Living forever without turning Undead

[Calanon]

Can anyone give me any information on tricks to become immortal? I know the whole Living Zombie trick, and the "Wishing I was younger" method but are there any other tricks? Of course Undeath has occured to me as an Idea but that won't fly with my DM this time :smallfrown:

So in the immortal words of Eddie Schwartz "Hit me with your best shot!" :smallbiggrin:

[candycorn]

Be an elan. Don't take cleric levels.

[Psyren]

Immortality Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5996.0)

Fey and Outsiders aren't automatically immortal though, so make those edits in your head.

[Bobmufin52]

If you’re high enough level, a worm that walks from the epic level handbook is a good choice.

[Zaq]

Be an elan. Don't take cleric levels.

I see what you did there.

[Calanon]

Be an elan. Don't take cleric levels.

just texted my DM and told me that Elan's age at the same rate as Humans... fair enough i suppose. HOHOHOHOHOHOHO you made me laugh :smallbiggrin:


Immortality Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5996.0)

Fey and Outsiders aren't automatically immortal though, so make those edits in your head.

Seriously helped, Thank you Psyren for yet again being a limitless fountain of wisdom :smallbiggrin:

[Psyren]

just texted my DM and told me that Elan's age at the same rate as Humans... fair enough i suppose. HOHOHOHOHOHOHO you made me laugh :smallbiggrin:

Your DM is wrong - Elans age MUCH more slowly than humans, and they can't die from old age as they have no maximum age. See here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#ageHeightAndWeight)

(Oh, and you are of course welcome)

[Calanon]

Your DM is wrong - Elans age MUCH more slowly than humans, and they can't die from old age as they have no maximum age. See here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#ageHeightAndWeight)

(Oh, and you are of course welcome)

The ****!? Then why do people say that Elans are immortal?

EDIT: OH silly me, I didn't notice the "No Maximum age" teehee i feel silly :smallredface:

[Psyren]

The ****!? Then why do people say that Elans are immortal?

...
They are -_- They don't die of old age.


EDIT: OH silly me, I didn't notice the "No Maximum age" teehee i feel silly :smallredface:

*mutters*

[Doorhandle]

This is in a large part because I am plugging it, but... Switch to pathfinder.

No, really;

Be a wizard. Survive to level 20. Take the Immortality discovery. Laugh.

Even better, be an alchemist and achive the same thing at the same level, without loosing a feat.

A monk of the four winds also becomes pretty much immortal by this level, and receives free resurrection as a bonus.

I think an oracle of time might also be simmarly unkillable, at least not permanently.

[kardar233]

Your DM is wrong - Elans age MUCH more slowly than humans, and they can't die from old age as they have no maximum age. See here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#ageHeightAndWeight)

(Oh, and you are of course welcome)

Hmmm. In my copy of EPH, the Elan's Maximum Age is listed as being +10d%, and there's no mention of an exemption. That might be the source of the confusion.

[hamishspence]

yes- it was errataed later.

[Yuki Akuma]

Become a Deathless.

:smallwink:

[gkathellar]

Warforged, too.

I've always been curious about why these threads come up. Are you intending to play in a campaign that takes place over decades or centuries? Are you building a high-level character who is supposed to be immortal by fluff? It seems like since immortality has no real in-game effect, it should really just be a fluff thing.

[Aron Times]

Edit: I just realized that this was posted in the 3.5 subforum. I thought this was the non-specific Roleplaying forum, so feel free to ignore my post.

The idea behind epic destinies (epic prestige classes) in 4e is that you start on the path to immortality at level 21, and you gain immortality once you finish your destiny quest at level 30 (the maximum level in 4e). Immortality means different things depending on your epic destiny, from actual immortality (demigod) to everlasting fame or infamy (deadly trickster) to achieving ultimate arcane power (archmage).

Players who want their characters to become immortal usually take the demigod epic destiny. It helps that it is the gold standard by which epic destinies are judged.

For those who don't mind being undead, there's the archlich epic destiny, but it requires you to be an arcane character. And perhaps one of the most interesting types of immortality is that of the dark wanderer. At level 30, they gain this ability:


Long Walk Back (30th level): If you die and are not returned to life within 12 hours, your body and possessions disappear. Twelve hours after that—24 hours after your death—you arrive, equipped as you were when you died, having just walked back from wherever it is you and your DM decided you awoke after you were slain. Your condition is the same as if you had been subject to a Raise Dead ritual, but without any death penalty.

You can choose to arrive at the place of your death, at the location of any of your allies, or at any location you consider home. There’s a final purpose in your existence, and it’s not random death.

Epic-level play in 4e is AWESOME. :smallcool:

[sreservoir]

nobody remembers the killoren!

they are fey with listed no maximum age (but never even become venerable) in RotW. their racial features aren't terrible -- the scaling bonus to know (nature) even helps with mind-bogglingly large checks without even trying.

[gkathellar]

EDIT: Swordsages everywhere.

That's great, but this is a thread on the 3.5 boards. So ... relevancy?

[Lateral]

There's also the Wedded to History feat in Dragon #354. It's first level-only, but one of its benefits is that you don't die of old age.

[Psyren]

Hmmm. In my copy of EPH, the Elan's Maximum Age is listed as being +10d%, and there's no mention of an exemption. That might be the source of the confusion.

The SRD includes errata; (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a) your physical book does not.

[sreservoir]

There's also the Wedded to History feat in Dragon #354. It's first level-only, but one of its benefits is that you don't die of old age.

being immortal doesn't seem to be an effect of the feat, and having lived a long time is a prerequisite.

[hamishspence]

the feat can only be taken at 1st level though- and grants one of the listed Ancient backgrounds.

The Endless extraordinary ability, in the same issue, and the Kissed by the Ages spell, seem to grant immortality.

[Ravens_cry]

If you are good buddies with a druid, or can convince one that your continued existence benefits Nature more than your passing, you can get . . .a kind of Immortality.
First step, when you enter the Venerable category, die.
Yes, I know that sounds confusing, but bear with me.
Get Reinarnate cast on your corpse.
Come back as a YOUNG ADULT.
There is also another fun part.
Yes, besides seen the Rest of the Story.
The reincarnated explicitly come back with the same mental stats of their previous form.
Presumably, this includes the +3 to Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence one gets from being Venerable.
But your physical stats change based on the table and it says you come back as a Young Adult, taking away the ageing penalties.
Basically, if you are willing to wait a few millennia, you basically can "farm" your mental statisticss to absurd heights.
Told you there was a fun part.
Now we know why Ra's al Ghul is such a sexy beast.

[Psyren]

Now we know why Ra's al Ghul is such a sexy beast.

Because there are no Inevitables to hunt him down? :smalltongue:

[Flickerdart]

Turn Undead isn't very useful for becoming immortal, I'm not sure why you'd specify that. WotC fails its thesaurus check yet again.

[Ravens_cry]

Because there are no Inevitables to hunt him down? :smalltongue:
What do you think Batman is?
It's why he can run a multi-billion dollar company, have an active social life and be Batman.
Dudes a Construct, Subtype: Batman, man.
Anyway, after a few cycles of this with a class with an emphases on mental statistics, you can take down any Inevitable that disagrees with you and your druid buddy.

[gkathellar]

I don't remember if Reincarnate works this way, but couldn't you just be your druid buddy?

[Zarin]

Going back to PF, there's this little druid archetype that gets you...kinda immortality at level 5:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/archetypes/paizo---druid-archetypes/reincarnated-druid

[Psyren]

Going back to PF, there's this little druid archetype that gets you...kinda immortality at level 5:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/archetypes/paizo---druid-archetypes/reincarnated-druid

Note that this only triggers if you are killed - you therefore have to arrange for your murder (or commit suicide) whenever you get old in order to actually live forever.

Standing instructions with your animal companion could be simultaneously effective and unsettling.

[Yuki Akuma]

I don't remember if Reincarnate works this way, but couldn't you just be your druid buddy?

Um. You can't cast spells on yourself when you're dead.

[gkathellar]

Um. You can't cast spells on yourself when you're dead.

Okay, so Reincarnate requires you to be dead already. Still, you could have a magic item that did it, or a Craft Contingent Spell.

[Curmudgeon]

It's pretty simple, and no shenanigans are required. Get to Epic level and take Extended Life Span [Epic] (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#extendedLifeSpan). Keep taking that feat and you'll be able to stay in your current age category forever.

[Calanon]

Warforged, too.

I've always been curious about why these threads come up. Are you intending to play in a campaign that takes place over decades or centuries? Are you building a high-level character who is supposed to be immortal by fluff? It seems like since immortality has no real in-game effect, it should really just be a fluff thing.

I was forced into a Campaign by my friends that takes place over centuries so we are all picking methods of immortality some have chosen Undeath, Others have chosen being a Construct, but me? Nah, I don't want to have my Immortality dependent on a shiny babble or a Pretty box, or the fact that I can run around screaming "I'm Iron man!"



Turn Undead isn't very useful for becoming immortal, I'm not sure why you'd specify that. WotC fails its thesaurus check yet again.

Oh playground! you so crazy :smallbiggrin: It was a reference to Start of Darkness

[gkathellar]

I was forced into a Campaign by my friends that takes place over centuries so we are all picking methods of immortality some have chosen Undeath, Others have chosen being a Construct, but me? Nah, I don't want to have my Immortality dependent on a shiny babble or a Pretty box, or the fact that I can run around screaming "I'm Iron man!"

Psh. Someone went Lich? That template which is like a worse version of Necropolitan/Gravetouched Ghoul?

But yeah, Elan is the easiest way, and Reincarnate is a solid alternative.

[Calanon]

Psh. Someone went Lich? That template which is like a worse version of Necropolitan/Gravetouched Ghoul?

But yeah, Elan is the easiest way, and Reincarnate is a solid alternative.

Psh. I actually like the Lich template (The Dicefreak one, not the MM one) I always do the original LA+1 per rank
and even though I was offered this I chose not to take it because I'm sick and tired of playing an Undead character, I always play some sort of Undead and Its starting to get old and boring for me... SO i decided to find other methods of living forever besides Lichdom or Vampirism :smallamused:

[Hazzardevil]

There is a funky artifact called the grey painting, what it does is if you keep it in your possession for 24 hours it becomes a picture of you and you live forever. I used it in an epic game a while ago. I was vastly over shadowed by the other players so I scoured the web for ways of my character gaining better stats. I ended up using vrocks and immortality to give me huge ability scores and simply started crazy plans with another player to undermine the other players kingdoms. I even used the evil overlord list to help me found the kingdom.

Rule 1 of my kingdom.
If a someone decides they want to kill me or fight me to the death, they are to be escorted to me immediately to fight me one on one in an anti magic dome to the death and after they are killed they are to have their body disintegrated and used for a familicide spell.

[onthetown]

Reach level 20. Complete all sorts of deeds, good or evil or even neutral, throughout the campaign.

Once you've reached either fame or notoriety, or simply have survived until level 20, petition a god, demigod, or immortal servant of some sort. Make sure your beliefs align with theirs. They'll probably want you to prove yourself, either through trial or adventure, before they pass on your request to the Big Boss God (Ao, if you're FR).

There was a neat mechanic for becoming an immortal in the Known World setting, complete with a table outlining quests I believe.

Other options in the thread are available for pre-level 20 immortality.

Better yet, just be really awesome at what you do for the entire campaign and make sure to appease your god, and they'll be making you their Chosen in no time!

[Coidzor]

Rule 1 of my kingdom.
If a someone decides they want to kill me or fight me to the death, they are to be escorted to me immediately to fight me one on one in an anti magic dome to the death and after they are killed they are to have their body disintegrated and used for a familicide spell.

So one of the other players' cheater of mystra ganked you really quickly then? :smallconfused: Or did you just have cheater on cheater death matches until the game grew boring and repetitive?

[Othesemo]

Killoren, from RotW, have no maximum age. Play it safe and you will, indeed, be immortal.

Also, I believe that there's an Immortal template on D&D wiki. It's LA +1, but definitely worth it.

[Lateral]

Also, I believe that there's an Immortal template on that miserable piece of crap they call D&D wiki. It's LA +1, but definitely worth it.

FTFY. :smalltongue:

[NNescio]

Can anyone give me any information on tricks to become immortal? I know the whole Living Zombie trick, and the "Wishing I was younger" method but are there any other tricks? Of course Undeath has occured to me as an Idea but that won't fly with my DM this time :smallfrown:

So in the immortal words of Eddie Schwartz "Hit me with your best shot!" :smallbiggrin:

Cast PaO to turn into a younger version of yourself. Repeat as necessary.

Just be careful of Dispels and AMFs. :smallwink:

[The Underlord]

1. get old
2. Become dragonborn, resetting your age
3. use the ritual race changing thing in savage species to change into a non-dragonborn
4. Repeat as necessary.
Though, Bahumut would get pissed off at oyu eventually :smalltongue:

[onthetown]

Though, Bahumut would get pissed off at oyu eventually :smalltongue:

However, Tiamat might approve if it was to further her purposes... :smallamused:

[Coidzor]

However, Tiamat might approve if it was to further her purposes... :smallamused:

:smallconfused: An adventurer wasting his money to become a dragonborn and then Bahamut stripping away that status is unlikely to further Tiamat's purposes.

[onthetown]

:smallconfused: An adventurer wasting his money to become a dragonborn and then Bahamut stripping away that status is unlikely to further Tiamat's purposes.

Bothering Bahamut is likely to amuse her.

[Aron Times]

:elan: Woohoo! I'm immortal!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Flickerdart]

It's pretty simple, and no shenanigans are required. Get to Epic level and take Extended Life Span [Epic] (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#extendedLifeSpan). Keep taking that feat and you'll be able to stay in your current age category forever.
In order to gain XP after a certain amount of levels, you'd need to start deposing a god a day, so it's not real immortality by any measure.

[lunar2]

play as a druid. take craft ring (or wondrous item, but my DM made me use ring). craft a ring of reincarnate, that immediately reincarnates you when you die. reach venerable age, and then coup de grace yourself. 1 round later, get up off the ground, figure out what gear you can still wear, take it off your old body, and go about your merry way. it gets better if you manage to die in battle (stupid idiot unlucky druid that manages to pull that off) and next round you get up, minus a level but full up on spells and HP, and kick butt.

[Curmudgeon]

reach venerable age, and then coup de grace yourself.
How are you going to manage that? You can only deliver a coup de grace against a helpless opponent, and you can't attack when you're helpless.

[Lonely Tylenol]

I read through nearly the whole first page without realizing that they weren't talking about the goofy Bard.

It made this thread hilarious to me.

[herrhauptmann]

How are you going to manage that? You can only deliver a coup de grace against a helpless opponent, and you can't attack when you're helpless.

Ritual Suicide.
CDG is probably the closest game term to it. But seppuku should count as a self coup de grace.
If you're really hung up on a game mechanic, just start attacking yourself until your HP reaches zero.

[Viktyr Gehrig]

If you are good buddies with a druid, or can convince one that your continued existence benefits Nature more than your passing, you can get . . .a kind of Immortality.

13th level Wizard or 14th level Sorcerer. Contingency, followed by limited wish for last breath. Then, if you don't like your new race, limited wish to get your old one back. 600 XP, no material components, and most importantly no level loss. If you don't have the expensive contingency focus, you can just another limited wish.


I don't remember if Reincarnate works this way, but couldn't you just be your druid buddy?

A Druid could do it with Craft Contingent Spell, but they'd be stuck with the results on the roll table. On the other hand, an Arcane Hierophant 10 could have both last breath and limited wish.

[Rubik]

A psionic character with Astral Seed comes back exactly as he was when he manifested the power. Thus, use Metamorphosis to become a younger critter, manifest Astral Seed, then wait until you die in some fashion (the power doesn't specify how, meaning you can die of old age just fine). Voila.

Also, any caster with access to wizard spells (at later levels, basically all of tier 1, and most of tier 2, and anyone with UMD) can carve a chunk of flesh from themselves early on in life, preserve it in some fashion (and there are many), then cast Clone on it. You'll come back with all your mental stuff, but in a much younger physical body.

Cast Astral Projection on yourself, then coat your young body in Quintessence (which you can do fairly easily, since Planar Binding nightmares can be done early on).

Start stealing bodies, whether through possession (Shapechange daily into a ghost!), or some other way.

There are lots of ways to do this.

[Flickerdart]

13th level Wizard or 14th level Sorcerer. Contingency, followed by limited wish for last breath. Then, if you don't like your new race, limited wish to get your old one back. 600 XP, no material components, and most importantly no level loss. If you don't have the expensive contingency focus, you can just another limited wish.
Limited Wish, a 7th level spells, is ineligible for Contingency (which has a cap of 6th level).

[Rubik]

Limited Wish, a 7th level spells, is ineligible for Contingency (which has a cap of 6th level).Sanctum Spell.

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Limited Wish, a 7th level spells, is ineligible for Contingency (which has a cap of 6th level).

Wow. I cannot believe I missed that. You need Craft Contingent spell after all, then.

[Eldan]

You could also move to the astral or a similarly timeless plane and stay there. If oyu have Genesis, make your own, then project astrally.

[gkathellar]

You could also move to the astral or a similarly timeless plane and stay there. If oyu have Genesis, make your own, then project astrally.

And if you double-project, you actually will live forever, because it'll be impossible to kill you!

[Arcane_Secrets]

It's pretty simple, and no shenanigans are required. Get to Epic level and take Extended Life Span [Epic] (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#extendedLifeSpan). Keep taking that feat and you'll be able to stay in your current age category forever.

I think you can also use epic spells with the Life seed to gain the same effect.

Otherwise, if you're nonepic and you're evil, there's a spell in the BoVD that allows you to extend yourself indefinitely. I think it's called consume life or something similar; I don't have the book itself at hand.

[sreservoir]

I think you can also use epic spells with the Life seed to gain the same effect.

Otherwise, if you're nonepic and you're evil, there's a spell in the BoVD that allows you to extend yourself indefinitely. I think it's called consume life or something similar; I don't have the book itself at hand.

steal life, a sor/wiz 8 necromancy, and can basically get a week's life for every point of ability scores whatever you drain has, if you do it on a full moon.

combine with a bunch of living zombie (CoR, I think) killoren or elans, and you can pretty much be effectively immune to old age -- you only need to take a point of of something every few years; buy a cheap animal or slave, and you'll be set for the next few decades.

[Arcane_Secrets]

steal life, a sor/wiz 8 necromancy, and can basically get a week's life for every point of ability scores whatever you drain has, if you do it on a full moon.

combine with a bunch of living zombie (CoR, I think) killoren or elans, and you can pretty much be effectively immune to old age -- you only need to take a point of of something every few years; buy a cheap animal or slave, and you'll be set for the next few decades.

Thank you. I couldn't quite remember the details because I haven't looked in the book for a while.

[Jack_Simth]

Wow. I cannot believe I missed that. You need Craft Contingent spell after all, then.
You want Craft Contingent Spell anyway, as you cast the actual spell when you're setting up the Contingency via spell, and the spell Contingency expires after 1 day/level - which means you're going to run through a LOT of XP doing that (unless you're using an XP-bypassing trick, such as the Complete Divine Web Expansion Dweomerkeeper's Supernatural Spell).


steal life, a sor/wiz 8 necromancy, and can basically get a week's life for every point of ability scores whatever you drain has, if you do it on a full moon.

combine with a bunch of living zombie (CoR, I think) killoren or elans, and you can pretty much be effectively immune to old age -- you only need to take a point of of something every few years; buy a cheap animal or slave, and you'll be set for the next few decades.

Target is "One living humanoid", so an animal or Elan won't do it... (not sure about the others) and it's only one week of reverse aging per ability point drained, so to get a year, you have to concentrate for 52 or 53 rounds on your sacrificial victim, and drain 52 or 53 points of ability scores. Granted, your stock human commoner-1 will actually survive that (nine points off of each of their base-10 or 11 ability scores will leave them at 1 or 2 in everything). If you want to keep using the same sacrificial victim, then you can, but you'll go through a rather lot of Restoration spells. Given the list cost of slaves in Lords of Madness (page 101: (CR, min 1)^2 * 100 gp), getting your basic human slave once a year is less expensive than restoring the same one over and over (unless you have an out on the component costs, of course).

[sreservoir]

Target is "One living humanoid", so an animal or Elan won't do it... (not sure about the others) and it's only one week of reverse aging per ability point drained, so to get a year, you have to concentrate for 52 or 53 rounds on your sacrificial victim, and drain 52 or 53 points of ability scores. Granted, your stock human commoner-1 will actually survive that (nine points off of each of their base-10 or 11 ability scores will leave them at 1 or 2 in everything). If you want to keep using the same sacrificial victim, then you can, but you'll go through a rather lot of Restoration spells. Given the list cost of slaves in Lords of Madness (page 101: (CR, min 1)^2 * 100 gp), getting your basic human slave once a year is less expensive than restoring the same one over and over (unless you have an out on the component costs, of course).

oh, bleh.

in any case, champions of ruin 128 has living zombies, which are not difficult to create, and halve the amount you age each day; you can control as many as your bonus to primary spellcasting ability.

if you're of a level to cast steal life, you should have at least a +6. it's a one-time expense if you go with something immortal, and expends your lifespan some some 64 times. you'll need to drain one point off someone's abilities only once a year or so; a whole person will get you over half a century.