Serious inquiries only please - 100th level adventure hook and module in development

[DM-Rocco]

Sage,

Interesting choices.
As enhancement bonuses to Int increase skill ranks, I wouldn't assign skills until I did magic items and decided at which level he gained such bonuses. With your focus on Int, you should be a master of all skills, very effective. (You can flip back to my example Wizard character if you want a spreadsheet to do that, I attached the one I used. It's pretty basic, mind you - just adding things up.)
I counted some 30 feats or so, I think you're missing some. Perhaps you stopped getting 1 feat per three levels once he turned Epic?
As for buying wishes - well, just buy the Tomes from the DMG, the ones that grant a +5 inherent bonus.
And why wouldn't you be allowed to take toughness? It's a feat like any other.

The gold for a starting 100th level guy is somgthing like 275,000,000. I knocked it down to 250,000,000 to account for things like keep maintance, henchman payments, running your kingdom and an automatic +5 inherit bonus across the board. That was one of the original rules, hope that helps.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Sure, or an improved version of a ring of counterspells, or some kind of contingency to cast it as a counterspell, or super-ultra-epic-even-in-your-sleep-mastery-of-counterspelling, or whatnot.

Speaking of counterspells, I wanted to give my wizard the feat from forgotten realms where you can counter without a readied action and the one that let's you counter as many times as you want too from the player's guide to the forgotten realms, however, since it is not one of our core books that we agreed on for character creation, I was thinking of making an epic counter spell spell. Something along the lines of super-ultra-epic-even-in-your-sleep-mastery-of-counterspelling. Something like that sound fair to you guys?

 

[DM-Rocco]

Well Here's my character, it's almost done, though I'll probably have to do a lot of tweaking.
Man, when I read the epic skill DCs... my character is soooooo cool

Sage,
You can only go as high as a +30 ability modifier enhancments, so no +40 INT bands.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Hi all,

I'm going to a conference now and I'll have spatchy internet access at best and no real time for the next two weeks, so I expect not to post till it's over.
I'm looking forward to resuming work on this project when I return!

Yair

P.S, sage: Your character uses a lot of custom made magic items, and some are a bit problematic. For example, you gain a lot of insight, luck, and other bonuses to AC which goes against our guidelines. Some items I have no idea how to price (instant-returning?). Also, you don't need to keep the "old items" in stock, such as the lesser increases to Int.
Anyways, this is just my quick impression from reading it, I don't have time to go over it - my wife is waiting in the door.
I hope I'm not being a jerk, I just want chargen to be as orthodox as possible since I want people that play this adventure to play a level 100 D&D adventure, not someone's house rules.

Your not being a jerk, we have to have guidelines.

Sage, you can make custom swords and armor, you can do that with the rules in the DMG and the EPHB or the BOVD or BOED but that is it. The BOVD and the BOED should be used sparingly though and not from both, one or the other. If you are evil you must have something that hides your alignment and thoughts and evil weapons since there is a paladin in the party. I am off too bed, but why don't you go over your character agian and post it. I'll take a more thorough look then.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Thouigh you're not here, I'll reply for others to read and respond to.

Um... I'll handle that if you don't mind. let's see if we can get your character on the right page first, okay

The DMG and ELHB items are really not powerful enough for 100th level (I'd say 50 or 60 if you're pushing it), so custom items are a must.

Custom items are going to be apart of it, but no more than a +50 market price and it is to be split evenly between enhancment and non enhancment bonuses.

I read this as only for ability scores, so diffenrent bonuses for AC (or even attack?) should be in compliance. Remember that different bonuses cost more than enhancement or deflection bonuses (but 10 luck cost less than raising +20 enhancement to +30).

In the spirit of the game and to get everyone on the same page we need to have, as crazy as it sounds for a 100th level guy, a balance. Only regular bonuses period. You can give armor enhancment bonuses. I could make a character with a 1,000 AC, but that would not be fair or fun. By running a high dex with bracers of AC +25 and a +25 buckler shield you get a 75 AC. I would have to take a closer look at your AC, but shy away from the luck bonus, maybe a cloak with a +25 deflection bonus.


any questions?

 

[Ozmar]

Hey Ozmar, I would like to play in your campaign if you ever start it, I have a character from an fr campaign that didn't last more than 2 sessions

Yeah... but you're in Denmark??!?!

I've had players fly in from Virginia before, but that would take the cake.

 

[Ozmar]

Well, nice math. You know what they say, there are three kinds of people in the world, those that get math and those that don't

Thanks. Math major, grad school, etc...

Anyway, you forgot a few things, four come to mind that make it a logical combo that you dismissed.

1) Human with a spell prodigy feat (basically starting with a 20 INT for spells) then ad in +25 for level enhancement, +5 inherit and a +30 item enhancement (the max we decided you can go for ability item boosters), that gives him a 80 INT without any Great INT feats. You have plenty of bonus spells

Yeah? Well... Let's look at that for a minute... Let's say our 100th level mage "only" takes enough ISC feats to take full advantage of his 80 Int. (Note that 80 Int is really what's broken here, but that's another issue...) With an 80 Int, he has 4 bonus 23rd level spells, so that means that he has a maximum of 35th level spells (and he has two of those spell slots) so starting from level 1, his bonus spells are 9/9/9/8/8/8/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6/5/5/5/5/4/4/4/4/3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1, so his total spell slots are 4/13/13/13/12/12/12/12/11/11/8/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6/5/5/5/5/4/4/4/4/3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2, for a grand total of 226 non-cantrips per day. (Note that we have assumed he is using 19 of his 28 remaining feats between level 54 and 100 on ISC.)

Not too shabby, BUT, if he wants to maximize his intense time stop potential, he must spend 80 of these 226 spell slots, which is well over 1/3 of his daily potential. (If he "twins" an intense time stop *shudder*, then he will blow 2/3!) I submit that any wizard who uses 1/3 of his spells in one fight, let alone one attack, is hurting. Wizards need to be smarter than this. (Especially ones with 80 Int!)

2) By use of the multi spells and the twin spells you are able to do a great manys to get around energy immunity. Before you cast your intensified twined timestop, you twin a Mords on him or twin a dispel magic on his ring of energy immunity. You twin these spells because they might be able to cast counter spells and since you can cast 5+ spells a day, you should be able to push at least one through. Also, if you have Arch Mage levels you can substitue energy types of spells so if they are immune to fire you can do acid. That is also why you need the delay feat so you can use Horrid Wilting, it is a FORT save so you can't evade it and it doesn't have a damage type, so you can't prevent it.

Well, using HW is certainly wise against certain targets. (Although some, I am sure, will be more resistant to it, and it does start at 9th level, and cannot be used in the first five time-stopped rounds.) Of course the key for an Epic Wizard is to know his enemy, and to defeat him with the least expenditure of energy possible. And I like how you are thinking with the other spells as well (although, again, MD is too risky IMO at higher levels, due to the increased liklihood that your target is actually carrying one or more artifacts!) The Epic Wizard certainly needs to consider dozens if not hundreds of variables and choose his tactics with the utmost of care. That's my point really: that this one intensified time stop tactic is not really a good one, and (my second point) is that time stop is not "broken", and (I guess my third point) is that, even without time stop (if you choose to nerf it) the epic wizard is not any less a complex and difficult character to play.

3) At the end of the time stop you cast a wish. There are feats you can take to make it a permenant spell-like ability usable at will once a round, but even without that, you have a few slots dedicated to wishes and you use your wish to wish that you have the effects that you had just rested for 24 hours. This gives you back all your spells and heals you, minus the one wish.

As others have pointed out: [DM] Denied! [/DM] No DM worth their salt would allow this. That's clearly an abusive wish. Anyone wishing that he had just rested 24 hours would (at the very least) be transported into the future precisely 24 hours. At worst, he falls into an unwakable sleep for precisely 24 hours, allowing his foes to loot and/or kill him in the meantime.

And what is this wish usable as a "permanent spell-like ability usable at will once a round"? This is not the first time I've heard of that hack, but when others have told me about it, it turned out that they were wrong by the RAW. Can you tell me how you think it is done? B/c I very much doubt it is possible. (If it is possible by the RAW, then that's another patch I need to make for my game!)

(Open question for all: How can you get wish as a permanent Sp ability? Anyone? Bueller? I'd really like to see this...)

4) 3,250,000 will buy you an improved rod of Excellent Magic that gives you 10,000XP towards a spell. You can use this to pay for twined wishes. You will need two of them at least, so one recharges when you cast the wish, as if you had rested for 24 hours.

Eh. *shrug* At this level you've got a few dozen scrolls of wish and 50,000 XP in reserve. But remember that wish is "non-epic" magic. Look out for epic spells. Those might be designed to achieve the effects you suggest, but wish should not.

It is not a bad tactic either if you get your spells back every round. Yes, wish is broken too, but a little less abused.

Well, yeah, big IF. Wish could be broken if the DM allows it to be. Don't allow it, man! Don't give in to the players when they beg. Don't succumb to the temptation to give your NPCs awesome tactics just b/c they can use a wish.

So, even though I didn't do the break down completely like you did, I am certain my math is correct so I have to desagree, time stop is very broken. I figiured out a way to do 400,000 points of damage and that was not all of my feats that I could have taken.

I think you draw the wrong conclusions from the results of this. Sure, you probably can do 400,000 points of damage. But that does not make time stop broken, because the tactics you are using to deliver this much damage are very poor tactics. I believe that the wizard is required to devote way too much of his resources to deliver the payoff, and it is not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination, which makes the tactic subpar.

Anyway... I am tired. Kill time stop if you like, but I recommend that you allow it and wrestle with all the implications. If nothing else, it will be good practice for thinking about all the OTHER thousands of possible tricks (epic spells, nasty spell combos, etc...) that a 100th level wizard might have up his robes.

Ozmar the Weary DM

[Edited for clarity - removed (some) spelling errors.]

 

[Ozmar]

I'll tell you what, you number crunch the other classes like you did this one and then tell me what you think

Hah! :\

Sorry! My Epic Number Crunching Feat is only usable once a week, and I need it this coming week to prepare for my vacation... Maybe I'll get one more in, but I expect to be pretty pre-occupied with final travel prep.

Ozmar the Horizon Walker

 

[DM-Rocco]

Okay, a quick break down of Unbreakable's gear. Perhaps some one would do the math for me on the shield, armor and weapons, and I think I was fair with the rest of the items as far as price goes, but I am not into squaring numbers and such, so feel free to check them too. I didn't total anything just yet, just getting a feel for what things cost at this level.

Mithril/Ysgardian Heartwire full plate +25, ever bright +1, Soul fire +4, Empyreal +2, heavy fortification +5, great reflection +10, negating +5, greater fire, acid, cold, electric and sonic resistance *502,650 + a +42 epic armor enhancement market price*

Spiked Shield, large mithril +25 defense enhancement, ever bright +1, +12 weapon enhancement, Infinite arrow deflection +6, ghost touch +3, Empyreal +2, *101,150 + 40 epic armor enhancement market price *

Spiked Shield, large mithril +25 defense enhancement, ever bright +1, exception arrow deflection +8, ghost touch +1, +12 weapon enhancement, Empyreal +2, 101,150 + 40 epic armor enhancement market price

Large, Adamantine spiked chain +25 weapon enhancement, brilliant energy +4, keen +1, speed +3, Ghost touch +1, ever dancing +8, holy power +8 203,000 + 40 epic weapon enhancement market price

Large, Adamantine spiked chain +25 ghost touch +1, keen +1, Holy x2 +4, speed +3, ever dancing +8, holy power +8 203,000 + 40 epic weapon enhancement market price

Bracers of relentless might - +30 strength and +30 constitution 18,000,000?

Helm of Wisdom +30 - grants a +100 competence bonus to Sense motive and spot 49,000,000

Epic ring reflection +10 deflection AC 2,000,000

Ring of Solar wings - 118,000

Anti-magic shackles - 132,000

Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Influence and sequestering 300,000

Animated +1 Buckler of Exceptional Arrow Deflection (1,210,150 gp)

Mantle of Epic Spell Resistance 110 that also acts as a Star mantle cloak - 9,932,000

Universal ring of energy immunity 2,160,000

Improved advanced boots of swiftness - as per the boots of swiftness but with a +30 to dexterity instead of a +6 dexterity. 9,220,000

Remeber, there are three kinds of people in the world, those that understand math, and those that don't

 

[Ozmar]

I tend to agree with DM_Rocco that "brokeness" needs to be considered in relation to other party members. My rouge's main attack is a full round action that does about 2000 hp in total (over two rounds). I suspect that a full attack by the fighter, when fully equipped, will be in the same order or maybe less (but applicable to creatures immune to critical hits). It is these totals that set the scale.
The wizard should be able to do better, as he's expending expensive high-level slots, but not by orders of magnitude.

Well, I would expect/hope that the wiz would do tons more than any other char with the tactic that DM-Rocco suggest, b/c he's expending 33 to 100% of his spell resources to do it! Whereas a 100th level fighter can deliver 1000 points a round, and can keep it up ALL DAY, the wizard can deal 400,000 points and do it maybe 2-3 times before he is helpless as a 100 HD baby...

One thing I disagree with DM_Rocco over is the use of Wish to restore lost spell-slots. Not in my game. A wish, being a level 9 spell, could - at best - restore a level 9 slot in my game. Perhaps level 8. I'll allow a doubling of the number of regained slots per lower spell level, so you'll have, say, two level 8 slots, or 4 level 7 slots, or so on. But that's as powerful as it gets.
Even wish has its limits.

Agreed with you there, Yair!

Ozmar the Agreeable