Ive been running AoW for awhile now (my game group moves very slowly), and the party is about to bust in on Mak'ar.
After looking at his spell selection, im pretty unimpressed. I really think he could use an update (taking advantage of Spell Compendium material, etc). Has anyone else modified him or have any suggestions on what to change?
Thanks.
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I don't have particular spell suggestions for you, but if you're looking to browse around and build a custom spell list I'd suggest picking three schools of magic and three descriptors to use as a rule of thumb when figuring out what spells your bad guy might use. I started using this for my characters and for NPC spell lists and really like the way it gives the character more of a specific flavor.
For example, one test character I made using the Pathfinder rules is a Half Orc Cleric of Gorum who primarily chooses spells from the Abjuration, Evocation, and Necromancy schools, and/or spells with the chaos, cold, or force descriptor. He's not limited to preparing those spells, but he favors them, which gives his spellcasting a distinct flavor and helps narrow down choices when I'm looking through various supplements trying to figure out what he'd prepare.
Another example is my character from a 3.5 Eberron campaign; he's a Human Dragonmarked Sorcerer from House Orien who primarily selects spells from the Abjuration, Conjuration, and Divination schools and/or spells with the air, fire, or force descriptor. As noted for the other character above, I don't limit him to these choices but it acts as a guide when browsing for spell selections and helps give a distinct feel to his spellcasting, which is nice.
Hope that helps!
Here's what my notes had for his spell list, which was heavily modified from the original (many of the specific tactics were recommended by other folks on these boards):
Spells Known (CL 17th, +19 ranged touch): OOO Rod of Extend; O Empower
8th (5/day) maze, power word stun
7th (7/day) limited wish*, power word blind, prismatic spray (DC 27)6th (7/day) chain lightning (DC 26), greater dispel magic, repulsion (DC 26)
5th (8/day) contact other plane, cone of cold (DC 25), hold monster (DC 24), wall of force
4th (8/day) charm monster (DC 23), confusion (DC 23), enervation, fire shield, greater invisibility
3rd (8/day) displacement, fireball (DC 23), slow (DC 22), vampiric touch, false gravity, major image
2nd (8/day) command undead (DC 21), false life, eagle’s splendor, mirror image, scorching ray
1st (9/day) expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic missile, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement
0th (6/day) acid splash, ghost sound (DC 19), mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic, resistance*
Mak’ar has 3,000 XP to draw upon for casting limited wish spells.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th):
At will – detect magic, invisibility
1/day – plane shift (as long as obsidian ringward is intact, Mak’ar cannot use this spell-like ability on himself, but he can still use it on others)
Tactics: Mak'ar casts Invisibility on himself. He casts Major Image to create an image of himself at one end of the room, then places a Wall of Force between that image and the rest of the room, so that when enemies try to attack "him" (the image), they run into the Wall of Force, then waste time bypassing it.
Mak’ar casts mage armor and false life daily, extending their durations with his rod. When he knows enemies will be arriving imminently, he stands at the far end of the room from the image+wall, and casts repulsion (setting the radius as far out as possible). On the second round, he casts mirror image, displacement, and expeditious retreat. On round three he casts fire shield and scorching ray. If confronted by particularly potent enemies, he hits them with a maze spell. If brought below 30 hit points, he tries to retreat, using limited wishes to cast inflict critical wounds on himself to heal damage.
According to my notes, when I ran this one, he had cast the following spells by the time the PCs in my group reached him: Greater Invisibility, Fire Shield, Wall of Force, Displacement, False Gravity, Major Image, False Life, Mirror Image, Expeditious Retreat, Nage Armor.
Also, if you do a Search for "Harbinger" on the messageboards, you'll find several threads on the topic. I think the one I found most useful was this one:
Here was Mak'ar's spell list (some from SC) in my game (he was definitely tough to kill and he devastated them!):
8th level: Maze, power word stun
7th level: *Ironguard (instead of power word blind) (makes him immune to magic metal weapons), limited wish, prismatic spray
6th level: Acid storm (15d6, save for 1/2, no spell resistance), Chain lightning, greater dispel magic
5th level: *Dimension Door, greater (DDG) (dimension door as move action), *Duel ward (counterspell as immediate action), Graymantle (no healing), wall of force
4th:*Flight of the dragon, *Ray deflection, *Fire shield, confusion
3rd level: Unluck, *displacement, *greater mage armor, ray of dizziness
2nd level: Rainbow beam (5d12 damage, no save, SR), mirror image, scorching ray
1st: any of the orb spells (5d8 damage, no save, no SR)
Tactics: Buff while party fights wormcallers, knights, overworm and whatver is left of guardians. Come out flying.
1st round: choose spellcasters or lowest touch AC, unleash 6 1st level orb spells (30d8 damage if you hit all 6), bye bye.
Party attacks, you are immune to metal weapons, miss, miss, miss. Any devastating spells (use Spellcraft), counterspell with duel ward (works once). If you get grappled, use Dimension door greater to get out as move action.
2nd round: unluck one member, ray of dizziness the other
3rd round: prismatic spray the unlucked one (bye bye unless he is really lucky), move away with DDG to avoid full attacks
4th: anyone low on hps, 3 rainbow beams (15d12 damage..bye bye)
To make him even tougher, as a buff, use limited wish spell to duplicate freedom of movement spell (no more grappling). Kill spellcasters first, as they can greater dispel magic you and that is your biggest threat. Power word stun anyone with non-metal weapons. Enjoy!
Here was Mak'ar's spell list (some from SC) in my game (he was definitely tough to kill and he devastated them!):
8th level: Maze, power word stun
7th level: *Ironguard (instead of power word blind) (makes him immune to magic metal weapons), limited wish, prismatic spray
6th level: Acid storm (15d6, save for 1/2, no spell resistance), Chain lightning, greater dispel magic
5th level: *Dimension Door, greater (DDG) (dimension door as move action), *Duel ward (counterspell as immediate action), Graymantle (no healing), wall of force
4th:*Flight of the dragon, *Ray deflection, *Fire shield, confusion
3rd level: Unluck, *displacement, *greater mage armor, ray of dizziness
2nd level: Rainbow beam (5d12 damage, no save, SR), mirror image, scorching ray
1st: any of the orb spells (5d8 damage, no save, no SR)
Tactics: Buff while party fights wormcallers, knights, overworm and whatver is left of guardians. Come out flying.
1st round: choose spellcasters or lowest touch AC, unleash 6 1st level orb spells (30d8 damage if you hit all 6), bye bye.
Party attacks, you are immune to metal weapons, miss, miss, miss. Any devastating spells (use Spellcraft), counterspell with duel ward (works once). If you get grappled, use Dimension door greater to get out as move action.
2nd round: unluck one member, ray of dizziness the other
3rd round: prismatic spray the unlucked one (bye bye unless he is really lucky), move away with DDG to avoid full attacks
4th: anyone low on hps, 3 rainbow beams (15d12 damage..bye bye)
To make him even tougher, as a buff, use limited wish spell to duplicate freedom of movement spell (no more grappling). Kill spellcasters first, as they can greater dispel magic you and that is your biggest threat. Power word stun anyone with non-metal weapons. Enjoy!
woah... much better. my party has been pretty heavy on the butt-kickery through the entire spire module, and im absolutely sick of it. i am not the type of dm out to kill the pcs, but they need to be afraid... which they are not anymore... they havent been afraid since the battle with Ilthane. i need to make the harbinger combat be something to remember... and ive already decided to have him confront them somewhere else (maybe the sea of worms?), as his normal room is a death trap for a single arcane caster.
thanks so much for sharing your revisions... ill be building off of it!
i am also incredibly intrigued by his 1 per day plane shift for use on a pc that gets too close
was contemplating a mind fog, then plane shift on an anoying pary member that closes on him... not necessarily a PC kill, but oh the fun of dropping the PC into carceri and the mad scramble to get tenser's help finding him/her... could make for something very interesting.
i am also incredibly intrigued by his 1 per day plane shift for use on a pc that gets too close
was contemplating a mind fog, then plane shift on an anoying pary member that closes on him... not necessarily a PC kill, but oh the fun of dropping the PC into carceri and the mad scramble to get tenser's help finding him/her... could make for something very interesting.
While the intent is quite evil to use the plane shift ability (which I applaud), it is not an optimum use of Mak'ar's power, as he's wasting 2 rounds for an ability he can only use once per day and using a spell that inhibits Will saves but unfortunately very few of his spells are based on Will, unless you go the charm and hold monster route. If you go this way, however, then I recommend you change one of his 7th level spells to Radiant Assault from SC (15d6 area effect that goes on Will and not Reflex, so no evasion) and there is no energy resistance to light damage, except SR, so that can work too.
I think the spellweaver works best at range, hence the reason I had him flying with dragon flight spell and moving with greater dimension door to avoid full attacks. And definitely have him fight the party in the Sea area, not his cramped quarters.