Was it clearly explained in session zero that there was this cult of caster hunters who would specialize in shutting down the players caster? Did the warlock player just ignore that and now is mad? Or did they not realize it would become such an issue and is not having as much fun?
I ask because if they were not aware this would be such a significant issue to their build, then the problem stems from you not making that clear. If it was clearly explained and they just built there character that way anyway then the problem is of the players own making.
Why would the DM give away the campaign plot in the session zero?
Anybody coming up with a character should be trying to be more than just a one-trick pony.
Actually, giving some elements of the plot is an important way to begin a campaign, because the players need to make characters which fit the general world and environment!
Examples include:
being told that your forest home is under threat, when your character is a big-city artificer who has never lived in a forest in her life
being told that magic is a rare and persecuted thing, when you character has been making a living for years as a magical entertainer
being a dragonborn with the urchin background and a story of persecution, only to find out that in this world dragonborn are the ruling caste and all other races are persecuted by them
Being a bowmaker who has specialised in making beautiful bows which were renowned, to find the world is post-industrial and everyone uses guns, and has done for years.
And so on.
A quick blurb of the world can really make sure that the characters the players make fit in properly!
If the priests have been hunting casters for so many years, using the same tactics of dispel magic, and the game is based in an area where the last refuge of the casters is hidden, then there is a good grounds for an eccentric inventor who needs help gathering artefacts to build a helmet/bracelet/belt/goggles/whatever which can ignore dispel magic.
Give them quests into ancient magical dungeons in the forgotten places, where they fight more traditional dungeon monsters rather than dispel-priests, and then reward them at the end with this magic item which renders the dispel-priests less dangerous!
This would also make it seem like foreshadowing of needing the item, so that they can face the priests on even ground.
That's interesting, thanks. But I'm not going to give him an artifact to make him immune to dispel magic. What I will do is design an artifact that allows him x uses of counterspell per day, and let him manage it. Or that it has x charges (as if they were spell slots), and that allows you to use it only for counterspell. Or that it is not a counterspell, but works as such against dispel magic. I have to think about it, but that's a good idea.
Of course, he will have to earn it. They're at a point right now where it could be a side quest prize. Or they could retrieve it from some ruins they're going to enter shortly.
You could give it X charges, and he can use the charges when dispel magic is cast on him to increase the spell level of his spell - EG, if they cast level 4 dispel magic on his level 2 spell, he can use 3 charges to make his spell level 5. Obviously, you wouldn't tell them what level the dispel magic was being cast at!
If the priests have been hunting casters for so many years, using the same tactics of dispel magic, and the game is based in an area where the last refuge of the casters is hidden, then there is a good grounds for an eccentric inventor who needs help gathering artefacts to build a helmet/bracelet/belt/goggles/whatever which can ignore dispel magic.
The basic concept is good, but "a magic item which prevents any of your stuff from being dispelled" is kind of wildly overpowered
Alternatively:
1) the magic item is something like a modified ring of spell storing. You can only load one spell into it per day, up to level 5, but you can cast that spell from the item up to three times. So, if your first shadow of moil gets dispelled, you can bring it back out two more times
2) another option: item has X charges. If you lose a concentration spell for any non-voluntary reason, including having it dispelled, you can expend one charge per spell level to maintain it. Using the item multiple times to maintain the same casting risks it overloading and blowing up
3) or how about: a modified pearl of power. Once per day, if a spell you cast gets counterspelled or dispelled, as a reaction you can regain the spell slot used, up to level 3
4) finally: if a spell you cast gets countered or dispelled, the item deals psychic damage to the creature that did the dispelling or countering and makes them save against being stunned for 1 round
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Was it clearly explained in session zero that there was this cult of caster hunters who would specialize in shutting down the players caster? Did the warlock player just ignore that and now is mad? Or did they not realize it would become such an issue and is not having as much fun?
I ask because if they were not aware this would be such a significant issue to their build, then the problem stems from you not making that clear. If it was clearly explained and they just built there character that way anyway then the problem is of the players own making.
Why would the DM give away the campaign plot in the session zero?
Anybody coming up with a character should be trying to be more than just a one-trick pony.
Who said anything about giving away the campaign plot? From the little we knew it seemed relevant to know casters would have issues. And further supported in Post #18 from the OP that this is a world building issue that was discussed, not the plot. The whole, wizards used to rule like dictators, but hundreds of years of war has overthrown them and now a new god has followers who hunt any casters and most people in the world despise wizardly-like magic (my paraphrasing),is not plot, as far as we or the players know. It's world building, and something the characters, who grew up under these conditions, would have known first hand. EDIT: it looks like this was discussed in session zero, but the player didn't care or just ignored it and made the warlock anyway, using this tactic. So as I said, there is good advice given in this thread on how to work around it.
Was it clearly explained in session zero that there was this cult of caster hunters who would specialize in shutting down the players caster? Did the warlock player just ignore that and now is mad? Or did they not realize it would become such an issue and is not having as much fun?
I ask because if they were not aware this would be such a significant issue to their build, then the problem stems from you not making that clear. If it was clearly explained and they just built there character that way anyway then the problem is of the players own making.
Why would the DM give away the campaign plot in the session zero?
Anybody coming up with a character should be trying to be more than just a one-trick pony.
Who said anything about giving away the campaign plot? From the little we knew it seemed relevant to know casters would have issues. And further supported in Post #18 from the OP that this is a world building issue that was discussed, not the plot. The whole, wizards used to rule like dictators, but hundreds of years of war has overthrown them and now a new god has followers who hunt any casters and most people in the world despise wizardly-like magic (my paraphrasing),is not plot, as far as we or the players know. It's world building, and something the characters, who grew up under these conditions, would have known first hand. EDIT: it looks like this was discussed in session zero, but the player didn't care or just ignored it and made the warlock anyway, using this tactic. So as I said, there is good advice given in this thread on how to work around it.
See the bolded part which gives away what seems like a major part of the plot.
The mage hunters are an essential part of his world and every denizen of this world knows, that arcane casters are prosecuted in specific parts of the world. That has nothing to do with the mage hunters being the plot.
The mage hunters are an essential part of his world and every denizen of this world knows, that arcane casters are prosecuted in specific parts of the world. That has nothing to do with the mage hunters being the plot.
Ok I agree. Somehow I missed post #18 the first time around.
Quite tough to be a full caster in this particular campaign. The player would have known this when deciding what type of character to play - so it is on them to find a way around this problem.
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Actually, giving some elements of the plot is an important way to begin a campaign, because the players need to make characters which fit the general world and environment!
Examples include:
And so on.
A quick blurb of the world can really make sure that the characters the players make fit in properly!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
That's interesting, thanks. But I'm not going to give him an artifact to make him immune to dispel magic. What I will do is design an artifact that allows him x uses of counterspell per day, and let him manage it. Or that it has x charges (as if they were spell slots), and that allows you to use it only for counterspell. Or that it is not a counterspell, but works as such against dispel magic. I have to think about it, but that's a good idea.
Of course, he will have to earn it. They're at a point right now where it could be a side quest prize. Or they could retrieve it from some ruins they're going to enter shortly.
glad you like the idea!
You could give it X charges, and he can use the charges when dispel magic is cast on him to increase the spell level of his spell - EG, if they cast level 4 dispel magic on his level 2 spell, he can use 3 charges to make his spell level 5. Obviously, you wouldn't tell them what level the dispel magic was being cast at!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
The basic concept is good, but "a magic item which prevents any of your stuff from being dispelled" is kind of wildly overpowered
Alternatively:
1) the magic item is something like a modified ring of spell storing. You can only load one spell into it per day, up to level 5, but you can cast that spell from the item up to three times. So, if your first shadow of moil gets dispelled, you can bring it back out two more times
2) another option: item has X charges. If you lose a concentration spell for any non-voluntary reason, including having it dispelled, you can expend one charge per spell level to maintain it. Using the item multiple times to maintain the same casting risks it overloading and blowing up
3) or how about: a modified pearl of power. Once per day, if a spell you cast gets counterspelled or dispelled, as a reaction you can regain the spell slot used, up to level 3
4) finally: if a spell you cast gets countered or dispelled, the item deals psychic damage to the creature that did the dispelling or countering and makes them save against being stunned for 1 round
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Who said anything about giving away the campaign plot? From the little we knew it seemed relevant to know casters would have issues. And further supported in Post #18 from the OP that this is a world building issue that was discussed, not the plot. The whole, wizards used to rule like dictators, but hundreds of years of war has overthrown them and now a new god has followers who hunt any casters and most people in the world despise wizardly-like magic (my paraphrasing), is not plot, as far as we or the players know. It's world building, and something the characters, who grew up under these conditions, would have known first hand. EDIT: it looks like this was discussed in session zero, but the player didn't care or just ignored it and made the warlock anyway, using this tactic. So as I said, there is good advice given in this thread on how to work around it.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
See the bolded part which gives away what seems like a major part of the plot.
Farling, read post 18 from the OP again.
The mage hunters are an essential part of his world and every denizen of this world knows, that arcane casters are prosecuted in specific parts of the world. That has nothing to do with the mage hunters being the plot.
Ok I agree. Somehow I missed post #18 the first time around.
Quite tough to be a full caster in this particular campaign. The player would have known this when deciding what type of character to play - so it is on them to find a way around this problem.