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Blowing Up Briarstone

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grandobsidian

Dec 21, 2016, 03:27 pm

So I've been running my group through the Strange Aeon's campaign recently and I guess I've been doing my job as GM right because my player's are so unsettled by the horrors of Briarstone they have made a pact to come back to Briarstone once the sorcerer gains access to his 9th level spells so they can level the asylum with a meteor and wipe out the haunted asylum for good. Now, honestly, I've never been apart of or GMed for a group that's made it that far and I'm just a tad worried about how to handle them once they reach that level of power.
Now, I believe in letting them do what they want. I've played with GM's that were too restrictive on stuff like this and it's not fun but I know literally letting the player's go nuts isn't exactly ideal either. My first thought is that razing Briarstone is likely to unleash the bhole they still don't know about and I'm wondering if that should be a suitable little life lesson as to why you can't just blow up buildings even if you are a super powerful sorcerer in a made up world or if maybe it'd be better to just let them have their moment and trust they'll only use their powers for good.

QuidEst

Dec 21, 2016, 03:50 pm

Meteor Swarm will be very ineffective, since it's mostly useless fire damage. (Stone building and all.) 24d6 fire is more than lava, but not sustained enough to melt a stone building, at least not without some repeat application. Ranks in K(Engineering) should help with the task, though.

Spoiler:

The building has been partially destroyed already, and that was the bhole stirring. That destruction didn't wake the bhole, so destroying the building probably shouldn't wake it up- just trigger an earthquake at most.

Given that the asylum has lost half its structure and been the site of something pretty supernaturally messed up, there's not actually much wrong with the PCs glossing the place. The staff and patients certainly aren't going to go back there, and wealthy high-level PCs could fund the construction of a new building on less troubled land- still focused on science, but cognizant of supernatural influences.

Chromantic Durgon <3

Dec 21, 2016, 04:14 pm

Agreed with QuidEst on both points, destroying it should be fine honestly its not like they're going on a crazy mad rampage against some innocents to try out their new found power.

One might also consider recommend a slightly less s$## spell for the job because I imagine dropping 4 meteors onto a building and finding that they didn't do a great deal and that 1 of the 4 level 9 spells you'll ever get is worse than using some metamagic on a low level spell would be quite miserable.
Honestly demolition isn't the strong point of the Wiz/Sorc list.
I'd recommend Gate to summon a collosal.
But then Gate is much more likely to disrupt the balance of your game than meteor-strike.

QuidEst

Dec 22, 2016, 06:43 am

Decent demolition spells: Clashing Rocks (effective wrecking ball spell if you allow non-creature targets, or just use ants), Tsunami (8d6 damage bypassing hardness and halving, sweeps the remains away), and Earthquake (as Tsunami, but 100 damage instead of 8d6). Clashing Rocks will need to be used on each wall to kick it down, while Tsunami will need to be cast six or seven times on each side of the building (generously assuming that any remaining walls count as only one foot thick for hitpoints after the earthquake). Earthquake is the one designed to take down buildings, and only needs about two castings per side.

That last one is the only one likely to wake that which slumbers below. I'd give it a 10% chance per casting and call it a day.