A request for a custom epic spell that grants eternal youth

[Edena_of_Neith]

Well now ...

Since this magic seems to be legit within the rules (I give the credit to Kerrick, for his excellent creation ) then it is likely that this spell is becoming available in the United Commonwealth of Toril, the Eternal Union of Toril, the Free Nations of the Chosen, the Hive Cluster of Athas, the Union of Oerth, the Alliance of Oerth, and in many other worlds on the Demiplane of Hope.

In other words, it is possible for immortality to become available to the common man in these places.

I guess I'll have to run a 4th IR after all. And let you people decide whether or not to grant immortality to all the people of your realms ...

 

[aurance]

I don't think any of these spells would work.

The Fortify seed specifies that "incremental adjustments to a creature's maximum age do not stack; they overlap." This means that the effects of Illusions of Immortality would just overlap each time it was cast, basically netting a +1 year to each category with the first annual casting and all subsequent castings being wasted.

The other spells, I think the "render subject immune to the passage of time" factor would not be possible either. I mean, why even have a Fortify effect that could extend your age categories when you can just ward yourself against aging forever, at the same cost as Fortifying your life for 20 years (DC +18)?

The implication is that the Fortify seed is the *only* way you can extend your life supernaturally, and you simply cannot extend it forever using that method. It also seems pretty evident to me that a simple ad hoc epic spell formula is not a solution to aging.

Upon further thought, even a Transform seed wouldn't work. You simply can't transform yourself into a creature which lives forever. The duration of a transform seed is "permanent", not "instantaneous", which means it can be dispelled. And as such I don't think you would take on the natural lifespan of whatever you turned into, any more than you would if you cast polymorph self.

In my opinion, the intent was that there simply is no way to become immortal unless there's some other strange stuff at work - such as draining someone else's life force every few years, acquiring some sort of quasi-divine template, or some other unique circumstance. I guess there's a reason why so many wizards become undead.

-A

Edit: Perhaps if you permanently mentally possess an immortal creature...

 

[Zhnov]

Edit: Perhaps if you permanently mentally possess an immortal creature...

One must then ask themselves, "What all creatures are naturally immortal?" And, "What does my DM think about immortal domination (or possibly death)?"

While we do have several ongoing campaigns with immortal PCs, they are truly little more than timeless epic characters, with a little more juice, and the ever-present vulnerability of death by adventure... and the method of attainment was through a houseruled modification to Birthright.net's rules for blooded characters. One PC had also stumbled upon an unrelated formula for an immortality potion, a recipe that often failed, resulting in lichdom... or was that considered a success? The formula was 2E, and abitrary.

I defer further comment on our extensive immortality system, given the presence of greater divine powers in this forum.

While yet undeveloped, my thoughts on an epic immortality spell focus on the combination of Transform and Transport seeds, representing elements of form and time.

Perhaps the missing element needed is the elusive Universal epic spell seed... used to power spells such as Wish.

OP

 

[Kerrick]

Aurance: valid points, all, and frankly ones I hadn't thought of. I guess it all comes down to what the DM will allow, and how far he'll allow you to bend the rules. We have a (different) version of the immortality spell, which our DM had in his old group when he was a player, but it didn't get out of hand like Edena's suggesting - yeah, a lot of mages had it, but life is never certain in our campaign world - there's always some adventurer, Lich King, or rival willing to cut off your head and burn the body.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

You think a little sharing of immortality is getting out of hand?
Heh. You should read the 3rd IR ...

 

[Serpenteye]

Indeed. What is a mere immunity to the ravages of time compared to creating a super-intelligent CR 30+ slaverace capable of procreation at a rate comparable to bacteria, needing no sustenance, with massive regeneration and casting ability and, oh yes, immortality. And having it conquer a thousand worlds.

We broke every setting we touched, and had damn fun doing it.

I guess I'll have to run a 4th IR after all.

Ahh, Ed, that would be great.

PS. I'm glad to see you're feeling better.

 

[Zhnov]

... conquer a thousand worlds.

Shucks, can I play? What is 3rd/4th IR?

Orlic

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

4th IR, fantastic, already warned, I mean, informed Kalanyr, Janos, and co. who still use the #IR channel for other PBP games

Orlic, if Edena runs this IR like the last ones, anyone who wants to play can join the evi..., er I mean fun

P.S., I don't think the last IR went up to a thousand worlds, but Phibrizzo managed to off a few hundred (low-magic ones) , and I think the God-Emporer got about a hundred into his league, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[William Ronald]

There are also other ways to achieve immortality. In 2nd edition, there were potions of youth that did not have the backfire problem of potions of longevity.

I think it is possible to construct a ritual that allows an individual to reverse the aging process. Multiple ones would likely exist in many campaign settings.

They should ideally not be very common. Even in a campaign setting like the Realms, only a few persons should have access to such abilities. (Cost might be a key consideration for the common man. Adventurers are a rarity in that they have money to burn.)

Edena, you might want to consider buying or borrowing James Blish's Cities in Flight series from the 1950s. Among the issues it dealt with was an anti-aging serum, and how human beings dealt with it. (Everyone had a chance to earn the right to use the serum, but relatively few earned that right.)

If you need help with a 4th IR, let me know. Also, check your e-mail!

By the way, has anyone heard from Alyx who was in the 3rd IR? I haven't seen him post in ages.

 

[Corlon]

this kind of goes against the whole everything that kind of gets close to eternal youth. All things are "you can be brought back, and you can look young, but when your time comes, you die" types of things. There are a few spells in the scarred lands books for turning back time at certain costs I forget, but they're pretty neat.

For a spell that grants what you're asking, it'd have to be a true ritual of some sort with more than an xp cost and a high spellcraft check.