Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maupertus 10-30-04, 04:44 PM	I need a bit of help with my villain, and as there is no-one in my direct surroundings I can ask (without spoiling it for my players) I was hoping you could have a look at it. His name is Vollaris, a Warforged fighter 1/cleric 3. After the war was over he became obsessed with human beings and being human himself. You could see this guy as a bit of a cross between Pinoccio and Data, but evil. Ever since I knew about the Warforged I wanted to make a Warforged that was so human, so advanced it couldn't cope and just snapped. Anyhow, I won't put the 1.5 pages of intro text I've got ready for my players, but I just want to know if he isn't overpowered for a 2nd level party or if I should make a few adjustments here or there. So stats are: Warforged 1fighter 3cleric Blood of Vol 34 Hp str 14, con 12, dex 16, wis 16, int 12, cha 8. AC 18 Touch 15 FF 13 Base attack +3, grp +5, Attack +5 Reflex +1, Will +3, Fort +5. Weapon: MW Scythe 2d4 + 1 x4 (I liked the Scythe because of it's "Death" feel) Skills: con 7, heal 7, spellcraft 7, tumble 5, climb 4, intimidate 5, knowledge history 7. Feats: Weapon Focus "Scythe", Combat Reflexes, Mithral Body. I've chosen Death and Necromancy as domains, but I'm not really going to use the Touch of Death so that's not really a problem. I'm uncertain about the CR feat as I've always chosen it as a PC, but I've never played vanilla fighter or cleric. Hope this isn't an inconvenience, chalk it up to inexperience :cool:
MarkB 10-30-04, 04:54 PM	The one thing that stands out at the moment is him being a member of the Blood of Vol. Given their obsession with the metaphorical and ritual power of blood, and undeath as a path to divinity, I'm not sure how well they'd take to having a follower who doesn't actually have any blood and most likely can't become undead. Of course, this may be part of your backstory - perhaps the Warforged sees this aspect of the church as a path to becoming more human. Just thought it was worth mentioning. Other than that, I'd say he's fairly well-balanced as a tough challenge for a 2nd-level party - they stand a fair chance against him if they happen to catch him alone while at moderately near full strength. Of course, any villain worth his salt won't easily allow such a thing to happen.
Maupertus 10-30-04, 05:06 PM	Of course, this may be part of your backstory - perhaps the Warforged sees this aspect of the church as a path to becoming more human. Just thought it was worth mentioning. Yes, you got that in one, Vollaris snapped during the destruction of Cyre, and now has the desperate need to become human. Somewhere along his way Vol or one of her following found him and picked him up as something potentialy usefull. Vol showed him her Necromantic practices in North Lhazaar and convinced him that in time she could make him human. One of his disturbing aspects is the fact that he has human skin grafted to his face and some other parts. Other than that, I'd say he's fairly well-balanced as a tough challenge for a 2nd-level party - they stand a fair chance against him if they happen to catch him alone while at moderately near full strength. Of course, any villain worth his salt won't easily allow such a thing to happen.[/QUOTE] I was thinking about that actually, I really like the noir setting, so I wanted to let one of my hero's perish, I hope this will stimulate some grudge build for future encounters.
BOK2 10-30-04, 08:49 PM	He should have some magic items with him, maybe a few scrolls and a minor wondrous item (a hat of disguise so he can appear as human and fool the PCs).
THE_VESPER 10-30-04, 08:49 PM	Vollaris seems to be a tragic angst ridden character who's not content on what he really is.As for the his thing with human flesh grafted to random parts of his body...doesnt it make him look more like a flesh golem than human?Very interesting character you concocted,i like his morbid fascination to being human and eventually.... undead i guess.You have a gem in this one. :)
Setherial 10-31-04, 07:49 AM	If you asked me he's insane, the only way he could become human is with some sort of soul swap where he traps a humans soul inside his construct body and takes over that humans body. Since this is necromancy I dig the path he chose but on top of that following Vol would mean a path to undeath and that is harder to grasp. I'd prefer being a construct over undead myself :) Anyway he seems like a good opponent as long as the party doesn't run into him alone, If there are 2 or more fighter types in the party he won't last one round unless maybe he was very well prepared but even then he will go down in round two. He is a caster and being a necromancer cleric makes him a very passive one at that. He'll need some protection, maybe even a few skeletons if the party catches him during a ritual.
Imruphel 10-31-04, 08:22 AM	BTW, the numbers for the scythe should be: +7 attack (+3 BAB, +2 Str, +1 Weapon Focus, +1 MW) and 2d4+3 damage (+2 Str x 1.5). His Reflex save is wrong; I haven't checked the others (or the skill calculations: these also look like they're incorrect) but I'll simply mention that to you FYI. I'm not sure how you calculate hit points but this NPC has near maximum hp rather than average (but that may be your personal way of calculating same). That may make him slightly stronger than his CR would otherwise indicate.
Maupertus 10-31-04, 08:29 AM	If you asked me... :D I did. he's insane, the only way he could become human is with some sort of soul swap where he traps a humans soul inside his construct body and takes over that humans body. Since this is necromancy I dig the path he chose but on top of that following Vol would mean a path to undeath and that is harder to grasp. I'd prefer being a construct over undead myself :) Yes, it is true, Vol is more of a Undead master, but she has always presented herself as just being interested in blood and hereditary traits. She has tricked our poor warforged into thinking she has mastery over life, being the disturbed, insane "man" he became during the war, he believed her. Anyway he seems like a good opponent as long as the party doesn't run into him alone, If there are 2 or more fighter types in the party he won't last one round unless maybe he was very well prepared but even then he will go down in round two. He is a caster and being a necromancer cleric makes him a very passive one at that. He'll need some protection, maybe even a few skeletons if the party catches him during a ritual. I thought so, so maybe I'm going to ad some intelligent undead, or maybe I'm going to leave it with his Summon Undead spell. But I wanted him to be a cleric, as I thought him wanting to be human would be more a "divine" then a "arcane" domain. Do you mean with the necromantic domain that he should take Law (as a Vol domain) for some buffing? I thought I'd give him Doom and Bane to lower the players instead of raising himself.
Setherial 10-31-04, 09:08 AM	Clerics make excellent opponents since they have enough hp to stay alive, they are excellent support casters and can boost their weaker servants or do badass stuff like curse the party (don't you hate that) and they can fight. Next to combat they are driven by faith making them fanatic and driven. I'd use spells like cause fear, hold person, doom and inflict moderate wounds. Make him command his undead (3 skeletons, I would't take intelligent undead since he is too low level to deal with those unless he serves them) to attack while he weakens the party or fleas if they deal with the skeletons too quickly. As for domains I'd give him War and Necromancy to take into acount both his history and the path in front of him. cheers
Maupertus 10-31-04, 11:14 AM	@Imruphel: Yeah, know that you say it, I think I've left out most of his ability modifiers in those scores. Thanks for telling. I've given him almost maximum hitpoints because I don't think he's that tough at the moment, just pretty nasty. But on a later encounter he will be bigger and badder, so I'm keeping him incheck. If everything works out I'll use him monday and post some player reactions, although I like the fact that most people here are positive.:D
My Lego 10-31-04, 12:01 PM	I'm not sure how you calculate hit points but this NPC has near maximum hp rather than average (but that may be your personal way of calculating same). That may make him slightly stronger than his CR would otherwise indicate. OMHO I just wanted to say that since he is an NPC from the beginning he starts out on the lower end of his CR and giving him more HP will just push him in to the middle of his CR. About that scythe Maupertus, a scythe with its high crit and low average damage creates a "luck ridden" NPC. He is not a dangerous as he could be but when he gets lucky he breaks the mould and becomes lethal for the PC. I usually find that kind of monsters and NPC's difficult to use as a DM. Just my 0.02 Euro
Gurv 10-31-04, 12:23 PM	I like it. Necromancy, especially clerical necromancy, is not just the creation of undead and such, it is the mastery of life over death. The flesh golem is Frankenstein's monster, translated into D&D and evolved into something else. But Dr. Frankenstein himself was undoubtedly a necromancer himself, not a creator of golems. It is only in D&D that giving life to a construct made of pieces of dead men, and creating an undead, are different. One way to break the mold and make Eberron different is to cross the lines. Since making actual life is virtually impossible in D&D, making himself an undead may be the closest thing that the 'forged can do. Made necromancers don't start with the knowledge that what they wish to attain is impossible.
Maupertus 10-31-04, 01:24 PM	About that scythe Maupertus, a scythe with its high crit and low average damage creates a "luck ridden" NPC. He is not a dangerous as he could be but when he gets lucky he breaks the mould and becomes lethal for the PC. I usually find that kind of monsters and NPC's difficult to use as a DM. Your right and I haven't thought about that, choosing the Scythe because of it's ties to the Deathrealm, I suppose I could use a flail, but somehow that's degrading the character. It's like taking Binky from Death. But I'll think about it, maybe increasing the number of hits I make and reducing the number of criticals. Since making actual life is virtually impossible in D&D, making himself an undead may be the closest thing that the 'forged can do. Made necromancers don't start with the knowledge that what they wish to attain is impossible. Everybody here has given me some pretty good ideas for his development, but I like what you said Gurv. I want to reassure everyone that Vollaris isn't going to realize he's not going to be human, or even worse, that he's allready alive and therefore near human or anything like that unless it would be on a (noir) brink of desaster moment. Have to say though, I never suspected I could get fond of a evil villain I made myself. (Well unless playing Evil Genius)