Why start by casting the lower level attack spells.
The fight will be over fast, so open with the most powerful attack spells and then use the weaker ones later. Nothing more embarrassing than ending up in hell with your death spells still ready.
The next tactic is to kill the PC spell casters while they are messing with the black tentacles before they can intefere with his spells
Does he know the pc's tactics and powers if so he should have a spell list customised to deal with them.
Also he should have a viable plan in case his black tentacles do not work. Ideally he would want to be able to retreat but the plot may mean he is committed to this battle
Spellbane is a 10ft emanation. If you are expecting the party to be using Freedom of Movement, why are you using a widened Black Tentacles? And what if they are flying?
Any 20th level wizard worthy of his level should be astrally projecting and have a clone or 3 ready.
Having a contingency up is a good idea. Having an escape option that still works even when dimensionally anchored or similar is better.
Prismatic Sphere is a staple. And why would he need to spend his timestop rounds to buff? Isn't he already aware of the party's approach?
And never underestimate how effective dispelling or otherwise removing the party's buff spells can be.
A sequence of delayed blast fireballs (cast them from scrolls) will blow through Protection from Fire and kill wizards and many clerics if you use them during the timestop.
Why is his intelligence so high, but none of his physical stats are boosted, and why isn't his wisdom higher?
Also avoid black tentacles. It is not likely to work.
What are the party's usual tactics?
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What level is the party when they meet this guy? Why is he a Spell sage? The creature whos true name he knows is present i assume? What is it? He need buffs on con and possibly dex.
As he is now he will loose to most level 12+groups i have seen. Unless he is in ambush because his saves will be terrible.
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Give him 2 allies.
Throw down CC first round. While they are reeling from the first round and trying to recover use EFS to bubble then magic jar and take control of the person not sporting protection from evil. Use ally to kill the most vulnerable player with your two allies....should only take a round. Then suicide who your controlling and go back to your own body and continue to clean up.
Typically the party will TPK unless their caster is very good and well prepared.
Dotting, will post after work.
Give him 2 allies.
Throw down CC first round. While they are reeling from the first round and trying to recover use EFS to bubble then magic jar and take control of the person not sporting protection from evil. Use ally to kill the most vulnerable player with your two allies....should only take a round. Then suicide who your controlling and go back to your own body and continue to clean up.
Typically the party will TPK unless their caster is very good and well prepared.
You need line of effect from the Jar to your victims. So the Jar cannot be inside the EFS, therefore it is vulnerable to their actions. And, while you don't need line of effect to the jar from your own body, you might need it to return from the jar at the end.
So, if you want to use this, precast it on a well-hidden jar so the party can't recognise the spell and start looking for your jar.
I still prefer Astral Projection.
Consider that in this situation someone with an Int of 30+ is really good at working out what the characters can do and coming up with really clever plans , much better than the gm. I know I am not a supernaturally intelligent genius.
Also the big boss normally has at least some idea of what you did to his minions particularly with access to a lot of divination magic, I would be embarrassed if I defeated a 20th level wizard and discovered he had some random generic preparation such a foe should be within the limits of his available resources fully ready to face the pc's . Who no doubt will (should) have been gathering information and preparing for this specific foe.
I find that the pc's normally win anyway as there are more of them with more actions and more minds to come up with cunning plans and less distracted by the other things the gm has to be tracking
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The best way to make wizards and spellcasters BBEG in general, you customize their spell list to fight your party. If they use a spell or a tactic, just have spells or contingency against their usual tactics. It will be a memorable fight and your players will think outside the box for a little bit.I disagree with this unless the BBEG is spying on the party. I have a DM who loves to do this so I have always have to hide my best tactics, even though I am constantly protecting myself from spying. It is not just unfair, but boring, to invalidate a character's best tactics due to metagame knowledge. Instead just try to have diversity of spells ready that target every save; summon creatures, kill sightlines, take advantage of terrain. There's no need to metagame a party to beat them.
Not every spellcaster is going to be prepared all the time vs a specific a party but usually when I hear BBEG, it is someone who has been a torn in the side of the pcs for awhile. Random Evil Wizard in a tower, will just have his regular spell list.
BBEG who has been an enemy of the party since they started their adventuring days? Especially a wizard or a cleric (high int or high wis), why wouldn't they prepare their spells to be ready for such enemies?