Post/Author/DateTime	Post
CrazyCloud 11-21-06, 05:34 PM	Are there any easy answers to deal with a Core Sorcerer who can and will spontaneously cast Prismatic Sphere to protect himself?
Witch 11-21-06, 05:40 PM	Inform him of the fact that he can't cast spells through it, and he can't step out, cast a spell, and step back in again in the same turn. Because he can't.
DarknessEternal 11-21-06, 05:54 PM	Kill the rest of his party while he's in there. Then wait out the duration.
Wind of Darkness 11-21-06, 06:28 PM	Inform him of the fact that he can't cast spells through it, and he can't step out, cast a spell, and step back in again in the same turn. Because he can't. This about covers it. Sure, he can hide inside it and buff himself, but while he's spending actions doing that, he's cut off from, and unable to aid, the rest of his party. His allies can't walk through the sphere, either, so it's as much a barrier to them as to the Sorceror's enemies.
Tenebrous_Sage 11-21-06, 07:36 PM	Inform him of the fact that he can't cast spells through it, and he can't step out, cast a spell, and step back in again in the same turn. Because he can't.There is a feat that will allow you to do this, I can't remember the name. It works like Shot on the Run.
jaelis 11-21-06, 08:49 PM	There is a feat that will allow you to do this, I can't remember the name. It works like Shot on the Run. Mobile Spell-Casting, from Complete Adventurer. But the tactic can still be defeated... just ready an action to attack the sorcerer when he steps out.
solbergb 11-21-06, 09:01 PM	Are there any easy answers to deal with a Core Sorcerer who can and will spontaneously cast Prismatic Sphere to protect himself? Post a guard and wander off. It isn't like he can do anything to you while inside it.
runestar 11-21-06, 11:52 PM	And you can still teleport in, IIRC...;)
Wind of Darkness 11-22-06, 04:16 PM	And you can still teleport in, IIRC...;) ... Come to think of it, yeah, you can. It blocks spell effects (along with most other things) but not planar travel.
HeroOfthePeople 11-22-06, 05:11 PM	In my opinion, anyone who wants to get away from monsters as well as party members has some problems. Teleport in, dispel it, bunch of others. My other suggestion is if he's no help at all, kill him when he's all alone.
Lafing Cat 11-23-06, 12:42 AM	... Come to think of it, yeah, you can. It blocks spell effects (along with most other things) but not planar travel. Actually, it blocks *one* form of planar travel. Etherealness. Abjurations extend onto the Ethereal Plane, so despite being on another plane, an Ethereal Creature must still suffer the effects of the 7 layers of doom if it wants to get through. Teleportation works on the Astral and not the Ethereal however, so it will be unaffected. A Transdimensional Prismatic Sphere would block travel through the plane of Shadowas well, but still not Teleportation. It makes me sad(as its the ultimate defensive spell, defeated by a 4th level Dimension Door), and my *personal* GM houserules that you can't teleport into one, but this is not RAW.
Lord_Gareth 11-23-06, 12:46 AM	Umm... Dispel Magic? Greater Dispelling? Mordenkainen's? Just countering it the way it's supposed to be countered? Or are you looking for less obvious answers?
Witch 11-23-06, 04:00 AM	Umm... Dispel Magic? Greater Dispelling? Mordenkainen's? Just countering it the way it's supposed to be countered? Or are you looking for less obvious answers? Dispel Magic won't work. Neither will Greater Dispelling. Disjunction will, but ofcourse, it's a broken spell.
mkill 11-23-06, 10:30 AM	Disjunction will, but ofcourse, it's a broken spell. Nothing's broken if a 9th level spell counters another 9th level spell. As for the question... First of all, you have a high-level sorc who used one of his very few ninth-level spells on Prismatic Sphere, so it better be effective because it is the best trick up his sleeve. Don't screw the player by inventing an easy way to counter it. Second, don't ask in a general fashion. "How to deal with a prismatic wall" depends on what you as DM set against the players. A dragon? An Undead army? The BBEG and his minions? The tarrasque? Think from the perspective of the enemy you play. Basicly, the sorc can't do much while behind his wall, so enemies can just ignore him. A tarrasque could just walk through, rely on SR and soak damage. A prepared BBEG will have the 7 necessary scrolls to counter it. A dragon is a highly mobile skirmisher. While the Sphere will protect against the dragon, it's hard to get him when you hide behind it. The undead army can wait a few hours until he comes out. Another idea: have the BBEG cast prismatic sphere too... creating a competition on who gets through first. Might be fun.
Witch 11-23-06, 02:38 PM	Nothing's broken if a 9th level spell counters another 9th level spell. It's not broken for that reason.
smrtgmp 11-23-06, 05:17 PM	Indeed. Its broken because its a hold-over from the days of absolute effects. The ability to automatically disjoin each and every spell in the area without making a CL check is what makes it broken. By the RAW, even the most epic of spells falls apart when hit by a disjunction.
cog_n_taz 11-23-06, 06:30 PM	The real problem is when someone picks up a prismatic sphere with a mage hand and tosses it around...(hey, light is weightless, right?) *prepares to be pelted in height-based D&D terms*
Lord_Tirian 11-23-06, 08:06 PM	The real problem is when someone picks up a prismatic sphere with a mage hand and tosses it around...(hey, light is weightless, right?) *prepares to be pelted in height-based D&D terms* No need for that... Target: One nonmagical, unattended object weighing up to 5 lb. We might argue 'bout the fact that a spell effect not necessarily an object... but the "nonmagical" renders the entire discussion moot, right? :whatsthis
cog_n_taz 11-23-06, 08:26 PM	ah, right. So it's telekinesis, higher spell slot, that's all. Go bowling!
Tenebrous_Sage 11-23-06, 09:04 PM	a Prismatic Sphere isn't an object; it's a spell effect.
CrazyCloud 11-23-06, 11:26 PM	If you teleport inside, won't you still suffer the effects of the seven layers?
Salla 11-23-06, 11:53 PM	If you teleport inside, won't you still suffer the effects of the seven layers? Nope. You didn't cross them; you went straight from point A outside to point B inside without crossing the intervening space.
Nelagend 11-24-06, 12:28 AM	Basically, it's not a problem even if he has Mobile Spellcasting. Yes, he can use it to dump aggro, but Otiluke's resilient sphere usually does the same thing at 4th level, so meh. Now, if he wants to break it, he needs Mobile Spellcasting and a Rary's telepathic bond with somebody outside the sphere telling him whether anyone has him covered. He then either steps out to cast or not depending on if anyone is covering him, and if just one person covers him, he steps out of the sphere on the other side so he has total cover from them. That tactic, and people actually expending the resources to bring his self-CCing spell down, are the only real reasons that this is better than the 4th-level Otiluke spell, so... nah, not a problem. Just beat up his friends and finish him later with a dimension door. Time Stop, Dimension Door, Gate to Elemental Plane of Ooze above his head, Dimension Door out, laugh at the fact that you just wasted 2 ninth-level spell slots... but he will be forced to exit the sphere.
angryman 11-24-06, 08:42 AM	So you'd rather he took Wail of the Banshee and laid waste to most encounters with liberal use of area-effect death spells?
Witch 11-24-06, 09:47 AM	Death Ward?
angryman 11-24-06, 10:11 AM	Death Ward? Enemies protected by this 1 min/level spell will not be affected. Every other living creature potentially is. Most enemies DON'T have death ward, so I don't mind.
Kimokeo 11-24-06, 10:25 AM	Mobile Spell-Casting, from Complete Adventurer. But the tactic can still be defeated... just ready an action to attack the sorcerer when he steps out. Yes, ready an action. While you're waiting for the sorceror to do something, his buddies are bashing you while you wait. As a Sorceror, I'd rather fly over your head and cast the spell. The Globe works in the air and it's lower sphere has affect. In close quarters, this spell is dangerous. I prefer Leomunds Tiny Hut and then Prismatic Sphere. Opponents can't see the Prismatic Sphere until it's too late.
Millennium 11-24-06, 10:28 AM	Siege tactics can work decently against a prismatic sphere, though you need to scale them down significantly. Also, how do you counter a sorcerer with prismatic sphere? A sorcerer with Mordenkainen's Disjunction.
Lord_Gareth 11-24-06, 11:01 AM	Another fun way to do it is, while he's trapped, just make the whole area around him a bomb. Just for giggles. Delayed Blast Fireball, Explosive Runes, Delay Spelled Lightning Bolts, and then ready an action to cast Telekenisis on him the moment the sphere goes down. It'll be like watching Independance Day.
Kimokeo 11-24-06, 11:28 AM	What is the width of the Prismatic Sphere? If is doesn't harm the Sorceror, then he could stand within the actual sphere's area of effect. Cast a spell that allows his hands to extend outside of the sphere. If I'm reading this right, the spell cannot pass through the sphere, but if the Sorceror's projecting appendage is sticking out of the sphere, technically he can cast spells while within it....
Nessaj 11-24-06, 01:57 PM	Transmute Rock to Lava on the area outside of his Sphere would be amusing...Let him step out...And into a pit of molten rock :D
Witch 11-24-06, 06:26 PM	What is the width of the Prismatic Sphere? If is doesn't harm the Sorceror, then he could stand within the actual sphere's area of effect. Cast a spell that allows his hands to extend outside of the sphere. If I'm reading this right, the spell cannot pass through the sphere, but if the Sorceror's projecting appendage is sticking out of the sphere, technically he can cast spells while within it.... Technically, the sorcerer can't stick his appendages out of his space while casting spells, so no, it won't work, cheesy though it may be.
Tenebrous_Sage 11-24-06, 08:22 PM	Even if he could he wouldn't have line of sight to anything outside the sphere.
Millennium 11-24-06, 09:12 PM	Even if he could he wouldn't have line of sight to anything outside the sphere. He could also stick his head outside of the sphere, but that's just asking for trouble.
Dheran 11-25-06, 05:57 PM	If the Sorcerer is hunkered down inside a Prismatic Sphere on the ground, you can dig out the ground beneath because it's only a hemisphere. Transmute Rock to Mud and either Move Earth (which is slow) or better, a Decanter of Endless Water to hose the soil away. You've only got to wash out enough to get the Sorc standing in water with line of effect, then use Call Lightning or Chain Lightning or simply full attack rounds with shock arrows.
Wind of Darkness 11-25-06, 08:22 PM	What is the width of the Prismatic Sphere? If is doesn't harm the Sorceror, then he could stand within the actual sphere's area of effect. Cast a spell that allows his hands to extend outside of the sphere. If I'm reading this right, the spell cannot pass through the sphere, but if the Sorceror's projecting appendage is sticking out of the sphere, technically he can cast spells while within it.... As soon has said appendage comes in contact with the sphere, the sorceror gets to experience seven possible meanings of the word "pain". But he's welcome to try. :) If the Sorcerer is hunkered down inside a Prismatic Sphere on the ground, you can dig out the ground beneath because it's only a hemisphere. Transmute Rock to Mud and either Move Earth (which is slow) or better, a Decanter of Endless Water to hose the soil away. You've only got to wash out enough to get the Sorc standing in water with line of effect, then use Call Lightning or Chain Lightning or simply full attack rounds with shock arrows. Actually, it's a sphere. It's just that the lower half is usually underground.
runestar 11-25-06, 09:15 PM	Actually, it's a sphere. It's just that the lower half is usually underground. Not exactly, it actually that the bottom half of the sphere is excluded thanks to the ground you are standing on. If that ground ceased to exist, the sphere will be fully formed, or to the extent that the ground disappears.:)
Tenebrous_Sage 11-25-06, 10:02 PM	As soon has said appendage comes in contact with the sphere, the sorceror gets to experience seven possible meanings of the word "pain". But he's welcome to try. :)The caster is immune to his own sphere.
Argaud 11-25-06, 11:18 PM	Time Stop, Dimension Door, Gate to Elemental Plane of Ooze above his head, Dimension Door out, laugh at the fact that you just wasted 2 ninth-level spell slots... but he will be forced to exit the sphere. Gate works only on willing targets, so no.
Tyrf_Halden 11-26-06, 01:58 AM	Just wondering, but what happens when two Prismatic Sphere touch one another? I.E. Your Sorcerer person's P.S. vs. your BBEG's P.S. Regardless it would be rather amusing to watch.
Eikre 11-26-06, 02:25 AM	Gate works only on willing targets, so no. The only target here is the area right above the sorcerer's head on the material plane, and an area below lots of bad stuff on another.
Dheran 11-26-06, 03:35 AM	Not exactly, it actually that the bottom half of the sphere is excluded thanks to the ground you are standing on. If that ground ceased to exist, the sphere will be fully formed, or to the extent that the ground disappears.:) There's nothing at all in the spell description that says any excluded part of the sphere will be created later.Typically, only the upper hemisphere of the globe will exist, since you are at the center of the sphere, so the lower half is usually excluded by the floor surface you are standing on. In any event, the geyser of water is washing away the earth so the sphere would be excluded by the pond created there. That water conducts electricity to the Sorcerer standing in it just fine!
elporko 11-26-06, 12:56 PM	When is the last time you have *ever* seen a caster capable of casting 9th level spells *standing* anywhere?
Dheran 11-26-06, 04:33 PM	When is the last time you have *ever* seen a caster capable of casting 9th level spells *standing* anywhere? Generally right after they find out that Control Winds makes flying hazardous. :evillaugh
ravenshrike 11-26-06, 06:27 PM	If the Sorcerer is hunkered down inside a Prismatic Sphere on the ground, you can dig out the ground beneath because it's only a hemisphere. Transmute Rock to Mud and either Move Earth (which is slow) or better, a Decanter of Endless Water to hose the soil away. You've only got to wash out enough to get the Sorc standing in water with line of effect, then use Call Lightning or Chain Lightning or simply full attack rounds with shock arrows. Um, NO. It's prismatic SPHERE, not prismatic hemispherical effect. The spell effect extends below ground.