Editing Elminster (section)

==Elminster's Statblocks==
So, with all that out of the way, you're probably wondering: what does Elminster's statblock look like? How does the Realms' most iconic [[wizard]] attempt to beat the [[Lord British Postulate]]? Well, the simple answer is... he doesn't. He's ''powerful'', sure, but not exactly invincible.

Elminster's stats first appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition when he debuted in the ''DM's Sourcebook of the Realms'', the DM-centric half of the original Forgotten Realms campaign boxed set. He was subsequently reprinted in ''Hall of Heroes'' and ''Curse of the Azure Bonds''.

In ''Hall of Heroes'', he's statted up as a 26th level Magic-User with Strength 13, Constitution 14, Dexterity 18, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 18, and Charisma 17. It's noted that he has spent time as a [[fighter]], [[rogue]] and [[cleric]], but long years without practicing those classes have left him bereft of their abilities and he's basically just a super high-level wizard. He does have innate [[psionics]] (266 "Psionic Power", all attack/defense modes), but hasn't studied these abilities in particular depth either. He has the innate ability to detect magic by sight (even he's not sure ''why'', but he thinks it might be a unique psionic talent), and always wears a Necklace of Missiles, a Ring of Regeneration, and a Ring of Protection +3, giving him a typical Armor Class of... 7. Even by [[THAC0]] rules, not ''that'' good. He compensates by applying the spells shield, protection from normal missiles, stone skin, statue, Serten's spell immunity, and his custom-created spell Elminster's evasion when he goes out traipsing across the landscape.

2nd edition saw another three important books in regards Elminster's crunch; ''Heroes' Lorebook'', ''The Code of the Harpers'', and ''The Dalelands''. The Heroes Lorebook is the most relevant of the three, as it updated his 1e statblock - the Code of the Harpers did give us stats to his Eversmoking Pipe, though.

In 2e, Elminster is now a 29th level [[Wizard]] and a Chosen of [[Mystra]]. This means he knows ''as many spells as the DM wants him to know'', instead of being limited to 18 spells per spell level like a normal Wizard of Int 18. He's got the same stats, and carries the same three iconic magic items as in 1e, but has now added his unique Eversmoking Pipe to the arsenal, and his native AC has dropped to 6 (which that +3 Protection Ring reduces to 3). He still has the aforementioned [[psionics]] prowess (or lack thereof), but despite technically having been a [[Fighter]]/[[Rogue]]/[[Cleric]], his centuries of neglecting practice have cost him all of his non-wizard class abilities. He does have decent combat skills with dagger, dart and quarterstaff, and his nonweapon proficiency values are "he knows as much about any subject as you want him to know, because he's probably studied it over the centuries". His status as a Chosen also grants him immunity to 9 spells (Elminister chose magic missile, ESP, fireball, Evard's black tentacles, feeblemind, death spell, finger of death, power word blind, and imprisonment for his protections), as well as a set of 9 spell-like abilities, each usable 1/day, that Elminster has used to gain permanent reliable access to the spells spider climb, vocalize, dispel magic, whisper blade, ironguard, ghostgrail, the Simbul's synostodweomer, the Simbul's skeletal deliquescence, and Elminster's effulgent epuration.

[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] saw Elminster take pride of place in the 3e ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' splatbook, where he is now... a mess.
* Classwise, Elminster is a [[Fighter]] 1/[[Rogue]] 2/[[Cleric]] 3/[[Wizard]] 20/[[Archmage]] 5/Epic-level Wizard 4
* He also has the new Chosen of Mystra template.
* His stats have changed at last; he's gained +10 Constitution from his Chosen template (so Con 24), and has used [[Wish]] spells for enhanced Intelligence, boosting him from Int 18 to Int 24.
* His iconic possessions are now: Ring of Protection +3, Amulet of Natural Armor +5, Bracers of Armor +7, Ring of Regeneration, Mantle of Spell Resistance, Thundering Longsword +5, Elminster's Eversmoking Pipe
* Chosen Spell Immunities: Detect Thoughts, Disintegrate, Evard's Black Tentacles, Feeblemind, Finger of Death, Fireball, Magic Missile, Sunburst, Time Stop
* Chosen Spell-like Abilities (1/day): Dispel Magic, Lesser Ironguard, See Invisible, Shapechange, Simbul's Synostodweomer, Spider Climb, Teleport Without Error, Thunderlance, True Seeing.
* He can once again Detect Magic at-will anywhere in his line of sight.
* His Archmage prestige class has given him access to the High Arcana of Arcane Fire, Arcane Reach, Mastery of Counterspelling and Mastery of Elements.
* Finally, he's gained the ability to use Mystra's Silver Fire. Elminster can evoke this ability at-will to grant the effects of either a Ring of Mind-Shielding or a Ring of Warmth, to grant himself water-breathing, or to banish magical compulsions on himself as per a Greater Dispelling - he can only evoke one of these benefits at a time! Additionally, he can evoke it to sustain him once per tenday (granting no need to eat or drink for a week), and once every 70 minutes he can unleash it as an offensive blast (70ft long, 5ft wide line, punches through barriers like a lightning bolt, ignores spell resistance and magical barriers, does 4d12 Fire damage, DC 23 Reflex save to halve). He can also emit Silver Fire in the form of a restorative surge (70ft cone, permanently negates dead magic zones and nullifies antimagic zones in area of effect), but Mystra discourages using this ability unless absolutely necessary.

This statblock would be reprinted in the ''Epic Level Handbook''; aside from removing the "Epic-level Wizard 4' thing from his statblock, and having a much clearer layout, the two are identical.