Planning for the BBEG to essentially destroy the weave and render all magic & magic items unusable, but releases a sphere of annihilation to destroy the heroes. Would that just doom the party or is there a way to defeat a sphere of annihilation without using a Gate or similar spell, or a Bag of Holding or similar magic item?
I've tried doing my own research but everywhere I look just talks about the magical ways to destroy or send a sphere elsewhere. Is it possible to destroy or defeat a sphere of annihilation when magic and magic items are unusable?
You can definitely defeat a Sphere of Annihilation without magic. Just don't walk into it.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Yeah presumably without a talisman of the sphere or the ability to move it through willpower, the sphere would be stationary. That's a boring answer, though. So how about this idea; if you force the sphere of annihilation into a hypothetical sphere of creation, maybe they'll cancel each other out.
The sphere is "stabilized by a magical field surrounding it." If there's no magic, then the BBEG can't control the sphere (ie, keep it stable). If there is enough magic to do that, I'd think other magic would still have some chance of working. Otherwise, your best bet is INT checks to take control of the sphere from the BBEG:
If you attempt to control a sphere that is under another creature's control, you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check contested by the other creature's Intelligence (Arcana) check. The winner of the contest gains control of the sphere and can levitate it as normal.
The sphere is "stabilized by a magical field surrounding it." If there's no magic, then the BBEG can't control the sphere (ie, keep it stable). If there is enough magic to do that, I'd think other magic would still have some chance of working. Otherwise, your best bet is INT checks to take control of the sphere from the BBEG:
If you attempt to control a sphere that is under another creature's control, you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check contested by the other creature's Intelligence (Arcana) check. The winner of the contest gains control of the sphere and can levitate it as normal.
Ah I forgot to mention that the BBEG is the goddess of magic so SHE can still use a small amount of magic herself (ie to keep the sphere self-contained) lol that's my bad.
@Gnomarchy Ooooh that's a cool idea, I like the sound of that
Pleased to hear it. The idea is based on a theoretical counterpart to a black hole, referred to as a white hole. Whereas a black hole eats up matter, energy, and information in such a way that none can escape, a white hole spits out each of those and is impossible to approach. I could see a sphere of creation being some object that spits out rays of energy and spontaneously coughs up objects and monsters.
Planning for the BBEG to essentially destroy the weave and render all magic & magic items unusable, but releases a sphere of annihilation to destroy the heroes. Would that just doom the party or is there a way to defeat a sphere of annihilation without using a Gate or similar spell, or a Bag of Holding or similar magic item?
I've tried doing my own research but everywhere I look just talks about the magical ways to destroy or send a sphere elsewhere. Is it possible to destroy or defeat a sphere of annihilation when magic and magic items are unusable?
WOW so you've got Karsus trying to become Mystryl again? You realize that the Weave is a Universal Constant much like Gravity, in a D&D world with a Connection to the weave shutting off the weave will, do more than just shut off magic. Karsus's Folly was because he accidently killed Mystryl and the weave was without a consciousness to control it for about 30 seconds. In the Span of those 30 seconds, all magic failed or flared into chaos. (aka Birth of Wild Magic) Cities fell to the Earth, entire species of magical creatures when from friendly companions to vicious monster. This collapse of everything affected all life in the Multiverse of D&D for about an hour, when Mystra was Born and regained control of the Weave she made it impossible for such magics to cause an effect which could destroy the multiverse again. Destruction of the Weave, would destroy any world connected to the Weave, and would collapse all of the Multiverse. Shar would be the only being happy with this result, as well it's what she's been trying to do since the D&D Multiverse was created and the birth of the Weave and Mystryl.
note: There would be some planes of existence that would be unaffected. The Feywild, Shadowfel, and outerplannes would survive without issue, as these planes of reality were made separately from the Material Planes.
Planning for the BBEG to essentially destroy the weave and render all magic & magic items unusable, but releases a sphere of annihilation to destroy the heroes. Would that just doom the party or is there a way to defeat a sphere of annihilation without using a Gate or similar spell, or a Bag of Holding or similar magic item?
I've tried doing my own research but everywhere I look just talks about the magical ways to destroy or send a sphere elsewhere. Is it possible to destroy or defeat a sphere of annihilation when magic and magic items are unusable?
That's a pretty hard sell for the party. Most in the spirit of play would go along with it, but many would still think you're "cheating". How is all magic gone and yet this magic thing still exists?
Maybe say the BBEG sucked all the magic into a gem or something and in doing so, created a Sphere of Annihilation. Play it as an effect the BBEG didn't expect and your players will be fine.
Question - If the party wins, what happens with the world empty of magic? Personally I would make the no magic thing more localized instead of the whole planet - maybe a mile radius or some such.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Sphere of Annihilation? I don't see what you could really do to it. But a Wild Magic Sphere? A sphere that contains all the stolen magic of the world, and uses it to annihilate everything in its path, leaving behind a wildly transformed landscape with residual magic in it?
Nah, that'd still kill you for sure. But maybe it transforms something into a magic item that can help.
That's a pretty hard sell for the party. Most in the spirit of play would go along with it, but many would still think you're "cheating". How is all magic gone and yet this magic thing still exists?
Maybe say the BBEG sucked all the magic into a gem or something and in doing so, created a Sphere of Annihilation. Play it as an effect the BBEG didn't expect and your players will be fine.
That works. Or like a real black hole, it is a quirk of physics and not actually magical.
like i said in another comment the bbeg is the goddess of magic, she pours all her remaining magic/divinity into the sphere. if/when the party destroys the orb they kill the bbeg, and take on her mantels as goddess of magic etc so they can repair the weave themselves
In the Cadderly series, there's a tale of clerics of Gond (or maybe Gond himself, this was a long time ago, when I still read some pretty awful literature) creating golems able to travel through planes of existance using, basically, tuning forks. So the tuning forks play some sort of universal harmonies that enable them to open gates, but ... whatever, right? The thing is, it's basically canon that Gond can do magic stuff without magic.
So, universal harmonies of creation to disrupt and destroy a sphere of annihilation. It makes zero sense, so it's perfect: It's fantasy, it's not meant to make sense, it's supposed to be fantastical. Maybe have your PC's find and dig up a wrecked tuning-fork-golem, repair it, retune it, and use it to defeat the sphere.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
A tuning fork attuned to the destination plane has been the material component of the Plane Shift spell since 1e. The need to have it attuned to the destination plane was (and presumably still is) a play balance limitation on the spell.
Sure. I guess that's why it's a tuning-fork-golem, and not a ... radiator spring golem, or whatever. So finding the right materials for the tuning fork and striker (is it called a striker? Let's assume it is) to make it work could be part of the plot. Finding the right frequency to match the plane.
Personally I'd weave in some mumbo-jumbo about The Rule of Three - three tuning forks, each representing the root, the 3rd and the 5th. Or some other musical jango.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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Planning for the BBEG to essentially destroy the weave and render all magic & magic items unusable, but releases a sphere of annihilation to destroy the heroes. Would that just doom the party or is there a way to defeat a sphere of annihilation without using a Gate or similar spell, or a Bag of Holding or similar magic item?
I've tried doing my own research but everywhere I look just talks about the magical ways to destroy or send a sphere elsewhere. Is it possible to destroy or defeat a sphere of annihilation when magic and magic items are unusable?
You can definitely defeat a Sphere of Annihilation without magic. Just don't walk into it.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Yeah presumably without a talisman of the sphere or the ability to move it through willpower, the sphere would be stationary. That's a boring answer, though. So how about this idea; if you force the sphere of annihilation into a hypothetical sphere of creation, maybe they'll cancel each other out.
The sphere is "stabilized by a magical field surrounding it." If there's no magic, then the BBEG can't control the sphere (ie, keep it stable). If there is enough magic to do that, I'd think other magic would still have some chance of working. Otherwise, your best bet is INT checks to take control of the sphere from the BBEG:
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
@Gnomarchy Ooooh that's a cool idea, I like the sound of that
Ah I forgot to mention that the BBEG is the goddess of magic so SHE can still use a small amount of magic herself (ie to keep the sphere self-contained) lol that's my bad.
lmao truuuu
Pleased to hear it. The idea is based on a theoretical counterpart to a black hole, referred to as a white hole. Whereas a black hole eats up matter, energy, and information in such a way that none can escape, a white hole spits out each of those and is impossible to approach. I could see a sphere of creation being some object that spits out rays of energy and spontaneously coughs up objects and monsters.
WOW so you've got Karsus trying to become Mystryl again? You realize that the Weave is a Universal Constant much like Gravity, in a D&D world with a Connection to the weave shutting off the weave will, do more than just shut off magic. Karsus's Folly was because he accidently killed Mystryl and the weave was without a consciousness to control it for about 30 seconds. In the Span of those 30 seconds, all magic failed or flared into chaos. (aka Birth of Wild Magic) Cities fell to the Earth, entire species of magical creatures when from friendly companions to vicious monster. This collapse of everything affected all life in the Multiverse of D&D for about an hour, when Mystra was Born and regained control of the Weave she made it impossible for such magics to cause an effect which could destroy the multiverse again. Destruction of the Weave, would destroy any world connected to the Weave, and would collapse all of the Multiverse. Shar would be the only being happy with this result, as well it's what she's been trying to do since the D&D Multiverse was created and the birth of the Weave and Mystryl.
note: There would be some planes of existence that would be unaffected. The Feywild, Shadowfel, and outerplannes would survive without issue, as these planes of reality were made separately from the Material Planes.
That's a pretty hard sell for the party. Most in the spirit of play would go along with it, but many would still think you're "cheating". How is all magic gone and yet this magic thing still exists?
Maybe say the BBEG sucked all the magic into a gem or something and in doing so, created a Sphere of Annihilation. Play it as an effect the BBEG didn't expect and your players will be fine.
Question - If the party wins, what happens with the world empty of magic? Personally I would make the no magic thing more localized instead of the whole planet - maybe a mile radius or some such.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Sphere of Annihilation? I don't see what you could really do to it. But a Wild Magic Sphere? A sphere that contains all the stolen magic of the world, and uses it to annihilate everything in its path, leaving behind a wildly transformed landscape with residual magic in it?
Nah, that'd still kill you for sure. But maybe it transforms something into a magic item that can help.
That works. Or like a real black hole, it is a quirk of physics and not actually magical.
i'm aware of all of this its an end-of-world scenario lol
like i said in another comment the bbeg is the goddess of magic, she pours all her remaining magic/divinity into the sphere. if/when the party destroys the orb they kill the bbeg, and take on her mantels as goddess of magic etc so they can repair the weave themselves
In the Cadderly series, there's a tale of clerics of Gond (or maybe Gond himself, this was a long time ago, when I still read some pretty awful literature) creating golems able to travel through planes of existance using, basically, tuning forks. So the tuning forks play some sort of universal harmonies that enable them to open gates, but ... whatever, right? The thing is, it's basically canon that Gond can do magic stuff without magic.
So, universal harmonies of creation to disrupt and destroy a sphere of annihilation. It makes zero sense, so it's perfect: It's fantasy, it's not meant to make sense, it's supposed to be fantastical. Maybe have your PC's find and dig up a wrecked tuning-fork-golem, repair it, retune it, and use it to defeat the sphere.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Sure. I guess that's why it's a tuning-fork-golem, and not a ... radiator spring golem, or whatever. So finding the right materials for the tuning fork and striker (is it called a striker? Let's assume it is) to make it work could be part of the plot. Finding the right frequency to match the plane.
Personally I'd weave in some mumbo-jumbo about The Rule of Three - three tuning forks, each representing the root, the 3rd and the 5th. Or some other musical jango.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.