Suggestions for a final boss [Archive] - Wizards Community

Suggestions for a final boss [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
058
07-17-07, 10:41 PM I've been working on my next campaign for the past few weeks, which involves the creation of a campaign setting, among other things(if anyone wants to hear about that, ask me and I'll post it later). Currently, I'm thinking about how to do up the 'BBEG' (bah, but I dislike using acronyms).

The force behind the largest evil in the campaign is a creature that's been held for the past hundred decades in a snowglobe. Prior to its imprisonment, it was busy sowing destruction and chaos and all that deal, and was stopped by a group of holy warriors who decided that the worst possible fate for such a creature was to trap it for eternity in a very boring place, so they all spent all of their life energy trapping it. Of course, this comes into the campaign when the beasty manages to break free (how he does so, I won't go into detail on just yet) and starts spreading his supreme unhappiness.

I've taken to referring to this creature as the "eternal being," but I need to actually figure out what it is. Any suggestions? I need something that's killable by a party of four to five and a half level 15-20 characters (the half, I'll only explain if necessary), preferably can cast spells, and will frighten the characters a tad.

Thanks. :-)
Return of the Flumph
07-17-07, 11:52 PM Demon or chaotic evil dragon.
058
07-18-07, 08:59 AM I don't intend for him to be a Dragon; too large and I want him to be closer to humanoid (and not too much larger than the adventurers).

As for the demon; what particular type do you suggest?
ff6shadow
07-18-07, 10:08 AM Balors and Pit Fiends aren't beyond the capabilities of 15-20th level characters, depending upon their level of optimization and overall strength.
Forfeit
07-18-07, 10:51 AM Make it a human. Yes, an human. Or a dwarf. THERE ARE NEVER DWARVEN BBEG. It would be awesome if they found out that the big bad guy is actually a dwarf.

Also, considering this guy spent so much time inside this ball, you should make him a bit underpowered in the begining. You know, the guy stays for ages inside a ball without doing anything, and finds out he has lost a lot of skill and power through time because he didnt do anything.

It would also be awesome if he traveled with the characters for a time and battle and do adventures with the players, just so he could know who are these *****es that are trying to kill him.
GrayGuard
07-18-07, 11:11 AM Perhaps a Half-Dragon or Half-Fiend might be an intrusting Race.
If you want something Evil and with spellcasting then perhaps
HexBlade, BlackGuard, Cleric, Dusk Blade, Warlock? or perhaps a multy class character?
Allso if your running 32 point buy I'll make the boss a 36 point buy (Or give him good abilitys at least)
If you want an example Character then ...

Half-Red Dragon, Level 16 HexBlade
(Half Dragon Traits, +8 Strength, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha DV 60feet, Low Light, Immune to Sleep and Paralysis and Immune to Fire, +2 CR,+3 LA, +1 HD Max 12, +4 Nat AC)
Strength 30+10 (36+13 with magic item)
Dexterity 18+4
Contitution 26+8 ( 32+11 with magic item)
Intelligence 16+3
Wisdom 14+2
Charisma 18+4
HP 244 (+48 with magic item or 292) HD 16
Breathe Weapon, 6d8 Fire Damage 30 ft Cone, DC 10+1/2 HD+Con Mod or 24 (27 with magic item), Ref Save for half, once per day
Bab +16/+11/+6/+1
Fort +15, Ref +13, Will+16 Note Chaisma Mod vs Spells or Spell effects are not added in, Allso note 4 of it is from Cloak of Resistance
Items : +4 Heavy Fort Chain Shirt, +3 Shock,Flaming,Frost GreatSword, +6 Belt of Strength, +6 Amulet Of con, +4 Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Blinking, Ring of protection +2, Helm of teleportation 3/day (Use to clouse the gap to kill off spell casters), Any other item you want to add like Food or replace an item w/e.
Skills, (6+Int mod) x (HD +3 or 19) or 171,
Spells DC 10+Level+Cha mod or 14+Level
Special Abilitys from class, Arcane Resistance Add Charisma to save vs spells or spell like effects (Not included), Mettle, HexBlade Curse 4/day, Aura of Unluck 2/day, Summon Familiar, Greater HexBlade Curse,
HexBlade Curse - Free Action, must be seen and within 60ft, Will Save 10+1/2 Level+ Cha Mod or 22, lasts for 1 hour, -4 to Damage, Attacks, Saves, Ability Checks, Skill Checks
3 Bonus Feats from Class which I havnt put into account,
Feats - Whatever you want (Allso note the 3 bonus feats from class)
Weapon Attacks, - +32/+27/+22/+17, 2d6+22 +1d6 Fire +1d6 Frost +1d6 Sock, which is (If no immune or resistance to fire frost or sock) 27-52, 39.5 on adverage damage, No Feats or anything eles is into effect, Full round Attack (If hits and no immune or resistance) = 108-208, 158 on adverage Remeber he has Gold like a 19th level character so, I Might upgrade his Items as well, Possibly give him a Pot of Haste at least and some other Items of healing.
Spells per day, 1st level = 3, 2nd level = 3, 3rd level = 2, 4th level = 2
Remeber he acts like a Sorc so no need to prepare spells but, Spells I Might pick if I didnt "Sac" A Spell level is, 1- Disguise Self, Make my self look like a friend and then attack perferably a spell caster, once I get clouse, Pro Good evil or w/e the party is, Undetectable alignment to help me get "Friendly" with the party then kill off the spell caster, Level 2 - See invisiblity, Suggestion, Invisibility, Maybe Glitterdust so I can blind someone but probly not I Might go with it in replace of Invisibility, Level 3 - Confusion have fighters or other types become confused, Dispel Magic No Magic for you, Level 4 - PolyMprh if going by the Normol PHB Rules, Be Broken with it Fear the party with it, If not then forget it go with Phantasmal Killer, then Greater Invisibility,

Tastics
A) Get Friendly With the party and possibly in a place where they lest expect it, Like possibly a Small Village, Act like Peasent or something and attack the players in the keep at night, OR If there comming after me, Alarm so I Know there comming or other warning things (Possibly both) then Kill the wizards/Druids before they become a thorn
B) Teleport into the group and start smashing the Wizard, Spell caster (Wizard Sorc Bard Druid Cleric WarLock w/e is the most deadly Spell caster) A Dead Spellcaster early in the combat round will be GREAT, But I Would try to be friends with the party then fullround attack the wizard in his sleep or something Kill him quickly
C) Make sure to use Greater Invis to cause confustion allso Confustion, Domination other things like that on a fighter type Make them become your friends! Though make sure you kill off casters first before they get you!
D) If Your in trobol Use teleport Boots to teleport away and use hit and run tastics, Like for example, Teleport into the Party and full round attack the wizard kill him off, Then Teleport Away, Make sure he is ready to face the group incase something happins, The Next day Repeat

You Want your players to fear him? Then this Boss monster if used correctly could possibly do just that! After all one moment there sitting there, Then the next thing they know a Half Dragon is there killing there Wizard or Spellcaster then he teleports away only to continue repeating this tastic, They Learn that they cant trust the safety of there party members,

If There is a druid or a healer that might just True Res then kill him first then run away, But Other Spellcasters are weeker at first and become a big thorn later on, With the Spellcaster dead and the warrior types dominated or Confused Start beating up the Divine Casters

Weekness? Kinda Low Saves thats why he wants to kill casters first so he dosnt have to make saves Baneful polymorph maybe to make someone a chipmonk or something,

That and have it where the Boss has some backup and start useing tastics like a mind flyer,

I Attack with a bunch of week monsters just to distract you then teleport in and kill off a powerfull spellcaster, The Fighters will be easyer to handle When they dont have a spellcaster backing them up

Player Level I Would toss this guy at them?, Well considering its the "End" Boss and its the Boss amd there is more then 4 characters, I Would Toss this guy at them when there level 15? Maybe 14? I know player characters can take on high level monsters, Ive seen players at level 3 take on a CR 11 monster, Though yes most of them died or got clouse to death (6 person party), Reason? Smart Tastics force your players to play smartly (Not to smartly let a mistake or two be made) Make them finaly go "YES WE WON!" in the end,

That or possibly toss him when the players are level 13 and allow them a "Save" Feature, You Lose vs Main Boss... Re-load when your level 13 Try something eles again, Let the players perhaps metagame think if you do this, But make it hard and if your going to do this make them lower level then you normoly would
He Is Boss Monster he should be 3+ CR Above the Party! At Least! Hell he is MAIN Boss monster make it CR 5 above the Player Party total group CR (Remeber 4 players cr = level 5-6 players = Party level +1 for CR)
Electricbee
07-18-07, 11:35 AM I would suggest a Rakshasha with sorcerer levels. The SR and DR make it a tough oponent, and the shape change lets them appear as several other villians. As they have an effective sorcerer caster level, Sorcerer levels stack to determine caster level.

If you wanted more variety of magic, you could build it as another caster for a few levels and then use one of the gish caster classes. If you wanted it to be martially competent, eldritch knight could work as well.
058
07-18-07, 12:49 PM Traveling with the party is out; while the characters don't know who's behind all the crap that's going on, this baddy is busy gaining followers and spreading disease and pain.

As for being a little weaker when he first gets out, that works fine, but the characters won't know, because they aren't going to be physically encountering this guy very much until they get close to the end of the game.

Half-dragon works thematically (his guardian while he was in the snowglobe is a red dragon), and half-fiend works just as well.

If he's going to be a human or a dwarf or one of the "mundance" races, I'll need a sufficiently nasty class/multiclass comination. Any suggestions on that?

GrayGuard, it is possible that the tactics you've listed won't work so well . . . there are two spellcasters in the party, one of whom is a Rakshasa (meaning that he pretty much equals anyone else in terms of hit points and damage dealt), and the other spellcaster is a magic item (yeah, one of my players is a talking staff that's a wizard with +2 level adjustment for being a magic item).

And as for the players getting slaughtered by the boss, while it may happen statistically, I usually don't let my parties die. It's heart-breaking for a character you're attached to to kick the bucket because the DM decided to throw something too hard at you. :P

I'm glad this post is getting so much feedback. Thanks, guys. :)
Return of the Flumph
07-18-07, 02:09 PM Okay then.

Twentieth level half fiendish dwarf wizard.

No class combination is as nasty as a master wizard with the right spells prepared.
KoraktheBarbarin
07-18-07, 02:21 PM Okay then.

Twentieth level half fiendish dwarf wizard.

No class combination is as nasty as a master wizard with the right spells prepared.

I really like this idea a Dwarven Wizard who is just gone plain straight crazy evil, but if that won't work for you why not go with a Beholder.:)
058
07-18-07, 04:35 PM Meh. Beholders never frightened me overmuch.

I'm looking for an enemy somewhat like Sauron; big, dark, magical, and scary.
NorthWind
07-18-07, 07:01 PM Why not try a unique creation? You couldn't really give stats to Sauron without having to make templates or races. (Now, that above sentence is probably an invitation for a bunch of players to jump up with stats for Sauron, but all the same...)

If you want to stick with the core rules, then I'd go for a human wizard or other spellcaster. Give him whatever number of class levels you find appropriate, and a spell set to heighten whatever image you have in mind for this character.

Also, just 'cause he is human doesn't mean you need to describe him to the players as such - for example, if I had to stat Voldemort, his race would be human, but that mean I'd describe him as such.
058
07-18-07, 07:41 PM Mmk. Thanks, folks, I'll reply later when I've worked out his stats.

By the way, is there any way to negate arcane spell failure chance, or decrease it (apart from mithral armour, of course)? A feat, spell, ability, or whatever?
Tomkin
07-18-07, 09:49 PM Warmage class (though probably not what you're looking for) from Complete Arcane. Also Armored Casting (from the same book IIRC, but I'm not sure - basically you ignore ASF from one type of armor you're proficient with, starting with Light).
058
07-18-07, 10:26 PM I don't have access to Complete Arcane . . . Complete Warrior, on the other hand . . . .

I've set him up as a level 15 hexblade with some nifty items (and to negate the arcane spell failure, I've borrowed the Battle Caster feat from Neverwinter Nights 2). I figure that if the players get powerful enough to easily kill him, I'll level him up a few more times, maybe with a prestige class if I can find a good one.

The Boss
HP: 123 (15d10 +60) (15 hexblade)
Initiative: +3
AC: 20 (+7 armour bonus, +3 dex bonus)
Base/Grapple: 15/10/5, 18
Attack: Anarchic flaming burst longsword +24 melee (1d8 +3 +1d6)
Full Attack: Anarchic flaming burst longsword +24/+19/+14 melee (1d8 +3 +1d6)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special qualities: DR 5/magic (breastplate), 20 fire resistance (breastplate), DR 2/- (breastplate)
Saves: Fort +9, reflex +8, will +9
Abilities: Str: 17 Dex: 17 Con: 18 Int: 13 Wis: 11 Cha: 20
Feats: Battle caster, armour proficiency (medium), power attack, cleave, great cleave, quick draw
Equipment: +4 anarchic flaming burst longsword, +2 invulnerable adamantine breastplate, ring of blinking, ring of evasion, dust of dryness
Spells: 1st level ( 2/day): arcane mark, cause fear, sleep, tasha’s hideous laughter. 2nd level ( 1/day): darkness, pyrotechnics, rage, spider climb. 3rd level ( 1/day): confusion, nondetection, slow, vampiric touch. 4th level ( 1/day): cursed blade, greater invisibility, phantasmal killer.
Johnny_Angel
07-18-07, 10:39 PM Deathknight multiclassed as a knight/cleric with the death and evil domains

His most trusted henchman: half-vampire shifter samurai
khyron1144
07-18-07, 11:21 PM I'd go with halfling, possibly with the Half-template of your choice.

Halflings are the unlikeliest suspects for BBEG roles, even more so than dwarves.

As for class: Wizard is good, maybe look at spellcasting Thrall and Disciple classes for crossclass possibilites.
Mindolin
07-19-07, 12:04 AM Try a Spell Weaver, from the Monster Manual II. Give him levels in a class like fighter, so it has a boost in HP. Go with the first level substitution ability from Player's Handbook II for fighters, so he can cast spells in light armor with no spell failure chance, then add the Battle Caster feat to upgrade to medium, or heavy mithral. The best part is that the spell weaver's spellcasting level is their total hit dice, in this case including fighter levels, +2. Throw in a minion that is a force missile mage from one of the issues of Dragon, and you can have them launch a total of about 42 missiles at the enemy. In one turn.
058
07-19-07, 12:20 AM Great. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of Monster Manual II. :)
Ikuraut
07-19-07, 12:28 AM Tauric make for some good choices out of a Mod Man 2.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
058 07-17-07, 10:41 PM	I've been working on my next campaign for the past few weeks, which involves the creation of a campaign setting, among other things(if anyone wants to hear about that, ask me and I'll post it later). Currently, I'm thinking about how to do up the 'BBEG' (bah, but I dislike using acronyms). The force behind the largest evil in the campaign is a creature that's been held for the past hundred decades in a snowglobe. Prior to its imprisonment, it was busy sowing destruction and chaos and all that deal, and was stopped by a group of holy warriors who decided that the worst possible fate for such a creature was to trap it for eternity in a very boring place, so they all spent all of their life energy trapping it. Of course, this comes into the campaign when the beasty manages to break free (how he does so, I won't go into detail on just yet) and starts spreading his supreme unhappiness. I've taken to referring to this creature as the "eternal being," but I need to actually figure out what it is. Any suggestions? I need something that's killable by a party of four to five and a half level 15-20 characters (the half, I'll only explain if necessary), preferably can cast spells, and will frighten the characters a tad. Thanks. :-)
Return of the Flumph 07-17-07, 11:52 PM	Demon or chaotic evil dragon.
058 07-18-07, 08:59 AM	I don't intend for him to be a Dragon; too large and I want him to be closer to humanoid (and not too much larger than the adventurers). As for the demon; what particular type do you suggest?
ff6shadow 07-18-07, 10:08 AM	Balors and Pit Fiends aren't beyond the capabilities of 15-20th level characters, depending upon their level of optimization and overall strength.
Forfeit 07-18-07, 10:51 AM	Make it a human. Yes, an human. Or a dwarf. THERE ARE NEVER DWARVEN BBEG. It would be awesome if they found out that the big bad guy is actually a dwarf. Also, considering this guy spent so much time inside this ball, you should make him a bit underpowered in the begining. You know, the guy stays for ages inside a ball without doing anything, and finds out he has lost a lot of skill and power through time because he didnt do anything. It would also be awesome if he traveled with the characters for a time and battle and do adventures with the players, just so he could know who are these *****es that are trying to kill him.
GrayGuard 07-18-07, 11:11 AM	Perhaps a Half-Dragon or Half-Fiend might be an intrusting Race. If you want something Evil and with spellcasting then perhaps HexBlade, BlackGuard, Cleric, Dusk Blade, Warlock? or perhaps a multy class character? Allso if your running 32 point buy I'll make the boss a 36 point buy (Or give him good abilitys at least) If you want an example Character then ... Half-Red Dragon, Level 16 HexBlade (Half Dragon Traits, +8 Strength, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha DV 60feet, Low Light, Immune to Sleep and Paralysis and Immune to Fire, +2 CR,+3 LA, +1 HD Max 12, +4 Nat AC) Strength 30+10 (36+13 with magic item) Dexterity 18+4 Contitution 26+8 ( 32+11 with magic item) Intelligence 16+3 Wisdom 14+2 Charisma 18+4 HP 244 (+48 with magic item or 292) HD 16 Breathe Weapon, 6d8 Fire Damage 30 ft Cone, DC 10+1/2 HD+Con Mod or 24 (27 with magic item), Ref Save for half, once per day Bab +16/+11/+6/+1 Fort +15, Ref +13, Will+16 Note Chaisma Mod vs Spells or Spell effects are not added in, Allso note 4 of it is from Cloak of Resistance Items : +4 Heavy Fort Chain Shirt, +3 Shock,Flaming,Frost GreatSword, +6 Belt of Strength, +6 Amulet Of con, +4 Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Blinking, Ring of protection +2, Helm of teleportation 3/day (Use to clouse the gap to kill off spell casters), Any other item you want to add like Food or replace an item w/e. Skills, (6+Int mod) x (HD +3 or 19) or 171, Spells DC 10+Level+Cha mod or 14+Level Special Abilitys from class, Arcane Resistance Add Charisma to save vs spells or spell like effects (Not included), Mettle, HexBlade Curse 4/day, Aura of Unluck 2/day, Summon Familiar, Greater HexBlade Curse, HexBlade Curse - Free Action, must be seen and within 60ft, Will Save 10+1/2 Level+ Cha Mod or 22, lasts for 1 hour, -4 to Damage, Attacks, Saves, Ability Checks, Skill Checks 3 Bonus Feats from Class which I havnt put into account, Feats - Whatever you want (Allso note the 3 bonus feats from class) Weapon Attacks, - +32/+27/+22/+17, 2d6+22 +1d6 Fire +1d6 Frost +1d6 Sock, which is (If no immune or resistance to fire frost or sock) 27-52, 39.5 on adverage damage, No Feats or anything eles is into effect, Full round Attack (If hits and no immune or resistance) = 108-208, 158 on adverage Remeber he has Gold like a 19th level character so, I Might upgrade his Items as well, Possibly give him a Pot of Haste at least and some other Items of healing. Spells per day, 1st level = 3, 2nd level = 3, 3rd level = 2, 4th level = 2 Remeber he acts like a Sorc so no need to prepare spells but, Spells I Might pick if I didnt "Sac" A Spell level is, 1- Disguise Self, Make my self look like a friend and then attack perferably a spell caster, once I get clouse, Pro Good evil or w/e the party is, Undetectable alignment to help me get "Friendly" with the party then kill off the spell caster, Level 2 - See invisiblity, Suggestion, Invisibility, Maybe Glitterdust so I can blind someone but probly not I Might go with it in replace of Invisibility, Level 3 - Confusion have fighters or other types become confused, Dispel Magic No Magic for you, Level 4 - PolyMprh if going by the Normol PHB Rules, Be Broken with it Fear the party with it, If not then forget it go with Phantasmal Killer, then Greater Invisibility, Tastics A) Get Friendly With the party and possibly in a place where they lest expect it, Like possibly a Small Village, Act like Peasent or something and attack the players in the keep at night, OR If there comming after me, Alarm so I Know there comming or other warning things (Possibly both) then Kill the wizards/Druids before they become a thorn B) Teleport into the group and start smashing the Wizard, Spell caster (Wizard Sorc Bard Druid Cleric WarLock w/e is the most deadly Spell caster) A Dead Spellcaster early in the combat round will be GREAT, But I Would try to be friends with the party then fullround attack the wizard in his sleep or something Kill him quickly C) Make sure to use Greater Invis to cause confustion allso Confustion, Domination other things like that on a fighter type Make them become your friends! Though make sure you kill off casters first before they get you! D) If Your in trobol Use teleport Boots to teleport away and use hit and run tastics, Like for example, Teleport into the Party and full round attack the wizard kill him off, Then Teleport Away, Make sure he is ready to face the group incase something happins, The Next day Repeat You Want your players to fear him? Then this Boss monster if used correctly could possibly do just that! After all one moment there sitting there, Then the next thing they know a Half Dragon is there killing there Wizard or Spellcaster then he teleports away only to continue repeating this tastic, They Learn that they cant trust the safety of there party members, If There is a druid or a healer that might just True Res then kill him first then run away, But Other Spellcasters are weeker at first and become a big thorn later on, With the Spellcaster dead and the warrior types dominated or Confused Start beating up the Divine Casters Weekness? Kinda Low Saves thats why he wants to kill casters first so he dosnt have to make saves Baneful polymorph maybe to make someone a chipmonk or something, That and have it where the Boss has some backup and start useing tastics like a mind flyer, I Attack with a bunch of week monsters just to distract you then teleport in and kill off a powerfull spellcaster, The Fighters will be easyer to handle When they dont have a spellcaster backing them up Player Level I Would toss this guy at them?, Well considering its the "End" Boss and its the Boss amd there is more then 4 characters, I Would Toss this guy at them when there level 15? Maybe 14? I know player characters can take on high level monsters, Ive seen players at level 3 take on a CR 11 monster, Though yes most of them died or got clouse to death (6 person party), Reason? Smart Tastics force your players to play smartly (Not to smartly let a mistake or two be made) Make them finaly go "YES WE WON!" in the end, That or possibly toss him when the players are level 13 and allow them a "Save" Feature, You Lose vs Main Boss... Re-load when your level 13 Try something eles again, Let the players perhaps metagame think if you do this, But make it hard and if your going to do this make them lower level then you normoly would He Is Boss Monster he should be 3+ CR Above the Party! At Least! Hell he is MAIN Boss monster make it CR 5 above the Player Party total group CR (Remeber 4 players cr = level 5-6 players = Party level +1 for CR)
Electricbee 07-18-07, 11:35 AM	I would suggest a Rakshasha with sorcerer levels. The SR and DR make it a tough oponent, and the shape change lets them appear as several other villians. As they have an effective sorcerer caster level, Sorcerer levels stack to determine caster level. If you wanted more variety of magic, you could build it as another caster for a few levels and then use one of the gish caster classes. If you wanted it to be martially competent, eldritch knight could work as well.
058 07-18-07, 12:49 PM	Traveling with the party is out; while the characters don't know who's behind all the crap that's going on, this baddy is busy gaining followers and spreading disease and pain. As for being a little weaker when he first gets out, that works fine, but the characters won't know, because they aren't going to be physically encountering this guy very much until they get close to the end of the game. Half-dragon works thematically (his guardian while he was in the snowglobe is a red dragon), and half-fiend works just as well. If he's going to be a human or a dwarf or one of the "mundance" races, I'll need a sufficiently nasty class/multiclass comination. Any suggestions on that? GrayGuard, it is possible that the tactics you've listed won't work so well . . . there are two spellcasters in the party, one of whom is a Rakshasa (meaning that he pretty much equals anyone else in terms of hit points and damage dealt), and the other spellcaster is a magic item (yeah, one of my players is a talking staff that's a wizard with +2 level adjustment for being a magic item). And as for the players getting slaughtered by the boss, while it may happen statistically, I usually don't let my parties die. It's heart-breaking for a character you're attached to to kick the bucket because the DM decided to throw something too hard at you. :P I'm glad this post is getting so much feedback. Thanks, guys. :)
Return of the Flumph 07-18-07, 02:09 PM	Okay then. Twentieth level half fiendish dwarf wizard. No class combination is as nasty as a master wizard with the right spells prepared.
KoraktheBarbarin 07-18-07, 02:21 PM	Okay then. Twentieth level half fiendish dwarf wizard. No class combination is as nasty as a master wizard with the right spells prepared. I really like this idea a Dwarven Wizard who is just gone plain straight crazy evil, but if that won't work for you why not go with a Beholder.:)
058 07-18-07, 04:35 PM	Meh. Beholders never frightened me overmuch. I'm looking for an enemy somewhat like Sauron; big, dark, magical, and scary.
NorthWind 07-18-07, 07:01 PM	Why not try a unique creation? You couldn't really give stats to Sauron without having to make templates or races. (Now, that above sentence is probably an invitation for a bunch of players to jump up with stats for Sauron, but all the same...) If you want to stick with the core rules, then I'd go for a human wizard or other spellcaster. Give him whatever number of class levels you find appropriate, and a spell set to heighten whatever image you have in mind for this character. Also, just 'cause he is human doesn't mean you need to describe him to the players as such - for example, if I had to stat Voldemort, his race would be human, but that mean I'd describe him as such.
058 07-18-07, 07:41 PM	Mmk. Thanks, folks, I'll reply later when I've worked out his stats. By the way, is there any way to negate arcane spell failure chance, or decrease it (apart from mithral armour, of course)? A feat, spell, ability, or whatever?
Tomkin 07-18-07, 09:49 PM	Warmage class (though probably not what you're looking for) from Complete Arcane. Also Armored Casting (from the same book IIRC, but I'm not sure - basically you ignore ASF from one type of armor you're proficient with, starting with Light).
058 07-18-07, 10:26 PM	I don't have access to Complete Arcane . . . Complete Warrior, on the other hand . . . . I've set him up as a level 15 hexblade with some nifty items (and to negate the arcane spell failure, I've borrowed the Battle Caster feat from Neverwinter Nights 2). I figure that if the players get powerful enough to easily kill him, I'll level him up a few more times, maybe with a prestige class if I can find a good one. The Boss HP: 123 (15d10 +60) (15 hexblade) Initiative: +3 AC: 20 (+7 armour bonus, +3 dex bonus) Base/Grapple: 15/10/5, 18 Attack: Anarchic flaming burst longsword +24 melee (1d8 +3 +1d6) Full Attack: Anarchic flaming burst longsword +24/+19/+14 melee (1d8 +3 +1d6) Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special qualities: DR 5/magic (breastplate), 20 fire resistance (breastplate), DR 2/- (breastplate) Saves: Fort +9, reflex +8, will +9 Abilities: Str: 17 Dex: 17 Con: 18 Int: 13 Wis: 11 Cha: 20 Feats: Battle caster, armour proficiency (medium), power attack, cleave, great cleave, quick draw Equipment: +4 anarchic flaming burst longsword, +2 invulnerable adamantine breastplate, ring of blinking, ring of evasion, dust of dryness Spells: 1st level ( 2/day): arcane mark, cause fear, sleep, tasha’s hideous laughter. 2nd level ( 1/day): darkness, pyrotechnics, rage, spider climb. 3rd level ( 1/day): confusion, nondetection, slow, vampiric touch. 4th level ( 1/day): cursed blade, greater invisibility, phantasmal killer.
Johnny_Angel 07-18-07, 10:39 PM	Deathknight multiclassed as a knight/cleric with the death and evil domains His most trusted henchman: half-vampire shifter samurai
khyron1144 07-18-07, 11:21 PM	I'd go with halfling, possibly with the Half-template of your choice. Halflings are the unlikeliest suspects for BBEG roles, even more so than dwarves. As for class: Wizard is good, maybe look at spellcasting Thrall and Disciple classes for crossclass possibilites.
Mindolin 07-19-07, 12:04 AM	Try a Spell Weaver, from the Monster Manual II. Give him levels in a class like fighter, so it has a boost in HP. Go with the first level substitution ability from Player's Handbook II for fighters, so he can cast spells in light armor with no spell failure chance, then add the Battle Caster feat to upgrade to medium, or heavy mithral. The best part is that the spell weaver's spellcasting level is their total hit dice, in this case including fighter levels, +2. Throw in a minion that is a force missile mage from one of the issues of Dragon, and you can have them launch a total of about 42 missiles at the enemy. In one turn.
058 07-19-07, 12:20 AM	Great. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of Monster Manual II. :)
Ikuraut 07-19-07, 12:28 AM	Tauric make for some good choices out of a Mod Man 2.