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I haven't seen this discussed yet.
Anyone else feel that this spell is too 'permanent'???
Sure it's a 9th level spell; but with a failed save, a creature could be whisked away for virtually forever.
Even a PC could be gone for a VERY long time.
Seems too many encounters could be ended very easily with this. (in either direction).
Seem fair? Is it on par? What can be done different with this spell to help it not be so 'permanent'. ?
Robert
Seem fair? Is it on par?
There's a save, and it's single-target, and it doesn't actually kill anything, so if you think about it, it's actually pretty weak for a 9th-level spell.
-Matt
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Seem fair? Is it on par?There's a save, and it's single-target, and it doesn't actually kill anything, so if you think about it, it's actually pretty weak for a 9th-level spell.
-Matt
Its weak in that it's all or nothing - but if its all it's really ALL!
Thats the problem with the feast or famine aspect. I've seen players come to games and be done for the rest of the game because the only remedy is the off-chance of a prepared 9th level spell.
Robert
Well by the time Imprisonment is an issue, you generally see where the other character is imprisoned at, so it's not as huge a deal as it may seem.
This is why it's a ninth level spell, so by the time it shows up the players/characters have more means of dealing with it.
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Well by the time Imprisonment is an issue, you generally see where the other character is imprisoned at, so it's not as huge a deal as it may seem.
This is why it's a ninth level spell, so by the time it shows up the players/characters have more means of dealing with it.
True enough. At the same time, its a quick and easy encounter ender too - one sub-5 roll of a d20 save and the BBEG is locked away "game over"
Its unfortunate IMO - that around 16th level, the game turns into "whoever wins initiative wins the fight"
Robert
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Well by the time Imprisonment is an issue, you generally see where the other character is imprisoned at, so it's not as huge a deal as it may seem.
This is why it's a ninth level spell, so by the time it shows up the players/characters have more means of dealing with it.
True enough. At the same time, its a quick and easy encounter ender too - one sub-5 roll of a d20 save and the BBEG is locked away "game over"
Its unfortunate IMO - that around 16th level, the game turns into "whoever wins initiative wins the fight"
Robert
It does allow spell resistance, and by the time the PCs can cast it, many/most of their foes have SR, so it would require two poor rolls for the BBEG to be imrpisoned.
Also, I highly doubt any of my players would use this spell at the beginning of a fight - they're simply too greedy and wouldn't want to pass up looting the corpse - imprisonment is worse than sundering a weapon since you lose out on all their loot. Also, imprisonment won't let you capture the MacGuffin that the villain has, interrogate him, capture him alive and bring him back for trial, or for that matter kill him. If the PCs rely on this for a BBEG, then they could be very surprized to have him hunt them down after an ally or other villain frees him.
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Also, I highly doubt any of my players would use this spell at the beginning of a fight - they're simply too greedy and wouldn't want to pass up looting the corpse - imprisonment is worse than sundering a weapon since you lose out on all their loot. Also, imprisonment won't let you capture the MacGuffin that the villain has, interrogate him, capture him alive and bring him back for trial, or for that matter kill him. If the PCs rely on this for a BBEG, then they could be very surprized to have him hunt them down after an ally or other villain frees him.
Good point. I hadn't thought of the loot issue.
You're right about the spell resistance, too. Good point. I'll concede that the spell is more balanced than I intitially thought.
One thing of note: Usually the BBEG spellcasters are a level or two higher than the PCs for most end adventure stuff (thats just the way its designed usually). Which means when the PCs are 16th level, the chance of fighting a 17th level wizard is pretty good - and the PCs would have no way to free their comrade.
I was only grasping at ideas for a slightly easier means of extraction so as to not have to use some hokey DM fiat or something to allow the player to continue one at some point.
Robert
Well even at level 15, they should be able to find a patron of some sort to give them a scroll or something. Worse comes to worse there all sorts of monsters than can be gated, planar bind, planar ally'ed into helping too. Granted it's going to eat some resources but not as much as an actual death will, and encounters are supposed to use up resources, otherwise wealth by level gets off track due to wealth per encounter being higher.