Some monsters in the game, especially higher level ones, can disrupt spells very easily. I haven't looked at too many as I am a player in a game and don't want to metagame too much, but I do want to be prepared if we run into this sort of thing!
It's bugging me a bit because I can't see a way out of it. I even played a reach barbarian with AoO and it locked down casters really well; and some monsters (even fighters with the right feat) disrupt casting on even a regular hit. So I am hoping for some suggestions. These are all assuming that the caster doesn't go first, and so doesn't get any spells off beforehand. I am personally playing an elemental sorcerer, but any suggestions would be appreciated for others who might stumble upon this thread. Some half solutions I have;
- Contingency. I can't figure out the best spell to get off using it (not much on the primal list, even using contingency is using up my precious crossblooded evolution) but it can't be stopped from going off.
- Movement. This is a simple one but some creatures can provoke from 60 or more feet away, and terrain can make it impossible.
- Quicken metamagic. Only once per day, but a second spell in a round could turn the tide. Personally couldn't make it fit in my build.
- Steady spellcasting. Not sure this is worth the feat, it's still very likely the spell will get disrupted.
Any other cool strategies? Also, I'm aware that it's a team game. But I hate feeling useless, even if my character would get focus fired and the rest of my team is free to do their thing.
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As much as I'd love to recommend Steady Spellcasting as a feat, as it's currently one of those feats that sees very little use outside of niche cases, I'm not sure this is as big of an issue as you think.
The baseline creature AoO will only disrupt manipulate actions on crits and the average caster will be way out of range of those. I'm not sure what creature has a 60 ft AoO, even a level 19 Ancient Red Dragon has a 20ft reach for it's AoO. With most spells having "short range" set at 30 feet, it doesn't seem too problematic. At those levels, your own party members should be tying up the battlefield pretty well. My highest group made it to 13/14th level, so maybe this explodes into a legitimate problem past there, but I've never seen it be an issue for a caster. Maybe if they're playing in melee, but then that niche case kicks in of "Yeah, Steady Spellcasting is good here."
My highest group made it to 13/14th level, so maybe this explodes into a legitimate problem past there, but I've never seen it be an issue for a caster.
I can't say I've seen the issue either and I've seen higher levels. This might be a DM/party/game issue. I'll have to think about it a bit as I've never really gave it much thought.
I mean I haven't gotten there yet either; we're only level twelve. But I always plan my characters all the way to 20 and wanted to look ahead.
Spoilers I suppose, but a monster I stumbled on that scared me into making this post is lesser death. It has a reaction that triggers on concentrate, move, manipulate, and ranged attacks, disrupts on a regular hit, and has a 60ft range (it teleports). As a caster I was just trying to think of ways around it. If a caster is just straight up screwed and hopes their party deals with it, well I guess that's what's going to happen. I hope not though.
Not the safest of options, but most monsterst still have only one Reaction per turn. You could work with your party to goad the enemy to waste their reaction on something or someone else. Stride before you cast your actual spell or maybe use a single action spell (Guidance or a low level Heal/Harm) to trigger this reaction.
Disruption also usually happens on a Strike that has to hit or crit you. So anything you can do to avoid being hit helps. Max your AC, Raise a Shield, try to have a spell for hit-avoidance running, drink a Mistform Elixir.
I also did a quick search on Nethys and found fewer than 10 monsters that can disrupt a spell on a regular hit. More than half of those were level 20+ and other than the Lesser Death and the Grim Reaper himself all but one were limited to their melee reach to use their disrupting reaction. As much as I like being prepared, those numbers don't exactly keep me awake at night if I play a caster.
I'm with Blave on this one: versus a creature that has a reaction like the Lesser Death, your solution would be to Delay until someone else (hopefully someone with more HP) eats the reaction for you.
While the lesser death is an outlier for this sort of problem (its reaction is absolutely not the norm in terms of range, movement, or disruption), I think it's a good thought experiment to see how one could handle it. Especially if, for some reason it... happens to come up in an AP?
Anyway, something that I bring up to my players is that just because their characters are in the midst of battle and making split-second decisions, it doesn't mean that the players are. You can piece together a bit before commiting to a turn. I think the second I see that reaction come out, as a low-HP caster, I would want someone, anyone, else to take it. From there, I would normally say that a spell like blur or invisibility would come in handy, but... Well, the lesser death has true sight! Worse still, as a rare creature, it's Recall Knowledge DC is impressiely high and I think a level 14 character with a master Religion would still be hard-pressed to glean any information warning you in advance.
Honestly, this is an incredibly powerful opponent in every sense of the word. Spellcasters and martial characters alike are quite likely to struggle against them and should probably be an incredibly intense fight with high stakes. Even with Delaying, I would expect to lose a spell slot or two.
But yeah, a lesser death is absolutely not the norm.
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just THINKING about one earns you the AOO from the Lesser Death - Recall Knowledge has the concentrate trait...
See, thematically, I love this. An investigator staring curiously at the robed figure when its head swivels towards them and it disappears in a flash, only to bring the scythe down just as they reappear.
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Zapp, we literally just went over this. Gaulin even pointed out that Lesser Death is what they were referring to. Blave then noted that less than 10 have the ability to interrupt without crits, with the majority of those being over level 20. You've gotta read the room.
Sorry guys, I didn't mean that this is an issue with the system or anything. I like to look at things like this more as thought experiments, as puzzles. And even then, if the puzzle can't be solved, well that's just a few monsters that I'll need heavy help from the rest of the party. There's no need to say this isn't a problem, move on; it's just a player looking for some advice on what to do in a situation.
I was wondering about repulsion as a spell. It's not an incapacitate spell, would you guys say if a creature crit failed it, it couldn't teleport closer?
Contingency and resilient sphere could also be a near way to block at least one attack, leaving the caster free to give themselves a buff spell or two that might help. Things like mirror image, mask of terror, anything that has a chance of stopping an attack.