Fireball wrecking damage

Discussion in 'The Temple of Elemental Evil' started by anatoliy, Jan 11, 2021.

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  1. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    Eh, it always seemed to me that fireball isn't really that good when compared to CC.
     
  2. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Your DM wasn't smiling?
    But wouldn't you? I mean seriously, if a White Rabbit ran past you looking at a pocket watch and muttering in English, wouldn't you follow? WOULDN'T YOU???

    Seriously, done properly by anyone who could be bothered, this would be glorious. And I will just add that Anatoliy is already adding hardness and HP for things like doors and chests to his mod for bashing them open etc. This is the next logical step.
    "Why are you naked?"
    "Well, we beat the salamanders, but they got off some fireballs...."
    I totally want this too (not nekkid PCs - having all the money destroyed by a fireball). Easy implement - right next to damage, just add
    pc.money_adj(-(pc.money_get()/2)) or something similar, and chop treasure in half.

    Ideally, the players would be left with a lump of electrum they could sell to a jeweller for 1/4 value of the original coins :)
     
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  3. erkper

    erkper Bugbear Monk Supporter

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    Y'all evil.
     
  4. FDR4PREZ

    FDR4PREZ Established Member

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    Of course he was... then as we were going thru all our items, he was always asking, "how are you able to carry all this stuff?"

    [​IMG]
     
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  5. FDR4PREZ

    FDR4PREZ Established Member

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    I would be OK with this if it would be possible to dump our money into a chest for safe keeping.

    If we are going to pretend our coin purse is an unlimited bag-of-holding-wallet because we can't store it anywhere, then why is it subject to destruction when we don't have the possibility of banking it or storing it?
     
  6. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    The Jeweler in Hommlet would be a prime candidate for town banker for ToEE, I would hope zmod would have an equivalent vendor available. I don't think I'd enjoy this addition without SOME way to bank coin safely and repair magical items.

    The Pathfinder setting world of Golarion uses the churches of the LN God Abadar for banking services as he is the God of commerce, civilisation, and currency, they also typically handle tax collection. Abadarian clerics regularly work in conjunction with the church of Asmodeus the LE God of Contracts.
     
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  7. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Sounds reasonable.
    I'd say there's LE and NE around here for sure. ;) But getting Fireballed is hardly a common experiene, and by the time it is happening, players are more likely to be complaining about having too much loot rather than too little.

    Can I also add, when Darmargon added Warp Wood (I think it was him), he did include a chance to destroy bows, wooden shields etc, with magical items getting a save.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
  8. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    Coins depending on what metal they are made from might melt (not likely as they would be in a leatherpouch, a leather moneygirdle or in a backpack and not directly exposed to the fireball blast) - but in a society where there is no central bank and no "worthless" coins that only have value because the central bank says so and the people trust in the money, but coins made from metals like gold, silver, copper or electrum, have the same worth as a coin, a damaged coin or a coin molten into a blob - because in ancient times the worth of a coin was the worth of the rare metals weight in the coin.
     
  9. anatoliy

    anatoliy Established Member

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    Yes, I agree. I thought about that too.

    But coins could melt and mix with dirt, so it is viable possibility too. In any case, I'm still not sure what would be the best route here.

    Thank you for your feedback!
     
  10. Endarire

    Endarire Ronald Rynnwrathi

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    Fireball is powerful in ToEE because of the many weak creatures in it! Beyond that, it's normally a guaranteed damage AoE spell that's situationally worth a level 3 spell slot. Also note that fire is the most commonly-resisted energy type, and it already has plenty of counters.

    Also note that the first time I beat ToEE was with a group of 5 Wizards who spammed magic missile and fireball because I was so tired of missing!

    As I mentioned elsewhere, in short, in ToEE and in general, there are best practices. Properly learning and using these practices rewards you with benefits.

    PS: Normally, players never want to choose between winning and keeping their treasure!
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2021
  11. sigofmugmort

    sigofmugmort Established Member Supporter

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    coins melted into a blob would not lose any value since for a few thousand years(i.e since the invention of coins) any (relatively)honest merchant would have a weights and measures set due to the common practice of debasing and/or clipping of coinage

    gems on the other hand....
     
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  12. anatoliy

    anatoliy Established Member

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    Yep. That what balance is about. And trade offs make a game more interesting.
     
  13. sigofmugmort

    sigofmugmort Established Member Supporter

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    Some of my favorite modules to play in or run are the ones that list things that can go wrong if AoE spells are used
    A lightning bolt in an Old Alchemy lab, what could possibly go wrong:eek:
     
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  14. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    That sounds just like what happend to Barry Allen (Flash)...
     
  15. Endarire

    Endarire Ronald Rynnwrathi

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    A major problem with any ability destroying treasure is that this ability destroyed a player's reward (treasure)! This means to a typical player, that ability (or the game or class that uses it in general) is bad and thus shouldn't be used! It's effectively a trap option. This is one reason people hated Sunder and Mordenkainen's Disjunction in 3.5.
     
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