How do you handle Magic Circle in your game?

[Stalker0]

I'm curious to know how people use magic circle in the "metaplot" of their game.

I have found magic circle to be the most powerful ritual my party has...from a scale of its power compared to its level. With an easy arcana check, my party can ensure that no creature can bypass the circle (including themselves by the strict reading of the ritual) nor can creatures attack through it. Its the ultimate form of protection.


3e has your permanent walls of force in the like, but nothing like magic circle for its low level availability.

In my game I've allowed the dispel magic power to erase magic circle for some passability. I've also set up some circles that were low enough level that my party could pass them without damage.

However, when I think about it, honestly in a world where lots of classes can learn rituals, I would think this ritual should be everywhere, binding against undead if nothing else, or perhaps shadow creatures and the like. For example, a city with some wizards could easily make their borders completely immune from an attack by shadow creatures or undead in literally a day or twos time.

However, there is a way to beat that. An undead army could have a few living people whose soul (hehe soul) job is to run at the circle, and break it. So there are good reasons that wouldn't work.

This is what I'm curious to hear more about, what tricks do you use so that ritual has its proper power but isn't seen in every shop and corner of the world.

 

[spinmd]

This ritual hasn't come up in my game yet, but I think the fact that it could affect the PCs as well (by the strict reading), and the fact that you have specific origins that you can pick from (so you couldn't protect against undead which have multiple origins, unless you chose ALL), would mean that it wouldn't be a big deal in my game.

I guess I will see once my party decides to master the ritual.

 

[Regicide]

In my game I've allowed the dispel magic power to erase magic circle for some passability. I've also set up some circles that were low enough level that my party could pass them without damage.

Aid another might be another way of doing it. Enough peons working together could get their level high enough to go through. As a house rule obviously.

Also it's a circle... flying over or burrowing under could be options if your PCs keep insisting on using it. Natural disasters like a tree falling over and obscuring it, etc. etc.

However, when I think about it, honestly in a world where lots of classes can learn rituals, I would think this ritual should be everywhere, binding against undead if nothing else, or perhaps shadow creatures and the like. For example, a city with some wizards could easily make their borders completely immune from an attack by shadow creatures or undead in literally a day or twos time.

Different edition. Heroes as staggeringly powerful as PCs are extremely rare.

 

[Ryujin]

Cost and effectiveness are the typical limiting factors. At low levels that 100gp per casting is going to hurt. I've got books full of rituals, but have to be very careful when and how I use them because of the costs involved.

It takes an hour to cast the ritual, after taking one minute per square that it includes. It isn't very often that you get to choose your battleground in this game.

Then there's the "check-10" rider. You had better have pretty good skill in Arcana. Most of the fights that we've had involved creatures that were 2, 3, or 4 levels higher than us. My character has a massive Arcana skill, but that is balanced by my remarkable consistently bad rolling. Don't let the caster take 10.

(Casting "Undead Ward" has 1/3 the cost and the same effect )

 

[Flipguarder]

If you max out arcana, and have 4 people help you who all roll above 10 can you create a magic circle that would inhibit orcus from entering at lvl 30?

 

[Greatwyrm]

This is a good ritual, but I can think of some reasons its not the best thing ever.

For starters, its still 100gp. Chump change for an adventurer, but a lot of money by anyone else's measure.

Also, time is a factor. Its not something you can just whip up. An hour of regular ritual time, plus a minute per square. For small circles, that's not bad, but it must be a circle. Assuming your town fits in roughly a football field, that'd be about 26.5 hours of set up. Doable, but still three days' work, assuming about 8 hours at a shot.

Another big one is that if you're in the circle, being protected from something outside the circle, you just put yourself in a siege. That undead army doesn't need to break the circle. They have all the time in the world to wait for you to get hungry. Demons or other evil creatures would probably just start executing or torturing innocents until you decided to come out.

 

[Stalker0]

If you max out arcana, and have 4 people help you who all roll above 10 can you create a magic circle that would inhibit orcus from entering at lvl 30?

A 10th level wizard with some 4 assistants and a great roll could make the Anti Orcus barrier.

 

[Flipguarder]

A 10th level wizard with some 4 assistants and a great roll could make the Anti Orcus barrier.

I have such a large problem with that its not even funny.

 

[Regicide]

A 10th level wizard with some 4 assistants and a great roll could make the Anti Orcus barrier.

Unless you can block Orcus from being able to teleport, the circle doesn't do a whole lot.

 

[Flipguarder]

tarrasque then, its just as irritating and stupid imo.