What are your favorite 3.5 Epic Spells?

[Tragak]

My favorite spells for a larger story-based focus are:

Damnation: The role-play opportunity of a victim who not only spent a long time trapped in one of the Infernal Realms, but spent almost a full day brainwashed into believing in his heart of hearts that he's trapped because he's dead and the gods themselves sent him because he was evil, rather than knowing that he's still alive and some mage sent him because the mage is evil. Even when his friends get him out, the trauma could mess him up for a while (even a Paladin who's immune to fear probably wouldn't be immune to the kind of self-hatred they would remember feeling from before the mind-control wore off). I would love to play a character who gets that broken and has to function anyway.

Demise Unseen: Depending on how much control and observation the necromancer has over the ghoul, an entire nation could be in his palm of his hand until the King is revealed to be long dead. Even if the ghoul is killed, the nation (or at least the aristocracy and royal family, they might not let the genral public know about an incident like this) still wouldn't feel any semblance of security until the necromancer capable of an assassination coup like that is killed.

Eclipse: If a necromancer activates the spell during the Winter Solstice sufficiently close to one of the Poles, his vampire army could have over 40 hours to control a major city instead of just 10-20, and even just the next days might not give the populus time to repair the damage for when night falls again.

Raise Island: There can be so many more aquatic adventures for land-based characters that don't need to rely on ships when they have a larger, more stationary outpost that they teleport to.

My favorite for shorter, specific combat scenes is:

Dragon Strike: 10 Adult Red Dragons. That is all :) (Sure, individually the Challenge Rating is not worth it against the kind of people who could be enemies with an Epic enough spellcaster for this to happen in the first place, but I believe that more enemies makes for a better overall challenge than just bigger enemies, and they certainly wouldn't be the only obstacle)

What about you guys? What are yours?

[Karnith]

If we're limited to published epic spells, I am a big fan of Origin of Species: Achaierai. Not because it's at all good or usable, but rather because it shows that the writer didn't know how Epic spells work:
Origin Of Species: Achaierai
Conjuration (Creation, Healing)
Spellcraft DC: 38
Components: V, S, DF, XP
Casting Time: 100 days, 11 minutes
Range: 0 ft.
Effect: One constructed creature up to Medium (20 cu. ft.)
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 360,000 gp; 8 days; 14,400 XP. Seeds: conjure (DC 21), life (DC 27), fortify (DC 17). Factors: +4 HD (5 hp per HD) (+20 DC), +6 to natural AC (+12 DC), add three more natural attacks (ad hoc +6 DC), add black cloud spell-like ability (+33 DC), add SR 19 (+15 DC), permanent (×5 DC). Mitigating factors: 50d6 backlash (-50 DC), increase casting time by 10 minutes (-20 DC), increase casting time by 100 days (-200 DC), burn 10,000 XP (-100 DC), eleven additional casters contributing 9th-level spell slots (-187 DC), ten additional casters contributing 8th-level spell slots (-150 DC), ten additional casters contributing 1st-level spell slots (-10 DC).

This spell creates a new creature: an achaierai. When first created, the achaierai is Medium, but it grows to Large size in 1d4 days. A created achaierai does not possess the treasure, culture, or specific knowledge of a normal achaierai. If released to be among its own kind, it quickly picks up achaierai traits and alignment.
XP Cost

10,000 XP.
(Emphasis mine)
So, permanent duration with 50d6 backlash damage? Someone forgot the rules on backlash damage! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/developingEpicSpells.htm)

The caster cannot somehow avoid or make him or her self immune to backlash damage. For spells with durations longer than instantaneous, the backlash damage is per round. If backlash damage kills a caster, no spell or method exists that will return life to the caster’s body without costing the caster a level—not even wish, true resurrection, miracle, or epic spells that return life to the deceased. Spells that normally penalize the recipient one level when they return him or her to life penalize a caster killed by backlash two levels.
(Emphasis mine)

Congrats, you spent 360,000 gold and over 24,000 XP to make a CR 5 creature, and it's going to deal 50d6 damage that can't be avoided per round, permanently. I hope it was worth it!

[Uncle Pine]

If we're limited to published epic spells, I am a big fan of Origin of Species: Achaierai. Not because it's at all good or usable, but rather because it shows that the writer didn't know how Epic spells work:
(Emphasis mine)
So, permanent duration with 50d6 backlash damage? Someone forgot the rules on backlash damage! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/developingEpicSpells.htm)

(Emphasis mine)

Congrats, you spent 360,000 gold and over 24,000 XP to make a CR 5 creature, and it's going to deal 50d6 damage that can't be avoided per round, permanently. I hope it was worth it!

This explains why we don't know who created the Achaierai.

EDIT: In any case, my favourite published epic spell would still be Origin of Species: Achaierai. If custom spell were allowed, then I'd extend this to any "Origin of Species" variant, because I really like the idea of creating new species with magic. This said, trying to create a new species with an epic spell is kinda pointless as you can do it pre-epic using Crossbreeding rules.

[Rijan_Sai]

My favorite would probably be A's Fragmented Phylactery, from Champions of Ruin (pg 37). Having more then one phylactery is a good thing...having NI phylacteries, ALL of which must be destroyed befor the lich can be perma-killed, is so much better! :xykon:

(<_<
>_>
yes...I do have plans to create a lich character that will have this spell...)

[Arcanist]

If it has to be a book listed one, I'll swallow my pride and say Tolodine's Killing Wind. Everything unfortunate enough to be alive within a 1,000ft of you starts taking 20d6 acid damage for 20 hours. You can also reshape the cloud to avoid you and your party, hell if you want you can make the damned cloud chase your target dealing 20d6 damage to them every round. It requires no concentration and I assure you, that in those 20 hours you will be able to conquer a nation or 3.

Honestly, my favorite 3.5 Epic spell would be an Epic spell I made a while back that created a Mythallar from scratch. I like making Epic spells... I find it a nice little hobby to pass the time when waiting for my friends or something.

[Tvtyrant]

Living Lightning, for sure. Make 1,000+ of them, make them force effects, and have your pets force slap everything around them to death.

[yeetusmcgeetus]

If we allow custom-built ones, definitely Transform seed (whatever into frog) + Compel seed (act like a normal frog) + Permanent on the Compel = ULTIMATE FROGIFY! It's super hard and less useful in a fight than murder spells, but it's really funny to just turn a dragon into a frog.

[Tzardok]

I like Nailed to the Sky. There are more sure methods of disposing an enemy, but none that are that stylish.

[Metastachydium]

Mass Frog. It doesn't make much sense, but it's just hilarious.

[Bronk]

This explains why we don't know who created the Achaierai.

Hah! Nice.


I like Nailed to the Sky. There are more sure methods of disposing an enemy, but none that are that stylish.

Great in a Spelljammer game too...


Mass Frog. It doesn't make much sense, but it's just hilarious.

That was my favorite too, but mostly because I altered it in my game to a cone of 'Mass Chicken' and added an extra seed to make it instantaneous. Quite a few baddies have been turned into chickens and unwittingly eaten. Or on purpose.

I found that a bunch of published epic spells could be good with a few changes, but most miss the mark as is.

[SimonMoon6]

Congrats, you spent 360,000 gold and over 24,000 XP to make a CR 5 creature, and it's going to deal 50d6 damage that can't be avoided per round, permanently. I hope it was worth it!

Not to mention that the spell's duration is merely permanent and not instantaneous, so it could be dispelled.

When making an epic spell, if you're not abusing the whole "instantaneous is the shortest duration" and "the duration of the seed with the shortest duration is the one we use" rules, then what's the point? They should've tossed in some fire damage ("the achaieria appears in a burst of flames!") just to make it instantaneous.

[Yael]

Mummy Dust (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/mummyDust.htm) could be a good one to point out, you know, because it's Necromancy.

[AceDragonKing]

“Nailed to the sky” is just hands down my favorite epic spell. Just place some one in orbit as punishment. and if they don’t have any kind of teleporting they are kinda screwed. But if they only have the fly spell then it several hours moving at top speed in order to reach the earth again

[Nezkrul]

My favorite ones would be the ones I craft personally for my characters. Each character is unique and will have differing values on the epic seeds.

I guess a better question to ask is which epic seeds are your favorite?

The answer to that one and in this order:

Armor, Fortify, Ward

[redking]

My favourite epic spells are are custom homebrew spells. The design of epic spells is an art form. Yes, there are plenty of broken homebrew epic spells, but it's usually because of terrible design. One simple fix for epic spells is to clamp down on ritual casting, and disallowing any non-epic spell slots from being used in a ritual epic spell. That one single alteration corrects 99% of epic spell exploits.

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: Nothing in the Epic Necromancy school.