Spells that gives immortality?

[Suzaku]

I was wondering if there was a spell or some way for a character to gain immortality? I'm not talking about indestructible (heck even gods can be killed), I mean where you don't die from age or take age penalties.

[Bears With Lasers]

There's an Epic Spell or two. So, effectively: no.

There are workarounds, like True Mind Switching yourself with something that doesn't age.

[kamikasei]

Would using polymorph any object to become an Elan do the trick? Although, of course it could be dispelled, which would be rather nasty.

[Laesin]

Debatable. Reincarnate brings you back to Young adult status but you lose a level and you have to kill yourself before you die of old age.

As a side note nothing in the level loss rules dictates the loss of stat points so it can be worth repeatedly dieing and being ressed at 15-16th level or indeed any level where you gain a stat point.

[Jasdoif]

Becoming a lich would prevent you from aging, as would becoming a number of other undead creatures.

Plane shift can take you to the Astral Plane, where the timeless trait prevents the effects of aging (though such effects will apply retroactively if you leave the plane).

[kpenguin]

As stated in its description, Wish can make you immortal. A good DM could make it so that you would regret that wish, however. Putting yourself in any sort of suspended animation will make you live forever as well.

[Mewtarthio]

First, you manifest the Quintessence power to get some Quintessence. Get a whole lot of it (this is tricky, as you quickly need to start succeeding at Will saves or lose Power Points, and it'll take you some time to get enough of that stuff). Then, coat yourself in the gooey distilled essence of time. You will now cease all aging. As well as thinking, moving, living in any real sense of the word, and really doing anything at all except sitting around in stasis, but that is the price of eternal life.

[Emperor Tippy]

The level 6 spell Smokey Confinement its in Complete Mage. It keeps you in stasis until the bottle is busted or the stopper is released.

[TheOOB]

Hmm, my default response to requests of immortality (especially with wishes) is the temporal stasis spell, not only do you technically live forever, it's definatly within wishs predefined power safe zone.

[Suzaku]

As stated in its description, Wish can make you immortal. A good DM could make it so that you would regret that wish, however. Putting yourself in any sort of suspended animation will make you live forever as well.

Meh a dm that works to actively corrupt a wish is not a good dm. It should simply fail as a spell not be corrupted unless I'm getting a wish cast by a evil being. I'm also not looking for a suspended animation type spells. I'm looking for explanation how Halaster(sp?) a human wizard from NWN hordes of the underdark could live for thousands of years.

[Bears With Lasers]

Isn't Halaster epic? He could have Epic Spellcasting. He could also have taken the Extended Lifespan feat a bunch. Or he could be drinking Plot Tea; that can make you immortal, too.

[Jack_Simth]

There's an Epic Spell or two. So, effectively: no.

There are workarounds, like True Mind Switching yourself with something that doesn't age.

A Greater Stone Golem is an interesting choice. You have to find a way to get a Polymorph Any Object on it first (so it's subject to mind-affecting effects), though...

But once you've managed that, you're mostly golden.

[Bears With Lasers]

There's an Eberron spell that makes constructs more humanoid-ish; it removes their mind immunity while it lasts. Hit it with that, then mind switch.

[joe]

Well it's not actually a spell, but if you have 10 levels of Green Star Adept from Complete Arcane, you can live indefinately. It states that you maintain your form for eons. So I think that would qualify for immortatily.

[factotum]

If you ever DID achieve immortality in D&D then there wouldn't be anything stopping you levelling up to near infinity and becoming all-powerful, which is why I doubt the people who created the game would have included anything like this.

Sure, you can think of weird work-rounds like switching yourself into the body of a stone golem, although I have a suspicion that wouldn't work as well as you'd like--for example, would you still be able to cast your spells? I doubt a stone golem's fingers are nimble enough to make all the weird arcane gestures required.

[Lemur]

The Book of Vile Darkness has a level 8 spell, Steal Life, that lets you drain people's ability scores to make yourself younger. Basically, you kill a bunch of commoners on a full moon night and get several years younger. You have to keep doing it periodically, but I suppose you could technically live forever.

Bears makes good points about Halaster being epic, and also plot tea. Either of those are the most likely explanations for the character in question.

[Sardia]

If you ever DID achieve immortality in D&D then there wouldn't be anything stopping you levelling up to near infinity and becoming all-powerful, which is why I doubt the people who created the game would have included anything like this.

The lack of suitable challenges might-- after all, finding a suitable 100+ CR opponent has got to be a chore. If nothing else, it'd slow progress.

Also, sooner or later, you're going to fail a save, peeve a deity who has the "Life and Death" salient ability, etc, etc. Or you stay out of the way, in which case you're back to having no good sources of XP.

[Portent]

In I think Magic of Rokugan or Way of the Shugenja, there's a maho (evil blood magic) spell wherein you sacrifice the life of some sentient creature in return for not aging for one or five years (I forget which). But yeah, I can't think of any spells that just cease aging/make you immortal permanently.

[kamikasei]

If we're talking about Forgotten Realms, the likely explanation is "because". That setting doesn't seem to take much account of the mechanics.

Given that Elminster and Khelben are effectively immortal for little reason except that Mystra likes them, you shouldn't feel bad about ascribing Halaster's long life to a similar arrangement with some other god or outsider, or an epic spell, or just being too mad for Kelemvor to touch.

[AtomicKitKat]

Surprised that BoVD was mentioned without Cancer Mage. Either you can live forever, period, or you can live forever while in "disease form".

As far as "level-up stat boost Reincarnation" cheese, doesn't work for the same reason that you cannot gain feats at say level 24(when you would gain a stat as well). It's part of the level you lost. Reincarnation is still a grand way of accumulating aging bonuses though. Order your Bogun or Animal Companion to activate your "tile of Reincarnation"(breaking it over your dead skull, for example) when you die, hope like hell to get an accelerated aging race like Half-Orc, and repeat.

[Saph]

Generally anything as powerful as immortality is plot- and DM-specific. You don't get that kind of thing by paging through splatbooks, you get it by searching through the history of the world you're playing in and finding out what is and isn't possible.

Expect some kind of hefty price for it, too. For instance, Halaster is immortal, but he's also insane 90% of the time (at least that's how he was described in the FRCS).

- Saph

[Neo]

Polymorph->Adamantine rock, basic premise, can be worked for immortality, does contain some minor side effects.

[Suzaku]

If you ever DID achieve immortality in D&D then there wouldn't be anything stopping you levelling up to near infinity and becoming all-powerful, which is why I doubt the people who created the game would have included anything like this.

By that logic the gods should have infinite level as well instead they have a fix level. Also Elan druids would be hands down the best race and combo because druids after level 15 don't suffer age penalties and Elans are immortal. Also Elfs would be next best race as they have the longest lifespan compare to the other races. Honestly when is the last time your character's age matter?

[DaMullet]

By that logic the gods should have infinite level as well instead they have a fix level. Also Elan druids would be hands down the best race and combo because druids after level 15 don't suffer age penalties and Elans are immortal. Also Elfs would be next best race as they have the longest lifespan compare to the other races. Honestly when is the last time your character's age matter?

Actually, I've been working on a homebrew spell that increases the target by 1d4-1 age categories. In RAW, age isn't too common, but it's worth thinking about.

[Jack_Simth]

If you ever DID achieve immortality in D&D then there wouldn't be anything stopping you levelling up to near infinity and becoming all-powerful, which is why I doubt the people who created the game would have included anything like this.

Sure, you can think of weird work-rounds like switching yourself into the body of a stone golem, although I have a suspicion that wouldn't work as well as you'd like--for example, would you still be able to cast your spells? I doubt a stone golem's fingers are nimble enough to make all the weird arcane gestures required.

True Mind Switch is a psionic power; no need for funky gestures. Take Leadership to get a cohort with the appropriet spells to un-immune the golem (Stone to Flesh, Polymorph Any Object, then True Mind Switch with the golem and permit the PaO to expire).

[Emperor Tippy]

You can get timeless body by level 7. Monk 4 then tattoo monk 3. One of the tattoos stops aging.

I use this trick in gestalt games where I play an Elan who lives forever.

[GryffonDurime]

If you've got a god on your side willing to invest a small portion of their power, even Divine Rank 0 grants you immortality.

[UglyPanda]

You can get timeless body by level 7. Monk 4 then tattoo monk 3. One of the tattoos stops aging.

I use this trick in gestalt games where I play an Elan who lives forever.

Level 10. Tattooed monk requires 8 ranks of knowledge (religion), so monk 5. That particular tattoo needs two others to give you timeless body, so tattooed monk 5.

[Nahal]

Isn't Halaster epic? He could have Epic Spellcasting. He could also have taken the Extended Lifespan feat a bunch. Or he could be drinking Plot Tea; that can make you immortal, too.

Undermountain keeps him from aging. It's not so much Plot Tea as Plot Dungeon. But yeah, the ways mentioned here work as well I suppose.

[Iden]

I actually had a thread recently looking for this very thing. In champions of Ruin, from forgotten realms, there is the Grey Portrait, which is basically the portrait of dorian grey but can be reclaimed by a different person. Also, I think one of the eberron books (magic of eberron, maybe?) had the theif of life prestige class.