Vampire build: whoa

So, the character concept is a "hide in plain sight" vampire who's the madam of the city's second-largest brothel. I started sketching her out, and here's what I have so far:

13th level Enchantress

Str 17
Dex 18
Con -
Int 22
Wis 14
Cha 16

[15 point build, racial on Dex. Enchantress isn't actually the optimized build -- that would be sorceror, with Int and Cha switched, giving up some skills in return for another 39 hp. But she didn't set out in her career planning to be a vampire.]

HP 124 (13d8 + 13 toughness + 13 favored class + 39 Cha modifier)

AC 25 (+6 Natural, +4 Dex, +4 Mage Armor, +1 Dodge) [That's before equipment and any other spells. I'm assuming she casts Extended Mage Armor every morning, getting 24-hour coverage in return for a 2nd level spell slot. Given a couple of rounds to prepare, she'd have little difficulty buffing her AC into the mid-30s.]

Init +8

Skills: +8 vampire racial bonus on Bluff, Perception, Sense Motive, and Stealth; +4 enchantress bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate; +2 half-elf bonus on Perception.

[Okay, so before she's spent a single skill rank she has +12 Bluff. With max ranks that rises to +28. If she uses her half-elven Skill Focus here, then another +6 raises this to a brain-melting +34. "Really, these aren't the droids you're looking for."]

[Meanwhile, the Alertness feat + max ranks means she'll have at least +27 Perception and +25 Sense Motive. Skill Focus (Spellcraft) gives her +28 in that.]

Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, and Toughness [Vampire bonus feats]; Skill Focus (Bluff) [racial]; Scribe Scroll, Still Spell, Silent Spell, Extended Spell, Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (illusion), Skill Focus (Spellcraft) Leadership.

[The Leadership feat is to recruit the occasional human servant. Would the girls in her brothel count as "followers"? Not sure what effect that would have. Anyway.]

[Some questions arise. The Bestiary doesn't say whether the Dominate spell-like ability is Int or Cha based, but it looks like it's Cha, so her DC wouldn't be that great -- unless she can apply her Spell Focus here?]

Spells (opposition schools: Evocation & Necromancy)

-- Okay, there are a lot of possibilities here. I'm thinking she'd first prioritize spells to keep herself hidden, followed by combat stuff. Project Image would be a good 7th level choice, as she could use it to appear outside in daylight. (I'd say Simulacrum, except that I suppose under the RAW a simulacrum of a vampire would still have all her weaknesses.) A couple of Quickened 1st and 2nd level spells -- buffs, perhaps? Still Silent Charm Person for social occasions, and maybe some low level Still Silent illusions as well?

In combat it would be buffs and enchantments, with illusions and a few direct attack spells as backups. Suggestions here particularly welcome.

Equipment -- if I were feeling cruel, I'd say that decades of running a major business have raised her to PC equipment levels. At these levels, the differences are pretty brutal: 140,000 for a PC versus a mere 27,000 for an NPC. Anyway, a Headband of Intellect, I guess, and maybe an AC booster.

Even with NPC equipment, this is still an awfully powerful build; sky-high skills, along with save DCs of 18+spell level for enchantments. It seems like this could be leveraged in a variety of ways.

Thoughts?

Doug M.

Well, what's the CR you're shooting for here? I'm no expert at monster building, but just based on the normal Vampire template, I believe you've got a CR14 creature there. Adding PC wealth levels might bump that up by one.

Spell Focus won't work on the vampire's Dominate ability, you need Ability Focus (monster feat) for that. And it would be CHA based by default, as noted at the top of the Special Attacks section.

Without any modifiers her Leadership score is 16, which gives her an 11th level cohort plus twenty-five 1st, two 2nd and one 3rd level follower. Depending on how big the brothel is, that could certainly include pretty much all the "employees", plus I'd spread some of them around the city a little as spies, informants and allies on the watch, etc.

For combat, I don't think she should necessarily be the one doing the fighting. That's what her Cohort and Vampire Spawn (and Children of the Night, if there's time for them to arrive) are for. Also be sure to use the Aura of Despair that comes with being an Enchantress, -2 to most d20 rolls with no save is really going to hurt. Charm Person against the weak-willed to turn them to your side (the Aura plus Spell Focus almost negate the in-combat bonus to saves). Invisibility, Spider Climb, Gaseous form can all be used to escape and/or ambush. A few summoned swarms via the spell, or Summon Monster x from Invisibility too.

This should be a very frustrating villian to face. She never fights on anything but her own terms. She looks for ways to weaken, isolate and divide the members of the party and then take them down one at a time. If she needs to escape, even by mundane means, she has the resources, contacts and social skills to turn the watch and even ordinary citizens against the party. Just a few shouts of "Help! Assassins!" and the party might very well be screwed, especially if they're good-aligned.