mr-frog@sdamos.UUCP (Dave Pare) (01/13/85)
: Since our characters like to research new spells, and are fairly high level, we determined that the "fire shield" spell set a terrible precedent. Higher level versions could be incredibly nasty -- take for example, a fifth level version with range which you could cast on your friendly fighter. How about a seventh or eighth level version with which a mage could affect one person per level. Now consider magic items like this. Medallions of Fire Shield, rings of Fire Shield, wands and scrolls of Fire Shield, etc. Physical attacks will become past tense -- no fighter with any intelligence will want to attack hand-to-hand as he'll be effectively killing himself. If you disagree with me, just remember that Fire Shield has no savings throw. In general, only seventh level spells and over have no save; the exceptions are few and far between. Oh yes -- has anyone ever run into a case where the attacker "sharpnessed" or "vorpaled" a mage who had a fire shield? Another use of high level fire shield...suppose the mage summons monsters, throws the spell on them, and orders a charge. The dragon bites one of them in half -- what happens to the dragon? Interesting situation... There's all kinds of good (nasty) things you can do with higher level versions. And just think -- if you can do it to them, they can do it to you... So, we just got rid of the silly spell...and it solved a lot of problems, precedence-wise. Dave Pare
bae@fisher.UUCP (Shiva the Destroyer) (01/15/85)
This is quite silly: >Since our characters like to research new spells, and are >fairly high level, we determined that the "fire shield" spell >set a terrible precedent. Higher level versions could be >incredibly nasty -- take for example, a fifth level version with >range which you could cast on your friendly fighter. How about >a seventh or eighth level version with which a mage could affect >one person per level. No DM worth his salt would allow 1 person/level. Higher level versions of Fire Shield could be interesting, however. Hmmm - let's think about this a bit. >Now consider magic items like this. Medallions of Fire Shield, >rings of Fire Shield, wands and scrolls of Fire Shield, etc. >Physical attacks will become past tense -- no fighter with any >intelligence will want to attack hand-to-hand as he'll be effectively >killing himself. Magical items with Fire Shield are quite reasonable. However, if their use became widespread, someone would be sure to invent a counter-fireshield magic of some sort. And remember, Fire Shield does cause some disadvantages to the wearer... >If you disagree with me, just remember that Fire Shield has >no savings(sic) throw. In general, only seventh level spells >and over have no save; the exceptions are few and far between. No problem - your saving throw in this case is determined by your intelligence - are YOU dumb enough to attack a Fire-Shielded individual. >Oh yes -- has anyone ever run into a case where the attacker >"sharpnessed" or "vorpaled" a mage who had a fire shield? Fire Shield, by any reasonable interpretation of the rules, should only cause damage for actual physical damage inflicted, not magical or critical damage. What do you want to do, behead the poor guy with a burst of flame??? >Another use of high level fire shield...suppose the mage >summons monsters, throws the spell on them, and orders a charge. >The dragon bites one of them in half -- what happens to the dragon? He gets a warm meal. See above. >Interesting situation... There's all kinds of good (nasty) >things you can do with higher level versions. And just >think -- if you can do it to them, they can do it to you... DMs be warned - there are people out there who will take you for a ride on things like this, if you don't crack down on them. >So, we just got rid of the silly spell...and it solved a lot of >problems, precedence-wise. That's one approach, although certainly not the most imaginative. -- Brian A. Ehrmantraut Ad Maioram Gloriam Hasturi! UUCP: {allegra, astrovax, princeton, twg} !fisher!bae BELL: (609) 452-8991 / (609) 734-7761 USnail: 184 Little Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544