Without using Time Stop, how many magical effects can a Wizard do in one round with prep?
Assuming Haste is already up,
1.) He can use his reaction to caste Shield, Counterspell, Absorb Elements, or the like
2.) He can use his action to turn a previously cast Major Image (6th level or higher) or Creation into something useful using Malleable Illusions
3.) He can use his bonus action to make something from a previously cast MIrage Arcane, Hallucinatory Terrain, or other illusion real using Illusory Reality
4.) He can attack with a previously cast Shadow Blade (due to the Haste)
5.) He can activate a Contingency as a free action
Can you figure out a way to generate six magical effects in one round?
Cast Demiplane and both of you enter it. We'll be setting multiple Glyphs of WardingThe demiplane is 30 ft cube. If we assume each glyph will require a 5 ft square area - we should divide the surface area inside the demiplane into 5 ft square , let' call them tiles. Of these there are 9 per wall and 6 walls making 54 'tiles'. Two tiles would be used by the doorway so we can place a maximum of 52 glyphs, although we may not need all of these.
Spell Glyphs must be capable of targeting a creature or area. This covers most spells, even spells of "self" target a creature, but that might be contestable so we'll leave it as "touch" or greater. The casting time is 1 hour or less for the stored spell since you cast it "as part of" casting Glyph of Warding.
So, you could have 50+ effects on you at one time with enough prep time, gold and spells that fit spell glyph restrictions. Just cast Demiplane, walk in and come out with insane number of effects - and if that includes haste you've still got an action you can use.
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I mean, why not? If ya got the spells, the gold and the time... Why not?
If I was a wizard, ya can be darn skippy I'll be making emergency "super buffs" rooms, and "death cube" demiplanes, and all sorts of magical one-shots.
They don't have Youtube. Let the wizards make their own fun.
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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.
If that's the only goal, the answer is infinite. Cybermind presented a technically infinite answer already, but since an infinite number of hastes is still one haste, and the pocket universe you use is unlikely to contain more than just the wizard (so stacking infinite offensive glyphs is not useful), the number of effects they will produce is practically finite: a distinct copy of every single creature or area target buff a wizard can cast of 3rd level or lower, all cast on the wizard. That number is quite small compared to infinity.
You reach infinite spells by casting Simulacrum while being a level 17 or higher wizard (Genie Warlocks do this a lot better, but they can't do the Glyph trick, so...). This gets slightly easier at level 20 than 17, so let's do it with a level 20 wizard for convenience.
Prep: Cast True Polymorph to create as valuable a ruby as you like, and grind it into powder (how you grind a ruby into powder has no RAW, but the method must exist, so find out what it is and do it; if someone wants to specify how it's done, I'll specify how the wizard does it). I'm going to assume you always have enough powder on hand from now on, but there is some time overhead whenever you need to repeat this step, so don't skimp on the ruby.
Cast Simulacrum the next day, and every day after that. Each simulacrum you produce has 1 L9 spell slot, 1 L8, and 1 L7, and you produce 1/day. Call these Phase 1 simulacra. Cast Wish once as well, which costs no ruby and 1 action instead of 12 hours, to make a Phase 5 simulacrum.
Each Phase 1 simulacrum casts the Simulacrum on the original wizard in this order: L7 slot, L8 slot, L9 slot (using Wish so you spend less ruby dust). It then goes to live its best life until called upon. Call the simulacra Phase 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
Each Phase 2 simulacrum creates a 3 and a 4, then goes to hang out with the Phase 1s.
Each Phase 3 simulacrum creates a 4, then goes to hang out with the Phase 1s.
You get the idea, so I'll be briefer: each Phase 5 simulacrum makes two simulacra, one of which makes another simulacrum.
Recapping numbers: each day the wizard makes these simulacra: 1, 5. This breeds:
1 -> 1,2,3,4 -> 1,2,3,4,3,4 -> 1,2,3,4,4,3,4,4, or 8 simulacra.
Phase 5 duder turns into 4 simulacra.
So the wizard's pipeline is 12 simulacra produced per day, each of which is a copy of the original wizard in terms of spell slots of level 6 down and spells prepared. This could be improved upon if the wizard genuinely did not need sleep, but currently only L10 rangers can go without sleep indefinitely.
That's how you get to infinity. Genielocks are much better at this, because their simulacra get their L6-9 spells back on a long rest (L9 being the big seller here), leading to explosive growth - a Genielock left alone will eventually replace everyone on their planet with the Genielock, like an Agent Smith situation. If the Genielock and the Wizard are friends, you have an even bigger problem, because the Wizard can fill every single Genielock's lamp with its own set of spellglyphs for buffing.
Without using Time Stop, how many magical effects can a Wizard do in one round with prep?
Assuming Haste is already up,
1.) He can use his reaction to caste Shield, Counterspell, Absorb Elements, or the like
2.) He can use his action to turn a previously cast Major Image (6th level or higher) or Creation into something useful using Malleable Illusions
3.) He can use his bonus action to make something from a previously cast MIrage Arcane, Hallucinatory Terrain, or other illusion real using Illusory Reality
4.) He can attack with a previously cast Shadow Blade (due to the Haste)
5.) He can activate a Contingency as a free action
Can you figure out a way to generate six magical effects in one round?
Make use of glyph or warding or symbol?
also... why?
Preparation
Cast Demiplane and both of you enter it. We'll be setting multiple Glyphs of WardingThe demiplane is 30 ft cube. If we assume each glyph will require a 5 ft square area - we should divide the surface area inside the demiplane into 5 ft square , let' call them tiles. Of these there are 9 per wall and 6 walls making 54 'tiles'. Two tiles would be used by the doorway so we can place a maximum of 52 glyphs, although we may not need all of these.
Spell Glyphs must be capable of targeting a creature or area. This covers most spells, even spells of "self" target a creature, but that might be contestable so we'll leave it as "touch" or greater. The casting time is 1 hour or less for the stored spell since you cast it "as part of" casting Glyph of Warding.
It may take multiple days.
Stored Spells:
1st Level: Longstrider, Mage Armor, Protection From Evil and Good
2nd Level: Darkvision, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Nystul's Magic Aura, Dragon's Breath, Enlarge/Reduce,
.....
You get the idea.
So, you could have 50+ effects on you at one time with enough prep time, gold and spells that fit spell glyph restrictions. Just cast Demiplane, walk in and come out with insane number of effects - and if that includes haste you've still got an action you can use.
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.
But for why are we doing this?!
Shits 'n' giggles.
I mean, why not? If ya got the spells, the gold and the time... Why not?
If I was a wizard, ya can be darn skippy I'll be making emergency "super buffs" rooms, and "death cube" demiplanes, and all sorts of magical one-shots.
They don't have Youtube. Let the wizards make their own fun.
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.
If that's the only goal, the answer is infinite. Cybermind presented a technically infinite answer already, but since an infinite number of hastes is still one haste, and the pocket universe you use is unlikely to contain more than just the wizard (so stacking infinite offensive glyphs is not useful), the number of effects they will produce is practically finite: a distinct copy of every single creature or area target buff a wizard can cast of 3rd level or lower, all cast on the wizard. That number is quite small compared to infinity.
You reach infinite spells by casting Simulacrum while being a level 17 or higher wizard (Genie Warlocks do this a lot better, but they can't do the Glyph trick, so...). This gets slightly easier at level 20 than 17, so let's do it with a level 20 wizard for convenience.
That's how you get to infinity. Genielocks are much better at this, because their simulacra get their L6-9 spells back on a long rest (L9 being the big seller here), leading to explosive growth - a Genielock left alone will eventually replace everyone on their planet with the Genielock, like an Agent Smith situation. If the Genielock and the Wizard are friends, you have an even bigger problem, because the Wizard can fill every single Genielock's lamp with its own set of spellglyphs for buffing.
Haste and Shadow Blade cannot be used in conjunction because both require Concentration, unfortunately. Unless some ally buff you with Haste.