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View Full Version : [3.5] What are some "cool and unusual" spell uses?



Flame of Anor
2010-05-19, 10:02 PM
I'd like to find creative ways to increase the power my wizard gets out of his spells, so could I see some of the interesting not-quite-exploits that you cunning players have thought up? Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

AslanCross
2010-05-19, 10:06 PM
The psion using telekinetic thrust to throw a burning stuffed owlbear may not be particularly creative, but it sure is hilarious. An arcane caster can do this with telekinesis, which is much more robust than the psionic power version.

A hogtied NPC beguiler using blur to fake possession by an elder evil (aided by telepathy and a language none of the PCs spoke) utterly spooked the party once.

Greenish
2010-05-19, 10:07 PM
"Launch Bolt" doesn't specify the size of the bolt.

Cog
2010-05-19, 10:38 PM
"Launch Bolt" doesn't specify the size of the bolt.
It specifies the price of it, and the price of weapons goes up with size. It doesn't have the "worth at least" wriggle room that some spells do, either.

Greenish
2010-05-19, 10:46 PM
It specifies the price of it, and the price of weapons goes up with size. It doesn't have the "worth at least" wriggle room that some spells do, either.That's for the material component, which is destroyed instantly when the spell is cast. :smallcool:

holywhippet
2010-05-19, 10:50 PM
During one game an assassin who'd knifed our cleric was climbing up the wall of a building while we were on the ground watching him. The party druid had left one of his wolves with us as backup and I was decided what spell to cast. I started laughing and told the others I had possibly the perfect exploitive spell to cast. Someone asked "grease on the wall"? I told them no, "spider climb on the wolf".

deuxhero
2010-05-19, 11:02 PM
Wolfspider or spiderwolf?

Drakevarg
2010-05-19, 11:02 PM
Perhaps as a form of torture, stick your fingers down someone's throat and cast grease.

Divide by Zero
2010-05-19, 11:04 PM
Mindrape yourself to circumvent a Bluff check.

Cog
2010-05-19, 11:05 PM
That's for the material component, which is destroyed instantly when the spell is cast. :smallcool:
Close, but not quite enough.

Material Component: The crossbow bolt to be fired (1 sp).

Optimystik
2010-05-19, 11:06 PM
Perhaps as a form of torture, stick your fingers down someone's throat and cast grease.

The real fun is what happens after you do that. :smallwink:

Drakevarg
2010-05-19, 11:06 PM
The real fun is what happens after you do that. :smallwink:

That's exactly the point. :smallamused:

Actually, alot of spells can be quite entertaining to force-feed people you don't like. For example, delayed blast fireball.

Greenish
2010-05-19, 11:07 PM
Mindrape yourself to circumvent a Bluff check.The Beeblebrox Gambit!
Close, but not quite enough.Well, obviously you can't fire the material component, since it's destroyed instantly, so *sticks fingers into ears* la la la I can't hear you!

Drakevarg
2010-05-19, 11:10 PM
Find a creature with the Swallow Whole ability, with the largest size category it can eat being yours. Allow it to eat you, then cast enlarge person on yourself.

Oh, and another "force feed to enemy" spell; web.

Divide by Zero
2010-05-19, 11:11 PM
The Beeblebrox Gambit!

And since you have 9th-level spells, just have the cleric Miracle you back afterward.

Gorgondantess
2010-05-19, 11:15 PM
Cantrips only: use dancing lights' "faintly glowing, vaguely humanoid shape", centered on self, for a red glow. Throw in ghost sound for an unearthly moaning. Throw in prestidigitation to create a spiral of wind, centered on yourself- your hair and clothes rustle without wind, etc.
Congrats, you just got a nice circumstance bonus on intimidate checks.

Greenish
2010-05-19, 11:20 PM
Actually, alot of spells can be quite entertaining to force-feed people you don't like. For example, delayed blast fireball.A couple of drow did that to an enemy informant in one of the FR novels. Well, not just that…

Drakevarg
2010-05-19, 11:28 PM
A couple of drow did that to an enemy informant in one of the FR novels. Well, not just that…

Actually, I got the idea from the OotS-style webcomic Anti-Heroes. The main character pulled that trick on a druid with an annoyingly high Reflex save.

"Dodge this, nature boy."

Flame of Anor
2010-05-20, 12:09 AM
"Launch Bolt" doesn't specify the size of the bolt.

I think the real problem with this one is not the price of the bolt--after all, it allows for masterwork and magical bolts, which obviously cost more than 1 sp. But what it does say is "as if you had fired it from a light crossbow". If you take a huge ballista bolt and cast launch bolt on it, it'll just fall on the ground, because a light crossbow could never give it sufficient momentum. Nice try, though!

Here's something I do--not especially creative, but it works well: Kelgore's fire bolt (PHB2) plus Metamagic School Focus (CM) plus Empower Spell: equals a second level spell that will do 7d6 + 1d3 fire damage to a single target, no ranged touch required. It only works if you're an evoker, and it does allow for a Reflex save for half damage, but oh well. And the fire-damage-only problem can be circumvented with Energy Substitution.

holywhippet
2010-05-20, 12:15 AM
I think the real problem with this one is not the price of the bolt--after all, it allows for masterwork and magical bolts, which obviously cost more than 1 sp. But what it does say is "as if you had fired it from a light crossbow". If you take a huge ballista bolt and cast launch bolt on it, it'll just fall on the ground, because a light crossbow could never give it sufficient momentum. Nice try, though!

Not a problem in 3.5 actually. Weapons come in different size categories - the SRD lists the details for both small and medium light crossbows. Hence you could assume the spell would launch a bolt as if from a light crossbow of the matching size.

Flame of Anor
2010-05-20, 12:20 AM
Not a problem in 3.5 actually. Weapons come in different size categories - the SRD lists the details for both small and medium light crossbows. Hence you could assume the spell would launch a bolt as if from a light crossbow of the matching size.

But if I had fired it from such a crossbow, I would be taking a weapon size penalty, no?

Optimystik
2010-05-20, 12:29 AM
But if I had fired it from such a crossbow, I would be taking a weapon size penalty, no?

Better than not firing it at all...

holywhippet
2010-05-20, 12:36 AM
But if I had fired it from such a crossbow, I would be taking a weapon size penalty, no?

Not sure, but I don't think the spell description says you take a penalty for lack of weapon proficiency (sorcerers don't have light crossbow proficiency) so I don't know you'd have to pay for the size penalty either.

Greenish
2010-05-20, 12:41 AM
(sorcerers don't have light crossbow proficiency)Yes they do.

holywhippet
2010-05-20, 12:49 AM
Yes they do.

Ah, my mistake - the SRD just says all simple weapons and I didn't realise light crossbows full under that list.

Jarian
2010-05-20, 12:52 AM
The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder’s size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. If a weapon’s designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can’t wield the weapon at all.

Have fun with your Large crossbow bolt with a -4 to-hit. (-2 for being one size too big, -2 for you treating it as one-handed to be able to use it like that in the first place)

Greenish
2010-05-20, 01:00 AM
Have fun with your Large crossbow bolt with a -4 to-hit. (-2 for being one size too big, -2 for you treating it as one-handed to be able to use it like that in the first place)Wait, what? Why'd you treat it as one-handed?

nedz
2010-05-20, 01:03 AM
Highly amusing about the bolts :smallsmile:

But back to the thread:

Phase Door cast on the floor as a trap. You need to set the condition so that your enemies can enter, but not leave.

The Glyphstone
2010-05-20, 01:18 AM
Have fun with your Large crossbow bolt with a -4 to-hit. (-2 for being one size too big, -2 for you treating it as one-handed to be able to use it like that in the first place)

No one said you have to be able to wield said light crossbow...if you could, it'd make the cantrip even more pointless.

Say hello to your Colossal light crossbow bolt, that is. At -8 to hit for being 4 sizes too big, but meh. No one said this was a 'practical' spell uses thread.

CockroachTeaParty
2010-05-20, 01:32 AM
Cast Passwall on the hull of a ship to sink it.

Cast Shrink Item on a large wooden cone, then place it on your head. Should you enter an antimagic field, the cone returns to its normal sizes, blocking you from AoE and allowing you to teleport to safety.

Cast Mount, then Nystul's Magic Aura to remove the magical aura from the horse, then sell it for cash money (then leave town).

Cast Wall of Iron, then sell the instantaneously created, permanent amount of iron you've just produced. (then dodge books thrown at you by the DM)

If you or someone else has summoned incorporeal undead, cast Silent Image to make it seem like more incorporeal undead have appeared.

If you are a demon, devil, or other outsider capable of summoning other outsiders, and you fail your percentile chance to successfully summon, cast illusion spells to make it seem like you summoned reinforcements anyway.

If enemies have readied an action to fire ranged weapons when you enter a room, cast an illusion of yourself entering the room before you actually enter the room.

Gah... illusions.

Ingus
2010-05-20, 06:15 AM
Ghost sound and minor image and ventriloquism can really be combined in a milion of tricks. Add some fog as concealment and with only low level spells you're forcing your enemy to move around and around and around.
Very frustrating.

Shrink item is a multi purpose spell. You can even apply it to, say, a huge crossbow bolt, then fire it, then de-shrink it in flight (it is expecially useful against antimagic fields).

Foryn Gilnith
2010-05-20, 08:40 AM
7d6 + 1d3

1d3 is not mathematically equivalent to half of a d6. It's about .25 more.

Talon Sky
2010-05-20, 10:32 AM
I always liked the idea of what one of the clerics in my game did....Create Water in someone's lungs. :D

I have an idea for a dungeon I plan on using....having a pit dug into the center of a large room, then placing a Gelatinous Cube in it, and finally having an illusion of the real floor on top. I can see it now....

Me: As you guys pass through the room, your feet begin to hurt. Badly. And you're sinking.

Gnome Rogue: Do I sense any traps or illusion magic?

Me: You're practically having an orgasm.

^_^

Fayd
2010-05-20, 10:41 AM
I always liked the idea of what one of the clerics in my game did....Create Water in someone's lungs. :D


I know it's probably not technically legal, but we joke about it all the time anyway. (Your post made me think of it)

Create Food and Water: Create a muffin. IN THEIR BRAIN!

There is no save against Create Food and Water. SR does not apply. Close range spell too.

Beorn080
2010-05-20, 11:14 AM
I know it's probably not technically legal, but we joke about it all the time anyway. (Your post made me think of it)

Create Food and Water: Create a muffin. IN THEIR BRAIN!

There is no save against Create Food and Water. SR does not apply. Close range spell too.

Technically, you have to have line of sight for the effect to work, so you couldn't create a muffin in their brain. However, you could create a shaped cake that fills all their orifices. "You can have your cake, and CHOKE ON IT TOO!"

Lycanthromancer
2010-05-20, 11:54 AM
Use mirror image and have your images precede you into a room in the spaces adjacent to you (and themselves), leaving one image behind you for back-attacks. Hide in the shadows behind them, leaving a single image out in the open; your foes should believe that the illusionary you is the one casting the spells. Also, use this with shadowcraft mage; each illusion is as real as (or more than) you are, and should be able to cast the same spell you're casting while you're casting it.

Shrink item on a bunch of materials, then fabricate to, say, build a castle 4000 times as fast.

Explosive runes. Fill a book cover-to-cover with runes, have your familiar drop it in an enemy's space, followed by your casting of an area dispel. Not only has a chance of suppressing any magic on your foe, but it also auto-explodes any rune it doesn't successfully dispel. Potentially thousands of d6s in damage, and only evasion (or super-high SR) will protect your victim from guaranteed death (and both can be circumvented easily enough).

Of course, we all know the bennies of planar binding.

Bestow curse to grant you great bonuses to most of your stats; after all, the BoVD says it can age you by one age category. The bonuses dragons get from this is absurd. Grant those same benefits to yourself. Dodgy interpretation, but fun anyway.

Add Burrowing Power to touchsight for x-ray vision. Just make a Psicraft roll when you manifest the power to determine how far beneath the surfaces of objects you can 'see'.

Pyrotechnics is interesting when you combine it with a bullseye lantern; blind all enemies in a cone, while leaving your own allies untouched.

Use metamorphosis or polymorph to turn into a cryo- (or pyro-) hydra, take Assume Supernatural Ability for its breath weapons (assuming it's a Supernatural ability, though it's untyped, meaning it should be a natural attack...but that's just silly), then follow it up with metabreath feats (and Entangling Exhalation). You also get the head-regeneration (as it's also an untyped natural ability), so if you need more breath weapons, chop off a few heads until you regrow more. Now you can get up to 72d6 on your breath weapons (for a 24-headed hydra), and have really nasty rider effects on every 3d6 you've got.

2xMachina
2010-05-20, 12:08 PM
^ Also, metabreath spells. You can get Dispelling, Stunning, Enervating, or add more damage with Admixture.

Lycanthromancer
2010-05-20, 12:09 PM
^ Also, metabreath spells. You can get Dispelling, Stunning, Enervating, or add more damage with Admixture.Y'know, I think perhaps I should build a spell-to-power erudite breath-specialist.

Oi, but not until I've gone to the gym. Tally-ho!

sdream
2010-05-20, 12:11 PM
A crypt chanter was blocking the party.
(nasty undead with high save song that entrances and stacks level drain)

We fled (yay Flee the Scene), the sorcerer used blind/deafen to deafen the whole party, we came back and mopped it up ignoring its main attack.

Jarian
2010-05-20, 12:28 PM
No one said you have to be able to wield said light crossbow...if you could, it'd make the cantrip even more pointless.

Say hello to your Colossal light crossbow bolt, that is. At -8 to hit for being 4 sizes too big, but meh. No one said this was a 'practical' spell uses thread.


...as if you had fired it from a light crossbow...

Practical or impractical, you still have to follow the rules. See innapropriately sized weapon quote on previous page.

Plus, y'know, it can only be a 1sp bolt. So that's two "no"s to this commonly misunderstood trick.

Machiavellian
2010-05-20, 12:31 PM
Well, does using telekinesis to open a door with a goblin or using earthquake to deal infinited6 count as "creative"?

Beorn080
2010-05-20, 01:05 PM
Does creating a Hero's feast for the BBEG's 2nd in commands, sneaking off, then minor creating a large vat of Black Lotus Extract above them before the feast is over count?

Swooper
2010-05-20, 02:46 PM
Explosive runes. Fill a book cover-to-cover with runes, have your familiar drop it in an enemy's space, followed by your casting of an area dispel. Not only has a chance of suppressing any magic on your foe, but it also auto-explodes any rune it doesn't successfully dispel. Potentially thousands of d6s in damage, and only evasion (or super-high SR) will protect your victim from guaranteed death (and both can be circumvented easily enough).
Except that when the first Explosive Runes goes off, the book is destroyed and the other bazillion Explosive Runes with it. :smallamused:

Fayd
2010-05-20, 02:58 PM
Which is why you don't buy a nice book. Any old book will do.

Lycanthromancer
2010-05-20, 03:05 PM
If the 'book' is a bunch of individual pages that are loosely bound (via, say, a paperclip), it's not sequential; an area dispel hits them all simultaneously. the ones not successfully dispelled instantaneously asplode. All of them.