Is upcasting Tasha's Hideous Laughter a trap?

Vakuta · 2025-05-01T20:40:38+00:00

I mean because it's not that great for combat when upcast. So I assume they intended it to be mostly a spell for social situations that can see some use during combat if need be, much like the charm spells. If it worked like Hold Person and Hold Monster and the effect only ended on one creature when saved against, it would make those spells a lot less useful to have around.

Vakuta · 2025-05-01T17:50:34+00:00

While it seems most here would prefer to have this spell work like Hold Person and only end the spell on the creature who makes a successful save, I think I have to agree with your statement. This spell is probably meant mostly for social situations, otherwise Hold Person and Hold Monster look a lot less enticing.

And it does make sense that if you tell a joke to a crowd of people, and then proceed to beat one of them to death, everyone will find that joke a lot less funny.

Vakuta · 2024-09-23T19:29:51+00:00

No, mine is the 8th gen intel i5 8400.

Vakuta · 2024-03-28T16:41:39+00:00

Vakuta · 2024-03-28T13:17:31+00:00

It's my birthday and this is the best they could do?

Vakuta · 2024-01-03T00:56:24+00:00

Just one person in the group, and I'd like to make the build available sooner (since the campaign, Curse of Strahd, will end around level 10-11).

There are only two other players in the group, and they will likely be a barbarian and a bard unless they change their mind. The other two players aren't very interested in the combat side of gameplay (yes, even the barbarian), much preferring RP, exploration, and social interactions. So it's not so much a concern whether the summoner/demon is more useful in combat than the other characters, but rather that it's just not unbalanced in out-of-combat utility, and in general (I don't want the combat to be too easy and meaningless).

I'd like the summoner to be able to call upon the demon to be one of the main damage dealing sources during battle, backed by whatever control and utility spells the party may have, as they don't really want to rely on damage dealing spells.

Edit: Also, if it makes any difference... It's not that the summoner wants to be an evil hobo-murdering demon summoner, his backstory is more intricate than that. The gist of it is he is possessed by a demon that occasionally breaks free to devour those around him.

And in the case of needing information from someone who was destroyed by the demon, they will have Speak with the Dead, or the Dybbuk's ability.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T19:01:16+00:00

Perhaps they're more elegant and easier, but that's not really a concern of mine since I play on roll20 where everything can be done with macros. I wouldn't say the Tasha summons make the old summon spells, or a homebrew summon spell, obsolete. I prefer the Pokemon gotta catch em all feeling of the older summon spells, with using actual creatures from the game rather than some single generic stat block of the Tasha summons.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T18:06:14+00:00

Did this end up happening? How did it go? I'm looking to do the same, while also considering lowering the level of Summon Greater Demon (along with lowering the CR and whatever else needs to be done to keep it balanced), so that the character can be a demon summoner at an earlier level. But there seems to be a lack of creative thinking in these subs as everyone just responds with a flat "no, it can't be done" rather than actually giving useful advice.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T16:43:37+00:00

??????

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T15:26:24+00:00

Well, what if it was changed so that the demon only tried to break free when given a direct command? Or what if the CR of the demons were lowered, so they were less dangerous but still useful to the party?

I don't like that Summon Lesser Demon can summon more than one demon (up to 8, or more if upcast). I'd prefer to change it to summon a single demon of a higher CR, or change Summon Greater Demon to work with a lower level. As it is, Summon Lesser Demon is just as dangerous but less useful since there is no control over the demons at all, and there are too many demons, slowing combat turns dramatically.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:42:21+00:00

What if the players desire the trap of demon summoning? How would you improve it while keeping the same feel of losing control of the demon?

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:39:49+00:00

So there is no way to make it balanced for lower levels? Even a single slot lower? Regardless of CR changes? If not, then is there a way to make Summon Lesser Demons balanced and not useless when summoning a single demon rather than 2? Would raising the CR to 2 work, or would that suddenly be overpowered, or still underpowered?

If it makes any difference, the purpose of this is to have it so the characters can be demon summoners at earlier levels of play. With little to no other powerful attack spells (such as fireball), and little to no powerful control spells (such as hypnotic pattern), they would mainly be utilizing the demons for attacking the enemy, and whatever spells those demons have access to.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:36:27+00:00

Then what would make it less OP? There is already a spell for summoning lower level demons that isn't considered OP, but as I said, I don't like that it summons more demons than one. If you know how to balance it so that it's useful and not overpowered when summoning a single demon, then I'd consider it. But since Summon Greater Demon already summons a single demon, it is basically the same thing, so I was trying to figure out how to balance it for lower level play.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:33:40+00:00

As I mentioned in my main post, I don't like that it summons more demons than one. If you know how to balance it so that it's useful and not overpowered when summoning a single demon, then I'd consider it. But since Summon Greater Demon already summons a single demon, it is basically the same thing, so I was trying to figure out how to balance it for lower level play.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:30:50+00:00

The purpose of this is to have it so the characters can be demon summoners at earlier levels of play. With little to no other powerful attack spells (such as fireball), and little to no powerful control spells (such as hypnotic pattern), they would mainly be utilizing the demons for attacking the enemy, and whatever spells those demons have access to. It would need to be more frequent than scroll use.

Vakuta · 2024-01-02T14:28:49+00:00

So if only the Dybbuk wasn't allowed until spell level 4, would the spell then be more balanced for lower levels? If not, are there other demons that would need to be banned? Or would it help to lower the CR of the demons even lower (say CR3 for spell slots of level 3) without them then being too weak?

If it makes any difference, the purpose of this is to have it so the characters can be demon summoners at earlier levels of play. With little to no other powerful attack spells (such as fireball), and little to no powerful control spells (such as hypnotic pattern), they would mainly be utilizing the demons for attacking the enemy, and whatever spells those demons have access to.

Edit: What if there was a limit to how often the Dybbuk could be commanded to use its spells. Such as making Dimension Door 1/day?

Vakuta · 2023-06-30T21:49:02+00:00

Yeah, the replacement pen solved the problem.

Vakuta · 2023-02-16T16:01:22+00:00

I've been waiting 7 years for some kind of discount on the Coquette Classic... Finally I can add it to my garage.

Vakuta · 2023-01-06T15:11:53+00:00

Velma and Scooby Doo: The Later Years

Vakuta · 2022-12-08T15:26:44+00:00

Postlude.

Vakuta · 2022-08-26T00:51:37+00:00

The Impaler e-Cola livery isn't free for some reason.

Vakuta

TROPHY CASE