The maximum amount of damage you could cause with a single preepic spell, or mathhelp

[Mr.Bookworm]

See the title. Referring only to a 20th level caster, sans epic shenanigans and any infinite loops.

So, basically, my first thought was Apocalypse from the Sky, due to the ginormous area. It has a 1,056,000 square radius counting from the caster's space. Put the caster 1,056,001 squares above the ground (bring some oxygen) and fill every single square/cube in the area with a flying Medium creature. EDIT: Wait, I'm dumb, you can fit 100 Fine flying creatures into each square. Do that, instead.

Now, where I'm breaking down is trying to figure out the area. Moving diagonally costs 1.5 squares of movement. I feel like I'm missing some sort of shorthand trick to calculate the area of the spell, but I can't figure out what it is.

Once you've got that, it could theoretically deal (however many creatures are in the area, including yourself)*60 damage, plus 18 points of Con damage and 24 points of Wisdom drain.

So, what am I missing, geometry-wise, and are there any other spells that could do it better?

[kreenlover]

Well, you could Wish that volcanoes would cover the surface of the planet and suddenly erupt all at once. That would certainly do some massive amounts of damage.

Or, use Wish to crash the moon into the planet. Can also create massive amounts of damage (RE: Mass Extinctions)

[Krobar]

Every city has surrounding farm lands.

Cast Fimbulwinter multiple times a day as you travel the countryside. Each casting will have a 20 mile radius, and the result will be starvation for the entire region.

[Glimbur]

Gate. There are a number of planes full of nastiness. For example, open a Gate to the plane of water. Flood the world.

Alternately, I think there's a demi-elemental plane of magma. I may have played too much Dwarf Fortress...

[Jack_Simth]

Now, where I'm breaking down is trying to figure out the area. Moving diagonally costs 1.5 squares of movement. I feel like I'm missing some sort of shorthand trick to calculate the area of the spell, but I can't figure out what it is.

Well, we could, you know, just use real-world math for the volume. The volume of a sphere is 4/3rds pi*r^3. Get the radius of the effect in feet, divide by 5 to get squares, put the resulting number into the equation, and multiply by the number of critters you can fit in a square.

[Chronos]

You probably want the Locate City bomb.

[The Viscount]

If you want more you could always choose cold damage for acpocalypse, tack on piercing cold, and make the squares full of Fine(Fire) creatures, such as elementite swarms.

[Story]

So, what am I missing, geometry-wise, and are there any other spells that could do it better?

Well you missed the obvious potential of metamagic. Why not stick Mamixmize Spell, Empower Spell, Energy Admixture, Fell Drain, Flash Frost Spell, and/or Widen Spell on it while you're at it?

[kreenlover]

You probably want the Locate City bomb.

Ok, so I have heard about this a lot. What is the locate city bomb?

[Dumbledore lives]

Ok, so I have heard about this a lot. What is the locate city bomb?

A series of feats which debatably works (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72212). Theoretically it tosses everyone in a 10 mile/level radius into all sorts of buildings and nonsense. That or it deals 1d6 damage to everyone in the radius. Adding Fell Drain however unquestionably works and results in the wightapocalypse, every level one character in the miles wide radius rising as a wight in one day.

[Jack_Simth]

Hmm...

Eschew Materials + Major Creation for the Anti-osmium bomb?

[Lateral]

A series of feats which debatably works (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72212). Theoretically it tosses everyone in a 10 mile/level radius into all sorts of buildings and nonsense. That or it deals 1d6 damage to everyone in the radius.
It deals 0d6 damage to everyone in the radius. The area is a circle, not a sphere, so everyone is bumped upward 0 feet.

[Crasical]

Every city has surrounding farm lands.

MOST will. There are probably plenty of dwarf forts/underdark kingdoms with tiered, subterranean farms, magocracies that get their food provided magically, or other areas that have their city logistics met in nonstandard ways.

[Pickford]

See the title. Referring only to a 20th level caster, sans epic shenanigans and any infinite loops.

So, basically, my first thought was Apocalypse from the Sky, due to the ginormous area. It has a 1,056,000 square radius counting from the caster's space. Put the caster 1,056,001 squares above the ground (bring some oxygen) and fill every single square/cube in the area with a flying Medium creature. EDIT: Wait, I'm dumb, you can fit 100 Fine flying creatures into each square. Do that, instead.

Now, where I'm breaking down is trying to figure out the area. Moving diagonally costs 1.5 squares of movement. I feel like I'm missing some sort of shorthand trick to calculate the area of the spell, but I can't figure out what it is.

Once you've got that, it could theoretically deal (however many creatures are in the area, including yourself)*60 damage, plus 18 points of Con damage and 24 points of Wisdom drain.

So, what am I missing, geometry-wise, and are there any other spells that could do it better?

Why are you counting the ability drain the caster suffers?

[Forrestfire]

It deals 0d6 damage to everyone in the radius. The area is a circle, not a sphere, so everyone is bumped upward 0 feet.


On a failed Reflex save, an explosive spell ejects any creature caught in its area, sending it to a location outside the nearest edge of that area, dealing additional damage and further knocking creatures prone.


The edge of a 2D circle is not the face, it's the circumference.

The real issue (in my opinion) is that it's a 2D circle, so any changes in elevation would make people unable to be affected.

My solution is a stepladder. :smalltongue:



EDIT: on-topic, is there a spell that can create multiple objects? Alternatively, a way to wish multiple times in a single casting? If there's a way to do that or if summoning a pre-prepared item counts as the one spell, then you can make an infinite mass black hole in an infinitesimal amount of time for a little over 100,000 gp.

[kreenlover]

The edge of a 2D circle is not the face, it's the circumference.

The real issue (in my opinion) is that it's a 2D circle, so any changes in elevation would make people unable to be affected.

My solution is a stepladder. :smalltongue:


No, this can't work. What if the city is on a hill, won't it still detect it? So, would it not in fact be a cylinder, not a 2d circle, thereby creating more damage output?

[Crasical]

Why are you counting the ability drain the caster suffers?

Damage caused is damage caused.

[Forrestfire]

No, this can't work. What if the city is on a hill, won't it still detect it? So, would it not in fact be a cylinder, not a 2d circle, thereby creating more damage output?

Is there a way to abuse this to launch people into space? :smallamused:

[kreenlover]

Is there a way to abuse this to launch people into space? :smallamused:

They would still be in that cylinder! I refuse to admit defeat here! :smalltongue:

[Big Fau]

I dunno, Wishing for Atropus to appear has the potential to end all life on the material plane. On a technicality that could count as dealing all of the damage ever to all living creatures.

[ArqArturo]

Quickened Maximized Empowered Disintegrate cast by a Changeling Warmage.

[Cruiser1]

The single most damaging spell in all of D&D is the Dru/Sor/Wiz 9th level spell Ring of Fire (EoE). It does 20d6 fire damage to everything in a 10 foot radius, for 1 round/2 CL. That doesn't seem too impressive, until we read that the spell expands its radius by 10 feet each round in its duration.

If you Persist it using standard optimization techniques, it lasts for 14400 rounds, and reaches a 144000 foot radius, or over 27 miles. Extend+Persist, and you have a circle with a diameter of over 109 miles covered in lava, every square taking 20d6 damage each round for up to 2 days. Tack on other metamagic, such as Maximize + Empower + Twin + Repeat + Energy Admixture, and each square takes ((120 + 35)*2*2*2) = 1240. The middle of the circle takes 1240 * 28800 = 35,712,000 damage over the two days!

Apocalypse From The Sky with its measly 10d6 damage over a mere 10 mile radius (and an artifact requirement so you can't spam it) is pathetic in comparison. :smalltongue:

[Kumori]

Ring of Fire (EoE)

Is "EoE" a sourcebook? I don't know that one...

[PrinceOfMadness]

Could you Persist it though? Persistent Spell requires either a Personal or Fixed range, and i'm not certain if the 10 ft/2 CL radius counts as a 'fixed range'.

[Lateral]

Is "EoE" a sourcebook? I don't know that one...
Exemplars of Evil. It's fairly obscure, but brought us the Invisible Fist, one of the few ways to get at least one decent class feature onto the monk.

However, this Ring of Fire thing doesn't work. Its effect is a ten-foot radius, but Persistent Spell requires a fixed or personal range, and its range is Medium, which is not a fixed range.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Is "EoE" a sourcebook? I don't know that one...

Exemplars of Evil


Could you Persist it though? Persistent Spell requires either a Personal or Fixed range, and i'm not certain if the 10 ft/2 CL radius counts as a 'fixed range'.

Ocular spell gives you a fixed range of 60 ft. on any spell with a Target entry that isn't personal and if you can mitigate the cost of persisting+extending a spell you can mitigate two extra spell levels.

[Lateral]

Ocular spell gives you a fixed range of 60 ft. on any spell with a Target entry that isn't personal and if you can mitigate the cost of persisting+extending a spell you can mitigate two extra spell levels.

It doesn't have a Target entry.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Greater consumptive field abuse to have an arbitrarily high CL then?

[Lateral]

Greater consumptive field abuse to have an arbitrarily high CL then?
Well, yes, but if you're going to do that, you could use a lot of spells. Hell, it'd be far more efficient just to cast Wings of Flurry.

Although, you really might as well just use an anti-osmium bomb.

[Dusk Eclipse]

You would still need a creature with tons of health (arbitrarily high con Shambling mound?) for Wings of Flurry to work, unless we are counting overkill.

[Snowbluff]

Greater Consumptive Field has no cap on the Str. Throw a rock.

[Lateral]

You would still need a creature with tons of health (arbitrarily high con Shambling mound?) for Wings of Flurry to work, unless we are counting overkill.

Eh, just find a troll. Nonlethal damage can exceed HP+10.

[Melcar]

Well...

Enhanced, energy admixture(cold), energy admixture(acid), energy admixture(sonic), energy admixture(Electricity), Intesified, Delayed Blast Fireball:

150d12 for a sum of: 1800

Thats pretty good!

[Immabozo]

Eh, just find a troll. Nonlethal damage can exceed HP+10.

start with 18 str, half ogre +4 str, barbarian's rage +4 str, Bear Warrior 1 +6 str, War hulk 10 +20 str, level up stats +5 str, Hulking Hurler 3

str 59, plus that item (I forgot name) that lets you treat a medium load as light.

I dont know the exact math, but you can be hurling bolders for around 250,000 - 300,000 damage on average.

Granted, that's not a spell.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Well, we could, you know, just use real-world math for the volume. The volume of a sphere is 4/3rds pi*r^3. Get the radius of the effect in feet, divide by 5 to get squares, put the resulting number into the equation, and multiply by the number of critters you can fit in a square.

You forgot to tell them what pi is in d&d, because it isn't 3.14... If you use A=(pi)r^2 you get a number starting at 4 for a 5 foot radius decreasing and approaching 2 2/3 as the radius increases in size.

So remember what WotC taught you kids. Pi is a variable number approaching 2 2/3 as the radius increases.

Of course if you use the real definition of Pi, C=(pi)D, then you do the math. I'm not touching circumferences of boxy, somewhat circle-ish like shapes.

Edit: I can't tell you how many squares are in a 1,056,000 square radius but I will tell you how many squares are in a 1,048,576 sqaure radius. In d&d a 1,048,576 square radius contains 2,932,031,007,404 squares, according to WotC math.