Well, offhand, Contact Other Plane is the most commonly cited one, and a wizard can have access to Commune from an Imp or Quasit, though such a familiar has alignment prerequisites.
Both reasonable choices. So let's look at what we get:
Contact Other Plane is online at
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/contactOtherPlane.htm. Note that all questions are answered “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “never,” “irrelevant,” or some other one-word answer. That constrains the details quite a bit. You must make an INT check against DC 7 to 16 for each casting (that's a roll of 2 to 10 for your Wizard, I believe, depending on the contact). For every two caster levels, you may ask one question, so you get 5.
You have a % chance at a correct answer (and it's random if one word won't answer it). You may get "I dont know", a deliberate lie or a random answer. The odds depend on the DC of that INT check. Fail the check, and you can't cast spells for 1 - 5 weeks.
This actually seems pretty harsh for a 5th level spell - I had not read it that closely before!
How about Commune? It seems reasonable the cleric may have it even if your familiar doesn't grant it to you. It costs 100 xp (a pittance unless you're using it routinely), and you get up to your level in questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no. The answers given are correct within the limits of the entity’s knowledge. “Unclear” is a legitimate answer, because powerful beings of the Outer Planes are not necessarily omniscient. In cases where a one-word answer would be misleading or contrary to the deity’s interests, a short phrase (five words or less) may be given as an answer instead.
The spell, at best, provides information to aid character decisions. The entities contacted structure their answers to further their own purposes. If you lag, discuss the answers, or go off to do anything else, the spell ends.
Somewhat better that Contact Other Plane, but not exactly a map of the dragon's lair, is it?
Argh, reluctant to get into this as this is going to be be exactly the sort of Calvinball, Rock/Paper/Scissors games about hypothetical strategic play that I find abhorrent enough to post in this thread. It isn't going to go anywhere as its going to be AHAHAHAHAH BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS ad nauseum. I don't GM that way. I GM by the philosophy of Say yes or roll the dice and I never try to assume an adversarial posture with any of the classes/archetypes players in my game. You just unfortunately must do that with powerful spellcasters (specifically Batman Wizards) in 3.x for the game to not go wobbly.
If that's how my reply appears, apologies in advance. It is not my intent.
That being said. The first thing that comes to mind is to run a CIA Clairaudience/voyance operation on the local Lizard Man tribe in the marsh/bog/jungle that venerates the Black Dragon.
As a third level spell, definite accessibility advantage. "the locale must be known—a place familiar to you or an obvious one", so a bit of adventuring, perhaps, to locate the tribe. If one doesn't exist, it seems likely there would be some suitable replacement, especially given the draconic ego, so "no one to find" would be poor GMing in my view. "Once you have selected the locale, the sensor doesn’t move, but you can rotate it in all directions to view the area as desired. Unlike other scrying spells, this spell does not allow magically or supernaturally enhanced senses to work through it. " The sensor is fixed in location - that could be an issue. At a minimum, though, you should be able to get a direction the dragon leaves in, and see at least some distance. Again, not exactly a map of its lair, and could take longer than Dandu's approach (but your spells are much lower level). I suspect this should give you enough to locate the lair's enrance, likely without notifying the dragon.
Comprehend Languages and Invisibility as required. Once they give up the goods about the location of the sinkhole entrance that leads to the lair of the dragon (where they would go and give offerings to placate the beast),
I like that - not sure on Invisibility in a swamp, though. I'd expect lizardmen to swim, and black dragons to take advantage of local water. Still you can likely fly invisibly.
I go there and casts Legend Lore to learn about the story of the great (non-wizard) heroes of yore confronting the dragon but mostly dieing on their climb down the glyph/trap/guard-laden sinkhole tunnel.
Assuming those are the legends. That said, there must be something (the spell description suggests the dragon is legendary, he's also been around some time, and I suspect you'd be taking similar precautions without the Lore spell warning you).
Now I'm on my disc (or likely just flying), with detect magic, avoiding obstacles, dispelling anything required, and floating down invisibly
Were I a black dragon, I would either lair underwater, or lair beyond a watery passage. You doubtless have Water Breathing, but I'm not liking your undetectability as a human-shaped bubble. That depends a lot on how one interprets invisibility, though. "Of course, the subject is not magically silenced, and certain other conditions can render the recipient detectable (such as stepping in a puddle)." Both detect magic and invisibility last 1 minute per level - how long does it take to get through the passage, concentrating to detect all the way?
PROBLEM: Concentration on Detect Magic "The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can also break your concentration while you’re maintaining one, causing the spell to end.
You can’t cast a spell while concentrating on another one. Sometimes a spell lasts for a short time after you cease concentrating."
Detect Magic's duration is concentration to a maximum 1 minute per level. It's down after the first Dispel. How many magical issues are you expecting? 1? 2? In fairness, the dragon doesn't have a host of magical abilities, so unless those LizardFolk had a spellcaster, or the dragon is especially canny/paranoid, it seems likely there aren't very many magical effects. If he is, well, that seems the stuff of legend (lore), so you should have some advance warning.
where at the bottom I render him quite "dead but doesn't know it yet" with Shivering Touch through Spectral Hand (with whatever means of buffed spell resistance penetration to ensure the check).
Now we get back to whether one can get line of effect on the dragon without getting within his 60' Blindsense. That depends on the lair. I assume your will save will make the DC 23 frightful presence meaingless. 21 Spell Resistance will take a bit of buffing. And we're back to one spell only - lets assume we're not using that book (or even that one spell). What replaces Shivering Touch as the sure thing?
Note that, if the dragon detects you (invisible is not inaudible, especially as you need to cast, so "you must be able to speak in a strong voice"), he can raise Darkness in a 70' radius as a spell-like ability. That hoops the Darkvision you were presumably using to avoid the need for a light source.
Or maybe Clairaudience/voyance does the trick. Maybe they actually go down into his/her lair to give him/her the offerings straight into his/her chamber so the great beast doesn't have to move. So I follow them invisibly while flying, navigate the tunnel the same way as before. Wait for them to leave and do my thing.
That immobile perception point is an issue, but identifying the chieftan makes Scry a viable choice. Still that water issue.
Overall, I'd say a good plan with a decent shot at success, but not immune to failure either. While I would agree that changing things after the fact smacks of unfairness, I'd also generally consider PC capabilities as I design an adventure to challenge the team, not just one member of that team.
A general spell list would be something like Silent Image, Mage Armor, Grease, Obscuring Mist, Enlarge Person, Gitterdust, Web, Alter Self, Dispel Magic, Stinking Cloud, Fly, Solid Fog, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Black Tentacles, Teleport, Wall of Stone.
There are a few low level slots left unfilled for flexability.
If I were to go hunting dragons, I suppose I'd have fewer Glitterdists, Stinking Clouds and Black Tentacles, and focus on spells that hinder the dragon's mobility, buff the fighter, and, if possible, obtain a scroll of Shivering Touch so I can add that to my spellbook. I'd probably pick up Invisibility as well.
Yes, that is because I decided to post this on short notice. As you may notice, he has enough money left over to purchase additional spells. I take it you are suggesting Spectral Hand, Shivering Touch, Mirror Image, and Invisibility?
OK - I didn't dig that deep, but I definitely agree he could easily fill in more spells. I simply listed those ones as they've been repetitively picthed as the spells every wizard would surely possess. I'm thinking Shivering Touch has either been reduced to not be the clear go-to choice against any large enemy or banned outright in most games before you go dragonhunting, though.
It seems that Web and Solid Fog should do a good job of tying him down, then. I imagine Polymorphing the Fighter into, say, a War Troll and Enlarging the Cleric would allow them to do well against such an opponent.
I wonder which version of Polymorph we use - seems like that one changed every time the designers had a few minutes. I note you are not relying on going in solo, unlike some others. [I thought Web had been modified so huge strong creatures ripped through it, but clearly not - maybe that's Pathfinder.] Solid Fog would hold either way.
What stops the Dragon moving back into the fog, where you can't see him and he can Blindsense you, and spitting out acid every 1-4 rounds until you wisely retreat (line of acid should work when a ray would - arguable, I'd agree)? Other than the usual "all creatures in D&D want only to engage in a battle to the death and will pursue this regeardless of their INT and WIS scores"?
Ultimately, if we simply get rid of Shivering Touch, this sounds like a great battle where all the PC's participate - that's the object, isnt it?
Repeated for emphasis. Couldn't XP.
I could and did.
).
