Unexpected Use

[TechnoScrabble]

So...I was wondering lately...with all the PCs out there, how many of you have used stereotypical PC thinking to come up with a rules-legal but unexpected uses for items and magic, especially seemingly useless ones?
Since it's such a big deal, how about this: What non-homebrew crazy cool stuff has your DM let you get away with? Stuff not SPECIFICALLY DENIED by RAW. That better?

Some of my favorites come from large scale combat games. Using delayed blast fireball with arrows (wrapping the fireball seed in a sash tied to the arrow and shooting a far off enemy), having birds drop coins with explosive runes and trollface.jpg carved into them on opposing armies, the famous portable hole and bottomless bag (handy haversack, whatever) trick, dancing lights to scare superstitious soldiers, and using wall of stone and wall of iron to squish boxes of enemies. And there was the time my druid wild shaped into an elephant, donned spiked full plate barding, and rolled around the enemy camp.

[TheCountAlucard]

So...I was wondering lately...with all the PCs out there, how many of you have used stereotypical PC thinking to come up with a rules-legal but unexpected uses for items and magic, especially seemingly useless ones?Happens fairly often. :smalltongue:

I've seen some fairly fun uses in Exalted, for instance.

Graceful Crane Stance is a Charm that allows a person to have even footing and perfect balance, even when standing on something as thin as a strand of human hair.

Also, the Exalted are generally crazy-good at jumping, even before Charms are applied. With Charms, you can do things like leap over mountains in a single bound.

One time, we had a "the floor is turning to lava with tentacles coming out of it" scenario, and so one PC who had Graceful Crane Stance running picks up a handful of pebbles, flings them up in the air really hard, and begins jumping from one to another before they can start to fall. :smalltongue:

[Sorcerer Blob]

One time, we had a "the floor is turning to lava with tentacles coming out of it" scenario

I love how this is worded to make it sound like this is a common RPG scenario/trope! I've yet to encounter it, personally, but it sounds like a blast! :smalltongue:

On-topic: My absolute favorite D&D spell of all time is Mage Hand. The things I have done in game with that would make a grown man cry. Okay, not really, but it's awesome. (Especially after having a Rogue die when I could have just used Mage Hand to retrieve a miscellaneous artifact the entire time. It couldn't be helped, I forgot about it!)

But using Mage Hand to bypass the otherwise deadliest of death traps to get to artifact x or switch y has proven to be a boon on more than one occasion (provided said artifacts or switches are within range.)

It does make one think about the fact that Cantrips are often overlooked and have proven, at least for me, to be useful under somewhat specific scenarios.

[DigoDragon]

A classic trick my current party likes to use is to transport people past small openings (like prison cells) via a bag of holding and a bottle of air. The BBEG is currently investing stock into Force Cubes. :smallamused:

One of the more fresher "out-of-the-box" ideas was a wizard who escaped an explosion by jumping out of the window. He was on the 5th floor of a tower. A FLOATING tower. The party thought he was a gonner because the rogue had his Ring of Feather-fall, but the wizard surprised everyone by using his 1/Day "Sudden Quicken" ring to cast Polymorph-- into an eagle.

The birdie flew the coop. :smallbiggrin:

[Rorrik]

Speaking of bags of holding, I had a wizard player who wanted so badly to use ranged weapons he hired some engineers to build and operate a ballista inside a bag of holding, allowing him to carry around with him a ridiculous amount of fire power.

In first edition our cleric also used Heat Metal on a portcullis to keep the enemy at bay for a little longer.

Never done it, but I've always wanted to find a cool magical staff and Warp Wood a spear around it, mostly because it would look epic, but also, hey, magical spear.

[TechnoScrabble]

New one in a game last night. I created a wall of iron, used it to make a ramp up the wall of a fortress we were assaulting (it was supposed to be a sneak attack but our barbarian got stung by a scorpion whilst sneaking about), and when the enemy sent mud and clay golems down the ramp to attack us, heat metal cooked their feet and stuck them in place. On the way back out, our cleric used move earth and removed the section of the wall our ramp was on, dropping the ramp on the elite soldiers blocking our unusually mundane exit route.

Then I used prestidigitation to convince a spy that a water elemental in a bottle was a healing potion, and when he drank it, the elemental tore him apart from the inside.

[TheCountAlucard]

I love how this is worded to make it sound like this is a common RPG scenario/trope! I've yet to encounter it, personally, but it sounds like a blast! :smalltongue:Sorry, lemme clarify: in Exalted, there's a spell called "Magma Kraken."

It's a second-level spell.

[The Reverend]

Extendable pole with various interchangeable tips, sovereign glue. I had one dm that began designing dungeons just so couldn't use extendable poles to solve problems.

Had a monk who regularly sunder enemies weapons and armor and doors and walls and carts and just about anything else. Door was trapped, that's ok give me minute with this wall and explain to it with my fists why it should not be here.

The Knock spell. Undoes armor.

we were being chased back thru a portal after getting the mcguffin. So to discourage being followed our wizard used his mage hand to open an Iron Flask containing a major demon once we were on the other side.


In an upper level game our thief was swallowed by a red dragon, before hecut his way out he opened a bag of holding filled with sovereign glue. He dumped the glue and also used it to fix a decanter of endless water to the side of the dragons throat.

[Callyn]

Sorry, lemme clarify: in Exalted, there's a spell called "Magma Kraken."

It's a second-level spell.

It's second level out of three levels, though. And it's good at tearing down cities, but not Exalts (PCs).

[TheNameIsDumas]

rules-legal but unexpected uses


wall of iron, used it to make a ramp up the wall

You cause a flat, vertical iron wall to spring into being.
How does a flat, vertical wall become a ramp, "rules-legal"-wise?


clay golems down the ramp to attack us, heat metal cooked their feet and stuck them in place.

Heat metal makes metal extremely warm. Unattended, nonmagical metal gets no saving throw. Magical metal is allowed a saving throw against the spell. An item in a creature’s possession uses the creature’s saving throw bonus unless its own is higher.

A creature takes fire damage if its equipment is heated. It takes full damage if its armor is affected or if it is holding, touching, wearing, or carrying metal weighing one-fifth of its weight. The creature takes minimum damage (1 point or 2 points; see the table) if it’s not wearing metal armor and the metal that it’s carrying weighs less than one-fifth of its weight.

Round Metal
Temperature Damage
1 Warm None
2 Hot 1d4 points
3-5 Searing 2d4 points
6 Hot 1d4 points
7 Warm None

On the first round of the spell, the metal becomes warm and uncomfortable to touch but deals no damage. The same effect also occurs on the last round of the spell’s duration. During the second (and also the next-to-last) round, intense heat causes pain and damage. In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, the metal is searing hot, causing more damage, as shown on the table below.

Any cold intense enough to damage the creature negates fire damage from the spell (and vice versa) on a point-for-point basis. If cast underwater, heat metal deals half damage and boils the surrounding water.

Heat metal counters and dispels chill metal.

How does doing 1 point of damage in round 2, 2 each in rounds 3 and 4, and 1 in round 5, result in "stuck feet", "rules-legal"-wise?


cleric used move earth and removed the section of the wall our ramp was on, dropping the ramp on the elite soldiers blocking our unusually mundane exit route.


Move earth moves dirt (clay, loam, sand), possibly collapsing embankments, moving hillocks, shifting dunes, and so forth.

However, in no event can rock formations be collapsed or moved. The area to be affected determines the casting time. For every 150-foot square (up to 10 feet deep), casting takes 10 minutes. The maximum area, 750 feet by 750 feet, takes 4 hours and 10 minutes to move.

This spell does not violently break the surface of the ground. Instead, it creates wavelike crests and troughs, with the earth reacting with glacierlike fluidity until the desired result is achieved. Trees, structures, rock formations, and such are mostly unaffected except for changes in elevation and relative topography.

The spell cannot be used for tunneling and is generally too slow to trap or bury creatures. Its primary use is for digging or filling moats or for adjusting terrain contours before a battle.

This spell has no effect on earth creatures.
Did the "elite soldiers" just stand there for 10 minutes (minimum)? How did this spell that is "generally too slow to trap or bury creatures" drop a ramp(that wasn't a ramp anyway) on these creatures, "rules-legal"-wise?




Then I used prestidigitation to convince a spy that a water elemental in a bottle was a healing potion, and when he drank it, the elemental tore him apart from the inside.

Prestidigitations are minor tricks that novice spellcasters use for practice. Once cast, a prestidigitation spell enables you to perform simple magical effects for 1 hour. The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can slowly lift 1 pound of material. It can color, clean, or soil items in a 1-foot cube each round. It can chill, warm, or flavor 1 pound of nonliving material. It cannot deal damage or affect the concentration of spellcasters. Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, a prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. Any actual change to an object (beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it) persists only 1 hour.
How, "rules-legal"-wise, did Prestidigitation trick anyone? Did you try to convince this "spy" to taste it? You can't flavor a creature, only "nonliving material". How, "rules-legal"-wise, did you fit a creature that is at a minimum 4 ft. high and weighing 34 lbs, into a potion flask? How, "rules-legal"-wise, did this spy use the "swallow whole" special attack if he was as I assume humanoid and did not have such an attack available to him?

Seriously, if you want "rules-legal" uses, try to provide uses that are legal by the rules. You can't just use names and assume what spells/items do, and you can't just pick a word or two from a spell and say "I do that" if you're being "rules-legal".

[TechnoScrabble]

Wall of iron can be tipped over after created, the heat metal was admittedly something the DM ruled, and prestidigitation can color and flavor things.

[TheNameIsDumas]

Wall of iron can be tipped over after created

If you desire, the wall can be created vertically resting on a flat surface but not attached to the surface, so that it can be tipped over to fall on and crush creatures beneath it.
Although being strictly "rules-legal" it cannot be tipped to end up at an angle as a ramp, only "to fall on and crush creatures beneath it". I suppose you could argue that you made a really narrow, really tall wall and tipped it, but that's not one of the one possible results listed for tipping a Wall of Iron.
No reason need be given for WHY the wall can't end up as a ramp when it's tipped - it simply can't, because the spell says it can be tipped "to fall on and crush". However, if you really wanted a reason, I'd just give that as it falls, the bottom is NOT secured in any way, and since it's so easy to tip, the weight of it could just as easily slide the bottom away from the stone wall it's being tipped towards. But I wouldn't need to say that anyway, since the rules don't allow it to be tipped with such a result in the first place.



the heat metal was admittedly something the DM ruled
So "admittedly" not "rules-legal".


prestidigitation can color and flavor things.
A Water Elemental is not a "thing", and so can't be colored or flavored by Prestidigitation. Also you haven't explained (a) how it fit in a potion flask when it's 4 ft tall and weights 34 lbs or (b) how a (presumably) humanoid was able to use Swallow Whole.
At least 3 ways there that this one remains not-"rules-legal".

[Rorrik]

Although being strictly "rules-legal" it cannot be tipped to end up at an angle as a ramp, only "to fall on and crush creatures beneath it". I suppose you could argue that you made a really narrow, really tall wall and tipped it, but that's not one of the one possible results listed for tipping a Wall of Iron.
No reason need be given for WHY the wall can't end up as a ramp when it's tipped - it simply can't, because the spell says it can be tipped "to fall on and crush". However, if you really wanted a reason, I'd just give that as it falls, the bottom is NOT secured in any way, and since it's so easy to tip, the weight of it could just as easily slide the bottom away from the stone wall it's being tipped towards. But I wouldn't need to say that anyway, since the rules don't allow it to be tipped with such a result in the first place.

That is an extremely strict interpretation. It says it can be tipped over, and by my reading, to fall on and crush creatures is an example of a possible use for tipping it over. If it can be tipped it can be tipped, period. Granted it would have to braced to act as a ramp, but I see no problem with tipping it onto the wall in the first place. Besides, arguably someone on the wall may have been crushed/nearly-crushed by it falling.

[Zale]

Although being strictly "rules-legal" it cannot be tipped to end up at an angle as a ramp, only "to fall on and crush creatures beneath it". I suppose you could argue that you made a really narrow, really tall wall and tipped it, but that's not one of the one possible results listed for tipping a Wall of Iron.
No reason need be given for WHY the wall can't end up as a ramp when it's tipped - it simply can't, because the spell says it can be tipped "to fall on and crush". However, if you really wanted a reason, I'd just give that as it falls, the bottom is NOT secured in any way, and since it's so easy to tip, the weight of it could just as easily slide the bottom away from the stone wall it's being tipped towards. But I wouldn't need to say that anyway, since the rules don't allow it to be tipped with such a result in the first place.


If you tip over a Wall of Iron so that it leans on another fixed vertical surface at an angle, you get a ramp. There' a limit to how much RAW idiocy I will put up with. :smalltongue:


Hmm. I wonder, if you were in a weightless/zero G plane, could you use a decanter of endless water to rocket yourself around?

[TheCountAlucard]

It's second level out of three levels, though.Yes, what's wrong with that? :smallconfused:


And it's good at tearing down cities, but not Exalts (PCs).Eh, the same can be said of warstriders, but that doesn't mean a big, stompy robot made of starmetal isn't awesome. :smalltongue:


Hmm. I wonder, if you were in a weightless/zero G plane, could you use a decanter of endless water to rocket yourself around?I don't see why not. Equal and opposite reactions and whatnot. :smalltongue:

Anyway, another Exalted example: a PC was plummeting off a cliff, and his super-dodging skills don't quite allow him to dodge the ground. :smalltongue: What does he do? He activates his arms of multiple manipulation, which produce multiple "arms" of Essence that can, among other things, shape themselves into tools to help make stuff.

The "arms" grab the cliff-face, using them to arrest his fall. :smallcool:

[The Random NPC]

Although being strictly "rules-legal" it cannot be tipped to end up at an angle as a ramp, only "to fall on and crush creatures beneath it". I suppose you could argue that you made a really narrow, really tall wall and tipped it, but that's not one of the one possible results listed for tipping a Wall of Iron.
No reason need be given for WHY the wall can't end up as a ramp when it's tipped - it simply can't, because the spell says it can be tipped "to fall on and crush". However, if you really wanted a reason, I'd just give that as it falls, the bottom is NOT secured in any way, and since it's so easy to tip, the weight of it could just as easily slide the bottom away from the stone wall it's being tipped towards. But I wouldn't need to say that anyway, since the rules don't allow it to be tipped with such a result in the first place.



It is an instant spell. You cast it and it makes an unanchored, nonmagical wall of iron. Then you push it over. If something is in the way, e.g. another wall, it stops and can create a ramp.

[TheNameIsDumas]

If you tip over a Wall of Iron so that it leans on another fixed vertical surface at an angle, you get a ramp. There' a limit to how much RAW idiocy I will put up with. :smalltongue:

The spell doesn't say you get a ramp.

What matters with RAW is what the spell says.

The spell says it's a flat, vertical plane. The spell also says it can be pushed over to fall on creatures.

Why do you think it should become a ramp?

Why do you think that the bottom of the wall of iron, which THE CASTER HAS CHOSEN NOT TO ANCHOR (otherwise it couldn't be tipped at all), stays in place when the wall of iron is tipped?

Why do you think that a wall of iron, falling & doing enough damage to creatures as would break itself, doesn't take damage & break itself from the fall?

If the Wall of Iron was able to be used as a Ramp of Iron, it would say so in the description.

You probably think Grease is flammable too, eh?


It is an instant spell. You cast it and it makes an unanchored, nonmagical wall of iron. Then you push it over. If something is in the way, e.g. another wall, it stops and can create a ramp.

What rule says another wall stops it? What rule says it "can create a ramp"?

Why, if it's "unanchored", does the bottom magically remain in place?

Why doesn't it take damage?

Why doesn't it break?


Seriously, there's no rules for this. It might break, it might bend, it might slide at the bottom until it falls, etc. It might be super slippy to climb up it.
My point of arguing this isn't specifically about the wall (and tbh I'd certainly allow this use in game as it's fun and all). My point is that pretty much every one of these "rules-legal" uses threads starts off, continues and ends with applications that are anything but. How about the other examples from that- all completely against the rules, completely against the abilities and spirit of the spells in question.

[Zale]

A better question is: Why do you care so much?

It shows ingenuity on the part of the PCs. Why is this bad?

[TheNameIsDumas]

{{scrubbed}}

[The Reverend]

.

Nope decanter of endless water wouldn't flow in zero g, no gravity to pull it out. Straw or centripetal force yes

[Zale]

.

Nope decanter of endless water wouldn't flow in zero g, no gravity to pull it out. Straw or centripetal force yes

What if you set it to "Geyser mode"?

[shawnhcorey]

Used a Necklace of Fireballs as a booby-trap. We spotted an Enlarged tyrannosaurus Rex charging our group, so we dropped a Necklace of Fireballs in its path and backed up to the limit of the Fireball spell. When it passed the Necklace, our wizard Fireballed the Necklace. It failed it saving throw and all the Fireballs exploded at once. Did quite kill it though but did lots of damage. It got some revenge because it bite the wizard off at her ankles and swallowed her from there up. She wasn't happy about it when we finally cut her out of its stomach. :smallsmile:

[Brennan1214]

I was DMing a game with some friends, and the favored soul used create water inside the enemy's lungs. I decided it was a set Fortitude DC 10 SoD. For clarification, that kind of thing was normal by comparison to some of the other things in it.(Such as the fact that I thought it would be fun to have them fighting the cult of a corn god.)

[TheCountAlucard]

I was DMing a game with some friends, and the favored soul used create water inside the enemy's lungs.Actually, at this point, I'm pretty sure that is the most-expected use of "Create Water," regardless of whether the spell works that way or not. :smallsigh:

[Cirrylius]

What if you set it to "Geyser mode"?

I had a gaming buddy who was in a party getting whupped by a vampire. He pointed the butt of a Decanter at the vampire, and activated it on the geyser setting. He was blown backwards, but the vampire was blown back FURTHER, as the rocketing Decanter bore him backwards all the way to the opposite wall, where it was pinned by the Decanter's reaction mass.

[Callyn]

It's second level out of three levels, though.
Yes, what's wrong with that? :smallconfused:

Nothing really, but this forum is primarily a D&D forum and second level spell in D&D means something entirely different from second level sorcery in Exalted.

[theflyingkitty]

Had a character once who peed in a Bowl of Water Elemental (as salt water made a more powerful elemental and vampires hate salt) at which point the vampire BEGG and his lackies all died fairly quickly.

[Dimers]

Had a character once who peed in a Bowl of Water Elemental ...

"Better watch your back, bloodsucker, urine big trouble now!" :smallbiggrin:

[Wiwaxia]

Using Tenser's Floating Disk as a hoverboard is probably the best I've come up with. :smallsmile:

[Calanon]

I've seen a player take the Gold Dragon orb and beat a guy to death with it :smallannoyed: not its intended use but ... ugh...

[TheCountAlucard]

In one of my games, my Wizard got a Staff of the Archmage. What do I do with it? Spam cantrips. :smalltongue: Having Light and Mage Hand on whenever I want them is nice. :smallamused:

[Velaryon]

When I was a novice DM, one of my players wanted to pull the "shoot an arrow through the campfire to have it deal bonus fire damage" argument. I let it happen even though it's not at all realistic.

Same campaign, the druid discovered the spell heat metal, and regularly used it against enemy soldiers' armor (they were all wearing chain shirts), which frequently resulted in the soldiers stripping off their armor to avoid being cooked in it. Really made the combats easier for them for awhile.

A few years ago in another campaign where I was not the DM, our group was attacked by a red dragon. My ninja leaped off a tower onto its back, ran along the dragon's back to his head, and jammed a pair of immovable rods up its nostrils before leaping to (relative) safety. The dragon (who, fortunately for him, was not airborne at the time), had to spend at least one round extricating himself from the predicament, which we put to very good use wailing on the dragon with all our might.

In the current campaign I'm running, the party had to fend off a pirate fleet that was attacking a town. They were fortunate enough to spot the approaching ships (which they knew were coming although not exactly when) before most of them could offload their crews onto the shore. They spot the flagship still out in the bay, so the party warlock pulls out a scroll of fly and casts it on the centaur fighter. The centaur flies out toward the ship, spots the captain and her bodyguard, a big burly orc with a huge warhammer (and enough class levels to make sure he's a competent opponent for the centaur), and heads straight for them. Who does he attack, the captain or the orc? Neither. He couches his lance and charges straight into the deck of the ship, leaving a centaur-sized hole going straight through and out the bottom of the ship, causing it to sink before it could get to shore.

[The Random NPC]

What rule says another wall stops it? What rule says it "can create a ramp"?

The rules of physics. Unless otherwise noted the material plane works like our world.


Why, if it's "unanchored", does the bottom magically remain in place?

Yes, you would probably have to brace the bottom to keep it from sliding out.


Why doesn't it take damage?
Why doesn't it break?


It does take damage for falling, but I don't believe it takes enough to break, though I haven't crunched the numbers on that one.



Seriously, there's no rules for this. It might break, it might bend, it might slide at the bottom until it falls, etc. It might be super slippy to climb up it.


There are rules for it, but there are still issues with using an Iron Wall as a ramp. If you can't make decorations appear as you cast the spell, it would be a smooth wall of iron, and unless the grade was shallow enough it may be just as hard to climb as the embankment.



My point of arguing this isn't specifically about the wall (and tbh I'd certainly allow this use in game as it's fun and all). My point is that pretty much every one of these "rules-legal" uses threads starts off, continues and ends with applications that are anything but. How about the other examples from that- all completely against the rules, completely against the abilities and spirit of the spells in question.

Thought I may argue about the spirt of the spells, this is a very valid point, the other three examples were not rules-legal without homebrew. The clay golems don't even take any damage from heat metal!

[Necroticplague]

Here's one I did with Exalted.My character had the Knack Defense of Meaningless Form. This protects him from all physical damage except from three sources (essence-based damage,direct magic damage,and overpowering weapons). My almost immediate realization was that this made me immune to environmental damage, since it wasn't the above three. Que me being the designated trap-searcher, since most traps didn't hurt me either, so I just walk at the front and set them all off (I liked to lampshade it as "Don't worry, its not like people are going to start using essence cannons as trap components"). I also would perform incredibly otherwise suicidal acts for minor convinience. Two examples: to get from a flying city to the earth, I jumped down, and laughed at the fall damage (I didn't take), and hung back while running from a volcano to loot the city. I knew the good loot because it was still intact ,and ignored the fact I was swimming in lava.

[Skelengar]

Here's one I did with Exalted.My character had the Knack Defense of Meaningless Form. This protects him from all physical damage except from three sources (essence-based damage,direct magic damage,and overpowering weapons). My almost immediate realization was that this made me immune to environmental damage, since it wasn't the above three. Que me being the designated trap-searcher, since most traps didn't hurt me either, so I just walk at the front and set them all off (I liked to lampshade it as "Don't worry, its not like people are going to start using essence cannons as trap components"). I also would perform incredibly otherwise suicidal acts for minor convinience. Two examples: to get from a flying city to the earth, I jumped down, and laughed at the fall damage (I didn't take), and hung back while running from a volcano to loot the city. I knew the good loot because it was still intact ,and ignored the fact I was swimming in lava.

I can't find that Knack anywhere. What book is it from?

[Necroticplague]

I can't find that Knack anywhere. What book is it from?

Manual of Exalted Power:Lunars.

[Skelengar]

Manual of Exalted Power:Lunars.

Oh, there it is. It's for a chimera, didn't realize that. Incidentally, I'm don't think it would work against most environmental damage, seeing as it's a reflexive response to an attack, not a always active ability. If you get hit in the head by a falling rock, yes. But being submerged in lava won't help. Fall damage should be fine though.

[TheCountAlucard]

I played a soak-based Solar once; yeah, when the rest of the group is having to arduously climb down the cliff face, it's fun to show 'em up every now and then by just hurling yourself off and then waiting for them at the bottom. :smallcool:

[Skelengar]

I played a soak-based Solar once; yeah, when the rest of the group is having to arduously climb down the cliff face, it's fun to show 'em up every now and then by just hurling yourself off and then waiting for them at the bottom. :smallcool:

I once ran a game for a soak based solar. A deathknight tried to hit the whole group with her scythe, he blocked it with his chest.

[Beowulf DW]

Pathfinder game:

My party's up against the Dragon (That's the TV tropes "Dragon" not an actual dragon) and his two Balor mooks on the top of a tower that is just barely large enough to let us avoid the blast radius when they're killed, provided that we're at opposite ends of the tower when it happens.

The Dragon is in the middle of an evil ritual to call forth the Big Bad, so we don't have to worry about him at the moment.

Our magus has a spell storing dagger. He told me earlier that he had put a teleportation spell into it. He forgets, but I remember about half way through the fight as we're trying to find a way to kill the balors without being nuked twice by their self-destruct abilities.

He attacks one balor with the dagger, transporting him away from the tower. My fighter lets fly with his crossbow, finishing the balor (who was already low on hit points) and making him explode at a safe distance.

Now we have to deal with the other balor. Our paladin, who's been crazy awesome all campaign (even his botched rolls end up benefiting us; even OoC it actually seemed like he was receiving help from a higher power) decides to grapple the balor, then throw him at the Dragon in the midst of his profane ritual. Our paladin is incredibly strong by now since we were on the cusp of epic levels, so he succeeds.

The balor knocks the Dragon to the very other end of the tower, dealing damage to both, and enough damage to kill the balor. The Dragon takes another 100 damage from the explosion.

Because we got creative with our equipment (our DM likes when we do that and gets creative with the rules in return) we managed to turn a defense designed to handicap us even if we won, into a distinct advantage.

[cattoy]

Hmm. I wonder, if you were in a weightless/zero G plane, could you use a decanter of endless water to rocket yourself around?

How do you pour something out of a container in zero-G?

[Callyn]

So this one time we were on Carceri trying to stop production in a Death Giant factory to stop them from destroying our Prime Material Plane. We were about 16th level, mostly optimized and using a Mana variant for spellcasting. I was playing an Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil.

The Death Giant factory in located above a lake of acid, as most of the buildings in Carceri were in this game. The Death Giant inside had levels in some prestige class which gave him spell turning abilities a couple of times per day. My wizard wins initiative and tries to hit the Death Giant with a spell, it gets sent back onto me. I throw up a veil to block the spell. The Death Giant attacks the tank, does a bunch of hit point damage and it eventually comes back around to my turn. I toss a Disintegrate at the floor beneath the Death Giant's feet and drop him into a lake of acid. I don't know how unconventional that is, but it turned into a tactic my wizard used a lot. :smallbiggrin:

[Zale]

How do you pour something out of a container in zero-G?


Decanter of Endless Water

"Stream" pours out 1 gallon per round.
"Fountain" produces a 5-foot-long stream at 5 gallons per round.
"Geyser" produces a 20-foot-long, 1-foot-wide stream at 30 gallons per round.

The geyser effect causes considerable back pressure, requiring the holder to make a DC 12 Strength check to avoid being knocked down.

Less pouring and more shooting out at high speeds. WHOOSH!

I wonder, if you could get a bunch of them and sovereign glue them together, could it be used as a jet-pack? :smallconfused:

[Machinekng]

Less pouring and more shooting out at high speeds. WHOOSH!

I wonder, if you could get a bunch of them and sovereign glue them together, could it be used as a jet-pack? :smallconfused:

Yes. You just have to do the math and figure out exactly how many you need to propel you character.

[Zale]

Yes. You just have to do the math and figure out exactly how many you need to propel you character.

Figure? I think I'll just use the thick headed meat shield capable fighter. All I have to do is keep gluing Decanters to him until something happens.

:smallsmile:

[Leon]

"rules-legal"

If the DM of the game it is happening in is ok with it - Its Rules legal.

Weighty Chest on Ballista Bolts still stands as the highpoint of how we out foxed the DM (it brought down 3 of the 4 dragons that were attacking our Ship)

[Machinekng]

Figure? I think I'll just use the thick headed meat shield capable fighter. All I have to do is keep gluing Decanters to him until something happens.

:smallsmile:

Another thought.

To fly using the system, you need to create an acceleration greater than 9.2m/s squared, as to overcome the force of gravity. To do this, you need to have a Force to Mass ratio greater than 9.2 to 1.

The only other issue is that I don't know if you could actually stop the machine from flying, and you definitely wouldn't be able to land safely.

[Zale]

Another thought.

To fly using the system, you need to create an acceleration greater than 9.2m/s squared, as to overcome the force of gravity. To do this, you need to have a Force to Mass ratio greater than 9.2 to 1.

The only other issue is that I don't know if you could actually stop the machine from flying, and you definitely wouldn't be able to land safely.

Ring of Featherfall. :smallsmile:

Of course, you could just get a flying item, but where's the fun in that?

[Machinekng]

Ring of Featherfall. :smallsmile:

Of course, you could just get a flying item, but where's the fun in that?

Cheater. :smalltongue:

[Zale]

Cheater. :smalltongue:

Fine. Use a Winter Blanket as a parachute.

Could you use Iron Bands of Binding on yourself? Then you'd be immobile, so couldn't that arrest a sudden fall?

Or. Use an Instant Fortress. You can just stand on top of it as it falls. It may take falling damage, but you may not.

[Skelengar]

I once used my bedroll to hide my Quiver of Elhona. I also used it to dive out the second floor window of a tavern.

[Necroticplague]

In a GURPS campaign, we were playing a tremendously high-powered game (1000 points, up to 500 from disadvantages). My character had Telecommunications (Radio). A side benefit of this ability is that a character can tune into radio waves with an IQ check. My character also had telescopic vision (3), which lets me see 1000 times further than normal. So, Our party is camping out, trying to spy on some people, when the GM says that we spot a radio they're using to communicate. I ask if my vision can zoom in enough to see what frequency they're at. He says I can, so I roll IQ, manage to make it, and get to listen in on the enemies without any risk to us. Took him a bit by surprise (he forgot Telecommunications could do that). And then for laughs, once they stopped talking, I started sending creepy noises through the radios.

[SexyPlantLover]

in a recent low level pathfinder game, my halfling bard was near the front of the group when we walked down a hall to the entrance of a cave and spotted stirges towards the back. i decided to try to convince the dm to let fly: if i throw my cloak in the air it would be like a curtain and if i cast open/close, it could close the curtain. the interpretation being that the spell description could allow doorway for door. dm decided it was cool, but a halfling's cloak couldn't close a 15x15 opening. so we killed everything everywhere.

[Tvtyrant]

Fine. Use a Winter Blanket as a parachute.

Could you use Iron Bands of Binding on yourself? Then you'd be immobile, so couldn't that arrest a sudden fall?

Or. Use an Instant Fortress. You can just stand on top of it as it falls. It may take falling damage, but you may not.

Just use an Immovable Rod and stop in mid air.