Flickerdart
2013-12-11, 08:27 PM
We all know that a wizard can kick ass and take truenames. We also know that being awesome takes time, and you can't pencil in every wannabe mageslayer into your calendar between poker with Vecna and taking over the world.
So how many ways, exactly, are there of affecting a battlefield while enjoying a cup of tea in your tent/tower/demiplane? Obviously, the less work it takes on your part, the better. Let's make a list!
astral projection: The best way of being there while not being there, but aside from not dying when you get killed, it's exactly the same as if you'd actually gone to do stuff.
greater status: Now we're talking! Cast this on your buddies in the morning, and then go to Disney World while they're waist-deep in black pudding. Sadly, the information you get from the spell and the spells you can cast through the link are limited. Still, I think there's a lot we can do with this.
scrying: This helps you mitigate the lack of information inherent in greater status, but the effects that work through it don't actually affect anything.
project image or forest child: Very nice - the duplicate can do basically everything you can - but its short duration, LoE requirement, and range mean that you have to deign to actually visit the vicinity of the adventure.
remote viewing: Psionics shines through for this one, but not brightly. You can manifest a single power through this scry-alike before it ends, and it costs double to do so. Summoning something nasty to beat up whatever you saw is probably the best use of this ability.
eye of power: As arcane eye, but you can cast 3rd level or lower spells through it. By the time you get this (it's a 9th level spell) there's not that much you can do with 3rd level ones, and the duration is also crap.
Ring gates: Stick your favourite limb through this thing whenever you're needed. Being half there is better than being fully there, but not ideal.
Raven Harrier: A knight of the raven can cast spells through his raven if he accepts a longer casting time, but he must still have line of sight.
Line of Shadow: 1/day, affect a creature without needing LoS or LoE as long as you had them INT mod rounds ago or later, and they get a save bonus equal to the delay. Oh, and you also can't use touch attacks through this.
clearstone: Make stone see-through, granting line of sight but not line of effect. Combine with raven to wheel around in a fortress of rock?
Are there any other abilities that work sort of like this? While things like bend perspective and ranged legerdemain are okay, I'm more interested in abilities that let you cast spells from a different location than your own.
So how many ways, exactly, are there of affecting a battlefield while enjoying a cup of tea in your tent/tower/demiplane? Obviously, the less work it takes on your part, the better. Let's make a list!
astral projection: The best way of being there while not being there, but aside from not dying when you get killed, it's exactly the same as if you'd actually gone to do stuff.
greater status: Now we're talking! Cast this on your buddies in the morning, and then go to Disney World while they're waist-deep in black pudding. Sadly, the information you get from the spell and the spells you can cast through the link are limited. Still, I think there's a lot we can do with this.
scrying: This helps you mitigate the lack of information inherent in greater status, but the effects that work through it don't actually affect anything.
project image or forest child: Very nice - the duplicate can do basically everything you can - but its short duration, LoE requirement, and range mean that you have to deign to actually visit the vicinity of the adventure.
remote viewing: Psionics shines through for this one, but not brightly. You can manifest a single power through this scry-alike before it ends, and it costs double to do so. Summoning something nasty to beat up whatever you saw is probably the best use of this ability.
eye of power: As arcane eye, but you can cast 3rd level or lower spells through it. By the time you get this (it's a 9th level spell) there's not that much you can do with 3rd level ones, and the duration is also crap.
Ring gates: Stick your favourite limb through this thing whenever you're needed. Being half there is better than being fully there, but not ideal.
Raven Harrier: A knight of the raven can cast spells through his raven if he accepts a longer casting time, but he must still have line of sight.
Line of Shadow: 1/day, affect a creature without needing LoS or LoE as long as you had them INT mod rounds ago or later, and they get a save bonus equal to the delay. Oh, and you also can't use touch attacks through this.
clearstone: Make stone see-through, granting line of sight but not line of effect. Combine with raven to wheel around in a fortress of rock?
Are there any other abilities that work sort of like this? While things like bend perspective and ranged legerdemain are okay, I'm more interested in abilities that let you cast spells from a different location than your own.