rigsmal
2017-09-20, 01:49 PM
I think this works, and I'm posting it here to make sure it does.
The purpose of this simple trick is to get whatever result you want out of a Harrow Deck of Many Things as many times as you want. Obviously this implies NI ability scores and free wishes. This can be done at a very minimal cost to a level 17 caster. This trick doesn't require actually having the artifact.
1) Obtain the 195,000 gp wondrous item Silent Aviary. Read the description and laugh. You've probably already guessed the trick. This item can be crafted, bought, whatever.
2) Cast bilocation. You split into two bodies, which I will call Alice and Bob respectively.
3) Alice casts astral projection. Her astral body manifests a physical copy next to Bob.
4) Alice's astral body gives her newly-formed Silent Aviary copy to Bob.
5) Bob announces a draw from Silent Aviary. He decides on a specific card he wants.
6) Bob draws cards, and redraws until it is the card he wants.
6.5) If Bob gets the Cage, end the bilocation and astral projection, and then plane shift back to the material plane. Then go to step 2.
7) Bob gets the card he wants. By extension, Alice gains the benefits as well. The astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary now cannot be used by them.
8) Alice dismisses the astral projection and the astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary vanishes. Now dismiss bilocation and everything's back to normal.
9) Repeat by returning to step 2 as many times as desired.
Below I will address potential issues.
The Silent Aviary has been used, so we can't draw from it again. Specifically, the astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary has been used. This is a distinct item from the actual body's copy of the Silent Aviary. Quote:
...forming a new physical body (and equipment) on the plane of existence you have chosen to enter...
The equipment is explicitly new, so it is exactly not the old one, which is the original Silent Aviary the wizard possessed. Hence, the wizard is only barred from using the new one, which is created every time the loop runs.
So long as the wizard never makes the mistake of drawing from the original Silent Aviary he possesses, this won't ever be an issue.
The drawn card's effect only affects Bob, not Alice. Explicitly mentioned in bilocation's description is the passage
The two bodies are affected by attacks, spells, and effects as though they were one person...
so the effects of Silent Aviary pass through.
This is too simple/dumb to be optimization. Won't disagree with you there. :smalltongue:
Wizard 17 is already broken, this means nothing. OK, sure, but now it's more broken. NI ability scores, free wishes, can dominate deities, can be omniscient... I mean, this is definitely icing on the cake. Was this achievable before? Maybe, I don't usually think about Pathfinder optimization.
Even in the best case scenario, when Bob beats the DC 20 Will save to avoid the Cage each redraw on any roll but a 1, it will take too long to get the desired card. Let's assume (as a trivial matter of optimization) that Bob can make the save on everything but a 1. Let's further assume that Bob only wants exactly 1 card, the rest can go sod off. So how likely long will it take for Bob to succeed? Plug the Mathematica code
n = X; Sum[(19/20)^{i - 1} (53/54)^{i - 1} (1/54), {i, 1, n}]
into WolframAlpha and substitute X with any number to get the probability of succeeding in fewer than X draws without hitting the Cage card. For example, the probability of taking less than 20 turns without hitting Cage
n = 20; Sum[(19/20)^{i - 1} (53/54)^{i - 1} (1/54), {i, 1, n}]
is roughly 0.2063, or 20.6%. So yes, it will probably take on average 5 restarts before you get the exact card you want, which is probably around 3-4 days for your average, unoptimized wizard. But getting a Harrow Deck of Many Hands benefit every 3-4 days is pretty good. And if you are perfectly happy taking any of the 24 mostly beneficial cards, then you have a 94.1% chance of getting a good card in under 20 draws without ever hitting Cage. That's at least 2 beneficial effects each day.
edit
Fixed step 6.5. Thanks to Psyren for pointing out the error.
The purpose of this simple trick is to get whatever result you want out of a Harrow Deck of Many Things as many times as you want. Obviously this implies NI ability scores and free wishes. This can be done at a very minimal cost to a level 17 caster. This trick doesn't require actually having the artifact.
1) Obtain the 195,000 gp wondrous item Silent Aviary. Read the description and laugh. You've probably already guessed the trick. This item can be crafted, bought, whatever.
2) Cast bilocation. You split into two bodies, which I will call Alice and Bob respectively.
3) Alice casts astral projection. Her astral body manifests a physical copy next to Bob.
4) Alice's astral body gives her newly-formed Silent Aviary copy to Bob.
5) Bob announces a draw from Silent Aviary. He decides on a specific card he wants.
6) Bob draws cards, and redraws until it is the card he wants.
6.5) If Bob gets the Cage, end the bilocation and astral projection, and then plane shift back to the material plane. Then go to step 2.
7) Bob gets the card he wants. By extension, Alice gains the benefits as well. The astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary now cannot be used by them.
8) Alice dismisses the astral projection and the astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary vanishes. Now dismiss bilocation and everything's back to normal.
9) Repeat by returning to step 2 as many times as desired.
Below I will address potential issues.
The Silent Aviary has been used, so we can't draw from it again. Specifically, the astral body's copy of the Silent Aviary has been used. This is a distinct item from the actual body's copy of the Silent Aviary. Quote:
...forming a new physical body (and equipment) on the plane of existence you have chosen to enter...
The equipment is explicitly new, so it is exactly not the old one, which is the original Silent Aviary the wizard possessed. Hence, the wizard is only barred from using the new one, which is created every time the loop runs.
So long as the wizard never makes the mistake of drawing from the original Silent Aviary he possesses, this won't ever be an issue.
The drawn card's effect only affects Bob, not Alice. Explicitly mentioned in bilocation's description is the passage
The two bodies are affected by attacks, spells, and effects as though they were one person...
so the effects of Silent Aviary pass through.
This is too simple/dumb to be optimization. Won't disagree with you there. :smalltongue:
Wizard 17 is already broken, this means nothing. OK, sure, but now it's more broken. NI ability scores, free wishes, can dominate deities, can be omniscient... I mean, this is definitely icing on the cake. Was this achievable before? Maybe, I don't usually think about Pathfinder optimization.
Even in the best case scenario, when Bob beats the DC 20 Will save to avoid the Cage each redraw on any roll but a 1, it will take too long to get the desired card. Let's assume (as a trivial matter of optimization) that Bob can make the save on everything but a 1. Let's further assume that Bob only wants exactly 1 card, the rest can go sod off. So how likely long will it take for Bob to succeed? Plug the Mathematica code
n = X; Sum[(19/20)^{i - 1} (53/54)^{i - 1} (1/54), {i, 1, n}]
into WolframAlpha and substitute X with any number to get the probability of succeeding in fewer than X draws without hitting the Cage card. For example, the probability of taking less than 20 turns without hitting Cage
n = 20; Sum[(19/20)^{i - 1} (53/54)^{i - 1} (1/54), {i, 1, n}]
is roughly 0.2063, or 20.6%. So yes, it will probably take on average 5 restarts before you get the exact card you want, which is probably around 3-4 days for your average, unoptimized wizard. But getting a Harrow Deck of Many Hands benefit every 3-4 days is pretty good. And if you are perfectly happy taking any of the 24 mostly beneficial cards, then you have a 94.1% chance of getting a good card in under 20 draws without ever hitting Cage. That's at least 2 beneficial effects each day.
edit
Fixed step 6.5. Thanks to Psyren for pointing out the error.