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View Full Version : Trapped in a Force Cage surrounded by Dead Bodies.



Beelzebub1111
2010-06-25, 11:18 PM
Here's what I know:
I appear to have been kidnapped by some mad screaming necromancer lady. I was knocked unconscious and stuck in what appears to be a dungeon. There is a forcecage all around me (1/2 inch hole version)The dead bodies around me seem to have died of dehydration. The floor is a mix of stone and earth. I have...maybe 1 or 2 days left for my party to rescue me before I start to die of thirst (It has been a day already and I have given up hope of a speedy rescue) All of my magic items and equipment (and clothes) are missing (spellbook included of course), I have no spells left...what should I do?

I fought off the squicks and have torn off the shoulder blade of one of the bodies and started using it as a makeshift spade to dig under the force cage.

this is a second edition game, I'm playing a bard, just attained 10th level.

Tinydwarfman
2010-06-25, 11:29 PM
Any particular reason you can't use spells?

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-25, 11:34 PM
2nd edition bards needed spellbooks as they hadn't invented spontaneous casting yet. Also, I had used all my spells in previous fights with Ettercaps, rust Monsters, Bugbears, and skeletons and a death knight disgusied as hobgoblins. (separate fights, not all at once)

gallagher
2010-06-25, 11:50 PM
i dont know much about second edition, but what is outside of the forcecage. if you successfully dig your way out, it will be good to plan on what you can use in there, improvised weapons and all.

second, talk with your DM. ask if there is a reasonable solution present outside of the party finding you, and tell of the dwindling faith that they are going to be any help

Tinydwarfman
2010-06-25, 11:59 PM
I assume you don't have escape artist or open lock high enough to matter? See if you can fashion a lock pick out of one of the hand bones if you do have it though.

Hallavast
2010-06-26, 12:03 AM
second, talk with your DM. ask if there is a reasonable solution present outside of the party finding you, and tell of the dwindling faith that they are going to be any help

Isn't this rather counter-productive to the game? Takes all the fun out when you simply ask the DM to solve it for you straightforwardly. If I ever get questions like these, they are ALWAYS met with a non-committal grunt.

Beorn080
2010-06-26, 12:03 AM
This gives new meaning to the term spoony bard.

Hmm, lets see, screaming necromancer lady, and a naked bard. Have you considered posing?

Ninjaedit:
Isn't this rather counter-productive to the game? Takes all the fun out when you simply ask the DM to solve it for you straightforwardly. If I ever get questions like these, they are ALWAYS met with a non-committal grunt.

If you ask if there is a solution, that should be answerable. Not the actual solution, merely if there is one. I think its fair to know if your in a DM death trap or not.

CubeB
2010-06-26, 12:04 AM
You need a spellbook to use bardsong?

Well, this is kind of silly... but I'd try singing.

Negation if you'd prefer, but the song might carry out to where the rest of the party is.

Mystic Muse
2010-06-26, 12:08 AM
Tell your DM to call you when you can actually do something?

mucat
2010-06-26, 12:11 AM
You need a spellbook to use bardsong?

Second edition. I don't think there's such a thing as bardsong, at least not the way you're thinking of it.

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-26, 12:19 AM
i dont know much about second edition, but what is outside of the forcecage. if you successfully dig your way out, it will be good to plan on what you can use in there, improvised weapons and all.
Too dark to see, Force cage doesn't give enough light to see the whole room, I can sort of make out that the walls are brick and mortar and that there could possibly be stairs up, though they could have dropped me from above as there are (or were thanks to the party's first attempt at rescue) gargoyles and a gargoyle golem.


This gives new meaning to the term spoony bard.
Hmm, lets see, screaming necromancer lady, and a naked bard. Have you considered posing?

No one has come to check on me for the last two days, and judging by the state of the bodies I don't think anybody will.



Well, this is kind of silly... but I'd try singing.
Negation if you'd prefer, but the song might carry out to where the rest of the party is.
Couldn't hurt, I suppose. Though OOC knowledge says that the party is still outside resting up after a raise dead and spending most magic on the goyles. Bardic music only works for a +1 buff or countersong.


I assume you don't have escape artist or open lock high enough to matter? See if you can fashion a lock pick out of one of the hand bones if you do have it though.
My bard's theiving skills are:
Detect Noise: 30%
Pick Pockets: 75%
Climb Walls: 80%
Read Language: 75%

My Nonweapon proficiencies are:
Play Instrument, Singing, Juggling, Ancient History, Local History, Crowd Working, Disguise.

The Rose Dragon
2010-06-26, 12:19 AM
I assume you don't have escape artist or open lock high enough to matter? See if you can fashion a lock pick out of one of the hand bones if you do have it though.

There is no Escape Artist skill in 2nd Edition. There is lockpicking, but it won't work on the forcecage.

EDIT: Oh gods. Non-weapon proficiencies. I thought my group was the only one who played with those.

Gorgondantess
2010-06-26, 12:25 AM
There is no Escape Artist skill in 2nd Edition. There is lockpicking, but it won't work on the forcecage.

EDIT: Oh gods. Non-weapon proficiencies. I thought my group was the only one who played with those.

Nawww, it's the only real way to do AD&D; secondary skills are crap.:smallbiggrin:

And, yeah... you're a bard. Wait 'till the necromancer lady comes around and woo her with your bare minimum 15 charisma. If she doesn't, try to entice her with a lovely ballad... or a dirge, this being a necromancer lady you're going for.:smalltongue:

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-26, 12:27 AM
Nawww, it's the only real way to do AD&D; secondary skills are crap.:smallbiggrin:

And, yeah... you're a bard. Wait 'till the necromancer lady comes around and woo her with your bare minimum 15 charisma. If she doesn't, try to entice her with a lovely ballad... or a dirge, this being a necromancer lady you're going for.:smalltongue:

I forgot to mention that she's stark raving mad. Her constant screams and cries and wails can be heard for miles outside her castle.

Mystic Muse
2010-06-26, 12:27 AM
Nawww, it's the only real way to do AD&D; secondary skills are crap.:smallbiggrin:

And, yeah... you're a bard. Wait 'till the necromancer lady comes around and woo her with your bare minimum 15 charisma. If she doesn't, try to entice her with a lovely ballad... or a dirge, this being a necromancer lady you're going for.:smalltongue:

You better just hope she's not a necrophiliac.:smalleek:

Hendel
2010-06-26, 12:37 AM
Hmmm..a bard with no spells, no items, and no friends in a forcecage. I would hope that the duration of the spell wears away. I mean it is only 6 turns plus 1 turn per level duration.

If the DM says it is a permanent duration, then wait and hope for your friends to show. Otherwise, start rolling up a new character.

Another_Poet
2010-06-26, 12:58 AM
For one thing, even if the bodies are long-dead and fairly dry on the outside, they contain moisture. They aren't all skeletons or you wouldn't have been able to tell they died of thirst. Some must be fleshy corpses, right?

Consider using your bone tool to cut open a belly. You should be able to drink blood and other fluids. It won't be healthy for you and might be full of disease. But it will take longer to die of disease than it does to die of dehydration, and your party cleric can remove the disease from you when they eventually reach you.

You can also drink your own pee. Pee is surprisingly sterile. It is salty, but will give you precious water. Of course it is a net loss every time you do it but it will prolong the amount of time you have. Consider using a skull as a pee-pot/drinking vessel.

If any of the bodies have helmets or the like, you can use two helmets and a canteen to make a still and refine the water. Put blood/pee in small vessel A, cover with large vessel B, and set both in larger vessel C. Water will evapourate from A, condense on B and collect in C. This will be a lot nicer than straight rotten blood or pee. It will also be salt-free. It will work quickly if you are in sunlight, but will still work slowly even if you are underground.

Sounds like they are probably naked too though. Good call on the shoulder shovel. It worked to build stonehenge!

Other tips include using corpses to build a shade wall (if you are in the sunlight) to reduce how much you sweat and thus how much water you use; and suicide.

Seriously, suicide is a good idea. Sharpen a bone and cut your own throat, or swallow a large bone and choke to death. Either method is less miserable than dying slowly of thirst, and your cleric can res you when they recover your body. Just make sure to scratch your living will in the dirt first (Please Resurrect, Thanks!) so they know your wishes.

ap

jiriku
2010-06-26, 01:11 AM
Just chill and make a backup character. Seriously, if you're naked and spell-less in a permanent version of a magical prison that's not usually permanent, surrounded by the bodies of other prisoners who failed to escape, the DM wants the party to come rescue you! Be a good prisoner and wait for your rescue. :smalltongue:

Beorn080
2010-06-26, 01:14 AM
Seriously, suicide is a good idea. Sharpen a bone and cut your own throat, or swallow a large bone and choke to death. Either method is less miserable than dying slowly of thirst, and your cleric can res you when they recover your body. Just make sure to scratch your living will in the dirt first (Please Resurrect, Thanks!) so they know your wishes.

Make sure you identify which corpse is yours. I don't recall if they have Speak with Dead in 2E, but it would be a pain resurrecting a half dozen corpses before they got to yours.

And she might be stark raving mad, but you are a bard. Its in the Bardic Charter that you must seduce the evil females. Unfortunately, they don't tell you that not every evil female took an 18 in charisma. Some of them dumped it.

Hague
2010-06-26, 01:27 AM
Bards in 2e don't just sing songs, they can tell tales too. I'm sure you can come up with a rousing tale of madness and despair that will at least throw her off-balance for if/when your party shows up.

Mnemnosyne
2010-06-26, 01:50 AM
If you have no spells left at all and there's absolutely nothing within reach, then there doesn't seem to be much of anything you can do.

However, as noted above, the duration of Forcecage is rather limited, even when cast by a 20th level caster. 26 turns, or 260 minutes, when cast by a 20th level mage. It would take a level 288 mage to cast a forcecage that would last for 2 days without casting Permanency on it, so either she burned a point of constitution on the Forcecage or it's being generated by a magical item. If it's being generated by a magical item, there may be something in the dark that's generating it.

That's about the only lead I can potentially imagine. Otherwise you're basically supposed to sit and wait to be rescued or wait for your captor to return, and that's about it. Attempt to fashion a bone or something into a makeshift weapon in case you need it (this seems unlikely, but you never know) but otherwise sit and wait. If you do get the opportunity to kill a captor, don't, unless you are certain the means of escape will then be within your grasp.

Edit: On the magical item front, it may be something like a Cube of Force. If so, it is possible the item generating the field must be inside the field, and you are meant to find it by carefully digging through the dirt and sifting through every square inch of it, then using your bardic ability to identify magical items in order to operate it and free yourself. Unlikely, but a possibility.

742
2010-06-26, 02:05 AM
you arent searching through the bodies or trying to sing to crazy necromancer lady? crazy evil and emotionally dead are three mostly seperate things, just because they happen to occur together on some occasions doesnt mean that theyre the same.

Xuc Xac
2010-06-26, 04:06 AM
Consider using your bone tool to cut open a belly. You should be able to drink blood and other fluids. It won't be healthy for you and might be full of disease. But it will take longer to die of disease than it does to die of dehydration, and your party cleric can remove the disease from you when they eventually reach you.


He's been in there for 2 days. Even if the corpses were fresh when he was put in there, the fluids are now so rancid that the smell would make him vomit before he could taste them. If he could manage to choke it down and hold it in without vomiting, then he's almost certain to get diarrhea. If the cage was cold enough to prevent noticeable decay for that long, then the naked bard would have died of hypothermia already.

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-26, 06:50 AM
I worry about eating bodies or drinking their fluids. My DM is just the type of guy to make this a place where wendigos or something could be created.

magellan
2010-06-26, 07:41 AM
This gives new meaning to the term spoony bard.

Hmm, lets see, screaming necromancer lady, and a naked bard. Have you considered posing?

Ninjaedit:

If you ask if there is a solution, that should be answerable. Not the actual solution, merely if there is one. I think its fair to know if your in a DM death trap or not.

How would the DM know if the player can think of a solution?
When I DM, I make problems. The solutions are none of my business.

shovelling didnt work?
I take it you examined the forcecage (Including the top) if there are any holes?
Well, if thos 2 fail you need to talk to her. Maybe bluff, and try to convince her you are an undead, and she might as well let you out now?

Sebastian
2010-06-26, 09:11 AM
normally forcecage should cover the ground, too, if this doesn't (because you can try to dig a hole out of it) well, maybe it sound stupid, but did you tried to lift it? after all a cage of pure force should not be too heavy.

(I simply assume the cage have a roof or you would have already tried to climb out of it)

Cespenar
2010-06-26, 09:43 AM
Feign death and wait for her to dismiss the cage.

dgnslyr
2010-06-26, 10:41 AM
Sing to pass the time. We are the Champions, maybe? Be prepared to slap someone with a dead body, or severed leg. Anything can be a weapon, right?

Beorn080
2010-06-26, 12:32 PM
How would the DM know if the player can think of a solution?
When I DM, I make problems. The solutions are none of my business.


Yet I assume that, unless you put them in an impossible situation, you have a solution in mind. They might not use it, but unless your a sadistic DM, there should be a way out in your mind.

This is a good example of why you hide a minor spellstoring ring in a location that is very unlikely to be searched.

wick
2010-06-26, 01:02 PM
I don't have 2nd ed books handy but the force cage will sit on top of the ground so you can dig under but i don't think it could be lifted.

Does the crazy come around often? What are the symptons of her craziness? you may be able to play off that. Have you made a bardic knowledge check to determine her story? Maybe her tale will provide the means of your escape.

SurlySeraph
2010-06-26, 04:04 PM
I worry about eating bodies or drinking their fluids. My DM is just the type of guy to make this a place where wendigos or something could be created.

Yeah, but if that happens at least you'll have more Strength to work with. :smalltongue:

Don't forget that you can crack the bones and drink the marrow, by the way. It's salty, but should decrease your thirst. For now just keep digging, feign death the next time the necromancer stops by, try to seduce if that doesn't work and feigned death isn't seductive to her, and pray if your character has a god.

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-26, 06:36 PM
I don't have 2nd ed books handy but the force cage will sit on top of the ground so you can dig under but i don't think it could be lifted.

Does the crazy come around often? What are the symptons of her craziness? you may be able to play off that. Have you made a bardic knowledge check to determine her story? Maybe her tale will provide the means of your escape.
She doesn't come around at all, no one does, the symptoms of her crasieness are a constant wailing, crying, screaming, howling, and sobbing that permiates her castle and can be heard at least a mile outside.


and pray if your character has a god.
His god (or rather Hero-Deity) is one of invention and innovation. If I can't get out myself, then I've failed.

Lysander
2010-06-26, 06:42 PM
Is there any reason your digging under the cage plan won't work?

Are all the bodies also nude, or are there any tools/clothing/other items that could help?

Is there anything notable outside the cage? Something you could throw a rock at like a switch or lever?

Are there rats/insects? You can't really eat rotting bodies but just killed rats might be an option.

Have you tried closely examining everything in your environment?

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-26, 08:48 PM
Is there any reason your digging under the cage plan won't work?

Are all the bodies also nude, or are there any tools/clothing/other items that could help?

Is there anything notable outside the cage? Something you could throw a rock at like a switch or lever?

Are there rats/insects? You can't really eat rotting bodies but just killed rats might be an option.

Have you tried closely examining everything in your environment?
No results of the digging yet, We'll see the progress when I return to the game on Wednesday

The other bodies are in a similar state to me, just minimal clothing.

I'll give it a shot...but He told me that I couldn't see past a few feet, and that I could barely see inside my own cage. The cage itself is my only light source, less than a candle. Even so, The cage has only half inch square gaps.

No rats or bugs, It probably why the bodies haven't completely decayed already.

I'm Screwed aren't I?...all because I failed a Save vs Fear from a Death Knight. running away, while invisible.

Beorn080
2010-06-26, 09:42 PM
If your DM wanted to kill you, you probably would have been Coup de Graced or the equivalent before getting into the cage. I'm not saying that you could fail to get out due to missing something or similar, but I'd say there is a good chance something will come up.

742
2010-06-27, 05:32 AM
gain mighty third edition powers, then regain spells; if that fails retcon all your levels into badass.

or you know, soothe her pain with the healing power of love then get all the information you can out of her and stab her in the back; assuming stabbing works on banshees.

Sebastian
2010-06-27, 08:03 AM
I don't have 2nd ed books handy but the force cage will sit on top of the ground so you can dig under but i don't think it could be lifted.


"This powerful spell enables the caster to bring into being a cube of force."

Now, cubes usually have six sides and nowhere in the spell description it say anything that would make us think otherwise, but this cube -apparently- it is not standard lacking a floor, unless the floor is actually underground (again, non standard). Unless Beelzebub tell us differently there is no reason to think the forcecage cannot be lifted, or pushed. I imagine we'll see when he is back to the game, if he is willing to give it a try.

onthetown
2010-06-27, 08:15 AM
I'm not familiar with 2nd edition, but (if worse comes to worse) can the party at least rescue your corpse and find somebody to raise dead or resurrect you?

If you're in a dark, cool area, there might be condensation or moisture from the earth. You might be able to strain some water out of the earth to live on.

Are the other corpses fully decomposed and just bone, or is there some meat still on them?

Remember, it's always worth trying to befriend your captor if you're a bard. :smallwink: Appeal to her crazy side! Make up some insane stories to tell her. Sing her some of the weirdest, most death-y songs you can think of. Tell her how lovely she would look in the latest shade of rotting flesh, and invite her to take away the forcecage to try on some of the corpses to see if any match her complexion.

Or, you could scream and wail back at her to get her attention.

Learnedguy
2010-06-27, 08:33 AM
Bah, you guys lack panache:smallyuk:!!

"Dig yourself out"?
"Try wooing her"?
"Suicide is easy"?
"Wait"?
"Push eet!"?

That's not heroic at all! What are you? Men or mice?! There's no way any of those unheroic boring plans would work! Especially not the waiting one.

No, what you're going to do is showing that necromancer exactly who in this castle got the best vocal chords! Challenge her to a wailing contest! She think she can wail for a mile?! You show her how REAL MEN wail!!

Be a man and challenge the crazy necromancer on a ROCK OFF DUEL!!!

Take their logic and substitute it with your own!!

Panache!!

Evard
2010-06-27, 09:24 AM
Bah, you guys lack panache:smallyuk:!!

"Dig yourself out"?
"Try wooing her"?
"Suicide is easy"?
"Wait"?
"Push eet!"?

That's not heroic at all! What are you? Men or mice?! There's no way any of those unheroic boring plans would work! Especially not the waiting one.

No, what you're going to do is showing that necromancer exactly who in this castle got the best vocal chords! Challenge her to a wailing contest! She think she can wail for a mile?! You show her how REAL MEN wail!!

Be a man and challenge the crazy necromancer on a ROCK OFF DUEL!!!

Take their logic and substitute it with your own!!

Panache!!

You win for best response :D And I second this idea! There is nothing else to do really since it is a cube and she never comes around... Maybe she stole you BECAUSE you were the bard and bards are singers? Try to recognize the other corpses with a knowledge check to see if they are all bards :P

El Dorado
2010-06-27, 10:17 AM
What does your local history tell you about the area you're in? Is it a castle dungeon? Any tales of people escaping the necromancer? Why is she insane? Broken heart, great tragedy, cursed? How did you end up in the area?

Check the other prisoners' clothing carefully. See if they scratched any information into the fibers. Maybe stitched something of use.

Your cage doesn't sound like a cube of force. Legend Lore the forcecage. If it is a custom item, you might recall a way to deactivate it. If that doesn't work, you might be inside a permanent forcecage. If so, then I wonder how the necromancer put you inside of it. The state of your fellow prisoners suggest that it's been there for a while. I suppose you could have been reduced or teleported in while you were unconscious (assuming you were unconscious).

Is there anything special about her wailing? You said she could be heard for miles. That's not natural. You could counter song her wails. If it's tied to her magic, she might not like that. Even if it doesn't, it might help your friends find you.

Also, are you really even in a forcecage? Create a plausible pretext like "there is no possible way for me to fit through those tiny gaps in the cage" and attempt to disbelieve.

magellan
2010-06-28, 09:41 AM
Yet I assume that, unless you put them in an impossible situation, you have a solution in mind. They might not use it, but unless your a sadistic DM, there should be a way out in your mind.

This is a good example of why you hide a minor spellstoring ring in a location that is very unlikely to be searched.

No I dont.
Sometimes a "They could do X" crosses my mind, but I try not to. Solutions get evaluated when they are presented that way, and there is less danger of having your players search for "the right" solution, wich is only the right one, because it is the one the DM thought of.

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 09:50 AM
Tell your DM to call you when you can actually do something?

Pretty much this


Bards in 2e don't just sing songs, they can tell tales too. I'm sure you can come up with a rousing tale of madness and despair that will at least throw her off-balance for if/when your party shows up.

3.x as well. (Perform [Oratory])

Analytica
2010-06-28, 06:33 PM
Bah, you guys lack panache!!

"Dig yourself out"?
"Try wooing her"?
"Suicide is easy"?
"Wait"?
"Push eet!"?

That's not heroic at all! What are you? Men or mice?! There's no way any of those unheroic boring plans would work! Especially not the waiting one.

No, what you're going to do is showing that necromancer exactly who in this castle got the best vocal chords! Challenge her to a wailing contest! She think she can wail for a mile?! You show her how REAL MEN wail!!

Be a man and challenge the crazy necromancer on a ROCK OFF DUEL!!!

Take their logic and substitute it with your own!!

Panache!!

Oh, yes!

You can hear her, right? Suppose you imititate her. Or begin to do so, then begin to subtly warp her wailing. It has emotional significance to her, you should be able to hack her mind this way. Perhaps even gain control of her.

woodenbandman
2010-06-28, 06:41 PM
Sing until the DM lets you out. Like, at the gaming table.

Why is nobody blasting the DM on his hackneyed railroading? Is it because this is second edition and second edition players are complacent with being told what to do?

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 07:22 PM
Sing until the DM lets you out. Like, at the gaming table.

Why is nobody blasting the DM on his hackneyed railroading? Is it because this is second edition and second edition players are complacent with being told what to do?

I don't like it either, but railing against his DM isn't really going to accomplish anything.

Also, you shouldn't lump all second edition players under one umbrella, especially a borderline insulting one.

El Dorado
2010-06-28, 08:47 PM
DM could just be setting up dramatic tension. Nothing like making your players squirm.

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 08:58 PM
DM could just be setting up dramatic tension. Nothing like making your players squirm.

Well perhaps, but it's still a game. If there's nothing the players can do, they can't really... play.

El Dorado
2010-06-28, 09:19 PM
Well perhaps, but it's still a game. If there's nothing the players can do, they can't really... play.

So he's got a little downtime while the rest of party executes the rescue mission. Which reminds me---where was the rest of the party during all of this?

This is why we Don't Split the Party.

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 09:56 PM
So he's got a little downtime while the rest of party executes the rescue mission.

Right, which brings us back to Kyuubi's first post :smalltongue:

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-28, 10:03 PM
So he's got a little downtime while the rest of party executes the rescue mission. Which reminds me---where was the rest of the party during all of this?

This is why we Don't Split the Party.

We were attacked by a death knight, the death knight moved to put us in his fear aura radius, I failed my save. Ran off in a blind panic, Big flash, wake up near naked and in the cage.

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 10:05 PM
...Big flash...

Wait, what? Fear doesn't erase your memory. What knocked you out?

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-28, 10:21 PM
Wait, what? Fear doesn't erase your memory. What knocked you out?

Who knows...I believe that I was knocked out from behind. If I ask he'll probably say something like "You were too busy escaping from the horrifying skeletal warrior running at top speed to see what got you"

It's also been established that the area is trapped as we previously ran into Ettercap webs/nets.

Optimystik
2010-06-28, 10:52 PM
Who knows...I believe that I was knocked out from behind. If I ask he'll probably say something like "You were too busy escaping from the horrifying skeletal warrior running at top speed to see what got you"

It's also been established that the area is trapped as we previously ran into Ettercap webs/nets.

"All aboard!"
Choo, choo!
Chugga, chugga, chugga...

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-28, 11:26 PM
"All aboard!"
Choo, choo!
Chugga, chugga, chugga...
Yeah, yeah...I know. He's a railroading DM, most are to some degree, but he's usually good at hiding it. Being a DM for 20+ years probably helps. He even let us choose WHICH module he was going to run out of a choice of 5, by giving us vague hints towards collecting "The lost writings of ancient bards" but that's neither here nor there.

Here is what I'm going to do: I'm going to check the progress of my digging, if it's no progress, I'll offhandedly bring up that it should have worked by saying something like "Well, it worked for Stonehenge, I figured it might work here" Then I'll try getting the Lady of the castle's attention, and when that doesn't work. I'll confront him about how it's unfair that I was put in a situation where escape is impossible and death is imminent. I don't want to lose the level I just gained AND a con point, for something I have no control over.

Yes, he borrows ideas that he likes from third edition without changing what they replaced...or rather, half removing them. 50/50 shot for con loss with a raise dead and losing a level. He also added gaining a point to an ability score every 5 levels...by rolling over the stat and having the stat decrease if you roll a 1. BIG FUN TIME!! But I'm getting away from the point of this thread.

El Dorado
2010-06-28, 11:43 PM
Whatever you do, don't give up. In my experience, old school DMs tend to reward tenacity. You might receive some extra XP at the end of your ordeal even if you don't manage to escape.

ryzouken
2010-06-28, 11:48 PM
Mrrr... maybe my standards for GMs are higher than most peoples', but I'd have cut my losses and left after hearing the houserules referenced above. Coupled with the "you're knocked unconscious with no defense possible and awaken without spells in a forcecube without any of your gear"... yeah.

No game is better than bad game. I've done both, and this maxim rings true in my mind.

Beelzebub1111
2010-06-30, 11:30 PM
It seems that the next rescue attempt failed...or rather the combat with 4 bone golems and the caster throwing 7th through 9th level spells out of her tower from 4 stories above. Our highest level character (a druid/diviner) was killed due to a antimagic chains that crushed her to death. Most are severely wounded.

It turns out that the flash that knocked me out was Power Word Stun. The Force Cage was made permanent...but had a modified version that made the caster able to will an entrance to appear.

We will have a role-playing session sometime before next weeks game, because she will have come to visit me on occasion.

Beelzebub1111
2010-07-04, 10:50 PM
Okay, so it wasn't a force cage at all. It was an obscure spell from a dragon magazine that causes you to be trapped in a dream until you are woken up. You have to tell yourself to wake up. Literally all I had to do was tell myself to wake up...

Which I did...after pacing around for days on end (bumping myself on wooden cots as I thrashed in my sleep and horribly burning myself on a fire caused by a candle falling off a nearby desk) I laughed out loud for a full minute after I figured it out.

Optimystik
2010-07-04, 10:56 PM
It was an obscure spell from a dragon magazine

...
Does this mean that all dragon material is fair game? I would definitely ask.

Beelzebub1111
2010-07-04, 11:07 PM
...
Does this mean that all dragon material is fair game? I would definitely ask.
Probably not. He keeps a bit of a leash on what spells we can learn. In that we are most likely(95%) to find "common spells" (PHB) "Uncommon Spells" (Tome of Magic, Spells and Magic, etc.) are a bit harder (50%), "Rare Spells" (Dragon Magazine) are hard as hell to find (about 20%) unless we get them from and enemy's spellbook. then there are spells that are impossible to find unless they're printed in a specific module that we're playing in (Murlynd's Ogre etc.)

So what would you suggest? If I can choose dragon magazine stuff?

olentu
2010-07-04, 11:08 PM
Okay, so it wasn't a force cage at all. It was an obscure spell from a dragon magazine that causes you to be trapped in a dream until you are woken up. You have to tell yourself to wake up. Literally all I had to do was tell myself to wake up...

Which I did...after pacing around for days on end (bumping myself on wooden cots as I thrashed in my sleep and horribly burning myself on a fire caused by a candle falling off a nearby desk) I laughed out loud for a full minute after I figured it out.

That would be annoying as now one would need to add telling yourself to wake up to the routine of disbelieving everything.

El Dorado
2010-07-05, 12:36 AM
Is your character still a prisoner then?

Ozymandias9
2010-07-05, 12:49 AM
That would be annoying as now one would need to add telling yourself to wake up to the routine of disbelieving everything.

Seriously? "The routine of disbelieving everything?" That seems like something that should be limited to a character that is actively trying to control schizophrenia without medication/magical aid.

Thajocoth
2010-07-05, 01:53 AM
Yet I assume that, unless you put them in an impossible situation, you have a solution in mind. They might not use it, but unless your a sadistic DM, there should be a way out in your mind.

Problems with pre-made solutions tend not to have other solutions. Some do, but that's the tendency. By not creating the solution, you're really allowing for dozens of solutions.

This one had a premade solution, for example. Telling himself to wake up. And it was the only solution. Had it been a solutionless problem, almost all the other ideas that came up in this thread would've worked.

That's how I DM, at least (though I've done otherwise my first time... Disastrous.) The other DMs I've had had given me this advice. (They were playing in the game. They've all DMed for a lot longer than I.)