Ooh. And it also protects you from your own cloud. :)Actually, that's a funny idea. There's a new level 11 item that lets you inflict sleep 1/day no save as a reaction on an enemy you hit with an unarmed strike and that needs to breathe until end of turn. Hit, sleep, suffocate. No save, just die.Ally uses the wand, fighter Strides to the enemy caster, and then grapples to keep them in the area. Fight is pretty much over.So the same thing we do with the CRB's Silence spell?Silence never killed anyone. This potentially can. Otherwise, yep.
Also, unlike silence, any caster can use this wand since the spells appear on all tradition lists.
Follow up with something like hideous laughter, and suddenly the black cloud is a save or die scenario. Take out any breathing boss in a one-two punch. Oh, they passed their save? Hit 'em with HL again. It's low level and scrolls are cheap. You only need keep them in the area or spam more of it.
Oh wait, the spells are 3 actions. Gonna need a haste to pull that off properly. Still, a 3rd level spell isn't much setup for this kind of thing.
A strictly better upgrade? Well literally any spellgun compared to bombs, guns, or single target spells.
They are cheaper per damage inflicted. Take less actions to use. Can use the best of spell casting or firearm proficiency.
Spellguns is what bombs and firearms should had been. High damage easy to use weapons that don't screw you up on action economy "because short bows have to be better".
- The one example of "spellgun" that I've was a consumable. That's pretty much inherently not a replacement for guns, which can be fired repeatedly. Are there non-consumable spellguns out there?
- It also didn't have splash effects and wasn't officially a weapon (and thus didn't benefit form various class and feat-based boosts to weapon attacks, let alone boosts that were specific to bombs, thrown weapons, etc.) That makes it hard to claim that it's strictly better than bombs. If there *are* non-consumable spellguns, that's very interesting, but the same "not a weapon" factor (and associated lack of runes and so forth) would make it at least a bit hard to claim that it was strictly better than guns even so.
- Single target slot spells are something that casters get a pile of for free every morning. Cantrips they get to just have Again, this is not really a thing that consumable items can compete with. if there's a non-consumable spellgun that compares favorably to even cantrips of roughly equivalent level...? Well, I'd be interested to see that.
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Having better options at higher costs is not power creep.
I think these conversations where only part of the community has the resources to read the actual entries really set us up for failure because the people with the PDF get to run around with their pitchforks before most other people have any chance to think about it. It frames the conversation in that "power creep" mode when it wouldn't be otherwise for items that are well within the power scope of similar level and cost items (or things fall within the bounds of clear errata).
And framing something such as the Wand of Choking Mist as a "win button" is outrageous when "breathers" can hold their breath and use one action to get out of the burst. There is a chance that using this wand could create a win condition but it requires coordination with your party to pull off (and even then has a risk of failure against plenty of enemies). Bonus points it would be an encounter outcome that felt really satisfying for the person who pulled it off. That isn't a game changing item, it is the same as many other items that can tip the scales of battle but still need party coordination to pull off. A tool that when used correctly can boost your chances but very often won't even be in consideration against normal enemies who will simply walk away from it.
I say this as a 1e arcanist/summoner. I am very familiar with options that end the game for the rest of the party. Nothing in this book (which I do have the PDF for) comes close to earning a genuine "power creep" label.
Call me wary of anything that let's you bypass hit points entirely, teamwork or no.
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Call me wary of anything that let's you bypass hit points entirely, teamwork or no.
Well they don't bypass hit points entirely (suffocation does HP damage but does have an increasingly likely death on critical failure for the fort save). Death in many circumstances for this would be 5+ rounds out but it is highly situational. An enemy with allies to aid them in this scenario is very unlikely to die at all let alone have their HP pool skipped over.
In the matrix training room it is very easy to envision the perfect scenario to execute this but I've never been part of a 2e encounter that fits those circumstances in reality.
Call me wary of anything that let's you bypass hit points entirely, teamwork or no.
So you hate water...
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In games like these who doesn't hate water? Even aquatic ancestries can suffer in aquatic combat.
Call me wary of anything that let's you bypass hit points entirely, teamwork or no.Well they don't bypass hit points entirely (suffocation does HP damage but does have an increasingly likely death on critical failure for the fort save). Death in many circumstances for this would be 5+ rounds out but it is highly situational. An enemy with allies to aid them in this scenario is very unlikely to die at all let alone have their HP pool skipped over.
In the matrix training room it is very easy to envision the perfect scenario to execute this but I've never been part of a 2e encounter that fits those circumstances in reality.
That's the best part. Suffocation/air depravation from this wand absolutely doesn't care about level or saves to affect the enemy so you save it for the solo boss.
If you can manage the lockdown with martials that are able to breathe in the area, layered wall spells, etc you can either wait their breath timer out (goes down by 2 every turn they attack and another 1 per ally crit) or at the very least put horrible pressure on their action economy which is a win anyway.
You've also got the mask that inflicts unconscious. An unarmed martial with an arcane or primal dedication can pull off a lovely touch of death combo with a turn 1 haste and hitting an enemy with an unarmed strike with a hasted attack on any turn afterward. Unless you'd like to argue that an unconscious creature can hold their breath. Even works with ranged unarmed attacks like wild wind stance or foxfire.
I don't think it's OP, but it's an exciting option and one I expect to be looked into and theorized around.
Absolutely, I think it creates some fun interactions. My point is that is isn't close to a Press Q to Win button or anything like that.
I would LOVE if my party sprung this level of surprise tactics on me even in a boss fight.