[This is an NPC build, for the cleric of an evil party the PCs will soon encounter.]
Father Joe is a cleric of Lamashtu, the Mother of Monsters. He's a nasty, hateful old man. He used to be a brutal and cruel sadist, but in the last decade he's developed a full-on pesh addiction, which has left him too distracted to appreciate anything but the sweet, sweet embrace of the drug.
Father Joe was the leader of a band of demon cultists for many years. However, age gradually sapped his powers, and eventually another cultist -- a powerful barbarian -- arose to challenge him. One brutal, bone-shattering beatdown later, Father Joe had been demoted to second in command.
This has pushed him even further into the arms of pesh; he's basically always either high or getting ready to get high. His pesh addiction doesn't affect his stats (Lesser Restoration FTW), but it gives him -2 to Perception and cuts his gear allowance in half (because he's been spending the money on pesh, of course).
In combat he's one member of an evil party (gnoll barbarian, sorceror, quasit rogue, some cultist mooks). He should be casting party buffs but he's CE and sullen and hateful, so he'll cast maybe one or two and then concentrate on his own fights.
[Father Joe is a somewhat suboptimal build. This is deliberate.]
Father Joe
Old human cleric of Lamashtu 7 / Demoniac 2
CE medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Perception +3
Spoiler:
Defenses
AC 18 (breastplate, large shield, magic vestments, -2 Dex) touch 8, flat-footed 18
hp 40 (9d8+7-9)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +14
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee mwk warhammer +8/+3 (1d8)
Special Attacks channel smite +4d6
Statistics
Str 11 Con 9 Dex 7 Int 13 Wis 21 Cha 14 [remember, he's old]
Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 14
Feats: Demon Mark, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (War Hammer), Channel Smite, Improved Initiative, Pesh Rejuvenation (10 temporary hp if brought below 0)
SQ
Channel Energy 4d6
Fury of the Abyss (+3 to attack and damage, -2 AC)
Fearful Touch
Demon Mark (recast one spell)
Energumen (+2 to one stat for 2 rounds, then DC 25 Will save or Confused)
Spells (domains are Demon, Nightmare)
4 -- Imbue With SLA x2*, Phantasmal Killer (DC 19), Spiritual Ally (+12/+7 for d10+3)
3 -- Magic Vestment x2*, Rage, Waters of Lamashtu*, Wind Wall
2 -- Cure Moderate Wounds x2, Communal Protection from Evil, Instrument of Agony, Lesser Restoration*, Owl's Wisdom
1 -- Bless, Divine Favor (+3 to attacks), Haze of Dreams (slows one creature), Know the Enemy, Liberating Command, Summon Monster 1
Father Joe is always accompanied by two fifth level cultists (Ftr2/Rog3). He has cast Imbue with Spell Like Ability on these two. If combat is imminent, then they will cast on him as follows:
Round 1, Shield Other (+1 saves, caster takes half damage), Sanctuary
Round 2, Entropic Shield (ranged attacks miss 20%) and Shield of Faith (+3 AC).
Round 3, one cultist will move to throw Early Judgment and then melee, while the other will either cast Cure Light Wounds or melees.
His ally the sorceror will throw Haste on the first round of combat unless killed immediately.
Unless meleed at once, Father Joe will cast Owls Wisdom on himself (Wis 25, +7). If given a second round to buff, he'll throw a party buff -- either Communal Protect from Evil or Bless, as seems appropriate. If he gets additional buff rounds, he'll cast Rage on lower level cultists if they're present, Divine Favor, and Instrument of Agony, in that order.
On the first two rounds of combat he'll cast Spiritual Ally and Phantasmal Killer (DC 21) on the most likely looking target. He'll then use his Demon Mark to recast one of these spells on the third round. If threatened with missile weapons he'll cast Wind Wall.
If forced to melee, Father Joe will activate his Fury of the Abyss. This will give him +3 to attack and damage but -2 to AC. With Haste but no other melee buffs, he will attack at +12/+12/+7 for d8+4d6+3, and his AC will be 20. If his assistants aren't available, he'll try to move his Spiritual Ally to flank.
How about making a few potions waters of lamashtu? Have the cultists anointed the hell out of the players by throwing the potions at them.
Not sure if it works by RAW - but hey your the GM :-)
Dunno what party will be against him, but with 40 HP he's not going to need tactics for round 2. The moment the party identifies him as a "boss", they'll take him out in one round.
I would have him cast spiritual ally first. Since he can drop it up to 170 feet away he can put it on the most lightly armored enemy.
Now you don't have to describe that it is spiritual ally unless someone does a spellcraft.
They might think it is an invisible enemy and waste spells trying to make him appear. Then they might waste attacks because physical attacks cannot hurt it and only certain spells can. He can put the ally on the front line because it threatens and gets AOOs.
That might buy him the extra rounds he needs for buffing.
with 40 HP he's not going to need tactics for round 2. The moment the party identifies him as a "boss", they'll take him out in one round.
He's not the boss. The gnoll barbarian is the boss. There's also a quasit rog6 (who will go invisible and try to disrupt a spellcasting PC with a sneak attack), a sorceror, and half a dozen mooks.
If they concentrate fire on Father Joe anyway, then they're ignoring the rest of Team Evil. I can live with that.
Dunno what party will be against him, but with 40 HP he's not going to need tactics for round 2. The moment the party identifies him as a "boss", they'll take him out in one round.
I think the Gnoll barbarian is actually "the boss". Joe is just a sad example of pesh addiction.
But it brings up a good point. Describe the barbarian in great detail to make him seem important. The casually mention some guy with a breastplate and two dudes next to him. When the mooks cast their buffs try not to mention who they cast it on. Just "this guy casts a spell". They might think they have a group of casters and a big gnoll with an axe.
with 40 HP he's not going to need tactics for round 2. The moment the party identifies him as a "boss", they'll take him out in one round.
He's not the boss. The gnoll barbarian is the boss. There's also a quasit rog6 (who will go invisible and try to disrupt a spellcasting PC with a sneak attack), a sorceror, and half a dozen mooks.
If they concentrate fire on Father Joe anyway, then they're ignoring the rest of Team Evil. I can live with that.
Doug M.
HA! have the quasit try to attack whoever the spiritual ally attacks. That will confuse them mightily.
HA! have the quasit try to attack whoever the spiritual ally attacks. That will confuse them mightily.
Well, they have two PCs with high Spellcraft. So they'll probably be able to figure out what's up.
-- You know, in the very very unlikely event Father Joe survives, taking just one more level of cleric will make him a MUCH tougher opponent. Three fifth level spells + Aura of Madness debuff = win.
I think the Gnoll barbarian is actually "the boss". Joe is just a sad example of pesh addiction.
The gnoll, sorceror and quasit are taken from the Rival Guide -- they're 3/4 of the Marrow Reavers. I dropped the fourth member (crazy 1/2 elf ranger) and created Father Joe as her replacement. Then added four 5th level cultists as their mooks and assistants.
The setup is, two of my players are bringing in new PCs. So I have them as captives of Joe & Co. It's a classic "bad guys have your stuff" scenario, with the new PCs being dragged along in manacles, wearing only loincloths, etc.
The other four PCs will encounter this group -- which is actually a dangerously close match for them; they're just four 9th level PCs against a gnoll Barb 8, quasit Rogue 6, Sorceror 7, Father Joe, and the four mooks. Team Evil is CR 11, verging on 12 -- dangerous. But the wild card is that the two captive PCs can of course choose this moment to try escaping. Which they may or may not do... we'll see.
karkon wrote:
But it brings up a good point. Describe the barbarian in great detail to make him seem important. The casually mention some guy with a breastplate and two dudes next to him.
Two possibilities here -- immediate fight, and parley. Parley will inevitably end with a treacherous attack from Team Evil, so if the PCs are wise they'll attack on sight. If that's the case, Joe tries buffing as described above. If not, then he'll try to cast Owl's Wisdom -- the gnoll will say it's so that he can better discern whether the PCs are speaking truth. If they get away with that, he'll then take a round of buffs from the mooks. (Who could possibly object to Sanctuary or Shield Other? Purely defensive!)
Mind, this does bring attention to him. I'll have to play the gnoll as that much louder and obnoxious, I guess.
So, just ran the session tonight. Team Evil got the drop on the PCs and really should have killed them, but I had the gnoll mock them instead. Then they were winning, but the gnoll ran out of patience, charged, rolled badly, and was opened up to a devastating counterstrike from the party's barb.
Anyway: as it happened, Father Joe was the last man standing. He played pretty much exactly as described. He came close to killing one PC with a phantasmal killer, and did contribute to a second PC death by piling on damage with Spiritual Ally. At the end he went after the party cleric in melee and actually managed to peel away most of his HP. He ended up using all his feats (including Pesh Rejuvenation) and most of his spells before falling beneath the two-handed sword of the hasted raging barb.
... Inspired by his battle, and given that they are on the abyss when it happens, Father Joe's Demonic patron decides to give Father Joe a promotion!
aka Bring him back for a possible round two, minus the Pesh addiction, plus a fancy demonic template or perhaps as a ghost...
Hmm... the Shackled City campaign had a fancy way of merging a person with a trapped demonic spirit (the beholder did it later on in the campaign). Perhaps something like that...
Seems right up Lamashtu's alley.
Hell, if you make him a Ghost, perhaps you can re-use some of that Ghost advice you got a few weeks back... =)
