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

[Benjamin Olson]

. . . Did you not read the quote I posted? "Pinky and the Brain"? "Scheming Hats?" That makes it pretty clear that the thread is based on maniacal/typically evil behavior.

Well, I don't know whether outlandish cackling villain behavior is strictly necessary, but "conqueror" is not a title often bestowed on people who are notable for their kindness or ethical rigidity. I assume a certain moral flexibility in the premise of "conquering the world", as this is the nature of most people with historical reputations as conquerors. People laser focused on strengthening and expanding their own power whatever the human toll are more likely to succeed than those with a lot of hangups about what is right and legal and just.

That said, people will more readily follow the rule of one they consider good and just. I think the best approach for a Wizard conquerer is to leave all options on the table (because having the most options on the table is the strength of a Wizard), but to only apply evil tactics where either nobody will find out, where people will be supportive of the evil tactics, where his propagandists can spin things to not cause too much discontent, or where they are the only option to perserve and expand his rule.

 

[Helldritch]

This is what we call Machiavelic. Politics is usually about letting people accept lesser evil for their own good...

 

[Eltab]

It's pretty clear that this thread is supposed to use maniacal tactics to conquer the world. There's not many "nice dictators" out there, anyways.

'He can', not 'he must', use maniacal tactics. Somebody with max'ed-out INT is going to know not to gratituously do things that cause more trouble in the future than they solve problems in the present.

(Example from old thread: it may be emotionally satisfying to burn down an orphanage to show the local populace that you don't care if they live or die, but the subsequent corps of righteous avenging Paladins that volunteers to aid your enemies and thwart your schemes and invoke the gods (plus lots of other folks) to join the efforts against you, is extra work / cares / concerns you didn't have to bring upon yourself.)

 

[Seramus]

Sure. He can bind a bunch of Succubus and Vampires, and host armies of self replicating undead. He can camp out in other planes of existence and do whatever he wants.

But I am extremely interested in what happens when the world catches on and designs countermeasures.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Sure. He can bind a bunch of Succubus and Vampires, and host armies of self replicating undead. He can camp out in other planes of existence and do whatever he wants.

But I am extremely interested in what happens when the world catches on and designs countermeasures.

Good luck trying to counter a mage that can instantly kill practically anyone/everyone in the world that gathers against them.

If they try to mount a resistance to overthrow you with a giant army, just solve that issue with Meteor Swarm. If the armies are too much, just Teleport or Plane Shift out of there and take a long rest. Then, teleport back to the enemies and meteor swarm them again. Rinse and repeat until every army that dares oppose you is destroyed by your magic guerilla-warfare tactics.

If they try to send adventures to slay you, do the dungeon plan that I detailed in this post.

If they try to start an underground resistance, make public executions to discourage such actions. If you need to, infiltrate the organization with Alter Self. All you need to do to find the organization is to knock out a resistance member (sleep should work), use Modify Memory and Detect Thoughts to learn what they know about it and all of their codes/plans, and then thwart them from the inside. Even if they do manage to detect your alter self with Detect Magic, by the time that they discover you, it's too late for them to do anything and you can just destroy all of them with your magic.

 

[Shadowedeyes]

The more enemies you have, the more chances one of them finds the chink in your armor. As for my first thought on problems that could arise for the 20th lvl Wizard, any cleric of 10th lvl or higher can try to use Divine Intervention to cause problems.

 

[Hohige]

Good luck trying to counter a mage that can instantly kill practically anyone/everyone in the world that gathers against them.

If they try to mount a resistance to overthrow you with a giant army, just solve that issue with Meteor Swarm. If the armies are too much, just Teleport or Plane Shift out of there and take a long rest. Then, teleport back to the enemies and meteor swarm them again. Rinse and repeat until every army that dares oppose you is destroyed by your magic guerilla-warfare tactics.

If they try to send adventures to slay you, do the dungeon plan that I detailed in this post.

If they try to start an underground resistance, make public executions to discourage such actions. If you need to, infiltrate the organization with Alter Self. All you need to do to find the organization is to knock out a resistance member (sleep should work), use Modify Memory and Detect Thoughts to learn what they know about it and all of their codes/plans, and then thwart them from the inside. Even if they do manage to detect your alter self with Detect Magic, by the time that they discover you, it's too late for them to do anything and you can just destroy all of them with your magic.

OMG,

There are many mistakes here.

"Good luck trying to counter a mage that can instantly kill practically anyone/everyone in the world that gathers against them.

If they try to mount a resistance to overthrow you with a giant army, just solve that issue with Meteor Swarm. If the armies are too much, just Teleport or Plane Shift out of there and take a long rest. Then, teleport back to the enemies and meteor swarm them again. Rinse and repeat until every army that dares oppose you is destroyed by your magic guerilla-warfare tactics."

I couldn't disagree more.
You will have serious problems against flying creatures, as Meteor Swarm only hits the ground.
Any flying creature or flying mounts can end your "Instant kill"
Meteor Swarm does avg 140 damage or 70 avg damage.
This is certainly not Instant Kill. A level 11 and tough feat draconic sorcerer has 112hp and resistence to fire.

"If they try to send adventures to slay you, do the dungeon plan that I detailed in this post."

Creating a dungeon with creatures that you do not control and that you are trapping them, this Wizard does not survive more than 2 days there.

"If they try to start an underground resistance, make public executions to discourage such actions. If you need to, infiltrate the organization with Alter Self. All you need to do to find the organization is to knock out a resistance member (sleep should work), use Modify Memory and Detect Thoughts to learn what they know about it and all of their codes/plans, and then thwart them from the inside. Even if they do manage to detect your alter self with Detect Magic, by the time that they discover you, it's too late for them to do anything and you can just destroy all of them with your magic."

This one is the worst of all. You are not CHA based. You need to cast spells constantly with verbal and somatic components. You do not survive more than a few hours to be discovered. You can't just be casting Modify Memory, Detect Through, Alterself without being the clear caster of these manipulation spells. You are not an Aberrant Soul Sorcerer, who is the only one capable of doing this with impunity, you need to cast your spells (Verbal, Somatic) for this to work, this is where you die.
The infiltrating wizard is a joke.


Destroying the wizard is really easy. Extended Summon Celestial (The Avenger) for 600ft range damaging. It's a flying creature, so It's immune to Meteor Swarm. It can also destroy your dungeon, destroying everything in its path, traps, objects, barriers. Good luck. In 2 hours, the creature can deal 54,000 damage to its structures and you.
Divine Soul Sorcerer level 11 destroy the wizard.

 

[Hohige]

Finger of Death is gonna end up with the sorcerer killing a lot of people, which tends to piss off everyone. No foolproof way to get minions.

Yes, I couldn't agree more.
That why I love the sorcerer, they can charm them subtly and convince them to sacrifice himself, +17 deception, advantage + Magical Guidance.
"You will have Imortallity"

 

[Hohige]

No one else will have infinite resources. The wizard is the only level 20 character in the world, so the enemies don't have access to any of the stuff I mentioned. It's a wizard power to be able to have every spell on their spell list in their spell book, which would allow them to do this.

Genies disagreed . They have acess to True Polymoph 3x day.

 

[Shadowedeyes]

Yes, I couldn't agree more.
That why I love the sorcerer, they can charm them subtly and convince them to sacrifice himself, +17 deception, advantage + Magical Guidance.
"You will have Imortallity"

Even assuming that you can convince people to do so, which isn't a given since there has to be a chance they believe you, it's not going to help with the still alive people who will start to realize that anytime someone is promised "immortality" they end up disappearing/becoming a zombie. Weirdly, that is going to make people start to distrust you.

Genies disagreed . They have acess to True Polymoph 3x day.

Gonna have to elaborate on that. Some genies do according to a sidebar, but it's not a given. And I'm not sure how your sorcerer is going to get Genies to work for you beyond traipsing around the elemental planes, hoping to run into the right genie, and either making a deal or using Dominate Monster.