Reason I ask is that I might have my group face Jaela Daran and fight her. Also didn't she have a six legged dragon something with her all the time. That is from 3.5 if I remember correctly.
It might sound weird that a party of heroes has to fight Jaela but it has something to do with the shadow in the Flame, Bel Shalor, bla bla bla.
I am guessing my group will be late paragon tier... almost Epic tier once they face her.
If anyone is willing to give her stats or ideas for abilities she could use I would really appreciate it. Guessing she will be a Solo or an Elite.
Thanks
Next question: In Flamekeep or not? By the fluff, it makes a difference.
If in Flamekeep: I would make her an Elite Controller (Leader) of about n+2, where n is the average party level. Fire and Radiant would be appropriate damage types, but I would keep her overall damage fairly low and emphasize crowd control and buffs for her allies.
If not in Flamekeep: she's a twelve year-old girl. Yes, an extraordinarily talented one, but still a twelve year-old girl. She's far from defenseless by twelve year-old girl standards, but stacked up against a group of late-Paragon PCs, she doesn't stand a chance in a straight fight.
Skaravojen: Jaela's pet Dragon-hound should probably be the REAL threat of the encounter. I'd make him an Elite Soldier of n+3 and give him a marking ability (and a real mark, not just the cheap one most monsters get. Outright Combat Challenge/Combat Superiority would not be misplaced). He's also purpose-bred as a bodyguard for Jaela, so I'd make his tactics and abilities reflect that.
"...just you... and me... and my GUARDS!" The biggest problem with trying to fight Pontiff Daran in her own city is that the entire city is like to leap to her defense. Flamekeep is home to a great many talented individuals and will be as well-defended as the palace in Korth or Brokenblade Castle. Getting in is doable... getting out again? Not so much. In addition, you can bet that Miss Daran has a nearly endless number of escape routes and backup plans in place for her safety and survival, after all, this is what Changeling decoys are for, really.
The chains that holds the shadow in the flame has been weakened. This happened at the Day of Mourning. The reason Krozen been different since then is that he was partly behind the incident but tricked by Bel Shalor. It was a eldritch machine that Bel Shalor gave him means to create. Krozen was willing to use it since Thrane was actually loosing the war. He also probably didn't know the full effect of the machine.
Flamekeep was about to me lost to Cyre (In my Eberron that is). Thrane had also lost some major battles because of terrible leadership (maybe because of Bel Shalor). Krozen was one of the few who saw the incompetence of the church leaders at matters of war prior to the mourning and if it wasn't for him Thrane could have been occupied by one of the Five Nations long ago.
Anyway the Day of Mourning was so big and the chains that was holding Bel Shalor was almost gone. Jaele who partly because of her age was not strong enough to resist the shadow now that it's chains was crippled. Krozen was actually a good guy and he was working to reduce Bel Shalor's influence but with any means neccesarry (just as in the war) but not willing to take or admit his own responsibility for the Mourning.
Thrane is now at a verge of a Civil War because of this and there are those who support Jaela or who doesn't see the demonic influence taking place in the church and those who is trying to get rid of the corruption occurring.
Anyway the Players will attack Cathredal of the Silver flame where Jaela and some followers will be as a commando squad. At this point a civil war will probably have happened between followers of Jaela and those who oppose her in the streets of Flamekeep.
I guess Jaela is best used as an elite as you said and hopefully it could be an epic battle.
I hope this didn't sound stupid :S
"Epic" rarely comes from the encounter itself. Rather, it comes from the lead-up and the execution, not the stats involved.
Another thought for you, is Durastoran. The Wyrmbreaker is already a plenty-interesting Elite around the level you're looking for -and is a shapeshifter to boot. Playing into your civil war plot arc, what if Jaela isn't Jaela, and the rakshasa impostor has been fooling everyone? That way you don't have to worry about building a completely new creature*, and get an added layer of intrigue with the question of exactly how long the real Daran has been MIA... and what if it's not really that long, and a lot of her previous behavior really was her? Why do this? And then, why replace her? What made it necessary?
* - in fact, I'm going to out and say that this is a good idea period. Re-purpose the rules of existing creatures to suit your needs -less work, less worry about creating a balanced creature, and your players will never know the difference. My own group is coming up shortly to a battle with the BBEG they've been chasing for five levels now -I'm using Kaius' stats; all I did was alter a few keywords, swap his mist form for an ability that lets him shed a marked effect, and done.
This is doubly easy if you have access to Adventure Tools; altering Kaius to my needs was a five-minute process.
Glancing at it, there are a bunch of Elite Controller (Leader) monsters in the 20-25 range. Notably, Sora Teraza and Quoriel (an angel, Dungeon 173) are both in that bracket, and Elder Arantham (Dragon Annual '09) would be suitable for a truly monstrous battle, but at 25+ he might be a bit high.
For Skaravojen, the 20+ version of the Steel Predator (MM2) might be a good starting point.
Have fun!
Another thought for you, is Durastoran. The Wyrmbreaker is already a plenty-interesting Elite around the level you're looking for -and is a shapeshifter to boot. Playing into your civil war plot arc, what if Jaela isn't Jaela, and the rakshasa impostor has been fooling everyone?
I'd have to agree. If you're using Jaela as an epic servant of Bel Shalor, why not use the existing epic servant of Bel Shalor? You can do this even if you like the idea of the corruption of Jaela by saying that it's not that Durastoran is simply impersonating her, but rather that over time BS's influence transformed Jaela into a fiend. If you do stat her uniquely, I think it's important to point out that it's not JAELA - the person with stats in The Five Nations - you're statting; it's a corrupting servant of Bel Shalor. As such, I'm make her abilities less about buffing her allies, and more about manipulating and deceiving her enemies, because that's Bel Shalor's thing.
Also I wouldn't want her to be changed or have her to be a shapeshifter/demon. I already did that earlier in the career with a Succubus being their quest giver and fighting Krozen. Neither would I want her to escape. I was more hoping for redemption or outright killing her. Some times killing an epic foes is better than always having them escape and then come back with a new masterplan, alternatively "that it was all part of the plan" by a bigger meaner foe.
When the Day of Mourning happened, BS was almost free and just that short time he managed to put a seed into Jaelas mind turning her mad over time. At the time she was only 7 or 8 years old so it shouldn't be that strange that she wasn't strong enough to resist. After all BS is master of corruption and a lvl 34 solo. That's why I am more leaning towards redemption.
This battle will probably be the final battle before we start a new campaign. Maybe with another DM (I want to be a player too
). If not then the future quests will probably be about redeeming Jaela and strengthen the flame that holds demons in place. It is still weakened after the mourning. And maybe finally fight Bel Shalor himself.Anyway thanks for some great ideas. Using old monsters and just use them for Jaela and her pet is something I hadn't thought about. Steel Predator fits perfectly for Skaravojen
To make the encounter more exciting I am thinking about adding some of BS stats in the encounter. Maybe Smothering Shadows Aura with less damage and Shadow Rise with an appropriate undead. Lots of minions too. I love minions and I would mostly want humans in this encounter. Since they are almost epic then it fits well that most of them are minions to make them feel epic.
Edit: When thinking about it then Shadow Rise and Smothering Shadows Aura from Bel Shalor then I think it shouldn't be used right away. Maybe later in the encounter once the humans are dead. The reason is simple. The Knights/elite guard that fight to defend Jaela isn't evil. If they saw powers like that then I guess they would question their dedication to Jaela. After all it goes against everything they believe in.