So the BBEG for my first campaign I’m planning is a group of four gods, cast away for hundreds of years and would have just returned due to the Players. The general context of the lore, which includes examples of the spells I need, is that the gods started trifling with humans by possessing people and casting magic in their bodies, as well as altering the appearance of their vessels, before being trapped away and encased in magically enforced stone whilst in physical form and vulnerable. Since they are gods, their souls made the bodies they possessed immortal, but the stone traps their souls and their bodies in place. A very powerful mortal then comes along and starts feeding off of their powers while they’re dormant, draining their powers and practically stealing bits of their immortality from them and making their physical bodies rot a bit. After a long time, the Powerful Mortal ™️ was then cast away to another dimension by a different NPC. Years pass, the gods get released due to unknown reasons, before being trapped away second time due to their drainage of powers and vulnerability. But the stone and magic bindings are weaker this time, meaning their powers are able to leak out a bit and slowly heal over time, whilst they subtly manipulated the world around them, still trapped. Then, finally, I’m planning for the players to release them by mistake somehow, and so they would try and break out of the stone, still possessing the rotting physical bodies that they are forcing to stay alive.
tl;dr: I need some very powerful spells that include possession, altering physical forms, encasing entities within possibly magically enforced stone over a LONG period of time, gradually stealing powers from entities, casting entities away to different dimensions, and releasing entities from previously mentioned magic stone/bindings.
I thought giving a lore dump might help to understand what kind of spells I need and to what extent the power level needs to be. I just need the general limits and functions of the certain spells, and I might homebrew them a bit to fit the story. If any long-time DM’s are able to help me out, I’d really appreciate it!
You don't need spells for that. Don't waste your time writing them out. Focus on designing things your players are actually going to do, and affect with their choices.
New DMs tend to feel they need their villains to abide by the same rules a player character would. You don't. In fact, you shouldn't, because PCs aren't designed to be boss monsters. Now, if you're new to worldbuilding and want some inspiration for how your Fancy Plot Spell might work for your own understanding of your setting, that's one thing. Just don't feel constrained by established magic OR that you have to be able to explain how your plot devices work. "Ancient magic," "a powerful wizard did it," and "destroy the ritual circle" cover a lot of sins.
The one thing that might be good to ruminate on eventually is whether these stones and magic bindings have mechanical implications for your players. For example, if the magical bindings leak power, could a PC standing near one get a boost? Would the trapped entity be able to communicate? Are any wisdom/constitution saves necessary to handle one before or after it's destroyed? Any plot device in your game can be super vague and handwaved unless it affects gameplay (and, depending on your players, RP).
So the BBEG for my first campaign I’m planning is a group of four gods, cast away for hundreds of years and would have just returned due to the Players. The general context of the lore, which includes examples of the spells I need, is that the gods started trifling with humans by possessing people and casting magic in their bodies, as well as altering the appearance of their vessels, before being trapped away and encased in magically enforced stone whilst in physical form and vulnerable. Since they are gods, their souls made the bodies they possessed immortal, but the stone traps their souls and their bodies in place. A very powerful mortal then comes along and starts feeding off of their powers while they’re dormant, draining their powers and practically stealing bits of their immortality from them and making their physical bodies rot a bit. After a long time, the Powerful Mortal ™️ was then cast away to another dimension by a different NPC. Years pass, the gods get released due to unknown reasons, before being trapped away second time due to their drainage of powers and vulnerability. But the stone and magic bindings are weaker this time, meaning their powers are able to leak out a bit and slowly heal over time, whilst they subtly manipulated the world around them, still trapped. Then, finally, I’m planning for the players to release them by mistake somehow, and so they would try and break out of the stone, still possessing the rotting physical bodies that they are forcing to stay alive.
tl;dr: I need some very powerful spells that include possession, altering physical forms, encasing entities within possibly magically enforced stone over a LONG period of time, gradually stealing powers from entities, casting entities away to different dimensions, and releasing entities from previously mentioned magic stone/bindings.
I thought giving a lore dump might help to understand what kind of spells I need and to what extent the power level needs to be. I just need the general limits and functions of the certain spells, and I might homebrew them a bit to fit the story. If any long-time DM’s are able to help me out, I’d really appreciate it!
While those are plot device spells, they mostly correspond to magic jar and imprisonment.
Alright, thank you!
You don't need spells for that. Don't waste your time writing them out. Focus on designing things your players are actually going to do, and affect with their choices.
Seconding Agilemind's advice.
New DMs tend to feel they need their villains to abide by the same rules a player character would. You don't. In fact, you shouldn't, because PCs aren't designed to be boss monsters. Now, if you're new to worldbuilding and want some inspiration for how your Fancy Plot Spell might work for your own understanding of your setting, that's one thing. Just don't feel constrained by established magic OR that you have to be able to explain how your plot devices work. "Ancient magic," "a powerful wizard did it," and "destroy the ritual circle" cover a lot of sins.
The one thing that might be good to ruminate on eventually is whether these stones and magic bindings have mechanical implications for your players. For example, if the magical bindings leak power, could a PC standing near one get a boost? Would the trapped entity be able to communicate? Are any wisdom/constitution saves necessary to handle one before or after it's destroyed? Any plot device in your game can be super vague and handwaved unless it affects gameplay (and, depending on your players, RP).
The communication idea is actually really good! Thank you for the advice!