Interactions between Wizards in a Tippyverse

[Little Brother]

Okay, we're all familiar with the Tippyverse in the large scale. But what about a slightly smaller scale? Interactions between wizards? I mean, Wizards can know everything(Via divinations, Weird abuse, etc), and ought to be properly paranoid, but they're still human(ish). They're socialish things. One would imagine that they would seek out company of other wizards/archivists. I mean, they're brilliant. Insanely smart. Dealing with mere mortals would get tiring, I would think. I doubt they'd have patience for people with IQs below 250-ish.

So, wizards would prefer the company of other wizards. The issue is the only threat to a wizard is really another wizard. They'd be paranoid of the other wizards. On the other hand, they would be safer from other wizards in a group(Probably). Do you think it would be worth it to the wizards? I mean, I doubt most of them would be content with being some crazy hermit for millennia.

Also, combat. Wizards have contingencies. And contingencies for their contingencies. And contingencies for the contingencies for their contingencies. Brilliant, paranoid, and probably immortal. Any combat between them would come down to who has the better set of contingencies, and no matter who won, it would have cost them massive amounts of money and XP lost. So, given this, they'd want to avoid direct combat. So, how would disputes between wizards be solved? Sitting in a nice Magnificent Mansion with a cup of tea, and comparing their lists of contingencies, and whoever had the better list would "Win," and the other wizard would step down? What would stop any "cheating?" Would the most important thing to wizards be a massive bluff score?

How would it work?
*Wizard, in this post, refers to any T1 caster, really, but I prefer wizards and Archivists.

[Acanous]

Well, assuming the wizard hasn't used a Simulacrum with a scroll of Mind Rape to remove his suicidally social tendancies, I'd imagine most interaction between wizards is done via Astral Projection, while both parties are actually nice and safe on seperate, private demiplanes.
There might be some kind of pact or convention between important wizards, to allow them to get together without a magical nuke going off. After all, high-level wizards in the Tippyverse have entire city-states, armies of golems, and other things that would make it a very bad idea to pick a fight with one.

So Lawful wizards could get along, as could good ones. Possibly evil ones as well. Chaotic ones... that'll be a problem.

[JeminiZero]

You forget that a Wizard can get himself minions. And not just mindless undead.

At the most basic level, he can use Planar Binding (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135096). This won't necessarily be something loyal (until he negotiates a deal), and even then its loyalty might change suddenly. But it consumes minimal resources, and can be used to bring in something relatively weak which poses no real threat to the wizard for "one-off" tasks (or to mind-rape into total submission).

At the other end of the scale are simulacra and ice assassin, which grant minions of unquestionable loyalty. The simulacra of a solar likely still maintains its Int 23/Wis 25/Cha 25, which means it should be able to hold meaningful conversations. And of course, it also has cleric spellcasting, which makes it a reasonable investment as a long term minion.

To say nothing of what might happen, if the wizard manages to get himself the simulacrum of a deity...

[Eldan]

The obvious solution is to custom-breed minions with an intelligence of 18+, but no magical or psionic talent whatsoever. Mindrape, if necessary.

[Craft (Cheese)]

While my setting isn't really a tippyverse, I handle this by having high-level casters enter into pacts with each other, such that an attack against one is an attack against all. With planning, you could take out 1 caster, but 300? This should even work to reign in Chaotics, since refusing to help the collective take out an assassin makes you without any sort of protection yourself. Of course, there are some who try to stake it out on their own, but most suck it up for practicality's sake.

[Arcanist]

The most accurate and factual answer would be that Wizards don't interact with anything at all because they are always on there demiplanes astral projecting 24/7. As it is impossible to get into these demiplanes and the Wizards never leave them it is impossible to interact with the Wizard beyond using planar communication as to where you set off the Wizards contingencies which send a mindrape at you and brainwashed into committing suicide and then providing a soul that the Wizard can use for item crafting so he never waste any XP for his crafted contingency spells since he decided to ban evocations since it is so sub optimal :smallamused:

[Acanous]

The most accurate and factual answer would be that Wizards don't interact with anything at all because they are always on there demiplanes astral projecting 24/7. As it is impossible to get into these demiplanes and the Wizards never leave them it is impossible to interact with the Wizard beyond using planar communication as to where you set off the Wizards contingencies which send a mindrape at you and brainwashed into committing suicide and then providing a soul that the Wizard can use for item crafting so he never waste any XP for his crafted contingency spells since he decided to ban evocations since it is so sub optimal :smallamused:

Yeah, pretty much what I said, with "Ban Evo" on top :p

[Alleran]

They're socialish things. One would imagine that they would seek out company of other wizards/archivists. I mean, they're brilliant. Insanely smart. Dealing with mere mortals would get tiring, I would think. I doubt they'd have patience for people with IQs below 250-ish.

So, wizards would prefer the company of other wizards. The issue is the only threat to a wizard is really another wizard. They'd be paranoid of the other wizards. On the other hand, they would be safer from other wizards in a group(Probably). Do you think it would be worth it to the wizards? I mean, I doubt most of them would be content with being some crazy hermit for millennia.
Create an ice assassin or simulacrum of whatever high-INT being you want to talk to and have around. It can be ensured to be completely loyal to you, has more or less the INT you want for an intelligent conversation, and can't get more powerful to become a serious threat.


So, how would disputes between wizards be solved? Sitting in a nice Magnificent Mansion with a cup of tea, and comparing their lists of contingencies, and whoever had the better list would "Win," and the other wizard would step down?
I confused my players by doing exactly this about six months ago (maybe a bit longer). They were at a Wizard Academy, and all the students were rushing past them shouting about a mage duel that was about to start between two of the most powerful (level 17+, and the PCs knew that) wizards in the college. The party was extremely puzzled when they found all the apprentices ringing a small table with two chairs, cups of tea, a teapot, an umbrella for the shade, and both wizards patiently going down lists of the contingencies each of them had prepared and active. And every single student looking on in breathless anticipation of who would be declared victor.