I'm working on a crypt for a group of 8th level players. I wanted to mix it up a bit, so this particular crypt has an antimagic field and an intense magnetic field on it, rendering magic and metal gear useless. I want these players to explore this crypt full of zombies, skeletons, giant spiders, carrion crawlers and a single Troll without relying on their old stand-bys, to give them a new challenge.
What I'm running into are some problems regarding the antimagic field. I want to make it a weakened field, to give them a bit of a leg up. I'm thinking that any magic cast outside the field continues within the field, so the wizard could still maintain mage armor when exploring. However, I don't want magic potions to work, or the druid to be able to summon 8 wolves outside, bring them in, then when they die just rush outside, summon 8 more, and come back in, etc. I really like the idea of the players needing to pick up new weapons like clubs and slowly exploring, taking even the threat of a couple zombies seriously, while having a big scary monster which stalks them that they need to outsmart. But I also think it's a bit much to force the wizard to have an AC of 13.
Now, the wizard does have the war caster feat, so he could put on a shield, and I have given him a lot of unique abilities to protect him and attack monsters which aren't magical in nature, so he could be fine if the field was just a regular, full bore antimagic field. But I also do like the idea of the party having a bit of flexibility in planning ahead and bringing in a few important pre-cast spells, like hasting someone, summoning a couple creatures, mage armor, etc. We have a monk who will probably become the go-to leader in this scenario, since they'll likely be the least affected, combat wise.
What do you guys think? It's a tough balancing act to figure out. What would you do?
P.S. If you're curious, the magnetic field works like this: Wearing or wielding metal armor or weapons (or items like lanterns) reduces your speed by half, attack rolls have disadvantage and a -10 penalty to hit, and attacks made against you have advantage and a +5 bonus to hit. Dex and Str saves are also made with disadvantage. Small items (like buttons or zippers) don't affect you in this way, but coinpurses, crowbars, etc do.
They'll turn around and leave. If they can't leave, because there's no other options, they'll be cranky. They may even rebel.
From a player-psychology perspective, you're taking away all their cool toys.
From a game-design perspective, you're massively upending the balance of the classes. This wrecks the players' game capabilities, and does so unevenly. The pure casters will have basically nothing to do -- they will flail ineffectively with weapons they're not built to use once a round. Very few spells have a long enough duration that they can cast them outside and get much use out of them, and concentration seriously limits most of those. The partial casters will lose a lot of their powers. The non-casters will be somewhat less effective, because they can't use the good weapons and armor, but they still get to do their thing. The monk just ignores the handicap.
At the same time, combat's not going to become "take a couple of zombies seriously". The characters are still mid-level, with the relevant combat bonuses and hit points. Those zombies are still not a threat, but they're more tedious. The lack of healing means the party will have less staying power, so they'll have to retreat and heal up more often.
I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't think this is going to be fun for anyone.
I appreciate the reply, and it's good to have it put out like this. Sometimes the trouble with being a DM is that you don't often get to talk about your ideas beforehand, to hear another perspective.
There's definitely a degree to which I can say that I know my table well enough to know half of them would, at best, really like the idea, and at worst, tolerate it, as an excuse to try out some other abilities. For example, we have a fighter who specialized in bow/arrow who lost his arm because an enemy got a crit on him after he made a really bad decision, so he was unable to use his main weapon for around 6-8 months of real world time, and the player LOVED it. He found it fair, interesting, and a fun opportunity to try out his sword more. When he got a metal arm replacement, he was happy to use the bow and arrow again, but was never bitter. Similar other events have happened, such as half the party being nerfed and half being buffed on a holy mountain, and while the player played it up as an inconvenience, admitted that it really helped him roleplay and develop his character further, and it's been huge in dictating where he took the character afterwards.
Yes, it would nerf most of the party, most of them fairly equally actually, aside from the monk. Fighter couldn't use bow/arrow or sword (he'd also be down an arm), Druid couldn't cast magic, rogue couldn't use normal weapons, wizard can't cast spells, and monk couldn't use spear. However, each of them has other features/abilities that would make them still valuable in and not defensless. For instance: Druid: Is a tortle, plus might be able to maintain a wild shape/bring in some companions. Rogue: Is a grung, still has sneak attack plus a non-magical Ray of Sickness attack. Wizard: Filled with evil sludge and has dark tentacle mutation abilities Monk: Lizardfolk with fangs, mostly unnaffected Fighter: No real benefit, but the player loves new challenges like this.
With that in mind, it might change the decision somewhat. I do appreciate your thoughts though, because you are right. And it's true that combat might be made just slower and less interesting, though the ideal outcome is that the switch-up encourages creativity. One other example: Once I pulled a surprise body swap scenario where everyone had to switch character sheets and play as each other for an encounter, and the whole table loved it and talks about it to this day.
Regardless, how might you change the scenario to improve it? Bearing in mind I do want this to be an area that restricts them and challenges them to try new things (and also bearing in mind that for plot reasons not worth getting into, they have to go inside, they can't really just leave)
P.S. I'm partially inspired by the Lodestone Cavern in FF4, where metal users are disabled. It's a bit frustrating but it's super memorable and fun to overcome
I think magic is embedded in the fabric of the system to the point where removing it for an entire dungeon would be un-fun.
You could do single rooms, or multiple non-consecutive rooms (maybe all bathed in the same eerie green light so as to telegraph to the players they should prepare concentration spells now) and still have the extra challenge element without completely neutralizeing 40% of all the party's skills.
The "no metal" thing is interesting, and weird the way I really like in an rpg.
I have run something exactly like this but with a slight difference.
I frequently have anti-magic fields emanating from somewhere. So, for example, perhaps there are frequent statues, or ornamentation that you describe throughout the dungeon. They're high up and out of normal reach, but can be targeted by ranged weapons. It is from those that the anti-magic field emanates and if destroyed then the party can take down an area of the field. The ornaments, lights or whatever else you decide the anti-magic field emanates from send out an anti-magic field to a radius of 20ft. I find this allows for some really tactical play, while allowing the players to have a puzzle to figure out.
Players have a few options. They can use a mage hand to work out where the anti magic fields begin and end...using that knowledge to aid in any combat that they encounter. They could use that knowledge to try and work out where it might be emanating from. They could then also simply deactivate the anti-magic field if they choose to. I believe that this makes for both an interesting use of anti-magic field and a fair use of anti-magic field. You don't actively have to give any info or warning about the field until they encounter it for one reason and another...you also need to decide what happens to bags of holding, handy haversacks, and portable holes (I tend to give the idea that the straps are beginning to tear and fray...if they do nothing about it I have the item break if they are overloaded as mundane versions of themselves). Likewise if a player has an amulet of health I'll usually signpost that 'something feels wrong' with said player and hand them a private note stating the effect they are suffering now that the amulet is non-magical. This kind of signpost gives a warning prior to encountering real danger within the field.
I would advise going in with eyes open though. Many players of D&D in particular just don't appreciate challenge for challenge sake in my opinion. The entirety of 5e (and now the upcoming new 2024 edition) are afterall hugely weighted to give massive power to the player characters with (I assume) the goal of helping to emphasise the status of the characters as fantasy super heroes. There are players I know who would love the challenge you propose, but there are just as many I know who would be quick to call you a red flag DM for running such an environment. So, do take a beat and consider if this is right for your table. If it is - awesome.
Story-wise you can say it was intended as full-time effect, but as times flies, the enchantment got weaker and now works as pulse.
And there are few options:
Its regular and short burst - lets say every other round. That means it prevents using magical companions and so, but for mage armor you could either said that player is able to maintain it as its not dispel effect, just dininishing magic 'flow'. Or you can have him/her/they roll INT check if he manages to hold it in place, if you dont like first option
Or you can go for random bursts - that needs little bit more convincing storytelling, but it allows you to be more flexible. It would still means same as regular bursts, but now you could just tell 'you managed to do that as there was longer pause' or opposite.
In combat you could roll for burst or just pretend to...
You could also mix it up and say that magnetic field is effect of antimagic field charging up and have just one field at time.
Another way to do it without completely eliminating it is to make Arcane Foci/Components Pouches not work and force the magic users to scrounge the dungeon and harvest monsters for spell components. Maybe they only get half of their normal spells slots and/or spell duration is halved and/or spell ranges are halved.
Maybe they got dumped into the dungeon with no gear and have to slowly work their way out piecemealing their kit back together (again, the Monk is going to not care at all, a Pact of the Blade Warlock would be in fine shape, and a Barbarian could use an improvised weapon pretty easily).
But a straight antimagic field is going to make all of your casters completely useless (outside of a Moon Druid). Almost none get Extra Attack or any way to be good with weapons. The way you have it set up, it is going to be the Monk's show until the Fighter finds a Greatclub, or if you let the Rogue use a sharpened stick as an improvised dagger.
You could always make it so that any time a spell is cast, the caster needs to succeed on a DC (whatever) concentration check. That way, you keep the idea of anti magic but it's demonstrably weaker, and the players aren't mad at you because there's a dice roll in between them and the consequences set forth.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
You could always make it so that any time a spell is cast, the caster needs to succeed on a DC (whatever) concentration check. That way, you keep the idea of anti magic but it's demonstrably weaker, and the players aren't mad at you because there's a dice roll in between them and the consequences set forth.
This is worth exploring, I was going to suggest all spells cast are basically at disadvantage (or for saves the monster gets advantage). Possibly use both, make the concentration checks to avoid being at disadvantage, could use the DC based on the level of spell. This would make it less punishing to use cantrips, and more punishing to use contagion or something big and boom, while still allowing some magic to work.
The idea of randomly occurring pulses could be good. Roll a d6 (or d4) every round, and a roll of 1 means magic is suppressed. Up to you whether you telegraph this fact to the party. In tandem with this specific option you could add a magic surge effect on a max roll causing wild magic surges with spells.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I forgot about the messing with the physical combatants. Things like effects that halve movement like a gravity surge, or the magnetic effect forcing disadvantage on attacks for anyone wearing metallic weapons or armor. Monks basically get a pass, but rings and things might have to be taken off. Depends ok how deep you want to go with problems for your team to overcome.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
You could always do the opposite and the 'surge' increases the random magic in the area, so that any spells cast at say 3rd level or higher or anyone casting 2 spells in a turn trigger wild magic, or hell, do both. Say there's several generators that are causing the surge and every time one is destroyed, its sends out an antimagic wave in the area that fades over time, but there is also like 5 generators to destroy, and depending how many are left determines how strong or weak the final boss is.
I really like the idea of the players needing to pick up new weapons like clubs and slowly exploring, taking even the threat of a couple zombies seriously, while having a big scary monster which stalks them that they need to outsmart. But I also think it's a bit much to force the wizard to have an AC of 13.
P.S. If you're curious, the magnetic field works like this: Wearing or wielding metal armor or weapons (or items like lanterns) reduces your speed by half, attack rolls have disadvantage and a -10 penalty to hit, and attacks made against you have advantage and a +5 bonus to hit. Dex and Str saves are also made with disadvantage. Small items (like buttons or zippers) don't affect you in this way, but coinpurses, crowbars, etc do.
Why are you worried about the wizard having an AC of 13 when you Fighter or Paladin will have an AC of 9/10 when they have to take off their plate armour? What incentive do the players have to explore this dungeon? If I was a player in this situation I would assume the DM doesn't want us to go in this dungeon and is using this fields to tell us not to go in there yet.
Ok, so you have no heavy armour users that makes it much less punishing. Presumably you'll let the fighter & rogue use sticks as Finesse weapons so they can still fight. So really the main problem is the Druid because everything they do is magic including WS, unless they are a Moon druid WS isn't combat viable even if you changed the rules to allow it. But you could just put in some beasts they can recruit / befriend and they can just play as those beasts instead - maybe give them a non-magical way to Speak with Animals to encourage them to do this.
Then I think its fine as long as it is a short dungeon with appropriately nerfed monsters.
Certainly areas with amped up magic coursing through there could easily cause spells to fail. Like a circuit overloading with too much power pumped into it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I was away the last couple days so only now got to catch up.
Some really creative and great ideas on how to play with this concept. The surges one is a really fun idea that I could see myself repurposing for another location in the game. As well as wild magic zones, I have an area in mind where that could work really well.
I think however I really like @marintheactor's suggestion, of using 'generators' which emanate fields of antimagic:
I frequently have anti-magic fields emanating from somewhere. So, for example, perhaps there are frequent statues, or ornamentation that you describe throughout the dungeon. They're high up and out of normal reach, but can be targeted by ranged weapons. It is from those that the anti-magic field emanates and if destroyed then the party can take down an area of the field. The ornaments, lights or whatever else you decide the anti-magic field emanates from send out an anti-magic field to a radius of 20ft. I find this allows for some really tactical play, while allowing the players to have a puzzle to figure out.
The dungeon is a little labyrinthian, so having the fields visible and pass through walls could give a fun strategic element for players to try to deduce where these generators are and how to reach them. I'm thinking of making them large 5 foot crystals fastened to the wall with heavy metal and stone braces, so breaking them would be challenging but not impossible. And making them that large and like 300 pounds each discourages players from trying to bring them with them outside the dungeon haha. Probably the best method to destroy them is simply to somehow pull it out of its braces and let it fall to the floor, cracking and ending its field.
And yes, while the druid will have much of his abilities nerfed, he is a tortle, so he has a very high natural AC and some natural weapons in the forms of his claws. With all that in mind, I'm thinking of making the fields full on antimagic, not weakened or anything, so they couldn't even bring in summoned creatures and the druid is knocked out of wildshape. I'll workshop that, I may instead go with a concentration check per round if it feels too overwhelming. The dungeon is also pretty short, so the even if it is a bit frustrating, it shouldn't overstay it's welcome. Should only last 2-3 sessions at most. As for reasons to explore, it is a story based reason (they need what's in here to reach the final area), and this party is in it for the long haul (we've been playing for 4+ years now) so I know they'll roll up their sleeves and make it work either way. Love all the ideas and suggestions everyone's made though, like I mentioned, definitely giving me ideas for other areas!
There is also the Faerzress from Out of the Abyss:
This basically functions as a Wild Magic trigger (with some other effects). You could look into that as an option for something that would not prevent casting, but there might be consequences. There are even locations that trigger every time without a roll if the Faerzress is particularly strong.
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I was away the last couple days so only now got to catch up.
Some really creative and great ideas on how to play with this concept. The surges one is a really fun idea that I could see myself repurposing for another location in the game. As well as wild magic zones, I have an area in mind where that could work really well.
I think however I really like @marintheactor's suggestion, of using 'generators' which emanate fields of antimagic:
I frequently have anti-magic fields emanating from somewhere. So, for example, perhaps there are frequent statues, or ornamentation that you describe throughout the dungeon. They're high up and out of normal reach, but can be targeted by ranged weapons. It is from those that the anti-magic field emanates and if destroyed then the party can take down an area of the field. The ornaments, lights or whatever else you decide the anti-magic field emanates from send out an anti-magic field to a radius of 20ft. I find this allows for some really tactical play, while allowing the players to have a puzzle to figure out.
The dungeon is a little labyrinthian, so having the fields visible and pass through walls could give a fun strategic element for players to try to deduce where these generators are and how to reach them. I'm thinking of making them large 5 foot crystals fastened to the wall with heavy metal and stone braces, so breaking them would be challenging but not impossible. And making them that large and like 300 pounds each discourages players from trying to bring them with them outside the dungeon haha. Probably the best method to destroy them is simply to somehow pull it out of its braces and let it fall to the floor, cracking and ending its field.
And yes, while the druid will have much of his abilities nerfed, he is a tortle, so he has a very high natural AC and some natural weapons in the forms of his claws. With all that in mind, I'm thinking of making the fields full on antimagic, not weakened or anything, so they couldn't even bring in summoned creatures and the druid is knocked out of wildshape. I'll workshop that, I may instead go with a concentration check per round if it feels too overwhelming. The dungeon is also pretty short, so the even if it is a bit frustrating, it shouldn't overstay it's welcome. Should only last 2-3 sessions at most. As for reasons to explore, it is a story based reason (they need what's in here to reach the final area), and this party is in it for the long haul (we've been playing for 4+ years now) so I know they'll roll up their sleeves and make it work either way. Love all the ideas and suggestions everyone's made though, like I mentioned, definitely giving me ideas for other areas!
The only caveat that I forgot to mention is that every time I described something similar in size and shape to the artefacts I had emanating Anti-Magic fields, my players basically destroyed anything that looked or sounded even vaguely similar - they didn't want to take any chances. I do view it as a one and done kind of gimmick for that reason.
Hey all,
I'm working on a crypt for a group of 8th level players. I wanted to mix it up a bit, so this particular crypt has an antimagic field and an intense magnetic field on it, rendering magic and metal gear useless. I want these players to explore this crypt full of zombies, skeletons, giant spiders, carrion crawlers and a single Troll without relying on their old stand-bys, to give them a new challenge.
What I'm running into are some problems regarding the antimagic field. I want to make it a weakened field, to give them a bit of a leg up. I'm thinking that any magic cast outside the field continues within the field, so the wizard could still maintain mage armor when exploring. However, I don't want magic potions to work, or the druid to be able to summon 8 wolves outside, bring them in, then when they die just rush outside, summon 8 more, and come back in, etc. I really like the idea of the players needing to pick up new weapons like clubs and slowly exploring, taking even the threat of a couple zombies seriously, while having a big scary monster which stalks them that they need to outsmart. But I also think it's a bit much to force the wizard to have an AC of 13.
Now, the wizard does have the war caster feat, so he could put on a shield, and I have given him a lot of unique abilities to protect him and attack monsters which aren't magical in nature, so he could be fine if the field was just a regular, full bore antimagic field. But I also do like the idea of the party having a bit of flexibility in planning ahead and bringing in a few important pre-cast spells, like hasting someone, summoning a couple creatures, mage armor, etc. We have a monk who will probably become the go-to leader in this scenario, since they'll likely be the least affected, combat wise.
What do you guys think? It's a tough balancing act to figure out. What would you do?
P.S. If you're curious, the magnetic field works like this: Wearing or wielding metal armor or weapons (or items like lanterns) reduces your speed by half, attack rolls have disadvantage and a -10 penalty to hit, and attacks made against you have advantage and a +5 bonus to hit. Dex and Str saves are also made with disadvantage. Small items (like buttons or zippers) don't affect you in this way, but coinpurses, crowbars, etc do.
OK, so here's what's going to happen:
They'll turn around and leave. If they can't leave, because there's no other options, they'll be cranky. They may even rebel.
From a player-psychology perspective, you're taking away all their cool toys.
From a game-design perspective, you're massively upending the balance of the classes. This wrecks the players' game capabilities, and does so unevenly. The pure casters will have basically nothing to do -- they will flail ineffectively with weapons they're not built to use once a round. Very few spells have a long enough duration that they can cast them outside and get much use out of them, and concentration seriously limits most of those. The partial casters will lose a lot of their powers. The non-casters will be somewhat less effective, because they can't use the good weapons and armor, but they still get to do their thing. The monk just ignores the handicap.
At the same time, combat's not going to become "take a couple of zombies seriously". The characters are still mid-level, with the relevant combat bonuses and hit points. Those zombies are still not a threat, but they're more tedious. The lack of healing means the party will have less staying power, so they'll have to retreat and heal up more often.
I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't think this is going to be fun for anyone.
I appreciate the reply, and it's good to have it put out like this. Sometimes the trouble with being a DM is that you don't often get to talk about your ideas beforehand, to hear another perspective.
There's definitely a degree to which I can say that I know my table well enough to know half of them would, at best, really like the idea, and at worst, tolerate it, as an excuse to try out some other abilities. For example, we have a fighter who specialized in bow/arrow who lost his arm because an enemy got a crit on him after he made a really bad decision, so he was unable to use his main weapon for around 6-8 months of real world time, and the player LOVED it. He found it fair, interesting, and a fun opportunity to try out his sword more. When he got a metal arm replacement, he was happy to use the bow and arrow again, but was never bitter. Similar other events have happened, such as half the party being nerfed and half being buffed on a holy mountain, and while the player played it up as an inconvenience, admitted that it really helped him roleplay and develop his character further, and it's been huge in dictating where he took the character afterwards.
Yes, it would nerf most of the party, most of them fairly equally actually, aside from the monk. Fighter couldn't use bow/arrow or sword (he'd also be down an arm), Druid couldn't cast magic, rogue couldn't use normal weapons, wizard can't cast spells, and monk couldn't use spear. However, each of them has other features/abilities that would make them still valuable in and not defensless. For instance:
Druid: Is a tortle, plus might be able to maintain a wild shape/bring in some companions.
Rogue: Is a grung, still has sneak attack plus a non-magical Ray of Sickness attack.
Wizard: Filled with evil sludge and has dark tentacle mutation abilities
Monk: Lizardfolk with fangs, mostly unnaffected
Fighter: No real benefit, but the player loves new challenges like this.
With that in mind, it might change the decision somewhat. I do appreciate your thoughts though, because you are right. And it's true that combat might be made just slower and less interesting, though the ideal outcome is that the switch-up encourages creativity. One other example: Once I pulled a surprise body swap scenario where everyone had to switch character sheets and play as each other for an encounter, and the whole table loved it and talks about it to this day.
Regardless, how might you change the scenario to improve it? Bearing in mind I do want this to be an area that restricts them and challenges them to try new things (and also bearing in mind that for plot reasons not worth getting into, they have to go inside, they can't really just leave)
P.S. I'm partially inspired by the Lodestone Cavern in FF4, where metal users are disabled. It's a bit frustrating but it's super memorable and fun to overcome
I think magic is embedded in the fabric of the system to the point where removing it for an entire dungeon would be un-fun.
You could do single rooms, or multiple non-consecutive rooms (maybe all bathed in the same eerie green light so as to telegraph to the players they should prepare concentration spells now) and still have the extra challenge element without completely neutralizeing 40% of all the party's skills.
The "no metal" thing is interesting, and weird the way I really like in an rpg.
Have you considered a "wild magic zone" where magical abilities may trigger strange and unintended wild-magic surges?
Would a wild magic zone basically function the same as rolling on the wild magic surge table for Sorcerers whenever someone casts a spell?
I have run something exactly like this but with a slight difference.
I frequently have anti-magic fields emanating from somewhere. So, for example, perhaps there are frequent statues, or ornamentation that you describe throughout the dungeon. They're high up and out of normal reach, but can be targeted by ranged weapons. It is from those that the anti-magic field emanates and if destroyed then the party can take down an area of the field. The ornaments, lights or whatever else you decide the anti-magic field emanates from send out an anti-magic field to a radius of 20ft. I find this allows for some really tactical play, while allowing the players to have a puzzle to figure out.
Players have a few options. They can use a mage hand to work out where the anti magic fields begin and end...using that knowledge to aid in any combat that they encounter. They could use that knowledge to try and work out where it might be emanating from. They could then also simply deactivate the anti-magic field if they choose to. I believe that this makes for both an interesting use of anti-magic field and a fair use of anti-magic field. You don't actively have to give any info or warning about the field until they encounter it for one reason and another...you also need to decide what happens to bags of holding, handy haversacks, and portable holes (I tend to give the idea that the straps are beginning to tear and fray...if they do nothing about it I have the item break if they are overloaded as mundane versions of themselves). Likewise if a player has an amulet of health I'll usually signpost that 'something feels wrong' with said player and hand them a private note stating the effect they are suffering now that the amulet is non-magical. This kind of signpost gives a warning prior to encountering real danger within the field.
I would advise going in with eyes open though. Many players of D&D in particular just don't appreciate challenge for challenge sake in my opinion. The entirety of 5e (and now the upcoming new 2024 edition) are afterall hugely weighted to give massive power to the player characters with (I assume) the goal of helping to emphasise the status of the characters as fantasy super heroes. There are players I know who would love the challenge you propose, but there are just as many I know who would be quick to call you a red flag DM for running such an environment. So, do take a beat and consider if this is right for your table. If it is - awesome.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
You could run it that way, or you could create your own custom surge table if you wanted to.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Does it need to be permanent effect?
Story-wise you can say it was intended as full-time effect, but as times flies, the enchantment got weaker and now works as pulse.
And there are few options:
Its regular and short burst - lets say every other round. That means it prevents using magical companions and so, but for mage armor you could either said that player is able to maintain it as its not dispel effect, just dininishing magic 'flow'. Or you can have him/her/they roll INT check if he manages to hold it in place, if you dont like first option
Or you can go for random bursts - that needs little bit more convincing storytelling, but it allows you to be more flexible. It would still means same as regular bursts, but now you could just tell 'you managed to do that as there was longer pause' or opposite.
In combat you could roll for burst or just pretend to...
You could also mix it up and say that magnetic field is effect of antimagic field charging up and have just one field at time.
I actually like this whole idea
Another way to do it without completely eliminating it is to make Arcane Foci/Components Pouches not work and force the magic users to scrounge the dungeon and harvest monsters for spell components. Maybe they only get half of their normal spells slots and/or spell duration is halved and/or spell ranges are halved.
Maybe they got dumped into the dungeon with no gear and have to slowly work their way out piecemealing their kit back together (again, the Monk is going to not care at all, a Pact of the Blade Warlock would be in fine shape, and a Barbarian could use an improvised weapon pretty easily).
But a straight antimagic field is going to make all of your casters completely useless (outside of a Moon Druid). Almost none get Extra Attack or any way to be good with weapons. The way you have it set up, it is going to be the Monk's show until the Fighter finds a Greatclub, or if you let the Rogue use a sharpened stick as an improvised dagger.
You could always make it so that any time a spell is cast, the caster needs to succeed on a DC (whatever) concentration check. That way, you keep the idea of anti magic but it's demonstrably weaker, and the players aren't mad at you because there's a dice roll in between them and the consequences set forth.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
This is worth exploring, I was going to suggest all spells cast are basically at disadvantage (or for saves the monster gets advantage). Possibly use both, make the concentration checks to avoid being at disadvantage, could use the DC based on the level of spell. This would make it less punishing to use cantrips, and more punishing to use contagion or something big and boom, while still allowing some magic to work.
The idea of randomly occurring pulses could be good. Roll a d6 (or d4) every round, and a roll of 1 means magic is suppressed. Up to you whether you telegraph this fact to the party. In tandem with this specific option you could add a magic surge effect on a max roll causing wild magic surges with spells.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I forgot about the messing with the physical combatants. Things like effects that halve movement like a gravity surge, or the magnetic effect forcing disadvantage on attacks for anyone wearing metallic weapons or armor. Monks basically get a pass, but rings and things might have to be taken off. Depends ok how deep you want to go with problems for your team to overcome.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
You could always do the opposite and the 'surge' increases the random magic in the area, so that any spells cast at say 3rd level or higher or anyone casting 2 spells in a turn trigger wild magic, or hell, do both. Say there's several generators that are causing the surge and every time one is destroyed, its sends out an antimagic wave in the area that fades over time, but there is also like 5 generators to destroy, and depending how many are left determines how strong or weak the final boss is.
Why are you worried about the wizard having an AC of 13 when you Fighter or Paladin will have an AC of 9/10 when they have to take off their plate armour? What incentive do the players have to explore this dungeon? If I was a player in this situation I would assume the DM doesn't want us to go in this dungeon and is using this fields to tell us not to go in there yet.
Ok, so you have no heavy armour users that makes it much less punishing. Presumably you'll let the fighter & rogue use sticks as Finesse weapons so they can still fight. So really the main problem is the Druid because everything they do is magic including WS, unless they are a Moon druid WS isn't combat viable even if you changed the rules to allow it. But you could just put in some beasts they can recruit / befriend and they can just play as those beasts instead - maybe give them a non-magical way to Speak with Animals to encourage them to do this.
Then I think its fine as long as it is a short dungeon with appropriately nerfed monsters.
Certainly areas with amped up magic coursing through there could easily cause spells to fail. Like a circuit overloading with too much power pumped into it.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I was away the last couple days so only now got to catch up.
Some really creative and great ideas on how to play with this concept. The surges one is a really fun idea that I could see myself repurposing for another location in the game. As well as wild magic zones, I have an area in mind where that could work really well.
I think however I really like @marintheactor's suggestion, of using 'generators' which emanate fields of antimagic:
The dungeon is a little labyrinthian, so having the fields visible and pass through walls could give a fun strategic element for players to try to deduce where these generators are and how to reach them. I'm thinking of making them large 5 foot crystals fastened to the wall with heavy metal and stone braces, so breaking them would be challenging but not impossible. And making them that large and like 300 pounds each discourages players from trying to bring them with them outside the dungeon haha. Probably the best method to destroy them is simply to somehow pull it out of its braces and let it fall to the floor, cracking and ending its field.
And yes, while the druid will have much of his abilities nerfed, he is a tortle, so he has a very high natural AC and some natural weapons in the forms of his claws. With all that in mind, I'm thinking of making the fields full on antimagic, not weakened or anything, so they couldn't even bring in summoned creatures and the druid is knocked out of wildshape. I'll workshop that, I may instead go with a concentration check per round if it feels too overwhelming. The dungeon is also pretty short, so the even if it is a bit frustrating, it shouldn't overstay it's welcome. Should only last 2-3 sessions at most. As for reasons to explore, it is a story based reason (they need what's in here to reach the final area), and this party is in it for the long haul (we've been playing for 4+ years now) so I know they'll roll up their sleeves and make it work either way. Love all the ideas and suggestions everyone's made though, like I mentioned, definitely giving me ideas for other areas!
There is also the Faerzress from Out of the Abyss:
This basically functions as a Wild Magic trigger (with some other effects). You could look into that as an option for something that would not prevent casting, but there might be consequences. There are even locations that trigger every time without a roll if the Faerzress is particularly strong.
The only caveat that I forgot to mention is that every time I described something similar in size and shape to the artefacts I had emanating Anti-Magic fields, my players basically destroyed anything that looked or sounded even vaguely similar - they didn't want to take any chances. I do view it as a one and done kind of gimmick for that reason.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.