[sblock]Lady Vol
Level 19 Elite Controller (Leader)Medium natural humanoid (undead)XP 4,800
Initiative +11
Senses Perception +12; darkvision, low-light vision
Bolster Undead aura 10; each undead ally within the aura gains a +2 bonus to all defenses.
HP 356; Bloodied 178
Regeneration 10
AC 35; Fortitude 31, Reflex 34, Will 35
Immune disease, poison; Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable radiant (if Lady Vol takes radiant damage, regeneration doesn’t function on her next turn)
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6, fly 7 (clumsy)
Action Points 1 Death Grasp (standard; at-will) Necrotic+23 vs. Reflex; 3d8 + 7 necrotic damage.
Shadow Ray (standard; at-will) NecroticRanged 20; +23 vs. Reflex; 3d8 + 7 necrotic damage.Enfeebling Burst (standard; at-will) NecroticArea burst 1 within 20; +21 vs. Fortitude; 2d8 + 7 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of Lady Vol's next turn.
Spectral Claw (standard; at-will) FearArea burst 3 within 10; targets two creatures in burst; +21 vs. Will; 2d8 + 7 necrotic damage, and the target is immobilized (save ends).
Drain Life (standard; encounter) Healing, NecroticClose blast 5; targets living creatures; +21 vs. Reflex; 4d8 + 7 necrotic damage, and Lady Vol regains 5 hit points for every creature damaged in this manner.
Queen of the Dead (standard; at-will)Close burst 5; three of Lady Vol's allies in the burst can each make a basic attack.
Death Makes Me Stronger (free; when first bloodied; encounter)Lady Vol's drain life ability recharges, and she uses it.Indestructible (when reduced to 0 hit points)Lady Vol's body and possessions crumble into dust, but she is not destroyed. She reappears (along with her possessions) in 1d10 days within 1 square of her phylactery, unless the phylactery is also found and destroyed.
Alignment Evil
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven
Skills Arcana +24, Bluff +19, Diplomacy +22, History +21, Insight +17, Religion +21
Str 12 (+10)Dex 14 (+11) Wis 16 (+12)Con 18 (+13)Int 24 (+16)Cha 22 (+15)[/sblock]
-Though she has lots of abilities, they're all standard actions. That makes her a bit boring to run. Elites should at least have some immediates or minor actions, since they are effectively two creatures.
-Queen of the Dead is pretty much better than all her other abilities until she had less than 3 non-minion allies. It's not too bad, and will lead to the type of scene where Vol is surveying from her throne before standing up to battle the heroes herself, but the problem is by that point her standard action only powers will make it very easy for the heroes to gang up on her and destroy her before she can show off a bit.
-There's little representation of her green dragon side. Drain Life is a bit like a breath weapon, but it's necrotic rather than poisonous. There's the fly speed, I guess, but I'd have like to have seen more offensive capabilities that remind you she's a half-dragon. As it stands, I think she could pass for any old lich necromancer.
-Drain Life's healing part is pretty pointless. I'm not a fan of healing powers on monsters anyway, but when it's only 5 per damaged creature you're looking at maybe regaining around 30hp from both uses of the power. For a creature with only 356hp, the healing isn't anything to worry about.
So room for improvement, I think! If Vol comes up in my games I'll probably be using the stats I made myself.
I'm a bit disappointed by these stats, for a few reasons:
-Though she has lots of abilities, they're all standard actions. That makes her a bit boring to run. Elites should at least have some immediates or minor actions, since they are effectively two creatures.
She has enough area and burst effects that I think she'll be fine.
Queen of the Dead is pretty much better than all her other abilities until she had less than 3 non-minion allies.
It depends on level and circumstances. It's useless when all her allies are stunned or aren't in melee range.
but I'd have like to have seen more offensive capabilities that remind you she's a half-dragon. As it stands, I think she could pass for any old lich necromancer.
I had absolutely no idea she was supposed to be half-dragon anything.
Drain Life's healing part is pretty pointless. I'm not a fan of healing powers on monsters anyway, but when it's only 5 per damaged creature you're looking at maybe regaining around 30hp from both uses of the power. For a creature with only 356hp, the healing isn't anything to worry about.
Yeah, at most she would get about 25-30 HP.
But this is on top of having 10 regeneration as well. Keeping such abilities limited gives them a bit of HP back, but doesn't mean PCs are looking at having to whack away another 80ish odd damage again (which always just annoys).
I think looking at her stat block that she is really underpowered though and isn't really that much of a threat. That might be the point though, I guess there are just nastier things than her around?
Add a bunch of Undead around her, especially Brute types, and she will be a very challenging encounter. Staying back and using Queen of the Dead whenever she can get the most out of it, giving +2 Defense to those Brutes that are nicely standing in the way between her and the enemies.
Using Fear to keep the melee types away from her once they create a hole and when they do get close using Necrotic Aura to weaken them.
She would be a real challenge for a melee heavy group. Ranged groups will be able to out manouver her though.. But you can group her with more mobile undead to counter balance that of course. I see her as a nice antagonist to end the Paragon Tier with.
Edit: Or better yet controller monsters with a strong controller effect on their melee basic or ranged basic attack.
. Why not both brutes and soldiers?Anyway, I'm content with Erandis d'Vol's statistics.
Lady Vol herself is lagging behind other Elites IMO; she needs the boost from monsters that are going to reliably hit or target NADs with their basic attacks. Those will tend to be soldiers/controllers/artillery.
Another good creature would be lurkers, as they normally have riders on flanking and can effectively threaten PCs surrounding her. The other problem with brutes is they usually have the worst Wills in the game; one turn undead and she's brutally exposed for 2+ turns.
Erandis herself looks a little too mature and non-dragony for my tastes.
*Insert jokes about dragon-loli here*
*Insert jokes about dragon-loli here*
Ahem, UNDEAD dragon-loli. That part is important. :D Ever since the ol' "Jaela/Erandis catfight" comment, I got a very specific (and horribly funny) image in my head.
as for Vol. my favorite image is this: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/illathid/Vol-final.jpg
I think looking at her stat block that she is really underpowered though and isn't really that much of a threat. That might be the point though, I guess there are just nastier things than her around?
Bear in mind that Erandis doesn't LIKE fighting, and there's a reason for it. She's hard to destroy, but she's not someone who's going to conquer the world with her bare hands. In dealing with Erandis I'd be more worried about her eldritch machines and her necromantic rituals... or by using charisma and misdirection. By the time you're actually engaging her in direct physical combat, things have already gone pretty horribly wrong for her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsB0i03fp8U
Wrong yes, but ideas that spawn instantly are worth gold.
That's how the GM part feels, not the plot point
My Spoilery thoughts on Vol
paragon tier instead of epic. It also helps give me inspiration for a plotline where she turns out to not be the BBEG but simply a pawn for something even greater.
Bear in mind that Erandis doesn't LIKE fighting, and there's a reason for it. She's hard to destroy, but she's not someone who's going to conquer the world with her bare hands. In dealing with Erandis I'd be more worried about her eldritch machines and her necromantic rituals... or by using charisma and misdirection. By the time you're actually engaging her in direct physical combat, things have already gone pretty horribly wrong for her.
I think that despite all that, Erandis would still be very conscious of her own combat abilities. Even if she doesn't like to fight, I still think she'd be prepared for that eventuality. She was born into conflict, after all, in a war between two of the greatest powers in the world, and was herself one of, if not the most valuable targets of both sides at the time. So the need to protect herself seems obvious, especially since she's failed to do that once already (and lost her life as a result). Actually not to sure on that final clause, I guess she may have killed herself simply for immortality.
And though the conflict has died down in the current age, I'm sure she hasn't forgotten that the at least aggressors (the dragons) are masters of subterfuge and have the ability to change shape. It's not unlikely that eventually one of the Chamber may infiltrate the BoV hierarchy.
And that's not to mention any draconic pride she may have inherited from her father. Could she really stomach relying on the power of underlings? Dragons are creatures of immense personal power, and I think half of Erandis would want to emulate that. She can't be ashamed of her draconic side, otherwise she wouldn't have named the Emerald Claw after her father.
Thus ends why I think Vol should be a Solo ;)
Other important NPCs are fine as elites, though. Mordain, for example, is fine as elite since his creations are his pride and joy - he'd want them to fight for him as a way to prove his own abilities. Dare I cross my fingers that the LoBster is a solo? :D
Smash her phylactery.
When I run major story liches, I make two versions: one normal version for when the phylactery is still in one piece, and another for when it's been destroyed. For the second version, I jack the power level way up and use every dirty trick in the book to make them as scary as possible, with the reasoning that now the lich is "at full power".
In this case, I'd make a second version of Vol that has her as a Solo Artillery, probably around level 21. When her phylactery gets smashed, her winged back is to the wall, and she's going to throw everything she can at the intrepid heroes to stay un-alive long enough to make another phylactery.
That's just a style preference, so your mileage may vary, but I have found it has the chance to really pay off when your players suddenly see their enemy crank it up to 11.
She was born into conflict, after all, in a war between two of the greatest powers in the world, and was herself one of, if not the most valuable targets of both sides at the time. So the need to protect herself seems obvious, especially since she's failed to do that once already (and lost her life as a result).
Sure, but the fact that she NEEDS to protect herself doesn't automatically equate to astonishing personal abilities. It can also manifest as a careful choice of allies, use of rituals and eldritch machines both to conceal her presence and to protect herself should anyone find her, and clever manipulation to lead you astray in the first place. As I said, if you're face to face with Vol, you've had to find her and shatter a host of incredibly potent magical and physical defenses in the process. You've already won a major victory just to get there - and you should have had to face terrible challenges in the first place.
Beyond that, her environment should be a weapon. Again, she needs to protect herself. You can do that by making her personal magical powers greater. Or you can do that through her tools. Perhaps her throne room is an eldritch machine that allows her to channel deadly necrotic force, or to conjure the ghosts of the PC's worst enemies to face them. The point of doing this is to say that much of her power comes from her vast knowledge, and I'd personally represent this through the things that she's created. New forms of undead. Necromantic rituals you've never heard of. Eldritch machines you've never imagined. This also makes her more like Jaela, in that her strength is greatly increased in her seat of power. She's stronger than Jaela when she's away from her throne, but still, when she is there in Illmarrow, she should be far more dangerous than when she's beyond it.
So I agree that she should be more dangerous than these stats show. But I wouldn't represent that with simple personal combat abilities. I'd reflect it in the things she's created and the tools you'll face both before you meet her and when you reach her - her rituals, allies, and eldritch machines.
Actually not to sure on that final clause, I guess she may have killed herself simply for immortality.
I'm not sure if you're "not sure" in terms of canon or in your campaign. From canon, it definitely wasn't something she wanted. Due to her death, she's lost access to the full power and potential of her mark. It's entirely possible that if she'd lived, she would have eventually risen above life and death; perhaps she would have been the first to truly attain the Divinity Within. Her undead existence is a mockery of the power she should have. If you want to see her TRUE might, restore her to life and grant her the full potential of her enhanced dragonmark.
And though the conflict has died down in the current age, I'm sure she hasn't forgotten that the at least aggressors (the dragons) are masters of subterfuge and have the ability to change shape. It's not unlikely that eventually one of the Chamber may infiltrate the BoV hierarchy.
Sure, but again, the fact that a dragon might attack me doesn't mean that I can simply make myself strong enough to defeat it in single combat. But I might be able to create tools to defeat it, develop mystic wards or rituals to expose it, create undead allies to aid me. I'm just saying that her personal combat abilities are only a fraction of her actual power.
So I agree that she should be more dangerous than these stats show. But I wouldn't represent that with simple personal combat abilities. I'd reflect it in the things she's created and the tools you'll face both before you meet her and when you reach her - her rituals, allies, and eldritch machines.
Lot's of great thoughts there, and I agree with you in almost every aspect. The battle to reach Vol should be epic in scope, filled with new and terrifying magic, allies and so on.
But I think that as well as all that, it suits the vision of the character that I have that she has also obtained considerable personal power. So it's not about neglecting the enormous hurdle you must jump to breach her defences in the first place, it's about having that final meeting be another hurdle itself.
So I agree that she should be more dangerous than these stats show. But I wouldn't represent that with simple personal combat abilities. I'd reflect it in the things she's created and the tools you'll face both before you meet her and when you reach her - her rituals, allies, and eldritch machines.
I'd do both. :D
I'm not sure if you're "not sure" in terms of canon or in your campaign. From canon, it definitely wasn't something she wanted. Due to her death, she's lost access to the full power and potential of her mark. It's entirely possible that if she'd lived, she would have eventually risen above life and death; perhaps she would have been the first to truly attain the Divinity Within. Her undead existence is a mockery of the power she should have. If you want to see her TRUE might, restore her to life and grant her the full potential of her enhanced dragonmark.
I meant not sure in terms of canon. But that's a great idea there, especially for continuing a storyline involving Vol into the epic tier.
Sure, but again, the fact that a dragon might attack me doesn't mean that I can simply make myself strong enough to defeat it in single combat. But I might be able to create tools to defeat it, develop mystic wards or rituals to expose it, create undead allies to aid me. I'm just saying that her personal combat abilities are only a fraction of her actual power.
I agree with this, too, I just think that her personal combat abilities shouldn't be an insignificant fraction. Certainly not a majority fraction, or even close, but still a fractions players should be concerned about.
Given Vol's heritage, the map I have in my mind is similar to if one had a dragon as the ultimate nemesis in a campaign. The dragon's lair isn't just going to be a cave, it'll be a maze of traps, unimaginable magic, power allies and so on. It might be more localised than Vol's network (depending on the dragon, I guess), but it still serves as an obstacle that's just as if not more dangerous than the dragon itself. However, when you finally reach the dragon's chamber you know you're in for a battle that's going to test everything you've learned up to that point.
Look at Ari Marmell's Dungeon Adventure Tomb of the Sand King's Daughter for such an example.
Contrast that to something like a Bond villain, on the opposite side of the spectrum. When Bond has battled all the technology and henchmen our villain can muster, we're left with just a man. Bond just needs to pull the trigger.
Your image of Vol seems to lie somewhere inbetween those extremes (though much closer to the dragon than the Bond villain - she still fights!), and mine a little further toward the dragon.
But I think that as well as all that, it suits the vision of the character that I have that she has also obtained considerable personal power.
I understand. And I agree with you that the final battle should be as challenging as the journey. I'm not suggesting that you work your way through traps, and when you reach her it's anticlimactic. I'm simply saying that in MY vision of her, much of her combat ability will be augmented by things she has created. Essentially, when you come to the dragon at the end of the story, or face the demon lord, you're dealing with a being of incredible PERSONAL power; with Vol, I'd want to emphasize that she's had to work for her power, that planning and preparation are vital for her.
So with this in mind (and I'm making this up COMPLETELY off the top of my head) I'd do something like say that when the PCs arrive in her final sanctum, they find that it is sitting on a manifest zone to Dolurrh, which to begin with does 5 points of necrotic damage to everyone in the sanctum at the start of each round. They can see that necromantic sigils have been carved into the floor - and Arcana checks will allow them to see that the entire room is an eldritch machine. This is a tool for drawing shades back from Dolurrh, and while in this room Erandis can use an action (move or minor, see below) to summon the shade of one of the PC's defeated enemies from the past. My thought would be to make these minions, creating around three templates for them so that they have a GENERAL match to the fallen victim (IE, the dead wizard uses a ranged attack while the barbarian fights in melee)... but, of course, their time in Dolurrh has diminished them and they are simply echoes of these fallen enemies. They are easily banished - but she can always conjure them back. If they are minions, I'd make it a minor action to summon them. Alternately, you could make them a little tougher... but in this case I'd make it a move action to summon them and limit it to once per round. I'd want to give them fairly significant attack strength; they're just easily wiped away. To me, this is a way to emphasize that she is Queen of Death - you're not just fighting her, you're fighting the worst enemies you've dealt with in days past, giving me a chance to have those hated villains get cameo roles. The idea is that she's drawing these spirits back because of their hunger for vengeance, so she couldn't just bring back Karrn or some random spirit. But if a dragon attacked, she could conjure the shade of one of IT'S worst enemies... a warband of the Valeus Tairn, a rival dragon, and so on. Or perhaps she's got a pile of bones she can use in conjunction with the machine to raise a dracolich on short notice!
It's an eldritch machine and not easily destroyed, and it's specifically attuned to her. But it's possible that with a lot of arcana checks and a final expenditure of an action point, a PC could temporarily tap into the power of the machine to conjure one of Vol's worst enemies.
The key to me is that the machine and manifest zone make her more powerful in combat. But it's situational. She's built the machine and chosen the final battleground. If you faced her out on a battlefield in Thrane, she wouldn't have that power. She's huunted by dragons and the Deathguard - and this is why she CAN'T just walk the world - she needs to remain where she is protected by her wards and her machines, where she has the power to face her worst foes. This is the difference between her and, say, an Overlord of the Age of Demons, whose sheer innate power is so great that it doesn't have to worry about where you fight.
One thing I would probably do is set up challenges earlier in the dungeon that have the effect of sapping necrotic resistance - or giving Erandis an item with this effect. Obviously PCs who know they're going to face Vol are going to stock up on necrotic resistance. They should have the opportunity to avoid it if they are careful and lucky, but I'd have the defenses of her lair leading up to that final encounter have lots of ways of stripping this away.
Two other things I'll point out:
1. Vol is, in my mind, a good recurring villain. This is something that's discussed in her actual entry - you've seen the raw stats, but not the text that goes with them. She can return from death as long as her phylactery remains hidden - and I personally like the idea that even SHE doesn't know where it was hidden (because if you recall, it was her mother who raised her as a lich). So if the PCs defeat her, she can return. But the PCs will grow in power - and as such, it's important that she does as well. But she should be a threat each time, which means that her personal power needs to grow. It's up to you to decide what steps are required for her to rise in level, but it should be a serious challenge; she's been around for thousands of years, so why are things changing now? Perhaps it's the Mourning - the deaths of so many Cyrans weakening the border between life and death. Perhaps it's the Prophecy finally turning her way. Perhaps it's somehow connected with one of the PCs - that the PC is the key to her apotheosis and something she's been waiting for. In my mind, she'll need ancient artifacts, books of forgotten lore, possibly to make deals with demon overlords. She may create eldritch machines with the apparent goal of turning everyone in Sharn into a zombie – but the true goal of weakening the borders between Eberron and Dolurrh (a goal she can achieve even in defeat, so even though the players win the battle, her power increases). This is why she needs the Order of the Emerald Claw - to seize the artifacts she requires, to build her eldritch machines, and so on. But this is all a means to an end, and that end is restoring her mark and truly becoming the Queen of Death. So while she's a paragon threat as presented, I see her as someone who could end up as an epic threat in the long run; it's simply that you're not prepared to deal with her at all until paragon. But her recurring status is critical for me.
2. Setting her personal power aside, I'd just emphasize that she should know rituals that were developed either by her or her family - rituals no one else has ever heard of. So in direct battle, she may have a blast 5 attack. But she might have a ritual that lets her make a burst 50 attack inflicting 5 points of necrotic damage - a ritual that would let her devastate a village. The key is that it's a ritual, something that she can't use while being engaged in direct combat... and something that has a high cost. It might require shards of Dolurrh itself - incredibly rare items that can only be obtained by venturing into the realm of the dead. So I'd give her abilities that reflect the fact that she is one of the greatest (un)living necromancers of the age... but again, these might not be things she could use when PCs have swords in her face.
So we are actually on the same page as to "She's worried about dragons so she wants to increase her personal power" - but I'd rather have that be something that happens over the course of a story arc, with PCs actually seeing her move closer and closer to the power she was denied in life, than to start her out more powerful. So she may START as a paragon elite - but she could end as an epic solo when she accomplishes her goals.
I like that she's paragon tier instead of epic. It also helps give me inspiration for a plotline where she turns out to not be the BBEG but simply a pawn for something even greater.
I on the other hand couldn't disagree more. I'd have preferred that she was at least a baseline level 21 threat. Why? So that using the standard plus/minus up to 5 levels modification rules she could be increased to a level 26 threat, thus still a viable (even if weak) opponent for an epic level end game encounter. Personally I'd probably like her to be even more threating than that (a baseline of 21 is only my minimum not my ideal).
On the other hand I do like the fact that she is an elite and not a solo. This makes it possible for an encounter against her to include other threats such as allies or hazards/traps (possibly in the form of an eldritch machine as suggested by Hellcow). Alternatively, the DM could can just add a template to her stats if they have desire/need of here to be a solo. Actually, I'd rather like to see her have her own unique template for just such a purpose, though I don't expect to see such.
bleach ... fast ....
as for Vol. my favorite image is this: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/illathid/Vol-final.jpg
Meh. Where are the emerald claws?
So that using the standard plus/minus up to 5 levels modification rules she could be increased to a level 26 threat, thus still a viable (even if weak) opponent for an epic level end game encounter.
Personally, the arc I'd use for an EC campaign is for PCs to primarily deal with EC soldiers and low-level operatives like Garrow in low heroic tier. At higher-level heroic tier and low paragon, you start dealing with higher lever EC operatives like Demise, who themselves grow in power over time - the Karrnathi bone knight or Illmarrow necromancer you play the role of Bellaq in Raiders, clashing with you more than once before meeting their just reward. Mid to upper Paragon you start learning about Vol's specific plans... and you finally manage to meet her face to face. Perhaps the first clash isn't in her home castle; perhaps you do manage to catch her directly leading an operation, her true form cloaked by her ritual magic. You can likely defeat her under these circumstances, but you have no idea where her phylactery is - so it's an inconvenience as opposed to the end of Erandis. A more serious conflict could involve the eldritch machine as described above - but again, unless you can find her phylactery (something so well shielded that not even the Undying Court can locate it mystically) she can always return and rebuild... and as the PCs become more powerful, she can grow more powerful as well. This is the key as described on page 252 of the original ECS: the idea of the recurring villain. Like Doctor Doom to the Fantastic Four, she could continue to be a thorn in their side, coming up with ever greater schemes to increase her power... until she finally manages to unlock her true potential, making her an epic threat on par with a demon Overlord.
Of course, the thing about recurring villains is that you don't want too many of them. You want to decide who you want to hang your campaign on. If I was going to base my campaign around the Lords of Dust, I might use Vol in the lower levels only to reveal that she's just a pawn of the LoD herself - and as such, I'd make it possible for PCs to find her phylactery and destroy her (of course, it may turn out that this is part of the Prophecy that leads to the release of an overlord - that before Katashka the Gatekeeper can rise, "Death must die"). They may clash with Erandis more than once before her final defeat, but the STAR villain - the Doctor Doom of the piece - will be Katashka's cunning prakhutu. Ditto for if my game is going to hang around the Dreaming Dark. Eberron ahs a lot of possible epic arcs and scheming villains; in setting up a campaign, I prefer to pick one to get the starring role, letting the others get cameos when appropriate and interesting.
So my preference would have been to include a second set of stats for Erandis as an epic level solo controller, for when she's attained her true potential - but if you want to go that route, you can certainly develop your own.
Meh. Where are the emerald claws?
As far as I know the emerald claw only referred to Miss Vol's father, who was a mighty green dragon. And as the person who photoshoped that picture together I can maybe give you some insight as to why I chose the look I did.
I really liked the idea floating around the boards that Vol was cut down before reaching her true potential and so in one of my campaigns when the PC's finally reached the inner sanctum of illmarrow castle, they just saw this sad little elven girl sitting alone in the room, crying. They were in fact looking for an elf child that had been kidnapped by Vol to recreate the mark of death. However they had quite a surprise when the Sad elf child turned out to be the Queen of Death herself.
Personally, the arc I'd use for an EC campaign is for PCs to primarily deal with EC soldiers and low-level operatives like Garrow in low heroic tier.
That brings back fond memories of running Shadows of the Last War and Grasp of the Emerald Claw
At higher-level heroic tier and low paragon, you start dealing with higher lever EC operatives like Demise, who themselves grow in power over time - the Karrnathi bone knight or Illmarrow necromancer you play the role of Bellaq in Raiders, clashing with you more than once before meeting their just reward. Mid to upper Paragon you start learning about Vol's specific plans... and you finally manage to meet her face to face.
Ditto their, though for my campaign the intermideries were a bit more subtle and the party only had one signifcant encounter with agents of the claw/blood befor meeting lady death herself, at level 12, or at least they met someone claiming to ber Vol (whether she realy was or not has yet to be revealed).
Anyway, just for a twist they were actually invited into her presence where she made the claim that all the previous entanglements were due to a splinter faction led by a rogue priest of the blood, who she hired the PC to eliminate. After chasing him across Aerenal, the party ended up in a show down at what might have been the sight of the original house of Vol headquarters where the rogue priest resurrected what seems to be the original Emerald Claw as a vampiric dragon. Unfortunately for the priest the PCs had disrupted the half of the ritual that would allow him to control the big green, who then proceeded to crush the insolent fool when the priest tried to start issuing orders. When the adventure left of the party was escorting him back to Lhazaar for a family reunion.
Sorry for that info dump. I loved my old Eberron campaign, and can hardly wait until this august when I'll be starting it back up under 4E rules.
So my preference would have been to include a second set of stats for Erandis as an epic level solo controller, for when she's attained her true potential - but if you want to go that route, you can certainly develop your own.
Just out of curiosity, what would be your thoughts on using something like the stats for Vecna form Open Grave for a fully empowered version of Vol? Raven Queen stats would probably be better, but we still don't have such.
Just out of curiosity, what would be your thoughts on using something like the stats for Vecna form Open Grave for a fully empowered version of Vol? Raven Queen stats would probably be better, but we still don't have such.
Well I'm assuming she would be a God yes? Vecna is just on the border between just defeatable and impossible. If you really use his ability to spend APs out of turn well he can be almost unstoppable (because he can get away from most combos and similar things that require APs: your warlord has never cried more than his careful CA + Action surge being defeated by vecna instantly teleporting away [or stunning him]).
You should probably alter Vecna though. Give him 20% less HP, more damage on his attacks and lower defenses by 2 across the board (Except his current lowest, which I can't remember off hand which it is). That will bring him in line with solos from monster manual 2; which are designed differently.
Change up some of his powers to be more in line with what you would expect Lady Vol to have (maybe some better melee ability than Vecna) and you're good to go. Just retain the flight and teleport, plus his awesome immediate interrupt to spend APs outside of his turn.
He makes a vicious level 30 encounter I can assure you.
Well I'm assuming she would be a God yes? Vecna is just on the border between just defeatable and impossible. If you really use his ability to spend APs out of turn well he can be almost unstoppable (because he can get away from most combos and similar things that require APs: your warlord has never cried more than his careful CA + Action surge being defeated by vecna instantly teleporting away [or stunning him]).
You should probably alter Vecna though. Give him 20% less HP, more damage on his attacks and lower defenses by 2 across the board (Except his current lowest, which I can't remember off hand which it is). That will bring him in line with solos from monster manual 2; which are designed differently.
Change up some of his powers to be more in line with what you would expect Lady Vol to have (maybe some better melee ability than Vecna) and you're good to go. Just retain the flight and teleport, plus his awesome immediate interrupt to spend APs outside of his turn.
He makes a vicious level 30 encounter I can assure you.
She's not a Deity, actually.
She's not a Deity, actually.
Delevelling her but keeping the damage dice the same would probably be sufficient then down to level 32 or 33 (which is getting into Daemon Lord levels of Power).
Also, now I think of it unless we're talking about certain Gods (ala Vecna or Tiamat) it's worth noting solos make hopeless epic tier antagonists. They will usually die horribly to on miss (stun until end of PC Ys turn), which means they will frequently suffer 3-4 rounds of being murdered by PCs without being able to respond at all. If your party has enough daze and stun effects the solo is basically permanently gimped.
Personally I would make her a level 30ish solo, then boost the EL to 35 with other monsters.
That means she has a whole assload of help there and just chain stunning her to death is going to result in a lot of angry monsters stomping on you...
I had absolutely no idea she was supposed to be half-dragon anything.
Seriously? Erandis has always been a half-dragon (green) Elf lich. With, yes, green claw fingers (half-dragons all have c/c/bite attacks, remember?) With the Mark of Death on top of it, this 'cross-breeding' is basically what started the fight that ended with the destruction of her family on both sides.
==Aelryinth
Seriously?
YA RLY.
I only know what I know from the EPG, Secrets of Xen'Drik, Sharn City of Towers, Secrets of Sarlona and Stormreach. I am eagerly awaiting the ECG, which should have come out first in a logical world ...
She's not a Deity, actually.
Fully empowered she might as well be.
... until she finally manages to unlock her true potential, making her an epic threat on par with a demon Overlord.
Fully empowered she might as well be.
True dat.
Fully empowered she might as well be.
How powerful are Daemon Overlords in Eberron?
Demogorgon/Dagon levels or? The problem with "God" in 4E is that the most powerful Gods are unbeatable by PCs (EG Bane; who is level 38 IIRC). Hell Vecna is pushing it, because once he gets a few low HP PCs he can harvest APs and nova the party into oblivion.
I am eagerly awaiting the ECG, which should have come out first in a logical world ...
It propably would've, too, if it weren't for all the people who complained about the FRCG being released before the FRPG.
It propably would've, too, if it weren't for all the people who complained about the FRCG being released before the FRPG.
What you're saying is that in this world of cruelties and unfairness, nobody truly wins?
How powerful are Daemon Overlords in Eberron?
Demogorgon/Dagon levels or? The problem with "God" in 4E is that the most powerful Gods are unbeatable by PCs (EG Bane; who is level 38 IIRC). Hell Vecna is pushing it, because once he gets a few low HP PCs he can harvest APs and nova the party into oblivion.
A demon overlord (also known as Raksasha Raja), is by word of god (Hellcow), a being so powerful as to likely be equal to that of the most powerful gods of other settings (lv40+). It is only through great efforts by the PCs, such as by gathering artifacts and performing ancient rituals all of which must be used at the appropriate place and time (astrological alignment), that such beings can be reduced in power to something in the more reasonable Orcus to Vecna range.
It propably would've, too, if it weren't for all the people who complained about the FRCG being released before the FRPG.
I think WotC should just take the leap and release both in the same month next time.
I think it'd be fine. People not interested in the campaign setting will still prolly get the Player's Guide for the crunch, so it's not like us crackheads won't get our monthly fix of 4e supplements.
As far as complaining - it's gonna happen either way. Releasing a complete campaign setting strikes me as a better route than one book at a time, sorta like how the first three 4e books were supposed to be released over three months but instead were put out simultaneously. Nothing sucks more than getting half of the equation; "So...I get the choice of receiving three PS3 games or a PS3? And I have to wait 30 days between getting both?!"
Well, obviously they'd just release the campaign books one month. So, fer instance, in June we'd get Monster Manual 2 and Divine Power, and in July get EPG & ECG. Or maybe Eberron in June and the other things in July.
They gotta feed their bottom line, so they gotta make sure it's not too spread out between campaign-specific and core-supporting.
I think it'd be fine. People not interested in the campaign setting will still prolly get the Player's Guide for the crunch, so it's not like us crackheads won't get our monthly fix of 4e supplements.
As far as complaining - it's gonna happen either way. Releasing a complete campaign setting strikes me as a better route than one book at a time, sorta like how the first three 4e books were supposed to be released over three months but instead were put out simultaneously. Nothing sucks more than getting half of the equation; "So...I get the choice of receiving three PS3 games or a PS3? And I have to wait 30 days between getting both?!"
I see what you're saying, but at the same time, I like my wallet feeling like it's got more than receipts in it.
If they released both books in the same month you'd find people who would complain about the hit to their wallets and how greedy WotC is for putting the books out together like that.
My kneejerk reaction was this, but how many people have complained about Divine Power and the Eberron Campaign Guide being released in the same month? I certainly haven't heard any criticism.
My kneejerk reaction was this, but how many people have complained about Divine Power and the Eberron Campaign Guide being released in the same month? I certainly haven't heard any criticism.
I just did! In this thread! Although it wasn't really a complaint so much as an "OUCH MY WALLET"