[net.games.frp] Kill Orcus with mirror of opposition

bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (10/01/83)

Read the mirror again.  You don't have to look at it.  It's totally
gross.  You just have to be reflected in it.  That means light rays
have to come from you to strike it.  That's it.

Some argue that demon's don't cast reflections, and while that may be
common mythos, it is not said anywhere in the D&D books, so it doesn't
apply in this contest which is pure Gygax rules.

By the way, I don't think a ring of spell storing can have spell failure.
There is no casting involved, and no chance of error due to inability.

For other people working on this contest, remember:  No artifacts, and
that includes the wand of Orcus.  Also, you can't have Orcus's personal
Iron Flask, I was told.
-- 
	Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304

tim@unc.UUCP (Tim Maroney) (10/04/83)

If a Mirror Of Opposition creates an opposite for anything reflected in it,
it is not a valuable item for combat.  Yes, you create a duplicate, which
steps out of the Mirror, is reflected in it, and so on.  It would be a real
mess after a round or three unless the Mirror got nuked.  With four Mirrors,
it would be even worse.  There is no doubt that the chaotic evil Orcus or a
copy thereof would be the winner, since he (they) are on his (their) home
plane and the others are not.

I have some real hesitation about even allowing the Mirror to apply to
Orcus, or any other demon, devil, deva, etc.  If my high-level chaotic good
magic-user gets duplicated by a Mirror, what comes out is a real, possible
being, a high-level lawful evil magic-user.  When a demon gets duplicated,
you wind up with a lawful good being.  There is no such thing as a good
demon, so would the result have the demon powers?  I don't think so.  An
angel or cognate being might appear instead, but then the home plane
advantage is gone.  In any case, no magic item is potent enough to create a
new god, or a new artifact (remember the Wand!).

Once again -- if you think the fight with Orcus is winnable, you have not
played it while I was DMing.  No one beats a well-played lich, and Orcus
has scads of liches serving him.  Tiamat is another story....

_________________________
Tim Maroney
duke!unc!tim (USENET)
tim.unc@udel-relay (ARPA)

laura@utcsstat.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (10/08/83)

If you tried that stunt with me running Orcus, i would have the mirror
crack, or have Orcus cast no suitable reflectable image. (Probably crack
given anyone who is playing under my rules truly ought to know better.)
The nature of 'demon' and the nature of 'lawful good' are not mutually
compatible. You get the same sort of nonsense when people ask their
Gods to create 'a round square' or 'a rock that they cannot lift'
and other such rot. If you mean such things as intellectual exercises, fine,
but if you try to make them part of my magical continuum you are in for a
surprise...

Incidentally, if you tried to use a mirror of opposition to create any
'high level' character you are going to get into serious trouble. The
creation of beings is traditionally reserved for gods (with the notable
exception of golems, but have you read the mishrash detailing that?)
so you had better watch out... Also, you may not get what you expect.
For instance, if you create a 'good' creature by reflecting an evil
one you may get one that veiws its own creation as very evil, and it
cannot blame the innocnent evil that happened to be there -- but boy
will it be sore at you. Terrific. Now you have twice as much trouble
as you had before (given that you were to use the mirror as a weapon)...

laura creighton
utzoo!utcsstat!laura

shebs@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley Shebs) (10/10/83)

"No one beats a well-played lich..."????

Did I miss something here?  A lich is just another monster, albeit
extremely dangerous...  A sufficiently magicked sword backed up with
the right kind of magic should be able to dispose of one.

						stan the lep hack
						utah-cs!shebs

ps Perhaps the emphasis is no *one* person can do it, but there's some
pretty powerful offensive magic spells, so the sword is not really
necessary (and I haven't even mentioned magic items!)