You're a Wizard_[USERNAME]!

The "problem" with controlling the world is that you have no guarantee that this isn't going to happen again. And if it does, then you've made yourself a target to the next guy to get these kinds of powers.

You know what, I change my mind. I'll get all of the magic item creation feats. With those, I can make magic items that can add metamagic effects to my spells. I can't make it work in reverse. Also, I don't plan on being an adventurer, so I don't need to optimize my feats to be an adventurer.

I did the math and if I only start with the spells I gain from my wizard class, then its going to take years to research all the wizard spells in the core rulebook (using the rules on p. 219 in the core rulebook).

Being that Nethys was who gave you these powers, I'd think it smart to work on things that he'd like. Opening a mage school seems like a good start.

They wouldn't even know he was mind controlled though. These guys are normal level 0-1 humans with untrained Knowledge Arcana, Knowledge Psionics, and Spellcraft.

They wouldn't have the faintest clue as to what's going on.

You are assuming a lot. Anyone in a position of power that is suddenly displaying different behavior is going to be immediate viewed with suspicion, especially when they begin acting in a manner that threatens the national security of their country. And there are always people watching said leaders for the opportunity to pounce and claim power, even in the more modern countries.

And, no. You are probably actually dealing with level 3 to 5 commoners, experts, warriors or aristocrats when melding with the elite members of the population (ie, the political leaders and military personnel). Even if they don't possess the ranks in the appropriate knowledge skills, sense motive is something any can roll and knowing their target gives pretty good circumstantial modifiers.

I'm not knocking the idea. I am just saying that it will not be as easy as you seem to think it is.

Ryze Kuja wrote:

They wouldn't even know he was mind controlled though. These guys are normal level 0-1 humans with untrained Knowledge Arcana, Knowledge Psionics, and Spellcraft.

They wouldn't have the faintest clue as to what's going on.

You are assuming a lot. Anyone in a position of power that is suddenly displaying different behavior is going to be immediate viewed with suspicion, especially when they begin acting in a manner that threatens the national security of their country. And there are always people watching said leaders for the opportunity to pounce and claim power, even in the more modern countries.

And, no. You are probably actually dealing with level 3 to 5 commoners, experts, warriors or aristocrats when melding with the elite members of the population (ie, the political leaders and military personnel). Even if they don't possess the ranks in the appropriate knowledge skills, sense motive is something any can roll and knowing their target gives pretty good circumstantial modifiers.

I'm not knocking the idea. I am just saying that it will not be as easy as you seem to think it is.

I cast Fireball.

Great. You've blown up some very important people. Now what?

Ryze casts Form of the Dragon III.

"Bow before me mortals, or meet your doom...

...and fetch me a platter of your finest chimichangas."

Hmmm... That ... is not going to work out well for you. Putting aside all the intimidation and magical compulsion at your disposal, but since we are talking about magic powers in the REAL world... There are at least TWO wide spread world religions that would immediately take notice and attempt to purge you from the Earth. Form of the Dragon, indeed. Spot on.

Ryze casts Control Weather and forms a 2 mile wide tornado on top of the Vatican.

"I said I want a platter of CHIMICHANGAS."

Ryze casts Form of the Dragon III.

"Bow before me mortals, or meet your doom...

...and fetch me a platter of your finest chimichangas."

Dragons have low Touch AC, and guns target Touch AC.

In terms of raw firepower, the real world has Pathfinder beat pretty easily.

You can call forth weather appropriate to the climate and season of the area you are in.

...
You cannot control specific applications of the weather—where lightning strikes, for example, or the exact path of a tornado.

Not that either of these spells would be useless, but a direct assault like that is just gonna get you killed reeaal fast. I hope you picked that Reincarnation Druid archetype.

Being that Nethys was who gave you these powers, I'd think it smart to work on things that he'd like. Opening a mage school seems like a good start.

I considered that. It would probably be the most in demand course on the planet. I don't think I would be up for it shortly after becoming a wizard.

Maybe I should select a few people, privately, to train before doing big classes. That way I'm not the only person who can teach magic.

Another question, does anyone think there are any magic items or magical texts in this world? If not, I'll probably have make them from scratch.

Curse Terrain -> Rain of Gore(x4) is a much lower level and probably more terrifying than a single tornado.

After much thought… slight alteration to my choice of class in my earlier post… still an Arcanist, but specifically Blood Arcanist of the Phoenix bloodline… that rebirth ability is a must have for anyone who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight as the most powerful being on earth… someone is bound to try and have me killed and if I can just come back a minute later then should someone actually succeed at that their victory will be short lived…

I can say right now that one of the first spells, if not the first spell, that I'd research would be something to help with making technological items instead of having to use dozens of Fabricate spells to produce components of components.

As for making mind-slaves, probably better to start with smaller entities first, to get a better feel for all of the moving parts and an idea of how many simulacra, etc. you'd need to act as handlers and monitors for your mind-slaves.

I'd definitely exhaust the possibility of researching the D&D 3.5 spells Mindrape or Programmed Amnesia first, before I tried to rely on a whole bunch of Dominate Person spells.

The "problem" with controlling the world is that you have no guarantee that this isn't going to happen again. And if it does, then you've made yourself a target to the next guy to get these kinds of powers.

That would most likely be the case already anyway, given the premise, if Wizard 2 knows that Wizard 1 is still on the board at all instead of having left to explore space or other planes.

Depending upon the respective levels of psychosis, megalomania, etc., of course. As well as whether the two Wizards were ideologically aligned.

The real worry with someone else getting powers, though, as I see it, is if That Guy(TM) ended up with phenomenal cosmic powers. At least once he got bored with sating petty lusts and greed.

OTOH, once you've cheesed enough things and gotten well and truly entrenched, it's still not going to be easy for a rival who is getting started without any of that infrastructure. Plus if they end up with the same limitation of not being able to cast spells until they rest and then prepare them, they'd be really vulnerable to any kind of minions set to the task of monitoring for such events and then collecting said new wizards before they can come into their full casting capability.

Right, but the benefits to ruling the world are the harems and concubines that fan you off with giant leaves and feed you grapes.

Simulacra and Trompe l'Oeil cover that kind of thing already. Heck, Planar Binding does, too.

Make a Silent Aviary and play its game and you can even get a genie waifu with no magical slavery necessary.

Melkiador wrote:

Being that Nethys was who gave you these powers, I'd think it smart to work on things that he'd like. Opening a mage school seems like a good start.

I considered that. It would probably be the most in demand course on the planet. I don't think I would be up for it shortly after becoming a wizard...

Not to mention every major power player on the planet would want to get itn. Unless the students you have are independently powerful/rich enough to fend off all the power players, you would have competing interests at the start of your mage school.

Unless you resort to outright mind control of your students, it would seems there would be little in the way of guaranteeing their loyalty to you and your secrets

"Yes..... mmhmhmhmhmmmmmm.... it's working perfectly.... firearms mhM? they think I'm dangerous because of my hide... "

Casts Dimension Door
Casts Adjustable Disguise
Casts Teleport

Some of y’all are way too paranoid. If you’re a fairly benevolent wizard most people won’t want the bad optics of opposing you. You could be selective of your students, but more importantly, they would have a very hard time ever reaching your 20th level power. It’s not like they could go out adventuring. And as for keeping the muggles out, that’s easy enough to accomplish by putting it on your own demiplame.

Some of y’all are way too paranoid. If you’re a fairly benevolent wizard most people won’t want the bad optics of opposing you. You could be selective of your students, but more importantly, they would have a very hard time ever reaching your 20th level power. It’s not like they could go out adventuring. And as for keeping the muggles out, that’s easy enough to accomplish by putting it on your own demiplame.

Funny that this post should directly precede me, assuming the thread hasn't moved on by the time I submit.

I was going to say that some of you aren't being immediately paranoid enough. I'm all for being as good and benevolent as a flawed human can be, but the first consideration is that if you live in any kind of country with a fairly large and organized central government, YOU NEED TO HIDE.

Hopefully when/if you have to deal with officials in positions of power, all will be peaceful and amicable. But, if you accept the premise that most governments take pre-emptive actions against possible threats, you have to account for the fact that somebody is coming knocking on your door long before you finish that first 8 (or even 4) hour nap.

I have other reasons to prefer spontaneous casters, but for that reason alone I'd choose to be either an Oracle, Sorcerer, or some spontaneous archetype of the traditionally prepared casters (I do love Druids). Point is, even if I don't have any spells up and ready to go, the other powers I could innately have from the right bloodline (or other features) choice, would give me the power I need to go to ground for that first full rest.

After that, I feel with the right selection of spells, a level 20 sorcerer has plenty of versatility. Summons, wish, and the other broad application spells spring to mind.

Some of y’all are way too paranoid. If you’re a fairly benevolent wizard most people won’t want the bad optics of opposing you. You could be selective of your students, but more importantly, they would have a very hard time ever reaching your 20th level power. It’s not like they could go out adventuring. And as for keeping the muggles out, that’s easy enough to accomplish by putting it on your own demiplame.

Paranoia and high-level Wizards do tend to go hand in hand when it comes to the way a fair segment of the internet thinks about them.

And, well, I'd rather be paranoid to begin with rather than immediately go power mad and start using Polymorph Any Object to turn anyone whom I don't like into endangered and/or extinct species.

I mean, I'm still going to PAO some people into black rhinos anyway, but at least it'll be after I have done my homework first and developed at least some kind of network of servitors.

Speaking of which, it seems like it takes between 5 days and a month depending upon what kind of diamond you're looking to grow. So you'll probably need to secure a fair number of parallel production lines if you want a steady supply of Wish diamonds that way. Using Planar Binding and dropping off a bunch of Earth Elementals to collect them for you is probably more efficient, at least initially. Depending upon how diamond size to gp value works out. Hopefully being able to discern gp value without having to cast spells is part of the suite of powers brought by gaining the levels and skill ranks, etc.

I figure that some kind of off-the-grid power generation is going to be pretty easily possible, at least, once one acquires the materials, minions, and a place to put them. Especially with some kind of resetting (Greater) Teleport Trap in the mix.

Melkiador wrote:

Some of y’all are way too paranoid. If you’re a fairly benevolent wizard most people won’t want the bad optics of opposing you. You could be selective of your students, but more importantly, they would have a very hard time ever reaching your 20th level power. It’s not like they could go out adventuring. And as for keeping the muggles out, that’s easy enough to accomplish by putting it on your own demiplame.

Funny that this post should directly precede me, assuming the thread hasn't moved on by the time I submit.

I was going to say that some of you aren't being immediately paranoid enough. I'm all for being as good and benevolent as a flawed human can be, but the first consideration is that if you live in any kind of country with a fairly large and organized central government, YOU NEED TO HIDE.

Hopefully when/if you have to deal with officials in positions of power, all will be peaceful and amicable. But, if you accept the premise that most governments take pre-emptive actions against possible threats, you have to account for the fact that somebody is coming knocking on your door long before you finish that first 8 (or even 4) hour nap.

I have other reasons to prefer spontaneous casters, but for that reason alone I'd choose to be either an Oracle, Sorcerer, or some spontaneous archetype of the traditionally prepared casters (I do love Druids). Point is, even if I don't have any spells up and ready to go, the other powers I could innately have from the right bloodline (or other features) choice, would give me the power I need to go to ground for that first full rest.

After that, I feel with the right selection of spells, a level 20 sorcerer has plenty of versatility. Summons, wish, and the other broad application spells spring to mind.

So what abilities do you see that would help you hide out for the 8+ hours you need to hide yourself and rest to get your spellcasting mojo?

Offhand the only thing I can think of is immediately taking advantage of Reincarnated Druid's schtick. Which is a bit morbid, to say the least.

I'm assuming, anyway, that abilities that are limited by daily uses are similarly not available until after we've rested, just like the spellcasting. What say you, Xarath?

Well, for the sake of slightly upping the ante and keeping it streamlined, until you've done the initial full rest, all of your abilities, spellcasting included would be unavaible.

Once you've done the initial 8 hrs rest (or less depending on class/feats), then you're ready with your spellcasting and class abilities as normal.

With this in place, there is a slight possibility that the government could identify and get to you within this initial period. Of course, if they can't or fail, then after your rest, you're golden.

Would a wizard with a bonded object still be able to cast one spell?
Worst case, just put 20 ranks into stealth and bluff. If anyone happens to find you then, "I am not the wizard you are looking for."

Well, for the sake of slightly upping the ante and keeping it streamlined, until you've done the initial full rest, all of your abilities, spellcasting included would be unavaible.

Once you've done the initial 8 hrs rest (or less depending on class/feats), then you're ready with your spellcasting and class abilities as normal.

With this in place, there is a slight possibility that the government could identify and get to you within this initial period. Of course, if they can't or fail, then after your rest, you're golden.

I'm not trying to game your system, and I haven't done an exhaustive search yet of bloodlines, domains, mysteries, etc. If I understand you correctly, even always on/present or at will abilities are off the table until that first rest is completed, correct? If that's the case, then I still lean towards spontaneous casters by preferance. Innate ability appeals to me more than item dependent classes. However, I definetly have to also agree with Melkiador. In the first 24 hours (padding time for transit and preperation of defenses) skill choices are extremely important.

I suppose using those skill ranks to quickly churn out something to "prove" that it was all faked would be one tactic, then.

Take 20 ranks in slight of hand and pretend you're just an amazing illusionist.

I honestly don't think there's anyone in NZ who could put together and send out a black bag team in 8 hours. Crashing at a friends' place should get me that much time against ordinary harassment.

I honestly don't think there's anyone in NZ who could put together and send out a black bag team in 8 hours. Crashing at a friends' place should get me that much time against ordinary harassment.

Ditto Australia.

I'll just go bush for a night.

avr wrote:

I honestly don't think there's anyone in NZ who could put together and send out a black bag team in 8 hours. Crashing at a friends' place should get me that much time against ordinary harassment.

Ditto Australia.

I'll just go bush for a night.

Good call. With your newly improved Fortitude saving throws you might actually survive the wildlife.

Maybe I'm a little naive but I'm not so worried about what the Norwegian government would do. I expect they would try to be friends and encourage me to working for them for patriotism and benefits. I'm more worried about what the Americans and Russians would try, especially against family and friends. If I have Spell Mastery with Invisibility and Teleport as chosen spells, worst comes to worst I can be picked up and held for a bit then get out later.

Yeah honestly I don't think I'd be that worried about my own government making threats. Their first port-of-call would almost certainly be recruitment (and this goes for basically any country - if the first real wizard appeared in your country I assume you'd try to get them on-side before trying any other tactics).

I'd be more worried about some religious* nutter coming at me (*or a devout anti-thiest who must expunge proof of god from this world).

Once you agree/disagree to work with your own government you're more likely to get calls from other governments/organisations, and this is probably where you need to be worried. If I'm honest I'd probably prefer to have someone in my corner at this stage, so I'd be more likely to agree wo work with my own government just for peace-of-mind here. Your country of origin may affect how you feel about this though.

...If I understand you correctly, even always on/present or at will abilities are off the table until that first rest is completed, correct?

That's correct. Until you had your first rest, all your abilities, spells etc are "offline"

However your skills and 'stats' are as 20th level (as you've chosen) so while the initial period, you don't have your supreme magical power, you are still the most exceptional human on the planet (if you're still a vanilla human that is)

I'd be more worried about some religious* nutter coming at me (*or a devout anti-thiest who must expunge proof of god from this world).

You're probably good on that front for the first day before you've got your mojo on the gogo, unless there's literally one right there on the spot when Nethys appears, and they were already prepared for a shooting spree or something. Even then, if it's just one person even a level 20 Wizard's combat capabilities and physical resilience are pretty formidable.

If you also have natural healing like a level 20 Wizard instead of a normal human, that's also basically a superpower, too. 20 hp of healing just for sleeping at night is a lot, comparatively.

Once you agree/disagree to work with your own government you're more likely to get calls from other governments/organisations, and this is probably where you need to be worried. If I'm honest I'd probably prefer to have someone in my corner at this stage, so I'd be more likely to agree wo work with my own government just for peace-of-mind here. Your country of origin may affect how you feel about this though.

Yeah, that's part one of why I'd probably end up having to make most of my family become statues stashed away in a demiplane for a while.

You can't disappear or threaten someone who no longer exists on this plane, after all.

I turn myself into the government, rest and heal. In the long term I party on and push the boundaries of research. With 67+d20+d6 (roll 4 times on the d20 and take the highest) knowledge checks.

Some of y’all are way too paranoid. If you’re a fairly benevolent wizard most people won’t want the bad optics of opposing you. You could be selective of your students, but more importantly, they would have a very hard time ever reaching your 20th level power. It’s not like they could go out adventuring. And as for keeping the muggles out, that’s easy enough to accomplish by putting it on your own demiplame.

I’d say you aren’t quite paranoid enough… it would be one thing if you gained the power in secret and revealed yourself to be a benevolent wizard… but when the whole world knows the moment you gained your powers… literally the entire world is immediately going to be questioning your morality. Millions of people will be terrified of you before you ever cast your first spell. Hundreds of millions will be watching any and all news of your actions to pass judgment on you. Governments will fight over you, and should a government get their hands on you things can go from bad to unimaginably worse in an instant… people who were a “possible threat” before you gained magic can easily turn into a guaranteed threat depending on their fear response…

Just to outline a few dangers…

If you live in America, Rednecks might try to shoot you on sight claiming you to be either the spawn of the devil or a communist.
The government will want to lock you up for study.
The government will want to dissect you.
The government will want to “recruit” you… by force… and make you fight wars or commit atrocities for them all in the name of “serving your country”.
Other governments will want to either abduct you or kill you.
Religious nuts will try to kill you.
Cults will try to recruit you.
Cults will form in your name, causing other people to try to kill you as a result.

And for some less physically dangerous and more emotionally and socially dangerous things…

Cults will form in your name, causing irreparable harm to your public image.
News outlets will try to dig up any dirt they can possibly find on you… the more benevolent you come across the harder they will try to tarnish your public image as well… news media outlets never believe that anyone is ever truly benevolent, there is always an ulterior motive and if they can’t find it they will speculate and/or make one up.
You will be a wanted person if your government doesn’t get their hands on you… living a normal life simply isn’t possible when every one is looking to turn you in for a reward.

Most of this would be true even if you controlled the terms of when and how the world learned of your power… but when that choice is taken out of your hands, the correct response is to be paranoid and very very afraid… the US government actually even has a contingency plan for “persons of magical origins”.

Government isn’t nearly so efficient as to tackle a novel situation like this within the 8 hour window. And one off nut jobs are unlikely to have the resources to find you within that time if you just try to hide a little bit. Once you have your spells, no mundane group should be a threat to you.

Also, it’s not like anyone has any reason to think you are momentarily depowered. Anyone with any sense would be very cautious and methodical about coming after you.

Yeah that's a pretty bleak outlook Chell.

The first thing your government will do is try to recruit you (well the first thing is probably to verify, but let's assume they get past that within the first 4 hours, so that leaves 4 hours for ...), and I very much doubt they'd move past the "We'd like you to to be a part of the Aveng ... ah, <Country> First Initiative" phase before you're rested and ready to rock and roll.

Heck the world doesn't know you have an 8 hour window of vulnerability, just tell people you need a day to read over their propaganda and you're golden. If you really need a safe-zone for a week or so just move into the Pentagon with your family and pack your mystic Go-Bag once you get there. You can always move to Mars once you've had a few days to prepare in a comfy government facility.

Also - and I really can't stress this enough - I think people over-value the raw power of a high level Wizard.

- Yes teleportation is nice, but it's only a small timesaver unless you're going into space.

- Yes enchantment is scary, but let's be honest, your favourite tech-mogul is probably better at swaying people's minds than any caster could be (I very carefully didn't name anyone there, let's not open that can of worms and get this thread blocked).

- All this talk of making similacra to farm for precious resources is pitiful compared to the resources brought to bear by a mid-sized country. Even in Pathfinder's own kingdom builing rules a large city has more money than a PC could ever dream of, and the resources available in our world are magnitudes above what's imagined there.

A Wizard/Cleric/whatever is going to be a boon to whichever country/organisation/etc can snag them, but it's not going to be enough to win wars. It's more of a scientific investment than a military one.

A Wizard/Cleric/whatever is going to be a boon to whichever country/organisation/etc can snag them, but it's not going to be enough to win wars. It's more of a scientific investment than a military one.

Um, what? With the right spells you can easily take over or take out the leadership of a country. You can find and destroy stockpiles of strategic weapons with ease, especially if coordinating with a proper military. Airfields, ships, etc. are at your mercy. You can. You can start asteroid bombardment if you want. Going on to a battlefield and Fireballing soldiers is inefficient, but you could conceivably do that without much danger until no one wishes to face you.

You could terrorize a country with a wightpocalypse or plain ol' zombie uprising if you were feeling evil.

Simply, a 20th level caster could do it. It's a lot of work and you can debate whether or not it's worth it, but it's eminently doable.

Yeah that's a pretty bleak outlook Chell.

And yet one that I share. You can't trust people as a whole with such a huge power disparity, especially ones used to wielding power (such as in the government) that now feel directly threatened by something more powerful. Individual people, sure, they can be reasonable.

I'd immediate duck out into the wilderness and find a cave or something to hide for the next 24 hours. Food? Water? Nope, I'll survive a day without it. They come after my family? I can't control what they do to my family but I can control what happens in response to whatever they do. Threats against me will not work. Acting on those threats will not work. But retribution will be ensured should they actually do something.

As for what I would do immediately is form some sort of home base and make sure that I have a safe place to retreat to. What the world does in response to me would probably shape how I respond from there.

MrCharisma wrote:

It's more of a scientific investment than a military one.

Um, what? With the right spells you can easily take over or take out the leadership of a country.

There are already countries - the US at least - that can do basically everything you just said. There are places in the world where people fear the sun because death comes from a clear blue sky.

The reason THIS hasn't already happened is NOT because we lack the capabilities, it's because it doesn't benefit anyone to do so.

I'm not saying a 20th level Wizard* wouldn't shift the balance of power, but it's just one piece on the board. There are other pieces in play, and some are more threating than a rogue Wizard

*I'm just gonna say "Wizard" from now on. If I say "Wizard" assume I mean "Caster". It'll just save me time =P

What you said was

it's not going to be enough to win wars.

No country can mind control someone the way a wizard can. No country can perform assassinations the way a wizard can. We aren't talking about bombing randos to keep their heads down, we are talking about taking out or controlling a country's entire civil and military leadership with trivial ease, which no country can do. With minimal collateral damage and no danger to the caster.

avr wrote:

I honestly don't think there's anyone in NZ who could put together and send out a black bag team in 8 hours. Crashing at a friends' place should get me that much time against ordinary harassment.

Ditto Australia.

I'll just go bush for a night.

I'll concede that you all know your countries far better than I, but you both have central governments, militaries, satellites, and modern infrastructure. Don't you also have special forces and/or some type of intelligence agencies? Are you sure they couldn't find you, when your identity, power investature, and starting location are all over the internet?

Sysryke wrote:

...If I understand you correctly, even always on/present or at will abilities are off the table until that first rest is completed, correct?

That's correct. Until you had your first rest, all your abilities, spells etc are "offline"

However your skills and 'stats' are as 20th level (as you've chosen) so while the initial period, you don't have your supreme magical power, you are still the most exceptional human on the planet (if you're still a vanilla human that is)

Wait!? How could you not be a vanilla human at 20th level in this scenario? I'm assuming it's possible, I just don't know how. If I can change race, I'm having some fun. Honestly, I'm having fun either way :p

Yeah that's a pretty bleak outlook Chell.

The first thing your government will do is try to recruit you (well the first thing is probably to verify, but let's assume they get past that within the first 4 hours, so that leaves 4 hours for ...), and I very much doubt they'd move past the "We'd like you to to be a part of the Aveng ... ah, <Country> First Initiative" phase before you're rested and ready to rock and roll.

Heck the world doesn't know you have an 8 hour window of vulnerability, just tell people you need a day to read over their propaganda and you're golden. If you really need a safe-zone for a week or so just move into the Pentagon with your family and pack your mystic Go-Bag once you get there. You can always move to Mars once you've had a few days to prepare in a comfy government facility.

While Chell does present some of the more extreme, but still possible, outcomes, I was just positing something as simple as the police showing up to bring you in "voluntarilly" for questioning. I can promise you all (family in law enforcement and military), in the States, the government is definetly large and organized enough to identify your location and get personnel to you in an 8 hour window.

With the skills under discussion though, you should be able to effectively hide for that first vital rest period.

What you said was

MrCharisma wrote:

it's not going to be enough to win wars.

No country can <SNIP> the way a wizard can.

The key words there are "the way a wizard can". We can't do it the way a wizard can, but we can do it.

Look I've said my peace. Chances are you either agree with me or you don't, and there's not much I can say to change your mind.

I DO think a wizard would be a powerful tool to change the world, I just don't think combat is their best method of change.

I can see both sides in this argument. I think the simple sum up might be, the Wizard is the single most powerful individual on the planet, but there are other groups and agencies that can bring more power to bear, regardless of what type of contest we're discussing.

MrCharisma wrote:

avr wrote:

NZ

Ditto Australia.

...
<Some other stuff>

Are you sure they couldn't find you ... ?

I understand that the government can get things done, but it wouldn't be hard to hide for a day.

In the current climate it's acceptable to walk around with a mask covering your face, so you could easily get lost in the masses. Just leave your phone at home.

If for some reason the police come knocking on your door before your Swag is ready for the night out, just go with them. If you cooperate they're gonna leave you to your work (or asign someone to watch you, but since they can't read magic they don't know what you're preparing). Then you can prepare enough spells to bug out once you're ready.

And this of course assumes you don't want to work with the government. If you do then it gets easier. Your family probably moves into military housing, you get access to the best healthcare and other facilities, and I can only imagine the income would be more than enough considering all your housing and medical are paid for. You get a secure workplace, and any foreigen agents who want to nix you have to go through a wall of soldiers.

Whether you want to work for the government in this capacity is another matter. Here in Aus we tend to think of our leaders as incompetent rather than threatening ... seriously we've changed leaders so many times in the last few elections that paramedics stopped asking who the PM is. Nobody died or anything, the major parties are just infighting so much they can't agree on who the top job goes to -_-

(Also to dispel some misconceptions: The Australian government and society are much like the US or Europe. Yes we have huge open deserts in the middle, but nearly everyone lives in large cities on the coast. Anything I can do to avoid detection would likely be something you could do as well.)

I can see both sides in this argument. I think the simple sum up might be, the Wizard is the single most powerful individual on the planet, but there are other groups and agencies that can bring more power to bear, regardless of what type of contest we're discussing.

Yeah ... that.

Gosh, I like reading your posts!

Incidently, I mostly agree with your approach to this. But, I'm a bit of a Boy Scout, and "Always be prepared," means planning for worst case scenarios. I'd probably be willing to work with my government to an extent; and the magics I could bring to bear after day 1 pretty much ensure I could safely bug out if they start to deal in bad faith.

Is there a shortish way for you to clarify how you Aussies elect your PM? I know that office is the equivalent executive to our President, but you do seem to swap them out more frequently. Do you not have set terms? Or is your alls' reform and referendum system just a lot easier to push through?

Thanks =)

Thanks for the quick lesson. If I'm understanding correctly, x party wins the election held once every 3 years, but within that 3 year term, hypothetically an infinite number of officials could hold the PM seat? Conversely, if the party is doing well and united, one person could hold the PM seat indefinetly? In either direction though, the person in that seat, isn't directly elected by the general populace. (That's not a critisism. I know we've got the whole Electoral College thing over here.)