Aleax's Singular Enemy

[Uncle Pine]

There are a few issues. First, the Ice Assassin spell contains two absolutes, which, in this case, are in conflict with each other: It follows your commands absolutely, but it also has an overriding drive to destroy its target. How does it do both? There are actually a few ways to resolve the paradox, but none of them ends up being good for you. For instance, if you order it to destroy you, then there's no paradox. Further, one could take the very casting of the spell itself as an implicit order for it to destroy you. So, it destroys you, just like you wanted.

You're not the target of an IA of an Aleax of yourself. The target of an IA of an Aleax of yourself is, by definition, an Aleax of yourself.

Second, what makes anyone think that one can create an Ice Assassin of a creature that doesn't even exist?

The fact that you simply need a portion of a creature to make an IA of it, and that acquiring a portion of a nonexistent creature is as simple as acquiring a fingernail of Olidammara (that's how spell component pouches work). As a free action.

Third, it assumes that the ice assassin of the aleax does not retain its desire to kill you after you mind-switch into it. No, ordinarily the body doesn't retain desires like that through a mind switch, but then, bodies don't usually have built-in desires at all. Both aleaxes and ice assassins, though, are defined by their desire to destroy their targets. It seems to me that that drive to destroy is just as much of the aleax as is its "cannot be harmed by anyone else" ability.

An IA of an Aleax of yourself, as already stated, has no desire to kill you that it could or couldn't retain after a mind switch. An Aleax desire to kill isn't "built-in" in the way you think it is: it isn't something that an IA retains, so there is no paradox.

EDIT: Partially swordsage'd, I guess.

[Venger]

Edit: Also, while shapechange seems to ordinarily ditch extraordinary abilities associated with form, aleax shapechange does not, as mentioned in the second to last line of text. Aleaxes are sweet.

then if its shapechange form is not a construct, blast it with trait removal turned into a SLA or otherwise cast as a reasonable action to remove its singular enemy ability if you want to kill it.

It also doesn’t make much crunch sense: An aleax has the statistics of its intended victim. There is no mention of any possibility to switch intended victims after the creation of the aleax (and the fluff very strongly argues against this possibility).

So an aleax cannot be created with itself as the intended victim, because it requires a creature to acquire stats from, which therefore must exist before the aleax is created. And neither can the aleax be retargeted to itself after having been created. Therefore it is not possible for an aleax to be its own singular victim.

(As a sidenote, by RAW PCs cannot create aleaxes: The description of the aleax clearly states that only a deity can create an aleax, and then only one per god. Shape changing into an aleax is not absolutely excluded, but should draw the deities’ ire, and so is also a questionable optimization approach.)

either be a deity yourself, or just make an ice assassin of one to build an aleax for you. it's not like it's hard.

[Werephilosopher]

The fact that you simply need a portion of a creature to make an IA of it, and that acquiring a portion of a nonexistent creature is as simple as acquiring a fingernail of Olidammara (that's how spell component pouches work). As a free action.

That doesn't matter though, because

An ice assassin spell creates a living, breathing creature that is a near-perfect duplicate of an existing creature.

[Uncle Pine]

That doesn't matter though, because

Hmm... I didn't notice that. Good catch!

Now, can the fact that the victim of an Ice Assassin has to be an existing creature mitigated by, say, carefully wording a wish for an Aleax of a 1st level version of yourself? Or is there a more foolproof method to circumvent this limitation?

[eggynack]

then if its shapechange form is not a construct, blast it with trait removal turned into a SLA or otherwise cast as a reasonable action to remove its singular enemy ability if you want to kill it.

That would require that removing the creature's main defense not be harmful, which is a thing I'm rather doubtful of.

[EugeneVoid]

I don't really want to argue about its origin or even its statistics. What if a rabbit or a housecat had the ability "Singular Enemy" without the fluff? How would someone go about killing (or disabling or even hindering) something that by definition cannot be hindered or hurt?

Btw: Thanks everyone for your answers so far.

[eggynack]

I don't really want to argue about its origin or even its statistics. What if a rabbit or a housecat had the ability "Singular Enemy" without the fluff? How would someone go about killing (or disabling or even hindering) something that by definition cannot be hindered or hurt?

It's possible that instantaneous effects can work against singular enemy. Basically, either you can use a wall of stone to block off an aleax, or aleaxes are fully capable of phasing through any solid object. The trick is that the effect in question be relatively disconnected from you after you use it.

[Uncle Pine]

Teleport Through Time also works splendidly.

[Evolved Shrimp]

Now, can the fact that the victim of an Ice Assassin has to be an existing creature mitigated by, say, carefully wording a wish for an Aleax of a 1st level version of yourself?

Not by RAW: An aleax can only be created by a deity, not in any other way. (And it has to be of a currently existing creature, not an imaginary one, like a weaker version of yourself would be.)

Now, you could wish for a creature that is in any respect like an aleax, except that it isn't one. That, however, clearly goes beyond what is safe to wish for and thus is subject to DM adjudication. In fact, you could argue that the wish is very unlikely to work, because it would require power beyond what even a god could provide (given that even a god can only create one aleax at a time, and this wish would open the door to what effectively are unlimited aleaxes.)

[Uncle Pine]

Not by RAW: An aleax can only be created by a deity, not in any other way. (And it has to be of a currently existing creature, not an imaginary one, like a weaker version of yourself would be.)

Now, you could wish for a creature that is in any respect like an aleax, except that it isn't one. That, however, clearly goes beyond what is safe to wish for and thus is subject to DM adjudication. In fact, you could argue that the wish is very unlikely to work, because it would require power beyond what even a god could provide (given that even a god can only create one aleax at a time, and this wish would open the door to what effectively are unlimited aleaxes.)

A. You're not going to create unlimited Aleaxes: what you're creating are Ice Assassin Aleaxes, which are entirely different things.

B. 1. Buy a Thought Bottle (to minimize losses) and a spellblade of Shapechange (if necessary, see below).
2. Cast Teleport Through Time (to when you were 1st level).
3. Cast Miracle to create an Aleax of your 1st level self. If your deity won't accept to make you a custom Aleax, do the trick with a different deity patron: I'm sure there are some deities savvy enough to value a nigh-invincible ally (which would be you).
(3.5. OPTIONAL STEP: if it's possible to block Aleaxes with istantaneous effect, track the Aleax of your 1st level self and encase it inside multiple walls of stone.)
4. Cast Ice Assassin to create an IA Aleax of your 1st level self (possibly as a full-round action, to minimize the risk that the Aleax of your 1st level self finds your 1st level self, terminating the both of you).

TL;DR: Skip to 5.3 if you're in a hurry.

5.1. ASK YOUR DM: If you and your 1st level self count as the same target for the Aleax of your 1st level self (Teleport Through Time's description implies that this isn't the case, but you never know), kill the Aleax and proceed mind switching with the IA Aleax of your 1st level self, etc. as normal. If you and your 1st level self don't count as the same target, skip to 5.2.
5.2. Track your 1st level self and the Aleax of your 1st level self (also, free it if you have previously encased it inside multiple walls of stone) and give the IA the spellblade of Shapechange. When your 1st level self and his Aleax are about to meet, share Shapechange with the IA and have it redirect the spell to your 1st level spell (this can be done in a 1 mile radius, so you don't have to "meet" your 1st level self). Have your 1st level self (Shapechanged with a CL of 20+) kill the Aleax of your 1st level self (Shapechanged with a measly CL of 20). If you don't want to open a debate over the odds of a CL 20+ Shapechange to best a CL 20 Shapechange and/or don't mind to serve that great guy that made all of this possible (your deity) for a while, skip to 5.3. Otherwise, proceed mind switching with the IA Aleax of your 1st level self, etc. as normal after your 1st level self killed the Aleax.
5.3. Your 1st level self dies and is teleported in front of your deity. He does what he is asked to do. You proceed mind switching with the IA Aleax of your 1st level self, etc. as normal.


I'm sorry if the above may sound excessively convoluted. To summarize, while I admit that mind switching with an Aleax is more difficult than it may look, the trick ultimately works (even though it requires a bit more resources).

[Evolved Shrimp]

You're not going to create unlimited Aleaxes: what you're creating are Ice Assassin Aleaxes, which are entirely different things.

Yes, but the question was “Is it possible to wish an aleax-like creature into existence?” If that was possible, there is no obvious reason why it wouldn’t be possible to have two of them, three, four, …. However, creating that many aleaxes is apparently beyond the power of even major gods, so it seems reasonable to conclude that that wish would not be possible.

Cast Miracle to create an Aleax of your 1st level self. If your deity won't accept to make you a custom Aleax, do the trick with a different deity patron: I'm sure there are some deities savvy enough to value a nigh-invincible ally (which would be you).

An aleax, by RAW, cannot be created by the miracle spell, it can only be created by a god directly (and even then with limitations).

Of course, one can imagine that it was possible to persuade a god to create an aleax on one’s behalf (similar to the suggestion above to find an amenable patron deity). But that takes us deep into plot territory: The god, a major NPC, would have to actively decide to want to take part in that scheme.

And if we go there – if we assume that it is possible to get a deity to do one’s bidding works in this way (say, if one has a sky-high diplomacy score) – why aim so low as to request an aleax for a convoluted scheme? Why not simply assume that the god can be persuaded to hand over all his powers, possessions, and portfolios – much simpler and much more effective.

Alternatively, one could houserule away the troublesome aspects of aleaxes and/or ice assassins, which would seem to me the most straightforward way to get this scheme to work.

[Uncle Pine]

An aleax, by RAW, cannot be created by the miracle spell, it can only be created by a god directly (and even then with limitations).

That's why you're casting Miracle. To ask your deity to create one. Which is exactly the point of miracle:

You state what you would like to have happen and request that your deity (or the power you pray to for spells) intercede.

Of course, one can imagine that it was possible to persuade a god to create an aleax on one’s behalf (similar to the suggestion above to find an amenable patron deity). But that takes us deep into plot territory: The god, a major NPC, would have to actively decide to want to take part in that scheme.

And if we go there – if we assume that it is possible to get a deity to do one’s bidding works in this way (say, if one has a sky-high diplomacy score) – why aim so low as to request an aleax for a convoluted scheme? Why not simply assume that the god can be persuaded to hand over all his powers, possessions, and portfolios – much simpler and much more effective.

I'll try to summarize this in two question, then answer them: "why aren't we simply using the Diplomacy skill to make any god and/or major/minor NPC do whatever we want?" and "why aim so low as to request an aleax for a convoluted scheme?".
The answer to the former question is: "because this isn't a thread about Diplomacy. It is indeed possible for any character with a bonus of at least +159 to his Diplomacy checks to persuade a god to do his bidding works in every way, but that's a bit cheesy so let's avoid it."
The answer to the latter is: "because the OP didn't ask how a 20th level Wizard could become invulnerable by mind switching with an Ice Assassin of an Aleax of himself to acquire Singular Enemy (himself), which apparently requires said Aleax to exist during the casting of the Ice Assassin spell, but we're trying to figure out the most elegant way to achieve this goal anyway, as the commonly mentioned method is clearly not RAW and no one else seems to know better ways to kill/disable a character with Singular Enemy (itself) than Wall of Stones and Teleport Through Time."