The Clone spell functions a lot like a phylactery as far as I'm concerned; it can even rejuvenate you. And it doesn't come with any of the disadvantages; you don't need childs' blood or souls or making deals with demons to cast that spell, and you're not turned into an Undead who presumably can't really enjoy food or whatever other "mortal pleasures" you can come up with. The high component cost and casting time can also be circumvented by casting it with Wish (which then also works for Sorceresses and Genie Warlocks). Only problem: If you want to be a poison-immune, cold/lightning/necrotic-resistant skeleton, that won't work. Also, whenever you run out of clones (the spell isn't quite clear on what happens if you make several clones of yourself, but I'd rule you can just pick any of them as you wish when you die), you have to wait 120 days until the next one grows, during which time you could actually die. I'm also not entirely sure what happens if you're Disintegrated; if transferring your soul to a clone counts as being "revived" (I'd argue not since it's technically not the disintegrated creature being revived, but creating a new creature who has the same soul).
The potential death window between clones is one possible reason, also the clone itself is more vulnerable.
But it's more likely that people become liches because they want to be a lich. This isn't a choice of pure optimization. They're already bad people, and the opportunity of eternal life and more power appeals, and the horrible costs just don't seem that horrible to them.
Meanwhile, the well-adjusted wizard who could use clone to extend their life doesn't feel that burning need to live forever.
Hm, well, presumably a clone's vessel could be guarded with all the traps and abjurations that a phylactery would have. Although a phylactery is usually much smaller and thus easier to hide. On the other hand, you can make several clones and distribute them through several different locations. Which, if you stockpile enough of them, should help with never having to face that 120 day window at all, after you're done with it initially (and keep in mind a prospective lich also has some initial window before becoming undead where they need to summon demons, commit murders, etc.). But yeah, sure, in terms of overall (combat) power, a lich is usually stronger than a Humanoid (or Fey) wizard (save for being theoretically affected by Turn Undead and other undead-targeting effects), so for those who don't care about what they're losing, and don't care about murdering others and trapping their souls, it might seem appealing.
The biggest appeal for lichdom to practitioners is gaining additional powers via “transcending” death rather than just having a buffer. Vecna in particular highlights how this can theoretically be a step to apotheosis. Also, keep in mind that 1000 gp diamonds aren’t necessarily all that accessible- particularly in a world where diamonds are consumable resources for a lot of spells.
That's why I suggested using Wish instead. If you can go through all the steps for becoming a lich, you can probably figure out how to cast 9th level spells (especially when you need Imprisonment to trap souls in the phylactery anyway).
I think I'm more in favour of "the poor spellcasters path to immortality" which is copious use of the Magic Jar spell. Cast Magic Jar and switch bodies with someone then rinse and repeat whenever you have a spare 500gp to invest in your ornamental container for the spells material component. It should be technically possible to hide the material component some where safe once you've found a body you like.
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Why not to use clones - think about the problems of the Manshoon clone wars in the FR. Do you really want multiple yous running around looting your hidden caches of goodies and fighting each other to become the one and only you?
That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
I think I'm more in favour of "the poor spellcasters path to immortality" which is copious use of the Magic Jar spell. Cast Magic Jar and switch bodies with someone then rinse and repeat whenever you have a spare 500gp to invest in your ornamental container for the spells material component. It should be technically possible to hide the material component some where safe once you've found a body you like.
But then that also requires you controlling someone else's body (i.e. effectively murder/imprisonment, which, the point of my post was, you can avoid that and still be immortal-ish)? And the target needs to fail a saving throw, and anyone can instakill you by casting Dispel Magic at an appropriate level, unless you happen to carry your inert, original corpse around with you (within 100ft), which will presumably eventually rot and become uninhabitable.
What you could do, is just stay in the container forever and have your immortal friend carry you around, I guess (doesn't sound particularly appealing though).
That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
It was a unique incident caused by magic going haywire during the Time of Troubles. It shouldn't have been possible when it did, but due to the Weave being damaged by the death of Mystra, multiple of Manshoon's clones all activated at the same time despite the original not being dead, all of which were convinced that they were the "real" Manshoon.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think I'm more in favour of "the poor spellcasters path to immortality" which is copious use of the Magic Jar spell. Cast Magic Jar and switch bodies with someone then rinse and repeat whenever you have a spare 500gp to invest in your ornamental container for the spells material component. It should be technically possible to hide the material component some where safe once you've found a body you like.
But then that also requires you controlling someone else's body (i.e. effectively murder/imprisonment, which, the point of my post was, you can avoid that and still be immortal-ish)? And the target needs to fail a saving throw, and anyone can instakill you by casting Dispel Magic at an appropriate level, unless you happen to carry your inert, original corpse around with you (within 100ft), which will presumably eventually rot and become uninhabitable.
What you could do, is just stay in the container forever and have your immortal friend carry you around, I guess (doesn't sound particularly appealing though).
Well, think of it in terms of time and money: Magic Jar = 500gp per Jar, Clone equals 3000gp per Clone and 120 days before its ready and lichdom requires more money, time and resources then most small countries could afford alongside likely making some very dodgey deals as well. Factor in Magic Jar could be done by a level 11 spellcaster whilst Clone needs a level 15 spellcaster and Lichdom likely requires a minimum of level 18 spellcasting and Magic Jar seems a lot more viable. Also I would assume anyone looking at Necromancy as a way to achieve immortality is probably not too concerned about the well fair of others (unless their a Baelnorn lich but thats a different story and heres a link to their wiki if you're interested: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baelnorn).
To put Magic Jar into some context for a proccess I'll use the following cast; Rob the Necromancer, NPC "A" and NPC "B".
Rob the Necromancer rents out a room in a tavern for a few days, he has in his possession 2 items that will fullfill the material coponent for the spell and hangs the "Do Not Disturb" sign up and casts Magic Jar. He then sends his soul out and eventually possesses NPC "A". He then walks NPC "A" to the tavern goes to the room where his old Necromancer body is laying and retrieves the Magic Jar and leaves, locking the room behind him. He goes somewhere else, another tavern or maybe even NPC "A"'s house and rests. Upon waking the next day he recasts Magic Jar leaving NPC "A"'s body on the floor. Now for the purpose of the spell NPC "A"'s body is the spell casters body, so it doesn't matter what happens to Rob the Necromancers original body as, if the second Magic Jar is destroyed his soul would return the the body of NPC "A". While Rob the Necormancers soul is in the second Magic Jar he sends his soul ou to possess NPC "B".....and as you gain the Game Stats of the creature you possess but retain your own class levels you could suddenly find yourself with much higher Str/Dex/Cons and various Armour and Weapon skills depending on the stat block the DM decides to use then you can rinse and repeat this process until you find a new form you like. So not only do you get a new body but you also get a possible upgrade.
Is this ethical, absolutely not. Is it the quickest way to win a battle against old age, quite proabably. Will a lot of DM's roll their eyes and ban the spell if you try it....again quite probably. Although It might also be an interesting way for a DM to introduce a villain into a story.
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That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
It was a unique incident caused by magic going haywire during the Time of Troubles. It shouldn't have been possible when it did, but due to the Weave being damaged by the death of Mystra, multiple of Manshoon's clones all activated at the same time despite the original not being dead, all of which were convinced that they were the "real" Manshoon.
Granted. But, excrement occurs so even with a rewoven weave something could go wrong ( a slight mispronunciation, a slightly off gesture etc) that could allow something like the clone wars to occur. Also, if my memory is correct the Manshoon clones happened several years before Mystra was killed not at the time so it wasn’t the unraveling of the weave, it was something else never explained.
That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
It was a unique incident caused by magic going haywire during the Time of Troubles. It shouldn't have been possible when it did, but due to the Weave being damaged by the death of Mystra, multiple of Manshoon's clones all activated at the same time despite the original not being dead, all of which were convinced that they were the "real" Manshoon.
Granted. But, excrement occurs so even with a rewoven weave something could go wrong ( a slight mispronunciation, a slightly off gesture etc) that could allow something like the clone wars to occur. Also, if my memory is correct the Manshoon clones happened several years before Mystra was killed not at the time so it wasn’t the unraveling of the weave, it was something else never explained.
Was it? Well, whatever the cause it was something that wasn't supposed to happen yet did anyway so it would naturally be something that other wizards in the setting would be wary of.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
That I agree with. Which is why it might be avoided as an “mortality” spell. On the other hand if you mess it up you probably get at least one “you” surviving. You mess up the Lich ritual your dead.
Don’t clones age at the same rate as their creator? Clones can prevent avoidable deaths but I think you still grow old and die, even if you have clones.
Don’t clones age at the same rate as their creator? Clones can prevent avoidable deaths but I think you still grow old and die, even if you have clones.
The spell explicitly allows you to make a younger clone
That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
It was a unique incident caused by magic going haywire during the Time of Troubles. It shouldn't have been possible when it did, but due to the Weave being damaged by the death of Mystra, multiple of Manshoon's clones all activated at the same time despite the original not being dead, all of which were convinced that they were the "real" Manshoon.
Granted. But, excrement occurs so even with a rewoven weave something could go wrong ( a slight mispronunciation, a slightly off gesture etc) that could allow something like the clone wars to occur. Also, if my memory is correct the Manshoon clones happened several years before Mystra was killed not at the time so it wasn’t the unraveling of the weave, it was something else never explained.
I believe Ed Greenwood himself has stated that the original Manshoon is probably still alive somewhere, amusingly observing the chaos created by his clones from behind the scenes. That, and some other information from what has been written about the Manshoon Wars would suggest that the way those clones were given their memories was unusual. So perhaps we are dealing with Manshoon`s special version of the spell or things were different pre-spellplague. Back then, perhaps the clone was given the memories of its creator up to the point of its creation but not beyond then, under normal circumstances when the soul entered the clone the memories would be updated. The fact is that, according to current lore there appear to be at least three Manshoon clones active in the 1490s DR not counting a possible "real" Manshoon. One of these is a vampire (or a clone of the original Manshoon vampire clone) so things are a bit confusing, to put it mildly.
Aha! It would appear that Manshoon didn`t use the regular Clone spell but this ninth-level one from 2e to create his clones. Which explains a lot of things.
Stasis Clone
This spell creates a duplicate of a human, demihuman, or humanoid creature from any scrap of bone, hair, tissue, or at least six drops of blood from that being. If the caster is not the being to be duplicated, that living creature must touch the duplicate body, as it forms, to give it life.
This clone is identical to the original being in memories, skills, experience level, and appearance at the time the organic tissue was obtained. It has one less point of Constitution than the original being, and it cannot form at all if the original being has a current Constitution of 1. All other ability scores are identical.
Unlike duplicates created by the 8th-level wizard spell clone, the copy of the being is not aware of the existence of the original. It remains in magical stasis and is mentally unreachable (with a sole exception noted hereafter). It does not age, decay, or need air, water, food, or other essentials that other living things require. A stasis clone can be stored in a coffin or other confined space, and is not awakened by handling. It can be damaged or even destroyed by weapons, fire, crushing blows, and other forces that would harm its living counterpart. Once activated, the clone cannot be dispelled or disjoined; for all purposes, the clone is the caster's body.
A stasis clone holds the pose it was last placed in by living hands. Thus, it can be dressed and clothed to be used as a decoy or to fool others into thinking they are seeing the original being in a state of rest or sitting absorbed in study.
Whenever the original being touches the stasis clone, the clone's memories, skills, and experience levels are updated to match the original beings. The clone does not mirror purely physical changes, such as aging, a wound, or an amputation suffered by the original being. The stasis is normally lifted only when the original being dies, though up to two contingency spells can be applied to any stasis clone to modify when and how it activates. (Note that a stasis clone confined in an airtight or flooded space may perish shortly after awakening.)
Multiple stasis clones can be created by repeated castings of this spell. These stasis clones can even be linked to each other by custom-devised transferal spells mated to contingency spells so that the death of the first clone awakens only the second, its death in turn activates just the third, and so on.
Manshoon has used this spell both to escape a final death and to remain young. As he ages, he can update his stasis clone, get himself slain (usually in a reckless attack that destroys an enemy, such as a powerful Red Wizard), and return as a physically younger clone. Several wizards have offered him fantastic sums for a copy of this spell and reportedly have been refused. Others (including apprentices) have perished quite messily at Manshoon's hands when they attempted to steal the spell.
Manshoon's stasis clones are obvious targets for those who wish him dead, permanently. Several times his enemies or his rivals in the Inner Circle of the Zhentarim have gone to a great deal of trouble to kill him and destroy all of his stasis clones, only to find that Manshoon had squirreled away one or two they had missed. One reason that Manshoon has not advanced to a higher level as a wizard is undoubtedly the cumulative loss of a great deal of experience because of the lag between newly activated clones that had not been recently updated and previous, now dead Manshoon incarnations.
Notes: Unique to the wizard Manshoon in the Forgotten Realms setting.
The Clone spell functions a lot like a phylactery as far as I'm concerned; it can even rejuvenate you. And it doesn't come with any of the disadvantages; you don't need childs' blood or souls or making deals with demons to cast that spell, and you're not turned into an Undead who presumably can't really enjoy food or whatever other "mortal pleasures" you can come up with. The high component cost and casting time can also be circumvented by casting it with Wish (which then also works for Sorceresses and Genie Warlocks). Only problem: If you want to be a poison-immune, cold/lightning/necrotic-resistant skeleton, that won't work. Also, whenever you run out of clones (the spell isn't quite clear on what happens if you make several clones of yourself, but I'd rule you can just pick any of them as you wish when you die), you have to wait 120 days until the next one grows, during which time you could actually die. I'm also not entirely sure what happens if you're Disintegrated; if transferring your soul to a clone counts as being "revived" (I'd argue not since it's technically not the disintegrated creature being revived, but creating a new creature who has the same soul).
The potential death window between clones is one possible reason, also the clone itself is more vulnerable.
But it's more likely that people become liches because they want to be a lich. This isn't a choice of pure optimization. They're already bad people, and the opportunity of eternal life and more power appeals, and the horrible costs just don't seem that horrible to them.
Meanwhile, the well-adjusted wizard who could use clone to extend their life doesn't feel that burning need to live forever.
Hm, well, presumably a clone's vessel could be guarded with all the traps and abjurations that a phylactery would have. Although a phylactery is usually much smaller and thus easier to hide. On the other hand, you can make several clones and distribute them through several different locations. Which, if you stockpile enough of them, should help with never having to face that 120 day window at all, after you're done with it initially (and keep in mind a prospective lich also has some initial window before becoming undead where they need to summon demons, commit murders, etc.). But yeah, sure, in terms of overall (combat) power, a lich is usually stronger than a Humanoid (or Fey) wizard (save for being theoretically affected by Turn Undead and other undead-targeting effects), so for those who don't care about what they're losing, and don't care about murdering others and trapping their souls, it might seem appealing.
The biggest appeal for lichdom to practitioners is gaining additional powers via “transcending” death rather than just having a buffer. Vecna in particular highlights how this can theoretically be a step to apotheosis. Also, keep in mind that 1000 gp diamonds aren’t necessarily all that accessible- particularly in a world where diamonds are consumable resources for a lot of spells.
That's why I suggested using Wish instead. If you can go through all the steps for becoming a lich, you can probably figure out how to cast 9th level spells (especially when you need Imprisonment to trap souls in the phylactery anyway).
I think I'm more in favour of "the poor spellcasters path to immortality" which is copious use of the Magic Jar spell. Cast Magic Jar and switch bodies with someone then rinse and repeat whenever you have a spare 500gp to invest in your ornamental container for the spells material component. It should be technically possible to hide the material component some where safe once you've found a body you like.
Why not to use clones - think about the problems of the Manshoon clone wars in the FR. Do you really want multiple yous running around looting your hidden caches of goodies and fighting each other to become the one and only you?
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
That's not how the clone spell works. The clone doesn't have a soul/mind before you die, your soul enters your clone when you die (unless you want to actually permadie, in which case whatever normally happens to souls happens to your soul, i.e. probably entering an appropriate Outer Plane or so).
But then that also requires you controlling someone else's body (i.e. effectively murder/imprisonment, which, the point of my post was, you can avoid that and still be immortal-ish)? And the target needs to fail a saving throw, and anyone can instakill you by casting Dispel Magic at an appropriate level, unless you happen to carry your inert, original corpse around with you (within 100ft), which will presumably eventually rot and become uninhabitable.
What you could do, is just stay in the container forever and have your immortal friend carry you around, I guess (doesn't sound particularly appealing though).
It was a unique incident caused by magic going haywire during the Time of Troubles. It shouldn't have been possible when it did, but due to the Weave being damaged by the death of Mystra, multiple of Manshoon's clones all activated at the same time despite the original not being dead, all of which were convinced that they were the "real" Manshoon.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Well, think of it in terms of time and money: Magic Jar = 500gp per Jar, Clone equals 3000gp per Clone and 120 days before its ready and lichdom requires more money, time and resources then most small countries could afford alongside likely making some very dodgey deals as well. Factor in Magic Jar could be done by a level 11 spellcaster whilst Clone needs a level 15 spellcaster and Lichdom likely requires a minimum of level 18 spellcasting and Magic Jar seems a lot more viable. Also I would assume anyone looking at Necromancy as a way to achieve immortality is probably not too concerned about the well fair of others (unless their a Baelnorn lich but thats a different story and heres a link to their wiki if you're interested: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baelnorn).
To put Magic Jar into some context for a proccess I'll use the following cast; Rob the Necromancer, NPC "A" and NPC "B".
Rob the Necromancer rents out a room in a tavern for a few days, he has in his possession 2 items that will fullfill the material coponent for the spell and hangs the "Do Not Disturb" sign up and casts Magic Jar. He then sends his soul out and eventually possesses NPC "A". He then walks NPC "A" to the tavern goes to the room where his old Necromancer body is laying and retrieves the Magic Jar and leaves, locking the room behind him. He goes somewhere else, another tavern or maybe even NPC "A"'s house and rests. Upon waking the next day he recasts Magic Jar leaving NPC "A"'s body on the floor. Now for the purpose of the spell NPC "A"'s body is the spell casters body, so it doesn't matter what happens to Rob the Necromancers original body as, if the second Magic Jar is destroyed his soul would return the the body of NPC "A". While Rob the Necormancers soul is in the second Magic Jar he sends his soul ou to possess NPC "B".....and as you gain the Game Stats of the creature you possess but retain your own class levels you could suddenly find yourself with much higher Str/Dex/Cons and various Armour and Weapon skills depending on the stat block the DM decides to use then you can rinse and repeat this process until you find a new form you like. So not only do you get a new body but you also get a possible upgrade.
Is this ethical, absolutely not. Is it the quickest way to win a battle against old age, quite proabably. Will a lot of DM's roll their eyes and ban the spell if you try it....again quite probably. Although It might also be an interesting way for a DM to introduce a villain into a story.
Granted. But, excrement occurs so even with a rewoven weave something could go wrong ( a slight mispronunciation, a slightly off gesture etc) that could allow something like the clone wars to occur. Also, if my memory is correct the Manshoon clones happened several years before Mystra was killed not at the time so it wasn’t the unraveling of the weave, it was something else never explained.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Was it? Well, whatever the cause it was something that wasn't supposed to happen yet did anyway so it would naturally be something that other wizards in the setting would be wary of.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
That I agree with. Which is why it might be avoided as an “mortality” spell. On the other hand if you mess it up you probably get at least one “you” surviving. You mess up the Lich ritual your dead.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Don’t clones age at the same rate as their creator? Clones can prevent avoidable deaths but I think you still grow old and die, even if you have clones.
The spell explicitly allows you to make a younger clone
You’re right, I thought aging was one thing healing magic couldn’t help with.
I believe Ed Greenwood himself has stated that the original Manshoon is probably still alive somewhere, amusingly observing the chaos created by his clones from behind the scenes. That, and some other information from what has been written about the Manshoon Wars would suggest that the way those clones were given their memories was unusual. So perhaps we are dealing with Manshoon`s special version of the spell or things were different pre-spellplague. Back then, perhaps the clone was given the memories of its creator up to the point of its creation but not beyond then, under normal circumstances when the soul entered the clone the memories would be updated. The fact is that, according to current lore there appear to be at least three Manshoon clones active in the 1490s DR not counting a possible "real" Manshoon. One of these is a vampire (or a clone of the original Manshoon vampire clone) so things are a bit confusing, to put it mildly.
Aha! It would appear that Manshoon didn`t use the regular Clone spell but this ninth-level one from 2e to create his clones. Which explains a lot of things.
Stasis Clone
This spell creates a duplicate of a human, demihuman, or humanoid creature from any scrap of bone, hair, tissue, or at least six drops of blood from that being. If the caster is not the being to be duplicated, that living creature must touch the duplicate body, as it forms, to give it life.
This clone is identical to the original being in memories, skills, experience level, and appearance at the time the organic tissue was obtained. It has one less point of Constitution than the original being, and it cannot form at all if the original being has a current Constitution of 1. All other ability scores are identical.
Unlike duplicates created by the 8th-level wizard spell clone, the copy of the being is not aware of the existence of the original. It remains in magical stasis and is mentally unreachable (with a sole exception noted hereafter). It does not age, decay, or need air, water, food, or other essentials that other living things require. A stasis clone can be stored in a coffin or other confined space, and is not awakened by handling. It can be damaged or even destroyed by weapons, fire, crushing blows, and other forces that would harm its living counterpart. Once activated, the clone cannot be dispelled or disjoined; for all purposes, the clone is the caster's body.
A stasis clone holds the pose it was last placed in by living hands. Thus, it can be dressed and clothed to be used as a decoy or to fool others into thinking they are seeing the original being in a state of rest or sitting absorbed in study.
Whenever the original being touches the stasis clone, the clone's memories, skills, and experience levels are updated to match the original beings. The clone does not mirror purely physical changes, such as aging, a wound, or an amputation suffered by the original being. The stasis is normally lifted only when the original being dies, though up to two contingency spells can be applied to any stasis clone to modify when and how it activates. (Note that a stasis clone confined in an airtight or flooded space may perish shortly after awakening.)
Multiple stasis clones can be created by repeated castings of this spell. These stasis clones can even be linked to each other by custom-devised transferal spells mated to contingency spells so that the death of the first clone awakens only the second, its death in turn activates just the third, and so on.
Manshoon has used this spell both to escape a final death and to remain young. As he ages, he can update his stasis clone, get himself slain (usually in a reckless attack that destroys an enemy, such as a powerful Red Wizard), and return as a physically younger clone. Several wizards have offered him fantastic sums for a copy of this spell and reportedly have been refused. Others (including apprentices) have perished quite messily at Manshoon's hands when they attempted to steal the spell.
Manshoon's stasis clones are obvious targets for those who wish him dead, permanently. Several times his enemies or his rivals in the Inner Circle of the Zhentarim have gone to a great deal of trouble to kill him and destroy all of his stasis clones, only to find that Manshoon had squirreled away one or two they had missed. One reason that Manshoon has not advanced to a higher level as a wizard is undoubtedly the cumulative loss of a great deal of experience because of the lag between newly activated clones that had not been recently updated and previous, now dead Manshoon incarnations.
Notes: Unique to the wizard Manshoon in the Forgotten Realms setting.