Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Suzu 10-08-07, 06:17 PM	Hello guys. I need a hand PEACHing this NPC. They're going to be a BBEG in a long-running campaign set in a Ravenloft-esque world that I built myself, so I need to make sure their a balanced challenge. My main concern is the spell-like ability I've given her. In SS it says being able to cast a spell higher than your HD would normally allow is worth a +1 LA, and being able to cast it at will is another +1 LA. As the spell in question (taken from the Spell Compendium) is not a direct damage spell, I thought this would only raise the CR by 1 (she's CR 7 before it). Is this right, or is the spell powerful enough for a CR +2? Secondly: if a PC had got this spell-like abiltiy, I've have given it to them over a couple of racial levels, with HD, BAB Skill, Feat and Save increases according to their Type. However, I haven't done this for Elyana. Should do so? Thanks!:) ELYANA LUNNICHKA (CR 8) LE female swarmform vampire hada commoner 1/survivor 5 Medium undead (darkminded, unliving) Init: +10 Senses: Listen +21, Spot +21, darkvision 60 ft. Languages: Karkovian, Svaltan, Tisk, Sylvan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AC: 22, touch 16, flat-footed 22, (improved uncanny dodge) (+6 Dex, +6 natural) Hp: 47 (6 HD), (DR 5/–, DR 10/silver and magic) Immune: Morale, fear and ageing effects Resist: Cold 10, electricity 10 Fort: +5 Ref: +12 Will: +7, (improved evasion) Weakness: Vampiric weaknesses ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Speed: 30 ft.; spider climb Melee: Slam +3 (1d6+3 plus energy drain) Base Atk: +0 Grp: +3 Atk Options: Blood drain, energy drain (DC 17), Combat Reflexes Special Actions: Children of the night, dominate (DC 17), create spawn Combat Gear: scroll of shadow landscape x2 (CL 20th) Spell-like abilities (at will, CL 20th): shadow landscape ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Abilities: Str 16, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18 SQ: Alternate form (swarm of bats), fast healing 5, gaseous form, turn resistance +4 Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Run, Skill Focus (Gather Information) Skills: Bluff +12, Diplomacy +5, Gather Information +15, Handle Animal +6, Hide +14, Listen +21, Knowledge (nature) +6, Move Silently +14, Search +11, Sense Motive +11, Spot +21, Survival +6 Possessions: Combat gear plus cold winter clothes and 25 gp
Suzu 10-09-07, 09:34 AM	bumped
Amon_WinterfallIV 10-09-07, 01:43 PM	It looks a bit weak on the physical end of things. CR 7 is probably fair; Actually, she's screwed--those scrolls mean zero without some Use Magic Device behind them. She'll try to use them, and she'll get gedorkified for trying to use such powerful magic untrained (I'd hate to imagine what a 9th level spell does when you botch it badly) And she's got a spell like ability-shadow landscape; but why is it at 20th caster level? Why can't it simply be at 7th level? Lastly, there is no getting around the fact she can't really deal very much damage. Losing a level sucks, but anyone who tries to take her down is going to be loaded with restoration effects to get that level back--losing a level and then getting it back screws only spellcasters. She's solid defensively, but she's a real weakling offensively, and I doubt she'd be a fun opponent for too long. Simple counters like acting during daytime and sleeping in a rope trick should beat her strategically. And what exactly does Shadow Landscape do?
icuall 10-09-07, 04:49 PM	I agree with Amon.... she needs some offensive strength to handle a party. I understand her BAB is 0 because she's a commoner, but a party will adjust to her special qualities eventually.....she's gonna get "sporked"
Suzu 10-09-07, 11:20 PM	-She doesn't need Use Magic Device ranks becuase she can cast Shadow Landscape as a spell-like ability: the point of the scrolls is just to get round the casting time of 1 hour. Shadow Landscape creates a mile radius area of land infused with the plane of shadow, and basically makes it difficult for the PCs to move around easily (plus, the native animals that go up by several CRs make it a pretty good spell). The idea is that Elyana casts the spell then gradually wears the PCs down, taking full advantage of the effects of the Shadow Landscape. -The spell needs to be 17th at least, otherwise you can't cast it. I thought I might as well go the whole hog and make it 20th. Would giving her Str 20, a couple more points of BAB and Saves, and Weapon Specialisation (slam) tip her into CR 8? Thanks for the thoughts :)
Amon_WinterfallIV 10-10-07, 04:25 AM	Erm... the second problem here is: How are the PCs going to evaluate the threat level of someone who can drop 1 Mile screwover effects in one hour? The PCs have no chance of dispelling the magic with such a high caster level. If you said cities, pristine wildlife areas, or even farmland, you're wrong--the NPCs who are seriously angered are going to find her, scry her and kill her. Moreover, something that serious is probably going to get heavy NPC action as well--what exactly is big bad going to be shading over? I recognize that this is often a non-issue (for gameplay reasons, NPCs generally rely on PCs to a degree that would be absurd in a more realistic case) Basically, she's: Too weak in a physical fight, not really a caster. But boy is she able to screw people over--have you considered what happens when she decides to shadow over a town? Everyone dies. Yeah--you just gave her a Total City Kill spell. There is no way I'd ever use this character; I'm not sure how I'd get this to work. Besides, if I were the PCs and I used spellcraft to find that I'm being marked with a 9th level spell, I'm going to run and come back when I'm epic--and then I'll one-shot her. Sorry, I can't recommend this.
Cifer 10-10-07, 09:30 AM	By the way, what does "Survivor 5" in her HD listing mean?
Suzu 10-15-07, 03:50 AM	Erm... the second problem here is: How are the PCs going to evaluate the threat level of someone who can drop 1 Mile screwover effects in one hour? The PCs have no chance of dispelling the magic with such a high caster level. If you said cities, pristine wildlife areas, or even farmland, you're wrong--the NPCs who are seriously angered are going to find her, scry her and kill her. Moreover, something that serious is probably going to get heavy NPC action as well--what exactly is big bad going to be shading over? I recognize that this is often a non-issue (for gameplay reasons, NPCs generally rely on PCs to a degree that would be absurd in a more realistic case) Basically, she's: Too weak in a physical fight, not really a caster. But boy is she able to screw people over--have you considered what happens when she decides to shadow over a town? Everyone dies. Yeah--you just gave her a Total City Kill spell. There is no way I'd ever use this character; I'm not sure how I'd get this to work. Besides, if I were the PCs and I used spellcraft to find that I'm being marked with a 9th level spell, I'm going to run and come back when I'm epic--and then I'll one-shot her. Sorry, I can't recommend this. I think it might be possible to pull off, if handled right. Basically, the background of this character means that they won't be using it near anyone, aside from particular 12 year-old fey-touched girls. The spell is going to be reserved for woodland, which the average NPC in the campaign setting won't touch with a 10-foot pole (superstitions about trees). I see that there are big problems with this character, and, if all the circumstances surrounding her weren't pretty much built around her actually managing to pull off the spell in secret (mostly), then I'd agree with you. Shadow landscape is a very powerful spell. But this isn't the kind of NPC who kills off large numbers of populace. You're scrying point still stands however...I'll need to stick a magic item in there to make her unscryable. And, as regards the raw combat power...might just rebuild her and drop the whole commoner/survivor idea. I was more interested in actually seeing if it was a viable option for characters, and am not picky about dropping it. Cifer: Survivor is a prestige class from Savage Species.
Amon_V 10-15-07, 06:04 PM	Look, I'm still convinced that CR 7-8 creatures should never get WMD spells--its abusive. And, if I were a PC, I'd run like hell when I see something like this. I'd come back when I can field Mage's Disjunction. And seriously; caster level 20th? Guess what the party is going to think when they spellcraft the Shadow Terrain spell. Yeah, they've been sent up against an EPIC opponent and need to run. Fast. The PCs will get the read as an Epic Mage; and lets face it, if this was a real Wiz 20, the PCs are just a blasphemy away from death. Yes, dropping the spell on the PCs is going to be interesting, but I fail to see how this is going to work to the advantage of the game. Another round of suggestions: --Drop the Shadow Terrain spell to Caster Level 7th; Its already cheating to give a 9th level spell to a 7th/8th level character anyway, you might as well let the PCs be able to dispel the effect. --If your NPC ever does this kind of stuff in a inhabited environment, she's dead--NPCs need to stop nuking attempts against cities, otherwise your game world is done. --Make her Wiz 6, and change her scores accordingly. With a TCK in her arsenal, I don't see how she could be anything other than an uber mage. --Lastly, I'd propose awarding XP as if she were CR 10--while she's a real weakling at that power level, she's got at least one trick that can REALLY mess people up. She's a Glass Cannon, make sure she never fights alone, and remember that running away is very viable against her.
Suzu 10-18-07, 11:38 AM	I may have found a fix. Aside from restatting her to a druid, I'm going to use a spell that I've built (link here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=940480))The spell is similar in tone to shadow landscape, but not nearly as powerful. If that's her spell-like ability, then it'll give her an edge. She'll be able to sneak around attacking the PCs and melting back into the mist, without killing off a city in the process.
Suzu 10-19-07, 04:32 PM	bump (I need answers people!)
Amon_V 10-20-07, 03:51 AM	Well I can say its a partial improvement (although killing all light in an area for days/level isn't going to twist plant life, its going to kill plant life...The Plants can't breathe and they die.) A real druid is going to try to kill the caster. The Bleak Mile spell makes little sense on how Candles survive, but secured flames and even light effects are canceled. Shouldn't the spells require some kind of caster level check? Furthermore, Blindness halves character speed. And because of the odd requirements you've attached to light sources (Candles, instead of more conventional light sources), the PCs are going to be stumbling in the Dark. Assuming Elyana Lunnichka plays with the full force of her Int and Wis, her next move will be to take down the arcane caster. Then, she has a whole week of the PCs stumbling around blindly to kill them in the dark and reraise them as spawn. Your spell is basically a 'Lights OFF!' spell that takes down every light spell, attached to an effect that screws over Darkvision, and heck, if the PCs decided to build a bonfire to get some light, they're still left in the dark. And how exactly is a mile area fair? Control Weather is the first of the real area effect spells, and its a 7th level spell. Control Weather, while it can deal 1 damage to a 3 mile area by modifying the weather conditions over a week, is the first of the real 'Massive Area' spells. Your spell is very similar to 'Deeper Darkness', the 3rd level spell. Except that yours outright beats all light effects, actually blinds people within the area, and effects a 2-mile circle. That's much more than a 5th level spell; perhaps a 8th level spell--and the duration is huge. You've still got a potential TCK with this spell; dropping this spell on a country's farmland means that people will starve. The Casting time is now a full round action, meaning that one of the limiting factors of Shadow Terrain is gone. I remain opposed to TCK spells pre-epic, and I must still oppose this spell design. In particular, this spell is WAY TOO GOOD for 5th level, and perhaps fair for a theoretical 10th level spell. I urge you to reconsider this spell. Otherwise, druids will swarm on this spell. As for rebulding Elyana, Druid is an interesting (but questionably legal) choice for a build. Her animal companion can be a good 'shadowbeast' if you can find some reasonable creature. Druids are pretty good in a fight, although they generally assume animal form, field natural spell to allow them to fight perpetually in animal form, and then go into melee. That's a rough deal in the dark with a shadowbeast companion, but Druids are known for their sturdiness.
Suzu 10-20-07, 10:17 PM	Ok, I'll fiddle the spell... -The candle thing, as you have correctly noticed, makes no sense. Not sure what I was doing there....I'll change it so that any fire-based light source works (I just can't stand light spells...) -I'll get rid of the mist. It gets very dark and rains, the mist is, as you've noted, overkill really. Elyana will still have a considerable edge over the party, especially during the first round of the spell when most of the party (all if there are no dwarves or half-orcs) is blinded. -I'm keeping the complete blackness effect. If the PCs don't have torches with them, they're in the wrong business. -I'll take the duration right down, to only a minute a level. Bleak Mile was based heavily on Shadow Landscape so it's got a lot of its stuff left over... -So that it doesn't screw with the plant life, I'll change the spell so that they can photosynthesise from darkness for the spell's duration. -Take the level of the spell up to 7th. With the changes I'll be making, I don't see that as unfair, considering how good Shadow Landscape is. As for Elyana herself, I'm tempted to make her a rogue, the sneak attack would be very good in connection with Bleak Mile. Thanks for yout thoughts, please keep them coming!
Amon_V 10-21-07, 12:55 AM	Okay, the area is huge, but the real question is, do you want other NPCs and the party to someday have this spell? As it now stands, it's probably fair (although Metamagic: Persist on that thing is rather mean). You've just got another mass-area spell, one that's probably about on par with Control Weather (think about how effective this would be on a divisional scale. Now, the problem with Elyanna not being a caster class that you are effectively giving her the 'best of both worlds'. Also, consider that you've made 'Bleak Mile' a druid spell--so Elyanna can't wear metal armor while she casts it: this is an odd character design, to say the least. I'd stick to my previous suggestion and say that she should have the caster level match her own level, so that Dispelling Bleak Mile is fair for the party. Much of my concern is that your creating an opponent that's very far from what any creature looks like, and its hard to critique. Rogue + Sneak Attack + Darkness + Energy Drain is very, very nasty. But it's more than a little unfair to the party with all of the setting up you've done to create a very unexpected adversary. I'd still have to call her CR 10, even though she still is a one trick pony. How important is keeping her CR 8?
Suzu 10-21-07, 11:29 AM	-Not at all, and I'm going to put her up to CR 15 altogether because she'll be entering the campaign later than I'd originally planned. -I'm also not going to make her a vampire, so the energy drain won't be there to make things even worse for the PCs. Keeping the caster level at her own HD is a good idea, I'll do that. -I can't find any rule that says that a druid spell can't be cast in metal armour. Druids themselves are prohibited from wearing it, but a rogue with bleak mile as a spell-like ability can wear a chain shirt and shoot the spell off as they like. -I'm going to make sure that the PCs learn quite a lot about Elyana before they acually fight her. They'll be investigated a string of murders that are her fault, so they'll talk to people who happened to be within the area of the spell and will know what it does. I'll stick up the new build I've got for her soon. Thanks again for your thoughts, keep them coming!
Suzu 10-22-07, 06:42 PM	ELYANA LUNNICHKA (CR 15) LE female hada rogue 7/shadowblade 6 Medium fey (arbiter) Init: +8 Senses: Listen +10, Spot +10; low-light vision, darkvision Taint: 41 (severe) Languages: Sylvan, Svaltan, Tisk, Karkovian AC: 22, touch 14, flat-footed 22; uncanny dodge (+5 Dex, +6 armour, +1 natural) Hp: 58 (13 HD) Immune: Fear and morale effects Resist: Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate (-10 penalty) Fort: +8 Ref: +11 Will: +4; evasion ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Speed: 30 ft. Melee: Two +2 longswords of deadly precision +14/+14/+9 (1d8+3/19-20) Base Atk: +9 Grp: +10 Atk Options: Sneak attack +5d6, sudden strike +3d6, unseen weapon Combat Gear: Tangelfoot bag x3, scroll of silence x4, scroll of greater invisibility x4, scroll of nondetection x4 Spell-Like Abilities (at will, CL 13th): Bleak mile ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Unseen weapon (6/day, swift action): –Unerring strike: next melee attack ignores miss chance –Unexpected strike: target treated as flat-footed for next melee attack –Ephemeral weapon: next melee attack deals an additional 2d6 damage ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Abilities: Str 13, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14 SQ: Trapfinding, trap sense +2 Feats: Blind Fight, Improved Initiative, Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse Skills: Bluff +20, Diplomacy +17, Gather Information +14, Hide +25, Knowledge (local) +12, Listen +10, Move Silently +25, Sense Motive +10, Spot +10, Tumble +16, Use Magic Device +13 Possessions: Combat gear plus +2 longsword of deadly precision x2, +1 mithral breastplate, ring of natural armour +1, gloves of dexterity +2, goggles of night For a little clarification: -a hada is race of humanoids desended from fey. They get more skill points, low-light vision and bonuses to Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature) and Survival. -shadowblades are in the Tome of Magic. They get sudden strike and the unseen weapon ability Description: Elyana Lunnichka is of medium height and weight, with chestnut brown hair, fair skin and hazel eyes. She is an exceptionally beautiful woman, and looks to be in her early twenties. In actuality, she is well over a hundred years old, but is kept preserved by the Mists. Like other hada, her spine is marked by a leaf-green mark down her back, and she smells strongly of grass, trees and clean air. Elyana is usually dressed in the grey robes of a cleric of Tai’ia, covering her body from throat to ankle, and wears her hair in a clerical plait. It has served as a useful disguise over the years, both in winning the trust of her young victims and in allowing her to pass through certain areas without being questioned. Combat: Elyana is a vicious and intelligent opponent, never entering a fight she feels she can’t win. She is quick to draw her foes into a dreamscape by use of her bleak mile spell-like ability, where she can easier manipulate the fight. Background Elyana once dwelt in a woodland hada kingdom, far away on an island in the Sea of Tears. She was the daughter of woodsman, and had an entirely unremarkable life until her twenty-first birthday. The king of this land had a beautiful daughter, whom he lavished attention upon. The princess led a sheltered childhood, kept within the palace and its grounds and forbidden from talking to anyone bar members of her family or other nobles. However, one day, when she was twelve years old, the princess managed to escape from her prison, and made to flee the island in search of freedom. Elyana, taking a walk alone and enjoying the nice weather that had graced her birthday, met the princess on the road. The princess pleaded with Elyana to help her escape, and Elyana, moved by her tears, agreed. The pair managed to hide on a boat going to the North Forest, and prepared for a new life. But a storm struck before the boat reached its destination, smashing the wooden vessel to pieces and separating the escapees. Elyana was washed back to the shore of her native island, alone, the ship’s crew drowned and the princess missing. Feeling it her duty to do so, Elyana requested an audience with the king, and told him the whole story. Furious and grief-stricken, he exiled her from the island, declaring that she could only return when his daughter had been found. Angry, Elyana left the island to begin her search. Attracted by her bitter thoughts, the dark powers brushed Elyana’s mind and placed the seed of evil. Elyana began in Svalta, tracking down every twelve year-old girl who fitted the princess’ description. These girls, after taking Elyana into their trust, were put through a series of tests. Each test was only passable by those of pure heart, as the princess had been, and success indicated that the girl could possibly hold the princess’ spirit within her. The search was maddeningly frustrating: few girls bore a resemblance to the princess, and those that did always failed at some point during the tests. Gradually, as she travelling across the length and breadth of the North Forest, Elyana began to lose hope of completing her journey. The bitterness that had been born on the boat ride across the Sea of Tears grew into a full-blown hatred of the girl that had, however inadvertently, ruined Elyana’s life. While scouring Davanov for the princess, Elyana’s patience failed snapped: her latest lead failed the very first test presented to her, and Elyana flew into a rage. Howling in fury at the world that had dealt her such a malicious hand, she attacked the girl, battering her to death with her bare hands. Spattered with blood, she fled the scene and disappeared into the wilderness. The dark powers, laughing at the evil that has taken control of Elyana, drew Davanov into the Mists… Current Sketch Trapped within the Mists, Elyana is cursed to wander Davanov until destroyed, forever searching for a twelve year-old girl that died decades ago. Elyana will most likely come to the PCs attention when she kills one of the children in whatever settlement they are staying in. While she is usually careful to distance herself from the murder, Elyana never tries to cover up that one has happened. Thus, it will soon become common knowledge about town that a twelve year-old girl was killed. Elyana chooses her victims according to how closely they resemble the princess; elven, half-elven and hada children, particularly those with dark brown hair, green eyes and pale skin, are likely targets. Once a child has been selected, Elyana will make contact with them as soon as possible. She prefers to meet them out of sight from others, as a child talking to a strange woman often attracts unwanted attention. Over the course of this meeting, Elyana will worm her way into the child’s trust, claiming they are secretly of royal birth, and producing lie upon lie about what life will be like for them when they are returned to their ‘true’ home. Many of these girls, raised in Narsopath’s cold, nightmarish lands, are only too happy to believe, and fall utterly into Elyana’s thrall. Following this first contact, Elyana will set the child a task. After creating a bleak mile, centred on some rarely visited place, Elyana will place a fire opal somewhere within its heart and command her victim to find the gemstone. Should they do so, she promises, they will have proved themselves and shall be returned to the hada kingdom. Of course, the dark powers ensure that the girls fail these tests every time, and when they return empty-handed Elyana flies into a rage. Usually, she kills the child herself, then and there, cutting the poor girl to pieces with her swords. Warm to those she feels might be the lost princess, and cruelly cold to those she discovers to be nothing of the sort, Elyana is a psychotic and delusional woman cursed to search Davanov for what she will never find. Anyone to stand in her way, at any stage in her plans, is dealt with mercilessly as soon as is convenient.
Amon_V 10-22-07, 09:25 PM	Just for Laughs: Heal might restore her sanity:D. If she 'mentally ill' then this is a fix. :D I'd love to see someone pull it off. She still isn't built very well. Dexterity is her key stat; in this case, it determines initiative and her attack roll; and yet 18 is a very lowish number for this level. Remember that you get +1 stat per 4 Class Levels, so 21 Dex, enhanced by stat buffs (ponying up for a wish? Magic Item) would increase her power. Nice that as a swift action, she can sneak attack someone. Except she'd be way more dangerous with radiant weapons (ones that go through most armors) with two weapon fighting--that would be a lot worse than 1 strength damage. In this fashion, she gets an extra 14d6 on her opening attack. That's really nice. 1 Strength damage is kinda...weak. However, this misses the point of the design. A rogue is a poor fight in a one against all showdown. With Bleak Mile at will, she's pretty capable, still there are few upgrades that can be made. Drop the Jump skill; a Ring of Jumping gives you a +30 bonus and costs mere thousands of GP. Replace it with Use Magic Device, which gives her the ability to field all kinds of magical stuff. Her armor is a lot; you could probably do better with a +1 Mithral Breastplate, a Ring of Natural Armor, and Gloves of Dexterity, and it would cost a lot less. Furthermore, a true rogue type likes to go improved invisible, nondetection and silent while they murder the party.
Suzu 10-22-07, 11:59 PM	Okay, I've redone the stat block. I've gone for a couple of +2 deadly precision longswords, and taken the Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting feat. The brilliant energy idea was a good one, but she'll be seen from 20 ft. away which kind of ruins the point of bleak mile. I know she could just use the improved invisibility scrolls to get past the problem of the light coming from a brilliant energy weapon, but, again, that'd render bleak mile obsolete, and I've fiddled around with it too much to ditch it now. And yes, I know that by ditching bleak mile and putting her up 2 levels I'd end up with a better build, but hell. She's pretty damn good now. The scrolls are backup against darkvision PCs, and bleak mile handles everyone else. By the by: if a character has concealment and makes a succesful hide check, do they lose it when they run out to attack someone. For example, if Elyana runs off and hides out of sight from the PCs while bleak mile is in effect, can she catch the PCs flat-footed if she runs back out into their line of sight to attack them? Oh, and on the 'restoring her sanity' note: unfortunately not an option. Arbiters (a shameless rip off of darklords from Ravenloft) can't be fixed. They did something evil and now they're stuck in their own personal hell for ever. Besides, Elyana would stab any psychiatrists trying their thing in the face before they could say 'take 10 on a Heal check'.
Amon_V 10-23-07, 01:43 AM	Elyana 2.0--Comments: Blindfight is worthless feat on this build, unless you are expecting your opponents to go invisible on you. It doesn't help your character, besides, the enemy PCs aren't likely to respond to something that moves in the dark with invisibility--that's fairly crazy. Heck, as a 17th CR creature, Elyana can easily afford magic items that: *Haste Her *Pump up her Con (to increase her staying power, which is very weak for her level) *Grant her Fast Healing *Grant her displacement *Grant her profane/divine bonuses to her abilities. CR 17s have a huge chunk of money to play with; and can be counted upon to know all of the tricks when they get in a fight. I don't know how aggressively your PCs are when it comes to building strong builds and increasing firepower, and that's probably a good question to ask: Are your PCs highly capable power-gamers who regularly beat-out non-optimized opponents? Or, are they more so-so types focus on 'coolness' or 'appearance'? Elyana might be reasonable for a 17th level party of the latter, but she's already dead against 13th level powergamers. A simple 2nd level spell (and I don't know where this one came from...I think its old) Ultravision allows one to see perfectly in darkness, by using ultraviolet light and should be able to pierce Bleak Mile. Detect Magic, while limited to a 60' radius and requiring a focus on a direction, should be able to read Elyana's weapons and magical gear; even if she has extra dimensional pockets/bags to hold it in. Elyana is heavy on the sneak attacks--which means that a character that's got uncanny dodge, fortification, or even the basic ability to fly(!!) is probably going to be able to take her. Elyana is going to cast Bleak Mile; or at least, she is going to try as a full round action. Unfortunately, Bleak Mile has verbal components. Depending on the PC's listen ability, this might be enough to catch her at hundreds of feet from the party; while the Party might decide to counter this 7th level spell with a 5th level one--Teleport. Or, they might respond with a 9th level one--Time Stop. The Party Mage runs over to Elyana and puts an prismatic wall over her head, follows up with Reverse Gravity. If he has a spare round, he casts transmute stone to mud on the ground, leaving E. with no way to avoid getting sucked through a prismatic wall. With just 58 HP (which is WAY LOW for 17th level), she dies even if she saves (Pris. Wall is Fortitude, not reflex) Another Example; as Elyana finishes casting Bleak Mile, the Party Wizard returns fire with Mage's Disjunction. That takes care of everything. The party jumps her, and she's done. There is no way that Elyana could hope to play against a 17th level party without FORMIDABLE buffs to her character, unless the players are playing very casually.
Suzu 10-23-07, 07:01 PM	-Elyana is CR 15, not 17 -Ultravision isn't in 3.5 -I don't think my group are power gamers, though I'm not sure yet. -I'll be putting her up against the PCs when they are 12th or 13th level, as single party enemies always need a couple of levels leeway to be a decent fight. -I need blinf Fight for the shadowblade class -How am I supposed to boost her hp? Rogues get d6 HD, which is an average of 3 hp a level. Shadowblades get d8 HD, whch is an average of 4 hp a level. This leaves us with 58.
Amon_V 10-23-07, 11:35 PM	My bad... I must have missed the whole 'Not a vampire bit'. My apologies. You can boost her HP easily by increasing her Con. As a 15th level opponent, it would be reasonable for her to have a +6 stat mod item or two; one of these in Con would result in gaining +45 Hp. I'm not familiar with Taint, and I don't know whether 41 taint can be used for something good or not. 58 HP is critically low--a 15th level character risks getting one-shotted with anything under 100 HP. Figure that a 15th level fighter, charging with a maxed out power-attack with a 2H-Sword and 30 strength will deal 2d6 + 40 +2 +Magic Bonus damage. On average, this is in excess of 50 (threatening a save against massive damage). Should the fighter crit, this is triple digit damage. Likewise, A mage fielding reverse gravity and prismatic wall will nail for 140 damage, 70 with successful saves. Not to mention that he can use limited wish give Elyana a -7 penalty without a saving throw. Yes, 58 is critically low. Also, consider Elyana's Saves: With a +8 Fort Save, Elyana is going to hit a DC 19 50% of the time. However, a spellcaster's saving throw is going to be Spell Level + Stat Mod. A caster's casting stat is going to be the highest stat in the game, and a 30 isn't unreasonable at this point (18 +3 [level bonuses], +8 Magic Item, +1 Inherent (From Wish). This means that a level appropriate opponent is going to have a DC 20 saving throw on a lowly 0th level spell. Her will Save makes it clear that she can't play with anyone near her level. With a mere +4 bonus to Wisdom, she'll be unable to make a Will Save on anything other than a 20, provided the caster is casting a 4th level spell. Elyana's low Will save indicates that she's going to become someone's slave. She resists social skills, not mind controlling magic. There are a couple solutions to this Dilemma. As a good rogue, Elyana has a high amount of UMD to field powerful magic when she's in a jam. In addition, Elyana has boosts to not only her Con, Dex, and Wisdom Score, but also to her saving throws. She might have a feat that allows her to turn her will save over to charisma (this feat exists, in the Complete Adventurer, Pg 109, as Force of Personality). This makes Wisdom a dump stat 8). The other dump stat is Intelligence--Rogues get many skills and as long as you have 6 Int, you aren't too stupid. Bleak Mile is a cool spell, but the key casting stat has nothing to do with it--there is no saving throw or SR involved. So, Wisdom could be 2 and nothing bad would happen there. So, heres my proposed systematic Fix: Elyana: Str: 12 Dex: 18 +3 (Levels) +6 (Item) +4 (Cat's Grace, permanently cast) +1 (Inherent from Wish) = 32 Con: 16 + 4 (Bear's Endurance), + 4 (Magic Item) =24 Int: 6 Wis: 2 [Explanation will follow] Cha 16 + 4 (Magic Item) + 4 (Eagle's Splendor) =24. For Simplicity, Let's have Elyana be a Rogue 13-- This gets rid of the need for the Blindfight feat. While we lose the combat options to get a free sneak attack 6/day, I'm not entirely sure that its needed if she makes things dark. Her saves are now: Fort: +10, Ref: +19, Will +11, still a little weak, but we could raise them further if we wanted to arm her with more magic items. As for Feats, she needs Weapon Finesse (gives her +10 to Hit), she also picks up Improved Evasion and Skill Mastery: UMD from the 10th level rogue abilities, so that she can take 10 on UMD checks. This leaves 4 feats for you to choose. TWF is the path Elyana's already gone, and its certainly a viable route. The alternatives are ranged fighting (particularly nasty, as Elyana + Bleak Mile means that she'll snipe the party while they're totally unaware of what's happening), Sneak Attack feats, like Arterial strike and such (So that Elyana can force the party to heal its own and run down their resources), and more mundane feats like Iron Will and Great Fortitude that, while not impressive on their own, increase Elyana's ability mechanically. Elyana has lost a few skills due to her low Int: But with all rogue levels, she still gets 6/Level. The 6 skills she has are: UMD (Required), Bluff (Can be used to get sneak attacks, therefore required), Concentration (You need it with the spell and all), Disable Device, and Gather Information. She has 19 skill points to be used on other tasks. Elyana isn't that smart and she's got a huge bag of useful stuff that she takes along with her. But it's just a move action to fish something handy out of her Bag of Holding (Best). These are items that she's acquired over a century of travel, and while its a huge haul (double normal treasure--she is a boss character). Mostly, though, these are weak items for a 15th level character, it's just the fact only an innocent child would ever dare to talk to someone who admits murders. I believe that the below average INT and extremely low WIS can be justified by her background. She wasn't that smart of a person and still isn't, hence explaining her poor methods of trying to find a princess who she already knows has died. Her critically low Wisdom is a direct reflection of her mental illness; not only has spent over a century looking for someone she knows has already died, she has essentially been doing it with an intensity that would eventually break even the toughest minded individual. She might appear dim, but her lack of wisdom appears as zeal and lack of consideration, not as blatant idiocy. With over a century to refine her technique, even a 6 Int/2 Wis character has a couple of plans. That said, she is much more likely to dig through her bag for a random item and field it. My fluff is probably ALL WRONG on this character, but I think this could 'upgrade' her considerably.