Making Encounters Difficult (3.5/PF) - Page 2 - OG Myth-Weavers

Notices


GM Workshop

A community-created and maintained place for Game Masters of all systems to bounce ideas around. It's a place for inspiration and sharing tips.


Making Encounters Difficult (3.5/PF)

   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchomenos View Post
#1.1. Silence is a 20' radius emanation. If you cast it on a point in space, the enemy spellcasters can just move away; you loose a spell, they loose a round, period. If you cast it on the spellcaster, they will probably save. Then cast it on your mage slayer, this rogue who can tumble past the tank guys and continually threaten the wizard. Bonus point if the rogue is also invisible, because he can continually sneak attack. Or use it on your grappler.
No, no, no.

You cast Silence on a PEBBLE, which you GIVE to the rogue, who then Slieght-Of-Hand's it onto the enemy caster's person.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedronai View Post
No, no, no.

You cast Silence on a PEBBLE, which you GIVE to the rogue, who then Slieght-Of-Hand's it onto the enemy caster's person.
Reverse pickpocketing. You're a fallout player, aren't ya?

Nope.

Also works well as a REALLY cruel prank on the VoP character if you use a Luckstone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchomenos View Post
#1.1. Silence is a 20' radius emanation. If you cast it on a point in space, the enemy spellcasters can just move away; you loose a spell, they loose a round, period. If you cast it on the spellcaster, they will probably save. Then cast it on your mage slayer, this rogue who can tumble past the tank guys and continually threaten the wizard. Bonus point if the rogue is also invisible, because he can continually sneak attack. Or use it on your grappler.
Kinda why I suggested using it as area effect when walking into rooms, or triggering to fill the whole room with the effect. Just because the spell is 20' does not mean all traps or effects that basically silence the area need to be this size. Think outside the box man!

#12? Maybe? Sometimes, a simple pincer attack can make all the difference. Even kobolds can threaten a caster given the right opportunity to get 5 or so on 'im.

Throw an enslaved troll in a pit trap with a trap-release muzzle on him, and all kinds of low-level monsters are threatening again. Especially if the troll has a couple of key common "Spell Immunities" on him. Throwing magic-item equipped mooks at your players is good in the short term, but that junk can add up fast, and your PCs will be throwing that back in your face before long.

#14 Enemy rogues and rangers leading ambushes. Have a unit of baddies hidden by an enemy rogue, with orders to keep quiet until the signal is given. The spot/listen checks to find them will be harder, and PCs will have baddies from multiple directions coming at them. Add liberal fire-support for a real challenge. As an anti-caster bonus, have a couple of thunderstones or rocks with Silence cast upon them distributed among your ambush party, and have the back rank hurl them around the party. That should help. Just make sure the ambushers know that the signal will be visual, since they won't be able to hear anything.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedronai View Post
Nope.

Also works well as a REALLY cruel prank on the VoP character if you use a Luckstone.
Only if the DM or the divinities of the setting are jerks.

15. The spell forbiddance. It's hardcore, especially against those who are summoners.

About the silenced pebble, you don't even have to do that. I had a DM send a hail of pebbles at our group. Only half of them were silenced, like we were going to stop and figure which ones were. By that time the slingshotters were long gone and the real fighters were in our faces.

Why settle for silenced pebbles? Cast it on boulders, give the PC's the surprise of their life as death silently rounds a turn and barrels towards them at 30 miles an hour!

Also, simply rolling treasure in advance and having the mooks use the treasure they've rolled goes a long ways towards adding to an encounter. Not to mention the groans as the PC's realize that the half-dozen potions and scrolls that the lieutenant just spent were supposed to be a significant chunk of his reward wealth

Quote:
Originally Posted by diremage View Post
Why settle for silenced pebbles? Cast it on boulders, give the PC's the surprise of their life as death silently rounds a turn and barrels towards them at 30 miles an hour!
Silence doesn't cover the ground shake the rolling boulder would cause though

A few simple tricks.

Cast silence on a coin with a word trigger. Leave the the party to find. The bad guys know the trigger. So every time the party goes to fight the first thing the party hears is the code word and then nothing.

Cast silence on the arrows for your archers. Hand signal and then the party sees the arrows coming, they block or dodge the arrows. Then nothing no sound at all. They have to get rid off all the arrows before the mage can cast a spell.

Have silence runes built into specific rooms. No sound happens in that room. The mage in charge of the attacking force stands just outside the room and throws spells all the time.

Have the first attack of the bad guys be sensible. Thunderstones, tanglefoot bags, cheap magic items that have multiple uses. Make the casters burn though their spells trying to keep the party mobile and alive. Thunderstones have a second use, kill the goblin and the stones he holds go off.




 

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Last Database Backup 2024-03-28 06:19:57pm local time
Myth-Weavers Status