[PF] How to Make a Time Bomb

[Dr. Yes]

Hello, playgrounders! I'm going to be starting a campaign soon, and need a little help making my idea for the opening work within the rules.

I want the first scene to be everyone in the village around the PCs instantly dropping dead, and them trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Eventually they'll learn that a stranger passing through town was responsible, and spend the next few sessions following this person from village to village (either intentionally or not) before they catch up to him/her. Eventually the stranger will realize that s/he is being followed, and start sending summons after the party. My goal is basically to run the first leg of the campaign as a hunt through the wilderness, culminating in the PCs meeting and defeating a powerful enemy that hooks them into the main storyline.

Circle of Death (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/circle-of-death) looks like the perfect spell for what I'm trying to do: instant death, complete with a built-in reason for the PCs to survive while everyone else dies. The problem is, I don't know of any RAW way to make the spell go off after the caster has skipped town.

So, how do you turn a spell into a time bomb? Pathfinder rules much preferred; I don't really know old school 3.5e well enough to be comfortable allowing it into my game.

[vanyell]

there are two ways that I can think of off the top of my head.

1) A contingent spell (as soon as X people are in area of effect cast circle of death)

or

2) a custom spell. he's a BBEG, he can have those

[doko239]

A time-triggered, single-use trap of Circle of Death would do the job.

[deuxhero]

Unless PF changed it, Book of Explosive Runes+Contingency Dispel Magic.

[doko239]

PF Contingency has to use a spell that targets yourself.

[deuxhero]

So the explosive runes stacking still works?

[jackattack]

An enchanted item? Perhaps a candle -- when it burns down completely, the spell goes off.

[Sudain]

Unless PF changed it, Book of Explosive Runes+Contingency Dispel Magic.

Blah, poor taste. It's been used to death here it's not even interesting anymore; and what' the entire vilage is crowing around a book?!


An enchanted item? Perhaps a candle -- when it burns down completely, the spell goes off.

Ooo... that's in interesting visual.


Check the range on circle of death. Add the meta magic of range enhancement.

Alternatively; just use the spell and don't worry about the mechanics so much. You need it to go off on a delay so have it do so.

[Slipperychicken]

Most people can't really take 6d6 damage before dying (21 average damage, 1HD Commoners have average of 2hp), so sending everyone letters with Explosive Runes on them could be an option. Also the spell says anyone "close enough to read them" takes the full damage, no save, so you can put it up in massive letters on a piece of really big 10lb poster-paper, then hang it in a residential area. A few of those should blow up the whole town.

Maybe you can get a 40,000lb billboard-like thing, then Shrink Item it (1/4,000th weight) so it meets the 10lb requirement, then end the Shrink Item, run like hell, and have it explode the whole town.

[deuxhero]

The thing about Explosive Runes though is that they stack.

[NamelessNPC]

A witch can poison large (as in, infinite) amounts of food for free. The poison lasts 24 hrs.

[hoverfrog]

How about Cursed Earth (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/cursed-earth) or a variant of it. He can cast it and disappear before anyone starts to notice the effects.

[Acanous]

The Single-Use trap idea is a pretty good one. Alternatively, there's a few familiars that come with Alter Self. Share Spell (contingeancy+Circle of Death) (Hey, it's centered on self [familiar], it counts) then have it port to catch up after playing dead.

[navar100]

How many hit points do you consider each villager has? A Symbol of Death or three placed around the village could also work. If desired, they were covered up by some means so as not to be seen (mundane means or even magic such as an illusion) then the coverings were removed when the stranger left town.

[Keneth]

Am I the only one who thought Implant Bomb (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/implant-bomb) as soon as he read the title? Evil alchemists are badass, trust me.

[lunar2]

isn't there a delay spell metamagic feat? cast a delayed circle of death, run, profit.

[Shardan]

Candlecaster!

makes a candle (scroll equivalent) that has a round delay. can also make multi tier, dual casting, or extended delay candles. :D

and your evil can smell like vanilla and lilacs

[Arcane_Secrets]

isn't there a delay spell metamagic feat? cast a delayed circle of death, run, profit.

That's what first came to mind for me as well. I think it's in Tome and Blood but I'd be surprised if it was never reprinted anywhere else, like Complete Arcane.

[Kamai]

isn't there a delay spell metamagic feat? cast a delayed circle of death, run, profit.

The problem is that the basic delay metamagic only allows you to delay up to 5 rounds. You could make it a cursed continuous item. The cursed item suggestions include one that only works on a specific astrological event. If you want to stick to the rules, circle of death is out, but I'm sure there's something (or something you can jerry-rig with fell drain).

[TuggyNE]

The problem is that the basic delay metamagic only allows you to delay up to 5 rounds. You could make it a cursed continuous item. The cursed item suggestions include one that only works on a specific astrological event. If you want to stick to the rules, circle of death is out, but I'm sure there's something (or something you can jerry-rig with fell drain).

Is there any act of rules-abusive atrocity fell drain can't enable? :smallsigh:

[deuxhero]

Pun-pun and the Omniscificer don't really benifit from it. Neither does the Cheater of Mystra.

[TuggyNE]

Pun-pun and the Omniscificer don't really benifit from it. Neither does the Cheater of Mystra.

True, but I meant both rules-abusive and an atrocity in the more usual sense (sorry for poor communication). None of those absurdly powerful builds is specifically built to murderate people in unique, cruel, and unusual ways. Which is basically what Fell Drain mostly seems to be useful for. (Funny thing about that.)

[Acanous]

Actually, Punpun has Fell Drain.

[TuggyNE]

Actually, Punpun has Fell Drain.

Sure, but does he need it? Does he even use it much? It's kind of like saying "Boccob has magic missile, you know", if you'll pardon the comparison :smalltongue:

[Acanous]

Sure, but does he need it? Does he even use it much? It's kind of like saying "Boccob has magic missile, you know", if you'll pardon the comparison :smalltongue:
Yes, he uses it. All the time. Why wouldn't he put Fell Drain on all his infinate damaging spells, just in case? :p

[Fitz10019]

Candlecaster!

makes a candle (scroll equivalent) that has a round delay. can also make multi tier, dual casting, or extended delay candles. :D

and your evil can smell like vanilla and lilacs

He makes a candle and then slips it into the supply at the local temple. With a good Knowledge:Religion roll and/or a week of observation, he should be able to time what day the candle is used.

[wayfare]

He makes a candle and then slips it into the supply at the local temple. With a good Knowledge:Religion roll and/or a week of observation, he should be able to time what day the candle is used.

The candle thing is genius. Run with it. Heck, it could be designed to flare up when lit and burn down in moments. Baddie waits till everybody is in church, casts hold portal or somesuch, and then rocks on.

[Tokuhara]

My personal thought:

Main villain:

Gnome Corpsecrafter Alchemist

Create a weak CR1 Skeleton, use an Implanted bomb (with whatever nasty Discoveries you want to add, like Stink/Inferno/etc.), and maybe send many of these buggers at the party. Have them set so when the party kills one, they explode in the bomb's effect (yes, I know that's how they work). Send them in waves (much like L4D's Survival mode) and perhaps use dead NPCs as some of the "Super Kamikaze Undead," just to twist the knife for hating this little monster.

Then the party comes upon his lair, which is riddled with pits containing more of these kamikaze skeletons, and have a couple larger creatures who can knock players into these pits, which cause the skeletons to explode.

Doesn't this sound like a wonderful encounter for PCs?

[kabreras]

How many hit points do you consider each villager has? A Symbol of Death or three placed around the village could also work. If desired, they were covered up by some means so as not to be seen (mundane means or even magic such as an illusion) then the coverings were removed when the stranger left town.

I like this.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/symbol-of-death
And PF sylbols are prety hightly custimosable on the triggering event.
A symbol of death can be made to trigger of specific conditions and time is a good one that should work.
Put it behind an illusion or even just let it glow in the midle of the village.
With an extend on it it goes around 120 ft. (in larges villages put a few more pillars, the evil guy must have some thugs to do the disty work of placing the pillars)

I can certainly imagine the evil guy going in a town asking for all the money and when not getting what he want plant a pillar with 4 symbols on it in the midle of the town to "mark" it. Most commoners will die with that.

And 4 sylbols on a square pillar are 4 dispells so even if your players can outrun him thats still a hard and deadly job to save the commoners.

[JustPlayItLoud]

The Candle Caster is 3.0 content, but upon going back and rereading it, I noticed a particular ability. Dipped Candle allows a candle to have two spells. The candle burns for the duration of the first spell, then the second effect takes effect after. So the person passing through town could leave a candle as an offering in a local church that has a long duration, harmless spell and a Circle of Death afterward. Is there some sort of long duration spell (hours/level maybe?) that would cause feelings of calm and contentment in the town, making the whole experience all the more surreal to any NPCs that manage to survive?

[kabreras]

this is Pathfinder .. if you start going in 3.0 what is the point of the answer ?

[JustPlayItLoud]

What's the purpose of making a post solely to criticize other advice without offering anything additional? If a thread goes too off topic, it turns out there are mods that can do a pretty decent job of taking care of that.

Anyhow, the point you question is that there is preexisting content that supports the candle thread of conversation that several posters have already mentioned. The entire class could be dropped in to 3.5 or Pathfinder with virtually no changes necessary. It's not even that great of a class. The single ability I mentioned would likely be the only one used and likely used only once.

The candle is lit, one round later a spell effect starts. After that spell effect ends, the second spell in the candle takes effect the next round. And for a little flavor, perhaps the burnt out base of the candle has bits of crushed black pearl, which is the material component of the Circle of Death spell.

[Snowbluff]

Yes, he uses it. All the time. Why wouldn't he put Fell Drain on all his infinate damaging spells, just in case? :p

IIRC, if the infinite damage is somehow averted, Fell Drain fails. Even if he applied the feat, whatever he hit would be dead, anyway...

[Slipperychicken]

IIRC, if the infinite damage is somehow averted, Fell Drain fails. Even if he applied the feat, whatever he hit would be dead, anyway...

Maybe he's fighting curbstomping Acidborn War Trolls?

[Adrayll]

Is the Locate City Bomb possible in PF?

[QuidEst]

Well, I think I can provide a decent RAW timing mechanism for getting an item in place if you can do the rest.

Treasure Stitching (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/t/treasure-stitching) (Bard 4, Cleric 5, Sorc/Wiz 5) lets you put just about any non-artifact item you want into a cloth. Duration of 1 day/level, and if you need less, they cast it a few days ago. Once the time runs out, everything gets dumped and the cloth is consumed. (Less evidence.)

[holywhippet]

Is the Locate City Bomb possible in PF?

I'm pretty sure you can't since it depended on feats from a few 3rd edition splatbooks. Plus it doesn't run on a timer.

One thought I had - deploy something and then cast resilient sphere over it, possibly several times. You could create some undead then use resilient sphere to hold them in place while you get out of town. You could set some up high in the sky containing alchemist flasks to rain down when the spell wears off.

[Keneth]

I'm pretty sure you can't since it depended on feats from a few 3rd edition splatbooks.

Plus, more importantly, there's no locate city spell in Pathfinder. You could do a widened locate object spell for about a third of a mile, but there's really no way to make it have any kind of debilitating effect as far as I know.

Anyway, I've put my Implant Bomb idea to good use for the next adventure I'm running. Thanks OP. :smallbiggrin:

[Dr. Yes]

Man, this thread has more useful responses than I know what to do with.

I think I might go for the Candle Caster, even though it's not PF material. That Dipped Candle trick is golden, and exactly the kind of flavor I'm looking for. Can't wait for my players to start snuffing out every candle they come across.