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Karn Dragonsbane 03-08-08, 09:46 AM

Hello. Again, me, noob and non-player completely unaware of actual game balance wishes to have something CRīd. If you donīt mind, of course. I had been writing backstory on a nimblewright cleric villain, and now that Iīm done, I have just noticed that a nimblewright who is also a 12th level cleric isnīt all that likely to be CR 27. But with the fourth edition coming out, who cares anymore? Nimblewrights will likely be lost in the tides of change. So well, while it still lasts, can you tell me the CR youīd give to those guys I had to design while making backstory? Way to go: Designing Rean was, actually, designing a 20 HD nimblewright who was built for hardness rather than flexibility. I started taking a two-legged medium animated object (speed 40 feet, Str 12, Dex 10, natural armor +4), and an adamantite golem (Huge, 20 feet, Str 51, Dex 9, natural armor +30). Reverse-advancing the adamantite golem medium produced the following results: at 36 HD the golem is Large, with Str 43, Dex 13 and Natural Armor +27. At 24 HD the golem is Medium, with Str 35, Dex 17, and Natural Armor +25. Rounding up his dexterity a bit... Of course I had to go and take 6 HD more from him so that he was only 18 HD big. Then I added a few spell-like abilities, following the nimblewrightīs example... and a few weapons. http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q148/Lord_Warrior/NG12-1.jpg http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q148/Lord_Warrior/NG12-1.jpg REAN (Rigidwright) Medium Construct Hit Dice: 18d10+20 (200 HP) Initiative: +8 (improved initiative) Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares) Armor Class: 39 (+25 natural, +4 dexterity), flat-footed 35, touch 14. Base Attack/Grapple: +13/+25 Attack: Slam +32 melee 1d4+17 or by weapon Full Attack: 2 slams +32 melee 1d4+17 or by weapon. Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. or by weapon. Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, breath weapon. Special Qualities: SR (CR+12), construct traits, Call Weapon, Warrior Psyche, DR 15/adamantine and magic. Saves: Fort +6, Refl +11, Will +7 Abilities: Str 35, Dex 18, Con -, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 19. Skills: Appraise +25, Jump +38, Spot +21, Listen +21, Tumble +25, Use Magic Device +25. Feats: Combat Reflexes, Combat Brute [T], Deflect Arrows [B], Dodge, Power Attack [B], Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative [B], Improved Sunder, Leap Attack, Run[B], Snatch Arrows, Two-weapon fighting [B]. [b]Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 18? Treasure: None Alignment: Neutral Advancement: - Level Adjustment: High_frickinī_high. T: Tactical feat (Complete Warrior) This highly stylized individual looks like a smooth suit of breastplate, complete with greaves, bracers, and gloves which include round knuckleguards. The armor is a brownish red, and the undergarments are a metallic, solid dull gray. Its porcelain visage has black eyes with streaks through them, and a plate covering the forehead. Rean is one of a kind: a rigidwright. Rigidwrights have no racial tendencies yet, since only one has been created. Rean speaks Common. COMBAT Aside from having been engineered for combat, Rean has no special advantages in it. It is recommended to throw him off a chasm as soon as possible. Reanīs usual tactic involves diving into masses of weaker opponents, if possible; that assures more powerful warriors donīt attack him. If given the chance, Rean will try to employ Momentum Swing and (if possible) Leap Attack, for a combined final total of x4 penalty as damage in Power Attack. That assures him a certain safety when damaging people. Reanīs natural weapons are treated as adamantine weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. They are also treated as magical, but so are any weapons he wields. Typically Rean employs Power Attack in combat, substracting up to 10 points from his attack to add 10 points to his damage. Spell-like abilities (Sp): At will- resistance, shield, mage armor, jump, greater magic weapon, lesser globe of invulnerability, keen edge, bullīs strength, haste. 3/day- Resist energy, dispel magic. Caster level 20th. Breath Weapon (Su): Once every 1d4 rounds, Rean can let loose a breath of superheated, corrosive gas. This attack deals 9d6 fire and 9d6 acid damage in a 20 foot cone extending from Reanīs position. Targets can attempt Reflex saves (DC 26) for half damage. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 racial bonus. Call Weapon (Su or Ex): Rean can weave a weapon out of his own structure. Engaging this ability is a supernatural ability and a move action, but once it is created, the weapon will stay even within an antimagic field. All weapons created by this ability are considered masterwork adamantine weapons. Warrior Psyche (Ex): Rean learns instantly how to use proficiently any weapon he gets his dirty metallic hands on. Unbreakable: Due to his dilligent and crafty engineering, Rean gets maximum hit points for every hit die. This is both a blessing and a curse... he could accomplish the same result by just having more hit die, and all of him would get a lot tougher too. CONSTRUCTION Reanīs body is a composite of many metals, including iron scavenged from an anaxim, steel, adamantine, pure chaos, obdurium, and even some living metal. The composite, assuming the DM approves that you can buy iron taken from an anaxim, is worth 60.000 gp out of raw materials alone. The remaining costs 240.000 gp. The creator must have the Craft Construct, Craft Wondrous Item, and Craft Magic Arms and Armor feats, as well as a caster level of at least 20th. Creating the body consumes 5.000 XP out of the creator and requires the following spells: Resistance, Shield, Mage Armor, Jump, Masterīs Touch, Resist Energy, Melfīs acid arrow, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Keen Edge, Dispel Magic, Fabricate, Limited Wish, Polymorph Any Object. ====== And this is a concept Iīd binī toyinī weez. Greet the craftspeople... STARTWRIGHT Medium Construct Hit Dice: 7d10+20 (57 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30 ft. Armor Class: 15 (+5 natural), touch 10. Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+5 Attack: Unarmed strike +5 melee 1d4 nonlethal Full Attack: Unarmed strike +5 melee 1d4 nonlethal Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: - Special Qualities: Ace of Infinity, Artisan Bonus, Item Creation, Flawed Source. Saves: Fort +2, Refl +2, Will +4 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 15. Skills: Concentration +10, Decipher Script +13, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Spellcraft +15 (+19 with scrolls), Use Magic Device +12 (+16 with scrolls). Feats: Scribe Scroll (B), two out of the following three, varying by individual (Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magic Arms and Armor), Magical Artisan (Any one item creation feat it has), Extraordinary Artisan (B). Environment: Any land and underground Organization: All together (5) Challenge Rating: 8? Treasure: Double standard Alignment: All of them are lawful neutral (no shoes, no service!) Advancement: - Level Adjustment: - This is like a woman in a dress. Except in that it is made of white porcelain with painted flowers. Startwrights are special constructs composed solely to create magical items. They are excellent at what they do. A startwright speaks Common and two more languages, normally, Elven and Draconic. COMBAT Startwrights might seem harmless at first glance, but with their command of artifacts, they are one of the few deadliest opponents one can ever hope to face. Their high U.M.D skill means they can use wands... to great efficiency. Commonly they will employ a retinue of bodyguards, too, if possible. Artisan Bonus: A startwright gains a +2 bonus on UMD checks related to items whose item creation feat it has. Item Creation (Ex): As the artificer ability (See Eberron Campaign Setting, pg. 31). The startwright uses its HD as its artificer level, meaning it can craft items as if its caster level was 9th. Ace of Infinity (Su): Startwrights have the ability to create items without expending any XP, as long as the itemīs XP cost divided by the amount of days that it takes them to craft the item does not surpass 40. Their feat selection is designed in just that way; only items which require extra XP beyond 1/25 of their gp value to create involve for them any XP loss. Obviously, they donīt deal in such items. The startwright may raise or lower this ability as a free action. Flawed source (Ex): Any item created by a startwright using its Ace of Infinity has only a 10% chance of being viable as a source of XP when an artificer (or some other character with the ability to take the XP invested in its creation) employs the cannibalize magical item ability. Even if the item is viable, these XP should be recorded separately, almost as an item. No more than one itemīs worth of flawed XP can be used in the creation of another single magical item. If more than one flawed XP source is used in creating another magical item, the flawed XP are not added together; only the largest amount counts. This is the reason why startwrights have no use for that ability, unlike the artificers who built them. CONSTRUCTION A startwright requires overlooked materials not considered treasure and unique to some canon module, such as the soul trees from Bastion of Broken Souls. If the materials are at all available, their pricing is too much for me. At least, it must be 60.000 gp. The creator must be at least 15th level, possess the Legendary Artisan, Scribe Scroll, Craft Construct, Magical Artisan and Craft Wondrous Item feats, and be able to cast infusions. Completing the construction drains 5.000 XP from the creator and requires the following spells: Fabricate, Limited Wish, Animate Objects, Geas/Quest, and Permanency. ====== And finally, this thing. I think I had done this already, but anyway... DESIREE Medium aberration Hit Dice: 14d8+54 (117 hp) Initiative: +9 (improved initiative) Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) Armor Class: 24 (+9 natural, +5 dex), touch 15, flat-footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+13 Attack: By weapon Full Attack: By weapon Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. Special Attacks: Limited Wish, Spell Mime. Special Qualities: Spell immunity, DR 15/magic and cold iron, Skilled, immune to sonic. Saves: Fort +9, Refl +11, Will +14 Abilities: Str 15, Dex 20, Con 17, Int 19, Wis 17, Cha 27 Skills: Bluff +25, Diplomacy +12, Disguise +22, Escape Artist +22, Heal +20, Knowledge (arcana) +21, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +21, Listen +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +23, Spot +20, Tumble +22, Use Magic Device +22. Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fighting, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes. Environment: Any land and underground Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 19? Treasure: Greater ring of counterspelling (recyprocal gyre in it), but only if Spell Compendium or Complete Arcane are in use. Alignment: Neutral Advancement: - Level Adjustment: - At first glance this looks like a blonde woman in a dull, pale green robe, with a red band around her waist, a star design on her robe, and a crystalline flower set on her hair, the same color as her unnaturally pale blue eyes. At second glance, it still does. At third glance... you get the drill, so letīs cut this short, she isnīt human, okay? SPOT DC 15: But when you look at her eyes, you can tell they are changing their exact tone of pale blue, showing sometimes even signs of violet or green. SPOT DC 25: Looking through her thick hair, you can make out that the flower isnīt set on her hair, but rather melds into her scalp- seamlessly. Desiree is another doing of the creator of the Startwrights. He had help on this one, though. Lots. Employing a similar technique to the always sterile Ace of Infinity, though on a scale a dozen times more powerful, Desiree can employ almost any spell. However, he was working on request here, and thus couldnīt make a construct as he favored so darnly much. Desiree speaks Common, Infernal, Elven, Draconic, Celestial and Abyssal. COMBAT Desireeīs sheer ability to lay waste is comparable only to a beholderīs. Since Limited Wish can mimic any arcane spell of 6th level or below, she is a hard-to-predict foe. Still, several patterns repeat themselves whenever sheīs involved. Limited Wish (Su): Desiree has the ability (hence her name) to employ Limited Wish as a standard action once per round. This is a supernatural ability, though. Caster level 14th, save DC 25 (Charisma-based). Desiree may not replicate spells with an XP cost above 300, nor spells whose material components are worth more than 1.000 gp. Spell Immunity (Su): Desiree can ignore at will any arcane spell effect of 6th level or below. She has no power over divine spells, though. Spell Mime (Ex): Desiree can only replicate spells she knows. Consider the entire paraphernalia in the Playerīs Handbook to be familiar to her. Any additional spells will require a spellcraft check upon encountering. The Playerīs handbook sets the DC at 15 + level. Skilled: Desiree gains skill points as a rogue (32 + 4x int mod at first HD, 8+ int modifier per additional HD). Tactics round-by-round: Desiree is an intelligent person, so she should use competent tactics. This is a general layout... All the time: Maintain two greater rings of counterspelling with recyprocal gyre on them (if the Spell compendium or Complete Arcane is used). Also keep any wards with durations of 1 hour/level or greater on. When warned about confrontation: Cast more spells with a duration of 10 min./level. Just prior to combat: Cast spells with minute and round durations, always starting with duelward (to better counter any recyprocal gyres). Round 1: Acid Fog; take distance. Round 2: Target closest enemy and try to target its weak save (rogue=fortitude or will, mage=fortitude or reflexes, cleric=fortitude or reflexes, fighter=will or reflexes). Attack with Waves of Fatigue, Chain Lightning, Cone of Cold, Wall of Fire or Mind Fog. Keep taking distance. Round 3: By this time, they shouldīve left the fog already. Place a Cloudkill on any escapee, to start causing damage, and take distance. If the Mind Fog spell has been used, cast dominate person or charm monster. Round 4: If she has run out of space to run, Dimension Door. El