D&D General Lore Questions About Spelljamming Uses of Magic, Cosmology, Metaphysics

[Aelryinth]

Like I said, you're not gonna find that many high level mortal spellcasters on Oreth, but there's a crapton of gods who were formerly mortals. Zagyg, Vecna, Murlynd, Quaal, Heward, Keoghtom, Nolzur, Daern the Unshakable (not to be confused with Daern of Hawksroot), and Iuz

Hero-deities and quasi-deities are about on the power of the Seven Sisters and the Chosen of the Gods of Faerun, like Elminister, at best. Azuth is a former mortal, as is Savros, who competed with him for godhood as the Lord of all Spells. So were Bane, Baal, Myrkul, Cyric, Kelemvor, Torm, Malar, Gwaeron Windstrom, and Finder, and they got further up the godhood ladder.
Kelenan's AD&D statblock is blown away by Elminister's, as is Murlynd's.
So, mages becoming very low-powered quasi-deities, which if you've read the original stats for the like of Murlynd and Kelenan, they are, isn't an argument, either.
They certainly have more flavor and give Oerth a very different character then Faerun... but it's a gritty character, not a hyped up powerful one.

 

[Bohandas]

I"d have to see a statistical stat block stating that. Magically powerful in Eberron means a bunch of /4 to /6's with PC Classes instead of being Magewrights. If that was a city of 92000 level 15+'s, sorry, the dragons wouldn't be running Argonnessen at all. They'd have been obliterated for attitude long ago. So would the lords of Dust and stuff, too. Eesh! Just the Rituals they could do would make your skin crawl.

Page 40 of Dragons of Argonesson states "A lowly clerk living in the Freeward
might well be a 7th-level expert/8th-level adept whose accumulated knowledge would make a Morgrave professor weep."

As for the dragons, they stay ahead because they also seem to often have many levels

 

[Aelryinth]

Page 40 of Dragons of Argonesson states "A lowly clerk living in the Freeward
might well be a 7th-level expert/8th-level adept whose accumulated knowledge would make a Morgrave professor weep."

As for the dragons, they stay ahead because they also seem to often have many levels

Sure, and you can run across a Warrior/15 slumming in the pits of Sharn, too.
But you're claiming they are ALL level 15... which is pretty excessive, no matter how you look at it. Why, that's almost equal to Netheril or Myth Drannor!


Being able to stumble across high level characters in the city as frequently as you might in, oh, Waterdeep, is already crazy powerful for Eberron!

 

[Bohandas]

The text implies that this is a typical clerk, not someone extraordinary

 

[Aelryinth]

The text implies that this is a typical clerk, not someone extraordinary

So does finding a Warrior/15 working in the forgerooms of Sharn. That still doesn't meant everyone is a fifteen, or even a Six. Exceptional people are going to be rare, and in Eberron, they are much rarer then Faerun.

 

[Bohandas]

Again, the text implies that this is NOT an exceptional person

 

[Aelryinth]

He's a /15. he's exceptional by definition. he's just in an unexceptional job.

 

[Bohandas]

You're begging the question

 

[Chaosmancer]

While this "who's magic is stronger" argument is... vaguely interesting. I think there is a larger point being missed.

Even if the resident two dozen archmages are more powerful than anything else Eberron has, that isn't what people are usually talking about when they discuss this sort of scenario. To misquote a super hero novel "Capes don't win wars, you need boots."

The average soldier of Eberron is better equipped than the average Faeriunian or Orethian. Because of the wide nature of Eberron's crafting, it would not be unreasonable to assume that most of their soldiers would be equipped with Wands, Magic Shields, and Magic Armor. Not powerfully magically, but better than the average soldier on the other side. And that means in a direct conflict, the Eberron army wins.

Sure, the circle of Archmagi could set aside their differences and start acting, but Army Killing Spells are few, and they need to be targeted. And Eberron armies know how to counter powerful spellcasters, because that is exactly what they faced in the Last War.

Airship travel could drop hundreds of troops on top of enemy strongholds with barely any warning. Each armed with a blasting charge for destroying fortifications. So, they could drop on a wizard's tower, turn it to rubble, and strike heavy blows against the wizard's resources.

 

[Bohandas]

That said, Oreth and Toril do have said army killing spells. Oreth has epic spells that are equivalent to an atomic bomb (Rain of Fire and Invoked Devestation) and Toril has spells that curse entire planets (Dracorage Mythal), all they'd need to do is put some high level bodyguards on the casters and they could easily crush Khorvaire. The main thing from Eberron that would present a problem to them is the entire continent of dragons with PC class levels.