Skizzik, Rika, Jira, and Thom, stay out!
I'm running my group through an evil mythic one shot on Saturday since interest is pretty high. The party consists of four level 10 /MT 5 characters (Barbarian Champion, Antipaladin Guardian, Bard Marshal, and Monk Champion). Since their APL is technically 15, I thought I would cook up a nice CR 17 boss monster to make things memorable, but I’m worried I went a bit overboard.
Savage Hand of the Inheritor
CR 17 / MR2
XP 102,400
LG Large outsider (angel, extraplanar, good, lawful)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +28
Aura protective aura
DEFENSE
AC 35, touch 14, flat-footed 30 (+5 Dex, +17 natural, +4 shield, –1 size; +4 deflection vs. evil)
hp 227 (18d10+108+20); regeneration 10 (evil weapons and effects)
Fort +17, Ref +16, Will +13; +4 vs. poison, +4 resistance vs. evil
DR 15/evil and epic; Immune acid, cold, fear, petrification; Resist electricity 15, fire 15; SR 26
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., fly 150 ft. (good)
Melee +2 longsword +25/+25/+20/+15/+10 (2d6+9) and bleed, +2 axiomatic holy spiked heavy steel shield +27 (2d6+9) bleed
Special Attacks bleed 1 (all attacks, stacks with itself), vicious assault
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th)
At will—aid, detect evil, dispel magic, lesser restoration, magic weapon, plane shift (DC 23), remove fear
3/day—burst of glory, flame strike (DC 21), holy smite (DC 20), mark of justice (DC 20), order’s wrath (DC 20), power word stun, raise dead, see invisibility
1/day—blade barrier (DC 22), greater magic weapon, greater restoration, heal
Paladin Spells Prepared (CL 18th)
4th—death ward, dispel evil (2)
3rd—cure moderate wounds, prayer (2)
2nd—bull’s strength (2), resist energy (3)
1st—cure light wounds (4), divine favor (2)
STATISTICS
Str 25, Dex 21, Con 22, Int 22, Wis 24, Cha 23
Base Atk +18; CMB +26; CMD 41
Feats Cleave, Improved Initiative, Improved Shield Bash, Power Attack, Shield Master, Shield Slam, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Focus (spiked shield)
Skills Craft (weaponsmithing) +27, Diplomacy +15, Fly +27, Heal +16, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (history) +27, Knowledge (nobility) +15, Knowledge (planes) +27, Knowledge (religion) +27, Perception +28, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +24, Swim +25
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ lay on hands (15/day, 9d6 hit points, as an 18th-level paladin)
Combat Gear +2 axiomatic holy spiked heavy steel shield
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Aura of Courage (Su)
The Hand of the Inheritor radiates an aura of courage identical to that of an 18th-level paladin.
Protective Aura (Su)
Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level equals angel’s HD). The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in an angel’s statistics block.
Truespeech (Su)
The Hand of the Inheritor can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level equal to angel’s Hit Dice). This ability is always active.
Vicious Assault (Ex)
Whenever The Hand of the Inheritor makes a full attack it can make one extra attack with one of its natural or manufactured weapons
I’m worried that this thing will easily wipe the floor with my players for the following reasons:
- Large number of attacks
- Stackable Bleed damage
- Massive AC (the barbarian only has +24/+24 to hit while raging due to the Percision path ability, which is the most accurate in the party).
Is it reasonable to throw this at my players, or would I be better off taking a lower CR monster and adding a few mythic tiers via the mythic subtype?
It will be tough, but doable.
Really depends on the character builds.
For instance if the bard is maxed out on charisma and has hideous laughter and the book of jokes (cannot remember the item name) His DC could be easily 23+ so if the bard makes it through the SR it is a 55% chance to drop the angel in the first round!
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We will find out. I have a scenario I have posted that I intend to start testing this weekend.
The party is 10/5
The encounters are CR 15/16/17/17/18 and intended to be handled sequentially during the same adventuring day.
The CR 18 boss is Tintiarnas, a magma dragon.
With an AC of 41 - 45, two of the three melee are going to have difficulty hitting him.
I'm betting the magus kills him in 2-3 rounds if she can manage full attacks and lives that long. (Both are big ifs.)
barby can hit on a 11+, which I've found is about average.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I just finished running this encounter tonight, and the Hand of the Inheritor got destroyed in two rounds.
I gave the PCs a warning that the monster was coming in three days, and they booked it back to town and hit the library to figure out what was going on. After doing their homework, they pooled their gold to get unholy weapons, completed a side quest for a miracle (which they used to turn the anti-paladin into a grave knight... accidentally), and prepared for battle in a small cavern in the sewers.
They used pretty good buff tactics and extra attacks via the marshal bard, and between the anti-paladin's smite good and the barbarian's massive rage power attacks were able to bring it down in two rounds.
Lessons learned:
1. If you give the PCs time to be tricky, their opponents need to be tricky as well
2. Smite is REALLY powerful
3. Haste and the marshal extra attack abilities are REALLY powerful
4. Terrain is critical.