Pimp My NPC


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

Dark Archive

Okay, this is the BBEG of my first adventure with my new group. I want it to be a memorable adventure because most of the group is new both to playing at my table and to Pathfinder and I want them to have a favorable opinion of both. So, here is the NPC, feel free to rip her apart and put her back together again. Please explain any changes you make so I understand what you are doing. Thanks.

Pasara Devenshire
Female Human Necromancer 8
CE Medium Humanoid
Init +2, Senses: Perception +0
AC 18, Touch 12, Flat Footed 16
(+6 Armor, +2 Dex)
hp 38 (8d6+8)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +6
Speed 20 ft, 30 ft Unarmored
Melee: +1 heavy mace +5 (1d8+1)
Ranged: light Crossbow +6 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks: Grave Touch (6/day)
Spells Prepared: (Spell failure 20%) 4th (DC 17) Animate Dead (x2), Black Tentacles
3rd (DC 16) Displacement, Fireball, Ray of Exhaustion (x2), Windwall
2nd (DC 15) Bull's Strength, False Life, Scare, Scorching Ray
1st (DC 14) Burning Hands, Cause Fear (x2), Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement
0 (DC 13) Acid Splash, leed, Detect Magic, Flare
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +8, CMB +8, CMD 22
Feats: Armor Proficency (Light, Medium), Combat Casting, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Spell Penetration
Skills: Appraise +14, Craft (Alchemy) +14, Knowledge (Arcana) +14, Knowledge (Religion) +14, Spellcraft +14
Languages: Aklo, Common, Draconic, Goblin
SQ: Familiar (Raven), Power Over Undead
Spellbook: All 0 except abjuration amd enchantment, 1st-Detect Undead, Summon Monster I, True Strike, 4th-Bestow Curse, Phantasmal Killer
Combat Gear: Three Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Other Gear: Mithral Breastplate, +1 heavy mace, light crossbow w/ 10 bolts, other possessions

The party will be somewhere between fifth and sixth level when they encounter her. She is also going to have a few undead minions in her lair to provide melee support. The story is a tale of family, betrayal, and revenge. I look forward to your input.


Just how much does the NPC need Scribe Scroll? Unless this villain is supposed to be recurring I'd swap it out for Arcane Armor Mastery.


Can you tell us a bit more about how you'd like this encounter to go down?

What do you picture Pasara doing for the first couple of rounds?

Dark Archive

TAD, Scribe Scroll comes automatically as part of being a wizard.

The first couple of rounds depends a lot on the PCs actions. However, if they all get tied up with her minions she will cast Mage Armor and False Life as her first two actions. After that she hit the heaviest hitter with Ray of Enfeeblement and then cast Displacement and Windwall.

After that, she will use Animate Dead to bump up her minions again and then start using her offensive spells. Fireball is the most effective against groups so if the PCs bunch up she will hit them with that. Otherwise Black Tentacles. Beyond that I will have to improv it.


David Fryer wrote:

TAD, Scribe Scroll comes automatically as part of being a wizard.

The first couple of rounds depends a lot on the PCs actions. However, if they all get tied up with her minions she will cast Mage Armor and False Life as her first two actions. After that she hit the heaviest hitter with Ray of Enfeeblement and then cast Displacement and Windwall.

After that, she will use Animate Dead to bump up her minions again and then start using her offensive spells. Fireball is the most effective against groups so if the PCs bunch up she will hit them with that. Otherwise Black Tentacles. Beyond that I will have to improv it.

Her Mage Armor will last for 8 hours. It's ok to assume she cast it 3 hours ago and is still buffed. Also, I'd replace one of your Animate Dead spells with Summon Monster IV. A giant Scorpion is just what the doctor ordered to deal with a PC spellcaster.

For 3rd level spells: drop 1 of the rays of exhaustion and replace it with Fly. Cast that first. Consider replacing Fireball with Stinking Cloud, that gets cast on the black tentacles next round after they come out. Wind Wall isn't as good as it looks, you might be happier casting haste on your highest-CR undead minion instead.

Replacing Scorching ray with Web goes even better with Stinking Cloud.

Remember the most effective wizards control the battlefield and debuff enemies.


Also, Mage Armor doesn't stack with regular armor, you should probably drop the regular armor entirely, never fail and casting, and just use Mage Armor cast ahead of time and Shield cast just before battle, for AC 20.


David Fryer wrote:

TAD, Scribe Scroll comes automatically as part of being a wizard.

The first couple of rounds depends a lot on the PCs actions. However, if they all get tied up with her minions she will cast Mage Armor and False Life as her first two actions. After that she hit the heaviest hitter with Ray of Enfeeblement and then cast Displacement and Windwall.

After that, she will use Animate Dead to bump up her minions again and then start using her offensive spells. Fireball is the most effective against groups so if the PCs bunch up she will hit them with that. Otherwise Black Tentacles. Beyond that I will have to improv it.

If you don't plan to employ scribe scroll there is the variant option to trade it for a combat feat (3.5 variant of course, but both parts, those being scribe scroll and combat feats, remain unchanged so it's still applicable if you as DM decide you want to)

Improved Initiative is always useful for a wizard ^^


If you really wanted to be brutal, make her 9th level and cast cloudkill on anyone stuck in the web. Or just have her sell her +1 Mace and have a Scroll of Cloudkill.

Careful though, this sometimes results in TPKs.

Dark Archive

Ryan_Singer wrote:


Careful though, this sometimes results in TPKs.

Yeah, I'm not looking for that. I'm not even looking for her to be unbeatable, just for her to provide a memorable challenge. My last group fell apart because I got a reputation for being a killer DM. I don't want to get that reputation right away with a new group.

Dark Archive

Although, for the record none of the TPKs were my fault. I didn't make them throw the bottle of alchemist fire into the tar spread on the floor.

The Exchange

Well with the build as it is looks good along with the suggestions given here already. I would focus more along the liens of where will she be when they meet her?

Flare in a room with casks of flammable substances set to go off, when she sets it off, is a real nasty surprise. Where each cask of oil has a chance of igniting when set on fire. Who needs fireball. Done when the pcs are hampered with the stinking cloud and a web spell.

I would so drop the armor and maybe just give her a one of a kind set of robes that give an AC bonus, it will be a great treasure of the female party member or the male pc who likes pink.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Counterwise, if you you need the armor and weapon, consider changing her to a Cleric.

Evil Clerics at that level actually have better control of undead.

And, as a story of betrayal and vengence, a bargan/answered plea for power is more easily explainable then someone who has to work to become a wizard/necromancer. Especially, as "Chaotic" characters are more creatures of passion rather then diciplined, long nursed hate.


kyrt-ryder wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
TAD, Scribe Scroll comes automatically as part of being a wizard.
If you don't plan to employ scribe scroll there is the variant option to trade it for a combat feat (3.5 variant of course, but both parts, those being scribe scroll and combat feats, remain unchanged so it's still applicable if you as DM decide you want to)

This is what I was thinking of when I wrote my post.


Um, i was thinking that giving her the option of improved channel as a feat, and giving her some nasty/creepy undead as minions...just a thought, sometimes the minions make the encounter more memorable than the actual BBEG.

the following link may be written for 3.5, but converting them over to Pathfinder and advanding their HD would be a relatively simple task.

Credit to Ian Turner I.E. Set


David Fryer wrote:

Okay, this is the BBEG of my first adventure with my new group. I want it to be a memorable adventure because most of the group is new both to playing at my table and to Pathfinder and I want them to have a favorable opinion of both. So, here is the NPC, feel free to rip her apart and put her back together again. Please explain any changes you make so I understand what you are doing. Thanks.

The party will be somewhere between fifth and sixth level when they encounter her. She is also going to have a few undead minions in her lair to provide melee support. The story is a tale of family, betrayal, and revenge. I look forward to your input.

How involved with the players will she be? Is the first time that she meets with the players going to be - Evil laugh - then "Crush those pathetic fools my minions".

Is there a chance of her having a double life being a relative or love interest of a player.

Have her destroy, kill, zombie-fy corrupt things/people important to the players.

Have her toy with the players acting as a patron getting them to destroy rivals while building up her own power.


Btw, she's a necromancer right, so it wouldn't be totally out of the question for her to have somehow acquired a scroll or such of clone, in case you feel like bringing her back.

The problem with fighting necromancers is that they never stay down.


Mage Armor and Armor proficiency??? Doesnt make sense the Mage armor spell is kind of redundant. If you want her to have armor proficiency give her the spell shield instead. That way she gets a stacking bonus and she covers herself against Magic Missiles. Otherwise I would suggest replacing the two armor proficiency feats with Toughness and perhaps Greater Spell Focus Necromancy. The Mithril breastplate could be replace with bracers of armor and a ring of protection. Spell wise not sure what your going for but maybe you could replace scare with ghoul touch and get an enervation somewhere in there

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

David Fryer wrote:
Okay, this is the BBEG of my first adventure with my new group. I want it to be a memorable adventure because most of the group is new both to playing at my table and to Pathfinder and I want them to have a favorable opinion of both. So, here is the NPC, feel free to rip her apart and put her back together again. Please explain any changes you make so I understand what you are doing. Thanks.

Taking you at your word, I went the Cleric route because you chose the +1 Heavy Mace and the Mythral Breast Plate on a wizard, this implied that you felt they were vitally important to your image of the character.

You had also stated that this was a story of "Family, Betrayal, and Revenge." Normally that would imply Calistria if she was the victim, but Norgorber is she is the betrayer. I went with Norgorber because that give access to the Death Domain, wich replicates many of the Necromancer powers you were looking for.

Pasara Devenshire
Female Human Cleric of Norgorber 8
CE Medium Humanoid
Init +3, Senses: Perception +3

AC 16, Touch 9, Flat Footed 16
(+7 Armor & Shield, -1 Dex)
hp 46 (8d8+8)
Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +9
Speed 20 ft, 30 ft Unarmored

Melee: +1 heavy mace +8/+3 (1d8+2)
Ranged: light Crossbow +5/+0 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks: Bleeding Touch (6/day, 1d6/rnd for 4 rnds), Channel Negative Energy (30ft, DC 18, 4d6 damage)

Spells Prepared: (Domains: Death & Trickery)
-- 4th (DC 17) Summon Monster IV (suggest – Fiendish Giant Scorpion), Unholy Blight & (Trickery - Confusion)
-- 3rd (DC 16) Summon Monster III (suggest – Dretch), Dispel Magic, Magic Vestment, Prayer & (Death - Animate Dead)
-- 2nd (DC 15) (4) Desecrate, Hold Person, Resist Energy (Party’s favorite type), Undetectable Alignment & (Trickery - Invisibility)
-- 1st (DC 14) Command (x2), Entropic Shield, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, & (Death - Cause Fear)
-- Orisons (DC 13) Bleed, Light, Guidance, & Resistance

Str 13, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 17, Cha 14

Base Atk +6/+1, CMB +7, CMD 16
Feats: Blind Fighting, Command Undead, Combat Casting, Improved Channeling, and Improved Initiative
Skills: Bluff +13, Knowledge (Religion) +12, Spellcraft +12
Languages: Aklo, Common, Abyssal
SQ: Death’s Embrace, Copy Cat, Master’s Illusion, & Spontaneous Casting – Inflict
Combat Gear: Three Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Other Gear: Mithral Breastplate, Steel Shield, +1 heavy mace, light crossbow w/ 10 bolts, Silver Unholy Symbol, other possessions

Spell Tactics:
I went with the two summon spells, because that will allow her to vary her tactics a bit, and it also prevents her from losing all of her minions to a couple of good Channel Positive Energy from the Party's Cleric. This is also why I changed her language to Abyssal, so she can direct these summoned minions.

She can use Descrate and Channel Negative Energy to bolster her Undead Minions (and heal herself due to Death's Embrace).

Cause Fear, Command, Confusion, and Hold Person are useful direct attacks against the party, as is the other use of Channel Negative Energy. Master's Illusion can also create an opportunity for a nice little surprise attack.

Remember to Buff Up before battle with Copy Cat, Entropic Shield, Magic Vestment, Resist Energy, and Shield of Faith compensating for the low dexterity bonus. Dispel Magic can also be used to strip some of the PC's pre-battle buffing.

Invisibility and Sanctuary are provided as "escape" spells in case things go south. Yes, the party should be able to counter both of them, but an intelligent villain should have an escape plan. (If she has been enslaved once, she is going to be very resistant to surrendering.)

Finally, if role-playing encounters are going to be an option, remember to have her case her Undetectable Alignment every morning to mask her Aura.

Dark Archive

Lord Fyre wrote:


You had also stated that this was a story of "Family, Betrayal, and Revenge." Normally that would imply Calistria if she was the victim, but Norgorber is she is the betrayer.

Actually in this case she is both. She was thebetrayer because she murdered her older sister to become the family heir, and the victim because her parents discovered what she had done and sold her into slavery to avoid a scandle then named her younger brother as their heir instead. Then they told everyone that she had died in the same fire that killed her sister. Ah the joys of Taldorian family life.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

David Fryer wrote:
Lord Fyre wrote:


You had also stated that this was a story of "Family, Betrayal, and Revenge." Normally that would imply Calistria if she was the victim, but Norgorber is she is the betrayer.
Actually in this case she is both. She was thebetrayer because she murdered her older sister to become the family heir, and the victim because her parents discovered what she hd done ad sold her into slavery to avoid a scandle and named her younger brother as their heir instead. Then they told everyone that she had died in the same fire that killed her siter. Ah the joys of Taldorian family life.

Well, Norgorber is god of Murder, Greed and Secrets.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

David Fryer wrote:

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 13

Base Atk +8, CMB +8, CMD 22

How did you get these numbers, b.t.w.?

The base attack of a Lvl 8 wizard is +4
With a Strength of 10, her CMB is also +4,
And her Combat Maneuver Defence would be 16 (10 +4 +0 +2)

Dark Archive

Lord Fyre wrote:
David Fryer wrote:

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 13

Base Atk +8, CMB +8, CMD 22

How did you get these numbers, b.t.w.?

The base attack of a Lvl 8 wizard is +4
With a Strength of 10, her CMB is also +4,
And her Combat Maneuver Defence would be 16 (10 +4 +0 +2)

Yeah, I'm not sure where I got them. They aren't on the sheet I was copying from. I always write my material out longhand before posting.


I agree with a lot of the above posts, especially with the armour and mage armour not stacking (and really...cheesy breastplate?!?)
That said, I reccomend shield instead of mage armour for the above posted reasons. (that said 20% spell failure is too nasty a risk. One spell in five?)

I notice you have combat casting but no touch spells. perhaps swapping out for ghoul touch as suggested or any other touch spells. Otherwise didtch combat casting and stay with the ever reliable 5 foot step. in fact since you seem to want to combine minions with rays maybe moving into getting precise shot, and possibly ditch the fireball (while it looks nice, if you throw it when your minions are in place then you could torch your minions, or you could find yourself waiting too long to use it the heroes may be right on top of her)

But that's not what your post asked.

Yopu will need three things to make your bad guy memorable. Foreshadowing, appearance and setting.

Foreshadowing introduces the bad guy before the PC's get to meet her. I reccomnd doing this in a completely seperate game (maybe a side quest). something she has done left a witness. Or maybe she signs her work, artfully arranging corpses after she's done.

Appearance: Mithral breastplate. +1 heavy mace. You need to describe her in a memorable fashion. maybe she gets around in a blood spattered bridal gown, with a mithral breastplate engraved with the image of a unicorn.. and engraving she's marred with a chisel. Or perhaps she's in a Red leather Jacket with floor length tails, and is bald except for her Flame red topknot. maybe she wears clothes made only out of the skin of her victims (maybe their mouths still moove when she casts spells) In any case, a distinctive apperance helps with foreshadowing, and makes her unique. Never refer to her as a necromancer either. find another term. If the PC's wnat to ask a few NPC's what a 'Corpsewearer' or a Riveneer' is then it's more Roleplaying time.

Setting. make any fight scene with her one that has scenery to play with. Rose trellises to climb, chandeliers to swing on, flamable oil barrels, pre-sprung pit traps to be bull rushed into, Moats, precarious ledges etc. maybe some place with a desecrate spell already in place.

On the same topic, she's obviously a get your hands dirty type (magic melee weapon, armour on a caster, lots of spells that are attacks) Give her an escape clause. rig your final fight so that she has a way to escape if she needs to. This is hard if she gets into combat (which she looks like she will do) a move action, followed by black tentacles to block the way to you is a good shot. Otherwise, a fireball that takes out a narrow (or rope) bridge may be good enough.

If you do have the villain escape, don't make a habit of it. it's cool the first couple of times, then it gets dull.

Batts


I'd agree with the above posters on the armor proficiencies. Is the armor and heavy mace really necessary? If so, I'd suggest moving her to cleric or maybe oracle, or if wanting to keep things arcane then fighter 1/wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 2 to give a little more survivability.

A couple notes:
A mithral breastplate is light armor, so she wouldn't need medium armor proficiency to wear it. It also has an armor bonus of +5, not +6. Not really worth it when compared to Mage Armor; the extra feat needed plus the spell failure chance don't make up for the +1 AC. Just give her a ring of protection which would cost less than the breastplate anyways.

You didn't give her her bonus skill point for being human. She should be getting 6 skill points a level, 2 from class, 3 from Int, 1 from human. Granted, her Int may have been 15 at level 1 and got boosted at level 4, thats still 5 skill points she's short. I'd reason though that she might have boosted her dex or cha at lvl 4 instead, saying she started with 16 Int, just to keep things simple.

You didn't give her her bonus skill point/hit point for favored class (unless her favored class is something other than wizard?). Being a wizard the hit point is probably more important.

You left off her free Command Undead feat for being a Necromancer specialist. You also left off her lifesight ability for lvl 8 Necromancer. That can be huge if she plays it right.

Her 5th lvl wizard feat needs to be a metamagic, Item creation, or Spell Mastery feat. She has none of these except Scribe Scroll which she gets for free at 1st level anyways, so she needs to take one of these feats.

If sticking with wizard I'd make the following suggestions: drop the armor proficiencies and just use Mage Armor, drop Spell Penetration (will the PC's have SR and if so will it be that high anyways?). Give her toughness and maybe blindfight or Greater Spell Focus. Giver her 1 rank in some other knowledge skills, thats enough when combined with her class bonus and Int mod to giver her a decent stat in any of them. Max her ranks in Perception...0 Perception is awful for anybody much less a BBEG.

Somebody posted a cleric build, so I'll post a wizard build that might make for a more memorable fight. (I use the older stat block system since I find it easier to see what the character has):

Pasara Devonshire, female human wizard 8
Medium humanoid, Necromancy specialist
Hit Dice: 8d6+24 (54 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Mage Armor)
BAB/CMB/CMD: +4/+4/+16
Attack: +4 melee touch, +5 Mw dagger 1d4
+6 ranged touch, +6 light crossbow 1d8
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Grave Touch (7/day), Command Undead (7/day, DC 15), spellcasting
Special Qualities: Lifesight 10’
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +6
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 19 (17), Wis 10, Cha 13
Skills: Appraise +12, Craft (alchemy) +15, Know (arcana) +15, Know (religion) +15, Know (history) +15 (from headband), Know (dungeoneering) +8, Know (engineering) +8, Know (nobility) +8, Perception +8, Spellcraft +15
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Toughness, Blindfight, Command Undead, Craft Wondrous Item, Combat Casting
Challenge Rating: 8
Alignment: Chaotic evil

Wizard Spellcasting: Necromancer focused Specialist, Divination/Enchantment prohibited
CL 8, DC = 14 + spell level, 15 + spell level for Necromancy
spells per day: 4/5+1/4+1/4+1/3+1

spells prepared:
4/Fear (DC 19), Black Tentacles, Animate Dead or Enervation, Greater Invisibility
3/Vampiric Touch x2, Stinking Cloud (DC 17), Dispell Magic, Slow (DC 17)
2/False Life, Spectral hand, Web (DC 16), Darkness, Mirror Image
1/Chill Touch (DC 16), Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Magic Missile, Cause Fear (DC 16), Color Spray (DC 15)
0/Touch of Fatigue (DC 15), Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Read Magic

Items: headband of vast intelligence +2 (gives ranks in Knowledge (history)), wand of inflict light wounds (CL 1, 25 charges, DC 11); arcane scroll with spectral hand, ghoul touch, false life; arcane scroll with chill touch, cause fear, mage armor; black onyx gems worth 25gp, 100gp, 100gp, 200gp; spell component pouch, spell book

As a squishy wizard, she needs to keep the PCs off of her. She should focus on keeping them split up and occupied with her spells and undead minions. Between Animate Dead and Command Undead she can control up to 40 HD of undead; a mix of zombies and skeletons with decent HD should be appropriate.

Mage Armor and false life should be already cast before combat begins because of their long durations.

She really needs to control the battlefield here. Fear is a great opener, it has a really good DC for that level and should get one or two of the PCs. Even those that make the save will be shaken and subject to being frightened by her Grave Touch ability. While keeping the PCs at bay she can use her spectral hand to make attacks with vampiric touch and chill touch. Since Grave Touch is a spell like ability it should probably work with spectral hand as well. An area dispel magic on the PCs, or a targeted one on whoever looks like a spellcaster should be a good trick too, just make sure not to drop it on someone who is frightened! If she gets stuck in melee she should use mirror image, greater invisibility, and darkness to give miss chances to hitting her. If she runs low on spells than chill touch plus spectral hand is her best backup plan, since chill touch gives her a touch attack that she can use up to 8 times per casting.

Notice that although she has some frightening spells prepared (pun intended), she doesn't have a lot of damaging spells. This should work out to a somewhat long encounter since she should be able to keep the PCs occupied and under various status conditions, but she will probably have a difficult time doing enough damage to kill anyone outright.

Hope this helps!

Grand Lodge

I would definitely give her a stronger secondary focus on illusions. They are a great way to give her a tactical advantage, and to yank the chains of the PCs. Consider some uses:

Illusory walls in her lair, to hide undead guardians behind (or to allow her to make a quick escape through a seemingly solid wall).

Similarly, minor image of a wall or large object cast before battle is another good way to hide undead minions until they can attack in an advantageous manner, such as hitting the PC casters from behind.

Ventriloquism on an undead to make it seem like she is actually an intelligent undead, taunting them in battle. When they defeat the undead, they think they've killed her...meanwhile she's hiding somewhere nearby, chuckling to herself. You might also give her a lesser metamagic rod of silent spell to allow for a few stealth castings.

Mirror image is a great in-combat defensive spell.

Disguise self can be used to make her look more corpselike, or perhaps appear as one of the PCs and cause mischief in town.

Magic aura - perhaps in the foreshadowing phase (before they encounter her directly), the PCs quest for some magic item, which we'll call the Sword of McGuffin. Unknown to them, the sword has previously been stolen by your NPC, who put a cursed fake in its place, disguised with magic aura to appear like the real thing. Be sure to include a clue of some kind as to who the perpetrator was at the scene, for them to either follow up or think back on later and realize she was to blame.

Nothing wrong with necromancy, but when it comes to tricky NPC villains, illusions are a great asset!

Dark Archive

Father Dale wrote:


A couple notes:
A mithral breastplate is light armor, so she wouldn't need medium armor proficiency to wear it. It also has an armor bonus of +5, not +6. Not really worth it when compared to Mage Armor; the extra feat needed plus the spell failure chance don't make up for the +1 AC. Just give her a ring of protection which would cost less than the breastplate anyways.

I wasn't sure about the proficency. I know that you still have to have Heavy armor proficency to wea an use Mithral heavy armor effectively even though it counts as medium. According to the Pathfinder SRD a breastplate does indeed grant a +6 bonus. The rest of the stuff you wrote is worth considering though.

Dark Archive

David Fryer wrote:
Although, for the record none of the TPKs were my fault. I didn't make them throw the bottle of alchemist fire into the tar spread on the floor.

You're the one who gave my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") that idea? Meanie!!!

Dark Archive

Mikhaila Burnett wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
Although, for the record none of the TPKs were my fault. I didn't make them throw the bottle of alchemist fire into the tar spread on the floor.
You're the one who gave my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") that idea? Meanie!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Dark Archive

David Fryer wrote:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Granted, the fact that we were willingly entering an area we KNEW had Kobolds in it... that was a mistake. And by failing that mission, the Kobolds now have gunpowder and an alchemist to make it for them.

When Kobolds Fly indeed!

Dark Archive

Mikhaila Burnett wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Granted, the fact that we were willingly entering an area we KNEW had Kobolds in it... that was a mistake. And by failing that mission, the Kobolds now have gunpowder and an alchemist to make it for them.

When Kobolds Fly indeed!

Flying kobolds are funny.


Ah you're right on the AC bonus. I hadn't noticed that it was increased. I still wouldn't consider it worthwhile. AC 18 at that level isn't much better than AC 16; she'll still get hit quite often either way by a melee oriented PC. Most meleer's of 5th/6th level should be swinging around +11 or +12 on a straight up attack, not factoring in things such as flanking or spells that boost attacks like bless or haste. As is true with most mages, her best defense against attacks is not AC but rather its miss chances, such as from Mirror Image or displacement or blink or invisibility or darkness.

Also, I forgot the different feat advancement rate of 1 feat every odd level. She should have one more feat from 7th level to choose from. She should have a total of 5 general feats (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th levels, and first level human), 1 bonus wizard feat at 5th level, and Scribe Scroll and Command Undead which she gets for free. In my build above I'd probably go with Greater Spell Focus, or maybe even Weapon Finesse to up her melee touch attack.

Dark Archive

Father Dale wrote:


Also, I forgot the different feat advancement rate of 1 feat every odd level. She should have one more feat from 7th level to choose from.

I missed that too.

Dark Archive

David Fryer wrote:


When Kobolds Fly indeed!
Flying kobolds are funny.

If by "funny" you mean "terror inspiring, horrific fiends of death and destruction capable of wiping out an entire party of 4th through 6th level PC's before they make it 30 feet into their lair" then yes, flying Kobolds are very funny. Hilarious even.

Dark Archive

Mikhaila Burnett wrote:
David Fryer wrote:


When Kobolds Fly indeed!
Flying kobolds are funny.
If by "funny" you mean "terror inspiring, horrific fiends of death and destruction capable of wiping out an entire party of 4th through 6th level PC's before they make it 30 feet into their lair" then yes, flying Kobolds are very funny. Hilarious even.

That's exactly what I meant, particualarly since it was a 1st-3rd level adventure.

The Exchange

Love the ideas put forth for the OP's BBEG. They've seriously got my gears turning, rust and dust being shaken loose as we speak. She seems the perfect setup for a recurring Villain for a party to run into time and time again, spaced out with various henchmen and such between meetings.

Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

Dark Archive

Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
David Fryer wrote:
Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)

No, that's ewoks.


SirUrza wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)
No, that's ewoks.

Ewoks drop stones.

Kobolds drop fire bombs and have ranks in Fly.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Turin the Mad wrote:
SirUrza wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)
No, that's ewoks.

Ewoks drop stones.

Kobolds drop fire bombs and have ranks in Fly.

Yeah but I don't think Kobolds could defeat stormtroopers. :)


SirUrza wrote:
Turin the Mad wrote:
SirUrza wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)
No, that's ewoks.

Ewoks drop stones.

Kobolds drop fire bombs and have ranks in Fly.

Yeah but I don't think Kobolds could defeat stormtroopers. :)

I've got a Kobold Mystic Theurge Construct Crafter that says otherwise. ^_^


Damien_DM wrote:

I would definitely give her a stronger secondary focus on illusions. They are a great way to give her a tactical advantage, and to yank the chains of the PCs. Consider some uses:

>>>>SNIPPED for brevity<<<<

Nothing wrong with necromancy, but when it comes to tricky NPC villains, illusions are a great asset!

I have to respectfully disagree. Illusions are the most problematic of magics. everybody gets to make their saving throw, and if anyone of a multi-person party does, the whole illusion is pointless. and everyone will eventually interact with it.

I'm not down on illusions, just for the record, but with a four person group, each getting a saving throw when they meet your illusion, you find them failing pretty quickly.

Batts


David Fryer wrote:
Father Dale wrote:


A couple notes:
A mithral breastplate is light armor, so she wouldn't need medium armor proficiency to wear it. It also has an armor bonus of +5, not +6. Not really worth it when compared to Mage Armor; the extra feat needed plus the spell failure chance don't make up for the +1 AC. Just give her a ring of protection which would cost less than the breastplate anyways.

I wasn't sure about the proficency. I know that you still have to have Heavy armor proficency to wea an use Mithral heavy armor effectively even though it counts as medium. According to the Pathfinder SRD a breastplate does indeed grant a +6 bonus. The rest of the stuff you wrote is worth considering though.

armour keeps its category for proficency purposes. Medium armour proficiency is needed for breastplates. mithral or otherwise.

batts


David Fryer wrote:
Shadowheart wrote:


Flying kobolds....hmm...*weg*

They use hang gliders. :)

I am so stealing that.

Batts

Grand Lodge

Iczer wrote:
Damien_DM wrote:

I would definitely give her a stronger secondary focus on illusions. They are a great way to give her a tactical advantage, and to yank the chains of the PCs. Consider some uses:

>>>>SNIPPED for brevity<<<<

Nothing wrong with necromancy, but when it comes to tricky NPC villains, illusions are a great asset!

I have to respectfully disagree. Illusions are the most problematic of magics. everybody gets to make their saving throw, and if anyone of a multi-person party does, the whole illusion is pointless. and everyone will eventually interact with it.

I'm not down on illusions, just for the record, but with a four person group, each getting a saving throw when they meet your illusion, you find them failing pretty quickly.

Batts

First, there are many good illusion spells that are not [disbelief], such as color spray and mirror image. But that is not what you are referring to here.

The idea behind good illusion use is to place them in such a way that by the time the PCs think to interact with them or study them, it's too late. For example, how often to characters study/interact your average featureless dungeon passage? Most groups would likely walk right by an illusory wall-covered niche the first time they go by, leaving them open for a rear assault a little further on.

One trick I've used to good effect is to hide a spellcaster behind an illusory wall, with its access blocked by a pit on the PCs' side, and a guardian dragon for the characters to deal with. It took a couple rounds before they were able to have someone disbelieve the wall (after all, who spends time studying walls when they are beset by foes, without cause?). Even with their assistance, it took longer for other characters to successfully disbelieve. In the meantime, the wall made an excellent screen against ranged attacks, buying a good five to six rounds of retaliation-free casting on the part of my arcanist. I could probably have extended this if the caster used Silent Spell on a rod and spells that do not reveal the caster's origin point (like summonings, as opposed to fireballs and lightning bolts).

EDIT: It is worth noting that in Pathfinder, the illusory wall specifies that the caster can see through it, but others cannot, even if they successfully disbelieve it. Thus at the very worst, you have a permanent duration wall that you can precast weeks in advance that provides you total concealment against your enemies until they can get past it.


alright, hope you still want some input, i tried to make her more necromantic in the nature of her spellcasting. also, i'm not sure if you're using standard wealth calculations or what, but i'd say she should definitely have a scroll or 2 of fly for those just in case moments. and i changed her cure potions to elixirs to reflect the fact that she made them herself, and she enchanted her crossbow herself too.

Pasara Devenshire
Female Human Necromancer 8
CE Medium Humanoid
Init +2, Senses: Perception +8 (+10 with familiar)
AC 16, Touch 12, Flat Footed 14
(+4 mage Armor, +2 Dex)
hp 38 (8d6+8)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +6
Speed 20 ft, 30 ft Unarmored
Melee: heavy mace +4 (1d8)
Ranged: +1 light Crossbow +7 (1d8+1/19-20)
Special Attacks: Grave Touch (6/day)

Spells Prepared: 4th (DC 17) Fear (x2, DC 19), Black Tentacles
3rd (DC 16) Fly, Gentle Repose, Ray of Exhaustion (x2, DC 18), Vampiric Touch
2nd (DC 15) Command Undead (DC 17), False Life, Ghoul Touch (DC 17), Spectral Hand x2
1st (DC 14) Burning Hands, Chill Touch (x2, DC 16), Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement (DC 16)
0 (DC 13) Detect Magic, Touch of fatigue x3 (DC 15)

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +4, CMB +4, CMD 16

Feats: Spell Focus Necromancy (human bonus), Scribe Scroll (wizard bonus), Greater Spell Focus necromancy, Craft wondrous item, craft arms and armor, craft construct (wizard bonus), improved familiar (homonculus)

Skills:
Appraise +7 (1 rank)
Craft (Alchemy) +14 (8 ranks)
Craft sculpture +14 (8 ranks)
Fly +9 (4 ranks)
Knowledge (Arcana) +14 (8 ranks)
knowledge history +7 (1 rank)
knowledge geography +7 (1 rank)
knowledge nobility +7 (1 rank)
Knowledge (Religion) +14 (8 ranks)
Spellcraft +14 (8 ranks)
Perception +8 (8 ranks)

Languages: Aklo, Common, Draconic, Goblin
SQ: Familiar (homonculus), Power Over Undead
Spellbook: All 0 except abjuration amd enchantment, 1st-Detect Undead, Summon Monster I, True Strike, 4th-Bestow Curse, Animate Dead
Combat Gear: Three elixir of Cure Moderate Wounds
Other Gear: heavy mace, +1 light crossbow w/ 10 poisoned bolts, other possessions

personality: she felt very betrayed by her parents, as in her mind the killing of her sister was totally justified. the fire was just a cover, she really poisoned her sister and at that point her parents found her experimental collection of dead bodies as she was already interested in necromancy. they burned all the evidence and put the sisters body in a family crypt with a permanent gentle repose effect.

when pasara returned from slavery, on of her first acts was to recover her sisters body to make her a zombie and keep the flesh intact with more castings of gentle repose. in fact, she insists on all her undead being of impeccable appearance, and prefers family members that she personally has poisoned to be her servants. and poison is her preferred method of killing as it leaves the appearance of the body intact.
however, she surrounds herself with sculptures she has made of her servants with their faces half pristine, half rotted, and bodies in various stages of decay and mutilation.

she generally keeps her zombie sister and her zombie raven that used to be her familiar near her at all times. she talks to her sister as if she were still alive. her raven familiar she poisoned herself when she decided to make a homonculus. she uses her homonculous to make the poisons so as to cut down on the risk of poisoning herself.

tactics: she generally has her homonculus watching the approaches to her abode, and if it sees anyone approaching (it can convey everything it sees and hears to her from 1500' away), she'll cast mage armor while it continues to follow the intruders. if she has reason to believe the group is hostile, she'll also cast fly, false life and spectral hand right before directly interacting with them. she'll generally try to hit up enemies with touch spells from range while her undead keep them at bay. by my reading, grave touch should also work through spectral hand, as the pfsrd says "A spell-like ability has a casting time of 1 standard action unless noted otherwise in the ability or spell description. In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell."

if anyone looks to be shrugging off her spell effects, she'll try a few poisoned crossbow bolts to soften them up, and she has no problem flying away if things look to be going badly. if she does decide to shoot the crossbow, she'll often cast chill touch on her familiar first and have it make attacks while she shoots.

if she is taken by surprise, her first act is generally to cast fly and get some range to try some black tentacles or rays. if the pcs are nicely grouped, she might try a fear or black tentacles first.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / General Discussion / Pimp My NPC All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion