Okay so I am lazy and did not get this out there until to late but if anyone has build out there that can work for this I would be much obliged. The boards going down did not help with this.
My party is in the mi-go tunnels and will soon be encountering the Skum Cleric. I am seeking to turn this into CR 13 with a highly optimized caster cleric. I have a Halfling caviler that does 60 damage or so on normal charge and about 110 when using a challenge. A Gnomish blaster sorc with a rod of Maximize and Dazing (party funded) with quite high spell saves (fireball is 22). Next is the saurian druid that is quite competent and versatile but is merely very good at many things instead of great or outstanding at one thing like the first two. His companion is dino with mid damage and to hit but AC of 41 and crazy good saves. Then there is cleric with the travel and good domains who plays like a god wizard who’s favorite tactic finding the way to short circuit an entire encounter. He used all of his Dimensional hop and wall of stone to bypass the last one but still has 2 breath of life, a teleport, 2 dim doors, and wall of stone left. He also has most of his lower level spells and is adept at battlefield control and buffs. Lastly I have rogue who gets greater invis from the sorc (sometimes) and uses a bow. He also had cohort that is monster grappler. He is pure DPS and by far the least effective character in the party. He is by no means bad and is not unhappy since a ranged rogue was a challenge to the best min/maxer in that party. We rolled stats and they are all stupid luck and have around 40 point buy (yeah, I messed that up).
They utterly eat a CR 10 encounter and often do not even use single spell to do so and few charges from wand cleans up any damage. APL +2 is usually akin to APL encounter for them. I want a decent shot at making them use one (or both) breath of life spells with this encounter. After this the will have another encounter where I am combining G4 G5 and G6 into one encounter, a few migo that will be torn through like tissue paper and then a CR 14-15 with the dark young.
For this encounter I am giving myself and XP budget of 30,000. 9600 goes to the cleric but I would not mind upping that to 12800. Another 16000 goes to 10 Skum mooks that grapple quite well. That leave 4400 to add something else. I will drop 2 mooks if the cleric either gains a level or full WBL. I would only need to 400 exp to the total budget to get either two CR7s or one CR 9 and I think some sort of melee brute(s) would be nice to add to the encounter.
The caster will have 1 + number of rounds it takes the party to defeat two dimensional shambles and 4 skum mooks + exploration. I figure that will be 3-5 rounds at the most because the druid/ rogues perception will here the casting as soon as the fight ends. The druid might even hear during the fight with but that will be DC 45. Once combat ends the -20 penalty goes away and that is auto for the druid and like a 3 for the rogue.
The cleric to feel like a caster and to not engage in melee unless forced. If I bump his level by one I think a blade barrier plus grappling mooks could be quite a shock to the system. I need him to cast spells that will either do massive damage, save or suck hard in this fight, or leave a condition that will be difficult to remove. Once the fight begins he will have at most 4 turns. I must be E and most likely CE but I do not mind changing his god or domains around. I would like to avoid summons on an already crowded board.
What melee brute(s) should I use?
What is a good cleric build to go with?
What should he cast in his 3-5 buff up rounds?
What should he cast in combat?
mooks:
Skum Sentry CR 5
XP 1,600
Male skum Fighter 2 (Unarmed Fighter), Barbarian 1
CE Medium monstrous humanoid (aquatic)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 21 [19], touch 15[13], flat-footed 18[16] (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +2 natural, Shield +2) [-2 rage]
hp 79[89] max (4d10+1d12+27) [+10 rage]
Fort +10[12], Ref +6, Will +3
Resist cold 10
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 50 ft.
Melee bite +10 [12] (1d6+5[7]), 2 claws +10 [12] (1d4+5[7])
Ranged
Special Attacks Grapple + 12 [14], Rage (9 rounds), Harsh training
TACTICS
Grappling takes first priority and should always be done with a partner. Only full attack if a foe is already grappled by a pair of allies. Rage and use Snapping turtle stance of the first round. In the unlikely even that something misses with a melee attack attempt a grapple with a -2 as and immediate action.
Fight to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 16, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 4
Base Atk +5; CMB +10[12] (+12[14] Grapple); CMD 23[25] (grapple 25[27]) +2/4 with adj ally
Feats Coordinated Defence Multiattack, Improved unarmed strike, Snapping Turtle, Snapping turtle clutch, Improved Grapple, Brutal Grappler
Skills Intimidate Swim +20 Perception +8
Languages Aboleth, Abyssal, Common
SQ amphibious,
Gear masterwork Chain shirt
The chuurl is damage machine that may use its tentacles but that would be reserved for the casters in the group. Both drakes have a nice breath weapon while an ice elemental can stagger. Just not sure witch way to go with this.
Cleric
First change I made was to dump physical stats hard to get 17 wis and 12 cha
Realized I can not get blade barrier any way out but add a level anyway to gain the stat bump
New stats Str 11, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17 (+3 inh), Cha 12
Easy for the baddie cleric...he should have access to 5th level spells
Have him pre-buffed with Spell Resistance and/or Spell Imuunity and Air Walk... then have him start throwing out maximised Slay Livings / Boneshatter / Flame Strike / Unholy Smite....
Oh and have him a decent AC too
Or you could go the pain in the ass route and have him start summoning.... Monsters or Spiritual Ally (v.tasty) and then maybe a Chain of Perdition and some other debuffs for good measure?
