Suitable minion for Xanesha? (spoilers)


Rise of the Runelords


Since I have a party of five I want to increase the difficulty Xanesha fight a bit, though not too much.

I was thinking of putting a faceless stalker or two in her aerie. She has sneak attack so that feature is kind of wasted if she doesn't have any flanking buddies.

However, my party mostly has very good armor classes and most "minions" are unable to hit enemies most of the time.

Suggestions?

Grand Lodge

If I had this problem and I was going to run again I would place a half-orc grapple focused brawler there.

Not touting the movie, but I always kind of imagined Xanesha like Ava Green's character from the second Sin City. A femme fatale basically.

Just some poor schlub that she has used her powers to make totally and completely love her. If you were going to do this I would absolutely have him with at least a potion of invisibility so her succubus ruse has a chance to work.

I've read particularly hilarious stories of PC's immediately flying out to meet her and then 'gazed and petrified' only to fall to their crumbly deaths at the bottom of the tower.


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Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

My thought was a Sorcerer, someone to pump out Magic Missles, and low end Summon Monsters to give flank.


I thought it was foolish for the faceless stalkers to stay with the Bells. So after they triggered the bell trap, I had them move up to the top with Xanesha. There they took the form of Skinsaw Cultists and appeared to be executing the summoning as described. (Xanesha did know something was up since not only did the bird's show up with no message but a couple cultists who survived the slaughter at the sawmill did as well.) This drew the pc's right in and Xanesha almost killed the wizard with a full attack from invisibility ("Missed it by that much!")


I don't mind the idea of other charmed minions, though the minion would have to be pretty loyal to be able to handle Xanesha in her true form. AFAIK she only ever appeared to Ironbriar in her humanoid form, and Ironbriar doesn't know her true species.

I am thinking that I may go with a Faceless Stalker with a couple of monk levels. I figure as biological shapeshifters, stalkers probably wouldn't want to take levels in a class that wears armor, yet a major minion would need the boost to AC that monks get. Also going to give him a potion of mage armor and maybe some other stuff.

If I do that should I boost the stats of the stalker or leave them as is?

Any other thoughts?

Grand Lodge

Faceless stalker has Wisdom 15, so that means it'll have +2 AC from having monk levels unless you add more than three levels, but that's adding tons of other things to it. If you boost the stalker's stats, I'd say only boost wisdom to 16 so that he's getting +3 AC. They've got 18 strength, 17 dexterity, and 4 natural armor already, along with blood drain and sneak attack.

Maybe add one cultist who acts as a flank buddy for the faceless stalker if you think the monk faceless stalker isn't enough.


Ms. Pleiades wrote:
If you boost the stalker's stats, I'd say only boost wisdom to 16 so that he's getting +3 AC.

Yeah, I was thinking this myself.

I would likely also give him a bunch of potions, such as:
potion of mage armor
potion of invisibility
potion of cure serious wounds
oil of magic weapon

Maybe multiples of each so there is treasure for the party to find for this guy.

Any other potion suggestions?

Can a faceless stalker disguise itself as a statue or other inanimate object?

Oooo - when the players come up he could be disguised as a prisoner chained to the wall. The chains could be part of his "clothes" that are part of the shapeshift.

Grand Lodge

If there's difficult terrain in the map (It's been a while since I read through Skinsaw Murders), a potion of Feather Step can help.


Don't think there is, but I could add some - pieces of the caved-in roof, for example.


When monster's get class levels, they also gain the elite array (+4, +4, +2, +2, 0, -2).

Here is what one would look like:

Faceless Monk:

Unnamed Hero CR 5
XP 1,600
Faceless stalker monk 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 122)
LE Medium aberration (shapechanger)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 19, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +4 untyped bonus)
hp 78 (8d8+43)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +11; +4 vs. gaze, odor-based, sonic, +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities evasion; DR 5/piercing or slashing
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +11 (1d6+6) or
unarmed strike flurry of blows +7/+7 (1d6+6) or
slam +12 (1d6+9 plus grab)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Blood Drain (1 con), flurry of blows, sneak attack +2d6, stunning fist (4/day, DC 18)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7)
Constant—tongues
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 22, Dex 19, Con 20, Int 13, Wis 19, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +12 (+18 grapple); CMD 30 (32 vs. grapple)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Acrobatics +4 (+8 to jump), Bluff +12, Disguise +16, Escape Artist +23, Perception +11, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Disguise, +8 Escape Artist
Languages Aquan, Common
SQ change shape, faceless, fast movement, maneuver training
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Blood Drain (1 con) (Ex) Drain blood to inflict Con dam to foe grappled at end of your turn.
Change Shape (medium humanoid, alter self) (Su) You can change your form.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Damage Reduction (5/piercing or slashing) You have Damage Reduction against all except Piercing or Slashing attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Faceless (Su) In its natural form, a faceless stalker has no discernible facial features. It gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made to resist attacks or effects that target the senses. This includes gaze attacks, odor-based attacks, sonic attacks and similar attac
Fast Movement (+10 ft.) The Monk adds 10 or more feet to his base speed.
Flurry of Blows +1/+1 (Ex) As full-rd action, higher BAB and combo unarmed/monk wep as if two-weapon fighting.
Grab: Slam (Medium) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Improved Grapple You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when grappling a foe.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Maneuver Training (Ex) CMB = other BABs + Monk level
Sneak Attack +2d6 +2d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Stunning Fist (4/day, DC 18) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.


CWheezy wrote:

When monster's get class levels, they also gain the elite array (+4, +4, +2, +2, 0, -2).

Here is what one would look like:
** spoiler omitted **...

And here I was thinking I was going to have to stat this guy up! :) Thanks, CWheezy.

Let's call him Ulmothax and he's the leader of the group of faceless stalkers working for Xanesha.

Because he's the leader of the stalkers, I don't want to penalize his CHA (in fact, maybe it should be higher than the other stalkers), I'm going to go with +4, +2, +2, +2, +0, +0 instead of the normal +4, +4, +2, +2, 0, -2.

Shouldn't Flurry attacks be only -1 to hit relative to his normal attacks? I'll give him the Feral Combat Training feat instead of dodge so he can slam at the same time as flurrying.

For items I'm giving him:
armbands of the brawler
boots of the cat (in case he falls off or is thrown off the roof)
cloak of resistance +1
2 potions of cure moderate wounds
2 potions of mage armor (one already included in stats)
3 potions of vanish (CL2)

That adds up to 3500 gp which is pretty close to the 3450 that is recommended, and he's going to be drinking some of the potions.

Ulmothax:
Ulmothax CR 5
XP 1,600
Faceless stalker monk 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 122)
LE Medium aberration (shapechanger)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 25, touch 17, flat-footed 21 (+4 Dex, +4 natural, +3 Wis, +4 armor)
hp 68 (8d8+32)
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +11; +4 vs. gaze, odor-based, sonic
Defensive Abilities evasion; DR 5/piercing or slashing
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +11 (1d6+6)
or slam +12 (1d6+9 plus grab)
or unarmed strike flurry of blows +10/+10 (1d6+6) plus slam +6 (1d6+3 plus grab)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Blood Drain (1 con), flurry of blows, sneak attack +2d6, stunning fist (4/day, DC 17)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7)
Constant: tongues
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 22, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 18
Base Atk +5; CMB +12 (+19 grapple); CMD 25 (28 vs. grapple)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Feral Combat Training, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Acrobatics +4 (+8 to jump), Bluff +14, Disguise +18, Escape Artist +23, Perception +10, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Disguise, +8 Escape Artist
Languages Aquan, Common
SQ change shape, faceless, fast movement, maneuver training
--------------------
Ecology
--------------------
Treasure: NPC gear (armbands of the brawler, boots of the cat, cloak of resistance +1, 2 potions of cure moderate wounds, 2 potions of mage armor, 3 potions of vanish (CL2))
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Blood Drain (1 con) (Ex) Drain blood to inflict Con dam to foe grappled at end of your turn.
Change Shape (medium humanoid, alter self) (Su) You can change your form.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Damage Reduction (5/piercing or slashing) You have Damage Reduction against all except Piercing or Slashing attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Faceless (Su) In its natural form, a faceless stalker has no discernible facial features. It gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made to resist attacks or effects that target the senses. This includes gaze attacks, odor-based attacks, sonic attacks and similar attac
Fast Movement (+10 ft.) The Monk adds 10 or more feet to his base speed.
Flurry of Blows +1/+1 (Ex) As full-rd action, higher BAB and combo unarmed/monk wep as if two-weapon fighting.
Grab: Slam (Medium) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Improved Grapple You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when grappling a foe.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Maneuver Training (Ex) CMB = other BABs + Monk level
Sneak Attack +2d6 +2d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Stunning Fist (4/day, DC 17) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.


If you haven't run the Xanesha fight yet, note that the quarters up there can be a little cramped considering her large base and the fact that she uses a reach weapon, especially if you have a larger group and/or a lot of animal companions, summons, etc.; I would consider making any additional monsters you add to that fight able to fly as a consequence.


Ian Bell wrote:
If you haven't run the Xanesha fight yet, note that the quarters up there can be a little cramped considering her large base and the fact that she uses a reach weapon, especially if you have a larger group and/or a lot of animal companions, summons, etc.; I would consider making any additional monsters you add to that fight able to fly as a consequence.

Good point, Ian. I will probably give Ulmothax a high acrobatics.

On the map in the AE edition, the map of the top level shows some of the roof angling up towards the statue of the angel. Are you supposed to be able to occupy square that show roof tiles?


Or give her some form of flight, as she had in the original (3.5) version.


... And I completely forgot about this thread when it came to my own turn to ponder this very issue! >_<

My own solution is heading in the direction of a Will-o'-Wisp. Flight-capable, good AC, naturally invisible, high perception, and loves to feed on the terror of the Skinsaw victims as they slowly expire with carvings on their torsos. Being an Aberration, it wouldn't mind X's true form (or mixing with the faceless stalkers).

Although having the faceless stalkers do the "summoning" would also be good ... hmmm, so much nastiness to plot! :)


Bellona wrote:
Or give her some form of flight, as she had in the original (3.5) version.

I made her climb to the top of the Angel. With a Reach weapon, and Lunge (which I gave her as Power Attack is a free feat in my homerule), she could threaten most of the roof without problems.

She had the help of a shadow demon too. Which was pretty tough by itself, with shadow conjuration and shadow evocation, calling for stinking clouds and icestorms and other stuff.

Depending on the party, that could be too much, or not. It was a pretty good fight for mine, it took them like 2h of real time to kill her.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Extra faceless stalkers with class levels is a good start. I added 3 extra faceless stalkers at the Foxglove townhouse, one with 4 wizard levels, one with 2 sorcerer levels and one with 4 cleric(Urgathoa) levels - primarily so they could lob a few spells. My players really hate hold person spells now.

Our next session will take us to the Shadow Clock. The Faceless Stalker impersonating Aldern has survived two faceoffs with the players so far, so he's become a cool recurring villain. I plan to also include:
- kamikaze skeletons, leaping towards players as they climb the Terrible Stairs, and the remaining stalkers pepper them with poisoned bolts
- Xanesha remains in seductive human form as long as possible, making players think more succubus than anything else. By "as long as possible" I mean as long as she can keep her distance casting spells or talking. Then she can leap to her (apparent) death, feathfall, transform, cast invisibility and return to the fray either slithering up the tower or using a handy fly potion.
- several dominated minions, at least one of which needs to be an NPC that the party has become fond of, probably a dashing, noble lieutenant of the guard they had become friends with.

I know my players can handle everything... except Xanesha herself. Her at-will dominate ability means she has every chance of gaining control of at least half the party. The paladin and alchemist will have good will saves, but the fighter and barbarian are going to need lots of luck to get through

Can anyone comment on the success of her dominate ability on PCs?


My PC already had some encounters against a succubus and other mind controlling monsters, so they are ready against it. Protection from evil is really cheap to invest as a wand, and calm emotions, unbreakable heart, and other spells, protect them from charm, confusion and other effects as well.

Also, remember that Xanesha doesn't have doninate, she has charm. That meaans a +5 bonus to saves once combat has started
I made X. to create the image of a lamia with a spear and a medusa mask, threatening a virgin maiden in a white robe ready to be sacrificed. She impersonated as the sacrificial girl. Huge bluff vs middling sense motive is easy to pass.


Peet wrote:
Ian Bell wrote:
If you haven't run the Xanesha fight yet, note that the quarters up there can be a little cramped considering her large base and the fact that she uses a reach weapon, especially if you have a larger group and/or a lot of animal companions, summons, etc.; I would consider making any additional monsters you add to that fight able to fly as a consequence.

Good point, Ian. I will probably give Ulmothax a high acrobatics.

On the map in the AE edition, the map of the top level shows some of the roof angling up towards the statue of the angel. Are you supposed to be able to occupy square that show roof tiles?

When I ran that scenario, the battle itself occurred on the roof, so my answer would be yes.


Peet wrote:


Shouldn't Flurry attacks be only -1 to hit relative to his normal attacks? I'll give him the Feral Combat Training feat instead of dodge so he can slam at the same time as flurrying.

This is like a year later, but the reason his flurry is lower is because his monk bab is not that high, he has bab from monster hit dice instead


I was reading through this as this fight is coming up for me soon... and holy crap the will o wisp. that gave me something to ponder.

If you are worried about a grounded Xenesha being blasted by a flying mage the Will O Wisp is an incredible counter. Immune to magic and perfect fly 50 should put any party wizard on the defensive.

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