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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edena_of_Neith" data-source="post: 3192595" data-attributes="member: 2020">Unfortunately, a high level fighter is out of his league against an archmage.  This imbalance was created with the D&D game back in 1974, and has remained so ever since despite every attempt to change it.  I personally do not see that it is possible to right the inequality, short of changing the game itself into something else (which they seem to be doing ...)  That leaves only Second Best Options for the Fighter.  - He can obtain magical items to aid in his fight against the archmage:  magic against magic.  - He can obtain anti-magical items in an effort to shield himself from Mordenkainen's Disjunction, other Autokill spells, and other powerful spells.  - He can work with a party that includes a high level wizard and/or a high level cleric, and fight to protect those PCs so that *they* can defeat the archmage (and resurrect him, if needed.)  - He can multiclass (particularly now, in 3E), then go into PrCs that enable him to use magical spells or magical type abilities himself.  - He can also use decoys.  He can goad monsters into attacking the wizard's lair, or pay NPCs into attacking it (NPCs who do not know what they are in for, of course.)  Or he could start rumors that attracted the unfavorable attention of the authorities on the archmage (they are afraid of such powerful wizards too, obviously.)  - He can do other things.  Archmages are still only mortal, and make mistakes (especially since they are typically arrogant.)  -  Archmages should not be random encounters that one just happens to 'run into', in my opinion.  As you have said, that seems silly.  Take Acererak.  He stays in his vault.  Everyone knows he's there.  A lot of people insist on trying to kill him.  A lot of people ... are now dead.  Larloch's necropolis is a known location.  Nobody tries to go there.  The LAST time adventurers bothered Larloch, the city they came from was torched and half the population exterminated.  If the party runs into Mordenkainen in a tavern, it is doubtful he is looking for a fight.  He'll probably leave if bothered without throwing a single spell at the party ... and the Greyhawk City Guard will then run the PCs out of town on a rail.  Gromph the Archmage of Menzoberranzan, is probably in Menzoberranzan.  If he is outside it, it is for one heck of a good reason and he is probably looking to avoid a fight (and thus the notice of the Surface World.)  If the party goes to Menzoberranzan, they will encounter fun aplenty and to spare long before they ever encounter Gromph.  If the party insists on storming Blackstaff Tower, they will run into Khelben and Laeral.  They should not expect anything less.  Fortunately, Laeral is kindly and merciful.  Unfortunately, Khelben is neither.  Halaster almost never directly molests adventurers in Undermountain.  Adventurers never know he is there.  Sometimes, Halaster sets monsters on the adventurers, watches the results, and is highly amused (win or lose.)  Sometimes, Halaster just watches the adventurers.  Usually, Halaster doesn't even bother watching.  Raistlin is busy in his Tower of High Sorcery.  To get to him, you must first pass through Shoikan Grove.  (This rule applies even to invited guests!)  If you get through that, he will actually notice your arrival, and hopefully you will have a good explanation for this intrusion?    You just might run into Manshoon accidentally.  Of course, there are FIFTY Manshoons running around all at once (see The Manshoon Wars) so this situation is the exception (and everyone is terrified out of their wits as chaos and pandemonium reigns across the Realms.)  In a case like this, you might want to keep a low profile until the uproar has died down ...   Archmage encounters are unique and epic in nature.  The party should invariably know they are dealing with an archmage (or archmagistress, to use the FR term for female archmages) since this IS a unique and epic situation.  Fortunately for the party, the reverse is not necessarily true as the party is not necessarily so famous or infamous.  RANDOM archmage encounters should be freakishly rare.  And of those freakishly rare encounters, it should be a freak exception that the archmage attacks the party out of the blue.  And in those cases, there should be a way out for the party and/or ways for them to recover from their freak misfortune.  (a bit tongue in cheek)  I have a different conception of 9th level spells than yourself, taken from the olden days.  I consider 9th level spells to be in the Realm of Autokill.  That is to say, if it's an Autokill spell (like the old Internal Fires spell, much less the old Time Stop) it's probably 9th level.  9th level spells and balance are contradicting terms.  In my opinion, no game exists where both exist.  9th level spells are beasts as terrible as the tarrasque, as unstoppable as Raistlin, as unreasonable as the Simbul, and as gamebreaking as the Hand of Vecna.  They put the Arch into Archmage/Archmagistress.  So, if your PC insists on fighting a monster or NPC with 9th level spells, you know exactly who is to blame when what is left of your PC can be scouped into a thimble.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />    Edena_of_Neith  EDIT:  No archmage is going to wait in a dungeon room for the party to come walking around the corner.  No self respecting archmage would ever consent to be the DM's monster-in-room 35!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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