View Single Post
Old 06-27-2012, 01:48 PM   #1154
Abe Sargent
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Catonsville, MD
Alzar is very close to level 14, and the extremely potent level 7 magic that comes with it. Two of the most powerful spells he has are semi-permanency and consume knowledge. The latter will destroy any book but instantly give Alzar the knowledge in it. Imagine how powerful it is with his Bookcopy spell. He can cast Bookcopy to make a duplicate of a book, and then absorb the duplicate with Consume Knowledge and instantly gain everything it says. A thick tome that would take a day or three to read instead takes two spells. The second spell is a lighter version of the powerful 8th level permanency. It can’t be used to make magical items but it can make any spell effect that permanency affects last more than ten years with no drawback. Alzar can have all of his undead enchanted with his own Undead Porter spell or protection spells for his items such as Talon’s Waterproof and Flameproof. He also has all of the essential spells to bind extra planar creatures into more permanent service than a day or two.

I can’t find many adventures that make sense for him and his power. There are three ways I can take Alzar in the future, but for now, I’m feeling like retiring him for now. Here they are:

The Normal – Labyrinth of Madness looks like a dungeon that would throw him, and Vecna Lives! appears to be a good module with people above his level to tussle with. Perhaps one or two M or CM modules from the D&D line meant for people well above his level.

The Unusual – Alzar moves for a while out into the planes! He travels and adventures in other planes of existence. In these places, sometimes he can’t lean on the normal allies or items or spells, and would have to find other routes of addressing something. Also, many entities out there are much more powerful than the ones in this world.

The Different – Alzar as a general! I would move Alzar to a Battlesystem miniature game (based on the D&D one) and have him fight in the Battlesystem with armies of orcs, undead, and others against various foes. With his knowledge of tactics and leadership of large units, he could be that rare necromancer who actually understands the war side of battle and does well.
__________________
Check out my two current weekly Magic columns!

https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent
Abe Sargent is offline   Reply With Quote