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I need some help building some evil NPCs for a Circus of Shadows.
The boss of the circus is a Half-Fiend Fetchling Shadowcaller Summoner 5. I'm not sure about his eidolon yet but I was going to base it on the Thing From Beyond model: some horrible mass of tentacles and teeth (and tentacles WITH teeth).
A little backstory: the PCs are in a caravan and during their journey they come across a circus set up on the side of the road. Unbeknownst to the group the circus is made up of a gang of psychotic cannibals who use a circus as a ruse to lure in new victims to terrify and kill, packing up and moving on every few days.
I need 13 more NPCs: I'm basing them on the earthbound spirits of Th13rteen Ghosts.
The Firstborn Son is a trickshot archer,the Bound Woman is a contortionist and escape artist, the Withered Lover is a fire-eater (one of the only 2 non-evil characters being forced to work for the circus), the Angry Princess is a knife-swallower, the Pilgrimess is a witch/stage magician, the Jackel, Great Child, Dire Mother and Torso are part of the freak show and the Juggernaut is the strongman. I'm not sure how to cast the Torn Prince, the Hammer and the Broken Heart, though the latter is the other non-evil character. Thoughts as to what these 3 should do?
I know I want the Bound Woman to be a choker with the giant template, the Pilgrimess to be a changeling witch and the Great Child to be a demodand-spawn tiefling, but I'm not sure about the rest. Ideas on what race/class or monster they should be?
I'd like the Torso to be able to take its body apart somehow, kinda like Chopper from One Piece only more gruesome; any thoughts as to how to do that?
Torso could be anything with the Penanggalen template. I couldn't find it in SRD but it's on pg. 216 of bestiary 3. There was a Dungeon adventure from 3.0 where the BBEG was a Penanggalen monk, it was a truly horrifying final encounter. If you don't mind Torso being undead... it doesn't get much more gruesome than the Penanggalen. It's also kinda tricky because when the two parts of a Penanggalen are attached to each other, they don't detect as undead. But at night the head and entrails can detach and fly around.. pretty intense stuff.
So far thats...
Firstborn Son=Human (with young template) archery ranger
Torso=Half-Elf Penanggalen bard
Bound Woman=Giant Choker disguised as human
Withered Lover=Human Oracle of Flame being forced to work for the carnival as a fire-eater and fortune teller (maybe the Ringmaster has her kids hostage or something)
Torn Prince=crazy mutilated Halfing ranger with a lion companion
Angry Princess=??? knife swallower
Pilgrimess=Changeling witch stage magician
Great Child=Demodand-spawn Tiefling in the freakshow.
Dire Mother=???
Hammer=strongman (Half-Giant fighter maybe?)
Jackal=???
Juggernaut=Ogrekin Invulnerable Rager acting as a beast wrestler
Broken Heart=Human chirurgeon/internal alchemist, the Withered Lover's husband being forced to be a doctor
So now I just need to find out what the Angry Princess, Dire Mother and Jackal are. Dire Mother should be something small-sized. Angry Princess... maybe a disguised Evangelist Kyton? Jackal...no clue, something vulnerable to fire. Might homebrew something for him.
CR isnt a major issue: the PCs are meant to flee for now, they'll get the chance to save the family and destroy the circus later. Still, I'd rather not massacre the group here. The Ringleader should be the most powerful thing the group has faced so far: I'm doing this as part of the caravan part of Legacy of Brinewall, along with a heavily modified Hollow's Last Hope in the foothills of the Stoney Mountains and a barghest hunt at Wolf's Ear, modifying the encounters at the castle as appropriate to keep a constant level of challenge. I noticed that there wasn't much in terms of encounters for the caravan, so I'm hoping to make a 500 mile journey more exciting.
I know it sounds like a bit much but my group is starting the AP at level 2 or 3, so I've modified Brinestump Marsh so their 4 by the time its done, and I want them to be 6 by the time they reach the castle.
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I didn't see Thir13en Ghosts, but I'll help any way I can.
The Angry Princess should probably be an Elf Fighter who specializes in throwing daggers. River Rat trait, Quick Draw, Precise Shot, and whatever else you feel like adding. Roleplay her as being very haughty and condescending. Maybe she carries an Elven Curve Blade and "swallows" it for the finale?
Is the Jackal an actual jackal? I'd say Druid wildshaped into a jackal, or perhaps a Gnoll. A Gnoll druid?
A small-sized Dire Mother... I don't know what the Dire Mother was, but I have a fondness for Derro. And as small-sized creatures who are typically insane, lurk in the shadows, and frequently kidnap people, they do make very good villains in any setting that calls for a "creepy" tone.
The Jackal was the ghost of a serial killer in an asylum. He tore at the walls of his cell until he fingers were more like claws, and when he began gnawing through his straight jacket the doctors put a cage around his head. He died when the asylum burned down so he has a fear of fire. Gnoll seems a bit mundane for a freakshow act.
Derro is perfect for the Dire Mother, though. Maybe instead of part of the act she's just the Great Child's caretaker.
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Okay, so something really freaky with two claws and a bite attack. A tengu were-rat? Some sort of tiefling? Can a half-orc do it?
Give it a few levels of ranger-- Natural Weapon Style, and Favored Enemy: Human to emphasize that he's a serial killer. Maybe a level or two of Barbarian to go with his "frothing mad" aesthetic.
You could probably amp up his CR by one in exchange for giving him Pyrophobia. Here's the stats for it. If the chaos starts at night, someone in the party will likely have a torch out (and somebody should have a way to deal fire damage anyway) so this could make a hard fight easier, or "give them an out" to get rid of this guy easily if they figure it out and need to conserve energy. Thirteen monsters in one "dungeon" is quite a session!
A tengu were-rat...
I love it! What would that even LOOK like? And the class suggestions are perfect. Skirmisher ranger/wild rager barbarian. Out of the entire group he's the only one kept bound unless trouble starts, and he's as likely to attack his allies as anything else.
Now I just need to decide between your recomendation or a kyton for the Angry Princess and I can start statting them out. Thanks, guys!