The creation of an army

[Keegon]

Hey, I've got a challenge and I decided to query you wonderful, inventive folk for help.

One of my characters is a Mathematician who invented a way to use math to cast magic. It's a very complicated process that requires every variable of a magical effect be calculated out to the smallest degree. To manifest his spells he has a collection of crystal drones animated by his soul. Each crystal holds the formula that causes specific spells. When directed to cast, the crystal runs the formula, using magic to create the variables to cause the spell effect to happen. In essence, he maths out effects, then combines them to create spells. Just like the Spell Seeds in Epic Spellcrafting.

Now, a very powerful person, powerful enough that a sneeze could vaporize me, has issued me an order. In one week I need to have created an army. I have anything I can think of at my disposal. Materials, assistants, advisers, scrolls of every spell that can be inscribed so he can convert the spell into math... If I need it, I've got it. Now, the DM brought up, "Just animate a bunch of rocks to act like drones that follow voice command and can cast spells like your NAVI(the spell crystals)." But that's not how the NAVI move or act. Each individual NAVI has to have a Telekinesis spell woven into it that accounts for its exact weight, density, aerodynamics, every last variable. And as for actually moving and casting? Each one is controlled subconsciously like your arm. He's figured out how to math a magic connection between the your magic in your body and the NAVI. He wouldn't even know where to begin to math out a formula to allow vocal commands to be taken, understood and acted upon.

And then there's the matter of energy. "But spells don't take energy, they take XP and last until either the spell effect ends or they're dispelled." True, for normal Arcane spells. But his magic doesn't use the standard method. Because all his magic is boiled down to math, energy has to be provided to sustain the spell from a definitive source. Now, his NAVI can, and do, absorb ambient energy to bolster their own supply to reduce the strain on him, as he provides all the energy for them. But they can only do that because, say it with me, he's done the math to allow each individual NAVI to use it's crystalline structure to absorb different types of energy and convert it into a form compatible with his. A stone has too many variables, impurities, to do that. The same line works for accepting verbal commands. The crystals can act as eyes and ears for him, by using math to convert the reflected light and the vibrations of sound into a form his mind can translate into sight and sound.

I've next to no idea on how to create an army. I'd like your ideas. Whatever you can come up with, I'll listen, and see if it could work. Please give a small explanation of your idea if you've got an idea why it'd work. Also, feel free to post any questions you have.

Thanks you wonderful folk.

[GreatDane]

Would golems work? I'm not 100% sure how you would make an army of golems in a week (some kind of time stop shenanigans, or maybe summoning/binding some planar servants to share the work), but golems seem precise enough for your wizard's magic to mesh with them. After all, golems are usually calm and emotionless. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0980.html)

[atemu1234]

Would golems work? I'm not 100% sure how you would make an army of golems in a week (some kind of time stop shenanigans, or maybe summoning/binding some planar servants to share the work), but golems seem precise enough for your wizard's magic to mesh with them. After all, golems are usually calm and emotionless. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0980.html)

Combine that with a few Thought Bottles, a Psion (Telepath) with True Mind Switch, and maybe... Ice Assassins? Something?

[Keegon]

Combine that with a few Thought Bottles, a Psion (Telepath) with True Mind Switch, and maybe... Ice Assassins? Something?

I'm... I'm not connecting the dots. I know what each of those are, but I don't see how they'd be useful. Elaborate please?

[Keegon]

Would golems work? I'm not 100% sure how you would make an army of golems in a week (some kind of time stop shenanigans, or maybe summoning/binding some planar servants to share the work), but golems seem precise enough for your wizard's magic to mesh with them. After all, golems are usually calm and emotionless. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0980.html)

Well, get enough assistants together and you don't need to worry about not having enough time. Hmm... Perhaps Simulacrum so I don't need to redo the command and control calculations for each. Just make one and copy it.

[Vizzerdrix]

Okay, what about the spell Create Darkenbeast. Turns animals into lizard bat things that can hold spell charges for ya.
As for energy to keep the spell going, find some way for them to draw it from their food. Find a ley line. Plant some corn on it. Make kibble. Tadaa! Mana Chow! your monster army will love it!

[Keegon]

Okay, what about the spell Create Darkenbeast. Turns animals into lizard bat things that can hold spell charges for ya.
As for energy to keep the spell going, find some way for them to draw it from their food. Find a ley line. Plant some corn on it. Make kibble. Tadaa! Mana Chow! your monster army will love it!

Nice idea, but they'd have to be able to fight in sunlight. Although... Perhaps a small NAVI equipped to each that casts a sphere of darkness on them.

[Vizzerdrix]

Retrain their feats to have Tomb Tainted soul and give them a bit of black sand. It emits an area of darkness and would grant them a bit of healing too.

[Darkweave31]

Wish/miracle --> Simulacrum of suitably powerful character/creature (I like solars)
Repeat until bored (assuming you can cast a wish every round via something like a staff and a 40 hour work week that's about 24,000)

With some more wish abuse you could probably wish up some mobile fortresses to deploy your forces using stronghold builder rules. Arm each using, appropriately enough, wish to create equipment. Create a chain of communication using interplanar telepathic bond and permanence.

If energy is an issue, would doing it on the plane of shadow (since simulacrum is illusion (shadow)), or one of the elemental planes provide enough energy? You could also use genesis to create a demiplane to help with energy requirements. I don't know the exact nature of the energy you need to power spells, just a few ideas.

[jiriku]

You seem to be using some highly nonstandard rules for your spellcasting. What are the limits on it? How is it structured? Are you limited to standard d&d 3.5 spell effects? Are the limits even clearly defined, or is this more of a storytelling game with few hard-and-fast rules?

EDIT: If you have open-ended storytelling ability, I think the ideal thing to do would be to produce some sort of warcrafter construct that has the ability to self-replicate. It makes copies of itself, and the copies make copies, etc, growing at an exponential rate as long as they can harvest resources. If the replication process is sufficiently rapid, they could qualify for an army in a week's time. If it takes you 12 hours to make the first one and you and they work steadily for a week at a similar rate, you'll have over 8,000 of them in seven day's time.

[JeminiZero]

Yeah, more details on how spellcasting works are needed. Do you have to devote energy to sustaining a spell for its entire duration? Can this limit be circumvented by stuff that has a duration of Instantaneous? E.g. Animate Dead.

Have you considered simply requesting a pile of Gold, and then giving your Assistants a "Recruiting Mercernaries" sign, and then sending them out to various taverns?

[Jack_Simth]

Basic options:
1) Hire an army (gold).
2) Steal an army (mind control, either of the entire army or of the leaders).
3) Nice self-replication (Simulacrums of using scrolls of Simulacrum to make Simulacrums of the original source).
4) Evil self-replication (the classic Wight army)
5) Actually build an army.

Mind you, without more crunch detail of how the homebrewed magic system works, it's not possible to give you a proper mechanical answer for actually building an army.

[Keegon]

Alright, y'all are calling for a little more clarification on the magic.

His magic works similar to Psi Points. He has a pool of Mana Points each day that he can store in his crystals. He can hold 10 Points while each crystal can hold 20. Each spell costs a certain number of points to cast. If a spell has a duration that lasts longer than one round, it has a cost to sustain. Example:

Barrier- Creates a shield wall that raises AC
Cost to create- 8 MP
Cost to sustain- 2MP/Round

As for it's structure, he examines an arcane spell, then converts it into a mathematical formula. From there he can either use the spell as is, or take its individual components to use as effects in creating his own spells. Example:

Ray of Frost-
Components:
Cold Damage Effect
Ray Shape
Short Range

Corrosive Touch-
Components:
Acid Damage Effect
Touch Range

Sleep-
Components:
Sleep Effect
Area of Effect/Small
Medium Range

By learning those spells he could then combine the component parts to create something like:

Frozen Sleep-
Components:
Sleep Effect
Cold Damage Effect
Touch Range
Area of Effect/Small

Or something to that effect. I combine the components and state to the DM how I want the spell to work when complete. He either okays it, changes it, or denies it.

Now as to the ideas on hiring the army, I was ordered to "create" an army, not buy one. Besides, every able bodied being in the Boss's area is already fighting for her, and every other region on the planet is against us. And we can't hire out of plane. The plain is locked against exit. You can enter the plane, but you can't leave.

[Urpriest]

This probably would have been more appropriate for the Roleplaying Games forum. I know you're doing it in D&D 3.5, but there's not much 3.5-specific to your question, since you're essentially able to make up effects on the fly and your DM is already on your side in this. It's really a question of fluff.

Broadly speaking, I think your character needs to learn about statistical mechanics. Essentially, you describe a large collection of entities not individually, but in terms of their statistical, collective traits. You wouldn't be animating each soldier in your army individually, rather they would all be one machine, a fluid made up of soldier-drones.

If rock isn't appropriate for this sort of thing, consider growing a vast amount of crystal instead.

[Jack_Simth]

Alright, y'all are calling for a little more clarification on the magic.

His magic works similar to Psi Points. He has a pool of Mana Points each day that he can store in his crystals. He can hold 10 Points while each crystal can hold 20. Each spell costs a certain number of points to cast. If a spell has a duration that lasts longer than one round, it has a cost to sustain. Example:

Barrier- Creates a shield wall that raises AC
Cost to create- 8 MP
Cost to sustain- 2MP/Round

As for it's structure, he examines an arcane spell, then converts it into a mathematical formula. From there he can either use the spell as is, or take its individual components to use as effects in creating his own spells. Example:

Ray of Frost-
Components:
Cold Damage Effect
Ray Shape
Short Range

Corrosive Touch-
Components:
Acid Damage Effect
Touch Range

Sleep-
Components:
Sleep Effect
Area of Effect/Small
Medium Range

By learning those spells he could then combine the component parts to create something like:

Frozen Sleep-
Components:
Sleep Effect
Cold Damage Effect
Touch Range
Area of Effect/Small

Or something to that effect. I combine the components and state to the DM how I want the spell to work when complete. He either okays it, changes it, or denies it.

Now as to the ideas on hiring the army, I was ordered to "create" an army, not buy one. Besides, every able bodied being in the Boss's area is already fighting for her, and every other region on the planet is against us. And we can't hire out of plane. The plain is locked against exit. You can enter the plane, but you can't leave.

OK. This means that for most practical purposes, you're stuck with Instant effects. With no off-plane hiring, you're pretty much limited to Animate Dead, Create Undead, Create Greater Undead, Simulacrum, Ice Assasin (Frostburn), Animate Dread Warrior (Unapproachable East), and similar.

[jiriku]

Hmmm. Wall of stone. Fabricate. Stone to Flesh. Raise Dead. Mineralize Warrior. Very thematic way to create a warrior from stone. Streamlining, I suppose polymorph any object + mineralize warrior would get the job done in fewer spells. The key obstacle you face is that, for game balance purposes, most spells that create a useful instantaneous effect have large xp and/or gp costs, precisely to prevent you from spamming them and creating an army. You'll need to talk to your DM about that.

[Keegon]

Thank you all for your contributions to the cause. Sadly, none were able to be put into effect. An opposing army swept in and crushed my Boss, who booked it, dragging their generals and useful prisoners along with. But your ideas have given me new roads to follow in the future.

[Bad Wolf]

That sucks, better luck in the future. Though your system of casting intrigues me. Post more about it?