Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Echelon 04-14-07, 07:01 AM	So! I promised somebody I'd do a bit of research on how to cheat death through magic, other than achieving lichdom. I'm posting here because, while it doesn't have to be a Realms specific spell, it is preferable. Basically, what I'm looking for are spells similar to Ioulaum's Longevity and Steal Life (BoVD) -- especially the latter one, since an epic spell is just a bit over the top (though I'd still like to hear about them, if you know of any). Hopefully thanks in advance. :)
The WarOverlord 04-14-07, 08:39 AM	So! I promised somebody I'd do a bit of research on how to cheat death through magic, other than achieving lichdom. I'm posting here because, while it doesn't have to be a Realms specific spell, it is preferable. Basically, what I'm looking for are spells similar to Ioulaum's Longevity and Steal Life (BoVD) -- especially the latter one, since an epic spell is just a bit over the top (though I'd still like to hear about them, if you know of any). Hopefully thanks in advance. :) "Potions of Youth" are potions that prolong life by keeping the drinker young(er) and I have a few PCs that are long retired but are still looking "20ish" though they are much much older. The Potion is a glowing white and taste a little like "Sweet water" 1 potion takes away 1d10 years to a minimum of 18 years old. Catch is that on Toril they are Netherise in origin, and one of the ingredients is "Lich dust" (as in finding and killing a Lich and grinding parts of it's corpse to put in the potion) so it is very hard to find (usually in Netheril Ruins or Dragon Tresure Horde). A even rarer Bluish version of the "Potion of Youth" that not only takes away 1d20 years but the aging process is also retarded to 1 year actual aging for every 10 years passed. Taking the potion regularly not only makes the taker effectively "immortal" and their eyes tend to glow with a slight blueish light.Also Netherise in origin the blueish tinge is from the additional ingredients added to the rarer version of "Potion of Youth" which includes the eggs of a now extinct Giant worm.(They oviously over harvested the eggs) "Potions of longevity" are okay too and more common but unlike "Potions of youth" the "Potion of Longevity" has a chance of backfiring every time you drink it (It may add age instead of taking it away) and it is probably because it is a ass backward modern adaptaion of the latter that has "flaws" in it's design (no lich dust as an ingredient is a possible problem)
Karsus the Mad 04-14-07, 08:49 AM	Living Zombies, from Champions of Ruin are one way, tho' you'd have to learn the process from Aumvor the Undying, his great grandniece Morasha), or former apprentices (Briel). An easy, and dull, epic spell using the transform seed to give yourself the immunity to aging extraordinary ability is prolly the easiest way to go after hitting epic, since it'd be pre-mitigated Spellcraft DC 31. The problem with Ioulaum's longevity, technically speaking, is that multiple castings shouldn't overlap, as per the age extension description in the Fortify seed.
TomCosta 04-14-07, 08:54 AM	To the best of my knowledge, potions of longevity and the like, have not made a non-epic transition from earlier editions of the game to 3E or 3.5E. That said, you could presumably create an elixer or something using gentle repose as your base spell, so a level 5 wizard X a level 3 spell x 50 gp for use-activated gets you 5 days of extra life for 750 gp. Now arguably it should cost more because you're trying to affect a living creature, so let's multiply that by 1.5 for 1,125 gp a pop x 73 (to get to 365 days) gets you 82,125 gp to add a year of to your life. That seems like it might be fair.
Stigger 04-14-07, 08:57 AM	So would that be immunity to aging effects, or actual immunity to aging period?
Karsus the Mad 04-14-07, 09:00 AM	82,125 gp to add a year of to your life. That seems like it might be fair. That would also insure the rarity of it. Not many people can pull 80 grand a year for a longevity cockcail.
Karsus the Mad 04-14-07, 09:04 AM	Btw, what's that steal life spell? How does it work, what level? I've never heard of it.
Stigger 04-14-07, 09:13 AM	Its a pretty elaborate spell, but in a nutshell if you start on the night of the full moon in a place under the effects of a desecrate or unhallow spell (location component of the spell), you deal 1 point of ability score drain per round that cycles through all 6 ability scores before a particular ability can be repeated, each point making the caster a week younger. Once constitution hits zero, the subject dies and nothing else can be drained. 8th level necromancy spell that's closer to a ritual than a spell per se. You can cast it on nights that aren't the full moon of course, but you don't get the age reduction. Nasty piece of work really.
Lady_K 04-14-07, 10:07 AM	To the best of my knowledge, potions of longevity and the like, have not made a non-epic transition from earlier editions of the game to 3E or 3.5E.Though, that doesn't mean there aren't any in the Realms. As Ed told us back in May '05 - Thanks for reminding everyone: yes, there’s still longevity magic in the Realms. Rules changes don’t alter established lore. Even if your PCs can’t find or get potions of longevity, or you as players can’t find them in the rulebooks, it doesn’t mean NPCs in the established Realms (such as Mirt, Durnan, Filfaeril, and dozens more) didn’t find and imbibe (or even store, for future use) them in the past. Rules should never trump accumulated Realmslore (our collective imagined ‘reality’).
Old Sage 04-14-07, 10:22 AM	Of interest also may be Ed's comments on the relationship between longevity magic and certain characters and races. See both his '04 and '05 replies.
Karsus the Mad 04-14-07, 02:39 PM	Its a pretty elaborate spell, but in a nutshell if you start on the night of the full moon in a place under the effects of a desecrate or unhallow spell (location component of the spell), you deal 1 point of ability score drain per round that cycles through all 6 ability scores before a particular ability can be repeated, each point making the caster a week younger. Once constitution hits zero, the subject dies and nothing else can be drained. 8th level necromancy spell that's closer to a ritual than a spell per se. You can cast it on nights that aren't the full moon of course, but you don't get the age reduction. Nasty piece of work really. Thanks Stigger:) Too bad it's more of a ritual. I was thinking of using it for a special "cursed" potion of longevity. The pc purchases (or more accurately, commissions) a mage to brew him a longevity potion. Unbeknownst to the pc tho', the mage has a grudge (or he could just be a vile bastard of course), and brews a potion to leach the life force out of the pc, aging him and giving youth to the mage.
QuenthelsChampion 04-14-07, 04:34 PM	Hrm the only way that i can think of other then the ones already posted. Is the way Halaster is immortal which was using very well worded wish and miracle spells to keep him from dieing. Not exactly sure how he worded them for this effect, but that would be half the fun. Or if he doesn't want to become a lich their is always vampires. QC
Echelon 04-15-07, 04:14 AM	Or if he doesn't want to become a lich their is always vampires. Eh, suppose that's true, but I do believe the idea was to avoid undeath altogether. Thanks all!
Karsus the Mad 04-15-07, 05:17 PM	Becoming a Shade also extends your life, but how far is unknown.
The_Shaman 04-15-07, 08:09 PM	It could be that you find magic that can transfer your soul and powers to a new body, too. There are psionic powers that do that - mind seed and true mind switch, for example.
Zevox 04-15-07, 08:25 PM	If you're human, you could also undergo the transformation into an Elan (presuming your DM uses the race), though you do lose all your levels in the process. Zevox
jwanderer5 04-16-07, 01:50 AM	Can't remember the name of it for the life of me, but isn't there a life extending spell in City of Splendors? Drains spells and intellegence from a target and retards the aging of the caster?
Stigger 04-16-07, 01:55 AM	Ensul's Soul Theft or Soultheft, don't recall exactly which offhand.
Red_Wizard 04-16-07, 08:22 AM	Btw, what's that steal life spell? How does it work, what level? I've never heard of it. Steal life in BoVD is a favourite life extending spell of mine. It's a Necromancy spell, and on any given day, all it does is drain 1 point from each stat every round, and does this evenly until the creature is completely drained (IE: 1 Str, then 1 Dex, then say 1 Chr, and so on). BUT, on a night of a full moon when this spell is cast, every point drained is a week back of life. So basically, drain a goblin once a year, get a year back of life. It is my preferred method over Lichdom, though probably not so for non-evil characters.
Stigger 04-16-07, 08:30 AM	Thinking about it, you could always sift through the old Planescape books and look for the Prolonger sect and convert it to 3e. Think it was in one of the Monster Manual updates... not quite undead, hunted by others, and certainly not FR specific, but it could work. Had some odd limitations though, can't recall them offhand unfortunately.
GothicDan 04-16-07, 08:43 AM	I think in the Planescape Monstrous Appendix Vol. II.
Old Sage 04-16-07, 11:18 AM	Indeed it was... PSMCII. Rip provided an intriguing take on the Prolongers sect here (http://greyhawkonline.com/pitsofevil/v2/YaBB.pl?num=1174968787).
Stigger 04-16-07, 06:37 PM	Hmmm... that link really didn't like my browser.
GothicDan 04-16-07, 07:50 PM	When I click it, it says that I have to sign up for an account. Did something more abnormal happen to you, Stigger?
Karsus the Mad 04-16-07, 07:51 PM	I got an error message...
Old Sage 04-16-07, 08:32 PM	Confound it! I neglected to mention the REGISTRATION requirement for that particular forum. Unless Rip's posted it elsewhere, I'll post a copy here once I've left the library -- I'm not sure I want to keep using this public computer much longer.
Stigger 04-17-07, 01:12 AM	Yeah, totally shut down my browser when I clicked on it. Was a bit startling really... about par for the course today though. But on the upside, I finally got my copy of Dungeon Designer 3 today, so it isn't all bad. :D
Delendir 04-18-07, 03:09 AM	Ensul's Soul Theft or Soultheft, don't recall exactly which offhand. Ensul's Soultheft, I checked. The problem with that spell of course is that only one person in Faerûn has access to it. Still, a great spell in my opinion.
Red_Wizard 04-18-07, 08:45 AM	Ensul's Soultheft, I checked. The problem with that spell of course is that only one person in Faerûn has access to it. Still, a great spell in my opinion. Compared to the one from BoVD it's a terrible spell, and it's 9th level, as opposed to the 8th the BoVD sports ;)
Murmur Maelstrom 04-19-07, 12:14 AM	In Dragon Magazine #354, pgs 50-56, there is an article that describes ancient PCs.. and there is a 9th level spell described therein... Kissed By The Ages. Cheers, MM
Delendir 04-20-07, 01:16 PM	Compared to the one from BoVD it's a terrible spell, and it's 9th level, as opposed to the 8th the BoVD sports ;) As with size, level is not everything. There are several reasons to use Ensul's Soultheft over Steal Life. First, Steal Life requires constant concentration to drain a victim, plus the condition is to cast it during full moon in order to get the age effect. Ensul's Soultheft on the other hand does not require more than a few touch attacks, which are usually not a problem, plus you gain temporary hit points and you can heal poisons and diseases. Didn't do the math, but they are fairly equal in terms of how much they prevent aging. At least if Ensul's Soultheft is used against spellcasters or psions. The material component of Ensul's Soultheft is a bit tough to get, but not insurmountable. And Ensul's Soultheft is more suited for combat situation. So, considering that there is only one spell level in between the two, Ensul's Soultheft is significantly more powerful and useful.
Freethink 04-20-07, 02:36 PM	Becoming a Shade also extends your life, but how far is unknown. Have the details of the magical process to turn an existing character into a shade ever been released ? I figure one could just apply the UA re-build rules to apply the template, but it would still be nice to have some kind of writeup for the process, as it is for liches and vampires.
Karsus the Mad 04-20-07, 02:50 PM	Have the details of the magical process to turn an existing character into a shade ever been released ? I figure one could just apply the UA re-build rules to apply the template, but it would still be nice to have some kind of writeup for the process, as it is for liches and vampires. I don't believe so, tho' I could be wrong.
Braekor Dragonfang 05-02-07, 01:55 PM	since we're talking about longevity, IIRC fiends and celestials are immortal, so would their half offspring or even aasimar/tieflings have an indefinite lifespan? what about genasi and other outsiders/psuedo-outsiders?
The_Shaman 05-02-07, 02:35 PM	I think theirs was extended, at least. What about Half-dragons? Also, an adaptation of Green Star Adept also works (at lvl 10 it basically says you're immortal now), but it might take some time creating a templete out of it and finding a way to apply it.
Echelon 05-03-07, 03:38 AM	I'll go out on a whim and say that, arguably, since half-celestials, half-fiends, aasimars, tieflings, and so on, are (normally) native outsiders, while they may have a slightly extended lifespan, they certainly aren't immortal.
Khaelieth 05-03-07, 07:59 AM	I think there was a feat in Epic Level Handbook. Aside from that, I believe Wish works to a certain extent. Arklem Greeth (or something) has done it, but it will fail after a while. Apart from that, I know two ways. 1) Be a sun elf. We are superior, and we know it. 2) Kill yourself a human every day! Works wonders for the skin!
Armedes 05-03-07, 08:57 AM	Shade Adds a factor of 10 to your age categories (Great RP in trying to get this as you can be any number of darker groups that make a deal with the shade for the benefit...) You could have a rogue ally (or anyone with Use Magic device) purchase a scroll or 3 of Reincarnation, this can extend your life quite a bit. If you have the resources use a wish to denote what you come back as before hand. Find a way (yourself or another mage) to make you a new body (Golem, warforged, etc...) and a way to transfer your soul to that body.