Never did like the lead paint idea... to cheesee. And to easily.
I think it should be 1 inch of lead/gold. Enough to give substance and weight to a room.
Were the room in question has to be build for it before hand.. like a vault.. or war room.
While i believe there should be a poor man's mundane solutions to the problem, i also think that solution should require time, and preparation. The whole lead paint idea defeats the spirit of using lead (heavy metal, bulky, etc).
Never did like the lead paint idea... to cheesee. And to easily.
I think it should be 1 inch of lead/gold. Enough to give substance and weight to a room.
Were the room in question has to be build for it before hand.. like a vault.. or war room.While i believe there should be a poor man's mundane solutions to the problem, i also think that solution should require time, and preparation. The whole lead paint idea defeats the spirit of using lead (heavy metal, bulky, etc).
I like that. I vaguely remember a high-level wizard in an AD&D game who had an underground vault with no access and lead-lined walls. I can't remember how HE got in and out of there, though...
As for teleport spells, it might be possible to nerf them by making them higher level, or add a material cost so players aren't teleporting willy-nilly all over the world until higher levels. That would keep your players relying on mundane travel longer, if that appeals to you.
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Since the problem isn't scry+teleport but scry+buff+teleport, perhaps having the teleport simply zap any ongoing spell effects would be good enough?
That would make it very tough to get into areas that are underwater since a water breathing spell would go away, but maybe that's all good?
Or maybe the teleport acts like an involuntary dispel magic prior to going *poof*? So the higher the spellcaster, the more likely that a buff spell is lost? Put some randomness into it and the whole scry+buff+teleport is less likely.
I wanted to add the whole Star Trek transporter thing where someone popping in would take 3 rounds to do so. One of my spellcaster wizards didn't like that and would prefer that I just block teleport entirely. Hence the "lead paint" idea. Personally I think the slowly fade in over three rounds is quite reasonable, since otherwise the NPCs will simply whitewash their entire complex with lead paint.
Regarding that it's "cheezy" to do so, I would counter that it's a life-preserving method on the part of the populace. No one wants to have wizards popping in on them and lead paint is a well-known way of solving it. So the wizards can pop in *nearby*, just not directly into a protected place. It solves the scry+buff+teleport problem and yet still allows for effortless travel across the globe.
Either an inch of lead or magic paint.
Do you want to put up ozmium tiles? That's dense, but rare normally.
Star Trek Transporter... Lets see, 6 seconds is a round. Have you every timed the Transporters.
I did notice that the Transporting got faster with each new show.
Did it get slower with Enterprise? It should have.
Note that during beaming a person could not be hurt.
Science Fiction is different than magic.
Did it get slower with Enterprise? It should have.
Note that during beaming a person could not be hurt.
Science Fiction is different than magic.
Hehe and Dr Bones would disagree with the can not be hurt.
The original, and Enterprise, there were accidents, mishaps, and sometimes it just could not be done. (( I still think Enterprise cheated by using the transport way two much ;))
By The Next Generation, for the most part, if was safe with quadrupole redundancies (say Greater teleport + Greater Scrying ).
My block on scry and die is that teleports feel like every atom of your being has been diced apart by something sharp, then put back together after that timeless moment of pain, leaving you nauseated on your arrival.
Back when I cut my teeth on AD&D, players were abusing the teleport spells.
They would typically use the scry and die move or use it to do the "lets teleport into the King's treasury, clean it out and T-port out".
What you do need to remember is that as GM is that you do not have to justify everything to your players by pointing it out in the RAW.
Gygax tended to put the mechanics in place where needed.
In his D-series modules, teleport was limited to 1 mile due to "Strange energies in the earth".
If I remember correctly, the Tomb of Horrors was scry resistant and any attempt to go ethereal or plane shift would trigger nasty demons that would attack the traveller on the ethereal plane.
When I designed a Lich's lair for my players, I placed a "Teleport Magnet" that would cause the teleporter who T-ported either into his lair or tried to t-port out to always arrive in the the room with the magnet despite the intended destination. (where nasties awaited with nasty gnashing teeth). The teleport magnet was hidden on the ceiling facing downwards.
Just remember, as GM, you can place whatever you want into your adventures. Just be consistant with how it works (even if the players find a way to defeat it). Don't be too heavy handed with it and every one should have fun. If anyone demands to know how it works, then just shrug and say: "It's Magic."
My block on scry and die is that teleports feel like every atom of your being has been diced apart by something sharp, then put back together after that timeless moment of pain, leaving you nauseated on your arrival.
+1
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The problem with allowing Scry/Teleport to be as effective as the players expect it to be, is that if it were, their precious PCs would have been taken down by it, long before they got to a level to use it.
E.g.; the 3rd-level PCs take down an NPC of level 6.
That NPC turns out to have been the cohort, henchman, associate or friend of a BBEG wizard of level 9+.
That wizard does not take kindly to having his allies whacked, locates the PCs via Speak With Dead, Locate Object on the easily-tracable loot, or calls up a posse, and hits the streets asking after adventurers throwing recently-acquired coin around.
Scry, Teleport, dead PCs.
And that leads to a vortex of paradoxes, whereby one must ask "How did the evil BBEG survive to the level where he could use it on the fledgling PCs? Surely he would have been taken down by the same tactic while he was still a minion?"
"Ah, but the people who would have brought the BBEG to justice while he was still a minion would never have survived long enough to be able to have used it...." and so on and so forth...
OR; one can apply the principle of Occam's Razor, and accept the more rational, simpler explanation. That neither scrying nor teleportation can be as foolproof as players would like either to be when used by themselves.
Because that's the crux. Players want scrying and teleportation to be foolproof when they use it, but aren't prepared to live with (or rather, die from) the consequences of such foolproof tactics being used against them.
Don't overlook a well placed garden.
Vines and creepers could either block or give you something to teleport into. Wicker and bamboo lattice could be nasty to teleport into, and you think a splinter hurts!
And there could be magical plants that can be used as Hazards.
Here is one I had worked up for the Mind's Eye that was never used;
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A'porter Burrs (Hazard)
Fine Plant (Psionic)
Climate/Terrain: Any place where teleportation or extra-dimensional travel is common.
These appear to be a variety of sand burrs, but seem to be able to grow in any environment. They are most commonly found in areas with extra-dimensional travelers or teleporters and are sometimes spread on purpose. The burrs, when attached to a creature or their clothing that uses any form of teleportation or extra-dimensional travel or summoning power has a much greater chance of being “Off Target” when using the above abilities.
The target creature must make a Will save, DC10 + 2 per burr, whenever any spell, power or special ability is used by the creature that has the Teleportation, Calling or Summoning descriptor. A failed check causes the spell/ power to go off target, call or summon the wrong creature or summon a creature without controlling it.
I disagree with the garden idea.
Unless the plant life cover the entire area. The entire area in this case is Floor, 4 walls, Ceiling, Door Ways, and any Windows.
Even then, Vines and creepers have holes throw them, so unless they are so think that one could not see throw them, I would still think you could teleport throw.
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Also please remember that this is in the Rules forum. Not General Discussion.