Unleash the chaos: An excersise in messing with people

[Xuincherguixe]

I was mostly just curious as to what sort of responses I'd get. This doesn't serve any particular use, but if there's some good ideas here I might use them in a future game at some point.

You're a magician, and the city you're currently in is really grating on your nerves. It's very structured, orderly, and frankly dull. If it had to be summed up in a single phrase "oppressiveness of the square" would do it.

The laws and regulations are quite frankly choking. Even the color of buildings has to be approved as not to offend anyone.

And of course, the vast majority of the citizens are as happy as is socially acceptable with the system.



What spells do you use, and how do you use them in order to break things down, or generally have some fun at other peoples expense. Creativity is the primary factor here. The only limit is that you're a level 20 wizard. Survival, evading the authorities, and morality are only limits if you choose.

Go nuts.

edit:

Try to do something more unique than plain old murder and violence.

Also, while schemes of taking over are a staple, this isn't about evil overlord "take over the world" (in this case the town). This is about messing with people.

[ZekeArgo]

I was mostly just curious as to what sort of responses I'd get. This doesn't serve any particular use, but if there's some good ideas here I might use them in a future game at some point.

You're a magician, and the city you're currently in is really grating on your nerves. It's very structured, orderly, and frankly dull. If it had to be summed up in a single phrase "oppressiveness of the square" would do it.

The laws and regulations are quite frankly choking. Even the color of buildings has to be approved as not to offend anyone.

And of course, the vast majority of the citizens are as happy as is socially acceptable with the system.



What spells do you use, and how do you use them in order to break things down, or generally have some fun at other peoples expense. Creativity is the primary factor here. The only limit is that you're a level 20 wizard. Survival, evading the authorities, and morality are only limits if you choose.

Go nuts.

Four Words:

Stilled Silented Mass Suggestion

[BRC]

Stilled Ghost Sound to begin Rocking out
Irresistable Dance on random authority figures.
Predestigion!

[Collin152]

One simple word:
Mindrape.
First thigns first, take control of the government and law enforcement.
After that, total anarchy.

[Dorizzit]

Mass suggestion, Otto's iressistable dance, Directional spell and a few fireballs, rock to mud, extended summon monster, Earthquake (Do wizards get that?), Control Weather, Prestidigitation, and Charm/Dominate would be my spells of choice.

[Edan]

In addition to the above I would use Incite Riot (PHII) Force everyone attack the closest person to them. Despite the spell lasting for 1 round, the aftermath would probably last long enough for you to start throwing around plenty of other compulsion effects and causing general havoc.

Option B: The wizard could just put the town under siege. Teleport in (disguised of course) thrown down plenty of "landmines" (any kind of blast spell enhanced with Earthbound Spell (PHII) to create plenty of traps, daily.) Explosive Runes cast on something people are likely to read carefully, like bulletin boards and the like. Cause sickness and pestilence to spread through the town, create "healing" potions but actually make disintegrate or poison potions to cause more woe. Finally, cut off food supplies and retreat, make them captive in their own homes. Lastly, prepare a few divination spells so you can watch everything unfold, and find new victims. Do this with similar spells and effects until the entire town is paranoid of everything, without ever discovering who did it or why. Actually, that seems a little sadistic.

[Sanzh]

I think Animate City would be perfect, although it might be a little sadistic.

[ZekeArgo]

I think the "people killing people/people getting hurt" suggestions are just a bit out of line with the OPs intent. He's looking for chaos added to an extremely lawful city, which reads to me to be the kinds of things that were depicted in Fight Club before they destroyed those buildings.

I mean he does suggest morality, but even then, some things are less chaotic and more evil/good

[[FLUX]]

Darkside Path: I'd get some Symbols of Pain, Insanity and Fear, placed strategically (read: randomly, but in hidden places) around the town so either people would be wrack with pain, mad with fear or just plain mad. I doubt anything would change, but it'd be a fun toy for a bit!

Neutral Alternative: Go around to people and use some Creation spells to bribe the townspeople into electing me mayor, then use my new political power to eliminate the rules I don't like, further ingratiating myself with the townspeople.

Lightside-ish Alternative: Use Creation spells to fabricate my own town, then persuade businesses and new people to come inhabit it. Gain enough clout to propose a partnership with myself and the other nearby town, then push the oppressive leader into a position with little power while I maintain control of both towns.

[Solo]

Permanency Persistent Image of a giant meteor about to crash into the town.

[Collin152]

Permanency Persistent Image of a giant meteor about to crash into the town.

Until somebody finally gets to the crater.

[Icewalker]

I like the Symbol idea, but I think it would be preferable and more neutral to only use insanity and fear. Pain seems less chaotic and more sadistic.

You can also always start throwing around general craziness by attempting a Wish spell.

hehe...Mad Tissage...

[Xuincherguixe]

Yeah. I was tempted to add a no murder clause. But really it's more of a no boring murder. Things die constantly in D&D. In fact, not killing things is the more unique choice.

So, I guess I'm going to go back and add a no (boring) murder clause.

And also, I think I'll add one where you don't look to gain leadership of the city. That's too much of a hassle for the hypothetical Chaotic Wizard. This is ESPECIALLY true when it would actually be less of a hassle.


But, since I didn't say either outright it's my own fault :P

[Flewellyn]

I would summon a celestial axiomatic land squid and a fiendish anarchic aerial octopus, and have them fight to the death in the city square.

Just to see the reactions.

[Wooter]

Prestigitation. Recolor everything into bright exaggerated colors.

[Demented]

If fiction has taught us anything, it is that zombies will always take over such societies in the end. Problem with D&D is that their zombies aren't contagious. So use wights.
Or, for extra fun and style, summon chaos beasts.

When you've done that, gate in a Druid. In fact, call up a lot of druids. They get all the neat society-wrecking spells. Including Soften Earth and Stone, to destabilize all those lawfully-built buildings. No square city is going to be happy with people living in buildings that should be condemned...

[Tengu]

Prestigidation extravaganza - change the colour and taste of everything you find, preferably to something silly or offensive. If you can craft traps of Prestigidation, put them everywhere.

Craft golems and tell them to do stupid things - dance around, dig through the streets, give a paper hat to everyone they meet and force them to wear it. Use Suggestion to make people join the dancing golem.

Make illusions of completely normal things - houses, furniture... let nobody know is the thing they are just looking at real or just an image. Such paranoia will result in chaos very quickly.

[[FLUX]]

Other Fun Alternatives:

-Hold Portal on all doors

-Mass Reduce Person on the population

-Widened Darkness spell to engulf the town in pitch black night

-Widened Stinking Cloud

-If it's possible, put Permanent Blink on the mayor so he keeps warping in and out of reality every six seconds

-Transmute all buildings to bread, transmute all bread to rocks. Hilarity ensues

More will come later.

[Ganurath]

Guards and Wards. Imagine the rush hour traffic with G&W Confusion at every intersection. It gets even better when you Grease the busier intersections.

Prestidigition equals graffiti cantrip. Use Silent Image to make false landmarks for even more havoc.

Finally, Wall of Stone in front of the doors and windows to all the guard barracks.

As for creative murders... I think a fun way to preoccupy the Mage's Guild so they don't interfere would be to combo out with Antimagic Field and Effigy Rat Swarms, don't you?

[Rockphed]

I personally favor just Grabbing a rod of wonder and shooting it at anybody who bothers you. Even better, if you could replace all of the "DESTROY" Functions with random color changes, it would simply be Chaotic, instead of Chaotic evil to use it randomly. After all, you aren't killing people. Well, keep the Gem shooting one, because it is cool. And who wouldn't want to kill peasants with money!

[NecroRebel]

First, Prestidigitation traps, set to randomly change the color of the surface they are in, should be made out of at least one stone in every wall, street, and monument.

Second, there should be teleportation circles in random places, ideally places that are difficult to avoid like the entrance to the local court.

Third, animate every piece of furniture. Command them to be inert most of the time, but every once in a while every instance of a given type of furniture runs out of the building they're in and swaps places with another instance of the same type of furniture (so the chairs all run into different places randomly or similar things).

Fourth, summon various Outsiders, but have them do nothing except follow someone around. Make sure new ones are summoned if the originals ever die.

Fifth, have Zombies shamble around giving people hugs and kisses.

Sixth, cast wide-area Darkness spells over the entire city during the day and wide-area Daylight spells over the entire city at night.

Seventh, Programmed Amnesia random individuals, not necessarily those in power, and have them do a backflip whenever they say the word "is."

Eighth, open casinos.

...That last one is probably the easiest and most chaos-inducing of them all.

[Dumbledore lives]

I don't know if this would work but you could use a lot of major images permanencied to make the town, and everything inside it invisible, it would be fun to watch people fumbling around blindly bumping into everything. For added effect put some fearsome creatures at the other end of the city and watch people run as fast as they can away straight into that brick wall. A few greases and maybe some traps and you're all set. Lots of laughs.

[horseboy]

Why does your "theoretical" city sound like every city I've lived in.
Well, let's start with Polymorph any object the city's water supply into moonshine. Prestidigitation the taste back to water. While I'm polymorphing stuff, I'd turn the school's playground into that garden in Willy Wonka, get the kids mega hyped on sugar.
I like the idea with the squid fights.
Hit all the billboards in town with two d'lusion to read "Kneel before Zod!" "Who's my daddy? ZOD!" or "this is not a billboard".
Find some schmuck flipping burgers and program amnesia him into believing he is Zod.

Throw up time stops in random very crowded areas, leaving random naked people in public.
Illusionary wall all the over passes to look like unfinished construction areas.
Stop by the mortuary and raise dead people.
There's always making a stinking cloud come out of the politician's butt.

[Admiral Squish]

Craft golems and tell them to do stupid things - dance around, dig through the streets, give a paper hat to everyone they meet and force them to wear it. Use Suggestion to make people join the dancing golem.

I can totally picture an iron golem with one of those cardboard burger king hats chasing through town after some poor sod...

-Shrink item on every chair in town.
-Enlarge person earthbound spells all over the place.
-Mark of justice on the mayor, preventing him from leaving a park bench.
-Scintillating pattern on the wall somewhere, then rearrange everyone's houses really quick.
-Servant Horde, each servant lifts a skirt and keeps it lifted. (for all you pervs out there)
-Grasping wall on all the buildings
-Programmed amnesia, fill in the blanks with memories of themselves doing various embarrassing things.

[Randel]

Use Create Food and Drink to cover the city park in honey, then start a hive of Giant Bees.

Use Wall of Stone to add extra walls all over the place connecting buildings together into a labyrinth.

If you can get a Living Spell then do so.

Get several Decanters of Endless Water, Wrap them in padding and strap then to the sides of a big wheel and watch it spin around crazily though the city, soaking everything. Attach buckets of paint and sirens to make it more noticeable.

Reverse Gravity on one section of the city sewer system.

Cast Explosive Runes on random signs, though see about creating a version of it that deals nonlethal damage to be less evil.

Use Shrink Item on unattended objects and leave them around where people think they are toys. Watch as the object returns to normal size when the spell duration ends. Even if it doesn't crush anything, they might get carriages stuck inside houses where its impossible to get it out without dismantling stuff.

Create Illusory Walls all over the place, put them right in front of doors and windows to cover the entrances to the building.

Cast Veil on people to make them look like random strangers.

Start fires and then fly up above and drop Brown Molds onto the city so that the brown molds suck up the fire to double in size.

[Jothki]

Have Unseen Servants wander around tripping people.

[BlackMage2549]

Procure a Rod of Undead Mastery, with the various corpsecrafter feats, and unleash 32 skeletal rats per level upon the citizens. After three days of this, Major Image a collosal skeletal rat coming at the town during daylight. Don a "superhero" outfit, battle the "rat", and win. Demand absurd things to continue protecting the town from the "bad things". And when you've established yourself? Stage your own death, and start over.

[shadowdemon_lord]

Mass suggestion on random crowds of people to have them act out various famous plays. lots and lots of unseen servants around town that move random stuff every ten minutes. Undead pride parades with no forewarning what so ever. Mass suggestion to get someone elected mayor that shares your sense of humor. Orchestrate pitched battles between powerful infernals and angels in the streets.

[Xuincherguixe]

... This is rapidly turning into the best thread ever.

[Mewtarthio]

Did you know there's a spell out there called mass lesser geas? Seriously, this spell (and it's cousin, lesser geas) is your best friend in this situation. Place chaotic geases on people, and watch the carnage unfold. A good template to use is "______ every _____ in town." "Write your name on every wall in town." "Offer a cheesy pickup line to every woman in town." "Urinate on every statue in town." "Sample every food item in town." "Acquire every timepiece in town" (bonus points if you use the mass version, so they have to steal from each other, and it never ends until they've each had them all at least once; Triple bonus points if the town has a prominently displayed clock as a landmark). You get the picture.

Or you could just acquire a vampire cohort via Undead Leadership. Vampires make everything better.