If you were Wizard 20

[Xar Zarath]

Poof, you wake up and are now a Wizard 20. However there a few minor hiccups:

1) Cannot leave this Universe through magic even for Astral/Ethereal/Shadow plane. Because of something you cannot travel outside this Universe.

2)Can use spells like Gate or Planar Binding (to call something) but spells like Plane Shift become obsolete.

3) Can use Genesis but you can only travel to your demiplane and not anywhere else outside this Universe.

4) Only item you have is spellbook with spells known. Any spell you want you have to research for it

5) you can have a familiar, your choice

So, what would you do now you're a uber wizard?

[Curmudgeon]

I'd try to figure out how to earn XP, because those power a lot of spells yet XP doesn't exist in our universe.

[ryu]

I'd try to figure out how to earn XP, because those power a lot of spells yet XP doesn't exist in our universe.

Begin farming ambrosia with any of a number of common methods. It acts as a substitute for XP in all ways but adding more levels, has a clear process of harvest, and is literally based on making large numbers of people extremely happy without negative side effects. Who would oppose that? No one that's who.

[Troacctid]

First I'd read my spellbook. Then I'd figure out how it works and test if I can actually cast spells, because holy **** it's actual magic. Start with cantrips and work my way up to more complicated spells.

I'd make it a top priority to research a spell to bind my spellbook to me so it can't get lost or stolen. That's really important.

A big question, I think, is what kind of familiar to get. If Improved Familiars are on the table, then probably a lantern archon? I like the imp, especially the Commune SLA, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with my familiar being evil. If it has to be a normal familiar, then I think I lean towards a rat. They don't take up much space, they offer a good +2 to Fortitude, they have scent, and I think they might have the best "Speak with others of its kind" ability.

Honestly, if I could pick any class, I think I'd much rather wake up as a Cleric. In real life, when you can't handwave past the study time, having to manually learn and prepare your spells as complex rituals out of a book is a real drawback. I'd rather have magic that's just granted to me by a deity in exchange for my faith. (Assuming I get a nice deity, at least. Most mainstream religions would be acceptable to me.)

[Xar Zarath]

Sorry i will amend original post. You only have your spellbook with spells known. You can choose any familiar that floats your boat

[NevinPL]

Call my doctor for stronger pills.

[khadgar567]

Call my doctor for stronger pills.

agreed than maybe start my unlimited succubus works to became most important pimp/ celebrity in the world

before forgetting you said universe right not planet so create a spell to space travel and discover the new frontiers maybe found sexy aliens or tyranids like species to destroy the earth muhahahahaha!

[Sredni Vashtar]

I wouldn't have to go to work on Saturday.

Also, world domination.

But mostly no work on weekends.

[Seharvepernfan]

So, what would you do now that you're an uber wizard?

I'd use divinations to find a new source of gold, then use summoned xorns to mine it. Then, with the gold, I'd bind some ghaele's to help me cure the world of pathocracy. Not gonna get too far into that, but as a wiz 20 I'm fairly confident that it could be done. After that, I'd help the species out with science, and when I felt I needed some time off, I'd get around to having some real fun (I'd feel very guilty if I didn't try to make the world into a utopia as quickly as possible, but I'd be itching to do the following the whole time).

I'd probably start off with small time stuff, like running around with jump/exp retreat/haste. Running around all night while invisible would be tons of fun, going places where I wouldn't otherwise be able to go. Iron body to break stuff and walk down rapids or along the bottoms of rivers. Polymorph to swim like a fish, fly like a bird, run like a deer, etc (polymorph spells would be tons of fun in your romantic life as well, and I'll leave it at that). Spider Climb and Fly for obvious stuff. I'd use disintegrate to dig out a cave (or just find one) on some island or other remote place in a cool-looking area, and use teleport to get to it (probably several of these around the world). Disguise self and tongues to blend in anywhere in the world. Jump off something really high and use feather fall at the last second. Water breathing to just swim around freely for a day (yes, I'd get it in addition to iron body and polymorph). With Nezram's Amethyst Aura, I wouldn't have to worry about poison or disease. Greater Invisibility+Silence=tons of fun as well.

There are a lot of places around the world I'd like to see and mess around in, for no real purpose other than to experience them. Knowing that I'm a quickened spell away from safety at all times, there are a lot of (relatively) normal things I'd do as well, like riding a dirtbike down a mountain. I would never want for resources (like food, vehicles, money, houses), because as a wiz 20 those are easy pickins. I've always wanted to just walk/stow across the country/world. Those are all things I've always wanted to do. I'm sure that with time, I'd come up with more creative ideas.

My curiosity would get the better of me, and I'd go around snooping in places like area 51. I *could* go to other planets/space, but I'm not sure I'd ever have the guts to try it. One wrong assumption about a spell protecting me in a given environment and bam, I'm dead. Actually, I'm sure that with 19+ Int and access to other genius-beings and people, I'd eventually get around to it, if only to help out the rest of the species with space tech.

We can't go to other planes, but can we become incorporeal? Eladrin form would quickly become my favorite spell.

As I tend strongly towards transmutation and illusion, and have no desire to be famous or to interact socially with maybe a few exceptions, most of the world would never suspect I exist. Total freedom, except that I have to mind my remaining daily slots and durations, and my low wisdom forgetfulness. I always thought it would be awesome to be a greenstar adept in real life, assuming I could polymorph back into a human if I wanted. I'd probably give up 9th level spells for the 10th level ability, but I'd sure miss those caster levels (there's probably a better alternative anyway). I'd probably be a diviner, giving up necromancy.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I'd probably try to visit Jupiter, or the Sun. Work your way up from the Moon, to Mars, to Venus and so on.

Also, find a way to become a StP Erudite instead. But that's more of a sideline.

[Xar Zarath]

...We can't go to other planes, but can we become incorporeal? Eladrin form would quickly become my favorite spell.

Yes you can...you could even create a magic item to confer the spell continuously but you would have to pay the costs involved...gp and xp whatever applies.

[Xar Zarath]

As a Wizard, I wouldn't mind coming out to the world...after I set up a safe haven maybe on some other planet. Going around being a celebrity would be nice for a few decades and if I ever get bored, go travel the universe and catalogue the stars and make some new spells.

Maybe after a few millennia when civilisation is over, I could help kickstart the new age of Man but with my immortal hand guiding it. Or heck, just stay on Earth and have my own reality show...

What's Happening With the Wizard, coming to you this fall on *insert channel name*

[Strigon]

Work your way up from the Moon, to Mars, to Venus and so on.

Go to Mars; freak out the NASA workers watching the Curiosity rover.

Rule the world.

[Elkad]

Divination + Teleport Circle means I can start finding and building a network of links to other habitable planets.

I'd become a CG god of galactic colonization. Emigration would be free to everyone, and interfering with the right of others to travel would be dealt with harshly.

That would cover the first few millenia. Immortality is obviously key, through just about any method. I'd be perfectly happy doing my interactions via proxy, so as long as there aren't other spellcasters, I don't foresee any problems remaining safe, and I'd use divinations to reinforce that.

[Rubik]

Break the epic cap via Curse of Lycanthropy + thought bottle + negative levels, and research an epic spell that recreates the D&D multiverse (including inner, outer, and transitive planes), but that also blocks the Material Plane off from incursion by anything but the caster of the spell.

Then retrain to a psionic build, using the existence of the StP erudite ACF to get all the powers and all the spells, then gestalt myself using options like Polymorph Any Object (rock to human) + Mind Seed + retraining + Fusion + Astral Seed. Also abuse Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) and a level of ardent so I have full psionic manifesting (and spellcasting) with a minimum number of levels expended. Make sure I have access to the magic mantle for enforced transparency and access to the dweomerkeeper's Supernatural Spell ability for several component-free castings per day (with XP being one of those components).

Then I'd start knocking out a lot of the biggest problems in the world, such as injury and disease. I'd ruin the pharmaceutical companies, end slavery, destroy all the terrorist organizations and drug cartels, forcibly replace all the evil tyrannical governments of the world with something a lot more humanitarian, fix overpopulation, repair all the destruction humanity has wrought on the environment, destroy all of Earth's radioactive reactors and weapons, institute magical energy generators for infinite clean energy, and so on.

Following that, I'd found an institute dedicated to fixing various problems, as well as encouraging education, self-empowerment, free thought, ambition, and the general advancement of humanity without succumbing to all the negativity that gave rise to all the problems I just fixed.

Then I'd probably go explore this world, and eventually move on to new worlds. Maybe go see what awesome things I could find in the new multiverse I created. I'd leave a way for Earth to contact me if needed, though, and check in from time to time to make sure nobody's screwed things up while I've been gone.

I certainly wouldn't want to rule anything, because taking on that level of responsibility would suck. Leaving the world a much better place than I found it sounds like a much better idea.

[Vaz]

Use Divinations to win the lottery and beat the odds when making financial decisions. Finally figure out what the wife means when she says "I'm fine".

[AvatarVecna]

Use my array of high-level divination spells to figure out why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

...

Wait, so I wake up as a Wizard 20? I wake up as a Wizard 20?!

Spoiler

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Ignoring the above obvious flaw with this scenario, I guess I should put my char-op knowledge to good use and optimize my build. Of course, I'll be optimizing the build I have to specifically make it possible for me to redo my build whenever I want, allowing me to specialize in whatever task happens to be at hand. I'll almost certainly aim for reaching Vermin Lord 10, and then go to a bee farm and steal the bees. According to this page, those particular beekeepers once had 30 hives in one bee yard, and according to google, the average hive has 20k-30k in the winter and 60k-80k in the summer, so let's average it to about 50000 per hive. That gives me 1.5 million bees to work with, which means as a Vermin Lord my hivemind will give me casting as a Sorcerer of level ~30000, bonus Int/Cha of +~30000, ~30000 bonus skill points/feats per HD, and ~30000 actions/round. Yeah, that sounds like a good start.

At this point, I start putting out super-layered, super-metamagic'd, super-metamagic-reduced Time Stop spells. Each Twin'd Repeat'd Empower'd Maximize'd Time Stop gives me 4d2+20 rounds (average of 26); with how many 9th level spells I have available, such spells should give me a few days of Time Stop, which is enough Time for me to regain my spell slots. I will never not be in Time Stop again unless I actually want to affect the world. Incidentally, my goal at this point is figuring out a path to immortality for me and my bees...shouldn't be that difficult, considering what's available to me. With this much power to throw around, I'll be able to shield us from everything, assuming we're not in Time Stop.

At this point, the most important thing is making sure that Big Government doesn't figure out what my powers are, so I guess I need to Mind Rape everybody who knows about it into not knowing about it; every swarm in my hivemind should probably cast Mind Blank on itself as well, for good measure. At this point, I basically have thousands of spells at every spell level every day, and thousands of actions per round to work with, all skills maxed out, and whatever feats I actually want. With a build like that, World Domination is pretty much inevitable, unless somebody else has beaten me to the punch.

Do I even need to mention that I'd use my fantastical powers to get laid? I don't even mean like Mind Rape or anything, just "I'll cast something on your behalf". Everybody has a price.

[Afgncaap5]

Absolutely no world domination. I have 9th level magic; a world is both unnecessary and would be an impractical headache that just ate up my free time.

I'd generate some quick cash, head back to college, and begin getting some training. No need for degrees in anything, but I want a firmer grasp of the world before I start breaking it. I assume my skills are increased to whatever they'd be at 20, and while I'm guessing I can't homebrew anything, there's bound to be some *awesome* stuff that I can do with a maxed out Craft (Alchemy) skill and the equivalent of a doctorate in chemistry, just for starters.

I'd probably also start setting up divinations to keep tabs on the development of Artificial Intelligence. I'm guessing my equivalent of an "Int Score" increased to keep up with my spells, but if an "intelligence explosion" happens with computers the way that some are predicting, then humanity could be in jeopardy. I'm guessing it won't... artificial intelligence doesn't mean artificial drive or desire, after all... but it's still probably warranted to perform some periodic divinations just in case there's any particular AI project that we might want to stall in development.

Dealing with the unknowns, there's a lot of known issues in the world. Even as a wizard I couldn't (or at least wouldn't) want to solve them all (and I'm guessing that I wasn't allowed to take the Wedded To History feat, and the other methods of immortality have always seemed unfun to me, so I wouldn't have *time* to solve them all as they developed) so I'd start figuring out what level of problem I should deal with. People dying of dehydration out there could suddenly get water (who's gonna stop me from delivering it to them? No embargo could realistically nix that) but I don't know how I'd feel about toppling cruel or dictatorial governments, at least not in quick swoops. We don't want to make power vacuums after all, and as pointed out before *I* don't want to rule things.

Now, there's a realistic limit to how many spells I'd have in a spellbook, and spell research takes funding. I'd probably set up a crowdfunding platform online and let people who wanted to support my magical works donate their cash when able. Assuming people like the work I'm doing, it'd keep money rolling in for my magic research and continued doctorate work (four PhD's and counting, or their equivalent!) Ideally I'm also investing in the stock market at this point to support the companies that I like while also getting an ever-increasing set of dividends. I'd probably build a tower (because Wizard) as a publicly visible "base" (even if i'd probably spend more time elsewhere as said tower would be a notable target for people who don't like me).

Now, while I'm trying not to involve myself too much in the world's political landscape, I'd absolutely try to influence artistic aesthetics. The aforementioned tower would be an art deco masterpiece (I'm sure there are some architects out there who'd love to work on something like that) because I never quite forgave World War 2 for killing the art deco movement in the States right when it was getting good and sort of ending one of the United States' most iconic kinds of art. Speaking of art iconic of the US, I'd promote Jazz and Blues music, and probably Ska... nothing wrong with dub step, house music, and the whole dance-party craze that's goin' on, but I only like that in small doses. Also I'll get a rocking chair for *other* ways that I complain about changing times. *Rock, rock, rock*

I'd also try to do a lot of travelling and try to meet people, both noteworthy and mundane. I've never seen the Great Wall of China, and I've never had hot chocolate in Seattle (I know coffee should be the go-to there, but I hate coffee... don't worry, coffee lovers, I won't try to change *that* public aesthetic, you can keep your addiction to a beverage that tastes like moose ears while claiming that you "like it" because it doesn't taste "that bad"). I'd also like to talk to a number of people... whoever I get that hot chocolate from, for instance, modern scientists and philosophers, heads of state, people I meet on trains (who needs teleport when you can travel by train, I say with my best Sheldon Cooper impersonation) and the like. Might be fun to get a monthly chess game going with the Pope, the President, the royalty and/or elected officials of other countries, and the like.

Oh, I'd also create a secret second identity to try to become a published author. I don't want people buying my books just because I'm that crazy wizard who keeps tampering with things. I'd probably write some feel-good sci-fi books, maybe some mysteries.

Also, I'm leveraging a lot to getting to other planets. I'm giving NASA, and other private groups, some of my funding to improve their work so I can get there on human-built spaceships while also going there under my own power. (Hey, if and when something happens to me I'm gone, and I don't know if other Wizards are even possible; humans can't just rely on magic forever, after all.)

[Arael666]

Finally figure out what the wife means when she says "I'm fine".

Let me stop you right there. World domination, world utopia, creating entire new universes are completely achievable goals, but there are some things that will never be acomplished, even if you're a 20th level wizard.

[Rubik]

Immortality is easy. A simple Polymorph Any Object every few years to give yourself a younger body is all it would take. Just make sure it's undispellable, and since you live in a world where you're the only magical being, that's not hard. Though I'd still guard against it, just in case.

[RolandDeschain]

Let me stop you right there. World domination, world utopia, creating entire new universes are completely achievable goals, but there are some things that will never be acomplished, even if you're a 20th level wizard.

I agree, this is likely to unravel existence as we know it...let's try to keep this somewhat realistic

[kalasulmar]

I would get Zeppelin back together.

[Cirrylius]

So, what would you do now you're a uber wizard?

Retire on a W20's WBL. Whatever can't be bought with almost eight literal tons of gold can be bought with trade goods as starting equipment.


...I remember when I was less of a grownup

[Rubik]

Retire on a W20's WBL. Whatever can't be bought with almost eight literal tons of gold can be bought with trade goods as starting equipment.

...I remember when I was less of a grownup

I'd rather use the WBL to "buy" magic items and acquire spells, use divination to win the lottery, and make a demiplane out of rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and platinum.

If you can't figure out how to live comfortably on 24,400,000 cubic feet of ridiculously valuable gems and precious metals, then you probably dumped your Int and can't cast Genesis to begin with.

I've always thought it would be fun to go out and play in my own fanfictions. That is, start with some fictional world and insert myself in it, with a few random changes to mix things up. Voldemort isn't nearly as terrifying when you can wipe the floor with him with little to do, and he and his minions are evil, insane, and stupid enough that tormenting them would be fun.

[Afgncaap5]

Just make sure it's undispellable, and since you live in a world where you're the only magical being, that's not hard. Though I'd still guard against it, just in case.

Right. After all, don't forget: you got these twenty wizard levels *somehow*.

And whatever *is* providing all this awesomeness might not have the same rules interpretations as I do, so certain tricks might not be as surefire as I'd like.

[Cirrylius]

If you can't figure out how to live comfortably on 24,400,000 cubic feet of ridiculously valuable gems and precious metals, then you probably dumped your Int and can't cast Genesis to begin with.

Dude, just one cubic foot is living comfortably.

[Curmudgeon]

Begin farming ambrosia with any of a number of common methods. It acts as a substitute for XP in all ways but adding more levels ...

No, it doesn't.

This physical manifestation of joy, called ambrosia, can be used in the creation of good magic items, as a special spell component, or as a druglike substance (with no addictive qualities).
...
Good spellcasters can use ambrosia in magic item creation. Each dose provides the equivalent of 2 experience points needed to create the item. A dose of ambrosia can also be used as an optional spell component (see Chapter 3).

As an optional component, ambrosia automatically increases the effective caster level of a single good spell by +2.

Ambrosia doesn't do anything for spells with an XP cost, which is the specific problem I mentioned.

[Rubik]

Ambrosia doesn't do anything for spells with an XP cost, which is the specific problem I mentioned.

Yay dweomerkeeper.

[Curmudgeon]

Yay dweomerkeeper.

Supernatural Spell is a very spiffy ability. How is that relevant to a Wizard 20 who can't gain any XP?

[Jay R]

I don't think I'dt quit my job immediately.

I'd stick around and make my boss's life a living hell for awhile first.