Lyrie as a Magus?

[Fu-Man Chu]

My group just killed Ripnugget and Bruthazmus in the landing at D1 before retreating back across the rope bridge to rest when we ended the session last night. The next foray, they are going to face the rest of Nualia's remaining allies.

I had been toying around with the concept of changing Lyrie into a Magus, and I was wondering if anyone else had done that. I did a few searches, but didn't come up with anything. I had been thinking that as it is, she's not any sort of match for any competent group without some melee folks to keep them off of her. And then I really liked her picture in the AE and her mini that shows here with a sword, rather than just a dagger.

Since the main reason Nualia hired Lyrie was for her Thassilonian, arcana and knowledge, I figured that Magus still had access to much of that, plus would make her a more interesting combat encounter.

So, any thoughts?

[Tangent101]

Considering she escaped, maybe I'll remake her into one. It sounds like a good idea and has sound reasoning behind it.

[Mark_Twain007]

I like the idea, it would make that fight more interesting. My Party is at almost the same place right now,they cleared the top level and hod to stop. There are a couple of reasons I might not though. My party is less likely to kill her if she is a coward, though they might just kill her anyway, and there is a wizard, so he could benefit from her spellbook.

[Tangent101]

Still doable if captured. Both Nualia and Lyrie were stripped to their skivvies and tied to the horse before brought back. They escaped when Ripnugget (who was spared after going unconscious) raided Sandpoint to free Nualia and her cohorts (Ripnugget died in the attack after nearly killing the Sheriff). So the PCs got her spellbook and equipment... and she escaped with naught more than a peasant's dress provided to her when in the Sandpoint jail.

The PCs will meet her again. Heh heh heh.

[Skeld]

Fu-Man Chu wrote:

So, any thoughts?

It's been a while since I read Burnt Offerings, but I didn't really get a "Magus" vibe from Lyrie's backstory. I look at Magi as being "warrior mages" and Lyrie strikes me as more nerdy and less warrior-like. Although she's not above stabbing a colleague in the back (literally).

If I were to go back and rebuild her, I'd probably go Wizard (Scroll Scholar) at this point.

-Skeld

[Fu-Man Chu]

So I was playing around with this idea more over the weekend, and I toyed with her as Magus 3 / wizard 1 and the wand wielder arcana. She would lose second level spells, but would make for an interesting encounter with her fighting with the sword while simultaneously being able to use her wand. She still won't last long against a group, but would be memorable as more than just a speed bump.

With the wizard level, she could still have her familiar and her buff spells, as well as her spellbook and scrolls. Thoughts?

[Fu-Man Chu]

Here's how I ended up re-stating Lyrie as a Magus. My players are all very experienced gamers, and min-maxers in addition; that combined with 5-6 PCs meant I buffed up Lyrie quite a bit more.

The encounter was quite memorable for them. They managed to capture her alive and stabilize her in the neg hp, but one PC in particular really hates her and has attempted to kill her twice as a captive (once by throwing her off the bridge connecting Thistletop! The paladin jumped in afterwards and make some incredible swim checks - and burned hero points - to rescue her.)

Spoiler:

Lyrie CR 5
Female Magus 5 / Wizard 1
CE Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +3
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Defense
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AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed (+3 dex, +4 armor, +4 shield)
hp 39 (5d8+1d6 +6 Con + 5 favored class)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +5
Defensive Abilities mage armor, shield spell
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee MW rapier +7 (1d6/ 18-20 & spellstrike)
Melee +1 keen rapier +7 (1d6+1/ 15-20 & spellstrike)
Special Attacks arcane strike (+2 damage), spell combat, spellstrike, arcane pool (6):
Magus Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +15)
2nd (3/day): Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Invisibility

1st (5/day-5) Windy Escape, Burning Hands, Ray of Enfeeblement, Warding Weapon, Shocking Grasp,

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +11)
1(2/day) Shield, Mage Armor
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Scribe Scroll, Combat Casting, Weapon Finesse, Arcane strike (+2 damage), Uncanny concentration, Combat Expertise (Magus bonus feat)
Skills Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge (engineering) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (local) +13, Perception +1, Sense Motive +1, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +5
Languages Common, Elven, Goblin, Osiriani, Thassilonian
SQ arcane bone (cat named Skivver), wand wielder arcana
Combat Gear dagger, MW Rapier, wand of shocking grasp (CL 5, 9 charges), scroll of comprehend languages, scroll of minor image, scroll of see invisibility, scroll of sleep, scroll of whispering wind,
Other Gear cloak of resistance +1, silver comb (25 gp), spring loaded wrist sheath (can ready wand of shocking grasp as swift action), fine silk gown (60 gp), everburning torch, small pouch of artifacts (hair, fingernail clipping, used handerchiefs, and a pearl earring worth 50 gp) stolen from Tusto Kaijitsu, 3 pp, 278 gp
Spellbook Contains all prepared spells plus comprehend languages, detect secret doors, floating disc, identify, locate object, minor image, obscuring mist, see invisibility, sleep, and spider climb.
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Tactics
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Before Combat Before combat starts, Lyrie casts mage armor. If she has sufficient warning, she subsequently casts shield.
During Combat
1st round: Lyrie uses arcane strike, combat expertise and fighting defensively to augment her defenses while using spell combat to cast defensively warding weapon. (-5 attack, +3 AC, +1 damage, +15 concentration)
2nd round: Swift action to spend 1 arcana pool to enhance rapier to +1 keen, cast shocking grasp, and use spellstrike to deliver the attack.
Lyrie uses windy escape against any attacks that successfully hit her. She casts mirror image if she gets hurt even with windy escape. She uses spell recall for windy escape to use defensively. After using up her prepared offensive spells, she switches to using her wand of shocking grasp with spellstike, all the while using the high crit modifier of her keen rapier.
Morale Lyrie is a coward at heart, and when she gets to half her hit points, she attempts to flee to the closest ally for help, using invisibility to help flee. If she believes the PCs have harmed Tsuto, though, her anger takes over and she fights to the death in an attempt to avenge him.