I don't think my players will read this, but just in case I'm spoilering what I have envisioned. Please help out as you can.
Planned combatants: npc druid 17 (CR 16), viper vine (CR 13), giant flytrap advanced to 7 attacks and 19 HD (CR 13), 2x elder earth elementals (CR 11).
I could use some help fleshing out the druid, especially as it pertains to feats, wild shape form, and animal companion. I plan on using the heroic npc stat block. He's human. Alignment is NE.
I was thinking tiger for the animal companion (no dinosaurs for this druid, including wild shape forms) but there may be better possibilities.
As far as gear goes, I was thinking of getting the following...
weapons: amulet of mighty fists: human bane, shock (20k)
protection: +1 wild dragonhide plate (19.3k), cloak of resistance +2 (4k)
magic: headband of inspired wisdom +4 (16k), ring of counterspells (4k)
limited use: candle of invocation, NE (8.4k) used to summon an astradaemon
Thoughts? Thanks!
For a primary villain, I'd go caster druid all the way. Give him Natural Spell and Augment Summoning, and maybe a flock of normal birds to fly around him when he's in wild shape -- while the party fights the summoned monsters, he's controlling the battlefield. That said, I'd totally redo your equipment list, and instead give him
I gnore wild shape, dont take a companion, go for the extra domain, spells and associated powers, at that level summons and beast shape are better any way.
Spoilering the response, but wanted to say thanks for the help!
Spoilering the response, but wanted to say thanks for the help!
** spoiler omitted **
I was wondering about that. I just haven't compared to see if a summoned monster with augment summoning is stronger than an animal companion.
Thoughts? Thanks!
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More specific advice when off work, but...
Allies means summoned critters are less crucial. Use them when the "real" mooks go down and prolong the fight.
Alternatively, get something that buffs allies, so as to maximize combat effectiveness.
Natural Spell + non-combat wild shape form is all but necessary.
I'd personally drop the companion in favor of domain spells.
Druids really write themselves. What you need to focus on, is how best to run the combat, because effective druid combat is much different than normal combat. Also, familiarize yourself with all the neat secondary ways druids can get "followers" and utilize them all.
Consider to start: Air Elemental Form, Control Winds active, anti-life shell. This gives him 60 foot fly, DR, and a 175mph tornado surrounding him. Tornados are really difficult to breach and stunningly effective battlefield control. Next consider reverse gravity into the tornado, scirocco back down, slam-cycle the party with fatigue and exhaustion. Don't forget the "summon a pile of cyclopses and have them auto-crit" cheese if things get too easy on your players.
All wilderness druid lairs should have a very large animal/beast/tree/etc that's been Awakened, then advanced in class levels, because why not. All should have a treant from Liveoak, and that treat can animate 3 more trees into treants, for four treants total. All 17th level plus druids also carry around a bunch of Shambling Mounds. That's the "stock" creatures basically all druids get just because of their spell column. They might get more (a lot more) if you rule that awakened creatures are sticking around the lair after they've been released due to another casting of Awaken. Don't forget to take Spell Focus Conjuration and Augment Summoning.
Consider giving him leadership feat, then taking a 15th level druid cohort, and having him duplicate some or all of the above "stock druid creatures" as well. It's pretty easy for a druid to stick well within the game rules and turn his lair into a whole town of Dr Doolittle stuff.
For gear, give him stuff that will keep him alive and work through wild shape, such as a displacement cloak, belt of +6 con, etc.
Also, remember a Druid is a friend of nature, even the Evil, stake-you-to-a-tree-by-your-small-intestine kind.
This Druid should have at least some Fey allies, several animals trained to do his bidding and, if you can manage it, perhaps a strong physical ally such as a Troll, Ettin or other large, dumb and wilderness-dwelling brute to be their 'muscle'.
Druids really write themselves. What you need to focus on, is how best to run the combat, because effective druid combat is much different than normal combat. Also, familiarize yourself with all the neat secondary ways druids can get "followers" and utilize them all.
** spoiler omitted **
I really wish I could throw a druid prepped like your spoiler against my players. That's an awesome setup I'd never have even considered. Sadly, the current adventure doesn't have a place for it, and they're going back to level 1 for Kingmaker afterwards. Maybe once they get more advanced in KM...
I really wish I could throw a druid prepped like your spoiler against my players. That's an awesome setup I'd never have even considered. Sadly, the current adventure doesn't have a place for it, and they're going back to level 1 for Kingmaker afterwards. Maybe once they get more advanced in KM...Druids really write themselves. What you need to focus on, is how best to run the combat, because effective druid combat is much different than normal combat. Also, familiarize yourself with all the neat secondary ways druids can get "followers" and utilize them all.
** spoiler omitted **
Shame. That spread up top is pretty much what I'd consider a minimum for a level 17 druid, because it's largely free. You can pull the whole thing off with basically no gear and a few thousand at mat components for Awaken. That's certainly where I hope my PC druid is in a few levels.
What I've found playing PF for the past few months, is that properly built characters get really powerful, to the point where it's often difficult to challenge them at all. You may be surprised what your players can handle by level 14ish. My group could certainly handle the guy I spoilered, and we're only 12th.
At this level the envrionmental archetypes penalty of minus -2 to wildshpe becomes a nofactor because the highest wildshape is at level 12. What is the wilderness enviornment for this druid BBEG? The initiaitve bonus should allow him to get a jump on the players which is huge for +8 initive and focused on casting.
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besides having a veritable zoo of friendly monstrous critters, consider the following:
Animal Domain: (Subdomain Feather)
Granted Powers: You can speak with and befriend animals with ease. In addition, you treat Knowledge (nature) as a class skill.
Speak with Animals (Sp): You can speak with animals, as per the spell, for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your cleric level.
Animal Companion (Ex): At 4th level, you gain the service of an animal companion. Your effective druid level for this animal companion is equal to your cleric level – 3. (Druids who take this ability through their nature bond class feature use their druid level – 3 to determine the abilities of their animal companions).
Domain Spells: 1st—calm animals, 2nd—hold animal, 3rd—dominate animal, 4th—summon nature's ally IV (animals only), 5th—beast shape III (animals only), 6th—antilife shell, 7th—animal shapes, 8th—summon nature's ally VIII (animals only), 9th—shapechange.
SUBDOMAINS
Feather
Associated Domain: Animal.
Add Fly to your list of class skills. In addition, whenever you cast a spell that grants you a fly speed, your maneuverability increases by one step (up to perfect).
Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the speak with animals power of the Animal domain.
Eyes of the Hawk (Ex): You gain a racial bonus on Perception checks equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1). In addition, if you can act during a surprise round, you receive a +2 racial bonus on your Initiative check.
Replacement Domain Spells: 2nd—feather fall, 3rd—fly, 6th—fly (mass)*.
You know what's scarier than a bunch of treants, animals, and plants? Flying treants, animals, and plants. Throw in a Huge Air Elemental Wild Shaped Druid casting things like Control Winds, Spike Stones, Wall spells, and the like, and you got yourself a fight on your hands.
This works particularly great if the PC's don't know the druid is the BBEG in this situation.
PC Scout: "Hey guys, there's this clump of critters and they're all nomming on some old guy over yonder (Threefold Aspect is perfect for this subterfuge)"
PC's: "Oh, we must go rescue said old fellow"
Evil Druid: "Yes, that's it, fools, just a bit closer"
Don't forget about those long-term trap spells, either...Soften Earth and Stone[i], [i]Expeditious Excatation, Spike Stones, Plant Growth, Control Winds, Control Weather, Control Water can all really ramp up the defensive value of a given area.
It's kind of hard to approach a hostile area when there's overgrown plants, quicksand, unpredictable flooding, and torrential rain all over the place.
I hadn't strongly considered leadership, but perhaps I should. Thanks for the great suggestions, all. This is a long-term project (party is only level 5 going on 6 at the moment, and this is the bbeg for when they are level 15), but I'll be sure and post his build when I get him further along. Keep the suggestions coming, and if anyone has a 17 druid built out already I'd love to see him/her. Thanks!
More spoilers, just so you know where I'm coming from with this particular request...
The druid is making use of several cohorts to aid him in this task (all of which will be dealt with by the PCs before they take on the druid at level 15): a powerful black dragon, a frost giant raiding party, and the evil fey (borrowing the concept of Queen Rhoswen from Realm of the Fellnight Queen). So the fey will largely have been dealt with before they ever get to the druid.
Thanks!
What I've found playing PF for the past few months, is that properly built characters get really powerful, to the point where it's often difficult to challenge them at all. You may be surprised what your players can handle by level 14ish. My group could certainly handle the guy I spoilered, and we're only 12th.
It's more a question of what will fit than what they can handle for the current campaign. It's XCrawl, so anything can happen, but I'm just not sure there's a place for a high level druid. I might be able to make one, though. Regardless, I Listed the thread, so I'll be back one day to use it.
Stat block for bbeg druid 17
Str 10
Dex 10
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 26 (15 base, +2 human racial bonus, +3 level bonuses, +6 enhancement)
Cha 14 (13 base, +1 level bonus)
Gear (75k total): cloak of displacement, minor (24k), headband of inspired wisdom +6 (36k), candle of invocation NE (8.4k) leaving 6.5k for other consumables.
Feats to include spell focus: conjuration and augment summoning early on, leadership after level 7 and at level 17 he can have a level 13 cohort. I need to fill in the gaps on the other feats, though.
Skills will include fly, knowledge: nature, perception (maxed out), spellcraft (maxed out), and survival.
Input welcomed. Thanks!
Feat progression. Thoughts?
1-augment summoning
3-combat casting
5-natural spell
7-improved initiative
9-extend spell
11-selective spell
13-leadership
15-quicken spell
17-toughness
At this level the envrionmental archetypes penalty of minus -2 to wildshpe becomes a nofactor because the highest wildshape is at level 12. What is the wilderness enviornment for this druid BBEG? The initiaitve bonus should allow him to get a jump on the players which is huge for +8 initive and focused on casting.
This druid is based in the River Kingdoms, which is a mixture of plains, forests, and swamps for the most part. Wow, there are definitely some nice variant abilities for a Swamp druid that I might be able to exploit. I hadn't looked at that before. Thanks for pointing it out!
I have a question about leadership. If someone can verify it I would be appreciative. I would hate to screw something up as important as this. Thanks!
I just want to make sure that his cohort should be 15th level and not 13th level, as that can make a big difference in the combat I suspect. Thanks!
P.S. Are cohorts built with the heroic npc stat block? I would expect so, but it doesn't really say as far as I can see.
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If the bbeg takes leadership at level 13 and qualifies for a level 10 cohort, the cohort will level up to within 2 levels of him, right? I checked the math on gaining exp and it works out quite easily that the cohort will make up the 1 level difference over the course of 4 high levels (13 to 17 for the druid).
I believe that's the way it works, yeah.
P.S. Are cohorts built with the heroic npc stat block? I would expect so, but it doesn't really say as far as I can see.
All PC class characters use the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 array. If they only have an NPC class they instead use the 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 array. This is explicitly laid out in the Creating NPCs section.
Ah, right you are, DMW! Thanks so much. I thought they used the heroic npc stat array, but now I have it in writing. Thanks!
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All PC class characters use the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 array.
In a home game, anything goes. Your 17th-level druid might actually be a big, old dragon or demi-god with stats nearing 30 who's been slumming around in alternate form -- and the PCs would never know.
(Just remind yourself of DM rule #1: make things fun, not unrelentingly adversarial.)
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In a home game, anything goes. Your 17th-level druid might actually be a big, old dragon or demi-god with stats nearing 30 who's been slumming around in alternate form -- and the PCs would never know.
(Just remind yourself of DM rule #1: make things fun, not unrelentingly adversarial.)
Absolutely! Just remember to up CR by 1 or so if you jack the attributes up too much, the same as if you give them lots more gear than normal.
I don't see any huge need to beef up his stats to extraordinary heights. The encounter will be a handful as it is anyway, I expect.
P.S. I hope to post his build soon. I need to build his cohort and post that, too.
Here goes!
BBEG npc swamp druid 17 w/air domain for nature's bond (CR 16)
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4 (+12 in swamps); Senses darkvision 60 ft. (huge air elemental form)
STR 10, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 26, CHA 14
DEFENSE (human form)
AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15 (+5 natural armor w/barkskin)
Hp 164 (16d8+76)
Fort +12, Ref +5, Will +18
Resist electricity 20
DEFENSE (huge air elemental form)
AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +9 natural armor w/barkskin, -2 size)
Hp 164 (16d8+76)
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +18
Immune critical hits, sneak attacks; Resist electricity 20; DR 5/-
OFFENSE (huge air elemental form)
Speed fly 120 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 slams +15 (2d6+2)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks whirlwind (DC 25)
Spells 4/6+1/6+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/3+1/1+1
Feats:
1-spell focus: conjuration; augment summoning
3-combat casting
5-natural spell
7-improved initiative
9-extend spell
11-selective spell
13-leadership
15-quicken spell
17-toughness
Skills:
Fly +13, Handle Animal +10, Heal +15, Intimidate +15, Knowledge: Geography +4 (+12 in swamps), Knowledge: Nature +10, Perception +26 (+34 in swamps), Spellcraft +20, Stealth +12 (+20 in swamps), Survival +15 (+23 in swamps), Swim +4 (+12 in swamps)
Gear:
Cloak of Displacement, Minor (24k)
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +6 (36k)
Candle of Invocation, NE (8.4k)
Spells generally focus on summoning combatants and battlefield control.
Allies that are considered part of his CR 16 status include:
Cohort (level 15 ranged combatant), elemental swarm summoned in advance, astradaemon summoned via candle of invocation, several liveoak treants that can also animate two trees each, and 4 advanced shambling mound guards.
Additional allies that add to the EL include: viper vine (CR 13), giant flytrap advanced to 7 attacks and 19 HD (CR 13), and 2x elder earth elementals (CR 11).
Thoughts? Thanks!
Have you done the cheesy thing and made him venerable? *loves cheese* You could add as much as +3 to all of his mental stats with no penalty to physical stats thanks to timeless body.
No, I haven't even made him middle-aged, although that would be appropriate. He's definitely not old or venable, though. Something to think about. Thanks!
I had planned to make good use of elemental body IV via wild shape and take to the air as a huge air elemental. There are plenty of plant and elemental beasties on the ground already.
Good comment about the "escape" capabilities of a druid on his home turf, though. I had planned to make use of lots of those abilities prior to the PC's reaching his base of operations. So it will be a running battle until they can effectively "corner" him in his swampy lair. There will be motivations for him not wanting to let the PC's gain control of his lair, so at that point it will be a fight to the death. /salute!
Good thought, and I understand the sentiment about setting the mood. I try very hard to establish a mood in sessions that warrant them. This will be one of those times, for sure.
What I don't want this to turn into (from my players' perspectives) is a slog-fest of "against the plants" where they fight every plant monster I can find. That will not be fun, regardless of atmosphere.
Still, nothing says I can't have the bbeg start off as a plant form and shifting to elemental later. The beauty of wild shape is its myriad applications. A high level druid should get lots of use out of it. Thanks!