Start the BBEG's stat block with an appropriately templated angel or other celestial. A planetar or solar sounds about right, although with sufficient class levels you might aim lower towards the CR 10 base critter range. 20 levels of bard, a choice archetype or two and perhaps retooling the baddy's feats roster should make something pretty nasty without having to step too far above the low to mid CR 20 range.
Alternatively, you might go with destined bloodline sorcerer 20 and pick spells that exclusively (or exclusively with Eschew Materials factored in) use a V component.
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Read the Silmarillion lately? I love bards so its a good choice. If anyone knows more than you than anything, its a bard. I agree with the above template. Have you told the players what this is about? I would recommend the players would get more fun out of interaction with the BBEG: Bard, Oracle with Knowledge focus and Inquisitor. Maybe someone gutsy can play Bard/Oracle or Bard/Inquisitor.
Bards need allies to though -- you are going to want people for him to use all his incredible buffs on -- so he needs to have some sort of fallen lantern archons with him at all times -- ones that spontaneously pop back into existence after say... 1d6 rounds each. Give him 5 of them.
Bards need allies to though -- you are going to want people for him to use all his incredible buffs on -- so he needs to have some sort of fallen lantern archons with him at all times -- ones that spontaneously pop back into existence after say... 1d6 rounds each. Give him 5 of them.
How many are in a choir of (fallen) angels? ^_^
A fallen nngel dirge Bard animating swarm of undeads in a desecrated church by playing on an oversized organ from the balcony and buffing them using Secrets of the grave and inspire courage? Nice encounter. Just add the soundtrack.
Start with astral deva.
Ditch the protective aura, the wings, and truespeech. Lower the base CR by 2 (to 12).
Add fiendish template (means you need a good and evil weapon to pierce DR). Since some of this template overlaps with the base abilities of an astra deva, I'd also up the SR from 25 to 30 and fire/electricity resistance from 10/10 to 20/20. Add +1 CR.
I'd give him 8 levels of bard for dirge of doom. I'd give him the gear of a level 20 NPC plus an artifact (maybe perfect golden lute). I'd also let the astra deva hit dice count as bard levels for the purposes of bard abilities (not gettting new abilities, just buffing the abilities a level 8 bard would have).
I'd call this a CR 20.
The BBEG cannot decline a rock off challenge?
I added a spoiler tag.
Then don't go bard -- bards are force amplifiers. If you don't have a force they aren't nearly as good -- especially as a BBEG.
Any advice for making this demonic bard who crushes minds and corrupts souls with naught but his voice?
His minions are all the musicians who have sold him their souls that he might bless their musical talent and grant them everlasting fame...
(You have seen the movie Crossroads, no?)
Then don't go bard -- bards are force amplifiers. If you don't have a force they aren't nearly as good -- especially as a BBEG.
Not *entirely* true. I definitely see the benefits of having minions, but with the fascinate mechanics and the alternative bard abilities (Court bard?), I could see a bard (with a bunch of angel abilities and a high AC/high DR) as a scary individual opponent.
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Any advice for making this demonic bard who crushes minds and corrupts souls with naught but his voice?His minions are all the musicians who have sold him their souls that he might bless their musical talent and grant them everlasting fame...
(You have seen the movie Crossroads, no?)
Oooh. +1 for the idea.
+5 for the obscure movie cite. (Ralph Macchio in between Karate Kid's)
Then don't go bard -- bards are force amplifiers. If you don't have a force they aren't nearly as good -- especially as a BBEG.Not *entirely* true. I definitely see the benefits of having minions, but with the fascinate mechanics and the alternative bard abilities (Court bard?), I could see a bard (with a bunch of angel abilities and a high AC/high DR) as a scary individual opponent.
Fascinate has a special problem -- it doesn't work on hostile creatures -- The friendly to hostile scale only applies to NPCs (especially since diplomacy specifically doesn't work on PCs) meaning that actual application of the fascinate ability can be very difficult to adjudicate, and devolve into the GM saying you didn't come into the situation hostile and the player saying the GM is trying to tell him how to role play his character. NOW this isn't a guaranteed problem -- but it very well could be a problem.
The Court Bard is a wonderful suggestion though and could easily help change things around -- in which case I recommend crushing despair to go with it for a double whammy.
In this case I would almost recommend an aura of despair or ill fortune (a thematically opposite to the magic circle effect) -- however I think 12 bard levels would be in order for a CR 20 monster (as is suggested in the monster/npc guide lines in the back of the bestiary).