[3.5] Ways to have a permanent AMF?

[rmg22893]

I want to find some way to have an Antimagic Field around my PC constantly, or at least for a very long time. I'll have Extraordinary Spell Aim, so I can cast spells whilst in the AMF. Any suggestions?

[gkathellar]

Persistent Spell.

[rmg22893]

Persistent Spell.

So let's see...this would require casting the equivalent of a 12th level spell...without Incantatrix, is this possible, even for a 20th level wizard? :P Arcane Thesis would get it down to 11th level, but that's still insane.

[Kaje]

Necropolitan Spelldancer.

[sreservoir]

or regular spelldancer, really.

sticking on practical metamagic, arcane thesis, and metamagic school focus would get you down to 9th. halruaan elder gets a -1 to a bunch of single metamagic feats, one at each of 1, 4, 7, 10. dweomerkeeper 10 is -1 to all metamagic.

DMM (persistent spell) lets a cleric do it with 8ths and 7 turns (and gives you room to initiate of mystra if you care to). naenhoon illumian sigils, 2/day with 6 turns. metamagic song, likewise, with bardic music.

metanode spell can get you a ridiculously large reduction, but requires an earth node. just being a cleric of mystra allows you to apply one metamagic feat to a spell within temples of mystra.

anima mage eventually, 2/day, apply any metamagic for free.

ultimate magus, after a bit of trickery to get persistent down to +5, can do it with the other side's 5ths.

[Flickerdart]

An extraordinary spell-aimed AMF is absolutely useless, because you can still be targeted by spells. The AMF only stops spells from affecting its area, and you are not in it.

[Person_Man]

Bulwark of Antimagic: A +1 tower shield with an 1/day Anti-Magic Field. It has a caster level of 11, and AMF has a duration of 10 minutes per level, so it has a duration of 110 minutes. That should be enough to get you through any dungeon, and you could always carry more then one or enchant it further with the Animated property if you wanted to (or just activate it and carry it around - once active, you don't need to wield it). And it only costs 27,580 gp. Draconomicon pg 118.

It's also a fairly popular capstone-ish ability for high level anti-caster themed homebrew classes, including some of my own work, if that sorta stuff is allowable.

[rmg22893]

An extraordinary spell-aimed AMF is absolutely useless, because you can still be targeted by spells. The AMF only stops spells from affecting its area, and you are not in it.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it won't provide a safe zone for my party members or a zone of doom for enemy spellcasters, now does it?

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

It's also a fairly popular capstone-ish ability for high level anti-caster themed homebrew classes, including some of my own work, if that sorta stuff is allowable.Such as?
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[Flickerdart]

Yes, but that doesn't mean it won't provide a safe zone for my party members or a zone of doom for enemy spellcasters, now does it?
If by that you mean it will provide a zone for your party members to have their useful abilities shut down, and for enemy spellcasters to avoid by grappling you before teleporting away (or 5ft stepping out before teleporting away, whichever is closer, or just leaving)? Then yes.

[Person_Man]

Such as?
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I included it as a 17th level ability (including the caveat that it does not effect his own meldshaping ability) for my Forsaker Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172094), which is basically a Forsaker + Totemist + Vow of Poverty. I've seen it on other people work as well, though my Google-fu is weak.

[gkathellar]

If by that you mean it will provide a zone for your party members to have their useful abilities shut down, and for enemy spellcasters to avoid by grappling you before teleporting away (or 5ft stepping out before teleporting away, whichever is closer, or just leaving)? Then yes.

This. AMF is not actually a good spell.

[Psyren]

A shaped AMF may be useless at keeping spells away, but one thing it can do is keep summons and incorporeal undead from reaching you. It's not much, but it can be frustrating for a conjurer enemy, especially when you can waltz around his defenses, unless he's completely choked the battlefield in them. Such a character can optimize against his pets being dismissed or dispelled, but not against them simply winking out of existence.

The other nice thing is that this tactic works equally well against summoner/illusionist combo characters - i.e. the ones that pile the battlefield with half real summons and half imaginary ones. Your shaped AMF would treat them all the same, removing some guesswork from you.

[Elric VIII]

Does attacking into an AMF cause a weapon to lose its magic if the wielder remains outside? Because if not, a shaped AMF would be excellent for debuffing enemies in close combat for Clerics/gishes.

[gkathellar]

Does attacking into an AMF cause a weapon to lose its magic if the wielder remains outside? Because if not, a shaped AMF would be excellent for debuffing enemies in close combat for Clerics/gishes.

IIRC, it only affects you if you're in a square it affects. Which means a gish might get some mileage out of that strategy ... Clerics have Cheater, so they're fine without.

It's interesting how spellcasters make the most effective use of what's supposed to be the ultimate spellcaster debuff.

[Lateral]

It's interesting how spellcasters make the most effective use of what's supposed to be the ultimate spellcaster debuff.

That's what happens when the 'ultimate spellcaster debuff' is a high-level spell. :smalltongue:

[deuxhero]

An epic feat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#permanentEmanation).

Spellcraft 25 is a big problem, as Cheese Kobold can't bypass that.

[Laniius]

So let's see...this would require casting the equivalent of a 12th level spell...without Incantatrix, is this possible, even for a 20th level wizard? :P Arcane Thesis would get it down to 11th level, but that's still insane.

Cleric with the Magic domain, making use of divine metamagic may do it. Burn turning attempts for metamagic. Away from books right now, so I don't know how much turn attempts you would need.

Alternatively, if you are epic, there's an epic feat called Permanent Emanation. It requires 25 ranks in spellcraft though, so it's very high level.

[DoctorGlock]

An epic feat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#permanentEmanation).

Spellcraft 25 is a big problem, as Cheese Kobold can't bypass that.

A cheesebold with bloodlines can.

[gkathellar]

An epic feat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#permanentEmanation).

Spellcraft 25 is a big problem, as Cheese Kobold can't bypass that.

Gott in himmel that feat is powerful. Forget AMF, just use it to run Prismatic Sphere. Hoo. That's insane.

[Curmudgeon]

Gott in himmel that feat is powerful. Forget AMF, just use it to run Prismatic Sphere. Hoo. That's insane.
You might want to slow your horses there, buckaroo. Permanent Emanation [Epic], as the name suggests, requires an emanation (a property of an Area spell). Prismatic Sphere is an Effect spell, which isn't even in the right category.

[DoctorGlock]

You might want to slow your horses there, buckaroo. Permanent Emanation [Epic], as the name suggests, requires an emanation (a property of an Area spell). Prismatic Sphere is an Effect spell, which isn't even in the right category.

What other emanations are there that offer those kind of defensive capabilities? Free action AMF is an absurd counter if extraordinary spell aim doesn't actually protect you.

[gkathellar]

You might want to slow your horses there, buckaroo. Permanent Emanation [Epic], as the name suggests, requires an emanation (a property of an Area spell). Prismatic Sphere is an Effect spell, which isn't even in the right category.

Oh, good. I almost thought epic was broken or something.

[Curmudgeon]

What other emanations are there that offer those kind of defensive capabilities?
Check out Safe Clearing (Spell Compendium, page 179). It's an emanation centered on you, but it is immobile after casting.
Any creature attempting to strike or otherwise directly attack anyone within the safe clearing, or any creature attempting to enter the area, must make a Will save. Failure means it can’t attack anyone in the area or even enter the area for the duration of the spell. You can fill the entire world with Safe Clearing zones (put one up on every grid square you cross as a free action, and it stays behind when you move on); a separate Will save is required for each and every one! Overlap these spells and you'll guarantee that just failing 1 in 20 times means nobody will be able to enter, so anybody who wants to move in your part of the world will need to succeed with a zillion targeted dispels first.

I think that qualifies as a pretty strong defensive capability. (Yes, of course they should have caught the discrepancy between "30' radius emanation centered on you" and "The area of a safe clearing spell is immobile" in the Spell Compendium Errata, but they didn't.)

[Mask of Truth]

Only "straightforward" way that I can think of for someone to have a permanent magical null around them is the White Rose template from The Black Company Campaign Setting. The character gradually emanates a no-magic zone around them that gets larger as they grow older. Unfortunately I'm away from books, so I don't recall the specifics of the template (like level adjustments, etc.)