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So I've been thinking about two of the NPCs in Burnt Offerings and trying to think about how I would re-envision them now that I am converting the module to 4th Edition (with lots of help from Scott's blog).
However, I didn't really see Tsuto being an archer type, and I really didn't agree with Scott's conversion of Tsuto having demonic pacts and such - he was a normal guy in my book who lusted after a demonic girl.
Anyways, i wanted Tsuto to also be higher level (about 4) which makes him more noteworthy in combat. I also liked the idea of him being a dual wielding skirmisher. I plan on changing Nualia (see below) away from a primary melee character so this provides a bit more variety in bosses too.
Anyways, my page for Tsuto, 4th Level Elite Skimisher (Ranger Template)
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Nualia was likewise a bit strange for me. A fighter/cleric? She didn't have much fighting experience, and Lamashtu's cult-like following, rituals, and Pacts - it just screams Warlock to me. Besides, 4E clerics are slinging radiant damage everywhere... I dunno. I kind of like the idea of her being a Controller with Warlock or maybe even Warlock/Cleric templates - just using necrotic damage instead of radiant.
Thoughts?
Anyways, the images in the adventure were just not cutting it for me. I found some from an MMO called Shaiyla (sp?) that were excellent. The Light and Dark goddesses in that world are twins, so it fits perfectly for the same character that went "dark."
Here's what I came up with for Tsuto:
Tsuto Kaijitsu Level 3 Skirmisher
Medium natural humanoid (half-elf) XP 150
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +2; low-light vision
HP 37; Bloodied 18
AC 17 (20 vs. opportunity attacks); Fortitude 14, Reflex 15, Will 14
Speed 6
(M) Short Sword (standard; at will)  Weapon
+8 vs. AC; 1d6+4 damage (REM +2d6 sneak attack).
(M) Deft Strike (standard; at-will)  Weapon
Move up to 2 squares, then attack with either one of: (REM SA +2d6)
Short Sword; +8 vs. AC; 1d6+4 damage.
Crossbow: +7 vs. AC; 1d8+4 damage.
(M) Bait and Switch (standard; encounter)  Weapon
+8 vs. Will; 2d6+4 damage, and Tsuto switches places with the target and can then shift 3 squares.
(M) Eyebite (standard; encounter)  Weapon
Ranged 10; +5 vs. Will; 1d6+4 damage, and Tsuto is invisible to the target until the start of his next turn.
(M or R) Trick Strike (standard; daily)  Weapon
Short Sword: +8 vs. AC; 3d6+4 damage (REM +2d6 sneak attack)
Crossbow: Ranged 15/30; +7 vs. AC; 3d8+4 damage (REM +2d6 SA)
HIT: Slide the target 1 square.
EFFECT: Until the end of the encounter, every time Tsuto hits the target, he slides it 1 square.
Tumble (move action; encounter)
Shift 3 squares.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, Minkai, Elven, Goblin
Skills Acrobatics +9, Diplomacy +6, Insight +3, Stealth +9
Str 14 (+3) Dex 16 (+4) Wis 10 (+1)
Con 15 (+3) Int 12 (+2) Cha 17 (+4)
Equipment leather armor, crossbow, short sword, thieves’ tools, journal
Tactics Tsuto’s main advantage in battle is his mobility. He uses Tumble to move around the battlefield and flanks foes with his goblins as he can. If brought below 8 hit points, or if all of his goblins are slain, Tsuto runs for his life down the smuggler’s tunnel, abandoning all thought of returning to Nualia with his sister in tow and fleeing back to Thistletop.
And here's my version of Nualia. I decided she was best represented as a Paladin of Lamashtu. I intend to give her a magic bastard sword (and to add its daily power to her stat block; the +1 is already there as an NPC of this level); I also still need to decide what the Sihedron medallion does as a 4E magic item.
Nualia Tobyn Level 5 Elite Soldier
Aasimar Paladin (Lamashtu); w/Demonic Acolyte template
Medium natural humanoid XP 300
Initiative +2; Senses Perception +4
HP 116; Bloodied 58
AC 21 (22 with sacred circle); Fortitude 19, Reflex 15, Will 19
Resist 5 fire
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5
Action Point 1
(M) Bastard Sword (standard; at will)  Weapon
+9 vs. AC; 1d10+6 damage.
(M) Unholy Strike (standard; at-will)  Weapon, Radiant
+9 vs. AC; 1d10+6 radiant damage; if she has marked the target, add +2 to the damage dealt.
(M) Invigorating Smite (standard; encounter)  Weapon, Healing
+9 vs. AC; 4d10+6 radiant damage
(M) Martyr’s Retribution (standard; daily)  Weapon, Radiant
Nualia must spend a healing surge without regaining any hit points;
+9 vs. AC; 2d10+6 damage. If Nualia is bloodied, she regains 7 hit points; if any of her allies within 5 squares are blooded, they regain 7 hit points.
(R) Crossbow (standard; at will)  Weapon
Ranged 15/30; +5 vs. AC; 1d8+2 damage.
(C) Sacred Circle (standard; daily)
Close burst 3; Nualia and her allies within the burst gain a +1 power bonus to AC until the end of the encounter.
Lay On Hands (minor; 2/day)
Nualia spends a healing surge; either she or a touched ally regains hit points as if having spent a healing surge.
Channel Divinity (minor; daily)
Either Nualia can make an immediate save with a +3 bonus, OR she adds +3 to damage on her next attack this turn.
Consume Soul (immediate reaction, when a creature within 5 squares is reduced to 0 hit points; at-will)
Nualia regains 2 hit points.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Goblin, Supernal
Skills Arcana +8, History +8, Religion +8
Str 16 (+5) Dex 10 (+2) Wis 14 (+4)
Con 14 (+4) Int 12 (+3) Cha 16 (+5)
Equipment plate armor, bastard sword, crossbow with 20 bolts, gold holy symbol of Lamashtu, Sihedron medallion
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I like your Tsuto as well. Nualia - eh... just don't think I like her as a tank or melee character. I also like these images for her - which don't use armor.
I think part of the reason is that we built her into a few of the PC's backstories, and she was very much a nice, passive kind of girl. Not very athletic or warrior-like. There just doesn't seem to be any storyline reason why she would choose a front-line militant route to Lamashtu. Besides, Lamashtu is as much a demon as she is a godess, so Warlock infernal pact seems to fit.
But either way, both are solid converstions.
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Ok, here is my Nualia. I chose to go with a Level 5 Controller base (a highly modified Deathlock wight as a starting point), then slapped on Demonic Acolyte and Warlock Class templates (making her a Solo). I used items to bring her attacks and defenses up to comparable level 5 solo monster numbers. I changed a some warlock abilities as well, but mostly flavor - any crunch I changed was carefully considered.
For example, I changed Hellish Rebuke to deal damage once and give a penalty to AC and attacks. It's basically the Mark of Lamashtu ability with a Save Ends mechanic. Victims writhe in agony as they gain deformities. The Fiery Bolt encounter power got changed to Shared Nightmare, deals psychic damage and it targets Will - but otherwise it's the same.
The Children of Lamashtu is a modification of the Deathlock Wight's Reanimate ability, except that instead of raising one creature with 25% hit points, it raises up to 4 minions (but since I am using only 2 yeth hounds in the fight, that won't be too bad).
The Sihedron Medallion posed a problem, as it's basically an amulet of False Life (9th level item). So I downgraded it to a level 4 item, brought the bonuses down to +1 and nerfed the temp hit points to 1/2 your healing surge. Still that's 32 hit points on a solo mob. Dear god, I just realized that an amulet of False Life on something like a Balor or Dragon would be sick, especially with a 1st level cleric hiding in the corner with a Healing Word... LOL
Anyways, here she is.
Nualia
Level 5 Solo Controller (Leader) Medium Natural Humanoid XP 1,000
Initiative +4 Senses Perception: +4
Shield of Abyssal Majesty aura 5; Allies in the aura gain Resist 5 fire
HP 256; Bloodied 128; See Also: Bloodthread Armor
AC 21; Fortitude 20, Reflex 18, Will 22
Resist Fire 5
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6 Action Points 2
(M) Blood Claw (Standard; at-will); Necrotic
+9 vs. AC; 1d6+5 necrotic damage, and the target loses 1 healing surge.
(R) Eldritch Blast (Standard; at-will); Arcane
Ranged 10; +9 vs. Ref; 1d10+7 damage
(r) Lamashtu's Transformation (Standard; at-will); Arcane, Implement
Ranged 10; +9 vs. Fort; 1d6+6 damage, and the target suffers a -1 on attack rolls and defenses (save ends).
(r) Startling Hallucinations (Minor; at-will); Fear, Illusion
Ranged 10; +8 vs. Will; the target slides 1 square
(r) Shared Nightmare (Standard; encounter); Arcane, Fear, Implement, Psychic
Ranged 10; +9 vs. Will; 3d6+7 psychic damage, and creatures adjacent to the target take 1d6+10 psychic damage.
(r) Curse of the Dark Dream (Standard; daily); Arcane, Charm, Implement, Psychic
Ranged 10; +9 vs. Will; 3d8+7 psychic damage, and you slide the target 3 squares. Sustain Minor: Slide the target ` square, whether you hit or miss (save ends).
(r) Children of Lamashtu (Standard; daily); Fear, Necrotic
Close Burst 5; +7 vs. Will; enemies are dazed with horror until the end of Nualia's next turn. This power automatically affects dead creatures of a level up to Nualia's level, but differently. A deformed, hideous clone of the creature rips itself out of the abdomen of the dead host, rising as a Minion version of the original creature. Up to 4 minions can be created per casting. This power has no effect on dead Minions.
Fiendish Resilience (Minor; daily); Arcane
Nualia gains 8 temporary hit points.
Abyssal Might: Nualia gains a +2 power bonus to damage rolls with all attacks (included in the statblock).
Consume Soul (Immediate Reaction): When an ally within 5 squares is reduced to 0 hit points or less, Nualia regains 2 hit points.
Warlock Class Features: Eldritch blast, Eldritch Pact (infernal, gain 5 temporary hp whenever a cursed enemy drops to 0 hp or less), Prime Shot (+1 to ranged attacks if closest to enemy), Warlock's Curse
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Common, Supernal, Abyssal
Skills Arcana +9, History +10, Intimidate +11, Religion +9
Str 12 (+3) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 15 (+4)
Con 16 (+5) Int 16 (+5) Cha 18 (+6)
Equipment +1 Bloodthread Clothing (+2 item bonus to AC & saves when bloodied), +1 Rod of Corruption (whenever your dark pact is triggered, you may instead place your curse on all enemies within 5 squares of the target), Sihedron Medallion (+1 to Fort, Ref, Will. Power (Daily): Minor Action. Use when bloodied to gain temporary hp equal to 1/2 your healing surge value (32 hp)
I have also updated her page on the Google collaborative site, with full combat statblock formatting and a PDF download.
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I understand that this build might be a bit nasty and deviates a good bit from the module, but I believe in building things for optimal crunch AND fluff. Nualia's powers all echo Lamashtu's themes. Nightmares, fears, horrific transformations, and sheer toughness and monstrosity - it's all there, without turning her into a buff tank. I also wanted her to appear very different (but still the same?) than the PCs remember her 5 years ago. I want her to have fallen visually (hair and eye color change, etc) but not have become entirely something else yet - like a darker twin. The party remembers her without armor and praying to Desna in her robes. Now she prays to Lamashtu, and they should pray to whatever gods they follow that they live through this.
Also, I think that players should have to earn about 1/2 of their items the old school way: pry them from the cold, dead, hands of their adversaries - who use them against the party.
P.S. Yes, the shared nightmare hits adjacent targets for 1d6+10. That's +4 for Charisma, +2 for Abyssal Might, +3 for Int (infernal pact), and +1 for the rod. Don't forget Warlock's curse (especially if Nualia has used the wand's property already).
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That is a much tougher build. I hope they haven't all used up their dailys by the time they meet up with her!
I agree, but she is the Big Bad Evil Gal in the module, so she should be. Now keep in mind, my party optimizes pretty well, and they are all veteran players with cool heads. They will also have plenty of healing potions and will hopefully alpha strike her yeth hounds first. Unlike many solo monsters, she doesn't have a lot of immediate actions or mass-affecting spells. Children of Lamashtu is her only multi-target spell. So once her pets are down, she is just picking on a single PC and hoping her hp last out. 5 actions to her 1 means she goes down pretty quickly after that.
From what I could tell in the DMG, you have the option of either making a solo from scratch (which gives you things like immediate bloodied actions, x2 standard actions per round, etc) - OR using templates which give you many more powers, but still 1 standard action per round to use them with. Economy of actions means that solo monster WILL fall before the party most of the time - even if it takes longer.
For those of you who want to weaken her, just drop her down to a level 4 by losing 32 hp, dropping all of her AC, Fort, Ref, Will defenses by 1, and giving her a non-magical rod (which gives -1 to hit and damage). Alternatively, you could make her an ELITE by halving her hp and dropping her Demonic Acolyte template. This keeps much of the flavor but lowers her overall power level.
I like the new Tsuto, but I'm not sure if adding the Warlock NPC template is the right way to go for Nualia. She's definitely a very special case with a unique background, and I feel her powers ought to reflect that. I'm wary about throwing a Warlock Nualia at the party only to have the party's Warlock say "Hey, she's just a Warlock. I can do that too!" Warlock-themed powers are great, but you should feel free to build her from the ground up as a unique monster. This should be part of the climax of the adventure, so make her powers suitably mind-blowing. My group hasn't made it far enough through Thistletop to meet Nualia, so I'm not sure how I'll design her myself, but I'd love to discuss possible ways to construct her 4th Edition stats. Send me an e-mail at wetheliving@gmail.com if you'd like to collaborate.
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Good point Scott. I made some changes to the warlock abilities (like the Shared Nightmare) - but some of them just fit so well , like Curse of the Dark Dream. Also, warlocks make pacts with demons and such - which fits the bill as well.
I guess it helps that my group doesn't have a warlock, only a wizard. Note also that she has several abilities that are entirely new - like Children of Lamashtu, blood claw, and the hallucinations.
Having said that, I am still very curious to see what you come up with. I'm using about 90% of your conversion info. :-D
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If anyone is interested, here is my version of Erylium. She is basically an Imp with Warlock template. This was very intentional, partly because of the ranged attacks that they get (to replace the returning dagger) and also because she mentored Nualia, so they should have similar power schemes (though they only really share Eldrich Blast). Note that I changed the Flames of Phtageos (sp?) to the Hideous Spittle (which was a daily in the module too). Basically just changed the name and damage type from Flame to Acid & Poison.
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The link above is incorrect. Here is the updated one:
Erylium, 4th Level Elite Artillery (Warlock) - updated