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<blockquote data-quote="Old One" data-source="post: 8982" data-attributes="member: 83">Over my 20 years of DMing, I have seen lots of boneheaded moves, but one really sticks out in my head...The Scene: The PCs have pursued some bad guys through a gate trying to retrieve a magic item known as the Gem of the Planes.&nbsp; They have ended up in a primordial world where a small group of elves is attempting to hold out against savage lizardmen who use dinosaur mounts and can call upon magic from strange &quot;rune-sticks&quot;.During the encounter just prior to the boneheaded move, the PCs had cornered a badly wounded lizardman shaman, who had broken a rune-stick over his knee, causing a small explosion of magical energy that wounded several party members.The Action: During the &quot;climactic battle&quot;, the PCs get very lucky and take out most of the bad guys in short order, including the head lizardman shaman who bears a large rune-stick carved with many symbols.&nbsp; One of the players, who is playing a barbarian warrior, picks up the rune-stick and says, &quot;I break it over my knee!&quot;All of the other players look at him with shock and horror reflected in their faces.&nbsp; Wanting to give him a chance to repent, I said, &quot;What do you do?&quot;He replied, &quot;I break it over my knee!&quot;The Result: The resultant release of stored magical energy did 20d6 damage at ground zero (no save), 20d6 within 5' (save for 1/2), 10d6 to those from 5' to 10' (save for 1/2) and 5d6 to those from 10' to 20' (save for 1/2).&nbsp; I rolled very high on the damage roll at ground zero (IIRC it was about 85 points) - totally tearing the PC apart.&nbsp; The blast almost killed several of the rest of the party (knocking several to low negs) and destroyed a number of magic items due to failed saves (2E rules).The Aftermath: Needless to say, the rest of the party wanted to strangle him!Old One</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Old One, post: 8982, member: 83"] Over my 20 years of DMing, I have seen lots of boneheaded moves, but one really sticks out in my head... [b]The Scene:[/b] The PCs have pursued some bad guys through a [i]gate[/i] trying to retrieve a magic item known as the [i]Gem of the Planes[/i]. They have ended up in a primordial world where a small group of elves is attempting to hold out against savage lizardmen who use dinosaur mounts and can call upon magic from strange "[i]rune-sticks[/i]". During the encounter just prior to the boneheaded move, the PCs had cornered a badly wounded lizardman shaman, who had broken a rune-stick over his knee, causing a small explosion of magical energy that wounded several party members. [b]The Action:[/b] During the "climactic battle", the PCs get very lucky and take out most of the bad guys in short order, including the head lizardman shaman who bears a large rune-stick carved with many symbols. One of the players, who is playing a barbarian warrior, picks up the rune-stick and says, "I break it over my knee!" All of the other players look at him with shock and horror reflected in their faces. Wanting to give him a chance to repent, I said, "What do you do?" He replied, "I break it over my knee!" [b]The Result:[/b] The resultant release of stored magical energy did 20d6 damage at ground zero (no save), 20d6 within 5' (save for 1/2), 10d6 to those from 5' to 10' (save for 1/2) and 5d6 to those from 10' to 20' (save for 1/2). I rolled very high on the damage roll at ground zero (IIRC it was about 85 points) - totally tearing the PC apart. The blast almost killed several of the rest of the party (knocking several to low negs) and destroyed a number of magic items due to failed saves (2E rules). [b]The Aftermath:[/b] Needless to say, the rest of the party wanted to strangle him! Old One [/QUOTE]

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