Friendship is Dragons
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Page 1031 - High On Height
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I leave it to your imagination (or until you read the next page) to divine the growing menace they endure in the mean time, though the one who supplies it appears on this page. (And not as in "the DM supplies all threats and Spike is the DM's proxy".)
Does all that time spent "hovering" count as time spent "falling" and cause her to take a billion points of damage when she lands on the ground?
My favorite trap involving levitation (or flying):
Pit trap, no spikes.
Above it, invisible flying (or floating) gelatinous cubes. Preferably in a dimly enough ceiling that true sight doesn't help too much if Perception isn't high. Preferably two or more cubes, in line with the hallway.
Across pit trap is only way forward or to some treasure. No side ledge.
Players spot the pit trap. It's simple enough. The rogue spends a bit of time making sure they can safely go across - rig it so it doesn't open, cross a rope, the mage makes it so people can fly, it matters not.
As soon as the players are near the center of the trap, the gelatinous cubes slam down, either from gravity or flying down + gravity. Being under them, the players take the brunt of the damage. And probably whatever was rigged up was not made for huge gelatinous cubes slamming down on them. The players fall down, the cubes with them, and the players take more damage.
The players are engulfed by the cubes. More damage! They fight the cubes while inside them, or try to get out. The pit is filled with the cubes, and the walls are slippery. Every round means more engulfment damage. Maybe the party manages to kill one of the cubes. Now they are...still in a pool of acid, just one not pummeling them. More damage.
Pit trap, no spikes.
Above it, invisible flying (or floating) gelatinous cubes. Preferably in a dimly enough ceiling that true sight doesn't help too much if Perception isn't high. Preferably two or more cubes, in line with the hallway.
Across pit trap is only way forward or to some treasure. No side ledge.
Players spot the pit trap. It's simple enough. The rogue spends a bit of time making sure they can safely go across - rig it so it doesn't open, cross a rope, the mage makes it so people can fly, it matters not.
As soon as the players are near the center of the trap, the gelatinous cubes slam down, either from gravity or flying down + gravity. Being under them, the players take the brunt of the damage. And probably whatever was rigged up was not made for huge gelatinous cubes slamming down on them. The players fall down, the cubes with them, and the players take more damage.
The players are engulfed by the cubes. More damage! They fight the cubes while inside them, or try to get out. The pit is filled with the cubes, and the walls are slippery. Every round means more engulfment damage. Maybe the party manages to kill one of the cubes. Now they are...still in a pool of acid, just one not pummeling them. More damage.
My best example comes less from the ingenuity of the trap itself, and more from the sheer coincidental irony of the situation.
I'm running a prewritten module - as part of the Living Greyhawk campaign, for those who are familiar with it. During the game, the players have a discussion about how one of the best traps for catching a wizard (or similar character) is a pit trap with an antimagic field (so that the victim can't just fly out again).
I go into full poker-face mode during this discussion. By pure coincidence, it just so happens that this exact trap lies in wait later in the module.
The PCs enter the room in question, and through some means I no longer recall, they uncover the pit without anyone falling in. At this point, I mentally shrug, consoling myself that we'll have a good laugh over the coincidence once the module is over, as the PCs move to the next room.
It just so happens that the next room had a combat encounter with enough ranged attacks flying around that the party wizards are worried about being taken down by ranged fire. To avoid this, one of the wizards - who had a fly effect going - decides that a good way to take cover would be to get below floor level by descending into the pit. Normally, this would have been an inspired move - turning a potential hazard into a tactical advantage.
The poker-face drops. Best of all, it wasn't simply a matter of the party stumbling into it (and just getting the frontliners) - one of the wizards had entered the trap *deliberately*.
"So, remember that discussion you guys were having earlier? The one about antimagic fields in pit traps?"
"Yes?" I have a tendency sometimes, when DMing, to prank the players with worst-case scenarios that aren't actually true, so I get a couple of dirty looks but that's about all.
"The one where I was very carefully not saying anything?"
Horrified comprehension begins to dawn among the players - normally I would be participating in a discussion like that.
"Guess what you just flew into?"
I'm running a prewritten module - as part of the Living Greyhawk campaign, for those who are familiar with it. During the game, the players have a discussion about how one of the best traps for catching a wizard (or similar character) is a pit trap with an antimagic field (so that the victim can't just fly out again).
I go into full poker-face mode during this discussion. By pure coincidence, it just so happens that this exact trap lies in wait later in the module.
The PCs enter the room in question, and through some means I no longer recall, they uncover the pit without anyone falling in. At this point, I mentally shrug, consoling myself that we'll have a good laugh over the coincidence once the module is over, as the PCs move to the next room.
It just so happens that the next room had a combat encounter with enough ranged attacks flying around that the party wizards are worried about being taken down by ranged fire. To avoid this, one of the wizards - who had a fly effect going - decides that a good way to take cover would be to get below floor level by descending into the pit. Normally, this would have been an inspired move - turning a potential hazard into a tactical advantage.
The poker-face drops. Best of all, it wasn't simply a matter of the party stumbling into it (and just getting the frontliners) - one of the wizards had entered the trap *deliberately*.
"So, remember that discussion you guys were having earlier? The one about antimagic fields in pit traps?"
"Yes?" I have a tendency sometimes, when DMing, to prank the players with worst-case scenarios that aren't actually true, so I get a couple of dirty looks but that's about all.
"The one where I was very carefully not saying anything?"
Horrified comprehension begins to dawn among the players - normally I would be participating in a discussion like that.
"Guess what you just flew into?"
That seems like it'd take all the fun out of winning. I mean, is it really winning if you can't lose?
I'd let a player have that 'trap', but I'd also say it needs batteries to work. Like wand charges, or potions loaded as ammunition into the trap mechanism.
I'd let a player have that 'trap', but I'd also say it needs batteries to work. Like wand charges, or potions loaded as ammunition into the trap mechanism.
Yeah, one of my players tried to pull that. I allowed it... then had jyoti rangers start tracking him down. Positive energy is not a toy, as the phoenix man with the arrow pointed between your eyes would like to remind you.
Doesn't too much positive energy cause people to explode? Or would it take way more than one cure light wounds every six seconds?
Actually, what is the heal rate in the positive energy plane? If it's equal to that, I'd allow it only to have the poor fool lightly dusting the surrounding area a few hours later.
Actually, what is the heal rate in the positive energy plane? If it's equal to that, I'd allow it only to have the poor fool lightly dusting the surrounding area a few hours later.
"Doesn't too much positive energy cause people to explode?"
Nevermind, found it myself:
"Positive-Dominant: An abundance of life characterizes planes with this trait. Like negative-dominant planes, positive-dominant planes can be either minor or major. A minor positive-dominant plane is a riotous explosion of life in all its forms. Colors are brighter, fires are hotter, noises are louder, and sensations are more intense as a result of the positive energy swirling through the plane. All individuals in a positive-dominant plane gain fast healing 2 as an extraordinary ability.
Major positive-dominant planes go even further. A creature on a major positive-dominant plane must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being blinded for 10 rounds by the brilliance of the surroundings. Simply being on the plane grants fast healing 5 as an extraordinary ability. In addition, those at full hit points gain 5 additional temporary hit points per round. These temporary hit points fade 1d20 rounds after the creature leaves the major positive-dominant plane. However, a creature must make a DC 20 Fortitude save each round that its temporary hit points exceed its normal hit point total. Failing the saving throw results in the creature exploding in a riot of energy, which kills it."
So... yeah. Actually, that'd make for a pretty funny and legitimate trap.
Nevermind, found it myself:
"Positive-Dominant: An abundance of life characterizes planes with this trait. Like negative-dominant planes, positive-dominant planes can be either minor or major. A minor positive-dominant plane is a riotous explosion of life in all its forms. Colors are brighter, fires are hotter, noises are louder, and sensations are more intense as a result of the positive energy swirling through the plane. All individuals in a positive-dominant plane gain fast healing 2 as an extraordinary ability.
Major positive-dominant planes go even further. A creature on a major positive-dominant plane must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being blinded for 10 rounds by the brilliance of the surroundings. Simply being on the plane grants fast healing 5 as an extraordinary ability. In addition, those at full hit points gain 5 additional temporary hit points per round. These temporary hit points fade 1d20 rounds after the creature leaves the major positive-dominant plane. However, a creature must make a DC 20 Fortitude save each round that its temporary hit points exceed its normal hit point total. Failing the saving throw results in the creature exploding in a riot of energy, which kills it."
So... yeah. Actually, that'd make for a pretty funny and legitimate trap.
Hex some glasses - you get to sleep in them (and hope they don't shatter). Hex a sword - say goodbye to having two free hands, but at least you can't be disarmed. Hex your armor - makes showering/laundry/generally getting clean more difficult (how's some gradual Con loss to mirror increasingly severely bad hygiene sound?).
Of course, in most cases anything the PCs can craft the villains can also craft. The PCs have a "trap" of auto-cure-light-wounds? An enemy lieutenant sees this, takes the intel back to base, and a few days later every mook squad the PCs face comes equipped with one as standard issue. It's those same mooks the PCs have been facing all along, but CR boosted to match the PCs' higher level (perhaps with better/more refined versions of this gear as the party levels up further). For extra salt in the wound, let the PCs recognize their invention, and realize someone ripped it off. (Though, let the PCs rip off any refinements the bad guys come up with. Fair's fair.)
For the record: the DM made the trap that Pinkie Pie is having fun with here. (Yes, she's just playing someone who's levitating - but hey, getting in the head of someone who's having a blast? Why not?)
The greatest Hex item I've come up with is a stuffed animal.
It's not cursed. I rarely if ever do cursed items; I will happily do not-what-the-PC-wanted items. In this case there was a fad for nobles to splurge on stuffed animals for their children: tiny cloth golems, loyal playmates for the elite. They were enchanted to regenerate (so children couldn't destroy them). They could find their masters anywhere (so they couldn't get lost). They would cling to the children with the Hex power (again, not getting lost) until told to let go. Most had bags of holding inside, to let them carry other toys.
The only problem is that they were made centuries ago. The golems are indestructible...but they only know one language, which hasn't been spoken by humans in generations. If a character picks up one, they're stuck with a stuffed animal clinging to them until they find a sage who can tell it to let go. And if the golem has decided the PC is its proper companion, it <i>will</i> be back eventually.
It's not cursed. I rarely if ever do cursed items; I will happily do not-what-the-PC-wanted items. In this case there was a fad for nobles to splurge on stuffed animals for their children: tiny cloth golems, loyal playmates for the elite. They were enchanted to regenerate (so children couldn't destroy them). They could find their masters anywhere (so they couldn't get lost). They would cling to the children with the Hex power (again, not getting lost) until told to let go. Most had bags of holding inside, to let them carry other toys.
The only problem is that they were made centuries ago. The golems are indestructible...but they only know one language, which hasn't been spoken by humans in generations. If a character picks up one, they're stuck with a stuffed animal clinging to them until they find a sage who can tell it to let go. And if the golem has decided the PC is its proper companion, it <i>will</i> be back eventually.
Confused by panel four. To what plane is the GM referring? No one spoke of one between panels three and four.
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Superman!"
It's a reference to the classic Superman entry quote. People pointing at the sky and saying "It's a bird!", "It's a plane!", "No, it's... Superman!" *theme song begins*
Gosh... I just realized how old that is, now.
Gosh... I just realized how old that is, now.
60, maybe 70+ years, by now.
I still find it cool that it was the Fleischer brothers cartoons that introduced Superman's flight ability. And subsequently replaced "Able to leap tall buildings" with "Able to fly higher than a Jetliner". But nobody remembers that change.
I still find it cool that it was the Fleischer brothers cartoons that introduced Superman's flight ability. And subsequently replaced "Able to leap tall buildings" with "Able to fly higher than a Jetliner". But nobody remembers that change.
Actually it was the first live-action Superman series that made the change. Because they quickly realised that, given the special effects of the time, they couldn't produce a convincing "Jump Good" effect that didn't look utterly goofy. So they went to the character's creators, pointed that out, and asked if it would be okay if they just made him able to fly, instead. The answer was "sure, why not," and the rest is history.
Special (in)effects... From a short-lived Disney SatAM cartoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BOBkbjfvM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BOBkbjfvM
I remember that, but I didn't recognize that there was a *beat* in there as people wonder why he said something else.
Guest Author's Note: "There is an edited panel here (beyond resizing, cropping, and adding the dialogue), but it is not the one you probably think of first."
Newbiespud's Note: I looked back at the archive and realized I started The Best Night Ever in July of last year. That kinda made me pine for a tiny bit of a break, especially since I've gained an actual part-time job and all. Thankfully, Winged Cat arrived out of the blue with a fun little series of guest comics, so we'll go with this short intermission before jumping head-first into the Discord shenaniganery.