Saturday, February 5, 2011

Dungeon Tactics - "The Bathysphere"

A Bathysphere is a character with good armor class, hit points, and saving throws; a Dwarf with a few levels under their belt and magic armor is an excellent candidate, especially with their Infravision. If you have a 3rd level Magic-User, throw an Invisibility spell on the Bathysphere.

The function of the Bathysphere is to serve as an "Iron Scout"; whereas conventional dungeoneering scouting wisdom involves the use of a stealthy character, the problem with using a Thief for scouting is that they usually have crap hit points, leather armor, unreliable stealth skills, and usually require some form of light source - the result being that when a thief style scout inevitably encounters monsters or a trap they have a fair chance of ending up dead.

In contrast the Bathysphere is durable, a tough bugger that has a good chance of surviving traps and encounters; and if the monsters or trap are especially lethal, the Bathysphere dies instead of the entire party. Whereas the traditional Thief scout can be a tissue paper pinata, the Bathysphere is a freaking Bomb Disposal Robot.

While dungeoneering, the group that I play in has utilized Dwarven Bathyspheres to great effect...instead of a cowering, fragile Thief scout they're highly effective as bold, confident, durable scouts; whereas sending a Thief on a solo scouting mission can be a callous gamble, the Bathysphere has a damn good chance of making it back with the intel and/or loot in one piece.

9 comments:

  1. BlUsKrEEmFebruary 5, 2011 at 7:02 PM

    I use simular tactics when playing, however I go the Halfling rout in my LL games. The Halfling can tank with the best of them, but the initiative and ranged bonus are ideal for situations where you need to hold the enemy off till help arrives, and if things look to hot stealth at least gives you a chance. Halfling as a class gets a bad rap, but I think it's because people are playing them wrong.

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  2. BlairFebruary 5, 2011 at 7:05 PM

    Depending on the edition, Halflings can have amazing saving throws combined with decent stealth, hit points and armor class...an obvious Bathysphere candidate!

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  3. netherwerksFebruary 5, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    Plus you can always lob a Bathysphere-dwarf in full armor throw obstacles and over walls with a small, portable catapult...

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  4. Greyhawk GrognardFebruary 5, 2011 at 9:31 PM

    Of course, he's going to trigger all the traps, where the lighter character at least has a chance to avoid some of them. Of the two, I'd not want to be him. At least in my game.

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  5. C'nor (Outermost_Toe)February 5, 2011 at 11:39 PM

    Good stuff! I'll have to think about them some more. On a tangent, I made a Mutant (http://planetalgol.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-mutant-character-race-more.html) for this. What do you think of him?

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  6. thekelvingreenFebruary 6, 2011 at 3:45 AM

    We use a monk. Hit points aren't great, but the armour class and saving throws are very good, and his ability to find traps is better that of the thief we had in the party.

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  7. trollsmythFebruary 6, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    Excuse my ignorance, but where does the name come from?

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  8. BlairFebruary 6, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    @ Joseph: Well, in some editions of D&D Dwarves have some degree of ability to find stonework traps; although the dungeons I've used the Bathysphere tactic in have been pretty trap-light.

    @ C'nor: Awesome...Gecko Freak!

    @ kelvingreen: Yes, a Monk with a few levels under their black belt makes an excellent Bathysphere candidate.

    @ trollsmyth: A Bathysphere is a heavily reinforced submersible designed to survive crushing deep sea pressures:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathysphere_%28vessel%29

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  9. BlairFebruary 6, 2011 at 4:32 PM

    Actually Bathyscaphe may be a more accurate term:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyscaphe

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