| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 11 Nov 2010 : 08:24:27
I just thought I'd share whatever random spell lore is invented at my table after every gaming session. Contributions by other people always make me happy.
Teleport - Material Component
I've ruled that Teleport requires a material component. Specifically, a small pinch of soil collected from the intended destination* that is consumed in the casting. (Each additional person being Teleported consumes an additional pinch of soil.)
A caster cannot Teleport to any given location if he does not possess and is unable to obtain the soil component. This prevents every reckless idiot who can suddenly cast the spell from instantly zapping himself into all sorts of places all over the bloody planet and actually turns common dirt from exotic lands into a valuable commodity. Spellcasters can't Teleport around as freely to faraway undiscovered lands but they can always go back to somewhere they've been before.
(A fairly good way for the DM to have a little control over the growing "range" his players can cover on the map - and to suck a little more gold from the PCs by making them pay a small premium for reliable "long-distance" components. No more spontaneous shopping trips between Baldur's Gate, Zakhara, Maztica, and Shou the moment the PC hits 9th level. Long-term impact on the campaign is minimal, since a PC can basically gather an infinite amount of free soil at any destination he can already reach with Teleport; and better yet, the DM can somehow remove components from play if it turns out the PCs have ranged too far. So the spell still completely retains its defensive value but becomes trickier to use in an offensive role.)
It also means it can be more difficult to Teleport into a clean castle or a spotless temple than into a filthy alley or a seedy bar by the docks. (It's worth paying a little extra to choose the clean tavern now, eh?) The most paranoid of secure fortresses might attempt to proof themselves against Teleporting intruders by ensuring that the ground is clean and paved and people don't ever leave the front gate carrying dirt on their clothing, boots, horseshoes, and wagon wheels.
This creates a lucrative form of trade and caravan merchants can always make a few easy pieces of gold by filling some jars with soil at each major stop along their travels (though of course their labels often aren't very accurate by wizard standards; even worse, they're likely to barter these jars with each other so you can never really be sure where they came from). Likewise, all sorts of immoral fraud can be perpetrated by selling common dirt from a local farm under the pretense that it originated from the heart of the Emperor's Garden in distant Kara-Tur.
Really, soil everywhere is more or less the same (and generally looks, feels, smells, and tastes the same) so the only ways to be truly confident your soil is genuinely from the stated destination are to perform a detailed magical analysis or to just go there and collect it yourself. Or cast Teleport and see where you end up (don't forget to spoon some dirt off the ground before you leave). Sand or dust or dried clay or breadcrumbs or whatever else is "normal" ground cover for the terrain is good enough, too.
Soil is of course almost always available everywhere and costs nothing to gather in pinch quantities beyond a few superior stares from surprised onlookers. It needs to be reasonably free of debris and plant matter to be useful as a component. 1 pinch in a paper envelope weighs 0.01 lb, 25 pinches in a potion vial weigh 0.5 lb, 100 pinches in a small jar weigh 2.5 lbs (I'm just making these numbers up, y'know), and any wizard who wants to pack along entire kegs, barrels, and chests full of dirt without good reason is a complete moron. Note that soil components from different locations cannot be mixed so most casters will have numerous small packets and vials rather than a few big containers. They might even keep a few soil components carefully folded between sheets of paper in their spellbook or inside a fake belt buckle or something.
All sorts of wonderful opportunities are created to ambush the wizard or otherwise inconvenience him when using "bad dirt" collected from problematic or hostile locales (like the wardog feeding pens in an enemy army camp, the Games Arena of Hillsfar, the middle of the Anauroch Desert, or a scary dark underground wild magic zone).
* I've ruled that the soil component must be "anchored" by absorbing the unique mystical signature of a fixed location over a period of two full moons (the full period of time between one full moon and the next; somewhere between 1 and 2 months). The location isn't exact (a proximity of 10' or less is good enough) and the soil can shift or scatter anywhere within this area during this time without incident. The idea is that the wizard can collect soil off the ground even though it may have been blown, scuffed, and mixed around through forces of man and nature and it'll still work fine as a component. It's not at all necessary for the soil to remain isolated in hermetically sealed test tubes to ensure "precision" and "purity".
Soil can only be anchored to one particular location at any given time (that is, the last place where it sat for two full moons). So dirt can't just be dropped on the ground and quickly retrieved to reassign its location. It's also important to keep the soil moving or use it up before it anchors itself to a new location by sitting undisturbed for two full moons.
Mixing soils that are anchored to two or more locations will always result in spell failure, unless they can be perfectly separated into their original unmixed forms. Perhaps it might be useful to spill coloured dyes on the ground a few months before gathering the soil
A wizard can easily become dismayed when all of his tidy little pouches of dirt (and/or their labels) get soiled, wet, muddy, or mixed up - especially if they were his ticket home.
(I haven't yet defined any magical way to extend this "two full moon expiration date", though it's obviously related to lunar cycles so maybe it's connected to silver containers, blessings of Selūne, lycanthrope urine, or whatever you like.)
Playnotes:
My PC can barely cast Teleport and already carries around soil components for some 20 different locations. He prefers paper packets, so we've agreed that his wizard writes down the location name and the date on each packet to keep things simple for both of us.
(Of course he currently suffers from a Typo that changed his Teleport spell to Teleprompt, so he's careful to keep his soil components moving all the time to prevent them from "spoiling".)
I've tried placing valuable pouches of mystery dirt in treasure caches, but my ever-suspicious players stubbornly refused to take the bait (they insisted it must lead to a trap or a vampire's grave or somewhere else they'd rather not be).
The players have discovered that they can obtain soil samples to infiltrate enemy strongholds by stealing or capturing component pouches from enemy wizards, or brushing dirt off unhygienic guards (or things like guard dogs, horses, livestock, trash and refuse), or running around wildly until pummeled to the ground, or sending in a familiar with instructions to playfully roll around and get dirty. I drew the line by saying that the soil is no longer suitable as a component once it's been eaten and eliminated.
They have never found useful quantities of dirt on arrows and bolts shot at them, though it apparently hasn't stopped them from volunteering to collect soil this way.
They've discussed ideas involving Earth Elementals but haven't tried any yet so I haven't made any rulings.
For consistency, I've reluctantly ruled that when inscribed on scrolls Teleport will only go to one specific location (as determined by the soil component used in the inks). Read Magic reveals a fleeting glimpse of the destination (as it looked when the soil was gathered) so the wizard has some idea of where the Teleport would take him. |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 15 Nov 2010 : 04:53:24
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
I was going to submit my lore about newly researched spells and tomes here ... until I discovered an excited congregation of my fellow scribes huddled over the contents of the fantastic (and very busy) Candlekeep Magic Shop and Sage's Books, Tomes, and Scrolls of Faerun. I shall submit such humble lore as I can offer to these fine tomes, once I have read through their countless pages of scrolls.
Whoa! I'd actually forgotten most of that stuff. Seems funny now, reading them through seven/eight years later. It's almost hard to believe I had time to compose and post such material here at Candlekeep. 
quote:
(The shop really needs a bigger sign - this Learned Scribe didn't even realize it existed for over a month.)
I once suggested that to Brax, the Magic Shop's resident dwarven blacksmith. After which he told me, in not-so-friendly-terms, just what I could do with a bigger sign.  |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 15 Nov 2010 : 04:24:13
I was going to submit my lore about newly researched spells and tomes here ... until I discovered an excited congregation of my fellow scribes huddled over the contents of the fantastic (and very busy) Candlekeep Magic Shop and Sage's Books, Tomes, and Scrolls of Faerun. I shall submit such humble lore as I can offer to these fine tomes, once I have read through their countless pages of scrolls.
(The shop really needs a bigger sign - this Learned Scribe didn't even realize it existed for over a month.) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 14 Nov 2010 : 14:44:02
You raise some valid points, CA, including a few I hadn't thought about.
I really should have mentioned above that unlike the canon Teleport spell, mine has zero chance for error (outside of the usual unusual supernatural obstructions). I never personally liked the "too high/low" rules anyhow and this gives me an excellent premise for discarding them at my table. Teleport Without Error (and presumably other advanced Teleport magics) does not require a material component nor suffer from my arbitrary restrictions; that's a large part of what makes it more potent than the lower-level version. It hasn't come into play yet, but I would rule that natural Teleporting would still function normally; my changes affect the Teleport spell formula, not the Teleport spell powers and effects. So magical toys and beasties can still inherently Teleport without worrying about components, provided they don't have to actually cast the spell the way a wizard does.
I can speculate that although my player wizards routinely reject most of the foreign or unknown soil components they encounter, the Realms are populated by numerous wizards of more trusting (or lazy) disposition and plenty of merchants/wizards savvy enough to generate continuous revenue through the reliable provision of "genuine dirt". It hasn't yet occurred to my players that they can cultivate mutually beneficial alliances with NPC wizards willing to honestly trade soil components in much the same manner as they might sometimes exchange spells or other arcane props. Again, you only really need one to gain a lifetime supply, and one traveller's discarded dirt can be another's treasure. Note that I did also offer a few methods to verify the origins (er, destinations) of questionable soil samples, just another one of the necessary little chores that come along with wielding magics of great power.
I don't at all mind keeping Teleport and Dimension Door spells isolated; they're different spells used in different ways. Dimension Door might sometimes be the smarter choice when you want to reach some impossible/fortified location. In my campaign, the functions of these two spells typically don't overlap and the players have to figure out a way to "get close" to the destination regardless of which spell they use ... at least until they're high enough level to cast Teleport Without Error (I'll pretend that wizards might be more responsible by then).
Yes my method loses some of the traditional unique charm associated with Teleport - but it also introduces some quirky new charm of its own. I personally prefer using a tangible physical link with the destination over using a vaguely mystical mental/imaginary one. Moreover, this variant provided a quick fix (and easily digested retcon) to nip some rampant "abuse" that was looming at my table. So far, it fits perfectly with the preferences, playstyle, and desired game "balance" of both myself and my group, although of course YMMV.
I've even left myself a plausible "emergency exit" - I can simply declare it to be a variant spell formula by having the original "better" Teleport spell appear in my Realms and let each wizard decide for himself which version he prefers. (Alas, I have no idea what to do with a special wild magic spell in my campaign, Heisenberg's Uncertain Teleport, which currently allows the caster to accurately determine his location or his velocity upon arrival - but not both.)
Your suggested reasoning for instead using material components in Teleport Without Error is very interesting (and makes it much more difficult to use the spell to travel to other worlds). Using material components (soil or whatever) uniquely tied to the destination (plus perhaps some sort of higher-level Teleport Without Obstruction or Hyper Teleport spell) to circumvent wards is also a superb idea I want to weigh more carefully ... thanx! |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 11 Nov 2010 : 10:17:43
Hi Arik
Caveat: these are purely my thoughts for my game. We all run differently and what works for one DM doesn't for dozens of others.
Positive:
Interesting concept and one that would work better for Teleport Without Error - the soil making the TWE completely safe as it anchors the spell?
I like the idea of trade in soil samples as it adds something interesting to the game however, as you said no one in their right mind is going to buy any for fear of where it actually came from (so this defeats the object of the trade aspect of the spell).
Negative:
I can't quite see how this method makes the spell better, more interesting or adds any value at all? The whole point of teleport is the randomness of porting and the fact that the good guys (PC's) and bad guys can nip in to each others strongholds and do some quick damage and out again. Also how does this work with critters that have natural teleporting? (demons/devils etc) If they don't have soil samples they can't move around so you are negating their power.
If you change this spell you also need to change TWE, Dimension Door. Teleport Other, Mass Teleport, Teleport Circle, Gateway and the dozens of other transportation spells as well to keep them all in 'balance'? And what about clerical/druid prayers do they have the same restrictions?
This just seems to make the spell worse and weakens wizards and their ability to get somewhere else quickly.
Of course I might use the material component requirement in a higher level teleport variant spell that actually bypasses wards that block translocation magics from working. Now this is more interesting for me as otherwise protected places become vulnerable again.
Cheers
Damian |
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