Druid in an Anti-Magic Field Help?

[penbed400]

So me and my friend, Turtle (his nickname don't ask), tested out our level 20characters today for our DM's campaign since he wasn't done writing the story yet we thought it would be fun to do a versus battle. It was pretty funny, we basically walked into a room and he summoned monsters and then I just casted Drown on him and I won the battle until the DM interfered and let him live for a couple more rounds. Anyways through a long series of events we ended up on top of his dragon companion that got lurched down a pit by a giant monster....yea it was a weird battle, it was all in the course of 6 rounds though. But the point I'm getting to is that we fell down to the bottom of the pit and we were in complete darkness and so I tried to cast Windwalk and fly up out of the pit and my spell fizzled. The DM said that he had put us in an anti-magic field. Well I figured that I should be ok since me and Turtle decided to team up and kill the monster first. Unfortunantly since he was a wizard he couldn't do anything and his dragon companion was out of action being grappled to death. I turned into a Dire Tiger and since I couldn't cast any spells and my magic items were down this was pretty much the best I could do. I ended up running into the open arms of a colossal reptilian creature that squeezed the life out of me in two rounds after a couple of failed fortitude checks I was dead, the dragon was unconscious and the wizard was hiding in a corner waiting to be killed...is there any tips or anything that I might be able to do to make my druid a little better in anti magic fields? I mean I know that it was just me and the other spell caster but still the DM says we'll probably run into quite a few of those in the campaign for some unknown reason...So yea anybody know anything?

[Faleldir]

Well, there's always Iron Heart Surge. You can lose two feats to use it once per encounter, or lose a level to potentially use it every two rounds. Guaranteed to make DMs cry.

[monty]

Well, there's always Iron Heart Surge. You can lose two feats to use it once per encounter, or lose a level to potentially use it every two rounds. Guaranteed to make DMs cry.

And it has all sorts of fluff potential, like shouting so loud you shatter the magic (or antimagic, in this case).

Anyway, the best defense against an AMF is not being in it in the first place. It's only a 10-foot radius (20 widened, but then that's a 9th level spell), so if the room was big enough, you probably could have just ran out of it. Assuming, of course, it wasn't an epic AMF or other DM fiat.

[penbed400]

I dunno about Ironheart surge, thats a little drastic and I don't think my DM would approve it. Yea it basically was a DM fiat. The AMF was consuming an entire room of like...130 feet by 260 feet. It was really ridiculous. Of course he said that we could of broken it by breaking the columns which he drew on the map but didn't point out until after we were screwed. I don't even know how he expected us to do that with our strengths of 12, I could've morphed into a T-Rex but that's if I had known. No spot checks or anything, he just put them there and I thought they were just dents in the wall. So yea, I'm expecting being in really really large fields for some period of time possibly

[monty]

I don't even know how he expected us to do that with our strengths of 12, I could've morphed into a T-Rex but that's if I had known.

You can't wildshape in an AMF, so without an adamantine weapon or something, you wouldn't have been doing much. And I can't really think of a good reason for a druid and wizard to be carrying an adamantine weapon, so...

[Chronos]

And I can't really think of a good reason for a druid and wizard to be carrying an adamantine weapon, so...

Because everyone should carry an adamantine weapon? By the time you get to that level, even if you don't intend to use it in combat, you can afford an adamantine dagger or something just for odd situations like this.

[Godskook]

You can't wildshape in an AMF, so without an adamantine weapon or something, you wouldn't have been doing much. And I can't really think of a good reason for a druid and wizard to be carrying an adamantine weapon, so...

@OP, Also, your original wild-shape wouldn't have worked either. Sounds like the GM used a 'rocks fall, everyone dies' button on you. Why, oh why, would a DM use one of those in a duel? I can see the fiat on the 'drowning', with the argument of longer='more fun', but a room-filling AMF? Against dueling casters? Just doesn't make sense. Especially when one's divine and the other is arcane. 3/4 BAB + d8 HD + medium armor > 1/2 BAB + d4 HD + no armor(Dragon was already down, and no mention of the animal companion). Boggles the mind, I tell ya.

[Eldariel]

It's worth noting that pretty much everyone save a Cleric of Mystra is gonna be boned in an AMF (yes, including Fighter-types). But your Animal Companion still kicks ass. In fact, your Animal Companion, with proper feats, can now one-shot anything on a charge because everything just had their AC sucked down the drain (on those levels, I suggest a Dire Tiger/Horrid Tiger [ECS] with the Power Attack/Shock Trooper/Leap Attack line of feats; although in that particular scenario, a Tyrannosaur is probably better and more stylish as it could just munch everything with its +billion Grapple).

Well, there's a level 9 Wizard spell named "Invoke Magic" [Lords of Madness] that allows you to cast a spell in AMF. If you have enough Use Magic Device, you could scroll it and then use a spell to Get The **** Out Of There. It's worth noting that if an AMF comes to be, it's possible for summoned creatures with Spell Resistance to persist. So yeah, something to consider.


But overall, you shouldn't really expect to see those too often (hopefully). And keep your animal companion pimped out for those situations (get it Bardings, pick Natural Bond, every bit helps).

[Tempest Fennac]

Looking at what happened, I'd say it would be fair enough to make use of Iron Heart Surge. (The DM using a huge AMF to disrupt a duel doesn't bode well for the campaign).

[ericgrau]

Wild shape is a supernatural ability, so you weren't able to do that either. AMF is a high level spell, so hopefully there is a caster who cast it as well and you can beat him up to drop the AMF.

[Lycanthromancer]

Might I suggest that you ignore the AMF for the purposes of the duel? If the DM is going to pull crap like that on two casters dueling, then simply act as if it wasn't there. It's not like the DM can do anything if you both ignore him completely.

Also, you and the wizard should both invest in a Medium dome or cone made out of some mundane material (such as boiled leather, wood, iron, steel, or adamantine), then use shrink item on it, and wear it as a hat. Anybody who traps you in an antimagic field will suppress the shrink item spell, turning your hat into a dome which...you guessed it...blocks the emanations from the antimagic. Best if you do the same for some sandal-shaped slabs of the same material, so you have 100% protection from all angles (in case it's radiating up from the floor). Then just make sure you both have some sort of teleportation to get you out of there.

[Olo Demonsbane]

Also, you and the wizard should both invest in a Medium dome or cone made out of some mundane material (such as boiled leather, wood, iron, steel, or adamantine), then use shrink item on it, and wear it as a hat. Anybody who traps you in an antimagic field will suppress the shrink item spell, turning your hat into a dome which...you guessed it...blocks the emanations from the antimagic. Best if you do the same for some sandal-shaped slabs of the same material, so you have 100% protection from all angles (in case it's radiating up from the floor). Then just make sure you both have some sort of teleportation to get you out of there.

Coolest. Idea. Ever!

[Nohwl]

Well, there's always Iron Heart Surge. You can lose two feats to use it once per encounter, or lose a level to potentially use it every two rounds. Guaranteed to make DMs cry.

what does iron heart surge do and what book is it in?

[Eldariel]

what does iron heart surge do and what book is it in?

Tome of Battle. "Ends an adverse effect", pretty much. So, anything you'd like. 3rd level maneuver; the one big "WTF" in the book, mostly because it's written like crap.

[penbed400]

Well I opted my animal companion for the duel since in the first scenario we were underground and he didn't get his dragon so I thought it would even things out a little. Then he used a wish spell and it just roled along like that so yea, that's why I didn't mention the animal companion. Hard to believe that a Druid went somewhere without it but we weren't playing the campaign and I just didn't want to slaughter the wizard. I'll check with my DM on Ironheart surge the next time I get a chance to talk with him. I like the wooden hat idea though, very do-able. Thanks for letting me know I couldn't morph, the DM said I could so I took what I could get. I'll tell Turtle about the Invoke spell, I was looking through the book and found Mordekenains Something or another which gives about a 20% chance of disrupting the AMF which is worth looking into. I'll be sure to pimp my companion, hopefully it will be in there with me the next time. I'll have to get cracking trying to buff him up.