Sword Power
You guys ever play Chrono Trigger? There’s this great moment where a treacherous king KO’s the party and throws them into a dungeon. What follows is the standard escape from jail scenario. But what’s interesting for our purposes is the fate of the party’s gear. When the gang wakes up, everybody’s stuff is gone! No weapons, no items, no money. That means you’re doomed to trickery and stealth to effect your escape. Unless of course your put Ayla in the party. As a cavewoman from the year 65,000,000 B.C., Ayla don’t need no gear to trash prison guards and assorted mooks. She’s got her mitts, and sometimes that’s all you need.
Clearly, not all fighters are so lucky. This fact was brought home to me when I last rolled up an occultist. If you’re not familiar, the class is all about attuning to “implements,” items that allow you to focus your power and produce psychic effects. I enjoyed the adaptability of the class, but I didn’t love the paranoia it engendered. You see, when you’ve got the entirety of your battlefield prowess bound up in an antique polearm and a tatty old cloak, the word “sunder” is liable to leave your running for the hills. I mean, without my stuff, I’m just a half-elf with a morbid streak and an unhealthy number of ranks in Knowledge (history)!
As I look back at my time as a Dr. Orpheus knockoff, I’m beginning to suspect that my paranoia was misplaced. I mean, what happens to a greatsweapon barbarian without a greatweapon? Where is the wizard without his books? The cleric without her focus? Unless you write “sorcerer” or “monk” on your character sheet, you’re more than likely dependent on some kind of prized possession to be effective.
We touched on this idea back in “Alarming,” and many of you guys had novel strategies for ensuring that you were never without your font of power (a spellbook in that case). But for today’s discussion, what do you say we try a thought experiment? All of those contingency plans have failed, and you find yourself without your bow/book/focus/whatever. What’s your backup plan? If you’ve been knocked out Chrono Trigger style and wake up without your kit, how do you go about MacGyvering an escape? How do you prove that you’re more of a hero than any other mook (or raccoon!) that happens to hold a fancy magic sword?
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I learnt a few times in 3.5 that a barbarian with a quarterstaff is really only a little bit less powerful than a barbarian with a greatsword. That extra 1d6 is just icing on the cake of 22 Strength and Power Attack.
Even in the complete absence of whappin’ sticks, there’s always grappling. And who doesn’t love a little WWE action?
Well, my most played class is a blade pact warlock, which means I’m never without my weapon – also being charisma based, my persuasion/deception is also quite reliable. In fact, I have walked out of prison once, quite begrudgingly and pissed off that I had to do that.
But that still doesn’t beat our party’s Monk, who kinda made a habit of prison breaks. Hell, once he actually broke into a prison to spend the night there cause he couldn’t afford a stay at the local inn…
I guess that’s one way to live with a vow of poverty.
It wasn’t a wov. He just spent his money on … something else. (It involved an ale drake, and other shenanigans).
This question’s really difficult because backup plans really do vary on class. Are you a barbarian with high str, and thus the ability to turn just about anything into a weapon if you hold it? A finesse fighter who does -2 damage with unarmed strikes? A wizard who was smart and prepared many no-focus spells? There are so many various possibilities, far too many to be discussed each on their own.
How about your current favorite PC?
Erm… that would be 8 str drow cleric. In that case, without my armour, I would be stealthing in the back while flipping through the phb to figure out what spells I can still use.
Hey, there’s always channeling.
Although, during my power gaming phase a few years back, I might have gone, “My character heroically sacrifices herself to save you. Oh don’t worry, I have a back-up character ready; they’re a psionic mystic who needs no components for abilities, and with a focus on teleportation. Oh, and I took the archetype that gives me unarmored defence”.
Bad move, power gamer! These situations come up pretty much once per campaign.
I can’t say I’ve ever been knocked out or had my stuff stolen, but I have an answer to sundering. Backup weapons. Unless the character is natural weapon themed, I always have a second melee weapon to make sure I can cover DR. And I always have a ranged weapon to make sure I can hit the far away opponents.
I remember some module or other where the a “soul trap” threw PCs into situations they were ill-equipped to deal with. For example, the ranger in my game that got sucked inside the trap was put into a frozen meat locker with only a set of lock picks to help him escape. Being non-proficient, he promptly set about escaping death-by-freezing by battering down the door with a side of beef.
How much damage does a frozen side of beef do?
About $2.24 per pound. 😛
As ranger typically love to wander the world, I can see why one would have some beef with the door.
Jokes! We got jokes here! lol
How about a big side of Dire Pork?
ALWAYS have a naked-strat! My barbarian? He ‘elates’ and tanks for squishy others! Warlock? She kills everyone in the room for daring to take away her derp-eyed pseudo-dragon! Everyone gets an eldritch blast! Failing that… She cowers and flees and digs her way out of trouble at the first opportunity! My bard? Being naked IS his naked-strat! Hasn’t failed him thus far!
Nice. I like the “naked strat” terminology. I think ima steal it. 😀
Eh, it’s DM privilege to steal inspiration where it strikes your fancy most. Have fun with it!
It only takes a few turns and fairly easy Craft (weaponmaking) checks to turn a broken chair. Furthermore, only the most foolhardy (read ‘sane’) wizards don’t have a backup spellbook in a secret chest / tattoo / prison wallet of holding.
How would you design a prison to hold a wizard?
In this case? Dimensional Lock or similar spells would do it. Can’t pull that spellbook from an extra dimensional space that you cannot access.
It’s tough figuring out how to pull this scenario off in a real game without wandering face-first into “you’re purposely targeting my character.”
I feel like there’s got to be some supplement on imprisoning entities with class levels though. You’d figure that “the jailer’s companion” or some such would be a product that exists.
Keep their tongue and fingers in a jar in a separate room and heal them back on once the sentence is served. If someone is desperate enough to take both Still Spell AND Silent Spell… well… they deserve to be set free after that kind of display of determination.
Of course, one could cast permanent anti-magic on each cell to deal with other spellcasters, but that would be too logical. Maybe hire monsters like phase spiders and astral stalkers as planar patrol?
I like the Witcher’s concept of Dimeritium, a rare metal that blocks magic. Shackles of Dimeritium prevent casting, as does a cloud of Dimeritium dust around the caster. A pair of anti-magic friendship bracers would be handy to have around in a fantasy gaol.
It would be amusing to watch an obnoxious “god wizard” have to flee shackled to a suddenly-much-more-useful rogue.
…broken chair leg into a club.
Sry about that.
The next stretch goal for this comic out to be an edit button. :/
Out/Ought. Was that on purpose?
In 5e, a Wizard always has their cantrips. Mine for example would do surprisingly well in a prison break scenario. Mage Hand to grab stuff like keys far away. Mending to fix whatever broken stuff we get our hand on (either broken equipment to make it usable, or something WE broke so that we don’t leave traces). Prestidigitation for distractions. Light for the humans in the party. Ray of Frost for attacks and slowing down ennemies.
Also, she’s a Conjurer. So she can create small mundane objects out of thin air. So she can conjure Thieve’s Tools for the Rogue. And when he’s done with the door, replace the tools with a Dagger so he can stab stuff.
Your team is in an anti-magic field. Your spells fail. What do you do to escape?
Walk out of the 10 ft radius/the longer radius if I’m in one of those mile-wide “none of your class features work” zones that Some DM’s like to invoke whenever it’s pointed out that not all classes are equally powerful.
If I can’t walk out I’d rely on my party to save me, same as if I was a fighter in a “all attacks miss” or a rouge in a trapped in a cell while being cursed to fail all skill checks automatically.
Wait until the crazy powerful guys who can afford a permanent anti magic field in their prison realize they captured a bunch of level 4 chumps instead of their intended targets, and let us leave?
Seriously though, as a Wizard I got nothing outside of “hope my party members can do something”. That’s kinda the point of an anti magic field.
Then what’s the point of your crazy-high intelligence?
To calculate exactly how badly we’re screwed I guess? 🙂
Ima refer you back to this one: https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/never-give-up-never-surrender
Depending on the situation, rely on my high knowledge skills to effectively lawyer my way out.
“Yes, I was the reason that the orphanage burned down, but by the statute of 961, and the current records, that orphanage is in a commercial district and was not allowed there in the first place. Not only did I correct the problem, but I saved this city the demolition costs for the building. I was planning to do so pro bono, but given the handling of this case, I am forced to ask for proper compensation.”
Now that I think of it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Orc Prison Camp meets Plucky Attorney. That could be a fun mashup.
“Me call first witness! Him expert testimony!”
I’m kinda in the same situation as the Sorcerer, as I am currently playing as a summoner, so my Eidolon is never too far away, and even if it is, I still have Summon Monster as a backup spell like ability.
Shut off from magic though, and he has to fall back on more common tricks. He has diplomacy to talk his way out, but if that doesn’t work, he has a high degree of handle animal. He would, and could, train a random bird or rat to fetch keys and generally help with escape.
…and this was somehow posted as a reply rather than it’s own answer, with no way to delete it and repost…
Hey, if it’s good enough for Gandalf….
https://i.stack.imgur.com/ylumO.png
I do love taking Eschew Materials. Any caster can be a sorcerer with its help, and I think that makes it worth it enough to always at least give it consideration. Whether disarmed of your pouch, or deprived or resupply, you don’t want to be left scrambling for a list of spells without material components.
As for warrior types, I like Catch Off Guard, Throw Anything, and similar sorts of things, and I try to avoid hyper-specializing too much. (Charisma to everything I do as long as it’s using my Starknife sounds great, but comes with the big weakness of needing that specific weapon. A Barbarian forced to swing a club is still pretty good, but Señor Starknife-Specialist has far less in the way of backup options.
I wish that situational feats like “catch off guard” had a minor “always useful” option tacked onto them. Once or twice a campaign they’ll be great, but I always have a tough time picking up feats when it’s for once-in-a-blue-moon situations.
“Unless you write “sorcerer” or “monk” on your character sheet, you’re more than likely dependent on some kind of prized possession to be effective.”
Interestingly, those were my first two Pathfinder characters…
The sorcerer does however have plans in case of anti-magic fields. There’s the crossbow of shame, a spear so he can hide behind someone bigger and attack with reach, and a number of daggers secreted around his person for captivity scenarios.
He also has an animal companion, which at least gives him an extra person to hide behind.
For a game of the Mummy’s Mask adventure path that I’m just starting, I’ve rolled up a rogue. I took the entomophobe drawback (literally fear of insects, in game terms fear of vermin). I’m sure in an Egyptian themed campaign I’m going to come up against a lot of swarms, so I at least picked up some alchemists fire to deal with stuff I can barely hit and won’t be harmed by my rapier.
Planning for contingencies is a big part of the game. Good on ya for equipping yoruself to deal with weird scenarios.
Step 1) Roll an Oracle/Sorcerer
Step 2) Laugh
Gods don’t need spell books!
…they don’t deal very well with handcuffs, though. Fortunately you’re a Charisma based caster and the Turnkey has terrible Wisdom (turns out most folks working in a dungeon aren’t very empathetic, who’d have thought!). All you have to do is sweet talk your jailer into removing the manacles (“only for a moment! I mean, I’m already locked in a cell, it’s not like I can do anything!”), then order the demon you just summoned to take the keys off of his bloodied corpse.
I see that you too have your Treantmonk.
Answer in my current 3.5 roll20 game: play as a Mantled Psychic Warrior, get angry at guards for taking my prized set of spices, use Metamorphosis first to turn into a rust monster and just walk through the bars, then something bigger and with more claws for the rest of the way out. And/or tell my psicrystal to stop just playing shiny rock in loot bag and lead us to our stuff.
Yo… It is HARD to keep a psychic down. Most encounters just aren’t designed to deal with that mess.
Let’s see… of my characters:
Bellona the Magus had Improved Unarmed Strike, good STR, Bloodrage (with Elemental Strikes power), Power Attack and Snake Style, so she could handle herself decently in an unarmed/magicless brawl. Might also get her paracletus familiar KnowledgeBot (“Nobo”) to help, or at least use his Bless spell-like ability.
Edam the Daring Champion Cavalier would be in a tougher spot, as all DEX-based Slashing Grace/similar users are. (I’m glad that later editions seem to have tried to tone down single-weapon-type dependence.) He does have the DEX skills and decent unarmored defense, which is further improved by all of his Fighting Defensively abilities, so he might not hit hard, but he’d be hard to hit back! (Now that I think about it, he does have Swashbuckler Precise Strike and Weapon Finesse, so if he could get a shiv that counts as a “light or one-handed piercing melee weapon”, he could use DEX to attack and add his level to damage. Plus challenge still works. So, actually, he could still hit pretty hard.)
Aron the 5e Paladin/Warlock has Eldritch Blast and temp HP/self-healing abilities.
Carl the Antipaladin Oradin would feel incomplete without his spiky armor and katana, but he still has decent strength, HP, non-spell buffing abilities and the self-healing/negative energy damage-dealing Touch of Corruption. If he hasn’t been able to smash any pottery in the name of Rovagug in the last few days, however, he’s in trouble, as pottery smashing is the source of all of his powers.
Monsi the Sanctified Slayer Inquisitor of Milani is not great at unarmed, but she has Stealth and Disable Device, and can use Sneak Attack, Precise Strike teamwork feat, Studied Target and Bane to do some damage. Plus, she can go invisible for a few rounds several times a day, no spells required.
Dr. Esrom the 2e Rogue doctor is a dagger guy to start with, so while his unarmed strike is terrible, any scrapped-together finesse weapon still works for him. He definitely works better with his medical kit and alchemist items, though, so he can heal folks and debilitate enemies. Also has Stealth and Thievery.
Nethysia the Oracle/Paladin/Bloodrager abomination would miss her cold iron greatsword, but she still has STR, spontaneous caster heal spells and her “throw greatsword with CHA to accuracy” power technically works with any weapon (though lore-wise I’ve been treating it as related to specifically the sword, so I might hold off on that in the name of RP). And her “force d20 reroll” power still works. And she uses CHA in place of DEX for AC, so she’s okay AC-wise without armor.
Goddamn I need to give Inquisitor a try. It sounds crazy versatile.
Actually had this happen a while ago – we went to some public baths cause we’d just spent ages in the wild after our caravan was attacked, and then discovered a doppelganger infestation while we had left all our gear in our room. I don’t think the GM liked finding out that my primary combat spell, Shadow Blade, doesn’t have material components and so doesn’t need a casting focus lol, the scene screwed over the martial players way more than the spellcasters
Yup. If you’re going to do a proper “you don’t have your stuff” encounter, it’s important take all the party members’ capabilities into account. In that sense, it’s also an opportunity to put the spotlight on a single player. “Shadow Blade gets to save the day” isn’t a bad exigence for setting up a scenario.
First 5e characterI played was a Conjuration wizard. This was my first time playing with this DM too so I didn’t know if I had to worry about my spellbook. To prepare I took the Keen Mind feat, which is mostly useless except it allows you to perfectly recall anything you’ve read for the past 30 days. Combine that with minor conjuration, which lets you create a nonmagic item out of thin air with no components required, and you get an instantly recreatable spellbook if ever your gear is stolen. I never had to use it, but it was a trick I always kept in my back pocket for an emergency. Wake up without my kit in the middle of a prison? I’ve still got my spellbook; just prep new spells without material components I can’t access, and magic my way out!
That’s what’s called an “insurance policy.” You don’t ever want to use it. You’re paying for the peace of mind!
It’s really saying something about the other villains (or the art) that this one raccoon is the most menacing, murderously psychotic, unnerving and legitimately threatening creature featured thus far in the handbook.
Though it does beg a few questions. Like how how is an animal without opposable thumbs wielding a sword? And how the heck does Fighter not go crazy like that regularly, given his mental stats are arguably worse than the raccoons?
He’s fortified his mind with the sage advice found in his battered copy of “The Handbook of Heroes.”
You know, with the handbook, I’m not sure if the advice contained within it is legitimate and wise or cursed and misleading / Munchkin-y anymore. Has it gradually evolved from a cursed item to a useful one, or is it still cursed/random in whether it provides weal or woe? Or was it always good advice, but it warps reality to teach lessons?
I may have lost the concept somewhere along the way. It’s become something of a mishmash, hasn’t it?
It could have been worse, fighter – the raccoon could have had levels in gunslinger.
https://snworksceo.imgix.net/car/614a86c8-405f-4fd8-b60d-93998c769661.sized-1000×1000.jpg?w=800
The more I look at the psychoon and its red eyes and sharktooth grim, the more I’m imagining this racoon is a cleverly disguised Golarion-syle-psycho-pyromaniac goblin. Possibly even Vigilante’s nemesis!
https://2e.aonprd.com/Images/Monsters/Goblin_GoblinWarrior.png
So what I’m hearing is “make the raccoon a recurring character.”
All characters are recurring characters. They’re just off-panel.
Not shown in the comic – Druid’s boyfriend, desperately attempting to gain a height advantage before the coon does. How does he handle the situation of his bow being plucked from his grasp?
He goes full fox-mode and scampers away.
Actually, we haven’t drawn him in fox form yet, have we?
You have not and you need to do that right away because it would be adorable. And possibly hilarious if Allie is around and thinks he’s a snack.
Or worse, a brand new chewtoy.
Was hoping to see AA and Druid on that vole-catching date, to be honest.
We may yet come back to it. 🙂
My current DnD PC is from the Spheres of Power Pathfinder system. He’s a kitsune Fey Adept with a specific focus on Shadow and Illusions. If he were stripped of all his items, he’s be most upset over losing a +2 to his caster level; the rest rarely matters. However, his feats and powers means he’s almost never without magic of some variety – as a full round action he can cast almost any basic illusion for free and he can also do a full round action to do 5d8 touch attacks at medium range. Thus the question doesn’t really work.
Now stick him in a “you need to make a concentration check to cast, DC 25” he’s toast. In these situations (which come up more than I’d like), his only recourse… is a +17 to Bluff, a +16 to escape artist and a +14 to diplomacy. I have a few throwing daggers for real bad situations and my familiar is immortal, just with no hp so he’s good for a distraction.
Plus if my buffs haven’t been dispelled, its a move action to step into any of my illusions.
Thanks for playing along with the thought experiment. 🙂
I like the familiar move. You can get a surprising amount of mileage with a l’il buddy scampering around.
Little jerk keeps stealing my rations and my wine. It’s a shadow familiar, so he mostly just hides in my shadows, but I can cast illusions on him and he can talk with them to fool people. The story is he’s the shadow fey I made a pact with and as a result everything I own he feels is actually his… mostly my rations and anything in a bottle.
Dealing with this sort of situation is actually why I end up picking Tavern Brawler far too often than I should. 1d4 might not be much but it’s the difference between “I’m defenseless” and “you’re trapped here with me”.
That’s also why I developed a thing called “The Katalmach’s School of Thuggery and Assassination”, which emphasize being creative when you don’t have the proper tools for the job. It’s tactics and techniques to escape in a pinch or turn a bad situation into an opportunity. Admittedly, these things work best if you’re a strength build, since for all the benefits dexterity has over strength it is surprisingly not as flexible.
Any punk can pick up a chair leg or a broken glass bottle to swing at the enemy. But think less inauspicious. The humble rope, string, long length of hair or even entrails can become a garrote even if the stats isn’t in the books. An upgrade to that is the humble sack: grapple and blind in one move. Some people will screech OP. Rule lawyers are shoving their books in your face. But when you don’t got your weapon you gotta play dirty.
But say you’re a wizard or other spellcasters without a focus. This is harder to deal with since such cases require preparation in advance, not to mention magic is very finicky about what is it isn’t an acceptable catalysts. A 5gp Arcane Staff is not a 2SP quarterstaff and all. This is why it’s important to study your spells and cantrips, because remember not all spells require a focus or material component, and even the ones that do have a somewhat easy ones to obtain. Sure your not going to find that 25 GP diamond for Chromatic Orb, but getting a pinch of sand for a sleep spell? Easy. Not to mention it’s the perfect time to use spells you normally rarely ever use. It’s the chance for your familiar to shine, scuttling away to grab the eyes. It’s where prestidigitation can help make a key to open the lock. It’s where Druidcraft can make some weeds grow and break the stone around the bars.
All in all when you’re trapped in a situation without your weapon or choice, the only real thing you can do is be prepared. A good adventurer has all the tools he needs, a great one knows what all his tools can be.
It’s a rude awakening when you’ve got to deal with this mess at the beginning of Out of the Abyss. I’d have killed for a petrified newt’s eye.
My current character is a 5e mystic with a focus on teleportation, so leave I guess.
Assume for the sake of argument that your voice has been removed Little Mermaid style. No vocal components. What then?
Then realise that the mystic is psionic, meaning that handcuffing them, gagging them, taking their staff, throwing them behind adamantium bars, having a dozen counter spells ready, none of that will just stop them from either shattering your mind or teleporting out. Save monks, they are the ultimate jailbreak character. Even if the mystic isn’t a teleporter, they might shrink down and slip throw the bars, grow giant and break the bars, dominate the guard, or just act like a wizard and throw round fireballs with no material components.
Oftentimes I play shapeshifters with Small forms. The benefit of such circumstances is a bonus to Escape Artist checks and squeezing through small spaces is easier. Adding static damage modifiers to the mix helps you stay consistent despite changing form, so you can easily play the Tibbit or Hengeyokai Barbarian or Fighter and get captured. All you do is change to cat, dog, badger, etc, and become every level 1 commoner’s nightmare, but even more so, because you can kill or disable multiple commoners per round.
In the case of casters, I tend to play gimmicky mages such as “Verbal Only” sorcerers or wizards with Spell Mastery and spells without material components.
Heh. I just responded to another comment about Arcane Archer going fox-form in this scenario. Same deal.
Our party has a kitsune witch who heavily uses a Ring of Invisibility and fox form to scout or to enter combat with a surprise round for herself. Turns out flying, tiny size, low-light vision, scent and invisibility combine to make her a fantastic scout with an absurd stealth bonus. If she were a rogue she’d be completely undetectable and lethally sneaky.
I’ve actually been dealing with this recently. Pretty much this exact situation, actually. I’m playing an Eldritch Archer Magus spec’d for firearms in a mashup Pathfinder/Starjammer/Starfinder campaign, and the official start of the campaign (we ran a one-shot beforehand to get ourselves acquainted with the new ruleset) was in a POW detention camp on a desert planet. So when the time for a prison break came, I improvised a sling from my own shirt and started hucking rocks. Then when we got a few guns, I cracked the biometric locks on them and started using them. Still not as good as my character’s masterwork pistol (they’re all using puslecaster pistols), but it’ll do until I can get all my stuff back, which will probably be next session.
A Wizard is never out of spells, only out of spell slots. If a lizard then memorices a bunch of contingency spells, not the spell Contingency, but it can be useful still, he can still cast them. Memorice Demiplane, stuff the place with armors, weapons, treasure, gear and magical items, get knock off, awaken on a cell*, cast the spell, gear up, kill people. Plane shift is a good if risky option, teleport too. It’s always good to have extra spells prepared for contingencies 🙂
*Clothes optional
My ratfolk wizard wards himself against most such disaster scenarios that would leave him ineffectual – he currently has spells that protect him from crits/sneaks, magic missiles, getting ambushed at night, surprise combat ambushes or sudden natural hazards, his spellbook being targeted, etc… Of course, even with all his magic, he has crippling weaknesses that can gut him. Most notably, an overwhelming melee opponent, spell immunity, antimagic zones, his spellbook being lost, being feebleminded, or getting hit with similar ‘no more spells’ whammies.
If you were to throw him into a cage with antimagic and no gear, he’d be pretty screwed, relying on knowledge skills or escaping the antimagic zone with the expertise of a well-educated commoner, or by smuggling stuff in his cheek pouches – preferably an adamantine chisel, dagger or similar bar-cutting tool or weapon that can destroy prison architecture.
If he were simply tied up or grappled, Liberating Command would be effective at freeing him or anyone else from most bonds.
Heh, we just had this sort of situation in my campaign. The original party has been locked in a firenewt stronghold with their primary guard being the flameskull they keep running into (the firenewts decided the best way to get it to do what they want is to promise it can burn the people it hates if they step out of line). No weapons, no spell components, the firenewts rolled well enough to find the Rogue’s hidden lockpicks, etc.
When they start hearing the commotion caused by the rescue team breaking into the complex, they decide to go ahead and break themselves out. The Rogue has Vicious Mockery from her one level of Bard, so she can still hurt people in their feels. The Ranger still has both Hunter’s Mark and Colossus Slayer, which means even though his strength is like 6, his derpy unarmed attacks still carry a potential 1d6+1d8 extra damage. And then there’s our Monk, who is only very slightly inconvenienced by not having their stuff and still has access to all sorts of fun monastic features like Stunning Strike, not to mention their Dragonborn breath weapon.
They’re currently standing over the smoking pieces of flameskull that won’t reform for another 59-ish minutes, trying to figure out how best to jump the guards posted outside their room and maybe grab some finesse weapons so the primary martial types can start doing stuff again.
This is where a dip in a class like swordsage or something comes in handy
Well the first thing I’ll note is that for that kind and many other kinds of reasons, almost every D&D character I make has training in Stealth. Because there’s always the possibility that no matter how clever you are and how well you’ve planned, that you find yourself in a situation where your best move is to just make yourself not be a liability for the rest of the party.
Or just as likely, the entire party is in the same bad spot as you are and the more people who are good at stealth the better your chances are of getting out of the situation in one piece.
But, in the effort of trying to actually go along with the spirit of the question I’ll pretend that’s not something I did/isn’t a viable option.
I guess this means I also have to pretend not to have any spells that don’t require material components or am a wizard that expended all my spell slots and didn’t get to sleep before losing their book or whatever.
Well, in combat my first approach would be to just declare myself a distraction. Put myself, regardless of class, between as many enemies and my allies as possible and take the Dodge action and hope the enemies aren’t smart enough to realize my one opportunity attack is probably negligible (unless I’m a Strength based character, in which case it’s just about half as strong) and waste their actions trying to hit me. Even if they do and I go down…. well everyone else who is more effective still wound up more likely to be in combat longer.
But if my enemies are too smart for that…. then there’s always the Help action to make my allies more likely to hit.
Or…. attempting to grapple to hold enemies in useless positions. I mean sure a regular wizard without spells trying to grapple a gorilla probably doesn’t have a high probability of success, but you can succeed.
But let’s say I’m taking all the “wandering into melee and deliberately make myself a target” options off the board.
In that case I could try to improvise weapons. Preferably something to throw or is heavy enough to do real damage, but hey, as long as you’re still wearing clothes you’ve got the makings of an improvised whip (belt), club or thrown weapon (shoes/boots), or garrote/net (shirt or pants).
And if you’re somehow in a room with no objects and just enemies in it…. well you can always try to take the weapons from your enemies. Unless they’re monsters. In which case…. you should just run away? Because that scenario is now “You’re in a room completely naked with monsters in it” and I’m pretty sure your GM means for you to run from that fight.
And of course there’s always social skills. You can always try a good bluff or intimidation if your target can understand you. Or even if they can’t if you’re clever enough/enough of a beefcake/creepy looking.
And if we’re talking out of combat… well yeah stealth, social skills, trying to find something to use as weapons or an escape, or using a tool proficiency to try and make a weapon with improvised tools you find are all options.
And if you somehow are a wizard with a few spell slots left and any memorized spells, just not combat ones….. grapple your foes, pull yourself and them off a fall somewhere, and then let go and cast Feather Fall on yourself. Because that’s a spell I always have if it’s an option.
my Gnome characters are usually of the Pyromaniac template, so they have Produce Flame as a SLA 1/d. If they are casters Recharge Innate Magic will multiply that. Rogues always get Minor Magic with Ray Of Frost at second level and Expeditious ReSneak at fourth.
Druid is a Catfolk, with claws.
Dwarf Arcane Trickster has one level of Monk.
Dragon Disciple has Claws and a Bite and a Breath Weapon.
What you did there. I see it.
Well, for my wizard, the hardest part would be finding some bat guano for the material component of spontaneously-converting-spell-slots-to-metamagicked-fireballs. Hmm, maybe I should’ve taken a familiar instead of the bonded object.
Consensus is that’s the more powerful move. I figure I’ve got enough to track though. That spellbook gets THICC after a while.
Well in my current game I’m playing a Druid, so I forsee a lot of people in th near future being even more surprised than normal to suddenly get mauled by a bear.
How would you go about building a wildshape-proof prison?
Same as with a regular locked solitary confinement room, only you use a steel/elephant-proof door and don’t leave openings large enough for a cat or insect to get in or out. Bloodvine ropes also work well. I think there’s also magic items or manacles specifically to prevent shapeshifters from using their shapeshifting abilities. You can also curse them to be stuck in a specific form and lock them up in an appropriate cage.
Solid walls instead of bars, lots of thick-glass windows so you can keep an eye on the occupant, and double-door entry ways (i.e. a short hallway with a door at either end and some mechanism so that only one door can be opened at a time). It would be expensive but not impossible to imprison a shapeshifter.
Of course the much CHEAPER option is to just execute all shape-shifters on sight, the slippery bastards 😛
On the subject of “Fonts of power”, I am not a fan of the comic’s new font. The old one was plenty legible.
As a Paladin I’m plenty deadly unarmed since I can smite on punches and the DM let me use the Disarm action option from the DMG on page 271 so I could snag a weapon from an enemy if needed. Besides, my words served me just as well as my ability to bust heads.
As a Wizard I was significantly more vulnerable in that regard, but I always prepared some spells without material components.
As a DM I have yet to see my party make such preparations.
Are you tempted at all to spring one of these scenarios on your under-prepared party?
Feels a little mean. Most of them are on the newer side so I feel compelled to pull my punches a tiny bit, which is odd because my first character was one-shotted by a Frost Giant in the first round of combat.
My longest running character was a soulknife with a level of monk. So even if you threw him in an anti-psionics field, he had fists. And a taser built into his prosthetic left hand.
An earlier character was a mutigen drinking fighter, so as lomg as he had a mutagen to drink he’d just grow natural attacks. Of course he was also a gillman, so any prison could be extra terrible for him if he didnt have a chance to submerge for his water dependancy.
Now that’s what I call well-prepared! Did you have reason to suspect this situation would arise?
Not in the slightest, the taser arm was entirely because I thought taser punches sounded fun. Though we had reasons to hide the powers on occasion so it turned out well enough for me.
Most of my favorite characters these days don’t really have signature gear…they have a signature attitude. Take away their stuff, they double down on the attitude. If they die empty-handed, weaponless and alone but mad as hell and still clawing to succeed on their own terms…well, if they’re honest with themselves, then that’s how they always KNEW they would die.
So Krauss the mad neuroalchemist would PREFER to have an array of dangerous reagents close at hand, and a meticulously-organized lab somewhere nearby, and an airship standing by for a well-timed strategic retreat…but he WILL rebuild his brain-in-a-jar wife, and if all he’s been stripped of all resources but his own sweat and blood and bloody-minded determination, then he’ll make do with those. (And face it, Krauss has ingested so much unstable alchemy over the years that his own sweat and blood are deadly reagents in their own right. And his bloody-minded determination could dent adamantine)
Churrik the ratfolk merchant would prefer to have ledgers, receipts, and warehouses full of pre-Winter widgets, and other warehouses full of coffee. He’d like a pair of sharp daggers, and a network of Surface trade contacts (even Catfolk!) and the spellbook that scary fey queen sold him, and allies who have his back and he theirs. He’d like a fleet of gliders and skilled pilots, because damn those things are cool, and he’d like some friendly harpies because they’re even cooler and need no wings but their own.
But he doesn’t NEED those things. He needs his dreams and his mercantile instincts, and his knack for making new friends, and his annoyance at statues, and his determination to sample every kind of Surface food, and his memory of the time the Queen herself agreed with his taste in books.
If he loses everything but those essentials, then really, it just makes his path clearer. He knows what’s important, and he’ll gamble his life and even his trade license to protect the good stuff.
Derrik Darkluster could talk his way into just about anything, and most of his spells don’t need any material components. Cunning Action double dash and Agonizing Blasts leave him a lot of maneuvering room for getting his stuff back. Because of his charisma dependency, it would be crucial to get back his blade, but as long as he can get a dagger (or any finesse weapon) and have a day to rest, he can always make that his charisma weapon later.
Shillelagh Samurai is a bit rougher. On one hand he only needs a wooden stick, some mistletoe and a shamrock for offense, but he’s not strong enough to wear armor heavier than mithral without slowing to a crawl, and not enough dex to do well without anything short of heavy armor. Still, he’s also good at talking, and Mithral armor can be worn under clothes, so there’s a decent chance they might not realize he’s wearing it, and who would take an old man’s cane? Did I mention that he’s good at talking?
Similar issues plague my Cleric/War Mage, but he can make up for it by embedding his armor, focus, and spellbook with Instant Summons spells and keistering the sapphires. Lets hope they don’t do cavity searches, because he can’t talk his way out of a wet paper bag.
My Necrolock loses a lot of his OPness without a strong gathering of undead, but fortunately bones don’t take up a lot of space, so a simple Portable Hole filled with bones can be very easy to keep tucked away for emergencies. Tiny Hut can buy a lot of time as well, but who ever prepares that?
Agonizing Blast levels the playing field immensely, and teleport circle is always useful for ducking a bad situation.
My Goolock/Lore Bard typically comes equipped with Mask of Many Faces, an actor feat, and expertise in Deception and Performance, so fooling a guard into thinking that she’s a DIFFERENT guard and the “real prisoner” escaped is a fairly simple task. Mentally driven suggestions can also allow for a very subtle application of techniques of that spell, even if they don’t speak her language natively.
I also have a Tabaxi Monk/Rogue with the Mobile Feat, and he can pretty much punch and run through just about anything.
At the start of the concept, don’t spellcasters retain any unused spells they had unused the previous day? It’s a dwindling list, and you probably used most of your heavy-hitting spells already, but it’s something to help get things started. Cantrips already prepared would be the bread and butter in PF and D&D5, which really aren’t that much stronger than the average fist, but are at least “something”. If you’re lucky, you have stuff like Detect Magic and Acid Splash prepared. Depending on level, Detect Magic will help you find your gear. Acid Splash, being acid damage, can substitute for lock picking… if you’re patient. Depending on GM, you may be given leeway to use the spell “creatively” instead of strictly by-the-book to speed up the process of breaking out of the cell, or through other obstacles.
Weapon users will need to either start breaking stools and chairs to get “clubs” quickly, or suddenly become good with unarmed combat. It’ll be easier for characters built on combat maneuvers rather than straight combat, because those are still useful. If anything, they’re probably more useful! Tripping, grappling, and more, will make enemies less threatening. If you can do a good Disarm, then you can get a weapon for yourself mid-combat! (Though, you should probably avoid direct combat against more than one target.)
Fighters will probably be hurt the worst, unless their weapon group can still be used in whatever improvised weapon is arranged. Barbarians are still beefy, and most of a rogue’s AC probably comes off DEX anyway. Rangers are in just as rough a place as Fighters, probably. Any specific decisions would depend on build, of course.
Magus, on the other hand, just needs a weapon they’re proficient with. All their class features will work just fine with the chair-leg-turned-club as it did with a masterwork scimitar.
Divine casters would need to either find a way to create an improvised holy symbol or would be in a lot of trouble, as most of their stuff requires it, right? I’m not certain how to work around that one, unfortunately.