Hey all! I've been thinking about a character that could effectively lock down an enemy from moving. It's certainly not the most effective thing to do (or even the best way to go about it). But this could be done from the early levels.
I'm aware of a rule that says that effects of the same name don't stack - so this might go against it depending on the DMs ruling.
The idea is to combine any or all of the following effects:
The enemy fails saving throw vs Caltrops: -10 speed. (anyone can set these up at any point)
The enemy is in Difficult Terrain: 1 foot of movement costs 2. (can be achieved almost at any time by Mold Earth, and sometimes it's naturally occurring. Thanks DM)
The enemy is hit by Ray of Frost: -10 speed.
The enemy is targeted by the Graviturgy Wizard's Adjust Density (level 2 feature, no save). Double their weight for yet another -10 to speed.
The enemy is knocked prone.
Though expensive in the action economy, these don't really cost any resources (except the caltrops). Keeping in mind this is one character, other characters could chime in.
Some resource spenders you could use to complement this are:
Grease (level 1, lasts 1 minute with no concentration)
Grab the feat Metamagic Adept for a Quickened spell. (my second choice would be a toss-up between Subtle, Distant or Extended)
Have an ally grapple the target(?)
For example, the first turn in combat would go something like:
Bonus Action: Quickened Spell - Grease
Action: Adjust Density
Honourable mention to:
Plant Growth (but it's not on the wizard list, AND it's a 3rd-level spell). A better effect than difficult terrain, which itself isn't difficult terrain.
Enchantment Wizard's Hypnotic Gaze. It's a bit risky since it requires you to be within 5ft of the Enemy, AND they get a save against it.
Lance of Lethargy can make Eldritch Blast apply a (once per turn) -10 speed debuff as well, and Grasp of Hadar/Repelling Blast make it a good cantrip for movement bully casters. Spirit Shroud is a very tight 10-foot radius aura… but it also reduces enemy speed by 10 feet for starting there, so a Ray of Frost/Lethargy Eldritch Blast caster using Spirit Shroud can do -20 speed all on its own on one turn with no action economy issues, nice.
Also, Animate Objects can give you ten tiny animated flying caltrops, all of which can be commanded at once as a bonus action every round. Your mileage may vary with how many squares you can caltrop-ify with ten caltrops (in theory you can only fit four of them in one square, so hopefully 2 or 3 squares?), or whether they retain their passive caltrop item effect after they become animated combatants with attacks (I hope so?), but that may be an effective way to move a slowing cloud of caltrops around the field round to round without wasting actions throwing more bags.
Do you know what is the best spell for an Enchanter? Our lovely and humble Invisibility.
Why? Hypnotic Gaze doesn’t require the target to see you, he must be able to listen your charming words. And you know what’s even better? Since you didn’t attack or cast a spell, you are still invisible.
Do you know what is the best spell for an Enchanter? Our lovely and humble Invisibility.
Why? Hypnotic Gaze doesn’t require the target to see you, he must be able to listen your charming words. And you know what’s even better? Since you didn’t attack or cast a spell, you are still invisible.
Enchanter Wizards are that impressive.
Remember that Invisible is not Hidden. And if a creature can hear you as you whisper to it, you probably are not Hidden, just Invisible, and can be attacked just like anyone else (albeit with disadvantage).
You have to continue speaking to the target, which breaks stealth.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Hold person from a spellcaster with a high DC. You really want to shut down a spellcaster try silence on the floor at his feet or the wall right behind him. I had a party with Learal along for support take on Manshoon, his clone and others in one of the Waterdeep modules. A silence spell from a ranger and hold person from Laeral shut the evil mages down. Yes you get a save each round but a series of blown saves isn’t atypical with a high DC.
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Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
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Hey all! I've been thinking about a character that could effectively lock down an enemy from moving. It's certainly not the most effective thing to do (or even the best way to go about it). But this could be done from the early levels.
I'm aware of a rule that says that effects of the same name don't stack - so this might go against it depending on the DMs ruling.
The idea is to combine any or all of the following effects:
Though expensive in the action economy, these don't really cost any resources (except the caltrops). Keeping in mind this is one character, other characters could chime in.
Some resource spenders you could use to complement this are:
For example, the first turn in combat would go something like:
Honourable mention to:
Lance of Lethargy can make Eldritch Blast apply a (once per turn) -10 speed debuff as well, and Grasp of Hadar/Repelling Blast make it a good cantrip for movement bully casters. Spirit Shroud is a very tight 10-foot radius aura… but it also reduces enemy speed by 10 feet for starting there, so a Ray of Frost/Lethargy Eldritch Blast caster using Spirit Shroud can do -20 speed all on its own on one turn with no action economy issues, nice.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Also, Animate Objects can give you ten tiny animated flying caltrops, all of which can be commanded at once as a bonus action every round. Your mileage may vary with how many squares you can caltrop-ify with ten caltrops (in theory you can only fit four of them in one square, so hopefully 2 or 3 squares?), or whether they retain their passive caltrop item effect after they become animated combatants with attacks (I hope so?), but that may be an effective way to move a slowing cloud of caltrops around the field round to round without wasting actions throwing more bags.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Do you know what is the best spell for an Enchanter? Our lovely and humble Invisibility.
Why? Hypnotic Gaze doesn’t require the target to see you, he must be able to listen your charming words. And you know what’s even better? Since you didn’t attack or cast a spell, you are still invisible.
Enchanter Wizards are that impressive.
Remember that Invisible is not Hidden. And if a creature can hear you as you whisper to it, you probably are not Hidden, just Invisible, and can be attacked just like anyone else (albeit with disadvantage).
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
You are 100% correct. That’s why Goblin Enchanter is one of the most powerful Wizards combination out there. Just hide as a bonus action.
You have to continue speaking to the target, which breaks stealth.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Hold person from a spellcaster with a high DC. You really want to shut down a spellcaster try silence on the floor at his feet or the wall right behind him. I had a party with Learal along for support take on Manshoon, his clone and others in one of the Waterdeep modules. A silence spell from a ranger and hold person from Laeral shut the evil mages down. Yes you get a save each round but a series of blown saves isn’t atypical with a high DC.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.