D&D 5E 20th level Wizard vs the World

[Helldritch]

The Aberrant Mind Sorceror has more spells known than The Wizard's prepared spells and still metamagic.
Are you sure about that?

100% Your sorcerer is stuck with his spells. Not the wizard. We're talking about the master of the world here. He will know the whole spell list. He got the funds of the entire world for that. All your little things would not last against the wizard. But I am tired to argue with you. You're simply too focused on the sorcerer to see its drawbacks. Stay in your world of sorcerers.

 

[Hohige]

100% Your sorcerer is stuck with his spells. Not the wizard. We're talking about the master of the world here. He will know the whole spell list. He got the funds of the entire world for that. All your little things would not last against the wizard. But I am tired to argue with you. You're simply too focused on the sorcerer to see its drawbacks. Stay in your world of sorcerers.

Yes, lol.
Omg, that Wizard know The whole spell list. That is terrifying! Master of The World Ironic

 

[GSHamster]

Let's look at this question from another angle.

In any given setting, there are several nations who are major powers, and generally keep each other in check. If one nation got a single 20th-level wizard, would that be enough to defeat and conquer its rivals?

Quite possibly the answer is yes, especially if the nation manages to keep knowledge of the wizard secret for long enough to prevent the enemies from forming an alliance.

Imagine if Napoleon Bonaparte had the services of a 20th-level wizard. I think he would have won his wars.

 

[Helldritch]

A few parch of metor swarm will clear large swats of units in the opposing force. A few death fogs will do the same. A timely wall of force ockong a cavalry charge can and will turn the tide of a battle in favor of the side with the 20th wizard. Imagine a few 12th level apprentices/simulacrumd armed with such scrolls, invisible and ready to teleport around the battle field. The amount of victims such a set up could do is staggering. I know, we ran enough battle systems to see that with 7th level apprentices doing this for high level characters and scrolls of fire ball. 12 such apprentices were enough to clear 24 units ( 240 soldiers) in two rounds of combat. That was almost a quarter of the opposing force before they even started to act...

Ok it was 1st edition. But the point stands nonetheless. Our wizard in 5ed could and will be able to pull off the same feat without sweating.

 

[Hohige]

A few parch of metor swarm will clear large swats of units in the opposing force. A few death fogs will do the same. A timely wall of force ockong a cavalry charge can and will turn the tide of a battle in favor of the side with the 20th wizard. Imagine a few 12th level apprentices/simulacrumd armed with such scrolls, invisible and ready to teleport around the battle field. The amount of victims such a set up could do is staggering. I know, we ran enough battle systems to see that with 7th level apprentices doing this for high level characters and scrolls of fire ball. 12 such apprentices were enough to clear 24 units ( 240 soldiers) in two rounds of combat. That was almost a quarter of the opposing force before they even started to act...

Ok it was 1st edition. But the point stands nonetheless. Our wizard in 5ed could and will be able to pull off the same feat without sweating.

No. They can't.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Seriously though, just cast wish. Rub the lamp and tell the genie within, "I wish to immediately, permanently, and peacefully rule the world."

If it works, it means the DM will allow world domination by the characters, and is willing to develop plot arcs and adventures around that idea.

If it doesn't work, nothing will. No combination of character classes, spells, and feats are going to twist the DM's arm and convince them to develop plot arcs and adventures around your "global domination" idea.

There's some truth to that, but DMs will allow campaigns that they will not allow to be solved by a wish. If the same player just cast Wish and said "I wish the big bad was instantly defeated, the world was saved, and we all had all the loot and XP we would get if we actually did it the hard way" most DMs wouldn't allow this without some serious monkey pawing, because they and everyone else at the table presumably want to play the final campaign arc rather than just end it by cheesing the Wish spell. Similarly if you had a DM actually interested in in running a conquer the world campaign then they presumably want to run it and see how it plays out rather than just say "okay, world conquered".

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Imagine if Napoleon Bonaparte had the services of a 20th-level wizard. I think he would have won his wars.

While a single Wizard could turn the tide in battle after battle, Napoleon's invasion of Russia was the sort of grand logistical failure that a character with spells mostly built for a skirmish combat based game system would not be able to solve.

Given the Napoleonic wargaming roots of D&D though, I think a 5th editiion campaign where high level characters join his army and singlehandedly rewrite world history is weirdly brilliant though.

 

[Oofta]

I gotta say, when I read the opening post my immediate thought was a level 20 wizard taking on the modern Earth in 2021. And I was thinking that poor wizard wasn't going to last long unless he kept his head down.

Nuke him from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

 

[Helldritch]

Nuke him from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Nope, he already wished that nukes stopped working. Hell, he could even create zones where gunpowder would not work. So many possibilities...

 

[CleverNickName]

While a single Wizard could turn the tide in battle after battle, Napoleon's invasion of Russia was the sort of grand logistical failure that a character with spells mostly built for a skirmish combat based game system would not be able to solve.

Given the Napoleonic wargaming roots of D&D though, I think a 5th editiion campaign where high level characters join his army and singlehandedly rewrite world history is weirdly brilliant though.

Here's some inspiration: