For those of you who play wizards (Conjurers specifically but this applies to wizards too) do you make use of the "Planar Binding" spells? If so, how do you use it and what challenges do you encounter with your DM.
Cheers,
Cernunos
For those of you who play wizards (Conjurers specifically but this applies to wizards too) do you make use of the "Planar Binding" spells? If so, how do you use it and what challenges do you encounter with your DM.
Cheers,
Cernunos
My advice is to use some of the optional rules presented in Unearthed Acarna and various Dragons, limiting the options of what you can summon. This not only gives flavor to your character, but also speeds up gameplay - if you always summon the same 3 fire elementals, the DM can have those three statted out and have their personalities sorted out in advance.
Too many planar binding spells result in a player combing through books looking for something to summon while the rest of the party goes for cigarettes or drinks.
I, playing a 9th level abjurer at the time, once tried to summon a howler using lesser planar binding (I think). I was planning on killing it- I don't remember why, but I do remember that in order to accomplish my objective, I had to drop all of my magical protections and couldn't tell the rest of my good-aligned party about it. I myself was neutral good, but my character rationalized it by saying it was going to die soon anyway. I went to a library to study up on the fiend as much as possible (knowledge {the planes} with a bonus to the roll) before finding a secluded bit of wilderness to perform the summoning, drawing the binding circle on a large, flat rock.
Well, I called the howler, and tried to kill it with phantasmal killers and Melf's acid arrows, but the thign wouldn't die! Not even after rendering it helpless with a bands of iron spell and using acid arrow to coup de grace it. Well, it got out of the spell and bolted off into the wilderness. I was flying at the time, but it got a head start on my and my maximum fly speed and its run speed happened to be the same. So, I couldn't catch it.
I then had to find a druid, convince him he should help me, have him track it down, only to back off and say "you started this mess, you finish it" when we found the damned thing. Of course, it was a repeat of before. The outsider saves of the howler are too good for it to fail both saves of the phantasmal killer, even though I've seen a 7th level wizard bring down a purple worm with it.
Finally, seeing my ineptitude, the druid brought it down with several call lightnings. My character was then berated by the druid, then grilled by the party upon my return, askign where in the world I had been.
The lesson here: don't try to kill things when your prohibited school is evocation. A fireball would have done great in that situation. As a side note, I later did coup de grace an ogre mage with Melf's acid arrow.
Oh, and to actually deal with the original post, it's a sort of unspoken agreement amongst our group for conjurers to pick their favorite creatures to summon/call and stick with those and stat them out. We don't limit the list by force, but by choice.
For those of you who play wizards (Conjurers specifically but this applies to wizards too) do you make use of the "Planar Binding" spells? If so, how do you use it and what challenges do you encounter with your DM.
Cheers,
Cernunos
I think that most of the responses so far are more applicable to Summon spells, rather than Binding spells.
Planar Binding can be very useful. I used it once to perform some construction, I forget exactly what I summoned but it had a burrow speed and I payed it to build a cavern system over the course of a few days. The DM was cool with the spell and how it was used.
As a DM I have used Planar Binding to track and attack PCs from afar - demons/devils with greater teleport are awesome at that kind of thing. And the whole ambush thing can take days so Summon does not work.
igi
Thanks for the input folks. Planar Binding (of whatever variety) is one of those open ended spells that can instigate a lot of chaos in a game. I'm just curios about other's experience with it before I try my "Big Plan" in a game.
"What's the big plan", you may ask (or not, indulge me): I plan to use Planar Binding to summon a creature to serve as a host body for my wizard character while he's adventuring. I plan to use an extended magic jar to possess the creature. My character is 13th level so the spell will last 26 hours per casting allowing me to renew it each day. I will have my familiar, a permanently invisible homunculus, carry the magic jar at safe distance within spell range (in case the host body gets killed). For good measure I will place a contingency on my familiar to allow it to teleport to the location of my body in the event that my soul returns to the magic jar (saftey feature).
The details I have to work on include: choosing a creature to summon, finding a safe place to keep my body, developing a method of disguising my host body (so I don't freak out the bystanders - or my party for that matter) and figuring out how to accomplish this without alerting my parting (I'm not worried about the summoning so much as the flack I'll get over the possession thing). My character is a Lawful Neutral worshipor of Wee Jas so I figure the tactic wouldn't be outside the character's ethics.
Why am I doing all this? Two words: "Meat Shield". I'll be looking for something with good hit points, a good natural armor bonus, damage reduction, energy resistance, spell resistance and fast healing or regeneration. I'll take what I can get but a guy has to have dreams too.
Bring on the feed back.
Cheers,
C.
Just use a troll and an illusion to disguise yourself. I've seen this tactic discussed several times, and in almost every case, the troll was the "weapon of choice." It's almost as if they're made for this....
Happy possessing!
Bring on the feed back.
Hey -
Very clever idea! I might have to steal some variation of that for future use by some diabolical NPC.
As a warning, before you do a lot of prep and burn some resources trying this, your DM might object. He/she could rule that because planar binding specifical requires a focused inward magic circle against evil, it may inhibit a magic jar.
Remember that a magic cirle is still a protection from evil spell, and that spell states specifically that posessions such as magic jar will not function.
While I can't say this would absolutely be the case for an inwardly focused version, as a DM I would most likely rule accordingly, to protect overall game balance. In either case, it's definitely a debatable point.
Now, on the other hand, if you happen to use a dominate monster scroll (about 4K gp each casting) on some happless meat shield that you come across, and then keep it around indefinitely so you can magic jar its body each day, then I'd probably say that's okay.
Again, it depends on your DM.
Just use a troll and an illusion to disguise yourself. I've seen this tactic discussed several times, and in almost every case, the troll was the "weapon of choice." It's almost as if they're made for this....
Happy possessing!
Trolls: they've got a low Wizdom and are thus easy to possess; they have good hit points and natural armor bonus; they are evil monsters who delight in consuming the flesh of sentient beings (and are thus unworthy of sympathy or mercy making the act of possession against them more palitable for lawful neutral character); they regenerate.... just one problem. You have to find one!
Ironically, summoning an outsider is more reliable ?!? Go figure. I totally agree with you though! A troll would be awsome.
Cheers,
C.
Remember that a magic cirle is still a protection from evil spell, and that spell states specifically that posessions such as magic jar will not function.
Thats exactly the kind of thing I was hoping someone would bring to my attention. Thanks! I totally missed that. It adds a snag to my plan but there's got to be a way to deal with it...
Later. I've got some reading to do (PHB time).
Cheers,
C.
Yes the circle is a minor problem - but not really. Remember that you use the circle only when casting the spell and during negotiations. Once that is complete the creature moves out of the binding area and therefore out of the circle - you are now free to posess the creature.
The problem I think you will have is getting the creature to agree to work for you and leave the safety of the circle. Remember that to pursuade the creature takes opposed CHA checks - make sure you have empowered Eagle's Splendor or equiv.
Oh yeah and don't forget the Will save or the creature is not bound; OR the SR of the creature otherwise it just walks out of the circle; OR the creature's ability to Teleport out of the circle. Wow, there are a LOT of ways that this can go wrong.
Check out DRAGON 336 Spellcraft: The Demonomicon of Iggwilv it has some new spells etc for binding and forcing bound creatures into service. And actually if your DM is cool with the whole binding thing then finding the Demonomicon of Iggwilv could become a cool side quest that enables you to follow through with your plans.
igi