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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 8163412" data-attributes="member: 5889">Ok so lets look at a model where the 20th level wizard decides to take out the powerful people in the world, and I mean real "power" not just kings and the like.This works best before the Wizard goes forward with his main plans, as he wouldn't be seen as a major threat yet. So lets look at 11th level spellcasters, which the Wizard would see as the number 1 threat.1) Finding the Target. A combination of various scrying, divinations, and good old fashion payments to various thieves guilds who likely be able to a find an 11th level character. They are in the sweet spot of being popular enough to be recognized a lot of where they go, but don't have the super high level spells that can make you highly resistant from divinations and scrying.There is the risk of the "hermit high level character", but again in theory with the powerful divinations a wizard of this level has access to, they should be able sniff them out.2) Arcane CastersSo arcane casters are actually the easier to take out. For all their power, they don't have some of the clerical powers that can really mess with the wizard's plans.If they are the type of character that travels, even somewhat infrequently, than they are pretty easy prey. A very simple wizard plan would look like this:1) Have on a 6th level Globe of Invulnerability (aka I am now immune to any spell the casters could use to harm me). This is our concentration, so we have to keep that in mind. We also have counterspell if needed.2) Teleport in (7th level). The wizard could bring in 8 hired mercs, loyal followers, or maybe even summoned creatures (DM to rule whether summons are willing, I personally would consider them such). The mercs don't have to be particularly strong, really just enough to hold off forces for a couple of rounds. They would also be in the globe, so magics are no concern, just need to hold off the beef.3) Kill the caster. There are a few ways to do this:a) Power Word Kill: Realistically an 11th level arcane caster is going to have 80 ish hitpoints with a good con, maybe 90 if they have some temp hp going on. But a power word kill should absolutely 1 shot them....with the only real defense being death ward (which arcane casters generally do not have). The main risk here is that is that if anyone is able to examine the body, they probably would be able to see the power of very strong magics (maybe unheard of magics). This might draw attention to the wizard. It also blows your 9th level spell instead of having a wish ready for a bail out option.b) Good old fashioned power. There are a lot of ways to go about it. Banish a wizard, take them down with raw damage, whatever. The easiest way here would be to either have on Foresight, or use a wish to have them reroll their save (at disadvantage), for a huge % chance of having them fail the save.4) Teleport away with the caster (8th level slot). This last piece is important, you do not want raise dead as an option, and this will help prevent others from knowing what you are up to.Alternate: The Gate Strategy. Now Plan A does involve some risk, even if its low. A much safer strategy would be the use of the gate spell. Now assuming you could learn the name of the 11th level character.... then you simply gate them into your living room, already prepared for their arrival. Again with a globe on to prevent any shenanigan's. This method is expensive, but all but guarantees they succumb....and help prevents any associates from knowing what happened, especially if you can do it at just the right time. The best they could muster to get out of their is a d door (teleport circle takes too long to cast and can't be put on a contingency). A locate creature spell has double the range, so even an extended d door from a sorc couldn't outrange you. And even if they manage to escape, you are on another plane, and they don't have plane shift, so they are pretty limited in where they can go.3) ClericsClerics are in theory the hardest target. First, the access to revivify means you really have to ensure you get the target away when you kill them, or they may be right back in action in minutes. Word of Recall is available to 11th level clerics, so any trap you set for them they may have means to just port right back to their nice fortified temple. And most importantly, divine intervention. While the chances of it going off are very low, it is the one thing that can counter or even beat your own power. Even against just a couple of 10th level clerics across the world, that is a fair amount of risk. So we want to try and mitigate that. We have a few options, neither is perfect but offers some protection.a) 9th level Globe of Invulnerability. This in theory protects you from any direct use of divine intervention, aka they try to kill you with a 9th level spell kind of use. Considering they may not even know wizards of your strength can even exist, its possible they don't even know such protection could exist. It does consume your 9th level slot though, and it has the risk that a more indirect wish kind of effect could thwart you in other ways. Even that said, this is probably the overall safer of the two options.b) The Wish Reroll. Wish has the unique power to allow a reroll on any roll....so even a percentile die should be allowed. And its even with disadvantage. So in the rare event the cleric got off his effect, assuming you aren't immediately screwed....you could force another roll, this one with only a 1% chance of working.Ultimately this has the advantage of leaving you with a 9th level spell when the cleric doesn't get his effect off, and can counter indirect spells more effectively. However, its greatest weakness is you have to take the hit on whatever the cleric throws at you before you can make your own wish....which is a risk all itself. And of course, the 33% of never casting wish again....which does dampen your world domination schemes.c) 8th level globe + gate. We use the gate trick with an 8th level globe. Again not perfect protection, but we can at least fortify our base against some shenanigan's and try to take them down on the first round. From there we still have a wide array of spells to take them down. Again, its trickier than an arcane caster but still should be very doable.After the first few.... Mind Blank. So while we can likely take out 1, maybe 2 high level people in the way described (and even that much will severely limit the worlds ability to resist)....likely the remaining high level people will start sniffing out a plot. This is where mind blank comes in. This gives you incredible protection against a world trying to find you, now scrying and divinations are completely shut down against you, limiting the enemies ability to find out who you are and where you are stationed. You may have to abandon a lair or two over time against more mundane means of sniffing you out, but that's a small price to pay. Realistically with Teleport and Mind Blank, 11th level and lower characters should never be able to find you if you have a modicum of sense (and you probably have a 20 int, so you have a lot!)The counter is the loss of your 8th level slot. This means teleporting in, kill, tp out requires your wish (limiting your options and power). Or you tp in, and use teleport circle  / d door to leave (no ideal options). Or you stick with the gate trick. At this point, I would use gate as much as possible, it severely limits your risk, and when your going for the world, a few 5k gp casts are well worth stripping away your greatest competition.Countering the Gate StrategyOn the surface, the Gate Strategy seems nigh unbeatable. You are safely on another plane that the enemy has very limited ways to get to, and you can effectively just grab who you want, no matter where they are at. There are a few counters though.1) Keeping your name a secret. If the wizard doesn't know your name, then they can't use gate on you. However, that may be a tall order. If you are an existing 11th level character, and have never had to worry about keeping your name secret against spell levels you haven't even dreamed of...than its likely some people know your name. Now its absolutely possible you have used a pseudoname all of your life, or have been a hermit in hiding, that kind of thing. This leads us to divinations. With Wish we have access to every divination in the book (even legend lore), and with repeated castings it would be hard not to be to dig up something as mundane as a name). Now nondetection is our answer to that, but that requires 3 castings of a 3rd level spell every day to be sure. This may be a strategy that high level people start using once their fellows go missing....so the wizard may find the gate strategy becomes a bit weaker over time. He can use it to pick out clerics and druids though, who don't get that spell.2) HallowHallow is the one spell in the game that is 5th level (so castable in our world) and can wholesale block dimensional travel. So high level clerics fearing this new gate sniper could spend some resources (expensive but manageable for such high level people), and could protect themselves in a temple or somewhere.Now this has the disadvantage of holing them in a set known location (which is gold for a wizard planning an assasination). But that would at least require more direct involvement instead of just grabbing them away at any moment, so its still a step up).</blockquote>

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