Weather control in war

[The Amazing Dingo]

As are elves and solars.

But lets use this side track- an orc horde can't destroy a city because of its defenses. If they have access to a half-orc (or human) druid 16, why not have him enter the city and use tornados to knock it down? After he uses his control weather spells, he can change into a songbird and fly back to the orc's base and tell them what weaknesses he saw as he flew away.

Or the orcs' druid could strike the farms supporting the city- what do the inhabitants do now?

The peasants are gonna get toasted for a bit, but in a day or so, they'll have some heroes helping them out. Its the way heroes do their things. Just need word sent into the city and a quick Sending and a Teleport later and four 16th level adventurers are ready to rock.

 

[Thanee]

Or the orcs' druid could strike the farms supporting the city- what do the inhabitants do now?

Call the heroes to Smite! the orc, of course.

I suppose, in a world, where magicians would do that, magic would quickly be outlawed and all magic-users (esp. the older edition ones) hunted down and killed, or forced to register and watched (of course, magicians in the service of the rulers are a different matter and absolutely legal).

Bye
Thanee

 

[DMH]

Who then have to fight high level orc characters (12th level+) plus the druid. Are the heros going to stick around and help clean up all the damage they and their opponents caused in the battle? Are they going to try having some of the dead peasants raised (which is hard when thousands are dead)?

To those who say that only mad men would do such a thing- isn't there tons of power mad people in the typical setting? I would use real world analogies, but they aren't allowed here.

 

[DMH]

I suppose, in a world, where magicians would do that, magic would quickly be outlawed and all magic-users (esp. the older edition ones) hunted down and killed, or forced to register and watched (of course, magicians in the service of the rulers are a different matter and absolutely legal).

That would work, if the evil humanoid races were not allowed to take levels. What keeps the 18th level goblin druid from sitting in a tunnel near the surface under a city and blasting it with control weather? Or what about an illithid sorcerer that uses rock to mud to bring a city's major buildings down from beneath?

 

[Umbran]

In D&D, weather control specifically isn't such an issue because the spells are high-level, and basically local. If you have a particular target, you can use the spell tactically. But with only a couple mile radius per spell, it isn't of much strategic use. Most spells in D&D are local things, and so are fo limited strategic use.

And that's what it comes down to, really. The game is designed to focus on the story of individulas, so all the interesting magical events affect on the individual scale. If the peasants are on the scene at the time, the magic isn't an issue.

Superman or Thor could destroy an army. Why don't they fight all of the US' battles for it?

Well, note that they used to! Captain America got his start fighting the Nazis.

With comic books, it boils down to "with great power comes great respionsibility. You don't use superheroes in war for about the same reason you don't use nuclear weapons. You save the really devastating effects for the cases where you know darned tootin' that there si a clear and present danger. Doubly so because the heroes are not devices - they are generally beings of high morals and leanings toward serving the public. No such hero would lend his aid to a cause of questionable morality if he could help it, lest he choose incorrectly.

 

[Cor Azer]

Its never come up in my games to be honest, not so far anyway, but I think it comes down to the DM not wanting to destroy a city or kill off thousands of people. That would be a big change to the campaign (and it could happen).

Uh... Mayhaps I'm the exception to your rule, but levelled cities... heck levelled mountain ranges, happen with uncomfortable frequency in my current game. (To be fair, the dwarves dropped their mountain range to seal something in, but the effects were felt far and wide).

Looking at it from the perspective of the world itself, I would guess that even the most derranged and evil spellcaster, might view that as an abuse of the magic (if arcane) or not in keeping with his faith (divine, depending on the deity involved).

I see it more as paranoid self-preservation - you don't reveal yourself until your moment of glory, otherwise someone else might sneak in and pick you off.

 

[The Amazing Dingo]

That would work, if the evil humanoid races were not allowed to take levels. What keeps the 18th level goblin druid from sitting in a tunnel near the surface under a city and blasting it with control weather? Or what about an illithid sorcerer that uses rock to mud to bring a city's major buildings down from beneath?

The thing keeping him from doing that is "good guys". Heck, even a bad guy won't like it if he rules the city. Can they do it? Sure. Will there be reprecussions? You bet! Just like with what PCs do, something will happen and perhaps even come back to bite them in the butts from doing it.

And the PCs/Heroes aren't gonna stick around to resurrect the peasants. Why? They aren't that rich. And besides, I'd get awefully bored as a DM saying "Okay, you resurrect Heinreich. On the next day you resurrect James. Only another 98,661 more peasants to go."

 

[DMH]

And the PCs/Heroes aren't gonna stick around to resurrect the peasants. Why? They aren't that rich. And besides, I'd get awefully bored as a DM saying "Okay, you resurrect Heinreich. On the next day you resurrect James. Only another 98,661 more peasants to go."

(FYI there is a mass raise dead spell from Bloodstone)

So how does the economy react to such a massive loss of workers? Even if the infrastructure is saved, the city may have to be abandoned. And when the city and its army go, then the surround farmlands are left unprotected (or at least poorly protected).

 

[The Amazing Dingo]

DMH,

If I can pose a question to you, why the questions on the topic? I'm just asking because, if we know where you're coming from with this, then we might be better able to answer them.

Generally speaking, there is a reason why the city was choosen for its placement - a principle trade route, good location on a river, high vantage point, etc. Most likely, they'll rebuild the city because that vantage is still there. Look at catastrphic events ancient and medieval times and you'll see that often, the city was rebuilt.

With that loss of workers means more people will come to the city to look for wages. This is generally the case whether following a capitalistic or feudal set up.

As for if the city is abandoned, then you're right - those people are out of luck.

 

[AuraSeer]

Now that there are high level people who can cast such powerful spells running around, why aren't they tapped to obliterate cities and farmlands of opposing nations?

Massive magical destruction is the D&D equivalent of a nuclear weapon. You may have either in your arsenal just in case, but you don't want to use them unless it's absolutely necessary.