How to deal with AMF?

[skunk3]

Recently our party had an encounter in which we basically had to fight a 'mirror match' in which we had to battle against evil versions of ourselves. We controlled both the good and the evil characters and were told to not pull any punches. My characters did very well and were amongst the last ones standing, that is, until one of our characters' cohorts (a gold dragon) cast an AMF on himself and bumrushed my guy, who - long story short - is a Warlock with a lot of custom magical gear. His movement was faster than mine and once he grappled me I couldn't do anything at all. It made me realize that AMF's pretty much neutralize my character. What can I do to prevent against this from happening in the future?

[Kitsuneymg]

Construct an adamantine cone big enough to stand in. Shrink item it. Wear on head.

AMF is an emanation. Thus, it will be stopped by walls. Even thin ones. When it kills shrink item, the cone should cover you and block the emanation. Leaving you free to teleport or whatever away.

[skunk3]

Well that works well enough if you are trying to completely run away from the fight, but what if you are 'sealed' in an area and can't teleport out? For example, in the fight I was in we were in a tower and it was impossible to leave until the battle was over. I could have done the tinfoil hat trick but that would have only given me the chance to escape the dragon's grasp one time. (via the Warlock's "flee the scene" invocation.) What would I do after that? Just hide somewhere and wait for it to run out? It seems a shame that I have a character with such a glaring weakness.

[skunk3]

Furthermore, would I still be able to use Vitriolic Blast or no?

[Luckmann]

Furthermore, would I still be able to use Vitriolic Blast or no?Well you'd be able to use it inside of the cone, but I wouldn't advise it.

[Ramza00]

So blocking line of effect works for traditional AMF which is an emanation like Kitsuneymg said. That said there are variants of AMF where you do things like "sculpt spell" metamagic or class abilities to bypass this limitation.

Another option is Otiluke's Suppressing Field from Complete Mage. This 4th level spell allows you to for 10 mins per level to create a 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on you. This suppressing field emanation blocks a school of magic or subschool chosen by you, and when someone tries to cast inside that 20 ft area, or cast a spell into that area you force them to make a caster level check of 11+ your caster level or the effect is suppressed by the Suppressing Field and it does not go off. This in turn prevents AMF if you can win the caster level check game, and can also provide a buff that makes it harder to dispel your buffs since dispel magics are also abjuration. In summary you are forcing a person to make "two dispel-like checks" one of which is against the suppressing field and one is on your buffs if they bypass the suppression field, the first check gets the benefit of feats like spell penetration and things that boost sr suppressing effects, while the second check gets bonus to things that boost dispel caster level checks.

[ShurikVch]

What's up with that Dragon?
I mean - maximal playable LA for a Gold Dragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dragonTrue.htm#goldDragon) is +6 for Young Gold Dragon; at that age, they have CL 1, and shouldn't be able to cast Antimagic Field (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/antimagicField.htm): it required at least 12th-level Sorcerer, which mean - at least Very Old Gold Dragon; Gold Dragon of that age is illegal as Cohort, and low-Epic-level encounter solo (CR 22)
(And even if they would cast Antimagic Field - it would be completely inside of them, so no difference for anybody who isn't Swallowed Whole)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Other than a gold dragon that can cast AMF being either ECL 40+ (Old with Loredrake) or ECL 22+ (Wyrmling Loredrake with Sorcerer 10), the tin foil hat trick would still get you immediately out of that situation and able to retaliate somehow.

For example, you could Anklet of Translocation out from under the dome/cone, on the opposite side from the AMF so it gives you cover from it and you're unaffected. Fly above the dragon while drawing your prepared shrunk item stack* (readied as a weaponlike object), then drop said shrunk item stack onto it, the AMF causing it to unshrink and defeat the dragon.

*Adamantine dome large enough to cover/trap a huge creature, with enough shrunk cubic feet of acid turned into cloth patches stuck in the underside of it to completely fill the area underneath with acid once everything is unshrunk.

[lord_khaine]

Oh gods. Not the tinfoil hat thing again. Its even worse than the supposed commoner rail gun for a simple reason.
Its not covered by the rules, and therefore 100% up to DM discretion on how it gets resolved.

Does the crazy idea work, and protect you from the field?
Does the sudden weigh increase on your head snap your neck?
Does the cone land on your foot, pinning you in place while still affected?
Does your opponent catch the cone in the air before it drops down?
Does he manage to make it into your square before the cone drops down?
Are your head slightly crooked as the antimagic field hits the hat, so it drops sideway to the floor?

Noone knows! because its not an area covered by the rules.
That means its up to DM discretion. And so either outcome is equally likely.

[Asmotherion]

Furthermore, would I still be able to use Vitriolic Blast or no?

Debatable since Vitriolic Blast bypasses SR and seems to function on similar mechanics with instantaneus conjurations (orb spells for example) that do penetrate an AMF. in any case you have to invoce outside the AMF.

The Hat->short range teleportation is the most famous methode to dealing with AMFs and surprisingly both the most effective and most easily accessable.


Oh gods. Not the tinfoil hat thing again. Its even worse than the supposed commoner rail gun for a simple reason.
Its not covered by the rules, and therefore 100% up to DM discretion on how it gets resolved.

Does the crazy idea work, and protect you from the field?
Does the sudden weigh increase on your head snap your neck?
Does the cone land on your foot, pinning you in place while still affected?
Does your opponent catch the cone in the air before it drops down?
Does he manage to make it into your square before the cone drops down?

Noone knows! because its not an area covered by the rules.
That means its up to DM discretion. And so either outcome is equally likely.

Except it's 100percent raw interaction of mechanics. Emanation spells function as Burst effects except they are ongoing. Bursts do not affect creatures with total cover from it's point of origin and do not extend around corners.

if your DM doesn't want it to function that's an other story and he can imagine any number of rullings. Be aware however that every spell and effect of the game is supposed to have a way to counter it (even if not an apparent one).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Oh gods. Not the tinfoil hat thing again. Its even worse than the supposed commoner rail gun for a simple reason.
Its not covered by the rules, and therefore 100% up to DM discretion on how it gets resolved.

Does the crazy idea work, and protect you from the field?
Does the sudden weigh increase on your head snap your neck?
Does the cone land on your foot, pinning you in place while still affected?
Does your opponent catch the cone in the air before it drops down?
Does he manage to make it into your square before the cone drops down?

Noone knows! because its not an area covered by the rules.
That means its up to DM discretion. And so either outcome is equally likely.

It's absolutely covered by the rules. If the dome is no longer affected by Shrink Item, such as having any part of it within the AMF, it's instantly back to normal size. Just like if you cast a spell to temporarily turn your red shirt blue, walking into an AMF wearing it won't cause it to gradually fade back to red, it will be instantly back to red as soon as it touches the AMF.

AMF is an emanation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#area), which works like a spread, which is blocked by total cover. Yes, it does protect you from the AMF.

It unshrinks instantaneously, so it goes from resting on your head, to resting on the ground.

Unless you walked into the AMF, you're stationery when it unshrinks, so the shrunk dome is stationery. It expands in exactly the same position. The edges are too far to land on your foot, since it will expand outward in every direction equally, unless it's off balance, which it's not.

The AMF is a 10-ft. radius, so it absolutely unshrinks before he reaches you, because the AMF suppresses the Shrink Item effect and the item unshrinks instantaneously. Unless he somehow approached you with an action readied to catch it and can reach all the way out to the edge of the AMF, that's impossible by RAW.

The AMF is a 10-ft. radius, he can't move faster than it unshrinks, so he can't end up under it with you.

Every bit of what you mentioned is a sign of a bad DM who can't make his story work within the game's rules. A DM who throws the rules out the window to make a fight go the way he wants it to go, regardless of the PCs' capabilities and preparations, is the worst kind of DM.

[lord_khaine]

Its absolutely not covered by the rules.
Your head isnt a perfectly stable surface. Especially not in a combat zone.
And the only think we actually know from the rules, is that the antimagic field shuts the shrink item spell off.
But we dont have anything to say how to handle when shrink-item affected object turns back on a unstable surface.
Or how it actually appear, or what happens if something hits it just as its about to fall.

The scenario put up so far, hat falls down perfectly to flawlessly cover its wielder,
is the sign of something worse than a bad DM. That of a munchkin running his own combat encounter.

[Asmotherion]

Its absolutely not covered by the rules.
Your head isnt a perfectly stable surface. Especially not in a combat zone.
And the only think we actually know from the rules, is that the antimagic field shuts the shrink item spell off.
But we dont have anything to say how to handle when shrink-item affected object turns back on a unstable surface.
Or how it actually appear, or what happens if something hits it just as its about to fall.

The scenario put up so far, hat falls down perfectly to flawlessly cover its wielder,
is the sign of something worse than a bad DM. That of a munchkin running his own combat encounter.

OR a DM that follows RAW.

if the hat is your problem (again it isn't if we follow RAW but for the sake of arguement let's pretend you have a semi-valid point) how about a Piece of ornement on your Staff that grows into a wall of sorts?

There's generally two types of DMing on AMF: One involves it following RAW and allowing it to have a natural counter/ The other involves Over-Glorifing an already powerful spell (and changing it to unstopable) in order to penalise the party Mage(s). Overall since none of the stuff you describe function under RAW and need the DM to create rullings on the spot the RAW way this resolves is as described.

[Crake]

The scenario put up so far, hat falls down perfectly to flawlessly cover its wielder,
is the sign of something worse than a bad DM. That of a munchkin running his own combat encounter.

I kinda have to agree with lord_khaine here. The likelihood of the hat growing perfectly to cover you is unlikely. It is also quite ineffective if you're flying, which I would have to assume a warlock would probably be doing, as the cone will flip as it falls due to aerodynamics. It's a neat idea, but it's not a 100% foolproof mechanism to avoid an AMF. Really, the best method a warlock would have to avoid an AMF is to counterspell it before it's actually cast. Finding a way to immediate action counterspell, getting arcane mastery to take 10 on your caster level check, taking the dispel magic invocation, and finding enough ways to boost your dispel check to the point where you guarantee a success on a take 10 with arcane mastery is definitely doable, I've made a few warlock builds that have basically been "caster shutdown" characters, built with the notion that they could completely lockdown an enemy caster should they choose.

[javcs]

One presumes that before making the hat, you designed it such that when it instantly expands from being shrunken, the exact angle it is at on your head doesn't matter, it just needs to be close enough.

If one wishes to be so nitpicky as to care about potentially not being perfectly level on your head, then perhaps a cone isn't necessarily the best shape.
It might end up being more of a cylinder with a hemisphere or flatter dome on the top end, with a weighted bottom rim, such that it will level itself out.
Perhaps something with a shape similar to a fedora or bowler hat.
It need not necessarily be perfectly level at once. Ever drop a bowl upside down? Something like that is good enough.




As for what happens when you're flying? Presumably it will weigh enough to exceed your ability to continue flying with it's new/original weight, 4000 times what it was as a hat. And then you need to have feather fall, unless you permanencied shrink item on it, which would mean it reshrinks after dropping you out of the AMF.

Also, you could have designed it such that it has pieces internally that will drop into place and close off the bottom when the bottom is unobstructed, either automatically (preferred) or manually triggered from the inside.

[Aotrs Commander]

Just want to point of AMF screw EVERY character class, with POSSIBLE exceptions on Monk and Soulknife, only marginally noncasters less than non-casters.

(And if you get grappled by a dragoin as a warlock, you're pretty screwed even NOT in an AMF.)

Anti-Magic is very nasty. (Which is why Anti-magic ray has such a high material cost.)

[javcs]

Just want to point of AMF screw EVERY character class, with POSSIBLE exceptions on Monk and Soulknife, only marginally noncasters less than non-casters.

(And if you get grappled by a dragoin as a warlock, you're pretty screwed even NOT in an AMF.)

Anti-Magic is very nasty. (Which is why Anti-magic ray has such a high material cost.)

This is very true.
Though I'd add the martial initiators to the list of those least affected by AMF, at least those who aren't dependent upon the maneuvers that are (Su) and have a selection of (Ex) maneuvers.


Although, there is a spell that can be used while in an AMF that allows you to cast a 4th? Or lower level spell. Can't remember what it's called offhand, but pop that and use it to dimension door away.

[Crake]

Although, there is a spell that can be used while in an AMF that allows you to cast a 4th? Or lower level spell. Can't remember what it's called offhand, but pop that and use it to dimension door away.

Invoke magic, and it's a 9th level spell, so it's a pretty late game solution.

[Luckmann]

That means its up to DM discretion. And so either outcome is equally likely.I'm not going to go into the potential problems with the other statements, but I take issue with this one. Just because something is up to the DM doesn't make all outcomes equally likely. A ton of things are up to the DM in a ton of situations, which is the point of a DM to begin with, but just because you could conceivably get caught in a chandelier rope as it rapidly unfurls doesn't mean that it's equally likely as anything else that may happen. There's no rules for the impact of a chandelier falling, either, but that doesn't make it equally likely that it'll stay hovering in the air.

[sleepyphoenixx]

The best defense against AMF is high spellcraft (to identify it being cast) and Celerity, assuming you can't just counterspell it.
Then you can either teleport out of the way or use an instantaneous spell like Wall of Stone to block or at least slow the enemy to get the time to kill it from range.

Basically interrupt and stop the enemy from getting close before you're actually inside the AMF.
Because once that happens you're pretty much screwed if you're not a cleric of Mystra with the Initiate feat.
Even martial initiators will get quickly killed by a level-appropriate enemy without their magic items, (ex) maneuvers or not.

Or if you're feeling cheesy you could take Martial Training twice for Iron Heart Surge.


Anti-Magic is very nasty. (Which is why Anti-magic ray has such a high material cost.)
The two aren't even comparable. Anti-magic ray is actually pretty ****.
It needs a ranged touch attack to hit, allows a will save to negate and doesn't affect equipment.

Between stuff like Blur/Displacement, Ray Deflection, Scintillating Scales, Friendly Fire, etc. and all the targets you really want it to work on having good will saves it's pretty much guaranteed to fail on any target where it'd actually be worth a 7th level slot to use.
That's not even counting the material component (100gp is trivial at that level anyway) or the short duration.

And even assuming you get it through any halfway competent caster at that level will have items like a Shadow Cloak or Anklets of Translocation or whatever to flee or stall.

[RatElemental]

Disjunction (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magesDisjunction.htm) works (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0636.html). Not reliably but it does. Don't know of a way for a warlock to get it though.

You could also box yourself in with a wall of force, which is explicitly immune to an AMF, but that's another strategy for wizards and the like. I'm actually drawing a blank on what a warlock could do about it.

[unseenmage]

Would Contongent Plane Shift work to go to a plane alongside the material from which the material plane can still be viewed work?
Add in Transdimensional Spell and you might even be able to still take part in the encounter.

Alternatively have a swarm of small permanent Animated Objdcts precede you at all times.
Hit a few of them with Contingent spell to erase the field and viola.
Dead Magic zone is handled the exact same way, it inherits from AMF for the most part, except requires Wish to undo it IIRC.

Guess a warlock will have to outsource for these solutions though. Magic mart or hirelings.

[Eldariel]

Just want to point of AMF screw EVERY character class, with POSSIBLE exceptions on Monk and Soulknife, only marginally noncasters less than non-casters.

(And if you get grappled by a dragoin as a warlock, you're pretty screwed even NOT in an AMF.)

Anti-Magic is very nasty. (Which is why Anti-magic ray has such a high material cost.)

Uhm, Monks and Soulknives are some of the most item-dependent classes in the game - I don't see how they out of all the classes should be exempted when their basic non-magical defense is reliant on stat boosters and they don't even have full BAB. Indeed, they're both extremely MAD and reliant on items for basic functionality so they're extra-screwed. In fact, I'd say they're even more screwed than a bogstandard Fighter. The best class in an AMF barring higher optimization stuff to work spells there is the Barbarian/Frenzied Berserker-kinda stuff or the Warblade/Crusader/Swordsage, or possibly some high stealth Factotum/Rogue/Ranger-type (ex HiPS + camouflage is incredibly powerful in an AMF). Swiftblade with Ex Haste is also pretty good; getting 50 % miss chance and all that good stuff is real nice when nobody else in the game can access that. Of course, the true best option is a Cleric with Initiate of Mystra or similar that works with the AMF.

But yeah, what you really wanna do if you fight against AMF-users or in a Dead Magic Zone is get minions. What beats up stuff in an AMF? Try some Planar Bound Demons or Animate Deaded Giants or Magical Beasts or Dragons or perhaps some Ice Assassins or Huge Golems or whatever. Gate something in. Hell, even Summons with SR have a chance of being pretty good if they make the SR check. Humanoids rely on magic to match up to the stats of monsters; remove magic and monsters reign supreme so the classes that pokeball their own monsters (spellcasters) are where you wanna be. Don't play Humanoids or in general PCs without magic, that just doesn't work numerically outside very few cornercases (almost all of which involve either True Mind Switch/Magic Jar to switch body, or some supertemplated nonsense with Tauric or such).

@OP: You're a Warlock. What level? Imbue Item and use Scrolls/such of Planar Binding or whatever and you can get stuff done. Otherwise, yeah, Shrink Item shenanigans are one of your best bets.


Would Contongent Plane Shift work to go to a plane alongside the material from which the material plane can still be viewed work?
Add in Transdimensional Spell and you might even be able to still take part in the encounter.

Transdimensional Spell only works to the Ethereal. There's like one way to cast from the Ethereal to the Material and that involves having parts of you on the Material (Dharculus from Planar Handbook - you can either Shapechange or Wildshape + Enhance Wildshape to get the ability to manifest tentacles).

[Aotrs Commander]

First off, I apologise for the uncharactertistically semi-coherent, typo-filled mess that was my previous post. It was first thing in the morning and I was rushing because I had to go out. Heck, I did even forgot about the adepts, didn't I?


Uhm, Monks and Soulknives are some of the most item-dependent classes in the game - I don't see how they out of all the classes should be exempted when their basic non-magical defense is reliant on stat boosters and they don't even have full BAB. Indeed, they're both extremely MAD and reliant on items for basic functionality so they're extra-screwed. In fact, I'd say they're even more screwed than a bogstandard Fighter.

(Okay, in fairness to my previous statement, I was thinking particularly of the PF versions of both those characters, doing as I am a 3.Aotrs overhaul of the classes more towards that standard. I mean, like, I reckon I've put over 30 hours and maybe closer to 40 doing that this past week, so forgive me if my mind is a bit skewed. I made the monk full BAB years ago, the PF gets full BAB on flurry and the PF soulknife is full BAB too; so from the early-morning haze from which I was posting, that's what I was thinking of specifically.)

Soulknives - in either edition - at least get to make a relatively easy check to specifically maintain their primary class feature in an AMF, and monk's primary attack features do at least work in an AMF (and if they have Been Doing It Right, they will probably have a bigger damage dice than anyone's base weapon damage dice). It's more than the primary casters get, at least.



(As a sidenote, a 3.Aotrs monk is decidedly less screwed than 3.5 core, since not only are they full BAB, Flurry explictly gives you the bonus attacks when you make an attack action, so you can - alone of all classes (save for the odd feat) make a standard move and punch several times. MAD also is nearly irrelevant in the usual 3.Aotrs standard stat distribution, which is, at current base 8 plus 36 points, point-for-point. The monk would likely have at least two out of Str, Dex and Wis at 18, for example. So the monk would be not really very far behind the fighter and likely not at all futher being than the barbarian in attack-bonus-sans-magic, as the difference would likely just come down to feats, for which monk and barb are pretty much equal. Now, I am well aware that isn't relevant to the rest of you, but, like the other explanation, is provided simply as a means to explain why my befuddled mind made the aforementioned post's statement.)

[Anthrowhale]

I think the order of solutions is:
ECL 3: Initiate of Mystra, Lesser Celerity
ECL 7: Celerity, Suppressing Field (if suppressing field's wording dominates AMF wording)
ECL 11: Contingency

I'm also skeptical of the shrink item approach. It's subject to DM interpretation and to often it seems like it's forgotten as soon as you are flying.

[sleepyphoenixx]

ECL 11: Contingency
Only if your DM is very lenient with your triggers.
Contingency isn't sentient, it can only trigger based on something that's happening, not something that's about to happen.
And by the time you're affected by AMF it's obviously already too late since contingency will be suppressed.

[Eldariel]

Only if your DM is very lenient with your triggers.
Contingency isn't sentient, it can only trigger based on something that's happening, not something that's about to happen.
And by the time you're affected by AMF it's obviously already too late since contingency will be suppressed.

The usual word/free-out-of-turn-action based trigger gets around that just fine provided you have some way to detect AMF before the fact (seeing it cast is one but for an AMF in place, permanent Arcane Sight is probably the easiest and the one you'll certainly want anyways as the effect is ridiculously powerful).

[Anthrowhale]

Only if your DM is very lenient with your triggers.
Contingency isn't sentient, it can only trigger based on something that's happening, not something that's about to happen.
And by the time you're affected by AMF it's obviously already too late since contingency will be suppressed.

I'd generally allow contingency to depend on any quantity observable by the caster so something like "When 5' or less away from an antimagic field or someone begins casting antimagic field within 15'." should work as long as you either know the AMF is active (first case) or have a sufficient spellcraft (second case).

The unavoidable issue is that contingency is quite useful for many other things. A Contingency of "When I cast Nerveskitter..." is quite useful in a high level game as well.

[Asmotherion]

Only if your DM is very lenient with your triggers.
Contingency isn't sentient, it can only trigger based on something that's happening, not something that's about to happen.
And by the time you're affected by AMF it's obviously already too late since contingency will be suppressed.

So "when i am within 5 feet from the Area of effect of an AMF" or "When someone within 200 feet that i don't consider an ally casts AMF".


I'm not going to go into the potential problems with the other statements, but I take issue with this one. Just because something is up to the DM doesn't make all outcomes equally likely. A ton of things are up to the DM in a ton of situations, which is the point of a DM to begin with, but just because you could conceivably get caught in a chandelier rope as it rapidly unfurls doesn't mean that it's equally likely as anything else that may happen. There's no rules for the impact of a chandelier falling, either, but that doesn't make it equally likely that it'll stay hovering in the air.

Actually there are rules; it's covered under falling damage.

in any case for a more accurate example there are no rules that cover your chance to get tetanus when wounded by a (rusty) weapon. if you follow RAW it suggests that this does never happen. Thus if a DM was to create a chart with some percentage for you to get tetanus it would be a house-rule even if it was a completely realistic consequence. Examining something under a pure RAW perspective means that no house rules are in effect. Unless you can somehow accuratelly calculate the chance a DM may create a house rule or not and the fact that the rules do not prevent you from this methode functioning you have to conclude that "it's RAW".


Invoke magic, and it's a 9th level spell, so it's a pretty late game solution.

Also not really worth persisting (on most cases anyway) since casting ends the spell's effect.

[sleepyphoenixx]

So "when i am within 5 feet from the Area of effect of an AMF" or "When someone within 200 feet that i don't consider an ally casts AMF".

Personally i'd allow the first if you're aware of the AMF and succeed the spellcraft check to know the area of effect. But the second would fail in a game i DM.

YMMV of course, but

If complicated or convoluted conditions are prescribed, the whole spell combination (contingency and the companion magic) may fail when called on.
is about as clear a "ask your DM" as the rules get.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Honestly I really hate that AMF so indiscriminately screws over all forms of "magic." Kinda wish there was like...a lesser and greater version. The greater version works as current AMF. The lesser version is restricted to only Spells, SLAs, psionics, Psi-like abilities, activated magic items (but not passive effects), and...maybe Su attacks (but not no Su qualities).

Would make more sense and restrict the lesser version to mostly screwing over casters, the intended victims of the spell. Not sure why martials needed yet another spell that hurts them, too. In fact...why is it that almost all anti-mage stuff in D&D also is designed to be a pain for non-casters? Golems, with your nasty melee attacks (and adjacent poison gas, for Iron!), ridiculous hardness/DR, and high AC (but poor touch AC...hmm...), I'm looking at you!

[Kelb_Panthera]

As a warlock? Yeah, you're pretty much down to the tinfoil hat and a GM that agrees it's reasonable. I prefer a skull-cap since a hemisphere has to be titled quite a lot further from level than most cones to overturn.

On the matter of it being flush with the ground, it doesn't need to be. As long as none of the gaps are more than a square foot, it still breaks line of effect. Use something heavy.

For in the air, it snatches you out of the AoE of AMF, even if it then falls away from you for whatever aerodynamic reasons. Granted, it might warrant some damage as a falling object or slam you into the ground but that's a lot less unpleasant than getting shredded by a dragon. An exception obviously exists if you are mostly or nearly upside down.

[RedMage125]

A note on Tinfoil Hat:
It is entirely RAW-legal, doesn't need "DM fiat", because the cone gets shrunk to the diameter to fit on the PC's head.

Also, it's original form must me the giant cone that fits the wizard inside it, that much adamantine is prohibitively expensive. Use lead. Lead blocks all kinds of things.


I think the order of solutions is:
ECL 3: Initiate of Mystra,

Requirs 3 levels of Cleric, specifically.

[LordBlades]

Its absolutely not covered by the rules.
Your head isnt a perfectly stable surface. Especially not in a combat zone.
And the only think we actually know from the rules, is that the antimagic field shuts the shrink item spell off.
But we dont have anything to say how to handle when shrink-item affected object turns back on a unstable surface.
Or how it actually appear, or what happens if something hits it just as its about to fall.

The scenario put up so far, hat falls down perfectly to flawlessly cover its wielder,
is the sign of something worse than a bad DM. That of a munchkin running his own combat encounter.

D&D operates in squares. RAW doesn't care about 'unstable surfaces' or the like. By RAW, the shrunken hat is in your square. Once it contacts the AMF, the now unshrunken adamantine cone appears in your square. As there is still enough room in the square also for you and nothing in the spell description saying you are tossed aside, you are also in the same square as the cone (under it due to the shape).

Everything else is a DM making more-or-less logical (but non RAW) calls about the spell and circumstances.

[Vaern]

Honestly I really hate that AMF so indiscriminately screws over all forms of "magic." Kinda wish there was like...a lesser and greater version. The greater version works as current AMF. The lesser version is restricted to only Spells, SLAs, psionics, Psi-like abilities, activated magic items (but not passive effects), and...maybe Su attacks (but not no Su qualities).

Would make more sense and restrict the lesser version to mostly screwing over casters, the intended victims of the spell. Not sure why martials needed yet another spell that hurts them, too. In fact...why is it that almost all anti-mage stuff in D&D also is designed to be a pain for non-casters? Golems, with your nasty melee attacks (and adjacent poison gas, for Iron!), ridiculous hardness/DR, and high AC (but poor touch AC...hmm...), I'm looking at you!
I also hate how AMF functions. One sixth level spell and you've basically shut down half the classes in the game completely. Half the remaining classes - the partial casters - have a chunk of their options taken off the table. The fighters and barbarians may still function normally, but they no longer have magical gear to lean on.

One homebrew alternatives I might suggest involves magic and antimagic functioning in a manner similar to matter and antimatter, in which one coming into contact with the other causes each to annihilate an equivalent mass from the other. If there is more matter than antimatter, some matter will remain after all of the antimatter and an equivalent amount of matter has been annihilated.
An antimagic field, as I imagine it in this example, would reduce the effective caster level of spell effects entering the area by the caster level of th AMF. This affects variables within the spell's main description, but not variables such as range or duration as indicated by the spell's stat block. If a spell's caster level would be reduced to 0 within the AMF, it winks out of existence. Otherwise, it functions normally, albeit at its lower caster level. A fireball cast by a level 15 sorcerer at a wizard who has cast AMF at CL 13 would still deal 2d6 points of fire damage within the area of the AMF and be treated as having a caster level of 2 against spell resistance, while retaining its normal damage of 10d6 and caster level of 15 in areas unaffected by the AMF.
Magic items may still be suppressed by an AMF and, for this purpose, have an effective caster level as indicated by their description (unless specifically designated to have been crafted at a higher caster level).

[Eldariel]

I also hate how AMF functions. One sixth level spell and you've basically shut down half the classes in the game completely. Half the remaining classes - the partial casters - have a chunk of their options taken off the table.

This isn't really true unless you can get them in the AMF and keep them there. All the instantaneous conjurations can totally mess up anyone in an AMF and make the wielder completely unable to reach the flying casting spellcaster. Also, the caster's underlings are probably stronger than anything that can use AMF against them. And finally, the casters have immediate action/free action tools of movement to avoid being subjected to the AMF which turns it against its caster; a caster outside an AMF has a huge advantage against anyone in an AMF unless they're using solely SR:yes spells in the first place (which is generally a bad idea).

[Sepultra]

The best way to deal with AMF is to be an IOTSV. Failing that, Contingency or even Chained Contingency is always a good idea. If you expect your DM to throw one at you then a contingency is likely your best bet.
Boots of Big Stepping or Dimensional Jaunt (the reserve feat) might also interest you. The best way to counter an AMF is not to let any hostiles close enough to you to get you inside one to begin with. If you can't avoid them getting that close, there's a spell that lets you cast 4th level spells inside an AMF but I can't recall the name at the moment.


I also hate how AMF functions. One sixth level spell and you've basically shut down half the classes in the game completely. Half the remaining classes - the partial casters - have a chunk of their options taken off the table. The fighters and barbarians may still function normally, but they no longer have magical gear to lean on.

If you want to be more lenient with AMF, you could always take it that AMF allows a spell to come into effect momentarily then suppresses it since nothing prevents the casting of spells from the way the rules are written afaict. This would allow spells that block emanations to be cast within an AMF and block its effect - but I think AMF is fine. It's one of the few ways martials can do *anything* to spellcasters to begin with. Without it, a wiz/cler could buff beyond reason and probably beat them in melee.
Plus, if you're a high enough level to be getting caught in AMF, you're a high enough level to avoid being caught in it.