What the HECK kind of spell is V researching?!?

[iwarriorpoet]

All I can say is that whatever the spell is, I don't think it is worth the price it is exacting on V's body and soul. V is getting scarier and scarier...:smalleek:

[Tholok Razescar]

It's a spell that grants answers to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Otherwise known as the 42 spell.

[iwarriorpoet]

It's a spell that grants answers to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Otherwise known as the 42 spell.
Umm...
Seriously?
Must have missed that reference...
You are joking, right?

[Tholok Razescar]

Umm...
Seriously?
Must have missed that reference...
You are joking, right?

Well, whatever kind of spell (s)he's researching, it'll be an "answer" to their problems.

...

Never mind.

[vegetalss4]

it is a new, most likely futile, attemt to communicate with :haley:

[iwarriorpoet]

I gotta think it is actually more than that. The toll it is taking out on V is horrendous. I am thinking some sort of above level conjuration/summoning spell. I think V is making some sort of a pact with an Outsider to get info.

[Spiky]

Umm...
Seriously?
Must have missed that reference...
You are joking, right?

I can't tell if you got this ref or not. It's from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[iwarriorpoet]

I can't tell if you got this ref or not. It's from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Oh, snap!
Been awhile since I read/revisited it. Yep. Thanks.

[Kaytara]

Conjuration is one of V' barred schools, so that pretty much bars at any spell involving the use of that summoning loophole or fiendish help - mind you, I'm talking about the SPELL here, not any proposals Qarr might make.

[Joran]

All I can say is that whatever the spell is, I don't think it is worth the price it is exacting on V's body and soul. V is getting scarier and scarier...

It's been a series of spells. Each time he fails, he tries another spell, always forgoing more sleep to work harder.

So far, he's researched Vaarsuvius' Enhanced Scrying (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0504.html) and Vaarsuvius' Greater Animal Messenger (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0563.html) and any other ones off-panel.

[lord of kobolds]

It's not the spells themselves, it's the fact that V hasn't been resting, trancing, or anything else except researching for a few months now.

[Dervag]

Well, I'm pretty sure V has been getting at least some sleep once in a while. But probably only the absolute minimum that is physically possible for an elf wizard who is using all available stimulants.

Unless elven physiology is even more nonhuman than I thought, if V got no sleep or trance for so many months, then V would be dead.

[Weiser_Cain]

Yeah elves don't sleep. They aren't human.
I wonder how Fast V will recover once the gang's all back together. Or will it take V's spouse to bring V back to normal jerkiness?

[busterswd]

I'm imagining if we ever do find out it'll be a very "Shining"-esque scene, as in when we find what Jack has been working on for the past few isolated months.

[David Argall]

V is researching a spell that gives him a hope of finding Haley. We may see the results of her labor shortly.

[Thant]

It's a spell that grants answers to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Otherwise known as the 42 spell.

But V-man is definitely not "mostly harmless" anymore:smallbiggrin:

[Callista]

He's never BEEN "mostly harmless"!

Anybody consider s/he might be researching something like Limited Wish or even Wish? I don't know what level s/he's at now; but it's about coming up on that... and both spells take your XP, effectively draining you of the time spent gaining it. Some D&D novels put it at losing a year off your life every time you cast a Wish.

[MasterofMockery]

duh... Haste

[Kish]

*cough* That's 2ed, not an invention for novels. 3ed replaced "casting this spell ages you" with XP costs. (The obvious reason being that a year's aging means something dramatically different to an elf, a half-orc, or a dragon, while losing XP affects them all the same way.)

[Setra]

Casting something with an XP cost would put him further away from Ultimate Arcane Power... on the other hand if it worked, it would allow his ego to recover...

Which means more to V, I wonder.

[Blue Ghost]

V was originally researching a spell to contact Haley. She used Vaarsuvius's Greater Animal Messenger, but that failed.

She then tried to modify VGAM so it would call forth creatures from the lower planes to seek out Haley, but realized that such a spell would require access to the Conjuration school, which is forbidden to her.

So then she went into researching a spell which would temporarily grant her access to the Conjuration school, but she didn't know where to start, so she began researching a divination spell to aid her researching.

At a critical juncture in the divination spell, V realized that it would require massive amounts of evil energy, which she could only produce if she was a lich.

So she began trying to transform into a lich, but found that doing so would require the necromancy school, which is also barred to her.

Thus she went to research a spell which would grant access to the Necromancy school, and succeeded. (This spell would also grant access to the Conjuration school, but being so deprived of sleep and insane, V doesn't realize that.)

She began the process of transforming into a lich, but realized that the spell doesn't last long enough to complete the process, and she doesn't have the requisite metamagic feats to extend it.

So right now she is looking for another spell to lengthen the spell that would allow her access to the Necromancy school.

This explains why she's so tired, and why she's acting so evil.

[Chronos]

But V-man is definitely not "mostly harmless" anymoreActually, e might be. E's been burning off a lot of spell slots lately, without resting enough to refresh them, including at least two and probably three 7th-level (presumed to be es highest level available). Durkon and Elan probably could force em to listen to reason, at this point.


blue_ghost, that's hairbrained and crazy enough that it just might be true. Nice thinking.

[Amhenia]

Didn't V had Vampiric Touch is his spellbook? (comic49) so that means Necromancy is not one of his barred scholls.

[Thant]

He's never BEEN "mostly harmless"!

That was a pun in line with the "42 spell" and other Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy references, not a fact. But he was (mostly) harmless to his companions in order up to this point.

[Pronounceable]

That was a pun in line with the "42 spell" and other Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy references, not a fact. But he was (mostly) harmless to his companions in order up to this point.

Tell that to Belkster.
...

What's the RAW ruling on spell research anyway? We know he's created more than one spell. It's around four months, how many spells can V have researched by now? And what's he gonna do with all these communication spells when (if) things go back to normal...

[brilliantlight]

V was originally researching a spell to contact Haley. She used Vaarsuvius's Greater Animal Messenger, but that failed.

She then tried to modify VGAM so it would call forth creatures from the lower planes to seek out Haley, but realized that such a spell would require access to the Conjuration school, which is forbidden to her.

So then she went into researching a spell which would temporarily grant her access to the Conjuration school, but she didn't know where to start, so she began researching a divination spell to aid her researching.

At a critical juncture in the divination spell, V realized that it would require massive amounts of evil energy, which she could only produce if she was a lich.

So she began trying to transform into a lich, but found that doing so would require the necromancy school, which is also barred to her.

Thus she went to research a spell which would grant access to the Necromancy school, and succeeded. (This spell would also grant access to the Conjuration school, but being so deprived of sleep and insane, V doesn't realize that.)

She began the process of transforming into a lich, but realized that the spell doesn't last long enough to complete the process, and she doesn't have the requisite metamagic feats to extend it.

So right now she is looking for another spell to lengthen the spell that would allow her access to the Necromancy school.

This explains why she's so tired, and why she's acting so evil.

V would LOSE arcane power if she became a lich. It is a +4 LA. The reason to become a lich is to become immortal not to add your magical ability.

[hamishspence]

Actually, V would gain a certain amount of arcane power (+2 to INT) and then, be delayed gaining any more arcane power: Character jumps in power are usually resolved by requiring you to gain all the experience you missed out by doing that LA rise.

Exalted Deeds does it with Saint: +2 LA, character goes from 5th level to effectively 7th level, to reach 8th level, must gain enough experience to take them from 5th level to 8th level.

Same principle would apply to a Lich, or a character bitten by a werebeast or a vampire: sudden leap up in power, long delay in getting to the next level up, to compensate.

[Ionizer]

Didn't V had Vampiric Touch is his spellbook? (comic49) so that means Necromancy is not one of his barred scholls.

V also offered Meteor Swarm, Time Stop and Wish to Zz'dtri, which he obviously couldn't cast. She was just spouting random spells in hir frustration with the Drow's stubbornness not to trade. Also note that the Giant can twist the laws of reality for the sake of a joke, and then after that brief moment, they return to their pre-ordained conditions.

Suck it up, the Giant has said time and again that the Rule of Funny trumps all written publications of the rules. Just think as the Rule of Funny as Giant pulling Rule 0. Do you complain when your DM invokes Rule 0? No. Because you know if you do, then pretty soon "rocks fall, everybody dies." And nobody wants to see that happen.

[drakokirby]

Obviously a very powerful scrying spell. I mean he has already tried to get in contact of her for almost 4 months. He's been doing anything that can give him more power to scry her. He should be able to soon, Haley is out of the zone for no scrying.

[Mercenary Pen]

Vaarsuvius Greater XP-cost Removal, thus allowing him to cast spells with massive XP costs without paying said costs, scribe scrolls without XP cost for a period (say 10 minutes per caster level) and generally break the game as we know it.

[Thant]

Tell that to Belkster.
...

The accent is on the word MOSTLY, explosive runes or not:smalltongue:

[Mercenary Pen]

Vaarsuvius' instant trance/sleep-substitute:
Casting time- Full-round
Spell Level: At least 6, possibly 7.
Range: Self
Effect: Target regains spells and HP as if they had slept or tranced, except for losing one spell slot from their maximum, each time the spell is used. The first period of trance/sleep after an extended period using this spell will restore the use of up to one-half of the user's maximum number of spell slots, with the remainder being restored by a second period of trance/sleep.

Note to user: This spell does not negate any other results of not sleeping. Everything other than spells and HP is your own problem.

[Linkavitch]

Probably 'V's Uber-powered (kiss hir butt, cloister!) Scrying' Or something.

[drengnikrafe]

Vaarsuvius is quite clearly researching "Vaarsuvius's ultimate-arcane-power-do-anything-at-no-spell-cost spell". Why such a long name? Because it really pains her to have to write one word in his spellbook, and have it cost 8 pages. And she's verbose.

All jokes aside, it probably is another contact type spell. That's what he's been aiming for this entire time, so why would he change gears now? Getting Durkon to Roy, and rezzing him will allow the main story to continue, and at double the pace it's been at lately. That is what she wants, and that is what he is probably going to do.

[Blue Ghost]

V would LOSE arcane power if she became a lich. It is a +4 LA. The reason to become a lich is to become immortal not to add your magical ability.

According to my theory, she's not trying to become a lich so she can get arcane power. She's doing so because in her trance-deprived insanity, she believes it necessary to find Haley.

And an update: Vaarsuvius has found the requisite spell to extend her necromancy-allowing spell that will transform her into a lich, but to cast said spell, she requires rare herbs which she has no way of obtaining, and she is now working on a spell that will allow her to teleport to Arborea to obtain the herbs.

[Callista]

*cough* That's 2ed, not an invention for novels. 3ed replaced "casting this spell ages you" with XP costs. (The obvious reason being that a year's aging means something dramatically different to an elf, a half-orc, or a dragon, while losing XP affects them all the same way.)Ah. Too bad all those books are out of print... what's a newcomer like me to do? (Besides track them down online, I guess.)

[Ricky S]

Their is also another problem with V's spells. V can not cast epic level spells therefore V can not even get in touch with Haley so all her work is uselss anyway... So all it is achieving is V getting preggressively more aggressive and tired. Poor V :Varsuvious:

[Laurentio II]

According to my theory, she's not trying to become a lich so she can get arcane power. She's doing so because in her trance-deprived insanity, she believes it necessary to find Haley.
This contrast with the objective fact that, insane or not, every single rational faculty seems to work fine. He even use sarcasm as before, and it's very hard to be sarcastic while drowsy.
Seems more a "I want Vaarsuvius to be a lich at all cost and I don't mind any reason against it".

Now, really, how many elf lich do we know, compared to the human lich population?

[Kish]

Now, really, how many elf lich do we know, compared to the human lich population?
In the OotS universe, that would be 0, compared to 1.

[Laurentio II]

In the OotS universe, that would be 0, compared to 1.
Well, I mean generically, in the fantasy literature.

Anyway, I found out the spell he is researching. It's is a spell to possibly mind control teammates at distance. This helps in several ways:
- allows to know where people is, and have them travel to you more efficiently;
- allows to control Elan (for the sake of his stupidity) and Belkar (because is Belkar);
- it's morally challenging, so there could be some more dozen of threads on this forum.

[Xallace]

Vaarsuvius Greater XP-cost Removal, thus allowing him to cast spells with massive XP costs without paying said costs, scribe scrolls without XP cost for a period (say 10 minutes per caster level) and generally break the game as we know it.

It costs XP to cast, doesn't it?


And anyway, the big magic that was blocking V's attempts is down now, isn't it? I can see it coming to the point where someone (say Elan, Durkon, anyone) is ticking V off, and in some long, arrogant, sarcastic rant, V casts a very simple Divination to prove how futile it all is, and that *Tada!* finds Haley.

Sounds very much like V and the general humor of the comic to me. Now that I've mentioned it it won't happen, probably.

[JonahFalcon]

All I can say is that whatever the spell is, I don't think it is worth the price it is exacting on V's body and soul. V is getting scarier and scarier...:smalleek:

Never played Master of Magic, huh? We all know what ultimate spell s/he's researching.

Spell of Domination

[Mercenary Pen]

It costs XP to cast, doesn't it?

Only when an XP-cost would normally be incurred at the point of casting... (for example, the making of scrolls, potions, wands or rods using this spell)

When I said game-breaking, I really meant game-breaking; Not something that seems to break the game but has some silly balancing mechanism like a half-current level XP cost...

[Xallace]

Only when an XP-cost would normally be incurred at the point of casting... (for example, the making of scrolls, potions, wands or rods using this spell)

When I said game-breaking, I really meant game-breaking; Not something that seems to break the game but has some silly balancing mechanism like a half-current level XP cost...

I think you misunderstood. I was talking about the spell that negates XP costs having an XP cost. I really wouldn't put it past WotC if they made a spell like that.

Or I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, in which case the joke appears to have fallen flat.

[Greep]

Varsuvius' atomic runes.

Also 4 words = "I prepared atomic runes"

[snafu]

Never played Master of Magic, huh? We all know what ultimate spell s/he's researching.

Spell of Domination

Spell of Mastery? Did _anyone_ ever play MoM long enough to get that? If you couldn't defeat all the AIs on the hardest level _long_ before anyone got anywhere near that spell, you were doing it wrong.

That game had so many rule exploits. Breaking magical items to return more mana than it cost to enchant them, that was fun. Taking all Death books and conjuring Wraiths from the first turn. Invisible flying warships. Giving Jaer the Wind Mage pathfinding and all the speed boosts you could get and then using him to ferry armies around the place at warp 9. Attacking an enemy city with an invisible or hasted unit, casting Mana Leak, then waiting out the battle just in order to drain his power. Ultra-Elite adamantium halfling slingers + Giant Strength + Flame Blade + Lionheart + Torin bonus + Archangel bonus = look, you probably put more effort into working out the build to make that possible than you did into playing the game.

Oh, such fond memories... you know, since they finally released a modern remake of Colonization, maybe, just maybe, we might someday see a MoM 2. I do hope so.

[Blue Ghost]

This contrast with the objective fact that, insane or not, every single rational faculty seems to work fine. He even use sarcasm as before, and it's very hard to be sarcastic while drowsy.
Seems more a "I want Vaarsuvius to be a lich at all cost and I don't mind any reason against it".

I think you missed my point.


V was originally researching a spell to contact Haley. She used Vaarsuvius's Greater Animal Messenger, but that failed.

She then tried to modify VGAM so it would call forth creatures from the lower planes to seek out Haley, but realized that such a spell would require access to the Conjuration school, which is forbidden to her.

So then she went into researching a spell which would temporarily grant her access to the Conjuration school, but she didn't know where to start, so she began researching a divination spell to aid her researching.

At a critical juncture in the divination spell, V realized that it would require massive amounts of evil energy, which she could only produce if she was a lich.

So she began trying to transform into a lich, but found that doing so would require the necromancy school, which is also barred to her.

Thus she went to research a spell which would grant access to the Necromancy school, and succeeded. (This spell would also grant access to the Conjuration school, but being so deprived of sleep and insane, V doesn't realize that.)

She began the process of transforming into a lich, but realized that the spell doesn't last long enough to complete the process, and she doesn't have the requisite metamagic feats to extend it.

So right now she is looking for another spell to lengthen the spell that would allow her access to the Necromancy school.

This explains why she's so tired, and why she's acting so evil.]

My point is not that V is becoming a lich, but that she's researching something that's convoluted and totally unnecessary for the task at hand. Given the length of my prediction, it's pretty much impossible that it's going to come true word for word. Becoming a lich is only a minor part of my theory. I could have just as easily predicted that she was trying to become a mindflayer or something.

In fact, I believe she has just started researching a spell to permanently transform into a mindflayer.

[Grail]

The reason to become a lich is to become immortal not to add your magical ability.

Which through immortality adds to your magical ability. It's about the bigger picture when you become a lich. Hang around forever, you'll get more powerful. That is the reason most spellcasters become lich's, so that in time they can get more powerful, not just because they want to see Mountains become plains through the passage of time.

[Finwe]

Which through immortality adds to your magical ability. It's about the bigger picture when you become a lich. Hang around forever, you'll get more powerful. That is the reason most spellcasters become lich's, so that in time they can get more powerful, not just because they want to see Mountains become plains through the passage of time.

Yeah, V should be real worried about dying of old age - he's only got a few centuries or so left!

[Grail]

Yeah, V should be real worried about dying of old age - he's only got a few centuries or so left!

Of course, any Spell Research that V undertakes will move at the speed of plot. But in normal game terms - researching spells, especially ones that will require some hard to come by, or unique components may take years. And for someone truly interested in unlocking all the secrets of the Multiverse, every year counts.

[Finwe]

Of course, any Spell Research that V undertakes will move at the speed of plot. But in normal game terms - researching spells, especially ones that will require some hard to come by, or unique components may take years. And for someone truly interested in unlocking all the secrets of the Multiverse, every year counts.

Yes, but why become a Lich now? He literally has a good hundred years or so until middle age! (and hundreds more before he'll be truly old). If you were planning on becoming a lich, would you want to do it when you were 20ish, in the prime of life, or 70+, almost old enough to pass on?

[Grail]

Yes, but why become a Lich now? He literally has a good hundred years or so until middle age! (and hundreds more before he'll be truly old). If you were planning on becoming a lich, would you want to do it when you were 20ish, in the prime of life, or 70+, almost old enough to pass on?

I never said it would/should/could - merely pointing out that achieving ultimate power and being immortal weren't mutually exclusive. Indeed, ultimate power (ultimate by definition meaning unequaled and surpassing all), kind of requires a greater lifetime than an elf has. Therefore to achieve the first, the 2nd maybe required.

[Finwe]

I never said it would/should/could - merely pointing out that achieving ultimate power and being immortal weren't mutually exclusive. Indeed, ultimate power (ultimate by definition meaning unequaled and surpassing all), kind of requires a greater lifetime than an elf has. Therefore to achieve the first, the 2nd maybe required.

:smallconfused: It is not unheard of within D&D for a mortal to become a god or otherwise achieving other forms of ultimate power without an extended lifespan (see: Raistlin Majere, who, in one timeline, killed every god in existence within half a human's lifespan). And, of course, upon achieving ultimate power, one can easily grant oneself an infinite lifespan.

[TheNovak]

Vaarsuvius' instant trance/sleep-substitute:
Casting time- Full-round
Spell Level: At least 6, possibly 7.
Range: Self
Effect: Target regains spells and HP as if they had slept or tranced, except for losing one spell slot from their maximum, each time the spell is used. The first period of trance/sleep after an extended period using this spell will restore the use of up to one-half of the user's maximum number of spell slots, with the remainder being restored by a second period of trance/sleep.

Note to user: This spell does not negate any other results of not sleeping. Everything other than spells and HP is your own problem.

"...But you're still hungry!"

(10 points to anyone who gets that :smalltongue:)

Anyway, I was going to say something about a long-range "Eye of Kilrogg" type dealie, but I think blue ghost's post back on Page 1 takes the win.

[turkishproverb]

did..did you just reference Crono Trigger?

[Heliomance]

He did indeed just reference Chrono Trigger. Win.

[mlsq42]

*raises hand*

Uh, what, exactly, is Rule 0? I mean, I get the general idea, I just want the wording...

*runs*

[drengnikrafe]

*raises hand*

Uh, what, exactly, is Rule 0? I mean, I get the general idea, I just want the wording...

*runs*

In case I haven't been ninja'd yet...

Rule 0 is the right of the DM, at any time, to rewrite any rule he chooses for any reason he chooses. "Because I feel like it" is techincally a valid rule. It says that using common sense can be more important then a rulebook. It says the DM has complete control over the entire world, and he can do with it whatever he wishes, whether or not it's in the rules.
...
Or something like that.