The First High-Level Spells

[Amphetryon]

What would you think the ripple effects would be of having the first caster with Character levels in a world casting, for example, 8th level Spells? Assume that lower level Spells were known, but that Spells above 7th level were the exclusive province of gods, and monsters who got the Spells as native abilities.

[Rebel7284]

You are the new Jesus.

[Red Fel]

You are the new Jesus.

Pretty much this.

By the time you're casting 7th-level spells and above, you're pretty much rewriting reality on a whim.

"The first caster with character levels in [the] world," being the only person with spells, would basically have nations at his feet. Or trying to kill him. He would become the biggest pawn in international chess since oil, gold and uranium.

If lower-level spells were known, they would be at least familiar with what he was doing. But he would still be doing it at a dramatically higher level. A real-world equivalent would be if the rest of the world were still using six-shooters and this guy showed up with a Tomahawk helicopter. They'd be familiar with the basics (pull switch, goes pew-pew), but the end result (flying machine with a wide array of death-implementing weaponry) is beyond their capabilities.

So one major ripple effect would be international renown, as everyone tries to either control the character, endear themselves to the character, follow/worship the character, or kill the character.

Another would be awareness. Assuming people were able to realize that this character is no deity, but a mere mortal the same as they, it would create a major upswing in arcane research, as people try to figure out exactly how he did it, and how they could do it too. (Add this to the list - people seeking to disect/study him.)

[eggynack]

I wouldn't say crazy ultra-power, but they'd be pretty strong, and could probably do some world affecting stuff, as any wizard can. I mean, you're basically going from simulacrum, forcecage and greater teleport to polymorph any object, mind blank, and greater planar binding. It's an upgrade, certainly, but a 14th level wizard could feasibly take out this 15th level wizard, and if a few reasonably high level casters were to team up, it wouldn't even be that difficult. Now 8th level spells in a world with only significantly lower level spells; that's a different story. You might get some relative deity level power out of that.

[Urpriest]

What would you think the ripple effects would be of having the first caster with Character levels in a world casting, for example, 8th level Spells? Assume that lower level Spells were known, but that Spells above 7th level were the exclusive province of gods, and monsters who got the Spells as native abilities.

Not much. Nothing in particular separates characters who get spells from character levels from monsters who get their spells as native abilities. As long as those monsters are sapient and possess language, chances are they will have already done everything that 8th level spells are capable of.

[Amphetryon]

Not much. Nothing in particular separates characters who get spells from character levels from monsters who get their spells as native abilities. As long as those monsters are sapient and possess language, chances are they will have already done everything that 8th level spells are capable of.

Even if they possess a language, I'm not 100% convinced that monsters that can duplicate high level Spells without the need to transcribe them would bother to do so, making the spread of such Spells considerably more difficult. If they had, it seems to me that the question of which Character Classed person casts them first would be entirely moot, based on whomever happened to gain access to the transcription.

Or, am I misunderstanding the limitations you're inherently placing on "done everything" in this context?

[Urpriest]

Even if they possess a language, I'm not 100% convinced that monsters that can duplicate high level Spells without the need to transcribe them would bother to do so, making the spread of such Spells considerably more difficult. If they had, it seems to me that the question of which Character Classed person casts them first would be entirely moot, based on whomever happened to gain access to the transcription.

Or, am I misunderstanding the limitations you're inherently placing on "done everything" in this context?

They wouldn't necessarily transcribe the spells, no. You're right in that wider access (provided these monsters have lower population growth than the new casters) will start to change things, though that is only as fast as other casters work their way up to the new level of spells.

I thought you were talking more in terms of changing the world, and the like. For example, if Greater Teleport makes castles obsolete, then monsters with access to it make castles obsolete even if human casters have never touched it. Similar logic applies to pretty much any "this changes the power balance of the world" spell.

[XmonkTad]

They don't even need to be 7th level for heavy world changing. A 9th level wizard with 5th level spells is already a danger to the world. Wall of force is unbreakable by normal means, teleport makes them an omnipresent threat, contact other plane gives them unprecedented intelligence gathering, as does scrying.

At 6th level you have "lesser planar binding" giving the wizard access to outsiders to do the things he can't (nightmares and such). It just goes on and on.

But just because humanity (dwarf-manity?) has never had direct access to these spells doesn't mean they are unknown. Relics, Dragons (especially Tome Dragons), Artifacts, and Faye have all been hanging out in the world. So a powerful wizard lose in the world would be an oddity, but not an unstoppable threat to the world.

What would be really interesting are the people who don't believe it. Would they try to attack this person, thinking they're a Charlatan? Would they put airquotes around "Phenomenal Cosmic Power" when talking to the Wizard? Would they be deemed heretics for pretending to be god-like?