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Permanently meaning in a way that does not wear off after some time by itself, or that is not removed by long rest.

It would be possible to undo the effect with another spell, like Dispel Magic, Greater Restroration, Resurrection or Wish. But absent such countermeasures, which spells in the PHB can cause an enduring effect on an opposing creature?

Excluded are simple damage spells that of course could kill the opponent with sufficient damage.

Examples of the kind of spells I am thinking of: Disintegrate, Plane Shift (putting them into another plane until they cast Plane Shift or Astral Spell themselves or find a portal back), Imprisonment.

Nobody the Hobgoblin
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  • Related: Which monsters can permanently harm player characters?. There are a lot of spellcaster NPCs and monsters. If you swapped their spell lists, using spells as listed here would possibly make them more dangerous and affect their Challenge Rating. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 17:33
  • I'm confused, feeblemind does wear off after some time so why are you including it? I think a lot of this needs more explanation (like what counts as "harm"). And I think the big thing that's missing to me is why you're interested in these kinds of spells specifically. That answer isn't necessary, but it is certainly helpful in better understanding this question – Exempt-Medic Feb 19 '22 at 20:23
  • Hi @Exempt-Medic: your are rightfully so, good catch. I missed the 30 day expiration. I'll remove the spell, although for practical campaigns, 30 day may be as well near permanent, as on average if you adventure full time, you gain a level every 2 days or so. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 20:36
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    @GroodytheHobgoblin “a level every two days or so” where did you get that from? – Thomas Markov Feb 19 '22 at 20:46
  • That stems form the XP/per encounter table and number of expected encounters per day. You can just do the math, and if you waste zero time, you would need 35 days to get from level one to level 20. If you want post a question and I can give you the detail table in an answer. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 20:48
  • @Exempt-Medic: This question came from a discussion thread of the releated question where people pointed out that the DM might change the default spell lists and then one possibly would need to include more Monsters. I thought it is cleaner to treat this as a separate question. One application is to make the campaign tougher/deadlier for the PCs by using more of these spells, another is to make it less dangerous by avoiding them. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 20:54
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    Is that last sentence above you're actual question? Are you looking to figure out how to make campaigns tougher/deadlier and think that spell uses are the lever for that? I also really don't understand how you keep saying permanenty, but want to ignore the in-game solutions that make those same things definitely not permanent. It feels like you're making artificial limitations to get to a certain point and it would be much better to ask about your problem rather than these questions that seem to dance around it. – NotArch Feb 19 '22 at 21:15
  • @NautArch: no this is not an XY thing, I think. I can think of many ways to make a campaign more deadly, that would be a question that would generate answers too general to be useful to me, I susptect. I cannot think of a better word then permanent for what I have in mind. Maybe, persistent? Not a native speaker. Looked up permanent, it says "lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely." – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 21:29
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    I honestly can't help you with a better word because I don't understand what the issue is you are solving for. A list of things that match a random set of requirements doesn't appear to be helpful. – NotArch Feb 19 '22 at 21:30
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    You say "harm" as your question yet give "plane shift" as an example. That spell doesn't harm the recipient, it just puts them on a new plane. Unless you're putting them in the middle of the plane of fire, where is the harm in going to say the Ethereal Plane? – MivaScott Feb 19 '22 at 21:36
  • You can just do the math, and if you waste zero time, you would need 35 days to get from level one to level 20 That's 35 Adventure Days, FWIW – KorvinStarmast Jul 28 '22 at 11:33

1 Answers1

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For simplicity, I've grouped spell by (roughly) what effect they have. And for completeness I've included the examples given in the question. Spells not from the PHB has their source indicated.

Prevent Resurrection

A number of spells have additional effects when reducing a creature to 0 hit points, which in addition to skipping death saving throws, also prevents the creature from being resurrected. At least by the simpler means (eg. often requiring true resurrection).

  • Disintegrate (reduces to dust)
  • Dark Star (reduces to dust. EGtW)
  • Immolation (reduces to ash. EE)
  • Psychic Scream (loss of head. XGtE)
  • Ravenous Void (annihilated. EGtW)
  • Finger of Death (raised as zombie; under your control)
  • Negative Energy Flood (raised as zombie; not under your control. XGtE)

Petrification

These spells can cause the petrified condition, which lasts until cured.

  • Flesh to Stone
  • Prismatic Spray (indigo)
  • Prismatic Wall (indigo)

Shunting

These spells can put a creature on another plane, or demiplane (or other similiar "away"s).

  • Plane shift
  • Banishment (returns to native plane)
  • Banishing smite (returns to native plane)
  • Demiplane (provides no direct method of trapping; but can leave a creature trapped on a demiplane)
  • Imprisonment
  • Prismatic Spray (violet)
  • Prismatic Wall (violet)

Other Changes

These remaining spells apply different negative effects with indefinite effects. I've included spells which can be indefinite as long as the creature never succeeds the repeated saving throw (eg. when save DC - modifier > 20).

  • Feeblemind (if never succeeding the saving throw)
  • True polymorph (permanently change into a different creature or object)
  • Magic Jar (permanently has its soul and control replaced by yours. Use at own risk)
  • Modify Memory (as implied by the name)
  • Time Ravage (age the creature. EGtW)
  • Power Word Stun (if never succeeding the saving throw)
  • Geas (forces obeying of your command. When upcast to 9th level)
Exempt-Medic
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Someone_Evil
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    Great answer, thanks a lot! There is a lot of spells that are new to me (mostly know the core rules stuff). You may want to add Maze, if they have a negative Int modifier, they will never get out there. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 21:08
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    @GroodytheHobgoblin Maze has a maximum duration of 10 minutes (un)fortunately – Someone_Evil Feb 19 '22 at 21:09
  • Ah, yes. Right to leave off. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 21:11
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    +1 brilliant answer @Someone_Evil. I might add Wish as a potentially self-inflicted harmful spell, if it is used to push beyond its suggested limits. – Senmurv Feb 19 '22 at 21:14
  • You may want to remove feeblemind and some other (such as power word stun) since the OP is removing feeblemind – Exempt-Medic Feb 19 '22 at 21:15
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    @Exempt-Medic I thought about that, but that's why I made sure to spend some words on the condition. It might a big if (much bigger for PWS really) but it is indefinite under that condition. There are other conditions among the list (eg. for banishment) so I'd rather include the technical entries – Someone_Evil Feb 19 '22 at 21:21
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    @NautArch I think those fall under the countermeasures the question acknowledges, don't you? I think the existence of wish and true resurrection there aren't any spells which don't have at least one way to undo. – Someone_Evil Feb 19 '22 at 21:26
  • @Someone_Evil: maybe Sequester would work too for the list. Would need to charm/dominate them for while casting it. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 21:34
  • @Someone_Evil: I'll give an example, maybe that helps, say you have a 11th level group, and they face an Archmage - he is CR 12, so not out of range at all. If he had Plane Shift (as the DM changed his spell list, as commenters suggested), then one of the PCs might be gone for good on a failed save, with no way to get him back unless you have powerful friends or you wait for 2 more levels to get access to that (let's hope it was not your wizard). That could well be months of real time for the player to have to use an interim character or such. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Feb 19 '22 at 21:37
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    @NautArch I think we can reasonable take permanent to be can be indefinite bar external effects or abilities. I'm not sure what other definition (or view) one could reasonably expect. And while there are edge cases, it doesn't seem beyond an answer's scope to cover those and why they might be borderline – Someone_Evil Feb 19 '22 at 21:51
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    Wish: "I wish that X would never have been born." - bamf! They are gone. Forever. Without chance to resurrect because they never existed in the first place. – Trish Feb 20 '22 at 00:12