illusionary wall - no amount of searching is going to get you through it because it's just a wall.
If someone summons an illusion of a monster, you either think its a summon monster spell or an illusion. But if you're stuck in a dungeon surrounded by ordinary walls, how do you know which ones are illusionary until the enemy steps through it and spears you?
Hmmm...I've just given myself an evil idea...
the Jester
Legend
Tallarn said:
'Fraid not.
From the PH: "It appears absolutely real when viewed, but physical objects can pass through without difficulty. When the spell is used to hide pits, traps, or normal doors, any detection abilities that do not require sight work normally. Touch or probing searches reveal the true nature of the surface, though they do not cause the illusion to disappear."
Seems to me that the best use of this spell is for ambushes. The party finds an illusory wall by touch, then starts through it. Meanwhile the four ogres and their wizard leader saw the rogue's finger emerge, all got ready and spring a surprise attack as the first guy steps through.
But really, I think that one is way underpowered for a 4th level spell. Heck, invisibility sphere is a better choice for ambushes. What illusory wall has going for it is versatility, but imho it's still ridiculously "overpriced" at 4th level.
Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
Whoops. I stand corrected.
