What spell would you use for an unbreathable atmosphere?
- Thread starter Piratecat
- Start date
Norfleet
First Post
If people are supposed to survive in areas of unbreathable sulpherous gas, doesn't this defeat the point of having an area of unbreathable sulpherous gas in the first place? If all you're going to do is have an area where all the negative effects are obviously supposed to be dismissed with a handwave, why bother? If you have parties which are capable of ignoring areas of unbreathable, sulpherous gas, then it's the same as having an area of breathable, non-sulpherous gas.
Frankly, large areas of nonbreathable, sulpherous gas are essentially self-defeating. Either the players never venture into this environment, which defeats the point of having it there, except as an obstacle to go around, or the players have means of brushing it off, which defeats the point of having it there again.
Hostile environments are only meaningful when they're sufficiently hostile to be very inconvenient, but not lethal, and cannot be circumvented by means which are within the party's abilities, unless acquiring such ability happens to be the purpose of the adventure. If they're so hostile that the party decides to simply magically ignore its effects, then it's no longer hostile, and the point of having it as a hostile environment has been utterly defeated. The players have to suffer from it for it to matter. Otherwise, why bother?
Frankly, large areas of nonbreathable, sulpherous gas are essentially self-defeating. Either the players never venture into this environment, which defeats the point of having it there, except as an obstacle to go around, or the players have means of brushing it off, which defeats the point of having it there again.
Hostile environments are only meaningful when they're sufficiently hostile to be very inconvenient, but not lethal, and cannot be circumvented by means which are within the party's abilities, unless acquiring such ability happens to be the purpose of the adventure. If they're so hostile that the party decides to simply magically ignore its effects, then it's no longer hostile, and the point of having it as a hostile environment has been utterly defeated. The players have to suffer from it for it to matter. Otherwise, why bother?
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isoChron
First Post
Well, even if they use Filter what about their eyes ? Does the sulpherous gas cause pain because of the now acidic teardrops ? I'm thinking of tear gas...
And I don't think gas areas are superflluous. Imagine a guy casting greater dispelling on your party in such an area.
Casting under these conditions could be a pain then.
And I don't think gas areas are superflluous. Imagine a guy casting greater dispelling on your party in such an area.
Casting under these conditions could be a pain then.
Norfleet said:
The point of exotic environments isn't necessarily to inconvenience the characters directly. At high levels PCs tend to have enough resources to circumvent most such challenges anyway, so there's little point trying.
The point of these environments is to allow a setting that's out of the ordinary compared to the rest of the campaign, so as to produce a memorable session. It's like why action movies often feature fights on the Statue of Liberty, or along the canals of Venice, or other exotic locations. The fact that the backdrop is out of the ordinary helps dress up the encounter, more so than if it was taking place in just another random location.
And besides, even if the party can deal with the adverse effects of the gas, that doesn't mean they're off the hook. Dispel magic can cause a lot of grief if you're not fully prepared....
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Filter! Thanks, everyone, that's great.
Norfleet, I tend to agree with Hong. I'm looking at adventure design from the point of view of the creatures who live in this cavern. They're all undead, and they don't need to breath, and they want to strongly discourage living interference; so what's the obvious choice? Making the atmosphere inhospitable is a good tactic that is consistent with their reasoning. If I eliminated any obstacle that the PCs could deal with, I'd be destroying the players' suspension of disbelief. Heck, do all doors suddenly become unlocked when the 3rd lvl wizard learns knock?
In fact, it's even a good idea from a strategic level, because invaders trying to deal with this problem are going to require a spell (in this case a limited wish or a miracle, since the PCs don't currently know Filter), and that's one less spell that is going to be aiding their attack.
You know, they actually thought about the globe of water/water breathing trick. They currently need to invade a ghoulish city within the next day, and they don't necessarily have all the resources they'd like; no necklaces of adaptation, nowhere to buy scrolls. They'll have to be inventive.
And Forceuser? They're already planning on using avoid planar effects, but only to try and avoid the strong negative energy from this area, which may or may not work depending on what's causing it.
Norfleet, I tend to agree with Hong. I'm looking at adventure design from the point of view of the creatures who live in this cavern. They're all undead, and they don't need to breath, and they want to strongly discourage living interference; so what's the obvious choice? Making the atmosphere inhospitable is a good tactic that is consistent with their reasoning. If I eliminated any obstacle that the PCs could deal with, I'd be destroying the players' suspension of disbelief. Heck, do all doors suddenly become unlocked when the 3rd lvl wizard learns knock?
In fact, it's even a good idea from a strategic level, because invaders trying to deal with this problem are going to require a spell (in this case a limited wish or a miracle, since the PCs don't currently know Filter), and that's one less spell that is going to be aiding their attack.
You know, they actually thought about the globe of water/water breathing trick. They currently need to invade a ghoulish city within the next day, and they don't necessarily have all the resources they'd like; no necklaces of adaptation, nowhere to buy scrolls. They'll have to be inventive.
And Forceuser? They're already planning on using avoid planar effects, but only to try and avoid the strong negative energy from this area, which may or may not work depending on what's causing it.
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reiella
Explorer
Piratecat said:
If it's an alternate plane, Attune Form (MotP) comes to mind.
Cast Protection from Elements Fire, and have the wizard just Fireball a path for you (good if you're from a distance ;p).
Control Weather/Control Winds/Gust of Wind/Whirlwind to force the weather the way they want.
Gaseous Form/Wind Walk, walk through it.
Otiluke's Telekinetic Sphere to move the sulphurous gas possibly.
If Psionic, Inertial Barrier.
Then there's the Avoid the Cloud all together aspect. I perfer blowing up the cloud myself
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