Hey Folks!
Looking for some ideas on builds for Tar-Baphon. I'm planning on having my adventurers assault Gallowspire around levels 18-20. I envision the final encounter including his mummy queen and the Soulstone, which I also do not have stats for. My current thoughts are for the Queen to have 15-17 levels of cleric, and the Soulstone to be artifact level having an enhanced Unholy Aura effect in addition to maximizing all necromatic spells.
As far as Tar-Baphon...I've been tossing around a Cleric/Sor/Mystic Theurge 3/9/10, but I'm having a hard time giving him levels of Cleric as he wasn't a ardent follower of any philosophy (other than the Whispering Way, which he developed). I'm also thinking he is a bit low leveled, should he be 26-28???? As it is, this will be a bad ass encounter for "non-epic" characters.
Just looking for some thoughts/advice.
Thanks.
Director of Brand Strategy
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If cleric doesn't work for you, have you considered making him an oracle of bones? This way he'd be an entirely spontaneous caster and wouldn't be reliant on a specific religion. Additionally, they're both CHA based casters, which would give him a leg up as he wouldn't be MAD and high CHA works great for liches.
If cleric doesn't work for you, have you considered making him an oracle of bones? This way he'd be an entirely spontaneous caster and wouldn't be reliant on a specific religion. Additionally, they're both CHA based casters, which would give him a leg up as he wouldn't be MAD and high CHA works great for liches.
I had not considered this, is this the Oracle from the APG? I haven't really had time to follow the APG threads or take a hard look at the classes, it appears I should make time. Thanks for the suggestion, looks like it would be a good fit.
Just read the Oracle as I could not access it from work, excellent suggestion, I'm going to use it. Thanks Yoda.
Sheboygen--I too love to go with symmetry, but I want one of the classes to have 9th lvl spells thus the slant towards Sorcerer. ;)
If you manage to stat him up, I'd love to see your version. My group is getting ready to start a campaign where we play two groups of adventurers, one trying to release TB, and the other trying to stop them.
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Creative Director
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I've always seen Tar-Baphon as a human lich wizard specialized in necromancy. He'd probably be pretty high level; he's one of the few but actual epic-level threats in Golarion, which is why we haven't come out and nailed down his class and level yet; we're waiting to see how our epic level rules work. But were I statting him up in 3rd edition, he'd be a 30th or 36th level wizard lich.
For a home game with him as the big bad end guy, you should aim for a CR of 4 above the final party level, I guess. So for a 20th level party, he'd probably be a wizard 20/loremaster 3 lich or something like that.
I've always seen Tar-Baphon as a human lich wizard specialized in necromancy. He'd probably be pretty high level; he's one of the few but actual epic-level threats in Golarion, which is why we haven't come out and nailed down his class and level yet; we're waiting to see how our epic level rules work. But were I statting him up in 3rd edition, he'd be a 30th or 36th level wizard lich.
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Creative Director
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I've always seen Tar-Baphon as a human lich wizard specialized in necromancy. He'd probably be pretty high level; he's one of the few but actual epic-level threats in Golarion, which is why we haven't come out and nailed down his class and level yet; we're waiting to see how our epic level rules work. But were I statting him up in 3rd edition, he'd be a 30th or 36th level wizard lich.
(runs out of the room to go play Far Cry 2)
I've always seen Tar-Baphon as a human lich wizard specialized in necromancy. He'd probably be pretty high level; he's one of the few but actual epic-level threats in Golarion, which is why we haven't come out and nailed down his class and level yet; we're waiting to see how our epic level rules work. But were I statting him up in 3rd edition, he'd be a 30th or 36th level wizard lich.
For a home game with him as the big bad end guy, you should aim for a CR of 4 above the final party level, I guess. So for a 20th level party, he'd probably be a wizard 20/loremaster 3 lich or something like that.
Thanks for the reply James, I figured that he should be a bit higher than I was making him, Wiz 36 is a bit daunting though. I'm assumeing this would put him on par with the ruler of Geb and the missing ruler of Nex? Given what he did with taking out Arazni and possibly engineering the fall of Aroden, I can see these advanced levels. I also had the feel that he was a single classed wiz/sor which is why I was having trouble adding levels of cleric. Those levels of cleric are very nice though, and I am loathe to give them up---that's the beauty of the game, I can do what I want. :) I've got some other ideas for "low epic" play that I can put into place aiming for a 32 CR for Tar-Baphon, looking at Oracle 10/Sorceror 10/MT 10---but still very open to advice and counsel.
Looks like the party will have to take down Treerazor first, visit the White witch, discover the lost underwater Azlanti civilization (yes, Atlantis rip off), then take on big daddy Tar-baphon. Looking at the levels though, it begs the comparison to Baba Yaga (sorry James, you can't get away from that weight), and thinking about that is beginning to melt my brain....
Cheers everyone, keep the feedback coming.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Looks like the party will have to take down Treerazor first, visit the White witch, discover the lost underwater Azlanti civilization (yes, Atlantis rip off), then take on big daddy Tar-baphon. Looking at the levels though, it begs the comparison to Baba Yaga (sorry James, you can't get away from that weight), and thinking about that is beginning to melt my brain....
Can I play in your campaign?
Looks like the party will have to take down Treerazor first, visit the White witch, discover the lost underwater Azlanti civilization (yes, Atlantis rip off), then take on big daddy Tar-baphon. Looking at the levels though, it begs the comparison to Baba Yaga (sorry James, you can't get away from that weight), and thinking about that is beginning to melt my brain....Can I play in your campaign?
Let me know if you come to MN any time soon, it would be a pleasure to have you in my game, even if only for just a guest spot!
Hey Folks!Looking for some ideas on builds for Tar-Baphon. I'm planning on having my adventurers assault Gallowspire around levels 18-20. I envision the final encounter including his mummy queen and the Soulstone, which I also do not have stats for. My current thoughts are for the Queen to have 15-17 levels of cleric, and the Soulstone to be artifact level having an enhanced Unholy Aura effect in addition to maximizing all necromatic spells.
As far as Tar-Baphon...I've been tossing around a Cleric/Sor/Mystic Theurge 3/9/10, but I'm having a hard time giving him levels of Cleric as he wasn't a ardent follower of any philosophy (other than the Whispering Way, which he developed). I'm also thinking he is a bit low leveled, should he be 26-28???? As it is, this will be a bad ass encounter for "non-epic" characters.
Just looking for some thoughts/advice.
Thanks.
You can also get this: Vault of the Whispering Tyrant ... it has write ups of Tar-Baphon (male, human, lick, WIZ 12), Lar-Tasha (female, human, mummy, MNK 7) and a new minor artifact, the Soulstone. And for scaling up to a party level of 17-20, it suggests advancing Tar-Baphon to WIZ 18 :)
You can also get this: Vault of the Whispering Tyrant ... it has write ups of Tar-Baphon (male, human, lick, WIZ 12), Lar-Tasha (female, human, mummy, MNK 7) and a new minor artifact, the Soulstone. And for scaling up to a party level of 17-20, it suggests advancing Tar-Baphon to WIZ 18 :)
Yeah, I saw this, was not sure how high they were scaling the adventure, I was pretty sure it would not be "epic", and I my thinking was that Tar-baphon would be in the mid 20s. I am probably going to get it just for the ideas concerning the Soulstone and his consort. Thanks for the info.
In the Savage Tide campaign, there were cool tasks you could accomplish to weaken Demogorgon to the point where he was beatable. Maybe you could have some of those to weaken the CR 36 Tar-Baphon. Or you could have the real dude put together some undead "clones." Maybe he has multiple bodies that he can animate at different levels, making him almost like a deity.
In the Savage Tide campaign, there were cool tasks you could accomplish to weaken Demogorgon to the point where he was beatable. Maybe you could have some of those to weaken the CR 36 Tar-Baphon. Or you could have the real dude put together some undead "clones." Maybe he has multiple bodies that he can animate at different levels, making him almost like a deity.
Huh, that sounds just like how the final boss is beaten in several video game rpg's I have played. The final boss is unbeatable unless you get this special item that weakens him or you have to get these unique weapons that are the only thing that will even hurt him or you have to do this special combo attack to hurt him, etc.
In the Savage Tide campaign, there were cool tasks you could accomplish to weaken Demogorgon to the point where he was beatable. Maybe you could have some of those to weaken the CR 36 Tar-Baphon. Or you could have the real dude put together some undead "clones." Maybe he has multiple bodies that he can animate at different levels, making him almost like a deity.Huh, that sounds just like how the final boss is beaten in several video game rpg's I have played. The final boss is unbeatable unless you get this special item that weakens him or you have to get these unique weapons that are the only thing that will even hurt him or you have to do this special combo attack to hurt him, etc.
A tradition that goes all the way back to "The Lord Of The Rings."
So Yeah.
I was looking at modeling the final arc ala the Age of Worms; destoying the Soulstone, a delayed animation of Tar-Baphon, several adventures setting the PCs up with some critical items. The PCs are lvl 13 no and I have enough material to get them to 20 without too much problem. As usual the problems are the "epic" levels. I like the idea of clones, thanks.
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I actually put together a 3.5 stat block for Tar-Baphon when i was working on an adventure path based on someone trying to free him. I statted him out as a human lich wizard 26/archmage 5 with 32 point buy (i think) and PC gear. I didn't make him a specialist like Erik had himbecause he seemed too....everything, I guess, when it came to magic. I just couldn't figure out what to ditch in the process. So universalist he became.
Also, because of the plans i had for the AP i was making, some of his gear is inspired by the Maure family of Maure castle. I had made the Maures a group of banished Azlanti (Xin can't have been the only Azlanti to skip town) who set up shop in the mountains of northern Taldor. In my little history, Tar-Baphon was also an Azlanti who had some kind of past with Aroden. Hadn't worked out what yet. He escaped Azlant and found the Maures, including Uncle who took him in and made him part of the family. I was going to change a few things and make Afelbain Maure an alias of Tar-Baphon. This way the PCs get the opportunity to both fight and talk with Tar-Baphon in a past persona. Maure Castle was going to be the upper levels of the AP where they learn a bit more about Tar-Baphon. It seemed to fit together well.
I am beyond being "statted" out.
It is insulting just to imagine that ANY mortal could even THINK of being my equal.
You people are puny and should bow before me now.
I am beyond being "statted" out.
It is insulting just to imagine that ANY mortal could even THINK of being my equal.
You people are puny and should bow before me now.
I think you should go especially hard on anyone who uses the word "build" on anything than objects like houses (or software, if you know about that stuff).
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I think you should go especially hard on anyone who uses the word "build" on anything than objects like houses (or software, if you know about that stuff).I am beyond being "statted" out.
It is insulting just to imagine that ANY mortal could even THINK of being my equal.
You people are puny and should bow before me now.
Kae... what... what is that *urk* ugly blue bird next to your name?!?
Kae... what... what is that *urk* ugly blue bird next to your name?!?
Oh, I just infiltrated your order-loving empire to hasten your downfall. Didn't I mention that?
But don't fret - all the other nations and worlds will soon follow you into the Void.
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Back when there want much info on him, and I was brainstorming a Start-of-Darkness backstory, I briefly considered a dark secret he kept.
He has one or two levels of Barbarian, and has several Eldrich Knight levels, in addition to being a Full-on necromancer, and blew a few feats on Extra rage rounds or something. Alters his playstyle a little, and makes him more resistant to the bane of Casters: Grapple-monks.
Billed him as an ancient barbarian nerd who forged a true nation, but feared that his work would be for naught after his death, and so went Lich to shepherd his small nation throughout eternity.
Eventually, he got bored, and decided to kill everyone and take over the world.
That's what lichification does to your motivations.
Of course, the thing i was going to use that for came to naught, but I thought it was a funny idea.