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. 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, 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!
Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you in creating this Campaign.
First, I would suggest reposting over in the Dungeon Masters Only forum so your audience is more in line with who you want to see your question.
Next, you didn't mention what edition you are planning to use, so I will assume you are planning to use 2024 5e. With that in mind, I would review some of the Necromancy and Transmutation spells found HERE.
Cheers!
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Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
It's perfectly normal to make up powers that you want your antagonists to have. The only reason to do it with existing spells is if you want your players to have access to them, such as when they kill a powerful wizard and get hold of their spell book. (And even then, you can make new spells; you just have to consider what's reasonable to let the players have.)
These are gods. They do not need to be constrained by the mortal's magic system.
(Also, tailoring powers to what you want is just easier than hunting down spells and modifying them.)
Alright, thank you! This helps to reassure me quite a bit! Now all I need is the stone-concealment spell and a power-stealing spell for the Powerful Mortal™️
tl;dr: I need some very powerful spells that include possession, altering physical forms, encasing entities within possibly magically enforced stone, stealing powers from entities, casting entities away to different dimensions, and releasing entities from previously mentioned magic stone/bindings.
Technically Wish can do all these and pretty much anything else you want. However, as mentioned by others, you're the DM - you are not restricted to the spells the players use. Your characters can do whatever you need them to because you say they do.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I'd also take another here approach and recommend that if you're a brand new DM starting off, you shouldn't be looking at or worrying about your endgame finale BBEG right now. It will take a long time to get there, if they get there, and the story may change pretty drastically due to the party's actions.
It's really fun to come up with them, but coming up with interesting hooks and enemies that the players can actually deal with is how the story is pushed forward.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
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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. 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, 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!
Greetings UngaBunga7,
Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you in creating this Campaign.
First, I would suggest reposting over in the Dungeon Masters Only forum so your audience is more in line with who you want to see your question.
Next, you didn't mention what edition you are planning to use, so I will assume you are planning to use 2024 5e.
With that in mind, I would review some of the Necromancy and Transmutation spells found HERE.
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
You don't need specific preexisting spells.
It's perfectly normal to make up powers that you want your antagonists to have. The only reason to do it with existing spells is if you want your players to have access to them, such as when they kill a powerful wizard and get hold of their spell book. (And even then, you can make new spells; you just have to consider what's reasonable to let the players have.)
These are gods. They do not need to be constrained by the mortal's magic system.
(Also, tailoring powers to what you want is just easier than hunting down spells and modifying them.)
Alright, thank you! This helps to reassure me quite a bit! Now all I need is the stone-concealment spell and a power-stealing spell for the Powerful Mortal™️
Thank you!! And yes, I plan to use 2024 5e. Sorry I forgot to mention that.
Possession
2014: Magic Jar
2024: Magic Jar
Altering Physical Forms
2014: Polymorph
2024: Polymorph
2014: True Polymorph
2024: True Polymorph
2014: Shapechange
2024: Shapechange
Encasing Enemies In Stone
2014: Flesh To Stone
2024: Flesh To Stone
True Polymorph also works (creature into object option).
Although for the purposes you seem to want to use it for, this spell is better:
2014: Imprisonment
2024: Imprisonment
Stealing Powers
2014: Wish
2024: Wish
Casting Away To Different Dimensions
2014: Banishment
2024: Banishment
2014: Plane Shift
2024: Plane Shift
2014: Gate
2024: Gate
Releasing Enemies From Stone
2014: Greater Restoration
2024: Greater Restoration
2014: Dispel Magic
2024: Dispel Magic
--
Technically Wish can do all these and pretty much anything else you want. However, as mentioned by others, you're the DM - you are not restricted to the spells the players use. Your characters can do whatever you need them to because you say they do.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Thank you SO MUCH oh my god this is amazing! Thank you for taking the time to help me with this :))
I'd also take another here approach and recommend that if you're a brand new DM starting off, you shouldn't be looking at or worrying about your endgame finale BBEG right now. It will take a long time to get there, if they get there, and the story may change pretty drastically due to the party's actions.
It's really fun to come up with them, but coming up with interesting hooks and enemies that the players can actually deal with is how the story is pushed forward.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?