PDA

View Full Version : 2nd Edition Immortality



Lord Blace
2008-01-30, 01:32 PM
I'm trying to get a current character to achieve immortality (or at least slow his the ageing process to make him nigh-immortal) without becoming a lich, or any other type of undead. It's a low magic setting. Help would be much, much appreciated. Oh and as the title suggests, it's a 2nd edition campaign.

Premier
2008-01-30, 02:26 PM
Please clarify: are you a player (in which case just talk to the DM), or the DM?

If it's the latter: I don't think 2E ever really addressed this issue. What you DO want to check out, however, are the last two books of the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal) series of D&D rulebooks, written/edited by Frank Mentzer. Among other stuff that you might find useful in running a game for high-level characters, Master presents a system on how to achieve immortality through the divine sponsorship of an already established Immortal; while the last book is all about playing ascended characters. Of course, it all ties into the cosmology of that edition, which similar to, but in certain significant ways different from the AD&D/3E-based cosmology. And of course, it assumes that there ARE quite a few ascended characters running around and meddling with things. Still you should be able to find some good stuff.

hamlet
2008-01-30, 02:31 PM
Research a spell of immortality on your own.

Acquire and use a carefully worded wish.

Research a new form of immortal other than the Lich. See, for example, Dark Sun's Dragon, Avangion, and Elementals.

Blood Stone of Fistandantilius if you're not against the unspeakable evil aspect.

Ambrosia.

Find a god, kill him, take his metaphoric stuff.

Establish a cult of personality around yourself, get enough people to worship you, petition the current pantheon for admittance.

Using fell artifact of elder evil and cosmic horror, drain the life force out of some other sentient being and infuse it into yourself. Repeat as neccessary.

All true heroes are immortal through song and story.

Petition a current god for immortality in exchange for a great service or quest on his behalf. Don't screw up.

The methods are limitless, but if you're looking for a hard and fast rules related method, there aren't any really.

estradling
2008-01-30, 03:21 PM
In the Wizard's Spell Compendium there are two spells that can be used to help with this

Life Force Transfer and Life Force Exchange.... You take over someone else's body (younger) body more or less permanently... Its not a nice thing to do and you have to repeat it every 30-40 years or so... but you no longer have to worry about getting old...

And if you are powerful enough to cast it you should have other means to keep people from killing you..

Yahzi
2008-01-30, 09:10 PM
I'm trying to get a current character to achieve immortality (or at least slow his the ageing process to make him nigh-immortal)
There's a potion of Longevity or such, that removes 1d12 years. Only problem is the culmative 1% chance it will fail and kill you.

So... make a potion. Cast Divination (or Commune). "Will this potion kill me?" If the answer is no, drink it. If the answer is yes, sell it to somebody else, and make another one.

You can get an average of 700 extra years this way.

Theli
2008-01-30, 09:24 PM
Was it really impossible for the answer to those divinations/communes to be "Maybe"?

Idea Man
2008-01-30, 09:27 PM
Until you roll, the answer would be maybe every time, until you hit a full 100%, of course. Unless your DM's a sucker and will actually roll for you in advance.

LibraryOgre
2008-01-30, 10:52 PM
I'm trying to get a current character to achieve immortality (or at least slow his the ageing process to make him nigh-immortal) without becoming a lich, or any other type of undead. It's a low magic setting. Help would be much, much appreciated. Oh and as the title suggests, it's a 2nd edition campaign.

Life extension was tricky in 2nd edition... there weren't a lot of ways to do it, and they were heavily regulated. About the BEST option was a VERY carefully worded wish to keep you alive, unaging, and in your current form. However, in a low magic setting, that's not really an option.

The only ones that are coming to mind are some high-level spells (one that extends your life by 77 years, but its a 10th level psionic enchantment, so it's not gonna happen in most campaigns, and certainly not one described as "low magic").

Irreverent Fool
2008-01-30, 11:28 PM
Weren't there the pigments of something-or-other that had a chance to make you immortal?

bosssmiley
2008-01-31, 01:46 PM
Life extension was tricky in 2nd edition... there weren't a lot of ways to do it, and they were heavily regulated. About the BEST option was a VERY carefully worded wish to keep you alive, unaging, and in your current form. However, in a low magic setting, that's not really an option.

"Wish granted" *BAM* temporal stasis effect. I love old school wishes. :smallbiggrin:


The only ones that are coming to mind are some high-level spells (one that extends your life by 77 years, but its a 10th level psionic enchantment, so it's not gonna happen in most campaigns, and certainly not one described as "low magic").

Oh, I remember that. From the Dark Sun "Dragon Kings" book. Drained souls from people in the area of the ritual en masse IIRC.

LibraryOgre
2008-01-31, 11:40 PM
"Wish granted" *BAM* temporal stasis effect. I love old school wishes. :smallbiggrin: Like I said, very carefully worded. I hadn't considered that, but I wasn't trying to word a wish, either... just thinking about some of the pitfalls a DM would throw at people.

(For the record, my rules on wishes were that if it was a item-cast wish, it followed the "easiest route" method... it would fulfill your wish the easiest way possible. If it came from something granting you a wish as a reward, it would be fairly faithful to your meaning, within its limitations of understanding. If it came from something forced to grant your wish... word very, very carefully).


Oh, I remember that. From the Dark Sun "Dragon Kings" book. Drained souls from people in the area of the ritual en masse IIRC.[/quote]

I was thinking of "Life Extension", which just added a King's Age to your life, by draining energy from your precious things, IIRC.

bosssmiley
2008-02-02, 12:41 PM
I was thinking of "Life Extension", which just added a King's Age to your life, by draining energy from your precious things, IIRC.

Yeah, sorry. I was looking at the vampiric youthfulness spell from the same book. That drained years of life from people.