[3.5] Spell negating manacles

[Flail_master]

hey guys, i was thinking recently, in my campaign i will be including bits where the team are split up, and i wanna inconvenience these guys, put em in dire situations and the such, and there is a spell caster, i want to basically make him use his knowledge of hiding and the such to get through a situation in the desert, and preventing his spell use would obviously make this happen, so i was wondering, are there wrist bands or manacles (without chain) of some kind which basically negate all spell casting and is this too over powered or unfair?

i would imagine it being a rare item, expensive to make or only few existant as an artifact...

what help can you give me oh wise playgrounders?

[Ernir]

Antimagic Shackles, Book of Exalted Deeds. They cost 132k gold.

[Ranos]

Why not use normal manacles ?

I guess antimagic shackles are alright. It is a **** move, but when he gets rid of them, the PC gains a nice magic item in return.

[Flail_master]

Antimagic Shackles, Book of Exalted Deeds. They cost 132k gold.

ah, thankyou very much :) forgot bout antimagic :P

and in response to Ranos, he has a few spells which dont require somatics or speaking, wanna prevent all spells

[AvatarZero]

Antimagic is a pretty high level effect (as evidenced by the price tag on those manacles). If you're running a high level game, then that's probably fine (although you might run into the issue of the wizard just chopping off his arms and getting access to Regenerate) but if you aren't then you could accomplish "no casting until you achieve a workaround" in another way.

Trap collar, deals killing damage if you cast a spell. Could be pretty cheap. Workaround by disarming the trap (presumably the wizard himself can't do that, but even if he could maybe he'd need help because of the position).

Ordinary manacles, made of something hard to break, such as Adamantine. They'd only be able to cast spells without somatic components (the WotC page for the Eldritch Knight prestige class has a list of core spells that don't have somatic components). I like the idea of a gagged helmet, a la The Man in the Iron Mask, but I'm not sure there are any arcane spells that don't require verbal components, which makes things a bit harsher. Still, that way you could have a situation where the wizard is being helped by a long standing enemy without them knowing, which would be fun. Workaround would be finding something that can break Adamantine without breaking the guy inside it.

Just not having access to his spellbook for a prolonged period. He'll have one lot of spells (whatever he had prepared before he lost the book), and possibly spell mastery, but that's it. Workaround could be getting the book back, but maybe he'd need to start a new book instead.

Mark of Justice or Geas. MoJ is probably more fun, because you'd still have the option of crippling yourself if you really needed to cast a spell, but then it might not be powerful enough a deterrent. If the curse from MoJ reduced INT, then depending on your wizard PC's stats he might be able to cast any one high level spell, then be reduced to lower level ones (INT 18, curse for -6 INT, can only cast 2nd level spells). Workaround... if you haven't been reading the comic then I don't know how to talk to you.

As long as you give the player a clear way to get out of their situation, there's a decent chance they won't think it's unfair and will just be able to enjoy the new challenge. Best of luck with your game.

[arguskos]

On the WotC site, like 5-6 years ago, there was a pair of artifact manacles that were basically the best thing to trap a creature EVER. However, in their rush to purge their archives, they seem to have deleted that old article. They were made of mithril, I think, and magically strengthened to be nigh-unbreakable. They were immune to all magic and generated an anti-magic field, and when you targeted them with anything (an attack, magic, whatever), they blasted you with like 20d6 non-lethal electric damage, to knock you out so you couldn't escape.

I can't find them though, which makes me pretty damn sad.

[Milskidasith]

On the WotC site, like 5-6 years ago, there was a pair of artifact manacles that were basically the best thing to trap a creature EVER. However, in their rush to purge their archives, they seem to have deleted that old article. They were made of mithril, I think, and magically strengthened to be nigh-unbreakable. They were immune to all magic and generated an anti-magic field, and when you targeted them with anything (an attack, magic, whatever), they blasted you with like 20d6 non-lethal electric damage, to knock you out so you couldn't escape.

I can't find them though, which makes me pretty damn sad.

Cut off your arms, cast regenerate, make a massive profit.

[arguskos]

Cut off your arms, cast regenerate, make a massive profit.

The manacles also came in pairs, with a mithril chain treated just like they are connecting each pair. This chain was typically run through a massive pillar or something, with each creature the manacles were holding on one side of the pillar.

So, yes, you could, but then again, you've got to get the other dude out (and he might not be a big fan of that) and then get the pillar out of the way (and it was stated they often used load-bearing supports for this, to increase the chances no one would try that).

Note that I didn't make up any of this, the designer of the item and the author of that article did. And they were bastards.

[Milskidasith]

The manacles also came in pairs, with a mithril chain treated just like they are connecting each pair. This chain was typically run through a massive pillar or something, with each creature the manacles were holding on one side of the pillar.

So, yes, you could, but then again, you've got to get the other dude out (and he might not be a big fan of that) and then get the pillar out of the way (and it was stated they often used load-bearing supports for this, to increase the chances no one would try that).

Note that I didn't make up any of this, the designer of the item and the author of that article did. And they were bastards.

Err... why do you have to get the other guy out? And why does the pillar matter? You just chop your arms off, chop the chain so that the manacles are off (unless the chain isn't at all out of the pillar, in which case you'd only need to shave a bit off the pillar to see the chain), and then stilled X away and regenerate. At best you'd be unable to take the manacles with you, if they're so well attached to the load bearing pillar; you just leave and ignore the pillar, in that case.

[arguskos]

Err... why do you have to get the other guy out? And why does the pillar matter? You just chop your arms off, chop the chain so that the manacles are off (unless the chain isn't at all out of the pillar, in which case you'd only need to shave a bit off the pillar to see the chain), and then stilled X away and regenerate.

If you wanted to steal the manacles. Remember that attacking the chain with anything blasts you for massive amounts of non-lethal damage (I think it was 20d6 and it was electric, but don't quote me). Actually taking the manacles is pretty hard.

Oh yes, for getting out, that's totally fine.

[Soras Teva Gee]

You could also make up something lesser then anti-magic to discourage the casting. Like manacles enchanted to deliver a poison should you attempt to use magic while in them.

Though I'm not sure what spell lacks verbal and somatic components that would help you escape an empty stone chamber. Though that wouldn't stop a Sorcerer with proper leveling, spells and feat selection for the occasion. Or possibly a Wizard with even more preparation. Roll the dice on whether the player considers escaping binding a likely enough scenario to prepare for.

[Flail_master]

Thanks everyone for the advice and ideas

in response to Soras, i shall just straight out say why i need these and tell the guy not to visit this thread.

basically, he's a derro, and i plan to plant him in the middle of the desert at one point, but of course i need to overcome his sorcerer spells AND his ability to cast darkness when he wants, it will be escapable, but i need him to feel in danger, no spells, no darkness to hide himself from damage in the sun.

so there ya go and thanks again guys

[Khellendross]

I had a parasite the size of a fly that was a evil outsider that cut magic off the person it was inside and would use the magic of the creature to empower it's own spells like non-detection and mind blank so that others can't find it easy to remove it. Not to simple to cut off your hands and get regenerated back.

[Soras Teva Gee]

basically, he's a derro, and i plan to plant him in the middle of the desert at one point, but of course i need to overcome his sorcerer spells AND his ability to cast darkness when he wants, it will be escapable, but i need him to feel in danger, no spells, no darkness to hide himself from damage in the sun.

I get ya. Yeah for that anything less then you just can't and he may say damned if I do, damned if I don't.

[Flail_master]

I get ya. Yeah for that anything less then you just can't and he may say damned if I do, damned if I don't.

lol so you see where im coming from

so yeah i know im DM n all and i can just make some items of my own, or some weird reason of my own but i dont wanna just be like 'no, cos plot depends on it' so yeah help be appreciated, which has been provided :)