Protections for a high level wizard?

[Kaledor]

Thanks for the suggestions on the robes as armor!

And back to the real thread...
Sorry, this is my first 3.5 game and my first wizard in A LONG time... and right now he's only Level 5. So, I can't add much :/

 

[domino]

Well, if he's got a place he likes to stay in, Guards and Wards is a really handy spell for household protection.

 

[Jack Simth]

A few ideas on loadouts:
Standard Load:
8th: Mind Blank (can't scry me!) (swap out for Planar Binding, Greater, on "work" days)
7th: Magnificent Mansion (Safe resting point - unless someone is playing around with Gate, or gets access to a tuning fork for his mansion or something), some offensive or utility spell
6th: Contingency (Resilient Sphere) (hit me for damage, and I get resting time! - well, unless someone has a readied action to get rid of it with a Disintigrate or something before my next turn), Mass Suggestion ("He has betrayed you all!" or "No, no, no ... you like me, I'm an old friend of yours" or something), Mislead (See Me? I'm running North.... while I run south, invisibly)
5th: Teleport (for getting away), Mage's Private Sanctum (in conjuction with Magnificient Mansion - very safe resting point; can't even scry your Planar Bound "guests") ,two offensive or utility spells for flavor
4th: Dimension Door (for a short hop or two), Resilient Sphere (slot reserved for Contingency), Mass Reduce Person (for the grapple penalty), Black Tentacles (for the grapple), Something for a bonus slot - the Int is at least 18, right?
3rd: don't much care at this point - won't usually be worth the time - assume he puts whatever he needs here for the day

On working days, he stays in his Mansion full time, and either crafts stuff, researches spells, or calls up Planar Bindings (flavor dependent, mostly - do you want him having lots of demons to throw at his enemies, golems, odd items, or unique spells?)

Unless his type is such that he doesn't need it, he will likely want a Ring of Sustenence (may have to buy, commision, or steal it), a Neclace of Adaptation, perhaps a Portable Hole (Player: "where could he have possibly gone? He's out of spells!" DM "Make a spot check..."), a spare spellbook with his common load, plus Plane Shift, engraved inside. He will also want a Mithral Buckler (no ASF or ACP, so profieciency doesn't matter) with a Permanencied Symbol of Persuasion (sight-triggered) or two (You see him! He's holding a shield! Save or be charmed!).

 

[Kilroy]

Rings of Counterspelling (Dimensional Anchor, Greater Dispel Magic)
Contingent Dimension Door (up max range when attacked)
Automatic Fall Prevention (of any sort)
Greater Invisibility
Unspeakable Rain of Burning, Fiery Death

 

[Al'Kelhar]

A few ideas on loadouts:
...
6th: Contingency (Resilient Sphere) (hit me for damage, and I get resting time! - well, unless someone has a readied action to get rid of it with a Disintigrate or something before my next turn),

OK, exactly who is the subject of the resilient sphere here, the wizard or the assailant? Irrespective, given that the sphere is 15 feet in daimeter (for a 15th-level wizard), a wizard whose contingency dropped it on an assailant who had just attacked him in melee is going to be trapped in his own resilient sphere with his assailant. That don't sound too smart to me!

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Al'Kelhar]

Contingent Dimension Door (up max range when attacked)

Ooh, ooh, I love this one too. Which direction is the wizard dimension dooring? Into something very big and solid? A slightly more sensible option, although equally disastrous in the wrong circumstances, is to "dimension door to the opposite side of my furthest visible ally[/i]".

Contingency is a great spell, but its triggering conditions, the spell it casts, and the exact way in which that spell is cast need to be very carefully considered beforehand. The subject of the contingency is not casting the contingent spell at the time the contingency is triggered, so he or she can't decide on its effect there and then. He or she has to set the specifics of the contingent spell at the time he or she casts contingency.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Jack Simth]

The wizard; Contingency specifies that the spell must go off on the caster.

Also, a caster can cast something at a reduced caster level, provided it doesn't drop below the minimum necessary for the spell; as a 4th level spell, that's a 7-ft diameter sphere, minimum. Unless his assailent is grappling, sufficiently small, or not in a combat situation, there's only room for one inside. Even then, the text of RS, with the exception of a single word at the very end which might simply mean an in general case for multiple castings on different targets, uses a fairly difinitive singular for the critter locked inside:

Resilient Sphere

Evocation [Force]

Level: Sor/Wiz 4 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: 1-ft.-diameter/level sphere, centered around a creature Duration: 1 min./level (D) Saving Throw: Reflex negates Spell Resistance: Yes A globe of shimmering force encloses a creature, provided the creature is small enough to fit within the diameter of the sphere. The sphere contains its subject for the spell’s duration. The sphere is not subject to damage of any sort except from a rod of cancellation, a rod of negation, a disintegrate spell, or a targeted dispel magic spell. These effects destroy the sphere without harm to the subject. Nothing can pass through the sphere, inside or out, though the subject can breathe normally.

The subject may struggle, but the sphere cannot be physically moved either by people outside it or by the struggles of those within.

Material Component: A hemispherical piece of clear crystal and a matching hemispherical piece of gum arabic.

(emphasis added)


As this is for an NPC, not a PC, the DM is controlling both the actions and the physics; it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to read the spell description as saying only one critter can be inside.

 

[nameless]

No offense to the posters so far or the OP, but it's really futile to try and guard against every possible attack. There are a lot of powerful defensive spells, but there's always a chink in the armor, especially with as many spellcasters as you have. The fact that your party will get 5 actions to his one in combat means that they can knock down defenses faster than he can put them up.

Staying on the offense, using misdirection really is the best thing to do. Call minions and make the party fight them off. The PCs will use up offensive spells on the minions. Use illusions that the party has no reason to disbelieve (or even cast True Seeing), and they might waste a strong offensive option on the illusion. If he uses his cheap tricks (i.e. low-level spells) and the PCs use their expensive, high-level ones, he can turn the disadvantage to his favor. For a major battle, the PCs are going to try and prepare as much as they can, buff up, and use whatever temporary magic keeps them on top. They will slaughter him quickly no matter what if they're buffed to the hilt, so using delaying tactics like wall spells or fog spells gives him time to buff while the party's buffs run out.

Spells like nightmare also keep the sense of urgency on the PCs, if they want to rest and regain spells, it's a risk that they might get no new spells and get a 1d10 damage for their trouble.

 

[Jack Simth]

Quite true. You may also notice that my suggestions included Mind Blank (can't find caster while out and about), a Mage's Magnificient Mansion (very difficult to enter without permission), and a Mage's Private Sanctum (can't even find the place), with notes on "working" days perhaps including some Planar Binding? Suggestions for things like Contingent Dimension Door, Teleport, or Resilient Sphere are simply last-line defenses that will work against lots of things (dimension door/teleport will usually get the caster out of the way of trouble - a Dimensional Lock or Dimensional Anchor on the caster or the area before hitting the trigger condition will prevent it; a Resilient Sphere will stop very nearly all attacks against the caster for as long as it lasts, but if any one of the listed methods of killing a resilient sphere is handy to the adversaries, it will cut the effect of the RS down to the level of aborting a fighter's full attack; getting caught in an AMF by surprise will ruin any caster's day, et cetera).

 

[domino]

One other trick, to secure your sanctum.

Hop over to the ethereal plane, and put a big chunk of stone where your mansion/place would be. Thus, anyone trying to use the ethereal plane to bypass your protection would be stopped.