Impenetrable physical protection that you can cast through?

[Eaglejarl]

EDIT: The following question is for the fantasy novel that I'm writing / publishing (link in sig). Several readers have told me they found it through this site. If you are one of them, there are spoilers in this thread.


Is there a 3.5 spell or item with all the following properties?:

• Allows you to ignore all damage from physical effects (not an attack; something more like a landslide falling on you). Also, I really do mean *all damage* -- not just AC bonus, extra hit points, etc.
• Allows you to cast spells out (doesn't matter if it blocks inbound spells)
• Either persists for 2+ rounds or can shield 2 people (I'm looking to do a spell combo)

I know that (e.g.) teleporting away would evade the attack, and turning ethereal would let it pass through you, but those don't fit the needs of my plot; I want something that lets the caster actually be there and casting spells that will effect things outside the boundaries of the protected area.

I'm thinking of something like a Prismatic Sphere or spherical Wall of Force that you could cast through. (I know you can't cast through either of those.)

[Mnemnosyne]

Timeless body with extend power lasts 2 rounds and makes the manifester immune to all damage for the duration. With a temporal reiteration trick, it can also last indefinitely, rendering the manifester immune to all attacks and powers as long as he wants.

[Eaglejarl]

Timeless body with extend power lasts 2 rounds and makes the manifester immune to all damage for the duration. With a temporal reiteration trick, it can also last indefinitely, rendering the manifester immune to all attacks and powers as long as he wants.

Thanks for that. Is there a spell / item (i.e., not a psionic ability) that will do the same thing?

[Mnemnosyne]

Not to my knowledge. You could get a custom item of timeless body but it would be really expensive even if it only has 1/day use, since it's a 9th level power. Being 9th level of course puts it out of range of being replicated by wish, too.

[Eldan]

Ghostform is pretty close, it turns you incorporeal so only magical attacks can still hurt you. Then you can layer on more things. Greater Ironguard makes you immune to all metal, so you have most magical weapons covered too.

[Rubik]

Beastland Ferocity + Delay Death makes it impossible to die from damage for the duration of D.D. You still do take damage, but even at -1,000,000 hp, you'll still be up and running.

Astral Projection (nabbable as soon as you can access Planar Binding for a nightmare) means that you merely wake up in your original body (unharmed) when you "die."

If you have a raven or parrot (ie, refluffed raven) familiar that can talk, use the tinfoil hat trick and tell your familiar to ready an action to call out the command to expand the hat whenever something nasty is coming your way. The Shrink Item effect on the hat is suppressed, turning it back into the cone/box/cylinder/whatever it used to be, therefore covering your space and blocking anything requiring Line of Sight or Line of Effect.

The Psionic Minor Creation power or Minor Creation spell can create a character-sized hamster ball made from amber, which has sliding doors 1 square foot in size. Your psicrystal or familiar uses its move action to open a door on your initiative, which you then cast through, and uses its standard action to shut the door after. You have full cover from all directions, can move around just fine in open areas, and it's doable as early as level 1 (with a level in shaper or the Hidden Talent feat).

[Brassthorn]

You can manifest psionics through an impenetrable barrier with Burrowing Power. You can get (Otiluke's) Resilient Sphere either through Arcane Caster levels (probably with Cerebremancer) or Spell-To-Power Erudite if that kind of thing is allowed and cast it on yourself.

[Kamin_Majere]

There's also Greater Iron Guard, makes you immune to all damage caused by metal objects. You could always research the same spell and Call it Wood Guard, Stone Guard, Flesh Guard etc...

Or alternately you could make one of 9th level and make it cover all physical damage

As to making it cover two or more people... not sure though the prestige class that allows you to share linked spells might be able to let you give it to others (though that might be pushing your DM's good nature)

[Rubik]

This build has a ludicrous hardness, which is high enough to put a serious dent in any source of damage coming its way. It won't hamper uberchargers or mailman builds, but it should be fine for protecting you in most "normal" campaigns. You only really need one monk level to make it work; the rest is equipment and spells and powers.

[John Longarrow]

EagleJarl,

I suggest you look for a nice suit of Plot Armor

So what are you really looking to do here? Is this to try to make your PC immune to most/all monsters you run across? Or are you looking for something to toss at a party? And more important, do you really need to be able to survive anything OR do you need your body and gear to come through unscratched to?

[Aharon]

Resilient Sphere+Burrowing Power was already mentioned.
Possibly, a Shadow Evocation Resilient Sphere might work, too (it's a bit fuzzy and requires DM arbitration as to how landslides interact with shadowy force protecting you). The rest (you being able to cast through and pretty well protected) definitely apply.

[Crake]

You could arguably cast out of a selective(you) prismatic sphere? You wouldnt be able to send projectiles through it, since they aren't you, but you'd be able to ignore it for the purposes of line of effect. You'd need some way to be able to see out of it though, since it's opaque. Maybe add invisible spell to it?

An invisible selective prismatic sphere, what a mean thing to throw at someone.
DM: "The BBEG is seated in a throne that resides atop a raised dias. From there he lazily summons a creature to attack you"
Fighter: I charge at him and attack
DM: ...

[Eaglejarl]

EagleJarl,

I suggest you look for a nice suit of Plot Armor

So what are you really looking to do here? Is this to try to make your PC immune to most/all monsters you run across? Or are you looking for something to toss at a party? And more important, do you really need to be able to survive anything OR do you need your body and gear to come through unscratched to?

Heh. Plot Armor +1,000,000. That would be fun.

As to what I'm planning: I have had multiple readers tell me that they found me through this forum, so I'm going to put this in spoilers.

Spoiler

Show

I am going to have someone PAO up a few grams of antimatter in order to blow the bejabbers out of an army, and I want them to survive doing this. There's four ways that I've thought of to make that happen:

1) Two mages; one mage casts the PAO, the other has a readied action to teleport them both out. The timing on this would need to be inhumanly precise but *I think* it works by RAW...it certainly could by authorial fiat, but I'd prefer something that was actually clearly valid by RAW.

2) Have a Forcecage (or something equivalent) around you in order to survive the blast wave (physical damage), and throw an Utterdark on top of it in order to block the radiation. Problem is that Forecage will block the line-of-effect, meaning the PAO can't be cast. You can get around this with the readied action trick, but that reverts to scenario #1.

3) Have the caster Shapechange into an incorporeal creature before casting the PAO. This pretty clearly works as far as I can tell, but it means the caster needs to be alone. I would prefer if she could be part of a group, although that's not essential.

4) The cleric version of Plot Armor: True Resurrection. This works, but it's inelegant and I suspect it wouldn't be a popular option. Also, I need to do some math but there might not actually be a cleric available with the requisite spell slots, since the local clerics are being strained by the need to deal with literally hundreds of millions of undead. They are doing using some RAW cheese for housing lots of people and massive numbers of Celestial Brilliance to defend the housing.

Resilient Sphere+Burrowing Power was already mentioned.
Possibly, a Shadow Evocation Resilient Sphere might work, too (it's a bit fuzzy and requires DM arbitration as to how landslides interact with shadowy force protecting you). The rest (you being able to cast through and pretty well protected) definitely apply.

SE says "Objects automatically succeed on their Will saves against this spell" so I think a landslide (or other inanimate attack) would pass right through it. Am I reading that wrong?

[NoACWarrior]

Earl, if you can manage something with a wall spell contingency, with some kind of supression, you could potentially have something which blocks every attack.

For something a bit more feasible, load up a wall spell that can be passed through by creatures but that also blocks LoE or LoS, while LoE will stop nearly everything, LoS will also stop almost all spells and give you alot more chance to survive physical attacks.

The wall spell I have in mind is wall of incarnum, make sure to pick up ability drain immunity and jack up that will save so you can pass through it, cast a spell, and pass back to safety. Theres the little issue about moving after casting, that part you probably can take a feat to move before and after you cast.

This isn't as optimal as other techniques suggested, but its a pretty solid choice especially vs both spell casting and phys types that don't ready actions to hit you once you pop out to cast spells at them.

[John Longarrow]

Playing with antimatter is very tricky in D&D. You can get one of the following results:

1) DM says "OK, give me a DC 40 knowledge( physics ) to see if you understand what antimatter is sufficienlty to create it"
2) Antimatter? Doesn't exist in this campaign
3) "OK, give me a spellcraft to see just how much you really make... OK, you blew that, you've got 2 kilo's of the stuff. Time for a new campaign..."
4) "Wow, that works just fine! Now lets see what the shock wave does... Crap, you opened a fault, here comes the lava..."
5) DM lets you get away with it. Course someone flies over your nation dropping kittens (Whales PAOed into kittens) and you now have a few hundred thousand craptons of dead whale all over the place...

[Eaglejarl]

Playing with antimatter is very tricky in D&D.

Aaaaand, there go the spoilers.

Earl, if you can manage something with a wall spell contingency, with some kind of supression, you could potentially have something which blocks every attack.

Thanks, I'll look at that. By the way, nice catch on the meaning of my name.

[Mnemnosyne]

People bring up antimatter pretty regularly in regards to major/minor creation, and it never really makes any sense in a normal D&D setting. The building blocks of the multiverse are not particles or atoms or anything of that nature...they're fire, earth, air, and water.

In any case, yes, contingency is likely your best option. A contingent otiluke's resilient sphere targeted on yourself with the trigger of 'when I complete casting polymorph any object' should do the trick. Intentionally fail the saving throw and there you go. One thing to note is that even if your setting is not a standard D&D setting and therefore antimatter does exist, it would pretty much be a material of great intrinsic value and thus not valid for polymorph any object.

[Necroticplague]

One thing to note is that even if your setting is not a standard D&D setting and therefore antimatter does exist, it would pretty much be a material of great intrinsic value and thus not valid for polymorph any object.

Except for the fact 'intrinsic value' isn't given any meaning in the rules, so outside of the examples listed, we have no way of knowing what it applies to. Outside of the rules, 'intrinsic value' is a meaningless oxymoron, because value is a subjective trait assigned to an object, much less 'great' intrinsic value.

[sonofzeal]

I believe the key word here is likely to be "Starmantle", since we only need to protect against non-magical attack. Consult your DM though.

[Eaglejarl]

People bring up antimatter pretty regularly in regards to major/minor creation, and it never really makes any sense in a normal D&D setting.

In any case, yes, contingency is likely your best option. A contingent otiluke's resilient sphere targeted on yourself with the trigger of 'when I complete casting polymorph any object' should do the trick. Intentionally fail the saving throw and there you go. One thing to note is that even if your setting is not a standard D&D setting and therefore antimatter does exist, it would pretty much be a material of great intrinsic value and thus not valid for polymorph any object.

As to the 'in a normal D&D setting' -- this isn't, really. The rules of the world are "physics works, unless explicitly trumped by RAW." So, the basics of the world are atoms, etc. And yes, I know that the "Elemental Planes" are focused around the ancient Greek "elements" and not the modern periodic table, but it's more interesting if antimatter is on the table. Also, I've already used it once, so it's now canon.

Contigent ORS -- brilliant. That sounds like exactly what I need, thank you.

*goes off and reads the spell description* Hm...actually, Contingency says that the companion spell must affect your person. Would an ORS count for that?

Except for the fact 'intrinsic value' isn't given any meaning in the rules, so outside of the examples listed, we have no way of knowing what it applies to. Outside of the rules, 'intrinsic value' is a meaningless oxymoron, because value is a subjective trait assigned to an object, much less 'great' intrinsic value.

Since it's not defined my definition to date has been "it has a price in the equipment tables." As such, osmium (etc) are worthless.

I believe the key word here is likely to be "Starmantle", since we only need to protect against non-magical attack. Consult your DM though.

That seems like it should work, but I think that technically it does not. I'm pretty sure that Starmantle really intends to cover all physical damage but what it explicitly says is 'nonmagical weapon', so I don't think a nonmagical explosion would count. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

[Mnemnosyne]

*goes off and reads the spell description* Hm...actually, Contingency says that the companion spell must affect your person. Would an ORS count for that?

I would say yes, since it's centered around you. However, if your DM rules it's not, there's always the Craft Contingent Spell feat which does not have that restriction.

[unseenmage]

Does Rope Trick do the trick for what you're after? I do not think it will but thought I'd mention it just in case.

Oh, and I too found that work through this site. I like it well enough for what that's worth.

[Eaglejarl]

Does Rope Trick do the trick for what you're after? I do not think it will but thought I'd mention it just in case.

Hm. I'm not sure, actually. It's not clear if things other than climbers can enter the extradimensional space. Interesting thought.

Oh, and I too found that work through this site. I like it well enough for what that's worth.

Heh. With praise this strong, how could an author feel aught save warm and fuzzy? ;)

Kidding aside, I'm glad you like it.

[ace rooster]

Hm. I'm not sure, actually. It's not clear if things other than climbers can enter the extradimensional space. Interesting thought.



Heh. With praise this strong, how could an author feel aught save warm and fuzzy? ;)

Kidding aside, I'm glad you like it.

It is pretty clear, there is an invisable 3ft by 5ft window on the material plane. It blocks all spell effects explicitly, but there is no suggestion it stops anything else. It is cool, but does pretty much the opposite of what you want. One of my favorite uses of it is for an invisable elevated archery outpost, that also protects the archer from spells. It is cast on the rope, so can be made into an oil that anyone can use.

Mundanes are crapped on pretty hard by spellcasters, but I don't think you can do what you want with any one effect. My solution would be not being at ground zero at all. Delay spell can put a timer on the effect, or a Faerun eye of power can cast project image, which can give you effectively line of sight range, and no risk.

Surviving what you are suggesting seems tricky even for a wizard. The no death by HP loss tricks do not help against disintigration, which that probably would be. The only other solutions involve breaking line of effect, which you need to make it work.

Or what about Evasion?

[unseenmage]

Not sure if the Metamagic feat Transdimensional Spell helps with the Rope trick problem or not, though it's worth a mention.

It does make me think though that perhaps hiding on another Plane could get you the effect you need too.


When I faced a similar problem I applied copious doses of Greater Dispelling Screen tied to Energy Transformation Field.

[ericgrau]

You could make a wall of stone with arrow slits. It's destructible but it has a little hp. Something stronger could be a barred forcecage trapping yourself inside. You can always teleport out later.

[Eaglejarl]

...I don't think you can do what you want with any one effect.

Yeah, I think you're right. I think I'll need:

1. Contingency + Otiluke's Resilient Sphere to survive the explosion
2. Major Creation or Polymorph Any Object to create the antimatter

ORS says that nothing can pass through the sphere, which would naturally include light and other radiation. This is supported by the fact that it is a "shimmering" sphere, suggesting that it's opaque. (Unlike, say, Wall of Force, which allows gaze attacks through and must therefore be transparent.) I was thinking I was going to need PAO + Forcecage + Utterdark, but it seems like Major Creation + ORS + Contingency is all that's needed: yes, megadeath detonations without using anything higher than a 6th level spell. An 11th level wizard could pull this off; that's just sick.

Or what about Evasion?

Ha! That's hilarious. But, sadly, I don't think a 250 kiloton explosion going off a few yards in front of you allows a Reflex save. And even if it did, the DC would be unholy.

[Jack_Simth]

Heh. Plot Armor +1,000,000. That would be fun.

As to what I'm planning: I have had multiple readers tell me that they found me through this forum, so I'm going to put this in spoilers.

Spoiler

Show

I am going to have someone PAO up a few grams of antimatter in order to blow the bejabbers out of an army, and I want them to survive doing this. There's four ways that I've thought of to make that happen:

1) Two mages; one mage casts the PAO, the other has a readied action to teleport them both out. The timing on this would need to be inhumanly precise but *I think* it works by RAW...it certainly could by authorial fiat, but I'd prefer something that was actually clearly valid by RAW.

2) Have a Forcecage (or something equivalent) around you in order to survive the blast wave (physical damage), and throw an Utterdark on top of it in order to block the radiation. Problem is that Forecage will block the line-of-effect, meaning the PAO can't be cast. You can get around this with the readied action trick, but that reverts to scenario #1.

3) Have the caster Shapechange into an incorporeal creature before casting the PAO. This pretty clearly works as far as I can tell, but it means the caster needs to be alone. I would prefer if she could be part of a group, although that's not essential.

4) The cleric version of Plot Armor: True Resurrection. This works, but it's inelegant and I suspect it wouldn't be a popular option. Also, I need to do some math but there might not actually be a cleric available with the requisite spell slots, since the local clerics are being strained by the need to deal with literally hundreds of millions of undead. They are doing using some RAW cheese for housing lots of people and massive numbers of Celestial Brilliance to defend the housing.

SE says "Objects automatically succeed on their Will saves against this spell" so I think a landslide (or other inanimate attack) would pass right through it. Am I reading that wrong?

Contingency + Resilient Sphere. You're planning this out in advance, so....

And, of course, you can arrange to bring others via Craft Contingent Spell (Resilient Sphere).

Oh, and:

Spoiler

Show

Another option would be Quintessence. Get into a good vacuum (so there's nothing for the antimatter to interact with; a Necklace of Adaptation is a must), prepare a box all coated in quintessance on the outside only. Turn the pebble you brought with you into antimatter, and coat it with Quintessance (or better: Capture it with a box that is coated in quintessence - everything inside is still sealed up in quintessance, and you don't need to answer the question of whether or not quintessance counts as matter). It takes a time out, and stops reacting.

You now have a box that'll violently explode when the quintessance goes away. Set it down, cast Delayed Blast Fireball, and leave. Fireball goes off, blasts away enough of the quintessance that time resumes inside the box, antimatter contacts box, and there goes the neighborhood.

Plus, of course, you have the reference to the other book.

[Aharon]

SE says "Objects automatically succeed on their Will saves against this spell" so I think a landslide (or other inanimate attack) would pass right through it. Am I reading that wrong?

Yes, I misremembered the wording. Doesn't work on inanimate stuff.