Hello,
I have been in the process of creating a campaign for a while now and one of the recurring villains I want to make is actually a duo, but the team will only really see one of them.
First, the little back story I have for them is this:
The gunslinger guy is the face of the team and, as far as most anyone else really knows, is the only one. I don't know if I plan to do just plain gunslinger or add the paladin thingy to it (where they give up some abilities to get a Smite type shot and something else, only making it function as an anti paladin) or something else entirely. Anyway, when he was young his small town was razed by an army from the last war, leaving him an orphan. That kingdom wins the war and he grows up hating it and wants to end it, as he sees it as the wrongful kingdom.
He starts a resistance group that begins attacking small military camps, etc. One of the other members of the resistance attacks a small village of civilians (no military significance) and only a handful of people remain, one of which is a young girl. The gunslinger learns of this, goes off on the other resistance member, killing him where he stands (for obvious reasons). The gunslinger takes in the little girl and raises her, trying to give her a good life (he genuinely cares for her). As she comes of age, it is revealed she has Oracle powers. Specifically of the Stone mystery. Her curse, I figure would be the one where she can't move very fast (although I might play it up to be that she basically needs to be carried everywhere). As she genuinely loves him like a father, her spell/power selections would generally be ones that just aid him or hinder anyone against his plans while being able to remain hidden with powers like Crystal Sight and Earth Glide).
My plan is to have him always be the visible threat when the part encounters him, but she is there too, just underground, casting spells on him to assist or heal as needed. Is this realistic? If I am understanding the rules correctly, at high enough level and with the right feats she could stay under there and see everything that is going on well through any combat they might have, right? If it looks like he is going to lose, she can pull him under and escape.
Does this work? Also, any ideas/tips on making them really formidable (but not nearly unbeatable)?
What hints would you leave or rolls you allow to let the party onto the fact that there might be another person around helping if they don't get it on their own? I worry it will be super obvious, but it always feels that way to the person making it.
Thank you all in advance for any ideas/info you give.
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Fun concept. Two levels in Antipaladin (holy gun) sounds cool mechanically, though in that case you might want to make the Gunslinger a Mysterious Stranger archetype to keep everything Cha-based.
But consider whether it actually suits the character to be an antipaladin. Antipaladins aren't normally bothered by a subordinate killing innocents - nor is he going to genuinely care for an orphan. It's not generally a class for villains with good intentions.
Emphasis on "generally" - you can introduce grey to the antipaladin if you prefer, but keep in mind that many players like to keep the antipaladin and the paladin both straightforward in alignment and might not appreciate facing an antipaladin with redeeming qualities.
Inquisitor might fit as a multiclass option if you're looking for more general divine powers. They generally have more sneaky/subtle abilities than the paladin/antipaladin, which might be handy for the leader of a resistance if he needs to spend a lot of time in enemy territory. Consider the Infiltrator, for example, which lets you disguise your alignment, or the Heretic, which adds Wis to Bluff and Stealth and is difficult to track.
I'm not sure what level you were planning on making these, but keep in mind that Gunslinger 5 is an important level, so you probably don't want to consider adding a second class unless he's at least level 5.
Thank you, Coinshot and Weirdo for your feedback!
I wasn't very clear in my description about the paladin/anti paladin thing. I just meant that I would give him the Holy Gun archtype (only make it more "Unholy" gun) but keep leveling him as Gunslinger. I didn't plan to actually give him anti-paladin levels. I just couldn't recall the archtype name until Weirdo mentioned it.
I will check out Inquisitor tonight and see if it gives me any ideas to add on to the character.
The level plan is for them to first encounter him (in combat) at level 7 and the every few levels after that (presuming the oracle is successful in getting them both away). The campaign would end around level 14 or so is my current plan.
Again, thanks to both of you for your comments/feedback.