--- First a little backstory ---
As my level 10-11 party is traveling by sea will encounter a terrible thunderstorm. The storm will severely damage their ship on the first lightning strike, and can cause further damage and even destruction depending on how they use their skills to overcome this encounter.
After the encounter, they'll either beach their boat or run aground and will need to find shelter from the downpour.
In the distance, they'll see torchlights about 1/4 way up a rock-covered mountain roughly 1-2 miles from their current location.
After facing several more skill challenges revolving around the downpour and thunderstorm, they'll make it (soaking wet) to a small, Dwarven outpost near a larger Dwarven town much higher up the mountain. Think of this as a Dwarven equivalent to a small wild, west, frontier town. It has one general store, a longhouse/community house, a tavern with an inn attached and a chapel dedicated to Torag, Sarenrae and Pharasma.
---A little more pertinent info ---
The PCs will be invited into the outpost's inn to dry from the rain. There, the party bard will surely wish to entertain the group of Dwarven hunters/trappers/craftsmen and while doing so gather info about what's going on.
They'll be informed that this storm comes on suddenly and then disappears just as quickly. The town priest and paladins (all Dwarf except for one Halfling) will tell the group they fear something magical is at work. To further their hypothesis, during every storm, they are attacked by groups of Bulettes.
The cleric, paladins and the rest of the low-level Dwarven warriors/rangers/fighters/etc who also reside in the outpost have had a difficult time dealing with the Bulettes and they want the PCs to help them find the cause of the storm and why the Bulettes always attack the outpost during the storm or very soon thereafter.
--- Now my question ---
I have it in my mind that a BBEG is causing the storms and sending the Bulettes for some reason or another. What I need some inspiration on is who this person should be: Race, Class, Archetype, etc; and what he hopes to accomplish by attacking the outpost with severe weather and Bulettes.
Many thanks! My PCs are going to love this game, especially the ocean travel, the destruction of their newly bought ship, and finding a new culture.
Thanks so muh :)
Oread could certainly work. Anyone else have some suggestions?
Druid seems a good way to go they have good weather control and the Bulette is a 6th level Summon Nature's ally. Maybe his assaults are basically him blowing his spell pay load summoning a number of bulettes and using weather spells and call lightening storm, control weather, etc.
I like the idea of Druid, but I don't want to have to bother with the shapeshifting for an NPC who is likely to die off pretty quickly once the PCs figure out she's the one causing it all.
Are there any non-shapeshifting Druid archetypes out there?
Well, some are better than it than others. If you don't want them to shapeshift, they don't have to. Druids are plenty strong without having to do that.
On the other hand, Shapeshifting isn't that big of a deal. You can just give them a feat called Natural Spell. Then they do all their casting and spend all of their time in Wild Shape, and you only have to deal with one set of stats. A level 10-11 party is going to need to have a level 13-14 Druid bad guy, so it's not like they couldn't spend all their time as a bear or a badger or something like that. It would be a little harder to notice an animal like that too, so they could be using it for camouflage if they weren't very personable.
What about a fight between Air and Earth Elementals ? In a mountain on the island lives a elder earth elemental and on the top an elder air elemental. Both fight against each other for days/months/years/decades without a winner. The storm was a way of the air elemental to keep earth creatures away from the mountain. The earth creatures fled into the dwarven town .. Earthquakes are caused by the earth elemental with the same reason.
Maybe both elementals are kept as prisoners from a mad caster who wants to control earth and air. The caster is long dead but the prisoners are still there, bound to the material plane and life time enemies of each other. The binding magic is getting weaker over centuries and due to this fact the elementals can fight more intensely against each other.
Maybe the caster is still alive through some long live magic or he is a lich. He has forgotten the elementals and studies other things. The caster is the last of a long lost civilization .. The PCs can reveal the story, end the fight between the elementals (kill both, send them back to their home plane or win them as allies) and kill the the BBEG caster).
Reading over the Druid once again, I see that she can turn into a Huge Elemental at level 12. As the group will be fighting against her a few minions (probably an air and water elemental to signify the embodiment of the storm) making her level 13 shouldn't be too difficult for my party.
Those were all great suggestions, especially the Natural Spell option. Once they find the 3 elementals, they'll have a difficult time determining which of them is actually the Oread in control.
Thanks a bunch!
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I would also go Druid or even Witch I guess.
Druid could be annoyed at the dwarven mines fouling a river or destroying the local coral reef with it’s pollution. Or it could be that they are deforesting the local woodlands for the smelters/forges.
Maybe they have killed off some innocent rare creature while protecting themselves. By innocent I’m looking from the Druids perspective the dwarves may have been protecting their way of life from what they considered a rampaging menace. Maybe they knocked down some sacred rocks or a stone circle while expanding their domain.
There are many ways a town of dwarves could annoy a local druid. … This does not mean the druid is the bad guy here either. He could have tried talking to them and got rebuffed or he could be an evil survival of the fittest or protector of nature type and strike first with earth, wind and fire.
Witch shares some aspects of the druid and seems to be connected to nature more than a wizard may be. They could have the same thoughts as above or they could just want the island to themselves.
Witch could be just annoyed at their presence … As could the Druid.
Anyway hope this helps a little
Sic
Why not a coven of witches?
Crashing boats sounds like the work of a Sea Hag.
Coven of Sea Hags with druid levels?
I ended up making this dude in Hero Lab. Let me know what you think...
Evil Oread Half-Fiend BBEG
Oread Druid (Cave Druid) 14
CR 14
NE Medium Outsider (native)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +26
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 168 (14d8+56)
Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +16; +10 bonus vs. exceptional, supernatural, and spell-like abilities of oozes and aberrations
Resist acid 20
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Offense
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Speed 15 ft.
Melee
• Midsummer sickle +15/+10 (1d6+4/x2)
Spell-Like Abilities Acid Dart (10/day)
Druid (Cave Druid) Spells Prepared (CL 14):
• 7 (3/day) Elemental Body IV, Control Weather, Scouring Winds, Summon Nature's Ally VII
• 6 (4/day) Bull's Strength, Mass, Stoneskin, Summon Nature's Ally VI, Rockslide (DC 23), Tar Pool (DC 23)
• 5 (4/day) Stoneskin, Wall of Stone (DC 22), Summon Nature's Ally V, Call Lightning Storm (DC 22), Contagion, Greater (DC 22)
• 4 (5/day) Summon Nature's Ally IV, Spike Stones (DC 21), Ice Storm, Obsidian Flow (DC 21), Strong Jaw (DC 21), Volcanic Storm
• 3 (6/day) Summon Nature's Ally III, Call Lightning (DC 20), Stone Shape, Fumes, Plague Vapor (DC 20), Raging Rubble, Spike Growth (DC 20)
• 2 (6/day) Elemental Speech, Stone Call, Soften Earth and Stone, Summon Nature's Ally II, Endure Elements, Communal, Groundswell, Mud Pit
• 1 (6/day) Summon Nature's Ally I, Cure Light Wounds, Magic Stone, Entangle (DC 18), Faerie Fire, Mud Ball (DC 18), Stone Shield
• 0 (at will) Guidance, Virtue, Stabilize, Light, Detect Magic, Know Direction
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 24, Cha 10
Base Atk +10; CMB +14; CMD 26
Feats Alertness, Ashbound, Aspect of the Beast (Wild Instinct), Beast Soul, Natural Spell, Powerful Shape, Stony Step
Traits Scholar of the Great Beyond (Knowledge [planes]), Veteran of the Watch
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+0 jump), Climb +8, Escape Artist +0, Fly +0, Handle Animal +14, Heal +14, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (planes) +9, Perception +26, Ride +0, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +0, Survival +20, Swim +2
Languages Common, Druidic, Terran
SQ earth insight, hero points, lightfoot, nature bond abilities (earth), resist subterranean corruption, spontaneous casting, treacherous earth (14 minutes) (1/day), tunnelrunner, wild, wild empathy, wild shape (6/day), wild shape (animal), wild shape (ooze), wild shape (elemental)
Combat Gear Amulet of elemental strife, Elemental earth belt; Other Gear +2 Wild Hide armor, Midsummer sickle, Druid's vestment, 14543 PP, 4 GP
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TRACKED RESOURCES
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• Acid Dart (1d6+7) (10/day) (Sp) - 0/10
• Elemental Body III (Earth Form) (1/day) - 0/1
• Treacherous Earth (14 minutes) (1/day) - 0/1
• Wild Shape (6/day) (Su) - 0/6
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Special Abilities
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• Acid Dart (1d6+7) (10/day) (Sp) 30' Ranged touch attack deals 1d6+7 Acid damage.
• Amulet of elemental strife Glow in 60 ft of elementals, ignore their DR, and grant resist 5 to their element.
• Ashbound The duration of your summon nature's ally spells is doubled.
• Beast Soul You were born into your natural body, but your true form is one you achieve only through magic.
• Damage Resistance, Acid (20) You have the specified Damage Resistance against Acid attacks.
• Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
• Druid (Cave Druid) Domain (Earth) Granted Powers: You have mastery over earth, metal, and stone, can fire darts of acid, and command earth creatures.
• Earth Insight Summon monster and summon nature's ally last 2 rounds longer with earth creatures.
• Elemental earth belt Immune to push, pull, or forceful movement, but not teleportation effects.
• Lightfoot (Ex) Cannot be detected with Tremorsense
• Natural Spell You can cast spells while in Wild Shape.
• Powerful Shape While in wild shape, you are treated as one size category larger
• Resist Subterranean Corruption (Ex) +2 save vs. abilities of oozes or aberrations.
• Spontaneous Casting The Druid can convert stored spells into Summon Nature's Ally spells.
• Stony Step Treat 5 feet of earth or stone-based difficult terrain as normal.
• Treacherous Earth (14 minutes) (1/day) Transform a 10-ft. radius patch of earth into difficult terrain.
• Tunnelrunner (Ex) Move through rubble and squeeze through narrow passages at normal speed.
• Wild Armor can be used in Wild Shape.
• Wild Empathy +14 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
• Wild Shape (6/day) (Su) Shapeshift into a different creature one or more times per day.
• Wild Shape (Beast Shape III: Diminutive - Huge animal) You may use your Wild Shape ability to become an animal.
• Wild Shape (Beast Shape IV: Tiny - Large ooze) (Su) You can wild shape into the form of an Ooze
• Wild Shape (Elemental Body IV: Small - Huge elemental) You may use your Wild Shape ability to become an elemental.
Then in Earth Elemental form... (I hope I did this correctly)...
Oread Druid in Earth Elemental Form
Elemental, Earth, Huge Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 4
CR 14
N Huge Outsider (earth, elemental, extraplanar)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense; Perception +21
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Defense
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AC 28, touch 9, flat-footed 27 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, -2 size, +13 natural)
hp 246 (4d12+10d10+98)
Fort +18, Ref +5, Will +15; +3 morale bonus vs. spells, supernatural abilities, and spell-like abilities while raging but must resist all spells, even allies'
DR 4/lethal, 5/—; Immune bleeds, critical hits, flanking, paralysis, poison, precision damage, sleep, stunning; Resist extreme endurance (cold)
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft., burrowing (20 feet), earth glide
Melee
• +2 Impact Earth breaker +23/+18/+13 (6d6+15+1d6 acid/x3) and
• Slam x2 (Elemental, Earth, Huge) +16 x2 (2d8+4+1d6 acid/x2)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks earth mastery, rage (17 rounds/day), rage powers (elemental rage [acid], renewed vigor 1d8+7 hp [1/day], superstition +3)
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Statistics
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Str 28, Dex 12, Con 24, Int 6, Wis 24, Cha 11
Base Atk +14; CMB +25 (+31 Bull Rushing, +27 Overrunning); CMD 36 (38 vs. Bull Rush, 38 vs. Overrun)
Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Extra Rage Power, Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Overrun, Power Attack -4/+8
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-5 jump), Appraise +6, Climb +16, Escape Artist -1, Fly -5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +15, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +21, Ride -1, Stealth +4, Swim +7
Languages Terran
SQ fast movement +10, hero points, wild shape
Other Gear +2 Wild Hide armor, +2 Impact Earth breaker, 150 GP
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TRACKED RESOURCES
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Rage (17 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/17
Renewed Vigor 1d8+7 Hp (1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
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Special Abilities
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• Awesome Blow As standard action, damage and move smaller foe 10 ft. +1d6 dam if collide with something.
• Burrowing (20 feet) You have a Burrow speed.
• Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
• Damage Reduction (4/lethal) You have Damage Reduction against non-lethal damage
• Damage Reduction (5/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
• Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
• Earth Glide Burrow through any earth or stone (except metal) as a fish through water.
• Earth Mastery +1 to hit, dam, bull rush, and overrun if both self and foe are on ground, -4 otherwise.
• Elemental Rage (Acid) (Su) Attacks deal +1d6 energy damage while raging.
• Extreme Endurance (Cold) (Ex) At 3rd level, the invulnerable rager is inured to either hot or cold climate effects (choose one) as if using endure elements. In addition, the barbarian gains 1 point of fire or cold resistance for every three levels beyond 3rd. This ability
• Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
• Greater Bull Rush When bull rushing, foe's movement provokes AoO from your allies.
• Immunity to Bleeds You are immune to bleeds.
• Immunity to Critical Hits, Flanking, Paralysis, Poison, Precision Damage, Sleep, Stunning
• Improved Bull Rush You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when bull rushing.
• Improved Overrun You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when overrunning, and foe can't choose to avoid you.
• Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
• Renewed Vigor 1d8+7 Hp (1/day) (Ex) As a standard action while raging, you can heal yourself the listed amount.
• Superstition +3 (Ex) While raging, gain bonus to save vs magic, but must resist all spells, even allies'.
• Tremorsense (60 feet) Sense things and creatures without seeing them.
• Wild Armor can be used in Wild Shape
Summoning circle... Storm Druid 9, elementalist wiz 8, magus 10, anti- paladin 4/ sorc 1/ blue dragon disciple 4. CR. = 12-14 epic encounter.
Bad idea?