D&D 5E 20th level Sorcerer vs the world

[Benjamin Olson]

Spell mastery: longstrider (cast hourly on him, sim, and mounts), Tasha's Mind Whip.
Signature spell: Hypnotic Pattern, Bestow Curse.
Prepared spell list on the day of the fight (for the wizard, on the day of the fight): longstrider, tasha's mind whip, feather fall, absorb elements, crown of madness, dispel magic, haste, dimension door, hypnotic pattern, resilient sphere, mental prison, otherwordly form, fireball, power word stun, freezing sphere, ravenous void, planeshift, teleport, dark star, demiplane, imprisonment, timestop, wish, chain lightning, time stop.
[plus Suggestion (racial) Animal friendship (racial)]

I believe you have 25 prepared spells listed (though I counted 6 times, and got 26 two of the times). Timestop is listed twice, and you don't need to prepare Hypnotic Pattern, as it is one of your 20th level signature spells. So by my count you are entitled to prep 2 more spells.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I don't see why you would even bother preparing spells when you're not allowed to take a turn.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I believe you have 25 prepared spells listed (though I counted 6 times, and got 26 two of the times). Timestop is listed twice, and you don't need to prepare Hypnotic Pattern, as it is one of your 20th level signature spells. So by my count you are entitled to prep 2 more spells.

True. Thank you for this vigilant check. Too bad for the Wizard, sloppily preparing less spell than he could. Will it be the cause of... HIS DEMISE (turns to camera, ominous look, background sudden music).

 

[prabe]

Sorry to have mentioned your name wihtout consulting with you before, as the winner of the last fight this would have been a fitting prize. But I also feel any ruling will get disrespected anyway by one of the contestants anyway

Don't worry about it. Seriously. At this point I don't think I expect the OP would accept me as DM for a duel, considering past results with me as his opponent. The fact I don't want to is ... not entirely relevant.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

We could do a DMless, randomness-less match where every dice produces average result, advantage or the ability to choose among dice is treated like a +5 on a D20 (which is statistically the same...) and so on. That would eliminate the need for a referee, except for rule disagreements.

 

[prabe]

We could do a DMless, randomness-less match where every dice produces average result, advantage or the ability to choose among dice is treated like a +5 on a D20 (which is statistically the same...) and so on. That would eliminate the need for a referee, except for rule disagreements.

Since the sorcerer's build is based at least in part around manipulating the dice--both Trance of Order and Magical Guidance do exactly that--this would seem likely to screw him over. Otherwise it's a reasonable solution, though @Sabathius42 did volunteer for the thankless task this time around. Maybe they have a VTT they're planning to use.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Since the sorcerer's build is based at least in part around manipulating the dice--both Trance of Order and Magical Guidance do exactly that--this would seem likely to screw him over. Otherwise it's a reasonable solution, though @Sabathius42 did volunteer for the thankless task this time around. Maybe they have a VTT they're planning to use.

I'd say that Trance of order is indeed quite powerful in that it ups the average of a d20 to 15.75 unless I am mistaken. Magical Guidance as far as I know allows a reroll, so that's the equivalent of having advantage (throw two dice, select the best). But I agree that calculations could be difficult to check.

 

[prabe]

I'd say that Trance of order is indeed quite powerful in that it ups the average of a d20 to 15.75 unless I am mistaken. Magical Guidance as far as I know allows a reroll, so that's the equivalent of having advantage (throw two dice, select the best). But I agree that calculations could be difficult to check.

I'm an English major, but it seems to me that Trance of Order makes the most common roll 10. The average would be 15 (or 15-point-something possibly) but the median roll would still be in the 10-11 range.

Ish?

I'm ... not a huge fan of mechanics that obscure probabilities, probably because the math is difficult for me and I'm reduced to something less intellectual.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

If I ran it, I would do it double-blind AND not start in melee. Part of the sorcerers cheese is building up 5 minutes of spell prep AND always getting to attack without retribution. There is no reasoning to believe the sorcerer is going to be the one to be "stalking" the wizard and be able to do that unless they actually find a way to do so with the build they proposed. If someone had an Ethereal wizard, lets say, the sorcerer would have no target to attack. In fact, if both builds are super stealthy they will never even fight because they couldn't find each other to do so.

 

[prabe]

If I ran it, I would do it double-blind AND not start in melee. Part of the sorcerers cheese is building up 5 minutes of spell prep AND always getting to attack without retribution. There is no reasoning to believe the sorcerer is going to be the one to be "stalking" the wizard and be able to do that unless they actually find a way to do so with the build they proposed. If someone had an Ethereal wizard, lets say, the sorcerer would have no target to attack. In fact, if both builds are super stealthy they will never even fight because they couldn't find each other to do so.

That would arguably be the best way to run it. Probably more than once.

Of course, you're asking the sorcerer to establish how he sets the terms of the fight, which he's never adequately done, to my knowledge, so I don't predict acceptance.