How do I counter Dimension Door?

[Dren Nas]

I've got a psion in my campaign who is power gaming pretty hard.

I want to reel his power in a bit, but I'm not sure how to exactly. This weekend he turned into a blink dog and DDed himself out of a certain suicide attack.

I want to know if there is anyway I can stop him from chain casting DD or negating the effects?

Is dimensional anchor the only way?

The BBEG is level 13. (Probably going to buff him to 15+)

What item would be realistic for him to have to lock down that kind of BS?

[Troacctid]

Part of why Dimension Door is so powerful is its reliability. If you can make your Concentration checks, it's very difficult to stop you from using it without specially prepared countermeasures to block teleportation. (And for the Blink Dog ability, you don't even need the Concentration check.)

The simplest and most effective countermeasure available to PCs is probably Anticipate Teleportation, but only Wizards are likely to have it available natively--anyone else would need to get it from an item. It also only blocks incoming teleports, not outgoing teleports, and its range is limited to a 5 ft/level radius around the caster, so it's not perfect. If the BBEG is a Wizard, it's highly plausible that she would keep an Anticipate Teleportation spell active; if she's not a Wizard, she's unlikely to have it unless she's especially paranoid.

An even more effective countermeasure that works well for NPCs is to dimensionally lock your base, either with the Dimensional Lock spell or with wondrous architecture that duplicates it for the entire base. This is a high-level effect, so it should only be used for exceptionally high-security areas. It's also wise to include a way to bypass it--typically, I like to work a special clearance bracelet into the spell, so that anyone wearing the bracelet ignores the dimensional lock. This means the players can't teleport in or out, but the bad guys can...unless the players figure out how it works and steal a bracelet, in which case you made them work for it, they get to feel clever, and fun is had by all. Another option is to have an actual physical object powering the dimensional lock spell. As long as the dimensional lock engine is running, dimensional travel within the area is impossible...but if the engine is sabotaged or destroyed, teleportation becomes possible again, in which case you made them work for it, they get to feel clever, and fun is had by all.

[Beheld]

1) Casting Dimension Door in combat is mostly meaningless.

2) As far as getting in and out of locations, you have to know where you are trying to get in and out off, so just building a nonstandard dungeon mostly negates it.

3) Metamorphasis "but do not gain the extraordinary special qualities possessed by the new form (such as blindsense, fast healing, regeneration, and scent) or any supernatural, psionic, or spell-like abilities."

Blink Dog: "Dimension Door (Su)
A blink dog can teleport, as dimension door (caster level 8th), once per round as a free action. The ability affects only the blink dog, which never appears within a solid object and can act immediately after teleporting."

So... follow the rules? Turning into a Blink Dog with less than Shapechange doesn't allow you to Dimension Door.

[Troacctid]

3) Metamorphasis "but do not gain the extraordinary special qualities possessed by the new form (such as blindsense, fast healing, regeneration, and scent) or any supernatural, psionic, or spell-like abilities."

Blink Dog: "Dimension Door (Su)
A blink dog can teleport, as dimension door (caster level 8th), once per round as a free action. The ability affects only the blink dog, which never appears within a solid object and can act immediately after teleporting."

So... follow the rules? Turning into a Blink Dog with less than Shapechange doesn't allow you to Dimension Door.

He probably had the Metamorphic Transfer feat. It's pretty standard for Egoists.

[Zanos]

There are countermeasures for this, and quite a sizable number, but I'd like some more explanation of why you think using teleportation is super power gamey and is causing such a problem. A more thorough recounting of the suicide attack would be useful, to start.

I ask because dimension door, or really short range teleportation in general, isn't usually seen as that big of a deal. It does enable some tactics some people consider unconventional and does let casters bail on situations that might result in their death, but I consider that preferential to people just dying and having to re-roll new characters, even when I am DMing. If they're running away from their enemies, they also aren't actually accomplishing their goals, just living to fight another day.

It's usually when people get to 5th level spells/powers that GMs start having a problem with teleportation skipping entire sections of travel they had planned out.

I did mention usually, because I believe it takes a very specific feat to get a blink dogs power at such a low level, and the feat in question is generally regarded as being one of the more powerful feats in the game. This particular use isn't as bad as I've seen people do, but I'd keep an eye on anyone with that feat.

[Beheld]

He probably had the Metamorphic Transfer feat. It's pretty standard for Egoists.

While I absolutely had no idea that exists, I notice that it also gives him three uses per spell... So... Yeah, back to plan "Who cares, he can only do it three times, and all it does is let him get through walls that he knows the exact dimensions of, so just don't build dungeons that he knows the exact dimensions of."

[Crake]

Part of why Dimension Door is so powerful is its reliability. If you can make your Concentration checks, it's very difficult to stop you from using it without specially prepared countermeasures to block teleportation. (And for the Blink Dog ability, you don't even need the Concentration check.)

The simplest and most effective countermeasure available to PCs is probably Anticipate Teleportation, but only Wizards are likely to have it available natively--anyone else would need to get it from an item. It also only blocks incoming teleports, not outgoing teleports, and its range is limited to a 5 ft/level radius around the caster, so it's not perfect. If the BBEG is a Wizard, it's highly plausible that she would keep an Anticipate Teleportation spell active; if she's not a Wizard, she's unlikely to have it unless she's especially paranoid.

An even more effective countermeasure that works well for NPCs is to dimensionally lock your base, either with the Dimensional Lock spell or with wondrous architecture that duplicates it for the entire base. This is a high-level effect, so it should only be used for exceptionally high-security areas. It's also wise to include a way to bypass it--typically, I like to work a special clearance bracelet into the spell, so that anyone wearing the bracelet ignores the dimensional lock. This means the players can't teleport in or out, but the bad guys can...unless the players figure out how it works and steal a bracelet, in which case you made them work for it, they get to feel clever, and fun is had by all. Another option is to have an actual physical object powering the dimensional lock spell. As long as the dimensional lock engine is running, dimensional travel within the area is impossible...but if the engine is sabotaged or destroyed, teleportation becomes possible again, in which case you made them work for it, they get to feel clever, and fun is had by all.

another alternative would be forbiddance, it's 6th level, so more easily accessible, though it does have some material costs, and has the added benefit of damaging intruders you don't like.

[Troacctid]

another alternative would be forbiddance, it's 6th level, so more easily accessible, though it does have some material costs, and has the added benefit of damaging intruders you don't like.

I knew I was forgetting one. Yeah, Forbiddance is excellent and makes a lot of sense if you have a high-level Cleric defending an area.

[Firest Kathon]

You can also use Pathfinder's Teleport Trap spell, which redirects all teleportation into or out of the area into a convenient location - say a holding cell or such. It's even on the list of the Trap cleric subdomain, so very fitting for e.g. a Kobold lair.

[GreyBlack]

1) Casting Dimension Door in combat is mostly meaningless.

Unless Pathfinder is on the table. Gotta love 800 foot pounce attacks.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Unless Pathfinder is on the table. Gotta love 800 foot pounce attacks.

Telflammar Shadowlord does it too, in 3.5. Requires a bit of investment, of course, but very pouncy.

[Beheld]

Unless Pathfinder is on the table. Gotta love 800 foot pounce attacks.

He's put at least 7 levels into Psion. I don't know how it is in Pathfinder, but in 3.5, that means his pounce attacks are going to be pathetic.

[MisterKaws]

Have your BBEG make a contract with a denizen of the Demonweb via Planar Ally or whatever, now cast a planar bubble on him, enlarged by some means. I doubt your player can TP out of a place where teleportation is literally forbidden by a god.

[Brassthorn]

... I want to know if there is anyway I can stop him from chain casting DD (Dimension Door) or negating the effects?

What item would be realistic for him to have to lock down that kind of BS?

If your BBEG doesn't rely on teleportation effects for his own escapes, one option is that he's located his lair (or boss room) in area with naturally occurring anchor mists (Dungeonscape, p 140). It pretty much acts like a dimensional anchor for anyone standing in the mists.

You could also give him an item of bottled air to keep his own space free for escape if he does use teleport/planar effects.

It's much easier to justify than the expense of a forbiddance or dimensional lock over the whole area.

[Willie the Duck]

Teleportation in general is one of the banes of DMs. DD in general is not so bad. It's just a convenient escape from a specific location. It likely doesn't even get the caster out of "the dungeon."

That said, there are plenty of rule-based fixes, but there's also simple DM fiat. Just like a certain location can be too windy to fly to justify not having the magic user evade all problems with a fly spell (see early Gygax adventures), certain places can simply have a natural disruption of teleport effects. Think of it as a simple plot contrivance like they have on Star Trek episodes when they want the transporter not to negate the episode's entire plot. PCs complain? Simply say they don't have to go to that location, it's simply the one most conducive towards achieving their goals.

[Psyren]

"Areas of strong physical or magical energy may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible." As Dim Door is a [teleportation] effect, you can extend this clause to that too. This doesn't mean you should keep it from working entirely, but you can give it a trade-off such that the PC is more willing to try other options first.

[Beheld]

He gets three uses, if he doesn't know the dungeon's layout, that's not enough to do much of anything. You don't need to cast 6th level spells with material components, or 8th level spells, or find a place with anchor mists.

Just don't hand him a map of the entire complex, and then he can DD three whole times and end up in some random location (likely within the stone areas inbetween carved out areas) and be separated from the party.

Or he can only use it for the shortest hops to locations he can already figure out, and he can totally bypass 3 whole walls!

[Solidarity]

Since you've got a psionic character, throw things at the party that deplete power points. Traps especially do the trick due to psions lacking rogue-like trap handling abilities. Really, you could put anything into a trap as a DM. Do a bit of research as to what effects you want to plug into which kind of trap and attack his power point reserve. With traps, he likely won't see them coming, and there usually isn't an initiative rolled just yet. Find a way to make it so traps go off whenever he's in position to be effected. Glyphs of Warding, psionic (Psion/Wilder lvl 3), are great ways to do this. You could have the trigger be similar to "activate in the presence of a person with psionic abilities and target them primarily". He might think twice about wasting it on teleporting. Also, be thankful he's not playing a Nomad.

[ksbsnowowl]

Anchor Mists and the Forbiddance spell were already mentioned, but there are other options, too.

Dimensional Anchor
Dimensional Lock
Otiluke's Suppressing Field (CM) tuned to Conjuration spells.
Halaster's Teleport Cage (CoS:W)
Trobriand's Baleful Teleport (CoS:W) seems much like the pathfinder spell someone linked to.
Energy Transformation Field (SpC) shuts down the ability to activate any sort of magic, and instead fuels it into another spell. Trobriand's Baleful Teleport seems like a good option. Greater Plane Shift is another option, placing the victim in a specific spot on another plane.

Also, the Weirdstone from ... Player's Guide to Faerun? can shut down teleportation effects entirely, within a 2 mile radius.

The lair of a creature in the 3.0 adventure Bastion of Broken Souls has an effect pretty much exactly like the Teleport Trap pathfinder spell linked earlier in the thread. It just doesn't give a spell reason for how it came to be. It just describes it as an "in-place dungeon feature."

The Divert Teleport psionic power (XPH) does exactly what the Teleport Trap pathfinder spell does, but has a shorter duration (140+ minutes, even so) and is centered on the caster. Dungeonscape p. 139 mentions how to turn it into a trap (basically giving some base mechanics for the dungeon feature from Bastion of Broken Souls).

[Crake]

He gets three uses, if he doesn't know the dungeon's layout, that's not enough to do much of anything. You don't need to cast 6th level spells with material components, or 8th level spells, or find a place with anchor mists.

Just don't hand him a map of the entire complex, and then he can DD three whole times and end up in some random location (likely within the stone areas inbetween carved out areas) and be separated from the party.

Or he can only use it for the shortest hops to locations he can already figure out, and he can totally bypass 3 whole walls!

He's using it to escape otherwise certain doom, not bypass all the obstacles in a dungeon, as long as he knows where "safe" is then obfuscating the layout of the dungeon does nothing to solve the OP's particular issue.

[Beheld]

He's using it to escape otherwise certain doom, not bypass all the obstacles in a dungeon, as long as he knows where "safe" is then obfuscating the layout of the dungeon does nothing to solve the OP's particular issue.

Then who cares? It's isn't a suicide attack if he has a way out, and not being dead is usually a good thing for PCs.

"How can I make sure that my PCs die?" is not something I would understand ever asking.

[ksbsnowowl]

"How can I make sure that my PCs die?" is not something I would understand ever asking.

Yeah, using it to short-circuit grapple monsters is a good way for the player to feel he is getting mileage out of his feat choice, while only providing a means of escape, not a means to defeat the monster (though escaping a grapple monster will certainly make the encounter easier).

I've taken an interest in this thread because several of my players' characters just got at will teleport abilities (they are level 12).

The Druid got Exalted Wildshape (unlimited free action dimension door while in blink dog form), the wizard picked the teleportation reserve feat, and the warlock chose Flee the Scene as his newest invocation. The very same session, it saved their rears from an iron maw. Good for them.

[icefractal]

The BBEG is level 13. (Probably going to buff him to 15+)

What item would be realistic for him to have to lock down that kind of BS?

If the PCs are high enough level to have any chance against a 15th level BBEG, then they're high enough level that teleporting around is business as expected, not any kind of "BS". Escaping out of 'certain death' is what D&D characters do! If you want a game where characters get surrounded and just say "well ****, I'm dead then", then you want low-level D&D, or perhaps a different system.

[ericgrau]

Dimensional lock or forbiddance important rooms. Other than that ddooring away to flee is par for the course and carries the disadvantage of no longer attacking. Plus foes might follow him via scrying and so on.

If you don't mind optimizing a bit more then anticipate teleport is a pretty evil thing to do to teleporters.

[Crake]

If the PCs are high enough level to have any chance against a 15th level BBEG, then they're high enough level that teleporting around is business as expected, not any kind of "BS". Escaping out of 'certain death' is what D&D characters do! If you want a game where characters get surrounded and just say "well ****, I'm dead then", then you want low-level D&D, or perhaps a different system.

And likewise having defenses against "business as expected" would be only sensible for a 15th level BBEG, wouldn't you think? Hence the purpose of this thread.

[icefractal]

Sure. But that's not how the OP is phrased, at all.

"power gaming pretty hard"
"turned into a blink dog and DDed himself out of a certain suicide attack"
"lock down that kind of BS"

That sounds more like the DM want to kill the PC so he won't have to deal with "BS" like 10th+ level characters being able to teleport.

[Apricot]

We probably shouldn't be looking at this player in a vacuum. Sure, the build by itself might be totally fine and reasonable, but if he's using it to just outperform the entire rest of his party, there's a problem. The OP has identified the problem as the use of Dimension Door, which may or may not be accurate. If it is, then directly addressing DD will bring the player back in line with the rest of the group and keep things equal. Of course, this is just my supposition of what's happening.

Maybe the best way to summarize this thread's advice is: "Yeah, there are lots of ways to stop DD. Use any teleportation-forbidding magic, and you're in the clear. But hey, DD isn't usually all that devastating, are you sure it's causing problems? Maybe the encounters are too easy to kite, or maybe expectations need to be adjusted to permit a daredevil psion."

[ericgrau]

Besides expecting teleportation to be standard fare for high level play, also create plot based challenges where something or someone is in danger and you can't just leave if you want to save it.