jab@uokvax.UUCP (12/31/83)
#N:uokvax:2400024:000:847 uokvax!jab Dec 29 14:56:00 1983 A friend recently asked me to pose a couple of questions to this newsgroup. i) What is the most memorable use of a "non-offensive spell" for offensive means? (Some spells, such as "magic arrow" and "conjure elemental", are inherently offensive in nature. Others, such as "flying" and "hold portal", are not.) (We'll ignore throwing an "antimagic shell" on an opponent magic-user.) ii) What is the most memorable use of a "non-offensive weapon" for offensive means? For example, in the book "Hit or Myth", by Bob Aspirin, somebody uses a "levitate" spell to bounce somebody off the wall several times, knocking them unconscious. (Who would expect THIS from such a "harmless" spell?) Send in the cards and letters. Respond to "ctvax!uokvax!jab" or "...!nwuxd!jab" if you don't have something of "general interest". Jeff Bowles Lisle, IL
andree@uokvax.UUCP (12/31/83)
#R:uokvax:2400024:uokvax:2400025:000:402 uokvax!andree Dec 29 16:58:00 1983 Gee, jeff, hasn't everybody heard of `create castle' as an offensive spell? How do you do that, you ask? Well, it's easy: you create the castle ten feet over the heads of whoever you wish to be flat. Works like a charm. Then there's teleporting pieces of dragons around. Really bothers them to have their heart moved to the other side of the mountain. Of course, some DM's don't allow this. <mike
rene@umcp-cs.UUCP (01/05/84)
My favorite is polymorph - you polymorph, say, a mountain into a
pebble, and then throw it at someone with an antimagic shell, or cast
a dispell magic at it. Voila! No more town ...
- rene
--
Arpa: rene.umcp-cs@CSNet-relay
Uucp:...{allegra,seismo}!umcp-cs!renehakanson@orstcs.UUCP (01/07/84)
#R:uokvax:2400024:orstcs:28500006:000:1488
orstcs!hakanson Jan 6 11:34:00 1984
Just off hand, I can recall a cleric who was excommunicated for using an
edged weapon when, because all his weapons had been lost or destroyed,
used his shield on a fallen foe -- through a critical hit, he cut off
the foe's head with the edge of the shield. (All this in a slightly
modified AD&D world, of course.)
As for spells, how about putting the Druid spell "Hallucinatory Forest"
on the edge of a cliff, continuing on out over the air? Watch your
Ste...! Well, you get the idea. And of course, it's also nasty to
teleport objects inside of other objects (creatures). The resulting
explosion typically levels a city block, I'm told. "Water Breathing"
placed on a creature nowhere near water is also known to be fatal.
However, perhaps the most memorable (that occurs to me now) was when
a fellow took a sip of his Polymorph Self potion in order to convince
his captor that it was harmless (he told him it would make him smarter,
or something obscure). After the captor drank it, our hero told him
"Think of a little bird," and poof! a little bird stood where the captor
had been. Before he could react and figure out what had happened, our
hero, who was ready to pounce, grabbed the bird and stuffed him in the
drawer of a nearby desk. I sure felt sorry for the bad guy when that
potion wore off! Well, I think someone else let him out later, but the
prisoner escaped, anyway.
Marion Hakanson CSnet: hakanson@oregon-state
UUCP : {hp-pcd,teklabs}!orstcs!hakansonsteven@qubix.UUCP (Steven Maurer) (01/10/84)
I assume that you mean D & D spells.
What you are really looking for is holes in the rules systems
that allow you to do gross things. This is possible, because
D&D has never been throughly debugged. Using these holes is
fun, just as long as the monsters don't start doing likewise.
My "favorite" spell is "feather fall". This allows you
to reduce the weight of an opponent to almost nothing, and
"push" him whereever you want to. A third level MU once got
rid of a Xorn, by floating him up 1/2 a mile.....
"Invisibility" lasts "until the person attacks". This
allows an entire party to start off invisible, and continue
until there is some creature that can see through the spell.
-- it's also great for familiars.
"Tensor's Floating Disk" is a cheap form of levitation.
There is nothing in the discription that implies that the MU
cannot float himself.
"Charm Person" can be used to grab whole hoards of Orcs,
Hobgoblins, and the like (after you have Slept them, of course).
You can create an entire army of "friends", that will act as
good cannon-fodder for your characters.
-- Of course, the grosset, and most stupid, things has nothing
to do with D&D spells at all. Just capture a few of the nuke-em
monsters, and use their abilities to blow dungeons away....
Box a Basilisk. Hoards of fun. Watch characters five times
your level scream in horror.
Carve out a Medusa's head. Somewhat gross, but always good fun.
Rub various creatures' poisons on your weapons. Cockatrice
poison is especially fun.
Don't kill a dragon, subdue it. The rules actually make it
easier to subdue, than kill -- because every time the dragon
takes subdual points of damage, you must roll again to see if
if it gives up....
Steven Maurerrigney@uokvax.UUCP (01/19/84)
#R:uokvax:2400024:uokvax:2400026:000:336 uokvax!rigney Jan 14 13:50:00 1984 A tactic similar to create castle is Pillar of Potato Salad. The amount of food created by a Create Food Clerical spell DOUBLES with each level, so a high level cleric (or anti-cleric) can create literally tons of food, burying or crushing opponents. Or at least nauseate them! Not a potato salad fan, Carl ..!ctvax!uokvax!rigney
hutch@shark.UUCP (02/24/84)
<paku paku paku> On the topic of interesting uses for spells . . . A suggestion was just made to me about a way to circumvent the ill effects of petrification. He suggests an "animate" spell. My personal analysis came out thusly: Of course, the victim must survive the system shock. The standard magical "animate" would animate a statued person, but the caster of the spell is the one who would be controlling the stone form, not the mind of the victim. The Clerical version might work better for this purpose, since it can be justified as the possession of the stone by a minor minion of the deity, in this case allowing the victim to move voluntarily. The victim would have to be of the same religion. A Druidic version might not have this trouble. It is absolutely necessary, if the intent is to be met at all, for the Animate to be made permanent (perhaps the Permanence spell) and it would probably require a Limited Wish or even a Full Wish to restore the now silicon-based lifeform to the full use of its senses. It would certainly be necessary if the victim is intended to live long, to include in the wish a clause allowing the stone person to heal from injuries. The safest way to administer this protection is to bind it all as a clause under a Conditional Spell. It would be easiest to affix it to an amulet, sword, armor, or some such thing. The victim would have a number of advantages and disadvantages. First, it is unclear what it would eat and excrete. Recall that the wish adapted the victim to being a living creature of stone. Second, the armor class of the victim, along with hit points, would probably increase. Armor class would be at least that of a Gargoyle, which is a similar creature. Third, there is the increased weight of the victim which could cause some problems. Normal horses balk, fragile bridges and floors break, and so on. Fourth, the victim would have increased strength, in most cases. This is speculative but it seems likely enough. Even if it were not the case, the increased damage due to the greater mass can be easily dealt with by assuming increased strength. Fifth, the victim may have problems with being fragile, and many magic items might not work properly (Rings of regeneration, etc). Sixth, the victim becomes vulnerable to some unpleasant magical side effects. Low-mana areas, if you have such, can immobilize or kill. A "Dispell Magic" can temporarily suppress movement. (I assume this effect applies to Golems and similar animated constructs, where the success of a Dispell causes a one-round immobility or stops the use of a single magical power. This is my own extrapolation of the nature of active and passive magics.) Finally, there are some social problems. (Ahem) Intercourse is rendered difficult or impossible, and people would tend to see the victim as somewhat of a freak. And so on. This led to an interesting notion: A familiar can be animated if it survives being stoned. If it is alive, its properties as a familiar remain in effect. Unfortunately the majority of familiars are avian. This could cause trouble. Envision a stone bat trying to fly. %-) (clatter clatter clickety clatter) Some supportive magic would have to be applied to allow them normal mobility. Oh well. Back to the grind. Hutch