Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AaronDireBear 07-11-07, 03:38 PM	I am creating an epic level NPC, essentially the Mordenkainen or Elminster of my homebrew world. He trains by fighting epic level monsters that he himself has created. Problem is I need to make the epic spells rules-legal. So here is my main idea: Create an Adult Stage Force Dragon to be a good match against a level 30+ Wizard, use other factors in casting and avoiding XP costs like the plague. He is already nigh immortal due to his dwelling permanently on the Astral Plane, so time isn't an issue. Fighting Githyanki got boring after he killed the Lich Queen thrice (who just ended up regenerating each time anyway, due to him not bothering to find her phylactery), so he decided he wanted tougher foes to keep him occupied in his long solitude. Er I should explain, he wishes to remain alive so that he never forgets the mistakes he made in the past. Which is why he fled for the Astral Plane. He has been alive for 500 years or so. Before anyone makes any snide and annoying cracks about retroactive aging upon leaving the plane: #1 I houserule against that BS #2 He has an epic spell to protect him against that anyhow #3 I can't actually find that rule ANYWHERE in Manual of the Planes or Planar Handbook...so no cracks about retroactive aging! He already has leadership and enough followers to make up a pool of mages (The hidden Arcane city of Tol Mystranar is actually inhabited entirely by his followers, his cohort, his cohort's cohort, his cohort's followers and so forth and so on), in order to acquire enough "spell slots" to cast his epic spells. Spellcraft DCs are therefore of little issue to him. But my question is, exactly HOW do you reverse engineer a Force Dragon using the fortify, life, and conjuration seeds? I am pretty sure I have natural armor and possibly damage reduction figured out, iffy on hit dice, and definetly no bloody clue on Ability Scores and spell-like abilites, or immunity for that matter. Here's What I Have So Far: Adult Age Force Dragon Seeds: conjure +21, life +27, fortify +17 45 Hit Dice: +225, 44 Natural Armor: +88 Str 51: +?? Con 37: +?? Int 38: +?? Wis 39: +?? Cha 38: +?? Dragon Type: +?? Breath Weapon: +?? DR 15/epic: +?? Deflecting Force: +?? Immune to Force: +?? Resilient Sphere: +?? Blur: +?? Wall of Force:+?? Caster Level 18: +?? SR 39: +?? Especially odd that any permanent increase to abilities must be inherent and inherent caps out at 5...(kinda ganked considering everything else scales to infinity....) so using the fortify seed doesn't seem to work here. So how would I go about making this spell? Keep in mind he has a large pool of followers to help mitigate the spell's high DC. For those of you wondering "why would a bunch of people want to just help this guy keep casting epic spells to create dragons?", its out of loyalty when it comes to the 12 highest level casters (Known as the Zodiac Circle), and for the majority of all the others the monthly casting of epic spells is cleverly disguised as rituals performed during festivals. Only ones who advance to 15th or higher are given knowledge of his existance, and they are sworn to an epic geas never to tell anyone.
Far_Traveler 07-12-07, 05:09 PM	Well, I don't know how to help you, but on retroactive aging... The Danger of a timeless plane is that once one leaves such a plane for one in which time flows normally, conditions such as hunger and aging do occur retroactively. A character who hasn't eaten for ten years on a timeless plane might be ravenous (though not dead), and one who has been "stuck" at age twnty for fifty years might now reach age seventy in a heartbeat. Look at the bottom of the first column on the Page. But otherwise, It occurs to me that this really isn't a good idea, your trying to make an arbitrarily powerful NPC fit the rules, when you could just as easily handwave such a thing.
Potato_Dragon 07-13-07, 03:11 AM	Here's a way to avoid retroactive aging - it's a 2nd ed Planescape spell, though it could easily be adapted for 3rd. OUT OF TIME'S GRIP sor/wiz 4th (alteration) Range: Touch Area: 1 Creature Duration: 1 hour/level Casting time: 4 rounds Spell Components: V, S Saving throw: None (harmless?) Basically, as long as the spell lasts, the target is immune to retroactive aging due to leaving the astral (and one would presume other timeless planes as well, though the spell description only mentions the astral.) If the spell ends or is dispelled while the target is not on the astral, they immediately suffer retroactive aging as normal.
NightBreeze 07-13-07, 10:11 AM	Well, if he can manage any spell DC, why do you care about building the spell?
AaronDireBear 07-13-07, 08:26 PM	I care because I want to use the seeds properly... I hate handwaving, I really do. I also dont quite understand how I can get the ability scores up or how much the DC is If you cant say something cosntructive towards creating my spells DONT REPSOND! Rude ass people lecturing me on how bad an idea it is that is SO GOD DAMN ANNOYING! The next post and ALL POSTS from nowe on HAD BETTER BE CONCRETE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO GET THIS SPELL TO WORK! Vector H. Sigma! This spell will also help me create other "monster creation spells" that a 21st level caster could conceivably cast. The NPC is level 40, the force dragon spell explains HOW he got to level 40 without leveling the material plane. I dont like just arbitrarily making someone uber, I prefer to make it within the rules of the game. Just because HE doesnt care doesnt mean I dont fuggin care! I want the spell to be LEGAL by the EPIC SPELLCASTING RULES! I dont care if the DC is OVER 9000, I just want to know WHAT IT WILL BE AND HOW IT GOT THERE!!!!
Tomkin 07-13-07, 10:11 PM	Use the FORTIFY SEED to increase the BASE ABILITY SCORES! The base DC is 17 +2 PER POINT OF ABILITY INCREASE! For example, Wis 39 = +29 points, or DC 17+2*29 = SEVENTY-FIVE! Base abilities are 10 PLUS SIZE MODIFIERS! So a FORCE DRAGON'S BASE DEX would be 10 -2 -2 = SIX! As the OoS:A spell gives the creature OUTSIDER TYPE without any adjustment, I doubt that the DRAGON TYPE would prompt any DC ADJUSTMENT EITHER! As for the breath weapon, the BOOK says to add the DC it would require IF IT WERE AN EPIC SPELL! The same goes for the OTHER SLA/SnA's! But if the ability is SUPERNATURAL OR EXTRAORDINARY, you have to DOUBLE the DC MODIFIER! SR can be applied using the FORTIFY SEED! The SAME goes for DR!!Granting spell resistance to a creature that doesn’t already have it is a special case; the base Spellcraft DC of 27 grants spell resistance 25, and each additional point of spell resistance increases the Spellcraft DC by +4 (each -1 to spell resistance reduces the Spellcraft DC by -2). <snip> The fortify seed can also grant damage reduction 1/magic. For each additional point of damage reduction, increase the Spellcraft DC by +2. To increase the damage reduction value to epic, increase the Spellcraft DC by +15. CL 18, though, is A BIT TRICKY! I'd put it at AROUND +5/CL, or +90!! Don't forget to MULTIPLY BY 5 because of the PERMANENT DURATION!!!!!!!! HOPE THAT HELPS!!!