A bad Blue fighter guy to scare the players [Archive] - Wizards Community

A bad Blue fighter guy to scare the players [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Green_eyes
11-19-06, 02:53 PM I need a bad guy for my campaign. An uber 7 level Blue utilizing ToB.

I got 5 players all lvl 5 and they are not into optimizing. I am and i want them to scream and beg for mercy when the meet the giant sword wielding Blue from XPH.

So any ideas? It's a Blue, ECL-7 Elite. And he's got a big sword.

I was thinking about a PsyWar-1/Warlord-5 with a Jovar (EWP needed) and Tesselated Armor.

Books: Core, PHB II, ToB, All Complete, XPH
Tleilaxu_Ghola
11-19-06, 04:13 PM Hmm.... blues kind of suck. Especially as fighters. I'd go for warblade/swordsage in an attempt to alleviate your strength penalty by leaning on a good dex score.

Something like Fighter 1/Swordsage 3/Warblade 1/Fighter 1
Feats: Weapon Finesse, (EWP: Spiked Chain), (Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand), Shadow Blade, Vexing Flanker, (Power Attack)

Start up in the island of blades stance, use distracting ember boost to autoflank your target giving you a +4 to hit. Power Attack away with your two-handed spiked chain. That should give you +8 to damage without any penalty to your normal attack bonus.

Elite Array distribution (level increases and racial adjustments included): 16 Dex, 14 Wis, 10 Str, 13 Con, 6 Cha, 14 int.

Derived Stats:
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30
21 AC [10 base + 5 armor + 3 dex + 2 wis + 1 size]. (Use mithril breastplate)
Attack bonus: +9 [5 base + 1 focus + 3 dex]
Damage: [2d4 + 3]
Saves: +6 fort [5 base + 1 Con], +9 Ref [3 base + 2 int + 3 dex], +5 Will [3 base + 2 wis]

Not the best dude on the block, but not terribly bad. Good saves, decent AC, decentish attack bonus, and mediocre damage. That's about as good as I can make it. The 10' reach should make him a little interesting.

Of course, you do realize that bad guys run off of CR, not ECL. So the CR of the creature I describe above is only 6, not 7.
Green_eyes
11-19-06, 05:30 PM Hmm.... blues kind of suck. Especially as fighters. I'd go for warblade/swordsage in an attempt to alleviate your strength penalty by leaning on a good dex score.

Something like Fighter 1/Swordsage 3/Warblade 1/Fighter 1
Feats: Weapon Finesse, (EWP: Spiked Chain), (Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand), Shadow Blade, Vexing Flanker, (Power Attack)

Start up in the island of blades stance, use distracting ember boost to autoflank your target giving you a +4 to hit. Power Attack away with your two-handed spiked chain. That should give you +8 to damage without any penalty to your normal attack bonus.

Elite Array distribution (level increases and racial adjustments included): 16 Dex, 14 Wis, 10 Str, 13 Con, 6 Cha, 14 int.

Derived Stats:
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30
21 AC [10 base + 5 armor + 3 dex + 2 wis + 1 size]. (Use mithril breastplate)
Attack bonus: +9 [5 base + 1 focus + 3 dex]
Damage: [2d4 + 3]
Saves: +6 fort [5 base + 1 Con], +9 Ref [3 base + 2 int + 3 dex], +5 Will [3 base + 2 wis]

Not the best dude on the block, but not terribly bad. Good saves, decent AC, decentish attack bonus, and mediocre damage. That's about as good as I can make it. The 10' reach should make him a little interesting.

Of course, you do realize that bad guys run off of CR, not ECL. So the CR of the creature I describe above is only 6, not 7.

Thanks a lot. I know, that blues suck as fighters (it's a goblin, duh) but i just needed him for an encounter (=

Don't worry i still have The Bad Guy (also a Blue, but a Psion this time). ;)

And... Is there any way to make him fight with a Big Sword (tm)?
Being the DM I can fiat him a +1 Balanced Greatsword. Or Falcion... Me personnaly - I love spiked chains, but I was looking for something that would make Freud cry (Yeah, that would be Goliath with a large Fullblade, but u do get the point). And a small spiked chain is only 1d6. Could also make it balanced...

Another thing. He is a psionic creature - let him have a Skin of Ectoplasmic Armor. +8 AC and only one point of Dex AC lost.
Tleilaxu_Ghola
11-19-06, 05:48 PM What could be more bad-ass than fighting with a totally unrealistic exotic weapon?

Seriously though, given the restrictions of shadow hand and power attack, the spiked chain is really the only option here.
jstorrie
11-19-06, 06:42 PM Can't you Finesse and Power Attack an Elven Courtblade? That's a big as in Freudian big sword.
X-Codes
11-19-06, 06:54 PM Can't you Finesse and Power Attack an Elven Courtblade? That's a big as in Freudian big sword.
Yeah, but it isn't a Shadow Hand weapon, which is the point. Also, gigantic swords aren't really optimal...
Nifft
11-20-06, 12:57 AM Swordsage Blue (Elite = 25 point buy):

Str: 10 = 12 - 2
Dex: 16 = 15 +1 (level)
Con: 13
Int: 10 = 8 +2
Wis: 14
Cha: 8 = 10 - 2

1: Swordsage 1 -- Adaptive Style, Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand)
6 maneuvers: Wind Stride (DW/B), Sapphire Nightmare Blade (DM/S), Moment of Perfect Clarity (DM/C), Shadow Blade Technique (SH/S), Distracting Ember (DW/B), Sudden Leap (TC/B)
1 stance: Step of the Wind (SS)

2: Swordsage 2 -- Wis to AC
1 maneuver: Burning Blade (DW/B)
1 stance: Child of Shadow (SH)

3: Swordsage 3 -- Speed of Thought
1 maneuver: Shadow Jaunt (SH/?)

4: Swordsage 4 -- Insight (Shadow Hand)
1 maneuver: Cloak of Deception (SH/B)

5: Swordsage 5 -- Quick +2
1 maneuver: Shadow Garrote (SH/S)
1 stance: Assassin's Stance (SH)

6: Swordsage 6 -- Up the Walls
1 maneuver: Fan the Flames (DW/S)

7: Swordsage 7
1 maneuver: Fire Snake (DW/S)

Maneuvers Readied: Fire Snake, Fan the Flames, Shadow Garrote, Shadow Jaunt, Cloak of Deception, Moment of Perfect Mind

Skills: Hide, Move Silently, Concentration, Tumble, Jump, Listen (maxed out)

Tactics: Hit and run in a rubble-strewn environment. Your movement rate is 40 ft., you can run up to 80 ft. up walls (on a double move), and when in Step of the Wind stance you move at full speed through rubble or difficult terrain. You have four ways to escape: run away, run up the walls / trees / whatever, turn invisible for a round and run away, or teleport up to 50 ft.

You have two great ranged touch attacks, and if you are within 30 ft., hidden, and using Assassin's Stance, you will deal +2d6 sneak attack damage (note that you must be within 30 ft. to use Fan the Flames). You have one good area attack (Fire Snake) which works against several foes within 60 ft.

Basically, play him like a hit and run Warlock. Blow your good ranged attacks and then go away to recharge (which takes one round thanks to Adaptive Style).

Blues get a +4 to Hide (size) and a +4 to Move Silently (racial), and their base speed and Darkvision give them an advantage when it comes to skulking.

- - -

I've used elements of Psionics and ToB, so hopefully the experience will be novel and interesting even for parties that have fought against both before.

Cheers, -- N
Nifft
11-20-06, 03:22 AM One more...

Warblade Blue (Elite = 25 point buy):

Str: 14 = 15 - 2 + 1 (level)
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 12 = 10 +2
Wis: 13
Cha: 6 = 8 - 2

1: Warblade 1 -- Battle Clarity (Reflex), Power Attack
3 maneuvers: Moment of Perfect Clarity (DM/C), Sapphire Nightmare Blade (DM/S), Steel Wind (IH/S)
1 stance: Leading the Charge (WR)

2: Warblade 2 -- Uncanny Dodge
1 maneuver: Stone Bones (SD/S)

3: Warblade 3 -- Battle Ardor (Crit Confirmation), Psionic Weapon
1 maneuver: Battle Leader's Charge (WR/S)

4: Warblade 4
(swap maneuver):
1 stance: Stonefoot Stance (SD)

5: Warblade 5 -- Bonus Feat: Combat Reflexes
1 maneuver: Bonecrusher (SD/S)

6: Warblade 6 -- Improved Uncanny Dodge, Psionic Meditation
(swap maneuver):

7: Warblade 7 -- Battle Cunning (Damage)
1 maneuver: Bonesplitting Strike (SD/S)

Readied Maneuvers: Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Moment of Perfect Clarity, Bonesplitting Strike, Bonecrusher

Tactics: Charge! Start in Leading the Charge stance (+7 to damage when you charge) and then switch to Stonefoot Stance when you go toe-to-toe.

Stonefoot Stance is great because you gain a +2 to AC vs. foes larger than you, and the +2 to Str checks probably won't hurt, given his relative weakness. You can't move more than 5 ft. while in Stf.Stance, though, so your round will look like this:
1/ Strike or single attack + recovery, expend your Psi focus for +2d6 damage
2/ Refocus as move action
3/ 5 ft. step (optional)

Sapphire Nightmare Blade is in there because it makes your foe flat-footed, which means you deal +Int damage to him. (Since he gets Int to reflex saves, crit confirmation and damage on a flank or flat-footed foe, he probably has a couple potions of Fox's Cunning or a couple of Psi Tattoos of Animal Affinity.)

Bonesplitting Strike goes well with something that crits a lot, so give him a Falchion or something.

Key skills: Concentration, Concentration and Concentration. You do not want to miss your "Concentrate Defensively" check, nor do you want to miss your "psi refocus" check. Also take Tumble, because Tumble is always good.

Cheers, -- N
Green_eyes
11-20-06, 09:18 AM Yeah, but it isn't a Shadow Hand weapon, which is the point. Also, gigantic swords aren't really optimal...

That is true... Although I could make it a Desert Wind, Stone Dragon and White Raven weapon, probably. Well it opens another topic on what exotic weaopns are intended for what school.
Green_eyes
11-20-06, 09:33 AM Nifft, thanx a lot, I think i'm gonna use both. After all it's a portal to Sigil %) that they are guarding. Not that the players know :)

It will surely be a shock for my core\FR loving players.
I would love them to boost their creativity. I'm red up with paladin/pious templar of Pelor stuff.
Nifft
11-20-06, 10:37 AM Ooo, one final suggestion for the Warblue: drop Combat Reflexes, and take Blade Meditation (Diamond Mind) instead. Wield a small bastard sword (same damage as a small greatsword, right?) two handed. You'll get:
+1 to damage when executing ANY strike with a bastard sword
+2 to Concentration checks

Cheers, -- N

PS: For an encounter, I think it would be best to separate the two guys. The Swordsage does very well in a rubble-strewn environment with lots of cover, bad terrain, hiding places, and various heights. The Warblue is just the opposite: he wants to be able to charge in and lay down some smack.

So, for the encounter, I recommend that the Swordsage be the outlying guard-scout guy, with maybe two goblin Ranger 2 helpers, who race back to base to let Warblue know the party is coming.

The Swordsage does some hit & run, leading the PCs into a place where the Warblue and his four goblin warrior 1 minions can charge them. The Swordsage might charge in too, throw up Assassin's Stance, and do some flanking.
Green_eyes
11-20-06, 10:58 AM Nice finishing strike (=

The encounter will begin in a abandoned mine (tm), which will grant lot's of rubble and cover for the swordsage. And the warblade will be in a small goblin-made headquarters. This will make use of the goblin archers and will give him a nice long hall to charge. :duel:

After all Blues are smart. :whatsthis
And they have a portal to Sigil... :schemes:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Green_eyes 11-19-06, 02:53 PM	I need a bad guy for my campaign. An uber 7 level Blue utilizing ToB. I got 5 players all lvl 5 and they are not into optimizing. I am and i want them to scream and beg for mercy when the meet the giant sword wielding Blue from XPH. So any ideas? It's a Blue, ECL-7 Elite. And he's got a big sword. I was thinking about a PsyWar-1/Warlord-5 with a Jovar (EWP needed) and Tesselated Armor. Books: Core, PHB II, ToB, All Complete, XPH
Tleilaxu_Ghola 11-19-06, 04:13 PM	Hmm.... blues kind of suck. Especially as fighters. I'd go for warblade/swordsage in an attempt to alleviate your strength penalty by leaning on a good dex score. Something like Fighter 1/Swordsage 3/Warblade 1/Fighter 1 Feats: Weapon Finesse, (EWP: Spiked Chain), (Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand), Shadow Blade, Vexing Flanker, (Power Attack) Start up in the island of blades stance, use distracting ember boost to autoflank your target giving you a +4 to hit. Power Attack away with your two-handed spiked chain. That should give you +8 to damage without any penalty to your normal attack bonus. Elite Array distribution (level increases and racial adjustments included): 16 Dex, 14 Wis, 10 Str, 13 Con, 6 Cha, 14 int. Derived Stats: Initiative: +4 Speed: 30 21 AC [10 base + 5 armor + 3 dex + 2 wis + 1 size]. (Use mithril breastplate) Attack bonus: +9 [5 base + 1 focus + 3 dex] Damage: [2d4 + 3] Saves: +6 fort [5 base + 1 Con], +9 Ref [3 base + 2 int + 3 dex], +5 Will [3 base + 2 wis] Not the best dude on the block, but not terribly bad. Good saves, decent AC, decentish attack bonus, and mediocre damage. That's about as good as I can make it. The 10' reach should make him a little interesting. Of course, you do realize that bad guys run off of CR, not ECL. So the CR of the creature I describe above is only 6, not 7.
Green_eyes 11-19-06, 05:30 PM	Hmm.... blues kind of suck. Especially as fighters. I'd go for warblade/swordsage in an attempt to alleviate your strength penalty by leaning on a good dex score. Something like Fighter 1/Swordsage 3/Warblade 1/Fighter 1 Feats: Weapon Finesse, (EWP: Spiked Chain), (Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand), Shadow Blade, Vexing Flanker, (Power Attack) Start up in the island of blades stance, use distracting ember boost to autoflank your target giving you a +4 to hit. Power Attack away with your two-handed spiked chain. That should give you +8 to damage without any penalty to your normal attack bonus. Elite Array distribution (level increases and racial adjustments included): 16 Dex, 14 Wis, 10 Str, 13 Con, 6 Cha, 14 int. Derived Stats: Initiative: +4 Speed: 30 21 AC [10 base + 5 armor + 3 dex + 2 wis + 1 size]. (Use mithril breastplate) Attack bonus: +9 [5 base + 1 focus + 3 dex] Damage: [2d4 + 3] Saves: +6 fort [5 base + 1 Con], +9 Ref [3 base + 2 int + 3 dex], +5 Will [3 base + 2 wis] Not the best dude on the block, but not terribly bad. Good saves, decent AC, decentish attack bonus, and mediocre damage. That's about as good as I can make it. The 10' reach should make him a little interesting. Of course, you do realize that bad guys run off of CR, not ECL. So the CR of the creature I describe above is only 6, not 7. Thanks a lot. I know, that blues suck as fighters (it's a goblin, duh) but i just needed him for an encounter (= Don't worry i still have The Bad Guy (also a Blue, but a Psion this time). ;) And... Is there any way to make him fight with a Big Sword (tm)? Being the DM I can fiat him a +1 Balanced Greatsword. Or Falcion... Me personnaly - I love spiked chains, but I was looking for something that would make Freud cry (Yeah, that would be Goliath with a large Fullblade, but u do get the point). And a small spiked chain is only 1d6. Could also make it balanced... Another thing. He is a psionic creature - let him have a Skin of Ectoplasmic Armor. +8 AC and only one point of Dex AC lost.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 11-19-06, 05:48 PM	What could be more bad-ass than fighting with a totally unrealistic exotic weapon? Seriously though, given the restrictions of shadow hand and power attack, the spiked chain is really the only option here.
jstorrie 11-19-06, 06:42 PM	Can't you Finesse and Power Attack an Elven Courtblade? That's a big as in Freudian big sword.
X-Codes 11-19-06, 06:54 PM	Can't you Finesse and Power Attack an Elven Courtblade? That's a big as in Freudian big sword. Yeah, but it isn't a Shadow Hand weapon, which is the point. Also, gigantic swords aren't really optimal...
Nifft 11-20-06, 12:57 AM	Swordsage Blue (Elite = 25 point buy): Str: 10 = 12 - 2 Dex: 16 = 15 +1 (level) Con: 13 Int: 10 = 8 +2 Wis: 14 Cha: 8 = 10 - 2 1: Swordsage 1 -- Adaptive Style, Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand) 6 maneuvers: Wind Stride (DW/B), Sapphire Nightmare Blade (DM/S), Moment of Perfect Clarity (DM/C), Shadow Blade Technique (SH/S), Distracting Ember (DW/B), Sudden Leap (TC/B) 1 stance: Step of the Wind (SS) 2: Swordsage 2 -- Wis to AC 1 maneuver: Burning Blade (DW/B) 1 stance: Child of Shadow (SH) 3: Swordsage 3 -- Speed of Thought 1 maneuver: Shadow Jaunt (SH/?) 4: Swordsage 4 -- Insight (Shadow Hand) 1 maneuver: Cloak of Deception (SH/B) 5: Swordsage 5 -- Quick +2 1 maneuver: Shadow Garrote (SH/S) 1 stance: Assassin's Stance (SH) 6: Swordsage 6 -- Up the Walls 1 maneuver: Fan the Flames (DW/S) 7: Swordsage 7 1 maneuver: Fire Snake (DW/S) Maneuvers Readied: Fire Snake, Fan the Flames, Shadow Garrote, Shadow Jaunt, Cloak of Deception, Moment of Perfect Mind Skills: Hide, Move Silently, Concentration, Tumble, Jump, Listen (maxed out) Tactics: Hit and run in a rubble-strewn environment. Your movement rate is 40 ft., you can run up to 80 ft. up walls (on a double move), and when in Step of the Wind stance you move at full speed through rubble or difficult terrain. You have four ways to escape: run away, run up the walls / trees / whatever, turn invisible for a round and run away, or teleport up to 50 ft. You have two great ranged touch attacks, and if you are within 30 ft., hidden, and using Assassin's Stance, you will deal +2d6 sneak attack damage (note that you must be within 30 ft. to use Fan the Flames). You have one good area attack (Fire Snake) which works against several foes within 60 ft. Basically, play him like a hit and run Warlock. Blow your good ranged attacks and then go away to recharge (which takes one round thanks to Adaptive Style). Blues get a +4 to Hide (size) and a +4 to Move Silently (racial), and their base speed and Darkvision give them an advantage when it comes to skulking. - - - I've used elements of Psionics and ToB, so hopefully the experience will be novel and interesting even for parties that have fought against both before. Cheers, -- N
Nifft 11-20-06, 03:22 AM	One more... Warblade Blue (Elite = 25 point buy): Str: 14 = 15 - 2 + 1 (level) Dex: 14 Con: 12 Int: 12 = 10 +2 Wis: 13 Cha: 6 = 8 - 2 1: Warblade 1 -- Battle Clarity (Reflex), Power Attack 3 maneuvers: Moment of Perfect Clarity (DM/C), Sapphire Nightmare Blade (DM/S), Steel Wind (IH/S) 1 stance: Leading the Charge (WR) 2: Warblade 2 -- Uncanny Dodge 1 maneuver: Stone Bones (SD/S) 3: Warblade 3 -- Battle Ardor (Crit Confirmation), Psionic Weapon 1 maneuver: Battle Leader's Charge (WR/S) 4: Warblade 4 (swap maneuver): 1 stance: Stonefoot Stance (SD) 5: Warblade 5 -- Bonus Feat: Combat Reflexes 1 maneuver: Bonecrusher (SD/S) 6: Warblade 6 -- Improved Uncanny Dodge, Psionic Meditation (swap maneuver): 7: Warblade 7 -- Battle Cunning (Damage) 1 maneuver: Bonesplitting Strike (SD/S) Readied Maneuvers: Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Moment of Perfect Clarity, Bonesplitting Strike, Bonecrusher Tactics: Charge! Start in Leading the Charge stance (+7 to damage when you charge) and then switch to Stonefoot Stance when you go toe-to-toe. Stonefoot Stance is great because you gain a +2 to AC vs. foes larger than you, and the +2 to Str checks probably won't hurt, given his relative weakness. You can't move more than 5 ft. while in Stf.Stance, though, so your round will look like this: 1/ Strike or single attack + recovery, expend your Psi focus for +2d6 damage 2/ Refocus as move action 3/ 5 ft. step (optional) Sapphire Nightmare Blade is in there because it makes your foe flat-footed, which means you deal +Int damage to him. (Since he gets Int to reflex saves, crit confirmation and damage on a flank or flat-footed foe, he probably has a couple potions of Fox's Cunning or a couple of Psi Tattoos of Animal Affinity.) Bonesplitting Strike goes well with something that crits a lot, so give him a Falchion or something. Key skills: Concentration, Concentration and Concentration. You do not want to miss your "Concentrate Defensively" check, nor do you want to miss your "psi refocus" check. Also take Tumble, because Tumble is always good. Cheers, -- N
Green_eyes 11-20-06, 09:18 AM	Yeah, but it isn't a Shadow Hand weapon, which is the point. Also, gigantic swords aren't really optimal... That is true... Although I could make it a Desert Wind, Stone Dragon and White Raven weapon, probably. Well it opens another topic on what exotic weaopns are intended for what school.
Green_eyes 11-20-06, 09:33 AM	Nifft, thanx a lot, I think i'm gonna use both. After all it's a portal to Sigil %) that they are guarding. Not that the players know :) It will surely be a shock for my core\FR loving players. I would love them to boost their creativity. I'm red up with paladin/pious templar of Pelor stuff.
Nifft 11-20-06, 10:37 AM	Ooo, one final suggestion for the Warblue: drop Combat Reflexes, and take Blade Meditation (Diamond Mind) instead. Wield a small bastard sword (same damage as a small greatsword, right?) two handed. You'll get: +1 to damage when executing ANY strike with a bastard sword +2 to Concentration checks Cheers, -- N PS: For an encounter, I think it would be best to separate the two guys. The Swordsage does very well in a rubble-strewn environment with lots of cover, bad terrain, hiding places, and various heights. The Warblue is just the opposite: he wants to be able to charge in and lay down some smack. So, for the encounter, I recommend that the Swordsage be the outlying guard-scout guy, with maybe two goblin Ranger 2 helpers, who race back to base to let Warblue know the party is coming. The Swordsage does some hit & run, leading the PCs into a place where the Warblue and his four goblin warrior 1 minions can charge them. The Swordsage might charge in too, throw up Assassin's Stance, and do some flanking.
Green_eyes 11-20-06, 10:58 AM	Nice finishing strike (= The encounter will begin in a abandoned mine (tm), which will grant lot's of rubble and cover for the swordsage. And the warblade will be in a small goblin-made headquarters. This will make use of the goblin archers and will give him a nice long hall to charge. :duel: After all Blues are smart. :whatsthis And they have a portal to Sigil... :schemes: