GM Advice wanted for motives of BBEG (Spoilers LotLK)


Advice


Hi all, to begin I have to say that I was troubled whether this would fit best under Advice or Campaign Setting, but I settled for this one. If this is incorrect placement I shall move it.

So, me and my group have just done the first session for my home-grown campaign set in the legendary Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Nothing of big importance to plot has happened, and I'm planning to keep it that way until I have a relatively clear campaign structure. One of the things I've decided is that the mistress of Zar Kragnaral in the north, the Deathless Jarl, is going to be the master villain of the campaign and the last enemy to overcome for my brave viking PCs. I really like her as an antagonist because she clearly is a very manipulative overlord (just read the section about her control over the troll clans) and on top of that has the arcane powers to do some really crazy stuff.
I'd love to get suggestions on what the Jarl's motives and goals might be. The simple route would be to just assume that she wants to wrestle control over the Linnorm Kingdoms, but the text contradicts that in a strangely specific way: "What the Deathless Jarl’s ultimate goal could be is another secret she has revealed to few, for had she wanted to claim the Thanelands or the Linnorm Kingdoms as her own, she certainly would have attempted to do so long before today."

So, I'm interested in hearing suggestions and advice what ultimate goal the Deathless Jarl might have. I myself have no idea and it would be great to hear the opinions of all you wise messageboard scribes. :)


For those of us who aren't up to speed on the setting -- is there any other information on the DJ? Race/class/level? Anything else about her?

Also, what level are the PCs now, and what level would they be by the time the might be facing her?

Doug M.


Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
For those of us who aren't up to speed on the setting -- is there any other information on the DJ? Race/class/level? Anything else about her?

Yes, I realized after writing the post that she is a kind of obscure character unless you've been reading through the Lands of the Linnorm Kings book (like me when I prepped my campaign), and that only a few might have read about her. Here's the info that exists so that anyone might be able to help:

* The Deathless Jarl (female frost giant 15 wizard) operates from the legendary fortress of Zar Kragnaral in the north of the Linnorm Kingdoms, in the middle of the Stormspear Mountains.
* She's an ancient creature and only she (and perhaps her closest allies) knows her real name. It's hinted that her lifespan has to do with the Leng spiders that she has an alliance with.
* She has an unnerving beauty and commands countless giants in the Stormspear Mountains, giants that she uses through subtle manipulation like dream sendings to tribal leaders.
* She mostly employs frost giants and their minions, such as winter wolves and yetis. Also has ice linnorms, white dragons and shantak birds that have roosts in her fortress. In her dungeons beneath the fortress there are gug and leng spiders to be found.
* Although she's known in giant society, no people in the Linnorm Kingdoms have heard of her, and she clearly has the advantage of surprise when she decides to strike.
* Lastly what I said above, that her ultimate goal is a complete secret, and that the only thing that's certain is that if she simply wanted the Linnorm Kingdoms she would've tried much earlier. This is what I want help with.

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Also, what level are the PCs now, and what level would they be by the time the might be facing her?

Because the last session with my players was the first they are still sitting at level 1, so the Deathless Jarl is nothing I plan on throwing on top of them quite yet. That said, we're running with fast track advancement and I might throw in a mythic rank or two when we get further into the campaign, so they'll catch on to her quite quickly level-wise.

She will be CR 24 so there's a LOT of time to foreshadow and to let her plans (whatever they might be) come into fruition. Though I am prepared to weaken her stats for the sake of campaign pacing, I'm not a 100% sure whether I want level 20 PCs teleporting around the Linnorm Kingdoms (especially with the party right now, 2 of them are evil and another one is getting there).


since she's a wizard she probably wants enough free time to craft some mcguffin or needs enough resources to do so etc. As she's level 15 she also is probably somewhat interested in attaining level 17 but may find that difficult for various reasons or too dangerous. Perhaps she has a competitor she needs eliminated.

I would probably ignore her for at least a few sessions to work on immediate things the pcs are focused on, as things crop up you will find various ways of incorporating her influence through lackeys, references in history or urban legends, ancient runes denouncing her evil ways, etc


She's allied with Leng? Okay, easy-peasey: she wants to merge part of Golarion with Leng. The Paizo crew have carefully avoided giving too many details about Leng, but it's "a dimension of nightmare and madness", it's home to the Denizens and the Leng Spiders (both CE) and it's cold.

Not canon, but: Leng can grow, cancer-like, by infecting other planes. The Jarl has a deal with the Denizens whereby she'll annex the Lands of the Linnorm Kings to Leng. Leng grows, and the Jarl gets... something. Maybe in the new Land, she'll be a demigoddess of nightmares, or some such.

Of course, all parties involved are CE, which means that treachery by either or both is not just possible but likely. Nonetheless, this is something the PCs would really want to stop. If the Jarl and her extradimensional friends succeed, the result will be something like a second Worldwound, albeit with the main adjectives being "cold, bleak, and eerie" more than "horrific, aggressive, and insane". Still noplace you want to live down the street from.

Doug M.


It's not CR 24. There's guidelines in the beastiary about applying class levels, under the monster advancement section. The CR for a frost giant wizard 15 should be 19 or 20


Snow_Tiger wrote:
It's not CR 24. There's guidelines in the beastiary about applying class levels, under the monster advancement section. The CR for a frost giant wizard 15 should be 19 or 20

Oh, wasn't aware of that. I just took this stat-block and added 6 levels, which I translated into CR. Well, thanks for the correction, it actually makes me happy that her CR is lower than I originally calculated. :)

Great ideas Trimalchio and Douglas! Especially the connection with Leng sounds very cool and believable, I just might run with that idea about the Jarl annexing the Linnorm Kingdoms for extra-dimensional powers. Especially since we are simultaneously running Wrath of the Righteous the concept of another Worldwound opening would feel very real, since they've been to the real thing.
Keep the ideas coming though! I'd love to see some more!


If she's allied with the Spiders, then she's at war with the Denizens. The Spiders want the annexation because it will increase their power, tipping the balance in their favor. The Denizens are happy with Leng being expanded, but only if it's on their terms. So, at some point a Denizen might attempt to make friendly contact with the PCs to direct them against the Jarl and her allies.

The Jarl expects to gain near demigodlike power out of the deal, while her followers will prosper too -- they'll gain a CR +2 template that will let them survive in Leng. The Jarl thinks that, in fact, they might end up being the dominant race there, or at least holding the balance between the Spiders and their foes.

A few frost giants have already acquired the Leng Template. Season to taste, but it could look something like this:

Leng Template:

“Leng Creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid of Small to huge size with at least 6 HD (hereafter referred to as the “base creature”). It uses all the base creature’s abilities and statistics, except as noted below.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2.

Alignment: Always chaotic evil.

Type: The base creature’s type changes to outsider, and it gains the augmented, evil, and extraplanar subtypes. Do not recalculate class Hit Dice, BAB, or saves.

Senses: A Leng Creature gains darkvision 60 ft.

Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +4. This stacks with any existing natural armor bonus the base creature has.

Hit Dice: Change all racial Hit Dice to d10s. Class Hit Dice are unaffected.

Defensive Abilities: A Leng Creature gains DR 10/silver. They are immune to cold, confusion and insanity effects, poison, and sonic attacks. They have spell resistance equal to their CR +10.

Attacks: Same as base creature.

Ability Scores: Dex +4, Wis +4, Cha +4.

Skills: A Leng Creature gains skill points as an outsider for its racial Hit Dice with skill points equal to (8 + Int modifier) x HD. Leng Creatures gain a +8 racial bonus on Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.

Feats: Leng Creatures gain Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes and Toughness as bonus feats.

Appearance: A Leng Creature is obviously different from a normal giant: their movements have an odd sinuous grace, there is a curious sheen to their skin, and their eyes have become a solid black without iris or pupil. Other giants give them a wide berth.

There aren't a lot of Leng Giants, but they can be a nasty surprise for cocky PCs -- they no longer have the giant subtype, so giant-targeting spells and tactics won't work, and they're a lot less likely to fall victim to simple enchantments and illusions.

Is this the sort of thing you're thinking of?

Doug M.

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