My character wants to conquer the world, how would you go about it?

[TalksAlone]

So a bit of backstory:

My friend who is going to DM in a near future has came up with a homebrew setting where the church rules the civilized world. Beings considered of 'the night' (could be anyone with Dark Vision, really) and arcane spellcasters are excluded from society, and live on precarious conditions away from the center of the empire. There will be however, a catastrophic event that will shake the status quo.

There's obviously some more to add here, but I'm not sure of much else. There is, however, a very clear tone to one thing: a huge power gap will be presenting itself on the conflicts to come.

That made my gears grind and I came up with my character concept: a Lawful Evil Human Wizard, whose goal is to found a new nation ruled by Magi. I made my intentions clear to my DM and he is ok with my goals, so I'm really excited but also lost (since I am very much sure he will make it close to impossible for my goal to bear fruit).

We will be starting at lvl 1, this campaign will be long and very hard. There will be a lot of focus on downtime activities and I intend on taking as much advantage as possible.

So, does anyone ever tried anything like this? Do you have any suggestions on impactful things I can do just with spells and items that can further this goal?

For example:
-Try to produce a Zombified Shadow Dragon to bring Shadow-calypse to some cities?
-Raise an army through manipulation, deceit and general bribing?
-Try and acquire actual titles through marriage?
-All of the above...?

How would YOU go about it?

[Aaron Underhand]

1 Make sure the rest of the party want to go along with this. They should be your inner circle - I would suggest offer them that one should be head of secret police, one should be minister of propaganda, one ready to head the military, and one the civilian administration.

2 Read biographies of people who have done this - I suggest Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin, Castro and Alexander the great

3 Take a supporting background - I'm thinking Far Traveller, Folk Hero or Noble make a good base

4 Make sure your Charisma is good enough - consider the Inspiring leader feat

5 Work to give everyone what they want (NOT what is good for them) - you need a grass roots support base. Think 'Bread and Circuses'

6 Divide an conquer other power groups - you either dangle what they want, or ruthlessly eliminate them - Hitler seduced the Catholic church and attacked the Jews - who are your corrupt supporters, and who are the bogeymen that everyone will hate

Never let the truth get in the way of a good narrative...

have fun

[Mortis_Elrod]

1 Make sure the rest of the party want to go along with this. They should be your inner circle - I would suggest offer them that one should be head of secret police, one should be minister of propaganda, one ready to head the military, and one the civilian administration.

2 Read biographies of people who have done this - I suggest Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin, Castro and Alexander the great

3 Take a supporting background - I'm thinking Far Traveller, Folk Hero or Noble make a good base

4 Make sure your Charisma is good enough - consider the Inspiring leader feat

5 Work to give everyone what they want (NOT what is good for them) - you need a grass roots support base. Think 'Bread and Circuses'

6 Divide an conquer other power groups - you either dangle what they want, or ruthlessly eliminate them - Hitler seduced the Catholic church and attacked the Jews - who are your corrupt supporters, and who are the bogeymen that everyone will hate

Never let the truth get in the way of a good narrative...

have fun

Going to at add to this:

7. Read the Evil Overlord list (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilOverlordList) but more importantly, write it down and worship it like a religious text.

I probably wouldn't go for wizard myself but it is very good for this. Necromancer gives you some nice minions, but try to dress them up unless you live in a world that isn't immediately suspicious or violent towards necromancers. Diviner is good if you don't want people to stop you. I could see some monetary value from Transmutation. Honestly i don't see much in the way of Arcane Traditions that will give you an edge for your goals. However you should probably do one that really defines your character.

I myself would rather go for a charismatic class. Probably a Revenant Dragonborn Conquest Paladin/Hexblade/Lore Bard . This is more of a Warlord/Conqueror with a rule with an iron fist approach. Probably great for your military commander.

[TalksAlone]

Hmmm those are some ideas I had not considered.



1 Make sure the rest of the party want to go along with this. They should be your inner circle - I would suggest offer them that one should be head of secret police, one should be minister of propaganda, one ready to head the military, and one the civilian administration.

2 Read biographies of people who have done this - I suggest Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin, Castro and Alexander the great

3 Take a supporting background - I'm thinking Far Traveller, Folk Hero or Noble make a good base

4 Make sure your Charisma is good enough - consider the Inspiring leader feat

5 Work to give everyone what they want (NOT what is good for them) - you need a grass roots support base. Think 'Bread and Circuses'

6 Divide an conquer other power groups - you either dangle what they want, or ruthlessly eliminate them - Hitler seduced the Catholic church and attacked the Jews - who are your corrupt supporters, and who are the bogeymen that everyone will hate

Never let the truth get in the way of a good narrative...

have fun

1 Yes. Although I am not yet sure who is or isn't going to be on board with the idea, I do intend on including my fellow players. I will see if we can work this out beforehand, but it might be possible my DM isn't ok with our characters knowing each other alredy. Time will tell, but I agree.

2, 5 and 6 Mmmmm. I have been reading some from Machiavelli and Sun Tzu alredy. I'll give those a try as well. Think I see the point you are trying to get across: tactics AND people management are both of utmost importance.

3 I am seriously considering Noble Variant: Knight with the three Retainers NPCs (PH page 136). With the amount of downtime we are getting they would be of gigantic value. Sure enough the two regular retainers are Commoners (as per MM page 345), but I do have some speculation on what the squire's character sheet might end up being. I was thinking: it is stated that the NPCs never fight willingly or otherwise anyways, and that the Squire follows the Knight in hopes of some day being a Knight himself. Perhaps with some refluff and being myself a Wizard, perhaps I could make him an Apprentice Wizard (as per Volo's page 209)? That would be hilarious.
Besides, when it comes to customizing the NPCs there is some space for "Minmaxing" (ok, in reality some aditional support for the group but still) playing around with the different races and maybe even Backgrounds. A Mountain Dwarf, Rock Gnome or Variant Human Commoner (who chose the Skilled Feat) is alredy a rather decent crafter, even more so if given a Guild's Artisan Background. Maybe a Yuan-Ti Pureblood Commoner could charm enough snakes to guard our lair, with an Outlander background keep them happy and fed enough as to not attack anyone from the party. A half-elf servant could be an excellent Herald for my party, maybe even an Entretainer background if we lack of a Bard. An Earth Genasi could cast Pass Without Trace on us if we lack the spell, and be generally beefy and scary on the background. Many possibilities, I am officially in love with this option.

4 Kind of hard to pull off as a Wizard (there will be some optimization requirements for this campaign). We rolled stats but they weren't amazing all aroun and I am stuck with a Charisma of 12. Could be worse I suppose. I don't see the Feat in itself being too useful in ways good RP wouldn't, TBH. Was anything else on your mind about the feat that I didn't catch?

I will most definitely lie and have fun doing it. :smallbiggrin:


Going to at add to this:

7. Read the Evil Overlord list (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilOverlordList) but more importantly, write it down and worship it like a religious text.

I probably wouldn't go for wizard myself but it is very good for this. Necromancer gives you some nice minions, but try to dress them up unless you live in a world that isn't immediately suspicious or violent towards necromancers. Diviner is good if you don't want people to stop you. I could see some monetary value from Transmutation. Honestly i don't see much in the way of Arcane Traditions that will give you an edge for your goals. However you should probably do one that really defines your character.

I myself would rather go for a charismatic class. Probably a Revenant Dragonborn Conquest Paladin/Hexblade/Lore Bard . This is more of a Warlord/Conqueror with a rule with an iron fist approach. Probably great for your military commander.


7 This list is hilarious and so useful, thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.:smallbiggrin:

I set on Wizard because of the character concept and setting, personally. Maybe I could go Sorcerer instead? I just don't think it has the 'oomph', u know? It's not set in stone yet, maybe I'll get one of my buddies to play someone more akin to what you propose. :smallsmile:

On the topic of Necromancy, there will be an abundant resource of corpses no doubt, and I ceartanly will be picking at LEAST Animate Dead when. But I myself was inclined on the Divination tradition. . And foresight and close-to-zero-risk spionage sits so well with my character. Also portent is just so good. Besides general utility and fluff, it even helps making sure any pesky heroes that try to stop me actually fail their saves. Evil Overlord List just for this one reason would rate it 11/10. :elan:

I fail to see how Transmuter could bring gold advantage, care to explain?

[Mortis_Elrod]

7 This list is hilarious and so useful, thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.:smallbiggrin:

I set on Wizard because of the character concept and setting, personally. Maybe I could go Sorcerer instead? I just don't think it has the 'oomph', u know? It's not set in stone yet, maybe I'll get one of my buddies to play someone more akin to what you propose. :smallsmile:

On the topic of Necromancy, there will be an abundant resource of corpses no doubt, and I ceartanly will be picking at LEAST Animate Dead when. But I myself was inclined on the Divination tradition. . And foresight and close-to-zero-risk spionage sits so well with my character. Also portent is just so good. Besides general utility and fluff, it even helps making sure any pesky heroes that try to stop me actually fail their saves. Evil Overlord List just for this one reason would rate it 11/10. :elan:

I fail to see how Transmuter could bring gold advantage, care to explain?

Yes the list is amazing and one of my favorite things to use when i create evil overlord wanabes.

Transmuter can have you convert wood into silver. 1 cubic foot per 10 minutes. You can do this without limit. By some spare wood or go tree shopping in the forest. Convert wood to silver. Ask for a conversion to gold, or sell to jeweler. Later they get wood and you get money. Do the same with the transmuter stone. Make it, sell it as a magic item to a poor schmuck. Wait a couple days after you leave town then make another. They have a broken rock and you have your magic stone back.They cant blame you for that. You get MONEYS! Also convert you copper to silver pieces, then use silver pieces to buy things. You get the idea.

Alchemy is really good for making some money. And you can be a classic cheapskate. by 14th level you can market a philosophers stone as a way to live forever with the youth option. They really do end up looking really really young, but there life span remains the same, you can also have them keep paying you to stay young for fear of reverting there age back.

Anyway lots of options.

[TalksAlone]

Yes the list is amazing and one of my favorite things to use when i create evil overlord wanabes.

Transmuter can have you convert wood into silver. 1 cubic foot per 10 minutes. You can do this without limit. By some spare wood or go tree shopping in the forest. Convert wood to silver. Ask for a conversion to gold, or sell to jeweler. Later they get wood and you get money.

Ahh, I see. But seems like a bit of an investment to do this particular one with any finesse, if I'm honest. I could specialize on this maybe? Get my commoners to carve an awful lot of counterfeit wooden coins and such. It would bring unwanted attention in the earlier levels, I think, if I walked around with slabs of silver and all. And later levels doesn't seem to me like its a very good use of my time assuming normal levels of treasure hoarding and such. Besides, getting a bad reputation might be very detrimental to my goals, I don't think this one particularly is risk-reward efficient. Tho I could see a more wandering and adventuring Transmuter with panache getting away with this.:smallbiggrin:


Make it, sell it as a magic item to a poor schmuck. Wait a couple days after you leave town then make another. They have a broken rock and you have your magic stone back.They cant blame you for that. You get MONEYS! Also convert you copper to silver pieces, then use silver pieces to buy things. You get the idea.
Anyway lots of options.

In this particular setting selling magic items is a BIG risk too. I mean, just being a Wizard is sufficient to condemn to poverty, violence or death. And anyone that can pay for this can maybe make ME pay for it later. :smalleek:



Alchemy is really good for making some money. And you can be a classic cheapskate. by 14th level you can market a philosophers stone as a way to live forever with the youth option. They really do end up looking really really young, but there life span remains the same, you can also have them keep paying you to stay young for fear of reverting there age back.

Anyway lots of options.

Now THIS one in particular I could see selling like water. I mean, for real, basically every noble piece of crap would want a piece of this. Too bad it comes at 14th level only, but still is making me seriously consider the tradition.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Ahh, I see. But seems like a bit of an investment to do this particular one with any finesse, if I'm honest. I could specialize on this maybe? Get my commoners to carve an awful lot of counterfeit wooden coins and such. It would bring unwanted attention in the earlier levels, I think, if I walked around with slabs of silver and all. And later levels doesn't seem to me like its a very good use of my time assuming normal levels of treasure hoarding and such. Besides, getting a bad reputation might be very detrimental to my goals, I don't think this one particularly is risk-reward efficient. Tho I could see a more wandering and adventuring Transmuter with panache getting away with this.:smallbiggrin:



In this particular setting selling magic items is a BIG risk too. I mean, just being a Wizard is sufficient to condemn to poverty, violence or death. And anyone that can pay for this can maybe make ME pay for it later. :smalleek:



Now THIS one in particular I could see selling like water. I mean, for real, basically every noble piece of crap would want a piece of this. Too bad it comes at 14th level only, but still is making me seriously consider the tradition.

Well just market it as being divine. Its not like you have a wizard licence right? You can just say the gods show you how to do it. Basically act like a cleric. or druid. Nothing says people know your magic is arcane, heck in 5e there's not really a distinction anyway. just make sure to pick up Thaumaturgy and sprinkle it around as you go so they knew its 'the work of the gods' .

I will say that you have to be very careful. Maybe one of your underlings companions can do this instead. Be a group of miracle workers. just don't be blasphemous and you should avoid inquisitions and crusades.

[TalksAlone]

Well just market it as being divine. Its not like you have a wizard licence right? You can just say the gods show you how to do it. Basically act like a cleric. or druid. Nothing says people know your magic is arcane, heck in 5e there's not really a distinction anyway. just make sure to pick up Thaumaturgy and sprinkle it around as you go so they knew its 'the work of the gods' .

I will say that you have to be very careful. Maybe one of your underlings companions can do this instead. Be a group of miracle workers. just don't be blasphemous and you should avoid inquisitions and crusades.

Maybe. But since it is a homebrew campaign I will go ahead and discuss this particular distinction of 'how visibly different are arcane spells/items from divine ones' before I get myself or my allies into too much trouble. Hehehehe.

Thanks for the insight!

[Talionis]

Ahh, I see. But seems like a bit of an investment to do this particular one with any finesse, if I'm honest. I could specialize on this maybe? Get my commoners to carve an awful lot of counterfeit wooden coins and such. It would bring unwanted attention in the earlier levels, I think, if I walked around with slabs of silver and all. And later levels doesn't seem to me like its a very good use of my time assuming normal levels of treasure hoarding and such. Besides, getting a bad reputation might be very detrimental to my goals, I don't think this one particularly is risk-reward efficient. Tho I could see a more wandering and adventuring Transmuter with panache getting away with this.:smallbiggrin:



In this particular setting selling magic items is a BIG risk too. I mean, just being a Wizard is sufficient to condemn to poverty, violence or death. And anyone that can pay for this can maybe make ME pay for it later. :smalleek:



Now THIS one in particular I could see selling like water. I mean, for real, basically every noble piece of crap would want a piece of this. Too bad it comes at 14th level only, but still is making me seriously consider the tradition.

14th level is actually a great thing since it makes the ability very rare, so few will know it doesn't last forever. Clone spell can last forever and allows you to be a Necrmancer, but using this to get yourself working for the nobles is great for spying and gaining confidence.

Intelligence is a great way to control people even if you can't influence them.

[TalksAlone]

14th level is actually a great thing since it makes the ability very rare, so few will know it doesn't last forever. Clone spell can last forever and allows you to be a Necrmancer, but using this to get yourself working for the nobles is great for spying and gaining confidence.

Intelligence is a great way to control people even if you can't influence them.

Hmmmm, maybe I could set some ghosts loose on some Nobles houses to drain them hard. After the chaos, come offering a "cure" for the unfortunate bunch. Then I would do the thingy and get very intimate of the heir who I've just saved. Slowly but surely wait for them to die of old age (that would look like a mere sickness), and cry my guts out on the funeral as I inherit the incalculable fortune.

Does that sound Evil or what?

I mean, the Church wouldn't know what to do: they cannot restore the age after 24 hours, not even a Wish will do it. They wouldn't be able to cure the sickness, since there isn't any. They would not be able to Raise the person from the dead. They could not Divine that I done anything wrong: I helped with all I had.

[Sigreid]

I would start by reading The Prince (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm). It's pretty much still the definitive work on how to get and maintain power in a dictatorship. Your wizard powers will present you as a plausible prince, but it will be your political astuteness that makes it possible.

[Foxydono]

I may have some practical advice, but it depends a bit on how far you are willing to go. Conquering an entire nation is no easy task, especially if you want to change its foundation. This takes time and power. Who has time and power? (demi) liches of course! Keep in mind the not all liches are evil by definition (for example the one in the elemental evil campaign), so you could take a neutral alignment.

Also, True Polymorph will be a useful tool to accomplish your task and I would probably go with divination, you'll definitely need some good rolls at decisive moments.

As for the conquering part, there are two main routes. Destroying something from within the system itself or outside of it. From a game mechanics perspective I would choose the latter, because d&d is a bit random at times and one bad roll could blow your cover and spoil your plans.

At low to mid level you can disrupt the nation/city by assassinating high ranking officials, seize and/or destroy tactical buildings like armories, destroy trade routes etc. This can all be done by the party itself as it is more of a tactical strike.

At higher levels you'll need some kind of army. If the current people who are in charge are (semi) evil this is probably not too hard. If they are against 'magic' for example, maybe you can strike a deal with some magical creature (Dragons) who are probably being hunted down because of their power. Anyway, a lot will depend on the campaign itself, but everyone has a weakness so be sure to exploit that and the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Or at the very least a good tool :p

[TalksAlone]

I would start by reading The Prince (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm). It's pretty much still the definitive work on how to get and maintain power in a dictatorship. Your wizard powers will present you as a plausible prince, but it will be your political astuteness that makes it possible.

Quite. :smallamused:


I may have some practical advice, but it depends a bit on how far you are willing to go. Conquering an entire nation is no easy task, especially if you want to change its foundation. This takes time and power. Who has time and power? (demi) liches of course! Keep in mind the not all liches are evil by definition (for example the one in the elemental evil campaign), so you could take a neutral alignment.

Also, True Polymorph will be a useful tool to accomplish your task and I would probably go with divination, you'll definitely need some good rolls at decisive moments.

As for the conquering part, there are two main routes. Destroying something from within the system itself or outside of it. From a game mechanics perspective I would choose the latter, because d&d is a bit random at times and one bad roll could blow your cover and spoil your plans.

At low to mid level you can disrupt the nation/city by assassinating high ranking officials, seize and/or destroy tactical buildings like armories, destroy trade routes etc. This can all be done by the party itself as it is more of a tactical strike.

At higher levels you'll need some kind of army. If the current people who are in charge are (semi) evil this is probably not too hard. If they are against 'magic' for example, maybe you can strike a deal with some magical creature (Dragons) who are probably being hunted down because of their power. Anyway, a lot will depend on the campaign itself, but everyone has a weakness so be sure to exploit that and the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Or at the very least a good tool :p

I am very much commited to Evil.

Yes, lichdom is an option I was eyeing when designing the concept. Thing is, the transformation should be timed properly because of all the Detect Evils that will be flying around on a church-centric society. Sure enough, I could get the ritual ready to go at level 11 or something, but if I am still subject to a powerful divine spellcaster or a noble who has one under his service it would prove inconvenient slot-wise to ward against detection and prepare for eventual confrontation in advance.

In my opinion, going through the change of lichdom should be done soon enough that the power boost still comes in handy in a significant manner, and late enough that those who would opose me just for being a lich can no longer do anything about it. That may prove a delicate thread to balance on.

Maybe I can recruit the party and some NPCs to my cause. But if I am honest, I think in the end I might have to end up having to buy a mercenary army (and subsequently zombify it). Since there will be some others with the same idea as me, destroying and subjugating them beforehand would most likely be to my benefit.

On the issue of death itself, at first I am most likely going to deal with it primarily by using Clones, I believe. It's a gamble, but so is the Lichdom Ritual. Probably having a Clone ready if crap hits the windmill when I try to lichify myself is a good idea too. So we are talking probably lvl 15 and above.

That being said, striking powerful figures down would probably in itself attract those who oppose them to my side. So it's a win win if I can pull it off with the party plus some hired muscle.

Sorry about the lack of structure on the points I made. I literally wrote as if thinking out loud hehehe:smallbiggrin:

[Dalebert]

1) Wish for simulacrum of current ruler
2) Use it to infiltrate and assassinate him. It looks just like him and knows everything he knows.
3) Replace him and rule from behind the scenes as his "personal advisor"
4) Profit!

[smcmike]

1) Get an assistant named Pinky.
2) Come up with a new plan to conquer the world each session.
3) Fail, but hilariously.

[Degwerks]

I'd be tempted to play a Hexblade Wizard myself and boost my Charisma and Intelligence as high as I could. Since the Church is a higher power in this campaign I'd start off as Hexblade for the Armor and Weapon profs and take the Charlatan background. Use the new spell from UA Starter Spells called Healing Elixir to try to pass off that you are curing wounds. 2 levels of Hexblade is fine. Then go Theurgy for the Arcane tradition of Wizard. Pretend to be a cleric/priest etc...

Defeat the Church from within. Stack that Charisma, use the Friends Cantrip along with Disguise Self to turn your enemies against each other. You need to act like Petyr Baelish in disguise, Littlefinger in a glove basically. Don't get caught getting your hands dirty.

Marry into titles, buy establishments in order to create a monopoly, don't let insults go unpaid, at higher levels you will have access to Simulacrum so use it to your advantage. Copy an enemy or make yourself an alter ego that is disposable. Seeming spell is a godsend for you to be a saboteur type spy/infiltrator. Strike bargains with villains (while in disguise of course). Scrying with a crystal ball on things happening in or around you.

Get a portable hole and keep undead that create more undead spawn in it, release it in towns you don't like. not all at once mind you, you'll need a few wights or whatever in there so you can throw some hapless enemies in to be newly made undead.

[Dr.Samurai]

Starting at level 1 as a member of the lowest caste...

Your work is cut out for you. Really what you'll have to do in the game is figure out how to advance yourself in society in order to begin to influence people. Wizard spells alone won't let you conquer much, let alone command citizens and armies beneath you to do what you want.

An army of wizards chomping at the bit to take over with you as their leader won't go very far if you haven't brought the people over to your side. If/when you even get to that point, you'll need a stable power structure.

Unless you're planning on wielding incredible temporal power through the use of magic that you can bend everyone to your will through spells and intimidation, you'll need to make something of yourself beyond your spells to make this happen. A revolution even before you're a powerful spell-wielding conqueror.

[MinotaurWarrior]

If this were me, I'd go Arcane Trickster, at least to 11. Reliable disadvantage on powerful effects like Suggestion is what's gonna keep you from screwing up on big moves, and expertise + reliable talent has a staying power that spells lack.

You're not going to conquer the world working five minutes a day.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Personal power has its limits. Unless you're so insanely powerful that you can easily destroy entire nations without repercussion, you're going to need the strength of nations. That means you need loyalty.

Start with a cult of personality. Make a few diehard loyalists out of the people around you, and have them proselytize. Treat them well- you're evil, but other people don't and shouldn't know that. Make a few token maneuvers to prove that you're a 'good' leader, and find a useful scapegoat. Sounds like the church is great for starters. Make sure to throw other obstacles, like the aristocracy, in with them in your speeches.

You must come off as the conquering hero. You're there to liberate them, or at least that's what they believe. You'll reward loyalty handsomely. You find a few things that aggrieve them, such as stigma or poverty, and make a big show of helping them overcome them. Appear fair in your dealings with all, especially your enemies. Strict but fair is a good point of view for the leader of a rebellion.

This is all your public façade. As you know, you don't care one whit about the wellbeing of your people. They're canon fodder, maybe overgrown cattle that has the dubious honor of keeping the other cattle in check. Keep your eye on the prize- until you've conquered everything, you've conquered nothing. Don't let too much time go by without the people you've cast as villains committing an atrocity. If they won't do it and you can't trick them into it, do it yourself and say it was them. Directly demoralize them in whatever way you can get away with without your side getting the unnerving feeling that you might actually be a supervillain. Torture is useful, but not in the open. Executions send a message, but perhaps you should be careful not to be caught doing it yourself.

If there are rebellious figures in your growing empire, they must be squashed with prejudice, and quickly. Goad them into an all-out attack before they're ready. Get them to overcommit, feed them false details, and try your damndest to get them to hurt innocents in their wake. Then destroy them, utterly. Make prisoners of their leaders where you can. Publicly display and shame them, but don't execute them. They're more useful as symbols, and if you can torture them into admitting to terrible crimes (reminder: do not get caught committing torture), you make the people believe that rebellion against you is evil and you, as a result, are the hero. When you tire of them or they are of no further use, see if you can't have them murdered by an 'ordinary' citizen (likely a plant of yours). Take pity on them, as you can understand why they'd want to kill such a stain on the honor of the empire.

Remember that all factions that won't bend the knee are enemy factions. Do not accept confederation. Do not accept allies for long. Implicate them as above, justify your 'liberations', and install yourself in greater and greater seats of power. Your people will hopefully be too entranced by your 'heroic' deeds to notice the difference, but other neutral nations will think twice before raising their heads when you come knocking for their crowns. Make personal 'accidents' happen for the proud. Kill off their favorite sons and daughters, kidnap their relatives, destroy their homes. Not you, of course- simple bandits. Couldn't have been you. You wouldn't dare. No one would believe them if they said otherwise.

Drive them into the ultimate despair. They will choose you, or they will choose death. And the people will get on their knees and love you for it.

[Temperjoke]

Alright, I know I'm going to be a killjoy on this.

I feel you are getting too far ahead of yourself on this. A lot of the advice you are getting here is certainly valid, after you have acquired an amount of power, respect, and fear, from the various forces that are already in power.

Remember, you are starting out as a relative nobody, in a class that people are already predisposed to not like, with limited contacts at level 1 (depending on your background). You need to establish a power base of sorts before people will take you and your wishes seriously. Your DM is not just going to magically let you take over or nation build with no problems at all. Hell, your group may just pretend to go along, just to try and kill you later to take control.

Start small, build a foundation and reputation first. The local village has a problem with bandits? Solve the problem short term, then help the village with the problem in the long run (obviously there's a reason they don't have protection against those bandits). That will make the village want to support you, since you supported them. Do this for a couple of villages, and you'll start to get notice as a positive influence, meaning you're making life easier for the bigger fish, and they will be inclined to overlook your ambitions until it's too late to interfere.

[Dalebert]

Get a portable hole and keep undead that create more undead spawn in it, release it in towns you don't like. not all at once mind you, you'll need a few wights or whatever in there so you can throw some hapless enemies in to be newly made undead.

I think I'm in love. Can we go scheming together sometime?

[Finieous]

My recommendation is to be born into the elite caste of a culture or nation that has everything it needs to conquer the world except a unifying leader.

Otherwise, a) you're going to have to work your way up through the ranks of such a culture, which could range from improbable to impossible, or b) you're going to be just another BBEG with delusions of grandeur to smack down.

[Waterdeep Merch]

My recommendation is to be born into the elite caste of a culture or nation that has everything it needs to conquer the world except a unifying leader.

Otherwise, a) you're going to have to work your way up through the ranks of such a culture, which could range from improbable to impossible, or b) you're going to be just another BBEG with delusions of grandeur to smack down.
Depending on how realistic the DM wants to play it, this is exactly what you want to try and avoid. You cannot look like the bad guy, you just don't have the strength to challenge the world on your own. If you lack nobility, you need to make allies of those who hate the nobility, or cause others to follow you for a different reason. It may rankle your nose a bit as an evil character with megalomania, but you really will have to spend a significant amount of time helping people.

Otherwise a party of 4-6 diverse murderhobos kick in your door looking for loot and XP. They might not even let you have your monologue.

[Sigreid]

My recommendation is to be born into the elite caste of a culture or nation that has everything it needs to conquer the world except a unifying leader.

Otherwise, a) you're going to have to work your way up through the ranks of such a culture, which could range from improbable to impossible, or b) you're going to be just another BBEG with delusions of grandeur to smack down.

I think it would be better to take the folk hero background. Start by being the people's Zorro. Don't let the people see you're evil until it's far too late.

[Finieous]

I think it would be better to take the folk hero background. Start by being the people's Zorro. Don't let the people see you're evil until it's far too late.

There's definitely an outstanding question about "realism" vs. "melodrama," but I'd note that Don Diego de la Vega (aka "Zorro") was of the Spanish colonial nobility, as the honorific suggests. For historical references, you might look to figures such as William Wallace...who was also a Scottish knight. He also notably did not take over the world, or even Scotland, and met a bad end.

Thomas Cromwell might be a better model for the wizard in question, but again, it needs a lot of long years behind the scenes, and a bit of luck, worming your way into real power. He also, of course, met a bad end.

[Unoriginal]

My first piece of advice would be to avoid becoming a Lich. You might feel more powerful for a while, but in reality you've just indebted yourself and placed you in the indirect service of far more powerful beings.

My second would be to avoid doing truly evil things. The people in your dominion have to love you, or else you're going to end up disposed by the next group of competent enough adventurers that look in your direction.

My third would be that to become a ruler, you need support:

Become a prominent member in wizard guilds or mage colleges, invest in lots different businesses, including farms, factories and inns, pay bards to write songs glorifying and advertising you, and make sure you make regular public appearances where you at least seem to help people.

My fourth would be that you need mooks. Find some who are relatively competent, and loyals.

[Sir cryosin]

I would suggest switching to lore bard. Go around helping poor and middle class people. Tell them how much easier they life's would be if magic was reached to there kids. Always bad mouth the church. But in a endearing way. Then behind doors meet with people with money. Broker deals or find ways to large amount of money.

Winning over the masses gives you the power of revolution and information. Money gives you power of might. You can buy soldiers, weapons, food.

If you want to create your own country go watch game of thrones and pick a method. Starks inspire loyalty and pride. Lannisters use they wealth and promises. Then you had the church of 7 use religion. Targaryens use might and Terror. Little finger and the Tyrells uses manipulation and lies.

So I say pick a method you want to take and make a plan using it.

[Sigreid]

There's definitely an outstanding question about "realism" vs. "melodrama," but I'd note that Don Diego de la Vega (aka "Zorro") was of the Spanish colonial nobility, as the honorific suggests. For historical references, you might look to figures such as William Wallace...who was also a Scottish knight. He also notably did not take over the world, or even Scotland, and met a bad end.

Thomas Cromwell might be a better model for the wizard in question, but again, it needs a lot of long years behind the scenes, and a bit of luck, worming your way into real power. He also, of course, met a bad end.

I'm aware, even Robin Hood was of noble birth in the stories. It's also entirely fair to be of noble birth and take the folk hero background. It all depends on what the defining part of your background is. For the stated goal, having the common folk willing to aid and hide you will help a lot.

[Unoriginal]

I'm aware, even Robin Hood was of noble birth in the stories.

Depends the version. It's generally considered a late addition

[Sigreid]

Depends the version. It's generally considered a late addition

Well, when I went to Sherwood Forrest, that seemed to be what they were running with (yes, it's a real place). When I was there it had been converted to a Robin Hood themed fairy tale village type thing.

[The Ship's dog]

Team up with a circle of Great Old One Warlocks and, once they get high enough level, help them to infect the minds of the church elite with their Patron, and then slowly drive them over the edge.