How many spells can an Octapus Mage cast per second?

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Shostak

That's what Pentagram is for.

Pentagrams aren't as effective as an entire underground village with all narrow passageways except for one megahex.

A greater demon can only tunnel a few inches in the minute she has available and can't teleport where she can't fit.

Why doesn't she teleport off to puree the goblin king? Because the goblin wizard doesn't know where the king is.

[Shostak]

How is that more effective than a pentagram?

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Shostak

How is that more effective than a pentagram?

Every pentagram fails 4.63% of the time.

[Shostak]

What about catacomb cave-ins? Flooding? Gas explosions?

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Shostak

What about catacomb cave-ins? Flooding? Gas explosions?

<shuddering>

Once lost 2 of my favorite PCs in one turn that way, fighting a demon in a tight cave system. The rest of our well-armed, veteran party, lead by a powerful wizard (and all run by veteran players) took heavy casualties too. A bloody mess, and that was with winning. And that was up against "only" a Lesser Demon to boot.

<still shuddering>

[Shostak]

I stand by, and sometimes in, the humble pentagram.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Shostak

I stand by, and sometimes in, the humble pentagram.

That won't save your apprentices from the gas explosions.

My fix is to train them to never stand directly behind the demons.

[Kieddicus]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Every pentagram fails 4.63% of the time.

That is why you always take the extra turn to try and throw a missile spell through it first.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Kieddicus

That is why you always take the extra turn to try and throw a missile spell through it first.

Interestingly enough, according to ITL 159 such a test wouldn't mean a thing if used on a permanent pentagram, because the roll is made each time a new attacker goes against the pentagram. So even when it holds against the test attack, a demon summoned afterwards could still break it. That's interesting because it's not consistent with the pentagram spell itself on ITL 29. The temporary pentagram only has to survive the first attack, to prove it was drawn correctly in the first place, after which it is good to go for the remainder of its existence.

Seems a bit off that the permanent pentagram should be less resilient than the temporary one. Perhaps "freshness" counts?

[hcobb]

The balance errata would go here at ITL 29:

[When each figure makes its first attack against the pentagram,] "the wizard who drew it must make a 3-die saving roll against IQ to see if he drew it correctly."

Alternatively the GM can rule that only the first hostile attack forces the roll.