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

[Gammadoodler]

I am notoriously bad at remembering exact spell names.

No worries, given the context, it seemed like it might have been intentional

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Part II: THE HUNT.


Three days later, Alfred was under his porch, quietly observing Butler packing the snow in human-sized stacks. It was still July but Alfred had petitionned the Council of Elders -- the eldest and wisest residents who advised the Mayor, essentially consisting of Liches and a few elve who comprised the more transient members. The Council supervised the terrain and structures in Foggy Bottom for a patch of land covered in snow just behind his blossoming garden. He's been burning through Butlers recently and acquiring the snow was complicated in summer... But the governing body had been supportive of his effort to locate and castigate the Butcher of Binky, so his request was processes quickly and forwarded to the Illusionist Guild for quick implementation. The Illusionist Guild was composed of an unknown number of Wizards, all called Kosh and all having the same appearance. Some said the guild was just one guy, but it was heavily discussed. What wasn't discussed was the Guild's ability to surround the craggy valley in which the village was surrounded by a dense mist, which discouraged many traveler to visit and helped keep the village quiet. If you wanted the excitement of the big city, you went to Candlekeep or teleported to one of the large metropolis of Toril.

He had been doing absolutely nothing over the past days, just tending to his garden, because apparently the Unknown Assassin was taking a long time between two attacks. That was strange; Sorcerer often bragged about their ability to cast spell non-stop, but this one was like the first-level wizard of the 3rd Edition: a few round and poof, they needed to go to sleep. Alfred was of two mind regarding that period... Of course he was happy to have access to more flexibility in his spell preparation, but he felt envious when he read the stories of the Great Wizards of Old, who could concentrate on several spells at the same time or have Chained Contingencies on them or cast Permanency... All that without having to resort to strange Glyphs of Warding as is done today... Alfred longed for some action, so he was relived to hear the chime of his pet Invisible Stalker.

"wooooooosh shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wooooooooooooooooosh shwoooooooooooooooosh", said the Inviisble Stalker.
"157 miles, 13° 17' 43" W from the full south, you say?" repeated Alfred "That's in the Cloud Peaks... Most probably our quarry planeshifted "in view of Foggy Bottom" and appeared on a rock near the mountaintop. From there, you could actually see Foggy Bottom through a telescope..." Alfred knew that because he had tried planeshifting back to the village when he was younger, and he remembered that the magic spirit appointed by Mystra to oversee planar travel was a former real estate agent, who had a very broad acception of the word "view". "He'll have to walk for two or three weeks before reaching us again... if he lacks the magic to select a precise destination, our best defense is to force him to retreat to his bastion and rest... his entire existence could consist of leaving, walking for a few day, being defeated and retreating... without ever reaching his destination" Alfred realized the Invisible Stalker wouldn't answer him, his spirit only focussed on tracking his quarry.

So Alfred decided to send a message to the unknown sorcerer, so he'd keep out of Foggy Bottom.

On Monday, Alfred visited the Illusionist Guild and communicated the position of the advancing sorcerer. Kosh scried the general area, not targeting the sorcerer in particular, then teleported there. He then cast Mirage Arcane to take control of the terrain over a range of 1 mile. Knowing he had teleported north of the known location of the Sorcerer, he created a structure on his south, namely a large floating castle, which he turned real for one minute. One minute was ten rounds, enough for a heavy object to fall 5,000 ft, when gravity asserted its control over the newly real, no-longer-floating castle. "Ouch" thought Kosh, it must hurt." So disappeared the DMM and the Simulacrum and most of the summoned units, crushed by a freaking falling castle (18d10 damage) [hey, it's in the DMG, who knew the example in this table would see actual use in play?]

On Tuesday, Kosh inquired about the Sorcerer's location and turned a large area he was in into a bottomless pool of lava. Since it was suspected he'd be on foot this day, it would probably drown in it (18d10 damage, again).

On Wednesday, Kosh was barred from participating. Silverleaf, the local level 20 druid, had expressed extreme displeasure over 1 square mile of wildlife being suddenly roasted. So Alfred asked a friendly Transmuter to take his turn having fun. Knowing the location of the Sorcerer and plotting his moves on a map, it was trivial to teleport 1,000s of feet in front of him, along his probable path. Turning, thanks to Animate Object, 10 pebbles into animated pebbles with blindsense, that would attack the Sorcerer at +6 would ruin the Sorcerer's day. Especially fun was the fact that 5th level spells could be cast 8 times day, for a maximum 80 rounds of stoning by 10 pebbles. That's 8,000 potential damage (800d6+3,200), easily beating that lout Illusionist performance.

On Thursday, Alfred decided to actually do something about the Sorcerer problem and resolved to create a Simulacra loaded with Teleport (to get on the path of the Sorcerer), Greater Invisibility (to position oneself freely if needed), fireball and Dark Star. Readying an action to cast as soon as the Sorcerer enters range (as calculated by the Invisible Stalker), the spell has a good chance of taking out a surprised sorcerer (no action on the first round meant no Dashing, hence no possibility to be outside the range of the spell which prevents from casting verbal spells. 2 rounds during which to pelt the area with upcast fireballs, the old fashioned way before teleporting back. It wouldn't kill the sorcerer necessarily (a mere 22d6+16d10, save for half), but Alfred could make that happen twice, each day. Life would be tough for the advancing sorcerer. He would be blasted six ways to Sunday.

The next week, apparently, the Sorcerer abandonned the idea of attacking Foggy Bottom, instead appearing in densely populated places, probably trying a smear campaign, spewing lies about Wizards being dangerous people. It would be the best time to go for the kil...

 

[Earth2Carnifex]

The only thing Kosh would say after dropping a castle on the sorcerer is, "Reality is what I say it is.".

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

On Thursday, Old Zalariel knocked at Alfred's door. Butler 436 ushered him in.

Zalariel: "I want to have a turn at blasting the sorcerer to smithereens."
Alfred: "No."
Zalariel: "Everyone is doing it! Why can't I?"
Alfred: "First, you're quite old" -- diplomacy was never the Wizard's forte -- "and you could be injured."
Zalariel: "I am not old, I am an ELF."
Alfred: "Second, you are under-optimized. Frankly, Zalariel, your build is subpar and I fear you could actually be defeated by the Sorcerer."
Zalarial: "That's Archmagus Zalariel for you, young one, and it has been since 9th level. Why do you say I am not optimized?"
Alfred: "You took proficiency in STR save throws insteand of an ASI! And everyone knows only 7 spells calls for a STR check!"
Zalariel: "At the time, there was no fancy 'feats' as you call non-weapon proficiencies these days. Nonetheless, I am a level 20 Wizard, like everyone else here!"
Alfred: "And what a Wizard. As your Spell Mastery, you took UNSEEN SERVANT!"
Zalariel: "It's the most powerful spell in the universe! It has the destructive power only Wish can approach."
Alfred (rolling his eyes): "I'd like to see it... I'll let you make a try, but please, at least send a Simulacrum instead of going yourself."
Zalariel: "That's why I intended to do. What do you think? I was there when they INVENTED scry-and-die."

So, Zalariel's Simulacrum Teleported (7th) to the general area, while mounted on Zalariel's Greater Steed, with the Invisible Stalker. He took to the sky, far above perception range and asked the Stalker to position himself right above the Sorcerer. Then, he wished for a sack of rice worth 25,000 gp under him. Since rice cost 1 cp per pound, the spell created 2,500,000 pouds of rice in a huge sack. The object couldn't be more than 300 ft in any direction, which aligned nicely with the cost created given the density of most rice variety, proving that Mystra had given careful considerations on the limits of the spell. Then he teleported back home, wondering if the Sorcerer, if he had survived the falling object damage, could actually drown in rice by RAW.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

The only thing Kosh would say after dropping a castle on the sorcerer is, "Reality is what I say it is.".

I get the feeling that a Master Illusionnist would make any fight look like fights in the Dr Strange movie, where the participants bend reality to create cover, stairs and so on. I'd like to narrate a fight like that in tabletop situation...

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Part III : THE KILL

A few days later, the bell ran again. Apparently, the Mad Sorcerer had left his retreat, warded at the maximum of his possibilities against all kind of attack. The previous poundings had made him wary. Quickly consulting on maps, Alfred saw he was moving toward the Friendly Arm Inn. "It was a wise choice to start rumour-mongering as the Inn was a popular stop along the Sword Coast, so many merchants and travellers could propagate the rumours as far as Luskan in the North and Calimport in the South.", reflected Alfred while shooting his pipe -- along catnip and tea, Alfred also grew tabacco in his garden.

Alfred Teleported to the Inn, along with his Invisible Servant and his trusty Butler, whose number this day was 438. They took a room and waited for the sorcerer to arrive and make his impassionate speech about Wizard being a threat to peace, a very convincing story involving lava eruptions, rice tsunamis and hostile pebbles that were enchanted to attack anyone passing along the Lion's Way;

Alfred took the stairs down to the common room, no longer followed by his servant. Stories of being twins could only go so far, and he wouldn't want a looney buying the conspiracy theories against wizard to stab him in the back. He knew security was tight at the Friendly Arm Inn, so he wasn't overly concerned about petty thief. He nonetheless made sure not to make his expensive, golden and gem-incrusted reliquary was in view of everyone and kept it into a tote bag.

Alfred sat at a table, ordering a beer. The crowd was aghast at the narration of wizards turning people into toad and feeding them to their pet serpents, which was what happened to the population of whole villages according to the Mad Sorcerer. Apparently, he was quite charismatic and slowly was convincing people of his lies.

The Sorcerer had been doing his speech for several minutes now and he was sure he wasn't in a transe of order at this point, having probably exhausting his sorcerous power at this point if he was under the habit of always keeping it up. Plus, there was absolutely no reason to be extra suspicious at this time. He was in a crowd, and a new murder attempt would only confirm his crazy conspiracy theories to the onlookers. He was as safe as he could be from any attack.

It was time to strike... Alfred never liked to leave the comfort of his cottage, let alone Foggy Bottom, and he longed to get back already. One beer was enough! He mentally ordered his Butler to exit the reliquary and possess the on stage sorcerer. Sitting at 60 ft of him, he'd use Convergent Future -- he'd really need at some point to move through time and space and thank Agamoto, the founder of his school, for his work -- to ensure failure at the saving throw.

Commanding the Simulacrum to Teleport home, he ended the hate speech mid-sentence, leaving a flabbergasted audience. Alfred did the exact same thing, rejoining with his servant. He was in possession of a Sorcerer-shaped Simulacrum and the soul of his quarry was within a Magic Jar. If the Simulacrum died within 100 ft of the reliquary, the Sorcerer would be free again. Eventual demise of the Butler was inevitable, if only by the force of habit, as Alfred would certainly cast a new Simulacrum without thinking... So he gagged and bound the Sorcerer's body commanded his simulacrum to fail Imprisonment saving throws, containing him into a small gem. Then, he ended the spell, releasing the soul of the Sorcerer from the reliquary... and back to the Minimus gem. Escaping the frying pan to get into the fire. He needed to both make sure the Sorcerer wouldn't escape AND that he could keep casting Imprisonment. The threat of the Mad Supremacist wasn't enough to commit any definitive resource.

So he opened the door to a nondesript Demiplane, barren of anything, where he dropped the gem. Over the next 30 days, a Simulacrum of his cast Private Sanctum within the Demiplane, whose size was under the area covered by the Sanctum, blocking all form of planar travel and teleportation. On the last day, Alfred perceived the quizzical mental probe of his Simulacrum, who realized he was trapped alongside the gem by his own spell within the demiplane. Alfred reassured him it was only a temporary nuisance, before casting Simulacrum again.

Should Alfred cast a Minimus Imprisonment again in the future, the Sorcerer would be free, but still gagged and bound so unable to dispel the magic preventing any ally of his to help him. He could theoretically still be Gated away, but as he never divulgued his name to anyone, this possibility of escape was forever closed to him.


Well, so, what's the next Sorc? Aberrant Mind?

 

[Hohige]

Now that it is agreed that Initiative is rolled whenever an hostile action is taken, that surprise works according to the D&D rules and that the Sorcerer is unable to maintain his Mind Blank over him, his copy and his DMM over the whole day (because unless presented a regular way to achieve that, I deem it's impossible and I am, so far, unchallenged), we can resume our regular defeating of sorcerers.

PART I: THE INVESTIGATION.

Alfred opened the door to his lab. He was undertaking a long-term quest, because nothing in Troddle's testimony made it clear the Butcher of Binky was often on the Material Plane. His attempt to locate him could take days or even month. He was, however, equipped. On a lectern nearby he had put an arcane grimoire of eminent utility: the Complete Mordenkainen Tome of Trekking. This book contained all the spell devised by the famous spellcaster: the Magnificent Mansion, when one needed to splurge, but also more mundane effects to improve the camper's quality of life: the Fantastic Fridge, the Breathtaking Bathroom and of course Mordenkainen's Tantalizing Toilets. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/08/fe/b208fed0866eb6f6fb66192c8ec652c3.jpg

He was ready for playing the long game. Of course, he could go the quick way and cast Scry, since that spell didn't require the name of his target. But it could be tiring to endlessly cast the same spell over and over. He would prefer a more comfy way of defeating yet another sorcerer, one that would let him sit in his armchair while smoking on his pipe.

Alfred considered asking Butler 435 to keep him manacled as soon as he cast Contact Other Plane. This spell contacted a demigod, long-dead sage or some other mysterious entity in order to ask questions they could answer with a single word. He could describe the wizard and contact a demigod in the service of Lathander, the god responsible for birth and fertility. Babies name were under his postfolio, so he'd surely now. And asking for a name and surname are just two questions answered by a single word. He could also directly ask Primus, the demi-god overseeing Mechanus, in case the Sorcerer was aligned to him. Troddle had mentioned that the flavour of the spells he witnessed were clockwork-themed, so it could be a possibility, one he'd explore, potentially doing that after contacting the draconic spirits providing the power to the regular elementally-aligned sorcerer. It could certainly work, but he didn't fancy being insane for a whole day, so he decided to rule this out. He could use several glyphs of warding to pinpoint the location of the sorcerer but it would require moving all over the place, and he wanted an easy and comfy method. Defeating a 20th level sorcerer was child's play and not something that should make him make an effort. After finishing his pipe, Alfred opened a Gate, calling for the name of Binky. To his surprise, a stone chicken appeared in front of him.
It was a new mystery, one he'd explain after taking a long rest. He had made great progress today. He was quite sure the stone chicken was Binky, because the Gate spell couldn't be fooled. He could have dispelled the magics holding his friend in this unfortunate form, but Binky was far more useful as a chimeny decoration, right now.

The next day, Alfred asked his Butler 435 to Gate Llewellyn in.

LLewellyn: "whaaaaaa..."
Alfred: "Hi, LLewellyn the Devoted, archpriest of Oghma, Font of Knowledge, Binder of What is Known", using a formal adress, "I see that you don't have your pants on."
LLewellyn: "I hate when you do that! I was proposing a young acolyte of Hanali Cenalil to show her my personal collection of relics..."
Alfred: "We must be serious a minute. Or more exactly for 12 hours nonstop, since I intend to cast Simulacrum."
LLewellyn, looking at the Gate portal: "So, I have basically no hope of getting back to my conversation..."
Alfred: "OK, OK, I can Wish for a Simulacrum of you, just stand still six seconds. And to make you whole I'll cast Eagle's Splendor on you..."
LLewellyn: "Actually, I might be needing more of Bear's Endurance as.."
Alfred: "I don't want to know" (proceeds to cast Enlarge Ability).
LLewellyn: "I a must take my leave", as Alfred cast his Wish and Butler's serial number was facing another incrementation.

Alfred dissmised the Gate, having used a lot of magical power just to be nice today. But Foggy Bottom was a closely-knit community, friendship was the defining word among the residents. It's not like he had a difficult task to do today. Turning to his newly acquired Simulacrum of a Level 20 cleric of Oghma, he knew he had a powerful investigation tool as it disposal. Making him use his Visions of the Past on the stone statue, he learnt key informations about the previous owner. He also learnt how that previous owner lost the item, stolen through a Gate by a nosy Wizard. He also learnt about significant events happening around the item and emotionally charged. He felt childish glee as the previous owner brought the chicken statue, and his despair and self-loathing when he had to dispel his own hard work to escape the trap he had built for reason that would be impossible to discern.

Aflred dispelled the magic holding his friend prisoner. "Welcome back. I suspect you'd want to interview the Simulacrum of Llewellyn, you might find an interesting topic for your next book." After discussing the latest news with his guest and opening a Gorgeous Guestroom for him, Alfred concentrating again on gathering information on the sorcerer. He'd cast the Trilogy of Doom, a series of spell named because it usually ended badly for those who tried it. Magic Circle, Summon Elemental and Planar Binding, cast in a row. Beginners usually cast this spell to compell dangerous creatures to obey, or to pactize with creature that Man shouldn't know about -- the kind of creature that were routinely employed as municipal employees in Foggy Bottom's unusual demography. It usually spelled doom, but Alfred wasn't afraid. He was, after all, summoning a lowly CR 6 elemental: the invisible stalker.

One of the powers of this creature was his Faultless Tracker ability, allowing him to know where his prey was. To designate his quarry, Alfred simply showed him the 3D portrait the Simulacrum of Llewellyn had made through a major image. Among his many bonus languages, Alfred happened to have leant Auran, which allowed him to discuss extensively with the Invisible Stalker, for one year and one day, according to the terms of the contract. His task was complete. As soon as the sorcerer would set foot on the Material Plane, the Invisible Stalker would know it. Alfred searched into his coffer, once full of magic item, and extracted a small bell. "Here, he said to the Stalker, is your tool. When you feel this guy is somewhere on the Prime Material Plane, just ring the bell so I notice you and tell the direction and distance. If you're doing well, you might even be released early!".

So Alfred went back to the Material Plane, after having dispelled the priest Simulacrum and recreated a Butler 436 of his own, along with Binky and his elemental servant. It was only a matter of a few days before he'd be able to pinpoint the exact location of the mad sorcerer, perhaps even stopping him before he could harass another wizard. Alfred had never tolerated harassment since junior high, where he had bad experiences with a fellow pupil, and he wouldn't let that sorcerer roam free for long...

Congratulations Alfred was very good and creative. But he already died.



"Now that it is agreed that Initiative is rolled whenever an hostile action is taken"

I couldn't agree more.

But, there is no hostile action perceived, felt, seen by The Wizard.
No initiative for something you don't feel, see, perceive. No matter what you say, the Wizard will never roll an initiative.


"that the Sorcerer is unable to maintain his Mind Blank over him, his copy and his DMM over the whole day (because unless presented a regular way to achieve that, I deem it's impossible and I am, so far, unchallenged), we can resume our regular defeating of sorcerers."


I coun't disagree more. The Bastion does not need Mind Blank continuously. Since it has Nondetection. Which means that if he wants, his 9th slot is available.


"PART I: THE INVESTIGATION."

This is the biggest mistake. The Bastion is a psychopath without emotion, manipulator and knows very well that he must remain in the shadows. Manipulating people and etc.

Your biggest flaw is that the premise that you know clearly who he really is, and even worse his alignment and even worse his class.
You just don't know who the threat is, you don't know its alignment, you don't know your class, let alone your kinship, all your investigation fails here.
The wizard doesn't even know if it is an entity or any other supernatural creature or just a lie from your "friends" wizards. It's a mystery.
It's totally undetectable, it is plausible to think that it is an Evil Divinity.
From the beginning it is clear that the Sorcerer is a Hidden Threat and that the enemy will never know who he really is.
The Sorcerer is invincible with lies and deception.

Deception, Persuation, Intimidation checks + 27 ~ 37 + 1d4, Telephatics Speechs, Magical Guidance.
When Bastion really wants to manipulate creatures, He casts Subtel / Extended Wish: Glibness spell to have more than 31 ~ 36 + 1d4 Deception/Persuation/Intimidation Check for 2 hours a day. Using Telephatic feat and Subtle Spell, The bastion is by far the most manipulative caracter of the game by a large margin.
When he attacks, he is completely covered, covering his face completely, with unbeatiable Disguise Check and Seeming Spell.

With Subtle Dominate Person, Subtle Mass Suggestion, Subtle Detect Through turns him into the greatest manipulator in the world, without any chance.
Can he be any creature, The king? Your advisor? A dancer?
After all the best monkey skill in the game, it never fails.

Sorcerers are creatures that gain their power without clear explanation, without dependence on gods and without schools of magic. Your life can be totally anonymous. A psychopath never reveals his origins, many times not even the Sorcerer knows,

And no, these spells don't work against someone you don't know, because neither you nor anyone else knows where Hidden Threat and Mind Blank and Nondetection spell hidden you against Divination come from.
Also, Contact Other Plane is totally DM fiat spell.
And no matter what you do, the Sorcerer is hiden against Divination, you don't know him and Alfred is already a Stone Chicken.


Alfred is just a 8 Cha fat Wizard.

Alfred, who is already a Stone Chicken, has failed miserably in several attempts to use divination against those he does not know and is fully protected against Divination Magic. Unfortunately.

Everything from there failed.

Also, Conjure Elemental doesn't give you the chance to Summon an Invisible Stalker. Because the DM chooses the creature and not you. It's a DM fiat spell. No Invisible Stalker avaiable. Following Sage Advice Compendium.

I already thought about doing this combo, but I was frustrated to know who chooses the creatures is the DM, who appeared to you was "Magma Mephit" and not Invisible Stalker.

That in the hand of the predator, The Bastion, would be really insane against Wizards.

 

[Hohige]

Part II: THE HUNT.


Three days later, Alfred was under his porch, quietly observing Butler packing the snow in human-sized stacks. It was still July but Alfred had petitionned the Council of Elders -- the eldest and wisest residents who advised the Mayor, essentially consisting of Liches and a few elve who comprised the more transient members. The Council supervised the terrain and structures in Foggy Bottom for a patch of land covered in snow just behind his blossoming garden. He's been burning through Butlers recently and acquiring the snow was complicated in summer... But the governing body had been supportive of his effort to locate and castigate the Butcher of Binky, so his request was processes quickly and forwarded to the Illusionist Guild for quick implementation. The Illusionist Guild was composed of an unknown number of Wizards, all called Kosh and all having the same appearance. Some said the guild was just one guy, but it was heavily discussed. What wasn't discussed was the Guild's ability to surround the craggy valley in which the village was surrounded by a dense mist, which discouraged many traveler to visit and helped keep the village quiet. If you wanted the excitement of the big city, you went to Candlekeep or teleported to one of the large metropolis of Toril.

He had been doing absolutely nothing over the past days, just tending to his garden, because apparently the Unknown Assassin was taking a long time between two attacks. That was strange; Sorcerer often bragged about their ability to cast spell non-stop, but this one was like the first-level wizard of the 3rd Edition: a few round and poof, they needed to go to sleep. Alfred was of two mind regarding that period... Of course he was happy to have access to more flexibility in his spell preparation, but he felt envious when he read the stories of the Great Wizards of Old, who could concentrate on several spells at the same time or have Chained Contingencies on them or cast Permanency... All that without having to resort to strange Glyphs of Warding as is done today... Alfred longed for some action, so he was relived to hear the chime of his pet Invisible Stalker.

"wooooooosh shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wooooooooooooooooosh shwoooooooooooooooosh", said the Inviisble Stalker.
"157 miles, 13° 17' 43" W from the full south, you say?" repeated Alfred "That's in the Cloud Peaks... Most probably our quarry planeshifted "in view of Foggy Bottom" and appeared on a rock near the mountaintop. From there, you could actually see Foggy Bottom through a telescope..." Alfred knew that because he had tried planeshifting back to the village when he was younger, and he remembered that the magic spirit appointed by Mystra to oversee planar travel was a former real estate agent, who had a very broad acception of the word "view". "He'll have to walk for two or three weeks before reaching us again... if he lacks the magic to select a precise destination, our best defense is to force him to retreat to his bastion and rest... his entire existence could consist of leaving, walking for a few day, being defeated and retreating... without ever reaching his destination" Alfred realized the Invisible Stalker wouldn't answer him, his spirit only focussed on tracking his quarry.

So Alfred decided to send a message to the unknown sorcerer, so he'd keep out of Foggy Bottom.

On Monday, Alfred visited the Illusionist Guild and communicated the position of the advancing sorcerer. Kosh scried the general area, not targeting the sorcerer in particular, then teleported there. He then cast Mirage Arcane to take control of the terrain over a range of 1 mile. Knowing he had teleported north of the known location of the Sorcerer, he created a structure on his south, namely a large floating castle, which he turned real for one minute. One minute was ten rounds, enough for a heavy object to fall 5,000 ft, when gravity asserted its control over the newly real, no-longer-floating castle. "Ouch" thought Kosh, it must hurt." So disappeared the DMM and the Simulacrum and most of the summoned units, crushed by a freaking falling castle (18d10 damage) [hey, it's in the DMG, who knew the example in this table would see actual use in play?]

On Tuesday, Kosh inquired about the Sorcerer's location and turned a large area he was in into a bottomless pool of lava. Since it was suspected he'd be on foot this day, it would probably drown in it (18d10 damage, again).

On Wednesday, Kosh was barred from participating. Silverleaf, the local level 20 druid, had expressed extreme displeasure over 1 square mile of wildlife being suddenly roasted. So Alfred asked a friendly Transmuter to take his turn having fun. Knowing the location of the Sorcerer and plotting his moves on a map, it was trivial to teleport 1,000s of feet in front of him, along his probable path. Turning, thanks to Animate Object, 10 pebbles into animated pebbles with blindsense, that would attack the Sorcerer at +6 would ruin the Sorcerer's day. Especially fun was the fact that 5th level spells could be cast 8 times day, for a maximum 80 rounds of stoning by 10 pebbles. That's 8,000 potential damage (800d6+3,200), easily beating that lout Illusionist performance.

On Thursday, Alfred decided to actually do something about the Sorcerer problem and resolved to create a Simulacra loaded with Teleport (to get on the path of the Sorcerer), Greater Invisibility (to position oneself freely if needed), fireball and Dark Star. Readying an action to cast as soon as the Sorcerer enters range (as calculated by the Invisible Stalker), the spell has a good chance of taking out a surprised sorcerer (no action on the first round meant no Dashing, hence no possibility to be outside the range of the spell which prevents from casting verbal spells. 2 rounds during which to pelt the area with upcast fireballs, the old fashioned way before teleporting back. It wouldn't kill the sorcerer necessarily (a mere 22d6+16d10, save for half), but Alfred could make that happen twice, each day. Life would be tough for the advancing sorcerer. He would be blasted six ways to Sunday.

The next week, apparently, the Sorcerer abandonned the idea of attacking Foggy Bottom, instead appearing in densely populated places, probably trying a smear campaign, spewing lies about Wizards being dangerous people. It would be the best time to go for the kil...

The Part 1: Investigation failed miserably.
So everything here has failed.
Even the DM fiat Conjure Elemental (Invisible Stalker) and even if it weren't, that would be a powerful tricky in the hand of the Sorcerer and not the Wizard, but unfortunately it is DM fiat spell, according to Sage Advice Compendium and Alfred never even knew or could bypass his Nondetection, Mind Blank and Insane manipulative character.


Summing up:
The Bastion is a Hidden Threat. Suspicious of your own school friends.
Yes, do you think they are your friends?
Well, bastion may be manipulating them, forging an attack.
For example, a Subtle Meteor Swarm against a school of magic, coming from rumors that the Wizards want to destroy them, can cause major problems.

Don't think you have allies, as the Sorcerer is an invincible handler. But, could Alfred survive 1 round against the Sorcerer? I think not.


The Bastion is manipulating the world against the schools of magic, and will kill one by one.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

"Now that it is agreed that Initiative is rolled whenever an hostile action is taken"

I couldn't agree more.

I am glad of your agreement. The consensus was reached on this thread, even without your consent, though.

"that the Sorcerer is unable to maintain his Mind Blank over him, his copy and his DMM over the whole day (because unless presented a regular way to achieve that, I deem it's impossible and I am, so far, unchallenged), we can resume our regular defeating of sorcerers."


I coun't disagree more. The Bastion does not need Mind Blank continuously. Since it has Nondetection. Which means that if he wants, his 9th slot is available.

Therefore, you don't have Mind Blank all the time. Nice to know.

"PART I: THE INVESTIGATION."


And no, these spells don't work against someone you don't know, because neither you nor anyone else knows where Hidden Threat and Mind Blank and Nondetection spell hidden you against Divination come from.
Also, Contact Other Plane is totally DM fiat spell.
And no matter what you do, the Sorcerer is hiden against Divination, you don't know him and Alfred is already a Stone Chicken.

You might want to actually read and notice the spells you mention were discarded, though they had a good chance of working. Even if all had failed, Visions of the Past isn't a spell but a class feature and targets the stone statue of the first victim the Lazy One created, the first any Wizard could care about enough to do something about the Lazy One. It never targets the Lazy One. Spells that protects you from being targetted by divination spells don't protect you from anything more.

Everything from there failed.

Your defences are more and more half-hearted. Deep down, you know the Lazy One has been defeated.

Also Summon Elemental doesn't give you the chance to Summon an Invisible Stalker. Because the DM chooses the creature and not you. But a fiat spell DM. No Invisible Stalker.

I already thought about doing this combo, but I was frustrated to know who chooses the creatures is the Master, who appeared to you was "Magma Mephit" and not Invisible Stalker.

No. The DM can't give a fire elemental when casting the spell at air. It must give an elemental of the appropriate type. And upcasting to CR 6 is great since there is exactly one CR 6 air elemental: the invisible stalker, so the DM chooses among a list of 1. Plus, nothing in the spell description states that the DM chooses the creature. The DM could veto an elemental as being "unappropriate" for the area, but that would be DM fiat, and you ruled out DM fiat. Even if, to suppress any DM fiat, the elemental was randomly chosen, the Wizard would simply have to recast the spell later. It's not like spellslots didn't regenerate overnight and there is absolutely no time pressure.

Wizard, but unfortunately it is DM fiat spell, according to Sage Advice Compendium and Alfred never even knew or could win his Nondetection, Mind Blank and Insane manipulative character.

Sage advice that only mention that the DM must choose something that fit the chosen option, of which there is exactly one. Plus, you discounted Sage Advice so far, because you cling to the idea that the Simulacrum can regain SP. And you mention Mind Blank AGAIN, despite saying in the post the above that the Sorcerer doesn't have Mind Blank all the time.

Summing up:
The Bastion is a Hidden Threat. Suspicious of your own school friends.
Yes, do you think they are your friends?
Well, bastion may be manipulating them, forging an attack.

The Bastion is manipulating the world against the schools of magic, and will kill one by one.

Alfred never knew that. The threat was so hidden that he defeated it without any need to uncover it, simply by inquiring about the first victim he knew. Whatever the Lazy One did before attacking one of the PC's friend is irrelevant to the PC.

 

[Hohige]

I am glad of your agreement. The consensus was reached on this thread, even without your consent, though.



Therefore, you don't have Mind Blank all the time. Nice to know.




You might want to actually read and notice the spells you mention were discarded, though they had a good chance of working. Even if all had failed, Visions of the Past isn't a spell but a class feature and targets the stone statue of the first victim the Lazy One created, the first any Wizard could care about enough to do something about the Lazy One. It never targets the Lazy One. Spells that protects you from being targetted by divination spells don't protect you from anything more.



Your defences are more and more half-hearted. Deep down, you know the Lazy One has been defeated.



No. The DM can't give a fire elemental when casting the spell at air. It must give an elemental of the appropriate type. And upcasting to CR 6 is great since there is exactly one CR 6 air elemental: the invisible stalker, so the DM chooses among a list of 1. Plus, nothing in the spell description states that the DM chooses the creature. The DM could veto an elemental as being "unappropriate" for the area, but that would be DM fiat, and you ruled out DM fiat. Even if, to suppress any DM fiat, the elemental was randomly chosen, the Wizard would simply have to recast the spell later. It's not like spellslots didn't regenerate overnight and there is absolutely no time pressure.



Sage advice that only mention that the DM must choose something that fit the chosen option, of which there is exactly one. Plus, you discounted Sage Advice so far, because you cling to the idea that the Simulacrum can regain SP. And you mention Mind Blank AGAIN, despite saying in the post the above that the Sorcerer doesn't have Mind Blank all the time.



Alfred never knew that. The threat was so hidden that he defeated it without any need to uncover it, simply by inquiring about the first victim he knew. Whatever the Lazy One did before attacking one of the PC's friend is irrelevant to the PC.

"Therefore, you don't have Mind Blank all the time. Nice to know."

Ok.


"You might want to actually read and notice the spells you mention were discarded, though they had a good chance of working. Even if all had failed, Visions of the Past isn't a spell but a class feature and targets the stone statue of the first victim the Lazy One created, the first any Wizard could care about enough to do something about the Lazy One. It never targets the Lazy One. Spells that protects you from being targetted by divination spells don't protect you from anything more."

I strongly disagree.

Do Nondetection and Invisibility protect you from True Seeing?

Nondetection says it hides the target from all divination spells. Invisibility hides you from normal sight. When combining both effects on one target, are they hidden from true seeing?

rpg.stackexchange.com

Nondetect is hidden against Divination Magic. It's RAW and RAI.


Cleric: Knowledge Domain. Ahahaha, we have a Wizard that needs a Cleric level 17 ahaha None of this works against Bastion and detail. We are in terrible times for Wizards who depend on a Cleric


"No. The DM can't give a fire elemental when casting the spell at air. It must give an elemental of the appropriate type. And upcasting to CR 6 is great since there is exactly one CR 6 air elemental: the invisible stalker, so the DM chooses among a list of 1. Plus, nothing in the spell description states that the DM chooses the creature. The DM could veto an elemental as being "unappropriate" for the area, but that would be DM fiat, and you ruled out DM fiat. Even if, to suppress any DM fiat, the elemental was randomly chosen, the Wizard would simply have to recast the spell later. It's not like spellslots didn't regenerate overnight and there is absolutely no time pressure."

The DM chooses a Air Elemental CR 5, not Invisible Stalker, because your DM chooses, not you..
Also, your Air Elemental when you bind it, they become hostile, traping it and binding. It will twist your commands (It's how planar binding wors).
Anyway, It will not work. As explained.
I will repeat again, It's more useful for Sorcerers than Wizards.


Alfred never knew that. The threat was so hidden that he defeated it without any need to uncover it, simply by inquiring about the first victim he knew. Whatever the Lazy One did before attacking one of the PC's friend is irrelevant to the PC.


The creature will say it doesn't know, since Bastion's deadly attacks don't reveal him. Subtle spell and unbeatable stealth, It isn't visible, his assassinations are subtly and silent. It doesn't matter what you do. You are dead without even realizing it. Or rather a Stone Chicken.
All the creatures killed by him, turned to stone. Good luck, you were next.


Alfred failed miserably and is now a Stone Chicken