Here's my mostly complete writeup of the my campaign's next BBEG: the Fanglord. It's six 8th level PCs and this guy is CR 13, so he's definitely a potential TPK if they fight him; see below for details.
The Fanglord (CR 13)
Male human Bard 5 (Savage Skald)/ Barbarian 8 (Invulnerable Rager)
CE medium humanoid
Init +1 Perception +4
Spoiler:
DEFENSE
AC 18 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +1 ring – 12 touch 16 flatfooted)
hp 130 (DR 4, Regenerate 10) +26 hp if raging
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +13
Endure elements, DR Cold 2 [from Invulnerable Rager]
OFFENSE
Spd 40 ft.
Melee +17/+12/+7 Greataxe d12+2d6+8 [+1 Vicious Human Bane Greataxe] (19-20 x3) and bite +12 d4+2
or raging Power Attack +17/+12/+7 for d12+2d6+17 and bite +12 d4+6
Ranged +14 masterwork composite longbow d8+3
STATISTICS
Str 16 (20), Dex 12, Con 14 (16), Int 10, Wis 5, Cha 21 (23)
Base Atk +11; CMB +16, CMD +17
Feats (8): Weapon Focus (Greataxe), Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical, Critical Focus, Bloody Assault (trade -5 to attacks for bleed damage), Toughness
Bard spells:
1st level (4/day) Cause Fear, Dazzling Blade, Ear-Piercing Scream, Horn of Pursuit
2nd level (2/day) Heroism [his go-to buff before combat], Enter Image [useful for a general -- his troops carry images of him, and he can enter and animate them]
Barbarian powers (4): Animal Fury (grants bite attack d4+2), Increased Damage Reduction (DR goes to 5/- when raging), Knockdown (trip attack instead of one melee attack), Reckless Abandon (-2 to AC, +2 to attack).
Notable skills: Diplomacy +14 (from Versatile Performance), Intimidate +23, Perception +4, Sense Motive +14, Survival +6, various Knowledge skills higher than you might expect, and all Knowledge at least +2 (bardic knowledge), and Loremaster (take 20 on a Knowledge check) once/day
Languages: common, abyssal
SQ Madness: The Fanglord is insane, suffering from megalomania and several delusions and obsessions. In the long run, his madness is likely to bring him to grief. In the short run, it means he gets -6 Wis, +6 Cha, and uses his Cha modifier instead of Wisdom for his Will save.
Inspiring blow: on a successful crit, the Fanglord gains 6 temporary hp, and all allies within 30’ gain +1 morale on attacks for one round.
Combat Gear: Manslayer, +1 Vicious Human Bane Greataxe; Belt of Strength +4; +1 chain shirt; +1 ring of protection; the Lost Fang (relic, grants +2 to Con and Cha, Regeneration 10, and Greater Uncanny Dodge).
Notes: The Fanglord is the leader of a cannibal horde that's currently assaulting a city. (To be precise, I’ve inserted the Rite Publishing module “The Breaking of Forstar Nagar” into my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, right after Old Korvosa, and put this guy in charge of the Hungering Legion.)
If fighting PCs or other obviously formidable opponents, his preferred tactic will be to send in a wave or two of minions with Inspire Courage (+2 to hit and damage) while casting Heroism and Dazzling Blade on himself. He likes to open combat with an Ear-Piercing Scream (cast in advance, discharged as a free action, DC 17 or 2d6 damage and dazed).
The Fanglord’s DR 4/ and Regeneration 10 make him contemptuous of most melee opponents. He enjoys toying with weaker opponents – for instance, by using his Bloody Assault feat to slowly cut them to death with bleed damage. But he's intelligent enough to be careful: he can't be killed while he bears the Fang, but he knows that if he's reduced to negative hp the Fang could be taken away. He's provided against this by grafting the Fang onto the skin of his chest, allowing his regeneration to grow around it. Removing it is a full round action requiring an edged weapon and a successful DC 10 Heal check. Against dangerous foes, he pulls no punches – he’ll rage, make full attacks (using Power Attack if the enemy is below AC 25), and use Dazzling Blade’s flash power (DC 17 Will or blinded).
Possession of the Lost Fang and the Madness SQ probably add +1 to the Fanglord’s CR, making him a CR 13 threat. I’m running him against a party of six 8th level characters. That means he’s right on the bleeding edge of TPK, so to be fair I’m setting things up so the PCs (1) are given advance warning of how dangerous he is, and (2) can avoid him. Also, he has a couple of weaknesses, most notably his low AC and near complete lack of ranged attacks. If clever PCs can come up with ranged attacks that bypass his DR and regeneration – Enervation, Ray of Enfeeblement, or similar ranged debuffs – they’d have a chance to take him down. But it would require pretty canny play.
Well, if nobody wants to discuss the build, any thoughts on how to make this guy interesting / alarming / badass?
I have him wearing a chain shirt adorned with thousands of human teeth, and wearing a mask of human skin. The PCs will be in a fortified compound; he'll appear at the head of some troops and make a speech about how he'll give them a chance to join his cannibal horde, they have one night to think it over, etc. There are a number of NPC soldiers in the compound, and they'll fire arrows at him, which will bounce off his DR. Then someone will fire a ballista -- 3d8 damage, and I may roll behind the scene and triumphantly announce a crit! The bolt goes right through him! Leading to a cutscene: he grabs the impaling bolt, snaps it off, pulls out the pieces, flings them away -- and then slowly turns in a circle so the watchers can see the wound growing closed, with complete healing in just two or three rounds.
First, I believe his base offense with axe is 18/13/8: 11 BAB + 5 STR + 1 Enhancement + 1 Weapon Focus
Also, I think he should have Step Up instead of Improved Critical. Let him use an Oil of Keen Edge if you really want the 19-20 range.
He would do well to have a wise adviser. A tribe shaman, weathered old barbarian warrior, mystical wild woods wife - someone he trusts. Have him use this character to deliver messages. The character shouldn't contribute to combat much at all, but be very slippery, as to explain how they've survived with an insane barbarian lord. IF you wanted to give the PCs a way to defeat him outside of brute force or preparing a swathe of enervation, have this character show favor to the PCs for whatever reason. One potential for the advice is to get the PCs to cure that insanity- a heal spell would fix that right up, though it would rely on getting the BBEG to think of it as only helpful to bypass his bogus will save.
What you have for the barbarian is quite intimidating as is, especially if the only advice you're letting the characters have is about strong he is. Give the PCs one last chance to withdraw if they encounter him. If you really want to make your players afraid of him, let the PCs observe him take down a mercenary group as strong as the PCs, not simple soldiers. Show him soaking the full assault of a fighter, archery paladin, and rogue. Ignoring the casters, kill the rogue with cleaves, leaving the fighter bloodied and finish the paladin with a full attack within 3 rounds. Outright kill the healthy cleric in a single full attack. Have the battle pre-rolled and just give them the total damages being tossed. Let them see he has regeneration, but don't give them an idea of how much. Let them think he has a huge amount of HP, and don't mention that the cleric was human. Leisurely kill the remaining casters and fighter with bleeding, walking through illusions, treading through battlefield control as though to give him more time to watch them die slowly (while his rage fatigue wears off). Oh, yes, that's while ignoring the frequent contributory arrow from the nearby soldiers. Let one mercenary survive- the one who trembled at his feet before him before he delivers a coup-de-grace to him by that lucky ballista shot. Make him withdraw after taking that. He could be concerned that the Fang was damaged by the ballista.
Well, that's how you would scare me as a player, at least.
First, I believe his base offense with axe is 18/13/8: 11 BAB + 5 STR + 1 Enhancement + 1 Weapon Focus
Right you are! Thanks.
Nightskies wrote:
Also, I think he should have Step Up instead of Improved Critical. Let him use an Oil of Keen Edge if you really want the 19-20 range.
Hm! If I don't count the Fang, then he can afford some more NPC gear. And Oil of Keenness is nice. Other hand, I don't see him using Step Up so much -- it doesn't help against the Withdraw action, and I don't think any casters will be standing next to this guy. But getting another feat is certainly tempting.
Nightskies wrote:
He would do well to have a wise adviser. A tribe shaman, weathered old barbarian warrior, mystical wild woods wife - someone he trusts.
This is where the Madness SQ comes in -- he basically doesn't trust anyone but the voices in his head. The Fang has him convinced that he's the predestined top of the world's food chain. This is why I didn't burn a feat on Leadership! (Which would otherwise seem a no-brainer, given his ridiculous Cha score.)
That said, he'll certainly have followers and some sort of inner circle. My original vision was to give him a low level cleric who would follow him around casting the occasional buff. More than that, and he'd be unbeatable. But if the "cohort" is actually unreliable and has his own agenda... hm.
Nightskies wrote:
Give the PCs one last chance to withdraw if they encounter him. If you really want to make your players afraid of him, let the PCs observe him take down a mercenary group as strong as the PCs, not simple soldiers.
Tempting, but I'd have to introduce a complete new party for him to kill. But upon consideration, I could have the PCs hear that he beat the city's champion in single combat. One PC is from the city, and could attest that the champion was at least 10th level.
If you are worried about people using the Withdraw action against him instead of the 5-foot-step, might I reccomend then swapping the feat for Extra Rage Power (No Escape)? That would ensure he can chase people down like some kind of crazy robot guy.
I'd need more information about your party to come up with scenarios that he'd be beatable, and how to avoid them.
Wall spells will work wonders against him, as will the pit spells, anythign that hampers his movement. If you're party can delay a full attack or prevent it, then his effectiveness is diminished. Acid and fire damage also stop regeneration, so some protection versus that may help.
I for one though, if I were playing a full caster would spawn summons, and create a drowning scenario. or somehow use a garrot.
It really depends on your players and how quick thinking and creative they are.
