Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 8030802" data-attributes="member: 20323">Sounds fun! <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses    B-)" data-shortname="B-)" />  A few ideas...Imprisonment Contingencies: What if this archmage was the former "defense against the dark arts" teacher who cast imprisonment on several of the Mage University's worst enemies, trapping them on the university grounds? And what if he worked a "back door" causing the imprisonment spells to be broken one-at-a-time under specific conditions? What if he'd "broken the code" allowing for the casting of multiple contingency spells on himself? You could have unique contingencies worded thus, for example:"When the death ward affecting me is triggered or dispelled, the imprisonment spell I cast upon Kabalth-Durim, the wastrilith bound to the university's fountain, will end.""When my Fourth Glyph of Warding in the Western Wing's Stained Glass Gallery overlooking the flying buttress facing Dundamere is triggered or dispelled, I am protected by mirror image and the imprisonment spell I cast upon the death knight Revander, binding him to the very brick and mortar of the Grand Foyer, will end."Thunder Gate Combo: This is a pretty fanatical / desperate move and assumes you don't already have a plan for the archmage's 9th level spell (e.g. foresight)...The archmage opens a gate to a realm of unspeakable horrors right behind the PCs, and his apprentices (possibly using the Ready action) cast a whole bunch of thunderwave spells (ideally after the PCs are peppered with bane by an allied bard or cleric first) to force them through the gate. Now the PCs are faced with the choice of leaping through the gate but be pursued by the hordes of the Abyss (or wherever) or holding the line against the hordes of extraplanar monsters and trying to organize a withdrawal back to the Material Plane.This becomes more complicated if the PCs have a hair-trigger NPC ally who is gunning for the archmage, and risks disrupting his concentration on the gate, potentially stranding the PCs in the Abyss (or wherever).The Final Lesson: Until this coup, the archmage was playing the part of a magic professor, right? You know all those spells with a "if you cast this spell every day (or every 7 days) for a year, it becomes permanent" clause? He's been planning for this. The coup begins with his final lesson demonstrating the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/guards-and-wards" target="_blank">guards and wards</a> spell. The spell becomes permanent! His co-conspirators are immune and/or know the password to evade the spell's effects, but everyone else is screwed. Personally, I like setting up the two magic mouths from guards and wards to trigger otherwise obviously avoidable glyphs of wardings, casting thunderwave along a narrow hall lined with stained glass overlooking a precipitous fall, showering the PCs with glass shards and defenestrating one or more... a PC can cast shield or feather fall, but not both. YMMV. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Pairing the heavily obscured foggy corridors (created by the guards and wards) with several invisible stalkers seeking out specific high-value targets would be thematically apropos.To orchestrate a successful coup, the archmage is going to need more than "a couple of apprentices." He needs sympathetic allies in as many sectors of society as he can get – civil administrators / bureaucrats, at least one branch of the military, temples or religious figureheads, etc.I'd say if he doesn't have a 1/3rd to a 1/2 of the mages in the Mages' University backing his coup, then he needs to be drawing on outside assistance from his allies in the military, temples, government, etc.My point being: This isn't a smash-and-grab job. The point at which the archmage is taking violent action against the ruling council in the Mages' University indicates that he's confident enough in his support base to hold power after the violent coup.That's really important to consider.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A scar on the dead archmage's left inner arm where 1 cubic inch of flesh was stripped away in order to cast the clone spell.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Several spell components from a particular seaside town known for its pristine saltwater "healing" pools. Hinting at archmage's purchase of saltwater for the clone spell.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In the aftermath, his apprentices sneak in to cast raise dead on the corpse, but... it doesn't work. Maybe the PCs are called in when the apprentices seal themselves in the archmage's tomb, and while confronting them, the apprentices (and the PCs) realize the resurrection isn't working. Figuring out why could lead to investigation... scar on inner arm... archmage recently commissioned a dwarven craftsman to make an expensive jeweled man-sized urn... his favorite staff was no longer tipped with a diamond... Arcana/Investigation checks and/or divination to put the pieces together.</li> </ul></blockquote>

Verification