Pokeballs for all

[Emperor Tippy]

Just posting this here because I was bored and realized it works.

Step 1: Buy a scroll of gate at CL 22 (9,950 GP)
Step 2: Use Gate to Gate in a Solar
Step 3: Order the Solar to dispel its Protective Aura and not restart it.
Step 4: Order the Solar to fail its next will save.
Step 5: Cast Dominate Monster on the Solar.
Step 6: Order the Solar to fail its next will save.
Step 7: Order the Solar to never restart its Protective Aura
Step 8: Order the Solar to Plane Shift to you as soon as it is dismissed by you.
Step 9: Dismiss the Solar
Step 10: Wait for the Solar to return (takes a round or so)
Step 11: Suggest that the Solar let you improve him and not resist your next helpful spell. Tell him it will help fight evil better.
Step 12: Cast Programmed Amnesia (500 GP) on the Solar and completely rebuild his personality so he does whatever you want and forgets he ever had a Protective Aura ability.
Step 13: Cast Smokey Confinement on the Solar

Those are the 13 steps to getting a Solar Pokemon. It costs a bit over 10,000 GP if you use a scroll for gate.

These steps apply to pretty much any creature.

EDIT: So what are some other good things to capture?

[Voyager_I]

Outright ordering a creature to fail it's next will save and never restart its protective aura could probably be construed as "obviously self destructive", and might therefore be ignored even under the effects of a Dominate spell. You could probably squeak a Will Save in there, too...

[Bag_of_Holding]

Gotta catch 'em all!

So, where's this 'Smokey Confinement' spell from?

[Emperor Tippy]

Outright ordering a creature to fail it's next will save and never restart its protective aura could probably be construed as "obviously self destructive", and might therefore be ignored even under the effects of a Dominate spell. You could probably squeak a Will Save in there, too...

The outright ordering falls under the Gate orders. Which doesn't have the no self destructive orders line.

And the one for Programmed Amnesia is worded that way for just that reason. Solars don't resist magic that lets them fight evil better. And I didn't even lie. Being my ally will allow them to fight evil better because they will get a 9th level wizard on their side.

Smokey Confinement is from Complete Mage.

[Voyager_I]

What's Dominate Monster for, then?

[Douglas]

While not technically a lie, step 11 is definitely misleading and should require a successful bluff check vs the Solar's +32 sense motive.

Step 12 requires some way to disguise the spell, as the Solar would normally automatically identify it with his +31 spellcraft bonus and ignore any order to not resist it as a self-destructive order.

If any player tried this with me as DM, I would rule that the order to not restart the Protective Aura is obviously self-destructive and would therefore be ignored after step 9.

[tyckspoon]

The outright ordering falls under the Gate orders. Which doesn't have the no self destructive orders line.

And the one for Programmed Amnesia is worded that way for just that reason. Solars don't resist magic that lets them fight evil better. And I didn't even lie. Being my ally will allow them to fight evil better because they will get a 9th level wizard on their side.

Smokey Confinement is from Complete Mage.

I'm pretty sure 'Never restart your protective aura' is outside the bounds of a Gate-commandable task, since that would necessarily involve taking an activity that lasts longer than 22 rounds and you aren't doing contractual service. That means you're relying on the authority of Dominate to make that command stick, and it *is* an obviously self-destructive order. Gate also says you only get to ask for one task, but that task is probably phrased as 'do everything I say until the spell ends' anyway. Thanks for the absurdly open-ended spell, Wizards!

[Emperor Tippy]

Gate Order: Fail your next will save.
Dominate Order: Never restart your Protective Aura
Gate Order: Fail your next will save.
Dominate Order: Never consider any order I give you to be against your nature or self destructive.

There. Problem solved.

[Voyager_I]

Yeah, but those are still "obviously self destructive". There's not even a will save for that, they just won't listen to you.

[Douglas]

Dominate Order: Never consider any order I give you to be against your nature or self destructive.

That is itself an obviously self destructive order.

Edit: Sorry, doesn't work at all even if you fix the issues already pointed out:

Once control is established, the range at which it can be exercised is unlimited, as long as you and the subject are on the same plane.

[bosssmiley]

This *may* be RAW, but it is totally not RAI.
What purpose does this serve other than an intellectual exercise please?

[Emperor Tippy]

This *may* be RAW, but it is totally not RAI.
What purpose does this serve other than an intellectual exercise please?

Having a couple of solars that you can pull out of your pocket whenever you feel inclined? That could be quite nice.

[Illiterate Scribe]

This *may* be RAW, but it is totally not RAI.
What purpose does this serve other than an intellectual exercise please?

What board are you on? 75% of everything here is merely an intellectual excercise.

[Tengu]

Only an idiot DM or a very soft one with much more assertive rule lawyer players plays the game RAW, not RAI.

[Douglas]

As I pointed out in my edit above, the domination is rendered unusable when the Solar returns to its home plane and is no longer on the same plane as you. The other problems can be solved by being a cleric with the domination domain and using Monstrous Thrall instead, but the same-plane restriction is still there.

[Emperor Tippy]

Only an idiot DM or a very soft one with much more assertive rule lawyer players plays the game RAW, not RAI.

Or one who is equally nasty to their players. I have played strict RAW (only houserules were you can't walk around when dead, and no infinite loops IIRC) and it was quite fun. Just don't expect anything like a normal setting.

[Emperor Tippy]

As I pointed out in my edit above, the domination is rendered unusable when the Solar returns to its home plane and is no longer on the same plane as you. The other problems can be solved by being a cleric with the domination domain and using Monstrous Thrall instead, but the same-plane restriction is still there.

No. You can't order it around any more but it still follows any previously given orders.

[Collin152]

Okay, so Solar method is questionable, but I'd still use this basic premise on say, all the DInosaurs I encounter.

[UglyPanda]

Step 1 is wrong. Scrolls above CL 20 are epic and cost ten times as much. This will end up costing you about 100,000 gold, not 10,000. You also need to find a way to protect your Solar from break enchantment or other such spells to remove your control.

Still extremely powerful, but much more reasonable.

[Emperor Tippy]

Step 1 is wrong. Scrolls above CL 20 are epic and cost ten times as much. This will cost you 100,000 gold.

Still very powerful, but more reasonable.

Incorrect.

An epic magic item that grants a bonus beyond those allowed for normal magic items has a higher market price than indicated by the formulas for non-epic items.

A higher CL is not a bonus.

Hell, even the Epic Scrolls section doesn't mention it.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/scrolls.htm

[Bag_of_Holding]

It doesn't have to be a solar, you know.

1. Plane Shift to somewhere safe
2. Use Gate spell/scroll to summon a Juvenile Red Dragon
3. Order it to 'accept' your next spell; the condition of 'accept' being simply 'not resisting' the said spell
4. Dominate it. No, not that kind of domination.
5. Order it once more, to 'accept' your next spell
6. Cast Programmed Amnesia to make it believe it's your pet dog who happens to breathe fire and fly
7. Smokey Confinement!
8. Plane Shift back to your normal plane.


You've got yourself a Charizard, congratulations!


Of course, you could just take Dragon Cohort feat, but this is much more interesting IMO.

[UglyPanda]

The following are typical characteristics of an epic magic item. In general, an item with even one of these characteristics is an epic magic item.
...
* Has a caster level above 20th.
...

I'll concede if you can find something against it.

Also, a planetar only has 14 HD. Very useful.

[Douglas]

I think the still following orders on another plane is open to interpretation, but that is one possible interpretation.

However, Solars are rare and powerful enough that someone is going to notice if one of them suddenly goes missing. You are liable to wake up one morning to find that some god (or maybe just a buddy Solar) has Wished your pet's memories back, and he's not happy with you.

[Emperor Tippy]

The Problem is Programmed Amnesia has a 10 minute casting time and gate runs out in at most 20 rounds.

[Douglas]

I'll concede if you can find something against it.

Some epic characteristics, such as caster level, don’t trigger this multiplier.

Yes, the scroll is an epic item and requires the Scribe Epic Scroll feat to make. It does not, however, cost 10x as much.

[Bag_of_Holding]

Oh well, beat 'em 'till they're unconscious and cast Smokey Containment. It has a more catchy theme than the original. Pun intended.

[Emperor Tippy]

I'll concede if you can find something against it.

Also, a planetar only has 14 HD. Very useful.

The following are typical characteristics of an epic magic item. In general, an item with even one of these characteristics is an epic magic item.

In general, not always. And as I said, even if they count as epic it doesn't matter. Scrolls don't get the x10 to their price. Just look at the epic Scrolls to see that.

[Overlord]

Step 1 is wrong. Scrolls above CL 20 are epic and cost ten times as much. This will cost you 100,000 gold.

Still very powerful, but more reasonable.

Epic scrolls don't cost ten times as much as normal, if I'm reading the SRD correctly: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/scrolls.htm.

Under those rules, it looks to me like a CL-22 Scroll has a base cost of 6,050 GP. Gate has a 1,000 XP cost associated with casting the spell, which increases the market price by 5,000 GP. So that means that if I'm reading the rules correctly, a CL 22 scroll of Gate would have a market price of 11,050 GP.

Is that reasonable for what Emperor Tippy is suggesting the scroll would be used for? Heck no, that should cost a lot more if the idea actually ends up working. Is that reasonable for pretty much any other use of Gate? Yeah, I think so.

Don't take that the wrong way, Tippy. I think that your idea is great, and very funny. But I don't know if it'll work under the rules. I don't know how Programmed Amnesia works--could you Gate in the Solar, Dominate him, use programmed Amnesia, and then dismiss him, telling him to immediately return afterward?

EDIT: Ah, that ten-minute casting time would put a damper on that plan. Is Programmed Amnesia a normal arcane spell? Can you put it in a scroll or staff?

[UglyPanda]

Some epic characteristics, such as caster level, don’t trigger this multiplier.

Yes, the scroll is an epic item and requires the Scribe Epic Scroll feat to make. It does not, however, cost 10x as much.

Weird. I'll stop arguing now.

Also, this idea isn't new, it's just not done often for DM sanity issues.

Edit: Geez, freaking ninjas.

[Emperor Tippy]

Yeah. Programmed Amnesia is a 9th level Arcane spell. 500 GP Material Component.

It allows you to do lots of fun things to peoples minds. Including the complete rebuilding of their minds from the ground up.

It has won the honor of being considered the most broken spell in the game by me (barring infinite loops). I have gone from an unknown 20th level wizard to controlling every single nation in the world in under 3 ingame weeks with it.