Help with boss mages defence

[tim01300]

So the players in my game have reached lvl 10, and are starting a new campaign. I've never DMed a game this high before. The bbg is a lvl 7wiz/9loremaster/5 archmage. He is going to be an on and off again antagonist for many months, but isn't really going to attack to kill the party til later. What defensive spells should an epic level mage go into battle having cast? Spell turning, mage armor, sheild, prismatic sphere. Any other suggestions? I don't want him to be invisible to them though.

[Radar]

Not all of those will be available throughout the whole day due to short duration, but that's what Time Stop is for:

1. Blur, Greater Blink and Greater Mirror Image will make him difficult to target, which is a key point of survival.

2. Foresight, but only if you can get it before the fight, since the most important part is, you will be able to act in a surprise round, if there is any.

3. The whole Heart of X line, since they have very useful effects on a discharge. The most important is Heart of Water and Heart of Earth, but if you have them all up at the same time, you are immune to critical hits and sneak attack, which might come in handy.

4. Mind Blank, Death Ward (this one is not on your spell list, but it would be good, to get this effect somehow) and any other spell (if there are more), which says NO to all one-hit-kill spells and effects.

5. Spell Immunity to Greater Dispel or simply pump up the caster level way beyond its limit (it would be safer that way, since there are many more similar spells around).

6. Contingency
Bolded for importance. This spell and the feat Craft Contingent Spell are one of the cornerstones of wizard's defence. For example set the Contingency to "when I am attacked" and have it cast Time Stop on you, which allows for a few buff rounds or other actions before anyone will be able to act. There are more advanced versions like Chain Contingency (three spells for the price of one). The Craft Contingent Spell feat is worth mentioning, since it allows you to place multiple contingencies on yourself with different triggers. It's immensly useful to cover all kind of emergencies.

7. Celerity and its greater cousin can also be considered an active defence, since they allow you to act out of turn for a cost of being dazed for a round. Best used for emergencies like when you are about to be cleaved or shoved into an Antimagic Field.

8. Shapechange. Evil Overlord's List might tell you, that changing into a giant snake never helps, but other forms can be immensly powerful. There is a reason this is considered one of the most potent wizard spells. Considering the sheer ammount of monsters in D&D, you have a nearly limitless pool of abilities to choose from.


I probably missed a few important options and didn't delve into epic magic, since it's a bit difficult to use.

Also: grab a Ring of Spellbattle to have an in-character reason to know, what PCs are casting.

[Andezzar]

7. Celerity and its greater cousin can also be considered an active defence, since they allow you to act out of turn for a cost of being dazed for a round. Best used for emergencies like when you are about to be cleaved or shoved into an Antimagic Field.Any epic wizard worth his salt would be immune to dazing.

While mostly focusing on items this list (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851) shows what anyone should and an epic wizard definitely would prepare for.

[Dusk Eclipse]

A custom magic item of Favour of the Martyr or a two feat investment in Mark of the Dauntless are the easiest ways to get said immunity by the way.

[Andezzar]

A custom magic item of Favour of the Martyr or a two feat investment in Mark of the Dauntless are the easiest ways to get said immunity by the way.The stylish way is to be undead (necropolitan or lich).

[Dusk Eclipse]

Ehh, the immunties are good, but I prefer not being susceptible to Turn attempts or even worse the Sun Domain power.

[Andezzar]

True, too bad a baelnorn probably wouldn't make a good recurring villain.

[Brookshw]

To op: I assume you mean invincible, not invisible?

Depends on the parties optimization and builds. I can offer you various counters to mdj, shutting down melee and ranged completely, screwing spell casters, but without knowing how and if the party can counter these I wouldn't recommend using them. More info please. What level do you want the party to be when they encounter it? An epic wizard can be immune to just about anything.

Also just for the sake of it consider using simulcrums (probably misspelled) to introduce the villian in a half power manner before the party engages the real thing, its a useful way to gauge the parties power level against the actual foe.

[Seer_of_Heart]

Buy some ASF free armor stick a bunch of +1 defending armor spikes on it and cast chained greater magic weapon to get a free +100 AC. If you want AC as a defense.

[Andezzar]

Buy some ASF free armor stick a bunch of +1 defending armor spikes on it and cast chained greater magic weapon to get a free +100 AC. If you want AC as a defense.I was not aware that you could have more than one set of armor spikes. Also the weapon is spiked armor/shield, not armor spikes, so it does not matter how many spikes the armor has, it is always only one weapon.