Core: Wizard vs. Monk

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

doombubble

Mar 30, 2009 10:21:55
So, it keeps coming up between myself and another player, and he is of the firm belief that using Core only books that this isn't as one sided a fight as I think it is (because of their natural SR and their ability to get from place to place).

Can someone help me set the record straight? I'm thinking about asking him to take it to the arena with me.
#2

ozgun

Mar 30, 2009 10:26:57
If Leadership is banned, level 12-13 wizard should be capable of smacking the level20 monk...
#3

doombubble

Mar 30, 2009 10:42:29
To play the devil's advocate, and try and get some more out of you.. Can you be more specific Ozgun as to how said Wizard would deal with..

Abundant Step, the Monk's SR (plus his SR from his gear at that level), the fact that he can go Ethereal, quivering palm / stun, has great movement abilities and grapples pretty well?
#4

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 10:49:58
The wizard has a distinct advantage in his options compared to the Monk. There are plenty of potentially game ending spells, even in core, that allow no save and no SR. Without any of the non-core ways the monk could use to fight at range, the mobility provided by magic makes it impossible for the monk to even hit you if you don't want him to.

Now, if the player playing the wizard doesn't understand all the tools he has at his disposal, or all the tricks he has up his sleeve, while the player playing the monk does, it is NOT going to be a one-sided fight. A well built monk can potentially do enough damage to drop a wizard in a single round, so if the wizard 'plays dumb', and the Monk picks his gear/tactics well, it's anybody's game.

But, purely by the numbers, it's very much one-sided. The wizard can use shapechange to outrun the monk, long range spells to riddle the monk with negative conditions and/or damage, and battlefield control to box the monk in or stop him in his tracks.

Or he could just Summon the Angels to take care of the monk.
#5

hogarth

Mar 30, 2009 10:52:19
What level are you talking about? At high levels, the monk is pretty much hopeless, but at low levels it's a more interesting question.
#6

jameswilliamogle

Mar 30, 2009 10:52:52
Solid Fog, Dimensional Lock, Walls of Force, then summons to beat the Monk down to submission. Solid Fog pwns the Monk from L7 to L11, when some barring of interdimensional travel has to occur.

It is a bit trickier in core, I agree. Specific tactics also depend on ECL, but I don't see the core (or even non-core) Monk winning this one (vs core Wizard, either way).
#7

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 11:07:20
Abundant Step, the Monk's SR (plus his SR from his gear at that level), the fact that he can go Ethereal, quivering palm / stun, has great movement abilities and grapples pretty well?

Abundent Step is a standard action to use and he only gets it once a day. If he uses it, he can't do anything else that round. I just wait for him to use it, and dim door away. He can't do anything about it in core.

SR is kind of cool, but it's not all that great. There are plenty of spells/tactics that bypass it entirely, and even without those, it still (in the case of the monk) only provides a 50% miss chance for a spell, AT BEST. SR from gear doesn't stack with Diamond Soul.

Etherealness is a joke at high levels. Force spells ignore it, and I can always go ethereal myself to counter it if I had to.

Quivering Palm can be ignored with shapechange. As long as I take a form immune to crits, or one of the forms specifically mentioned, it won't work. Alternatively, I can just get heavy fortification on my animated shield. Even without that, see below...

Stunning Fist, and for that matter all monk attacks have to be done in melee to be effective. This is the biggest downer the monk has. If he doesn't have a method to fly, and fly faster than a given form I pick, I can completely immaterialize all of his offense with a single spell. I can all but guarantee an intiative win with Moment of Prescience, lead with Time Stop to get buffs up, including shapechange, maybe summon some harrassment at the same time, then just move around staying out of the monk's melee range and casting from afar.

Even if he manages to get past all that I have up, assuming I'm not a moron, the best he can hope for is a stalemate, since I have a contingency teleport up should I be incapacitated, stunned, disabled, or reduced to below 10hp; AND he's not actually fighting me, since I cast astral projection last week and this is actually my double.
#8

liquid150

Mar 30, 2009 11:56:50
Or he could just Summon the Angels to take care of the monk.

The more important question that arises is could the level 20 monk take down the BMX Bandit?

I don't think he could. The bandit would just stun him with a endo (no save) and run him over. ;)
#9

muertog

Mar 30, 2009 13:00:06
Let's set down some ground rules:

First, the wizard knows someone is going to be coming within 24 hours (due to divination effects). He might even know it is a martial-type character. However, that is the limit of the time available (so no pre-cast round OR min/level spells). He will know the areas he is likely to go to, so will have appropriate spells for said terrain known.

The monk (not being an idiot) will have selected a place of ambush that will be best suited for himself. This means appropriate terrain for his style of combat is available.

Personally, I would go for some sort of twisting, narrow passages, all alike in order to best use his ability to hide when out of sight as well as speed bonuses. Doesn't the monk also get some sort of freedom of movement ability as well?

First round of combat, what does the wizard do? What does he do the second round of combat (if not already grappled, and monk not dead yet)?
#10

tshern

Mar 30, 2009 13:09:03
To assess some qualities that are considered to be of great help to Monks:
  • SR: This is nothing but a joke. A lot of the actually good spells in core allow no SR at all and the Wizard could at high levels single-handedly beat the Monk to a bloody pulp. Polymorph and its cousins are the start, Greater magic weapon, Mirror image and their brethren do little more than add insult to the injury.
  • Mobility: They have too little of it. They cannot fly and any magical means to fly have low caster levels, so they will be dispelled when deemed to be of detriment to the Wizard. Wizards are not landbound and can use spells to be faster and more mobile than Monks.
  • Good saves: These can be solved by sheer violence of Wizard's behalf or by using spells that allow no save at all. Solid fog is a great example as is Acid fog.


On the other hand Wizards are invisible to Monks, immune to dying due to Astral projection and even if a Monk got to striking distance he would never hit the Wizard through all the misschance, AC, Contingency and possible servants.
#11

phaedrusxy

Mar 30, 2009 13:18:35
http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=10582589

What is the monk going to do against that? How about "just die"?

Edit: Tactics I had written up for one of the many "wizard vs. fighter" threads. This was actually to kill a fighter 20 and his wizard 17 cohort (the cohort was the main concern...). This "contest" included two buff rounds (which is a REALLY bad idea for the fighter), but if it didn't, the wizard just needs to insure that he goes first. If Moment of Prescience works for Initiative, that should do it. If not, he'll have to have some kind of ultra-paranoid Contingency (like: if anyone ever takes a hostile action within my presence (or within X feet of me, etc)). He can recast Contingency using Greater Shadow Evocation, to get around the long casting time, if needed.

In the first round, cast Shapechange (shared with his familiar), and turn into a choker (giving him a second standard action every round). Then cast Wall of Stone, making a large dome over him, his cohort, and his familiar.

Next round, he'll cast a Prismatic Sphere inside that which only covers himself and his familiar, and then Greater Shadow Evocation, emulating a Contingency on himself. The trigger will be "if my Prismatic Sphere dissappears", and it will do something to get him out of harm's way (Dimension Door, Meld into Stone) depending on the details of the area (if it has a stone floor, etc).

His killing attack sequence (whether he wins initiative or not) will be:
1) Maximized (via MM Rod) Time Stop, Shapechange into a ghost, move through the ground to the outside of the Wall of Stone and Prismatic Sphere. Familiar also changes and follows. It has actions I can use if needed.
2) Shapechange into a Choker again (free action), and look for the enemy. Familiar changes into a beholder, and gets ready to beam the enemy with its antimagic eye ray. If they're not visible, both turn into beholders and sweep the arena with antimagic till they find them. If they can't find them, cast Discern Location.
3. Assuming they're found, turn into choker, and cast a barred Forcecage around the mage cohort, then open a Gate above the Forcecage to the elemental plane of fire, underneath the surface of a lake of lava, so it pours down into the cage when Time Stop ends. Then the familiar will aim its beholder antimagic eye at the cage, making sure the mage cohort can't escape.
4. The enemy may or may not have an AMF on him at this point. If he does, I'll just cast Greater Invisibility and wait to see what happens and make sure the mage dies. My familiar or I will ready an action to Dimension Door us both back to the center of the Prismatic Sphere if they actually attack us.

If the enemy doesn't have an AMF up, I'll do the Forcecage + Gate trick on him, also. If he's immune to fire, my cohort will kill him by poking his weapon through the bars of the Forcecage. Or something. He's a fish in a barrel at that point.

My wizard will be wearing a shrunken iron dome as a hat just in case he gets caught inside an AMF. In such a case, it will automatically unshrink and cover him, blocking line of effect and allowing him to cast something to escape.

I've prepared a bunch of other buffs that I'll probably cast during the buff rounds and Timestop, also.

#12

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 13:29:39
Personally, I would go for some sort of twisting, narrow passages, all alike in order to best use his ability to hide when out of sight as well as speed bonuses. Doesn't the monk also get some sort of freedom of movement ability as well?

At the end of the day, the wizard (20) has teleportation magic and contingencies, if he doesn't like the terrain or he doesn't win init, he doesn't fight unless he's an idiot.

Monk's do not have innate FoM, though they can purchase a ring of said in core.

First round of combat, what does the wizard do? What does he do the second round of combat (if not already grappled, and monk not dead yet)?

What I would do? Win Init (thanks to the MoP I cast every morning), Cast Time Stop, Cast Shapechange then free action change into a Choker, get an extra standard every round and spend the next two or three rounds buffing up and summoning harassment (anything faster than the monk works, especially if it has abilities on top of that or ways to hit from range/reach). At the end, shapechange into something faster than the monk with a fly speed (fastest fly he can get in core is 70 (good) with haste IIRC, so anything higher than that works). I'm thinking Huge Air elementals, probably, they have at least 5ft extra reach over the monk and 100ft perfect fly speed, which is faster/better than he can get in core, as far as I know, and are immune to many of the monk's attacks.

As long as we stay out of arms reach, the monk can't do anything in retaliation (core), we can kite him with a crossbow and/or spells if we'd like. We could even be mean and get him to chase us up into the sky then do a targeted dispel on whatever item he's using to fly and watch him crash to his death if we can't manage to hit him with the X-bow or spells.

Even if he manages to win init and successfully grapple or stun us on his first attack, a cleverly worded Contingency covers us. Even if he manages to do enough damage to kill us outright, Astral Projection covers us.
#13

tshern

Mar 30, 2009 13:37:29
Monk speed boost works on fly speed too. But just in a Haste for yourself if you care enough. You probably shouldn't care though.
#14

liquid150

Mar 30, 2009 13:45:58
While I don't disagree MoP works on INIT, is there text somewhere that defines it as an opposed ability check? It's absurdly obvious that it is, by the nature of the modifiers, just wanted to see if anybody knew if it was specified somewhere.
#15

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 13:51:08
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/initiative.htm#initiativeChecks

An initiative check is a Dexterity check.

#16

liquid150

Mar 30, 2009 13:55:40
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/initiative.htm#initiativeChecks

D'OH!!! I knew I glossed over something short and simple. Thanks Pithica.
#17

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 13:59:07
Monk speed boost works on fly speed too. But just in a Haste for yourself if you care enough. You probably shouldn't care though.

So he can hit 120 feet (good) (wings of flying +60ft enhance from monk), then. That's pretty stout. But Solars have 150ft (good), off the top of my head. Before haste. Air elementals that are hasted would have 130ft (perfect).

Course, they're probably not the best choice, now that I think about it, since the monk is probably running in the 40s for AC and they only have a ~+20 to hit. Greater's would be running in the ~24 range, IIRC which is better, but still not good enough.

I still think the strategy is sound, though, but it probably isn't optimal.
#18

tshern

Mar 30, 2009 14:02:00
I don't even bother claiming Wizards are faster. pf cpirse tjey are-
#19

phaedrusxy

Mar 30, 2009 14:04:47
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/initiative.htm#initiativeChecks

Nice. That does it then. Wizards officially WTFPWN everything, even in core only. :D Going first is the only thing that really matters, and with that, they will. They could carry around a Luck Blade for rerolls too, in case. With a +25 bonus on top of their other boosters, and a reroll, they should win Init against everyone except other people who have MoP.
#20

liquid150

Mar 30, 2009 14:19:18
But seriously....Monk V BMX Bandit....who wins?
#21

doombubble

Mar 30, 2009 14:29:49
Thanks for the replies guys, I think you've given me plenty of responses. I had actually said most of this to him, but I think having more variety will help make my point. If he does force it into the arena, how about some interesting and embarassing ways to defeat him?

For instance, I was thinking I might forcecage and dimensional lock the area, and then set up a fire outside the cage and cook myself a fine meal while he watches..
#22

dr_rocktopus

Mar 30, 2009 14:32:31
I'm staying out of this one
#23

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 14:39:57
For instance, I was thinking I might forcecage and dimensional lock the area, and then set up a fire outside the cage and cook myself a fine meal while he watches..

Timestop/Forcecage/Dimensional lock is the classic A-hole wizard maneuver. At Caster level 21, it gives you a full 44 hours to play around and tease the opposition almost as much as you want. Unless he's specifically prepared for that (which pretty much requires him to go outside of core or have a cohort), he's pretty much boned.
#24

phaedrusxy

Mar 30, 2009 15:16:56
For instance, I was thinking I might forcecage and dimensional lock the area, and then set up a fire outside the cage and cook myself a fine meal while he watches..

That's a variation of the tactic I edited into my post above. It goes like this:

1) Timestop (Maximized via a MM Rod)
2) Forcecage (barred version)
3) Gate to the bottom of a pool of lava, on the elemental plane of fire. It opens horizontally above the Forcecage. This is the travel version, so it doesn't cost you any XP.
4) Shared Shapechange with your familiar, to turn it into a beholder.
5) Familiar points its Antimagic Eye at the Forcecage.
6) Timestop ends.
7) Guy in Forcecage is bathed in lava, and stuck in an AMF. :D
#25

tshern

Mar 30, 2009 15:23:35
Remember to become a Choker yourself, so you can use two move actions to laugh at the poor sob and still have a standard action left to summon yourself some fine ladies.
#26

arogenith

Mar 30, 2009 15:43:59
I'm staying out of this one

Oh no you aren't, I'm calling you out :P Not the Bees MX Bandit. Sounds like a new build to me
#27

jameswilliamogle

Mar 30, 2009 15:48:08
How does a UMD using Monk stand up to a Wizard, though, I wonder?
#28

hogarth

Mar 30, 2009 16:07:37
How does a UMD using Monk stand up to a Wizard, though, I wonder?

The problem is that there are very few things that Monk levels give that the spell Shapechange doesn't give even better. So you might as well compare talk about a Commoner with UMD and a staff of Shapechange (and some other stuff) vs. a Wizard.
#29

jameswilliamogle

Mar 30, 2009 16:17:57
The problem is that there are very few things that Monk levels give that the spell Shapechange doesn't give even better. So you might as well compare talk about a Commoner with UMD and a staff of Shapechange (and some other stuff) vs. a Wizard.

That was what I was getting at. If everyone has spells, even without spellcasting, then does it matter all that much?
#30

SIKBUZ

Mar 30, 2009 16:19:38
I agree a Wizard will win this..

The ONLY chance a Monk has is to keep out of a Wizards major delibitating spells - keep moving and evading until he only has to deal with lower level spells. NOT going to happen if the Wizard knows he will be fighting that day

However this is under the understanding the Wizard knows the attack is coming.

Obviously up the top he does.. but what if he didn't? A Wizard is not likely to have his Anti-Monk spells readied that day. In fact I would hazard a guess they would be far more interested in studying an artifact or creating their own magic item..

And I think they would rely on the defenses of their tower, etc..?

Not trying to start an argument here, just trying to provoke a different kind of conversation - Wizards are by far the most powerful class - but what if they weren't ready for a specific combat??
#31

phaedrusxy

Mar 30, 2009 16:22:23
but what if they weren't ready for a specific combat??

They teleport away, and come back when they are.

Or they use a bunch of Contact Other Plane spells once a week to make sure they're always ready. :D


Besides, pretty much all the spells I listed are things I'd always have prepared as a 20th level wizard, anyway, because they just PWN stuff that hard.
#32

jameswilliamogle

Mar 30, 2009 16:24:33
I agree a Wizard will win this.. However this is under the understanding the Wizard knows the attack is coming.

Obviously up the top he does.. but what if he didn't? A Wizard is not likely to have his Anti-Monk spells readied that day. In fact I would hazard a guess they would be far more interested in studying an artifact or creating their own magic item..

And I think they would rely on the defenses of their tower, etc..?

Not trying to start an argument here, just trying to provoke a different kind of conversation - Wizards are by far the most powerful class - but what if they weren't ready for a specific combat??

Weekly usage of Contact Other Plane ensures they know when something is going down. We spent a LOT of time working on this subject over on the BG boards here. 95% of the non-core stuff isn't necessary, but the caster remains fairly core (or was it all core; I don't remember - PhaedrusXY?).

Ultimately, it all came down to knowing when the attack was coming (on both sides). There's some shenanigans the anti-caster could use, like Mindblank items to keep questions about him from being answered, but then the caster could ultimately ask questions like "what day of the week will my personage be attacked?" to get around it.

I took up the Devil's advocate for the anti-caster, and came up with something thats pretty good, but it just can't deal with the Contact Other Plane / Mindblank / super-paranoid Wizards (unless Intimidate is not a [Fear] or [Mind] effect, then it works very well).
#33

SIKBUZ

Mar 30, 2009 16:36:37
They teleport away, and come back when they are.

Or they use a bunch of Contact Other Plane spells once a week to make sure they're always ready. :D


Besides, pretty much all the spells I listed are things I'd always have prepared as a 20th level wizard, anyway, because they just PWN stuff that hard.

Suspicious Wizard

Lol I suppose that really stops any argument to the contrary.. I was just putting it out there

And cheers for the link James.. I'll have a look later
#34

pithica

Mar 30, 2009 16:39:19
Obviously up the top he does.. but what if he didn't? A Wizard is not likely to have his Anti-Monk spells readied that day. In fact I would hazard a guess they would be far more interested in studying an artifact or creating their own magic item..

But see, the thing is, at 20, core, I am always going to abuse Astral Projection to give me a '1up' if the DM doesn't explicitly disallow it. I am always going to cast Mindblank and Moment of Prescience every day unless they get disallowed. I am always going to mem Timestop and Shapechange as 2 of my 9ths (unless they too are disallowed). I am always going to sleep in either a MMM or Rope Trick, and only for 2 hours (or less) a night. I am always going to contingency a teleport (or plane shift or something) to a 'safe' location should I fall into any of a number of conditions. If I don't have it memmed, I am at least going to have a scroll or staff with teleport or something greater on it to get away if I can't hack what just jumped me. All of my 1hr+/level buffs will be recast every morning (extended by rod if necessary) so that they're always up. I'm going to permanency every spell I can get away with (through scrolls if necessary), AND I'm going to have a simulacrum valet (10th level version of myself, best 7000gp I ever spent) to augment my own utility spells, or take the brunt of the attack if necessary.

These, and other things (more if you open it up to non-core) are things I'm going to do even if my plan for the day is to sit on the couch and watch Oprah. You don't survive to 20th as a wizard without learning that your strength relies on your ability to be prepared. I may not have Forcecage and Dimensional Lock memmed to a-hole the monk into submission, but I can just teleport out if my list today doesn't meet my needs, and come back to it prepared specifically for whatever the challenge is later.
#35

dr_rocktopus

Mar 30, 2009 17:50:17
And this is disregarding any game-breaks that the core-legal wizard will probably be capable of, like candle of invocation. Which, by the way, is an item composed by lunatics, like half of the magic items in the SRD.
#36

atomickitkat

Mar 30, 2009 21:23:59
Really, of course, the main problems are the spells themselves. I've always been of the opinion that many more spells should require SR/Saves. One particularly evil spell to use against the Monk is Reverse Gravity. Most game-breaking, really. The best he can do after that is hope to fall and use Tumble to avoid damage. Otherwise, he's snipe bait. Or there's a 50' wide pit waiting below. Or some kind of horribly painful thing. Whatever.

Vis a vis SR, the Monk's SR should also be higher, because by the time he gets it, it's less than 50% against CR appropriate opponents.
#37

phaedrusxy

Mar 30, 2009 23:31:39
One particularly evil spell to use against the Monk is Reverse Gravity. Most game-breaking, really. The best he can do after that is hope to fall and use Tumble to avoid damage. Otherwise, he's snipe bait. Or there's a 50' wide pit waiting below. Or some kind of horribly painful thing. Whatever.

Or activate his Flying Carpet, Winged Boots, Cloak of the Bat, etc. The wizard can Dispel it, but it costs him an action, and the monk may already be out of the Reverse Gravity by then. Seriously, anyone who might even possibly face a caster who is even capable of casting that is an idiot if they don't have a way to fly.
#38

pithica

Mar 31, 2009 8:09:48
Seriously, anyone who might even possibly face a caster is an idiot if they don't have a way to fly.

I corrected the above sentence for you.
#39

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 8:49:16
Seriously, any non-caster who might even possibly face a caster is an idiot.

Further corrections were needed ;)
#40

atomickitkat

Mar 31, 2009 11:42:57
Seriously, any non-caster is an idiot.

I think that's about as tight as it gets.;)
#41

phaedrusxy

Mar 31, 2009 11:47:54
Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you. :D
#42

jameswilliamogle

Mar 31, 2009 11:48:24
Any caster is id.

How about that one? I probably went too far, too late...
#43

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 11:51:16
Well, I dunno if I'd go that far. Most casters like to have a non-caster or half-caster around for clean up, after all. So perhaps the correct for is:

Any non-caster has drawn the short straw.

Exceptions held for Tome of Battle classes in games where the weeezards don't play like... well... like us. I feel like the ToB classes are the closest we're ever going to get to a non-caster actually pulling even with casters and it's pretty well-known that there's still a wide power gap.

Basically, the ways the monk can win the battle are relatively finite. But every splat book ever published adds new spells, and as a result a potentially combinatoric increase in the number of tactics a caster can employ. Worse, sometimes you get things like Celerity.

Even in just core, there are very powerful spells that simply offer no out, such as the standby solid fog.
#44

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 11:52:07
I dunno, James, it's in my signature now, if that counts for anything.
#45

bloodofgods

Mar 31, 2009 15:26:47
You want to solve this problem

Eliminate shapechange/polymorph, or actually play by the erratted rules


Also eliminate contingent spell (this is probably the most idiotic thing dungeons and dragons has ever done)

You get rid of those two spells, wizards dramatically scale down in power

they are still incredibly overpowered conpared to other classes, but in this case monks stand a very significant chance at victory
#46

bloodofgods

Mar 31, 2009 15:32:08
or depending on how good your dm is, he will not allow contigency to go off in example such as

paralyzed, dying, uncouncious, ect. (BECAUSE YOU CANNOT CAST SPELLS IN THESE CASES)
contigency states that In all cases, the contingency immediately brings into effect the companion spell, the latter being cast instantaneously when the prescribed circumstances occur. If complicated or convoluted conditions are prescribed, the whole spell combination (contingency and the companion magic) may fail when called on

It specifically says "cast" so depending on how your dm rules it, it cannot be cast if the wizard is unable to have the ability to cast a spell

In short THis spell was not meant to be as powerful as people make it out to be.

and if it was, GET IT OUT OF THERE!
#47

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 15:35:00
I disagree.

I can kill a monk quite thoroughly with just two spells, neither of them on your list. If I win the initiative, the monk is almost certainly dead. If he wins the initiative, I'll be wearing a ring of blink, among other things.
#48

SIKBUZ

Mar 31, 2009 15:36:39
Well, I dunno if I'd go that far. Most casters like to have a non-caster or half-caster around for clean up, after all. So perhaps the correct for is:

Any non-caster has drawn the short straw.

Exceptions held for Tome of Battle classes in games where the weeezards don't play like... well... like us. I feel like the ToB classes are the closest we're ever going to get to a non-caster actually pulling even with casters and it's pretty well-known that there's still a wide power gap.

Basically, the ways the monk can win the battle are relatively finite. But every splat book ever published adds new spells, and as a result a potentially combinatoric increase in the number of tactics a caster can employ. Worse, sometimes you get things like Celerity.

Even in just core, there are very powerful spells that simply offer no out, such as the standby solid fog.

Ahh.. But a Wizard can only have some of those new spells memorized at a time unlike the Sorceror who simply picks a spell from his repertoire.. So does that make a Sorceror stronger?

And if you think he'd just have a scroll of whatever he needs - As a DM, if a Wizard was walking around with a cartload of scrolls I'd make him search for say 1d3 rounds to find the right scroll.

Lol I'm just being cheeky.. But where is the Sorceror vs Wizard thread???



As for the Monk vs Wizard combat, I would use a Monk and sneak up on the Mage getting a suprise round on the Wizard; be wearing an Amulet or Ring, etc, of Antimagic Field; Have a supremely high movement rate and zip in beside him.. Grapple and you're done.



But there are so many variables.. And then you have to wonder if your monk who is constantly in an Antimagic Field can be spied upon by the otherworldly forces (who can't scry him or find him via a detection spell) that will warn the Mage.

Taking down a Wizard would take ALOT of planning..

End of the Day the Monk will lose, and you have all sorts of fun trying to get to the Wizard in the first place!!
#49

liquid150

Mar 31, 2009 15:41:12
Ahh.. But a Wizard can only have some of those new spells memorized at a time unlike the Sorceror who simply picks a spell from his repertoire.. So does that make a Sorceror stronger?

And if you think he'd just have a scroll of whatever he needs - As a DM, if a Wizard was walking around with a cartload of scrolls I'd make him search for say 1d3 rounds to find the right scroll.

Lol I'm just being cheeky.. But where is the Sorceror vs Wizard thread???

Uh....three words:
Heward's Handy Haversack
#50

SIKBUZ

Mar 31, 2009 15:56:06
True.. But there is always an exception to the rule and this would be it
#51

tshern

Mar 31, 2009 16:03:54
As for the Monk vs Wizard combat, I would use a Monk and sneak up on the Mage getting a suprise round on the Wizard; be wearing an Amulet or Ring, etc, of Antimagic Field; Have a supremely high movement rate and zip in beside him.. Grapple and you're done.

And the Wizard is wearing a shrunk adamantine cone on his head. When you use your AMF, the cone opens and cuts line of effect. Also, you can sneak to the Wizard when he is flying and you will never ever find him if he doesn't want you to.
#52

jameswilliamogle

Mar 31, 2009 16:09:16
And the Wizard is wearing a shrunk adamantine cone on his head. When you use your AMF, the cone opens and cuts line of effect. Also, you can sneak to the Wizard when he is flying and you will never ever find him if he doesn't want you to.

Which is why the monk wears shrunk-itemed adamantine clogs - to keep that hat from falling all the way and blocking LoE :D.

Anyways, the Monk (mook?) doesn't stand a chance.
#53

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 16:11:35
There is however a magic item, which I of course cannot place, a dust of some form, that triggers an unusual AM field based on where the dust itself is. This will get you around the literal hat-trick, but it requires you to find the wizard, virtually impossible as a vanilla monk to begin with.
#54

tshern

Mar 31, 2009 16:20:32
There is an item like that in core?
#55

SIKBUZ

Mar 31, 2009 16:20:34
Perhaps it is a command word operated AMF? And he moves fast enough that he would be within that hats radius before it opened?

Hahaha! I did say the Monk will lose.. And that there were so many other variables.. I just thought I would pop something out there because everybody automatically discounts the monk

And remember, the CO team have put ALOT of thought into playing your Wizards and I think even using an optimised mage killing character (no i don't have one) I would have trouble with you lot.. Much like the Iron Seige trouble.. So I won't even try

There is however a magic item, which I of course cannot place, a dust of some form, that triggers an unusual AM field based on where the dust itself is. This will get you around the literal hat-trick, but it requires you to find the wizard, virtually impossible as a vanilla monk to begin with.

Everything is possible with time

Not core is it Dr?
#56

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 16:21:56
The only way I have ever reliably been able to kill mages is with another mage optimized for mage killing.
#57

sofawall

Mar 31, 2009 16:23:20
As for the Monk vs Wizard combat, I would use a Monk and sneak up on the Mage getting a suprise round on the Wizard; be wearing an Amulet or Ring, etc, of Antimagic Field; Have a supremely high movement rate and zip in beside him.. Grapple and you're done.

Shrink item hat. As you run in, Antimagic Field suppresses Shrink Item, causing the hat to grow to its full size (a rather large cone) blocking line of effect.
#58

dr_rocktopus

Mar 31, 2009 16:23:29
No, there isn't, Tshern.

As a monk, your only option is this. And it probably won't work.
#59

phaedrusxy

Mar 31, 2009 16:27:57
Perhaps it is a command word operated AMF? And he moves fast enough that he would be within that hats radius before it opened?

There is no AMF item at all within the core rules, continuous or command word. The only thing that comes close is a Ring of Spell Storing, or a Scroll/Staff with the spell in it, either of which the monk could use, but he'd have to either pay a spellcaster to cast it, or have a bunch of ranks in UMD.
#60

SIKBUZ

Mar 31, 2009 16:38:38
There is no AMF item at all within the core rules, continuous or command word. The only thing that comes close is a Ring of Spell Storing, or a Scroll/Staff with the spell in it, either of which the monk could use, but he'd have to either pay a spellcaster to cast it, or have a bunch of ranks in UMD.

Lol I know.. There should be though I think

Sofawall: So in that case the Monk may be wearing a belt of battle and using a move/standard action granted by that belt, use a teleportation effect (eg, anklets) to get into the same space as the Wizard.

End of the day the Monk would need ALOT of preparation and information on the Wizard (not easy) to even attempt it; and barring a miracle would lose.

But hey, fun thought. Only getting the jump on the Wizard does any other class have a chance
#61

tshern

Mar 31, 2009 16:46:10
The Monk still cannot reach the Wizard. Celerity alone ruins that chance and outside core Wizard will positively definitely never be flat-footed.
#62

jameswilliamogle

Mar 31, 2009 17:10:15
The only way to beat the Wizard is to join the Wizard. As in, fusion, then kill yourself :D.
#63

tshern

Mar 31, 2009 17:16:44
The only way to beat the Wizard is to join the Wizard. As in, fusion, then kill yourself :D.

You always were a clever one...
#64

SIKBUZ

Mar 31, 2009 17:17:19
The only way to beat the Wizard is to join the Wizard. As in, fusion, then kill yourself :D.



Ok, enough devils advocate on my part..
#65

Endarire

Apr 04, 2009 15:50:53
Explain this shrink item adamantine cone trick I've heard so much about.
#66

phaedrusxy

Apr 04, 2009 15:59:54
Explain this shrink item adamantine cone trick I've heard so much about.

There was a pretty long discussion about it here: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3423.180

Basically, you take a big dome/cone of iron/adamantine/whatever, and cast Shrink Item on it. It has to be big enough for you to stand underneath when unshrunk. When shrunk, you give it the "clothlike" consistency option in Shrink Item, and wear it as a hat.

Now, if you're ever caught inside an Antimagic Field, the Shrink Item on the "hat" is immediately suppressed, so the hat unshrinks, leaving you standing inside a large metal dome/cone. This metal dome/cone conveniently blocks Line of Effect from the Antimagic Field, allowing you to use your magic to escape it.

It is possible someone very powerful in melee could Sunder the cone, lift it, etc, so having a Contingency set to go off "if my hat unshrinks" is probably a good idea.
#67

sofawall

Apr 04, 2009 17:48:49
Sofawall: So in that case the Monk may be wearing a belt of battle and using a move/standard action granted by that belt, use a teleportation effect (eg, anklets) to get into the same space as the Wizard.

Would a lead cone block this? Oh wait, that's divination... Well, do you need line of effect? If so, haha. If not, contingency or celerity both work fine :D

Wait a tic, how is he using teleportaton while using antimagic field?