Author Topic: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation  (Read 72501 times)

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Bastian

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #60 on: October 10, 2010, 06:05:54 PM »
Level 9:
Shapechange (PHB):  The king of the Polymorph spells, and one of the Big Five that dominate level 9 with their ability to redefine game reality--the other four being Gate, Miracle, Wish, and Time Stop.  The ability to also grab the Supernatural abilities of the subject creature makes this spell almost infinitely powerful and versatile.  Like the rest of the Big Five, it's extremely difficult to categorize under one category; with just a little creativity, it can be used for most of the purposes on this list.
I would like to disagree. It is not the Big Five, it's the Big Six. Genesis is so broken that most people just don't bother using it properly.

Caelic

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #61 on: October 10, 2010, 06:20:23 PM »
I would like to disagree. It is not the Big Five, it's the Big Six. Genesis is so broken that most people just don't bother using it properly.


Well, that's sort of the point.  The "Big Five" are the spells that are not only powerful, but ubiquitous--they get used, and used frequently.

Genesis is incredibly powerful.  It's also not something you cast on a daily basis.  It's ALSO also non-core, thus less-frequently used, and difficult to adjudicate, thus more-frequently banned.

I'd never claim that it's not on a par with the Big Five for power, but I'm not convinced it dominates most games the way they do.

Caelic

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #62 on: October 10, 2010, 06:30:25 PM »
Mystic Shield is a must-have for protection once you get 8th level spells. Immunity to 6th and lower level spells, and making all attacks against you non-magical is awesome.

Ice Shield is a VERY good defense at high levels, and impossible to ignore to the most part.


Where's Mystic Shield found again, Cantrip?

CantripN

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #63 on: October 10, 2010, 06:57:41 PM »
Anauroch: Empire of Shade, pg 141.

Here's the full text, because I don't care about the law:

Mystic Shield
Abjuration
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 8
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 round./level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
With the casting of your spell, you feel a presence about you, warding off the spells of other casters. This spell creates an invisible aura around the recipient that moves with that individual. It prevents all spells and spell-like abilities of 6th level or lower from affecting the recipient. The protected individual can cast spells normally, even on himself. Magic items and spells that summon items to the caster such as and likewise function normally. A Mystic Shield
« Last Edit: October 10, 2010, 07:02:05 PM by CantripN »
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KellKheraptis

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #64 on: October 10, 2010, 07:06:15 PM »
And now we've officially rendered any shred of bad ass left in the Dweomercheater utterly moot.  I love it when a little sparkle field prevents AMF from affecting me :D
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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #65 on: October 10, 2010, 07:07:58 PM »
And now we've officially rendered any shred of bad ass left in the Dweomercheater utterly moot.  I love it when a little sparkle field prevents AMF from affecting me :D
I think the Dweomercheater casts it as an 8th-level spell, actually.

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #66 on: October 10, 2010, 07:25:40 PM »
And now we've officially rendered any shred of bad ass left in the Dweomercheater utterly moot.  I love it when a little sparkle field prevents AMF from affecting me :D
I think the Dweomercheater casts it as an 8th-level spell, actually.

Only by burning a Miracle, and even then won't it need to do a Greater Effect?  It's not on a domain...though if they're a Divine Magician they can drop it in one.
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BeholderSlayer

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #67 on: October 10, 2010, 07:28:46 PM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!
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Echoes

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #68 on: October 10, 2010, 08:24:25 PM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!

Mystic shield + starmantle = destroy all weapons that strike you, including natural weapons. You officially make monks cry.

Man, I'm going to have to find a copy of that book. That spell is amazing.
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BeholderSlayer

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #69 on: October 10, 2010, 09:14:48 PM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!

Mystic shield + starmantle = destroy all weapons that strike you, including natural weapons. You officially make monks cry.

Man, I'm going to have to find a copy of that book. That spell is amazing.
Ooooo starmantle...I like that combo. I'm going to have to use it for the awesome factor and hilarity.

And by making monks cry, I think you mean "You officially make monks die." After all, the monk IS his weapon, so you just destroy him utterly when he attacks you.
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Echoes

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #70 on: October 10, 2010, 09:53:51 PM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!

Mystic shield + starmantle = destroy all weapons that strike you, including natural weapons. You officially make monks cry.

Man, I'm going to have to find a copy of that book. That spell is amazing.
Ooooo starmantle...I like that combo. I'm going to have to use it for the awesome factor and hilarity.

And by making monks cry, I think you mean "You officially make monks die." After all, the monk IS his weapon, so you just destroy him utterly when he attacks you.

Well, I was being kind and assuming only the limb that he used to attack with gets destroyed.

It also, interestingly, should block greater dispel magic, making it fairly unique in that regard.

And yes, this is a mean tactic to use as the BBEG.
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Huge amounts of people are fuckwits. That doesn't mean that fuckwit is a valid lifestyle.

As a general rule, murdering people and taking their stuff is pretty much superior to breaking their stuff, murdering them, then not having any stuff to take.

Out of Context Theater
[spoiler]
Oh I'll make a party. I'll make a party so hard... I'll make a party that makes you feel so awkward downstairs.

You'll see the party and only be able to respond, "Oh yeah baby."
[/spoiler]

Caelic

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #71 on: October 10, 2010, 10:43:00 PM »


Well, I was being kind and assuming only the limb that he used to attack with gets destroyed.



Wait...you mean we finally have a USE for the "regenerates lost limbs" aspect of regeneration? :)

PlzBreakMyCampaign

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #72 on: October 11, 2010, 01:15:04 AM »
That's clearly not in the spirit of the text. Let's be reasonable. If you did that for a BBEG and, as the DM, assumed that a magic weapon with the magic part not effecting the caster makes the weapon qualify for destruction... you deserve any cheese your players throw at you.
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An interesting read, nice to see a civil discussion
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Huge amounts of people are fuckwits. That doesn't mean that fuckwit is a valid lifestyle.
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The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #73 on: October 11, 2010, 01:26:11 AM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!
I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over my colossal serren arrows.
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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #74 on: October 11, 2010, 01:28:19 AM »
I like combining Mystic Shield with Ghost Form....hi there, you can't hurt me. Nyah nyah!
I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over my colossal serren arrows.

Were you a good boy and went to my uberbard for 72 dice of force damage to go on each one first?
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Echoes

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #75 on: October 11, 2010, 01:46:59 AM »
That's clearly not in the spirit of the text. Let's be reasonable. If you did that for a BBEG and, as the DM, assumed that a magic weapon with the magic part not effecting the caster makes the weapon qualify for destruction... you deserve any cheese your players throw at you.

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That's just, like, your opinion, man.

Seriously, flavor and "RAI" is entirely in the eye of the beholder.

The spell specifically turns the weapon off. It doesn't have any "for the purpose of affecting you" clauses, or shit like that. It straight-up turns them the fuck off. It's also an 8th-level spell, so getting a focused MDJ effect that only works on weapons that hit you isn't out of line here.

And the fact that it has wonky interactions with other material? Well, this is Wizard's we're dealing with. The authors don't even read the other parts of the same book they're working on, much less other splats.

Edit: Fixed typo. Now would someone cast calm emotions on TML?
« Last Edit: October 11, 2010, 02:12:48 AM by Echoes »
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Quotes I Found Entertaining:

Huge amounts of people are fuckwits. That doesn't mean that fuckwit is a valid lifestyle.

As a general rule, murdering people and taking their stuff is pretty much superior to breaking their stuff, murdering them, then not having any stuff to take.

Out of Context Theater
[spoiler]
Oh I'll make a party. I'll make a party so hard... I'll make a party that makes you feel so awkward downstairs.

You'll see the party and only be able to respond, "Oh yeah baby."
[/spoiler]

The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #76 on: October 11, 2010, 01:48:00 AM »
same book their working on,

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Gods_Trick

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #77 on: October 11, 2010, 01:51:19 AM »
same book their working on,

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #78 on: October 11, 2010, 07:50:50 AM »
And now we've officially rendered any shred of bad ass left in the Dweomercheater utterly moot.  I love it when a little sparkle field prevents AMF from affecting me :D
I think the Dweomercheater casts it as an 8th-level spell, actually.

Only by burning a Miracle, and even then won't it need to do a Greater Effect?  It's not on a domain...though if they're a Divine Magician they can drop it in one.

Quote from: d20SRD.org
Antimagic Field
Abjuration
Level:   Clr 8, Magic 6, Protection 6, Sor/Wiz 6
...
Cleric AMFs > level 6, therefore Cleric AMFs > mystic shield.

</tangent>

jolt

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Re: The A-List: The Wizard's Best Spells For Every Situation
« Reply #79 on: October 11, 2010, 09:46:36 AM »
Eye of Stone (Races of Stone) for gathering intelligence.