I recently picked up EZD6 and really love how light and flexible the system is. I’m a long veteran of role playing games, so the concept of Circles of Sorcery is a familiar one - a generalized category that lets you produce specific effects on the fly. I can see where this feature, while wonderfully flexible, could give some players pause.
Today I started thinking about: What all can you do with each circle? I came up with ideas for each that I want to share here and get some feedback. Some of the ideas may stray a little outside the basic description of the circle, so don’t hesitate to point out whether you believe it to be a fair estimation or not. For this post, I’m starting with Arcane Bands.
Arcane Bands
As written, the conjurer can move and grab things that are near, within 30 feet. Moving a man is easy while moving an elephant is difficult. So what else can you do with them?
- Grab one or more things and move them. This is an extremely versatile ability.
- You could move an enemy off a ledge and make them fall.
- You could drop an enemy into a hazardous area - a pool of water, lava, vat full of toxic yuck, etc.
- You could whip an object at enemies to do one strike of damage like a ranged weapon.
- You could lift a heavy object and drop it on enemies.
- You could grab an enemy’s weapon and pull it out of their hand (claw?). Very good use if the enemy has a dread weapon of some kind.
- You could pull out a rope or support holding a small bridge and cause it to collapse with enemies on it.
- You could give an ally an item, like a potion, without having to move to them.
- You could push enemies in melee away from you so you can move.
- You could pull yourself up a sheer surface by wrapping around a rafter, tree branch, large boulder, etc. Nothing says the thing you move can’t be yourself, as long as the distance is near.
- You could catch a falling ally.
- You could grab items that you can see, but can’t reach. They might be behind a barred gate, outside a prison cell, or in a tunnel too small to enter.
- You could lift items off an enemy, like a ranged pick pocket. This would be hard to do without being noticed.
- Ensnaring an enemy. This ability is pretty cut and dried as far as what you can do with it, but there are a few alternative uses. Since keeping something ensnared requires anchoring, you can only do one thing at a time.
- Ensnare an enemy. This temporarily takes an enemy out of action, but also makes it vulnerable to the attacks of allies. Ensnaring a dangerous enemy should give your allies a boon to attack it, at least until it breaks free.
- Ensnare a portal. Portal in this case means doors, gates, portcullises, and so on. You could bind a door shut to block reinforcements or delay pursuit if you’re trying to run away.
- Securing something. There’s a deep drop to cross and the rope bridge is cut. Use the bands to pull it back over and bind it until you can cross. Did you just drop a barrel over an enemy? Bind the barrel shut so they can’t get out.
That’s what I have for Arcane Bands. Let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Mark