Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jairami 05-30-04, 11:34 AM	Alright, so even the very first encounter of the module, the suggested tactics are, haste yourself, then cast two lightning bolts per round. There are a lot of spellcasters in this module and I imagine many will be attempting to use this strategy. What would be a comparable spell level for 3.5 for 3.0 haste? What would be a good spell level for 3.0 haste without the AC bonus? What would be a good spell level for a spell that only quicked one spell per round? (Thus allowing for the same 3.0 haste 2 spells per round, but not the occasional 3 spells from standard, extra partial, and free quickened.) I figure I can have them research a spell like this and then keep their tactics if they are high enough level to cast it. Or maybe anyone have any other suggestions for running City of the Spider Queen / Spiral of the Manzessine in 3.5?
Chronomage 05-30-04, 11:46 AM	I imagine the first encounter you're talking about is the vampires? I had a nasty surprise for my players. The characters entered the tomb, the vampires were hiding or invisibible, the last character enters, and the vampire spawn SLAM the doors Shut! On the same action, instead of haste the Vampire mage casts...stinking cloud. It FLOODs the room, and the vampires being undead are immune to its effects. It was a DC 19 fort for everyone every round, or they would be nauseated. Nauseated = death. It was really close. By the end of the encounter all but two of the 5 PCs were nauseated and neither of them had see invis. Very bad. For every other encounter, just ignore the text about extra castings. Admittedly it isn't as good for the spellcaster, but as it affects a number of others, which it didn't in 3rd, it still has good benefits.
Jairami 05-30-04, 02:17 PM	That is actually a really good idea. The vampires, even Chahir, made decent melee opponents and with a lightning bolt thrown in here and there and a group haste they managed to do enough damage to warrant the XP they gave, but there are a lot of casters further on that are not going to have that luxury. I was looking at maybe adding something like this to be used by some of the wizards aligned with Israe. That way, when the party finally takes out the silverwraith shadow of what Duneth used to be, they can get his spellbook with this as a nice reward... (My pc's hardly ever check spell books until after an adventure is over, especially one where they are on a clock like this one) Duneth's Perfected Astral Juxtaposition Conjuration Level: Sor/Wiz 8 Components: V, S, F Casting Time: 1 round Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/two-levels The caster of this spell transposes the Astral Plane around himself, making him subject to the plane's planar traits without leaving the plane he is on. This spell can only be cast on planes that are coterminous with the Astral Plane. Any pre-existing planar traits of the plane the caster is on are unaffected. This spell has no effect if cast while on the Astral Plane. Unlike previous incarnations of this spell, Duneth's Perfected Astral Juxtaposition grants a +6 competence bonus to Wisdom checks to control the Astral Plane's subjective directional gravity. A dimensional anchor, dimensional lock or similar effect counters this spell and the spell cannot be cast if the caster is under such an effect. Focus: A full-body suit of Astral Thread mesh worth no less than 5,000 gp, which you must be wearing when casting the spell and for its duration.
Chronomage 05-30-04, 02:31 PM	Looks spiffy.
J. Grenemyer 05-31-04, 06:02 AM	Hello, I’ve also found it frustrating to be limited to one spell per turn, because 3.5 PCs are just too lethal and so kill off (or drive off) wizard bad guys before they can get a decent number of spells off. That said, I’ve found that keeping (3.5) Haste is a good idea because there are plenty of other melee types (whether undead or more traditional classed foes) that can benefit from this spell. As for finding ways to get more spells off per round, I’ve resorted to running multi-creature encounters (so it’s not always wizard vs. whole party) as well as using Feats (Quicken spell), magic items (Quicken rods) and a variety of spells (whether the various Simbul’s spells or other spells from Third Party D20 sources, such as Duplicate and Conditional Spell from the “Complete Book of Eldritch Might” by Monte Cook). As for general CotSQ/Spiral of Mazessine advice, I’ve found that the Transdimensional Spell feat (first published in the FR Sourcebook “Unapproachable East”) is a perfect fit for foes that can go Ethereal (or take Wizards with them into the Ethereal Plane) because those wizards can then blast the Player Characters with Fireballs and worse from a whole other reality! Silent spell is also a clutch feat to give any Silveraith, because as incorporeal creatures they make absolutely no noise whatsoever. Being able to cast in perfect silence while also under an Improved Invisibility can make for a hellish, one sided battle! [Insert evil DM laugh here!] Also, Unapproachable East contains a variety of Necromantic ability score damaging spells (such as Soul Scour and Sinsabur’s Baleful Bolt) that can, when boosted by the Necromantic-leaning Weave Disruption, sap a single character’s or a whole party’s most important ability scores in one casting! The only other thing I’ve found useful is to pre-plan what each Wizard (or Cleric’s) power up suite consists of (see Irae’s stat block for an example power up suite) and then assume each spellcaster will always have those spells active when they encounter the players (unless the players totally surprise them). Hope this helps! :D