Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gleep 07-18-04, 02:53 PM	Most everyone that has been playing for a while can relate to this. There I was, playing my 19th level character and my PC is grappled by a crushing hand (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/spellsC.html#crushing-hand). My PC, about half rogue, stuggled valiently to escape, with me rolling those Escape Artist checks like mad. And failing horribly. Meanwhile, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking "gosh, it really shouldn't be this difficult to escape". Finally, my PC gets out by using a special ability to travel to Shadow (took me four tries, too... against a DC10. With a +4 die modifier. I was rolling horrible... ouch). By the time my PC was free, it was 4 rounds into the combat and had taken around 100hp damage. A day later, I wake up in the morning suddenly realizing just why making those grapple rolls shouldn't have been such a problem... My PC was wearing a ring of freedom of movement. Automatic success at escape artist checks. DOH! Anyone else have stories of wonderful forgetfulness they wish to share? Those times when you've blithely gone on without realizing things should be oh-so-much different? Don't hold back! Share your foolishness! --gleep
Thorak 07-18-04, 03:32 PM	Well, there was the time my insane Battlerager dwarf kept charging directly into a boosted-up Wind Wall for 5 rounds straight. Because he was too enraged to notice that it only extended about 10 feet in either direction, and he could go around. And his nemesis was right there, right in front of him. Then the party mage noticed what was going on, and one quick Dispel Magic later, the nemesis was mincemeat. Of course, I was doing that on purpose for hilarity purposes (and adding insult to injury, because the nemesis was played by a guy who'd A> decided to make his character attack mine needlessly earlier in the campaign, and B> had been kicked out of the group for drinking/hitting on my 14 year old sister).
Ertai Planeswalker 07-18-04, 04:41 PM	Well, it's a while ago so i don't remember the specifics but... Our party had just gotten up to level 17 in our second 3.0 campaign. We were travelling over some plains and we were attacked by a red dragon. We weren't that experienced yet so we made a lot of tactical n00bish mistakes and such. So about 3 or 4 rounds into the combat, and hte wizard player suddenly bumps up from his seat. He had devised a good plan spanning 4 rounds to defeat this dragon. I do not remember exactly what it was but anyway he was all excited, and had though up every partymember's action for the upcoming 4 rounds to win. It took him about 5 minutes to explain it all, and it could cost us about two partymembers, but they would be rezzed later on he said. The plan was near impossible. Then i said: 'Dude. You can cast Timestop'. so he cast Timestop, executes his plan, kills the dragon, and we all have a great laugh about his tactical insights. From that day on a moment that makes you go DOH! is forever known as a Tim-moment. (Tim being the name of the wizard player.)
Sensei Gith 07-18-04, 04:44 PM	Two characters in my first adventuring party had and never once used the Dodge feat.
The Master Weaver Is Warped 07-18-04, 05:19 PM	Originally posted by Ertai Planeswalker a moment that makes you go DOH! is forever known as a Tim-moment. Yep, that's what it's called in my house too.:D Apologies to my hubby. Couldn't resist. Being squished under the Red dragon for 3 rounds before I remembered the ring of blinking was a definate DOH!
green_yawgmoth 07-18-04, 09:54 PM	I have just attained my 2nd level of Pale Master, and one of my online friends asked me if I wanted to have our characters have a fight. 10th level sorcerer/PM vs. 10th level barbarian. I ended up pulling the "move back, cast a spell" move until we finally just gave up because he had so many potions and I had an active Fly spell going. Then I realized the next morning: Animate dead 1/day, with no material component. D'oh. I coulda had 10 medium skeletons on him. Next time we fought, I animated 10 skeletons and had them each, flank/grapple him while I lobbed Fire Orbs at him. He never had a chance to go for his BoH full of cure potions, so I ended up toasting him. (Note: the reason I used FO and not enervation was because he whined about it being "cheap", even though he insisted he be able to take a 5 ft step when cleaving, and fudged his rolls into criticals more than anyone I've ever seen.) http://img30.photobucket.com/albums/v91/yawgmoth/kittyjig.gif
ck2001wendt 07-19-04, 06:11 PM	The party I DM has an extremely befuddled Wizard ("I Delay" has been his most consistent combat action), played by an occassionally befuddled player: Two "almost a huge D´OH!" moments: One: The party is 4th or 5th level, and camped outside the entrance to the Forge of Fury after an encounter with some Giant Spiders left them too Enervated to continue. 40 orcs come home, after slaughtering a bunch of Guardsmen in a nearby town. They easily see the party in the light woods, and charge. Our cleric can´t get out of his Plate Mail, otherwise we would have run for it. The Wizard looks around at his PC sheet. "Hmm...2 Potions of Cure Light...Scroll of Knock...Scroll of Detect Secret Doors....Scroll of Web....Scroll of" My DM NPC: "ACK! USE THE WEB!" It was still a near thing (my DM NPC hit -8), but we all made it out alive. Then there´s the absolute kicker: The party, about 8th now, is in caverns beneath Myth Drannor, where the Cult of the Dragon has harnessed an Artifact. Through some lucky Bluff roles, they´ve snuck past all the guards and sentries, and manage to ambush the clerics tending to the Artifact, kill them and destroy the Artifact. Unfortunately, their cover is blown and there´s about 200 Cultists on the way down. The party makes a break for another cavern under heavy Magic Missile fire, and seals the entrance with two weak Stone Shapes...only to find the cavern is a dead end. They start searching for secret doors (of course I´ve put one in there). The Wizard goes through his scroll list and finds Teleport...it looks like we´re gonna have to draw straws to see which 3 of the 7 of us get to escape...all the while the sounds of hammers working at the walls. After about 4 times looking through his scroll list, while the party was hopelessly searching a 300 ft circumfrence cavern for a 5 foot secret door.... "Huh! Here´s a Scroll with Detect Secret Doors...." It was the one I´d given him at level 3 or 4...I clearly remember at the time him saying "better keep this one...it could come in handy..." We all exploded into relieved laughter...
CrimsonRyoko 07-19-04, 06:24 PM	Well i had one character, he was like uber knowledge Mystic Theurge boy, and we were up against the BBEG, a giant guy with a skull for a head, claws that dripped blood, and eyes that seemed to suck the light from around him. . . . . Well i fly right on up to him all smug and cast Harm!!!! Looking at the DM i sit there for a second wondering why hes smiling, and then i ask if he resisted with SR or anything, then smiling the DM simply says - um, ya make your Know Obvious check to realize its UNDEAD! Then in game my cohort pushed me out of the way and Healed it. . . . follwed by a couple of more and he was gone :)
Salla 07-19-04, 06:43 PM	While getting continually outmaneuvered by a guy with a reach weapon, I forgot I had a breath weapon ...
Twisted Puppy 07-19-04, 10:04 PM	Originally posted by The Master Weaver Is Warped Being squished under the Red dragon for 3 rounds before I remembered the ring of blinking was a definate DOH! And the evil DM forgot that, after a dinner of spicy stuffed artichokes, the dragon had a severe case of the winds...:mymy:
bitnine 07-19-04, 10:35 PM	Party is fighting a pack lord displacer beast and having a hell of a time with his displacement. Out comes the wizard, casts enervation - misses due to displacement. The party tank and his advanced mount take a load of damage getting into position - all 3 of the tank's attacks miss due to displacement, as well as 1 of the mount's 2 attacks. Afterwards they were talking about how tough it was. I mentioned that I figured that they'd either try some attacks that weren't affected or maybe use true seeing. At which point the wizard slaps his head and says "I had that spell memorized!" Heh. The party tank gave him quite the dirty look.
Phrennzy 07-20-04, 01:17 PM	Well, I am the DM. But this time, I actually got to be a player. So in my very first fight, before I can even act, I get hit and taken down to 0 hit points, which everyone knows is Unconciousness. A round passes with me Unconcious. But then I get healed by the party cleric, but before I can act, I get hit and taken down to 0 hit points again. Again Unconcious. ... So, while I lay there knocked out, I look up the rules on 0 hit points. Hmm. Not Unconcious. Disabled. Oh. I can act. Oh. I am an idiot. The first time I was at 0 I could have used a magic healing device and been all better. Ugh. D'oh!
Sildatorak 07-20-04, 03:42 PM	My biggest d'oh moment came as a DM in a 2e campaign. The BBEG is a high level dual classed wizard-priest. The quest was from a boxed set, so it already had her spells listed out for her, though I went through and made a spreadsheet that had all of their casting times, saves, damage, levels, etc, so that I would have more familiarity with her spell list and a better idea of what she might cast in a situation. Anyway, the party finally reaches her inner sanctum at about 4 am real time on the second day of hard gaming (one guy was moving so we had to get it done then or never). They activate the one item that is supposed to allow them a chance at beating her, and it hits her with MDJ and stuns her for one round. The thief takes this opportunity to backstab her with the poisoned darts that they had salvaged from one of her dead minions. She only takes about 10 damage from the stabbing, but has 5 doses worth of poison in her system. After saving throws and such, she is looking to take another 60 or 70 damage over the course of the next 5 rounds (remember this is 2e). She throws a powerword, kill at the thief, then dimension doors up to her prismatic sphere retreat point. I take a second to check her spell list. I'm thinking "crap she doesn't have Neutralize Poison!" so she starts downing extra healing potions. Over the next 7 rounds or so the party kills off all of her minions, and she has lived through the poison, but only has 2 healing potions left. They decide that they will burn a wish that they had earned from a genie, and they use it to MDJ the prismatic sphere. They pretty much brutalize her since she hasn't had a chance to re-buff herself. She manages to teleport to her escape tunnel, and I'm looking over her spell lists to see what all she can recover without her spell book, and then I see it. Slow Poison. If she had just cast that then the PC's would have had to have faced a flying, improved invisibility, abi-dalzim's horrid wilting-throwing, :censored: off wizard/priest. They would have had a much better fight, and I wouldn't have felt like a jackass.
Darth K'Trava 07-20-04, 08:08 PM	From several different games.... The party fighter forgetting to use Power Attack alot. In a different game, my cleric forgetting part of her deity's dogma. That part was on a different page from the rest of it. Damn wotc for that one! :mad:
Sphyre 07-21-04, 02:09 AM	I have tons of those moments. And like we say at my group "there is no way back machine." Unfortunately I am not posting in reply to tell my stories because there's so many of those I can't even remmeber them... but because of something Sensei Gith said... Originally posted by Sensei Gith Two characters in my first adventuring party had and never once used the Dodge feat. You might like my houserule for that feat. See my friend calls it the most worthless feat ever because you have to remember to assign it every round to someone, and even if you do, it's only 1 AC. So my houserule is, if you have the dodge feat and you forget to assign it to someone, it applies to the first foe that makes an attack roll on you that round. Only thing there... is that you have to remember that you even have the feat. That makes it much less of a pain for forgetful people - and DMs too :D
Yuffie 07-21-04, 02:16 AM	My PC lich got critically hit by a dwarven paladin and was slain. I was sad. ;_; Then like 15 minutes later, I remembered that little thing about the undead and crits. >_> The lich got back up to finish him off at the end of the battle. Mwahaha. :D
CrimsonRyoko 07-21-04, 03:47 PM	For forgetful feats like Dodge, Power Attack, and any racial modifiers that apply only to specific things (especially with races your playing for the first time that arent core, and have like +4 to resist a single spell or something else obscure) I always just put a note on my character sheet that points it out every time i look up my To Hit, Saves, or AC, etc etc, helps out alot. Works with skills too when you have a bunch of synergies that like only apply to using scrolls and such. Was fun when i played a Wizard with like 4 mitigating factors in spellcasting: Evocated Fire Spells, Evocated Spells, Non Evocated Fire Spells, Non Evocated Spells - each had a different caster level and DC to modify it with, alot of paperwork, but man did my fire evocations kick ass! Thank you for reading Tangent #4523, Brought to you by Blammo!©
Staver 07-21-04, 03:58 PM	I've done both the forget to declare a Dodge opponent and the forget to Power Attack thing. The forget to Power Attack killed one of my characters 8-( so being stupid has its price! Reason I'm writing though is to mention my most recent stupid: forgetting that Power Attacking with a 2-handed weapon does DOUBLE the damage you take off your attack roll. I could not figure out why my character never came close to his calculated average damage per round until I reread all the relevant rules and said to myself "THAT'S why I took a 2-handed weapon!!!" -Staver ;)
Mauther 07-21-04, 06:08 PM	Originally posted by gleep Anyone else have stories of wonderful forgetfulness they wish to share? Those times when you've blithely gone on without realizing things should be oh-so-much different? Don't hold back! Share your foolishness! I have two, one is mine, another is a fellow player's. I had a really nice ranger, loved him; devastating melee fighter and real useful in the outdoors. Only problem was he kept getting hit with sleep spells. 3 times in 3 game sessions, and I couldn't roll a will save if my life depended on it. It became a recurring joke: combat starts, the ranger goes to sleep. After the third time of the usually ribbing, somebody made a crack about the "narcoleptic elf ranger". One of my fellow players stopped laughing, looked at me and asked me if I was really playing an elf (I hate elves and never play them), he then pointed out the elf's racial immunity to sleep effects. Both the DM and I were really embarassed. In the other case, I was DMing and one of the players is real aggressive in his mannerisms. For instance he'll roll an attack roll, get a real high roll and announce that he's hit then begin rolling damage without letting the DM know what he he rolled. He's almost always right (its not a case of him trying to cheat or anything) but its kind of annoying when your DMing to have a player behave like that. He will frequently just declare "I make it" after rolling a 30 (after all bonuses) on a tumble check or a 25 on a concentration check. Also we are fairly veteran players; our current group has been together in one form or another for almost 5 years and some of us have been playing since 2nd ed. Anyways, it (his die rolling technique) was a subject that had come up several times. The situation was a big combat against an undead knight, he rolls his charge attack, gets a natural 20 immediately rerolls and gets a total 35. He declares "possible crit, and I confirmed" and began to roll damage. I told him, you don't crit. He looked me in the eye, said " I rolled a twenty" and rolled the damage die. We totaled up the impressive crit total, and he proudly announced the damage. I informed him he landed a solid blow with his axe (but didn't elaborate) and he tacked on an emphatic "f@#%ing A". I figured it was time for a little lesson, so I didn't correct him (kind of petty I know). On the knights turn, I deliberately described his attack emphasizing his undead status, even refering to him as a "skeleton" at one point. The PC got his chance again, did a full attack and announces 2 out 3 attacks are possible crits (the PC next to confirmed it and all of the PCs were very excited to watch the evil skeleton get his come-uppance) he rolled damage, I only applied the non crit portion. When it didn't go down he starts to get nervous. His next round he has to charge again (it had moved away), he power attacks for a substantial amount (appx 10) and again rolls a stinking 20 and again excitedly rerolls the confirmation. When it doesn't drop from the obscene damage (bursting axe, specialized, power attack, enhanced str, etc.) he starts worrying about this things damage reduction. By this point one of the other PCs was smiling (he'd finally caught on) but he kept quite because we have a real strict rule against kibbitzing (and I think he wanted the other PC put in his place). To add insult to injury, I then let everyone make a DC=15 religion check to identify the guy as undead (who I had referred to almost all night as skeleton, or death knight) and to remember their immunity to crits. No one came close, only the cleric had religion ranks and he rolled a 1. Really getting on the extreme side, the cleric tries to cast inflict critical. I had him roll a DC 10 wisdom check to jog his memory, he rolls 1 again. At this point I just threw the rules out the window. I told them that the skeleton knight was in fact undead and thus immune to crits and that attempting to apply the inflict spell would be an epicly bad idea. The Player who had figured it out earlier, fell out of his chair laughing.
The Stray 07-22-04, 02:58 AM	Heh. My players pulled a major "D'oh!" moment not too long ago...with the same exact spell! First, the party was stranded on the Shadow plane. They are worried about getting a message out to their allies and loved ones in the town they were staying in, who had no idea what happened to them (They met a demon who was a sore loser and thought sending them to the plane of shadows would be funny). Meanwhile, back in the town, the aforementioned loved ones and allies (being played by the players in a change-of-pace session) had uncovered some vital plot points that they needed to communicate with the party. in order to do this, they were convinced that they needed to make a long, dangerous trek to a nearby town to get a mirror needed to cast a scying spell, which would, gods willing, allow them to send a message through... Both of these parties had clerics high enough level to cast sending...which I took great glee in pointing out to them after the fact...
der_gogo 07-22-04, 07:09 AM	When I was GM the party fought against a Demon when our party cleric had a bright idea to end this fight quickly. Cleric: "I cast Hold Person on the Demon!" GM: "Um, ok, the spell fails." Cleric: "What? It fails? Hey, come on, this guy can't have such a hight save that you don't have to roll it! I have 18 Wisdom!" GM: "No, I rolled no save. The spell just doesn't work!" Cleric: "Hey, if it is Spell Resistance, I get a roll to beat it! That is so unfair!" GM: "*Sigh* Did you realize that a Demon is no PERSON?" :D
Addi83 07-23-04, 08:01 AM	We came pretty close once. We were standing on the edge of a cliff when a cohort of our cleric said: "I think it's time I revealed my true self and came into my full power". At that moment our stupid sorcerer jumps him and throws him over the edge. Because he had received a telepathic message telling him the cohort was going to steal his power, and thought that was it. Turns out the cohort was the living son of Kossuth, and was about to ascend to demigod status, but died from falling damage before that could happen. He was supposed to be protected by our cleric (of Kossuth), but nobody could find out. Immediately a High level cleric of Kossuth ports in, takes a long angry rant at our cleric and expels him from the church. Before leaving he turns at our sorcerer and casts flame strike at him, before leaving. The sorcerer couldn't take the heat and died and the player was halfway through making a new character when he realised something, his sorcerer had just found a ring of counterspelling with one charge of flame strike. He discovered it just in time for the DM to allow a rollback. Fun times.
SmiloDan 07-23-04, 06:30 PM	So, last night, our party (my elf druid archer 12, his wardog, a human fighter/exotic weapon master/mystic, a human fighter/rogue/wizard (transmuter)/spellsword/arcane trickster, and a human wizard (evoker)/fighter/spellsword/warmage) were trapped in this magic tower and had to get 6 coins to get to the BBEG. Each coin had some guardians, with doors with an indicator on them. We got to the room with the bat on it after resting for the night. So I was prepared for vamps. 2 Death Wards, Daylight, Flame Strikes, Pro from Elements, etc. Anyways, we open the door, and there are 3 goth chicks. We "know" they're vamps, so I say, I got this. I had Death Ward and Pro from Elements Fire on. The plan was to get them to come at me and then Flame Strike us. Then I realized half the damage is divine, not fire. But that didn't matter because the plan didn't work, of course. So anyways, 2 of the vamps get vaped (literally, went Gaseous Form) and we realize if we vape all 3 vamps, we're not gonna get the key. So the 3rd vamp goes Gaseous on us, and I summon an Air Elemental to Vortex it. But the Save DC sucked. By this time, I had wildshaped into a dire bear. I remembered Cadderly and crew trapped a vamp in a bellows. I didn't have a bellows, but I have lungs. Yup, I inhaled the Vamp. Well, half of her. Then she solidified her legs in my lungs, which hurt. Then the DM ruled we were grappled, so she did 3 points of Con DRAIN on me. Then I had to make a grapple check to break the grapple and rip her out of my lungs and throat, which hurt even more. So by the time we won the fight, if I wildshaped back to elf form, I would have been deader than dead. Good thing the fighter took some mystic levels. And I had cure spells, but in Wild Shape I can't use my potions or wands since they're part of me. So, I guess the thing I forgot was getting a cleric. ;)