D and December 2017: Week 4 - Day 7(Belated)

 7- Your Favourite Spell/Item

Tongues/Speak with animal.
Creating RP where there was SUPPOSED TO BE COMBAT!
Making me RP a horse talking to another horse
Talking to the Reaver & Shepherd Greygulp instead of a climactic fight.
13 Ninjas & a TIGER! But now the tiger's on our side!

As a long time player & GM, spells/items are like children. There are far too many, and some are fun, but others just shit themselves and you are glad they're not yours.

One of note that seems to get great mileage however is anything that grants the ability to speak with animals/monsters.
 
In RP scenarios, this is an obvious winner. Speaking to the tavern cat, asking a noble stag of the forest, etc. But one of note in my games, is when a soldier's mount seemed to be wasting away after it's rider had perished. The druid then asked her horse to talk to it, and try to cheer it up. As the GM, I was forced to RP two horses, one of which had PTSD, talking to each other. It was the most solemn yet ridiculous thing I can think of in game.
 
It's also great for DEFLECTING combat into RP. For example, because the PC's knew almost EVERY language, had the Tongues spell, and had befriended/been adopted by a major monster NPC, ended up tricking the enemy monster into just running away. No clever ruse, just some really good rolls and the ability to speak to it.
 
And of course, IN combat as well! I had set up a large ambush for some mid-range characters, they were in the company of an equally powerful allied NPC, so I'd asked a friend, "how many ninjas do I throw at them?" He replied, "thirteen. And a tiger!" So, I built 13 ninjas to the CR of the group, plus a tiger, that I dropped into the middle of the room, 3 rounds into combat. The ranger proceeds to turn to the tiger, make a silly-high handle animal check to calm it somewhat, casts "Speak with Animal", and tells it to "attack anyone in all black, and we'll help get you home." It agreed, of course, having a count of 5 killing blows!

D and December 2017: Week 4 - Day 6(Belated)

Week 4 - Magic, Items, and Enchantment

6- Forbidden Knowledge



“Oh yeah, well I have detect Asshole”
“Is the bread evil?”
We killed the shit out of that evil door, and when we saw those huggy bears crest that twisted hillock, we showed no mercy.
Were they evil? Undoubtedly. Did we check? No.

Over the course of a 9 month campaign many things came to light that were previously though unspeakable, such as when we met a paladin NPC who questioned the moral fiber of our rogue with "I have detect Evil you know, I could tell if you're good or not." To which the rogue replied, "Oh yeah, well I have detect Asshole”.

Later on down the trail, we'd added a Paladin of our own and a cleric, who also made judicious use of "Detect" spells & abilities. Dubious of some the inanimate objects themselves in a particular malevolent BBG's lair, his kitchen to be exact, there was muttered, “Is the bread evil?”
 

Fast forward again, to an in-between elemental plane. Confronted with 3 doors, one of Law, one of Chaos & one of Evil(We checked, 3 divine casters confirmed, it was "eat babies, Evil.") As such, we proceeded to kill the shit out of that door. We then saw, through the now empty frame, a grey landscape of despair and maltrecense. When suddenly, two vile creatures, who had the form of Care Bears, came skipping & singing, paw in paw, over the crest of a small, damned hillock. We knew what we had to do. Bravely, our Psionic proceeded to Ego whip one of them with such acuity that it was driven to impulses of self destruction. Tossing a crossbow bolt was adequate to vanquish the abomination. The other, visibly shaken by the way we handled it's compatriot, begged for mercy to be sent the way of the other of its ilk. We were all too ready to oblige. Mercifully valiant. To this day, we remember that terrible test, and ask " Were they evil? Undoubtedly. Did we check? No."