GM reference thread for Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth.
Subscribers should have their PDF's now.
At first glance it definitely looks cool though I will be interested to see how much damage players are putting out at 15-18th level and 7th-9th tier. My guess is enemy HP will not stack up, even to mild damage dealers.
I still don't have my pdf. :(
Meh, give everything a few hundred more HP as needed. Easy fix.
It is a fine start!
Yeah, I wasn't too impressed with Baphomet as written. I'll have to re-write all the encounters, anyway, so we'll see how it goes in half a year or so, when this module will come up.
Idk, his HP is fine for a creature of his level. It's his abilities that are going to really make the fight. Time stop, summons, unhallow, then lead with a baleful polymorph. Quickened GDM in between attacks. He has a good chance of going first in initiative (though there are certain powerful builds that can beat him), and he's not alone.
I think he'll make a good final fight for the players honestly.
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For those of us without the pdf for the rest of the month, care to share?
Here you go:
BAPHOMET CR 27
XP 3,276,800
CE Large outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +23; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect law, see in darkness, true seeing; Perception +53
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 38), unholy aura (DC 30)
DEFENSE
AC 45, touch 34, flat-footed 45 (+4 deflection, +11 Dex,
+11 natural, +10 profane, –1 size)
hp 643 (33d10+462)
Fort +36, Ref +26, Will +31
Defensive Abilities Abyssal resurrection, freedom of movement,
supernatural cunning; DR 20/cold iron, epic, and good;
Immune ability damage, ability drain, charm and compulsion
effects, death effects, electricity, energy drain, fire, maze,
petrification, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30; SR 38
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee Aizerghaul +52/+47/+42/+37 (2d8+28/19–20/×3), gore
+40 (2d8+6 plus 2d6 fire plus burn), bite +40 (1d8+6)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with glaive)
Special Attacks burn (4d6 fire, DC 40), glaive mastery, powerful
charge (gore, 4d8+19 plus 2d6 fire and burn), scroll use
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 27th)
Constant—detect good, detect law, freedom of movement,
speak with animals, true seeing, unholy aura (DC 30)
At will—astral projection, baleful polymorph (DC 27),
blasphemy (DC 29), desecrate, dominate person (DC 27),
greater dispel magic, greater teleport, telekinesis (DC 27),
shapechange, unhallow, unholy blight (DC 26)
3/day—quickened greater dispel magic, maze, summon
demons, summon minotaurs, symbol of persuasion (DC 28)
1/day—imprisonment (DC 31), mass charm monster (DC 30),
time stop
STATISTICS
Str 36, Dex 32, Con 38, Int 37, Wis 29, Cha 35
Base Atk +33; CMB +47 (+51 bull rush); CMD 82 (84 vs. bull rush)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and
Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Critical Focus, Greater Bull Rush,
Greater Weapon Focus (glaive), Greater Weapon Specialization
(glaive), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (glaive),
Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability
(greater dispel magic), Scribe Scroll, Staggering Critical,
Weapon Focus (glaive), Weapon Specialization (glaive)
Skills Acrobatics +44, Bluff +48, Diplomacy +48, Fly +49,
Handle Animal +45, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana) +49,
Knowledge (dungeoneering) +46, Knowledge (geography) +46,
Knowledge (history) +46, Knowledge (nobility) +46, Knowledge
(planes) +49, Knowledge (religion) +49, Linguistics +46,
Perception +53, Sense Motive +45, Spellcraft +49, Stealth +43,
Use Magic Device +45; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages all languages; speak with animals; telepathy 300 ft.
SQ change shape (any animal, magical beast, or minotaur;
greater polymorph), infernal brand, language mastery
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary (unique)
Treasure triple (Aizerghaul, 2d6 scrolls, other treasure)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Aizerghaul Aizerghaul (Abyssal for ”Labyrinth’s Final Edge”)
is a uniquely shaped glaive, the head of which consists of
a double blade akin to a crescent moon. This blade is made
of ivory, but is razor sharp and as hard as adamantine (and
possesses all the qualities of that material). It is a +5 lawful outsider-bane unholy wounding glaive capable of inflicting
particularly horrible and painful wounds on good-aligned
targets and devils alike. Such a creature must succeed at a
DC 38 Fortitude save each time it’s wounded by Aizerghaul
or be sickened with pain for as long as the damage caused
by the wound persists. Whether the save succeeds or
fails, these wounds don’t heal naturally and resist magical
healing. A character attempting to heal these wounds must
succeed at a DC 32 caster level check or the healing has no
effect on the injured creature.
Glaive Mastery (Ex) Baphomet is exceptionally skilled at
fighting with a glaive. He is treated as a 20th-level fighter for
the purposes of fulfilling any feat prerequisites, such as that
for Weapon Specialization.
Infernal Brand (Su) The mark of Asmodeus is branded on
Baphomet’s brow, yet this is no mark of fealty or servitude.
Rather, Baphomet has claimed the pentagram—a remnant of
the time he spend as the archdevil’s prisoner—and now draws
power from it. The brand grants him his devil-like abilities
of fire immunity and see in darkness. In addition, all devils
and worshipers of devils take a –2 penalty on saving throws
against Baphomet’s special attacks and spell-like abilities.
He gains a +4 bonus on caster level checks to penetrate
a devil’s spell resistance, and automatically penetrates a
devil’s damage reduction with his glaive and natural attacks.
Language Mastery (Ex) Baphomet can speak, read, and
understand all languages.
Scroll Use (Ex) Baphomet can cast spells from any scroll as if
he possessed the spell on a spell list. Spells he casts from
scrolls always resolve at caster level 27th.
Summon Minotaurs (Sp) Baphomet can summon half-fiend
minotaurs, labyrinth minotaurs (see page 90), and mythic
minotaurs as if casting a summon monster spell. He can
summon eight half-fiend minotaurs three times per day, and
four mythic minotaurs or one labyrinth minotaur once per
day. This ability functions as a swift action, but otherwise
works like the summon universal monster rule with 100%
chance of success and counts as a 9th-level spell effect.
Supernatural Cunning (Su) Baphomet is never caught flatfooted
and gains a +8 bonus on initiative checks. In addition,
he’s immune to maze spells and can never become lost. He
always knows the shortest, most direct route through any
maze. After spending 1 minute in any maze, he understands
its entire layout implicitly and can teleport to any location
using his greater teleport spell-like ability.
Idk, his HP is fine for a creature of his level. It's his abilities that are going to really make the fight. Time stop, summons, unhallow, then lead with a baleful polymorph. Quickened GDM in between attacks. He has a good chance of going first in initiative (though there are certain powerful builds that can beat him), and he's not alone.
I think he'll make a good final fight for the players honestly.
His AC is 45, which seems like a lot but most characters that care about his AC will have in the neighborhood of a +40 to attack (being conservative here, it's possible to have MUCH more, especially for a Paladin) and potentially several ranks of Precision, meaning all of their attacks are that high. And his 643 HP seem high until you realize just how much damage even moderately built melees can do in a round.
His biggest defense is going to be flight and the Time Stop which lets him summon a bunch of Balors, but if he wants to last more than a few rounds he is going to need some better protection. He's also completely foiled in melee by a single spellcaster tossing a heightened persistent Grease, causing him to drop his weapon. A spellcaster at that level will have DC's near the 40's so a +26 reflex save is not that high.
He is not a pushover, but for a Demon Lord he isn't overly impressive either. He's not even Mythic, which I find kinda absurd. If the whole point of this campaign was to develop an elixer to grant mythic power to Demons, you would think the leaders of the Demons would probably have drank this elixer.....
In their home realms they're considered Mythic Tier 10, aren't they? Which doesn't appear to be figured into their stats if you're actually fighting him on his home plane.
Is this ever stated anywhere?
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In their home realms they're considered Mythic Tier 10, aren't they? Which doesn't appear to be figured into their stats if you're actually fighting him on his home plane.Is this ever stated anywhere?
It is in Bestiary 4 under the Demon Lords.
Demon lords’ realms range in size, but even the smallest
are as large as a continent, and the greatest are larger
than some planets. The realms’ environments, themes,
and traits are as unique as the demon lords themselves,
presenting unusual challenges and dangers to creatures
trying to explore them. Yet despite the close connection a
demon lord has to its realm, it does not exert total control
over the realm, and powerful adventurers can infiltrate
such realms and accomplish goals without arousing the
lord’s anger—if they’re careful.
A demon lord gains the following additional powers
while in its realm (the statistics presented on the following
pages do not include these abilities):
-Mythic: A demon lord functions as a 10th mythic rank
creature, including the mythic power ability (10/day,
surge +1d12). It may expend uses of mythic power to use
the mythic versions of any spell-like ability denoted with
an asterisk (*) just as if the ability were a mythic spell.
-Use of the following spell-like abilities at will—demand,
discern location, fabricate, major creation, and polymorph
any object (when used on objects or creatures that are
native to the realm, the polymorph duration factor
increases by 6).
-Use of the following spell-like abilities once per
day—binding, miracle (limited to physical effects that
manipulate the realm or to effects that are relevant to
the demon lord’s areas of concern)
-Heightened Awareness (Ex): A demon lord gains a +10
insight bonus on Perception checks and Initiative checks.
In their home realms they're considered Mythic Tier 10, aren't they? Which doesn't appear to be figured into their stats if you're actually fighting him on his home plane.Is this ever stated anywhere?It is in Bestiary 4 under the Demon Lords.
** spoiler omitted **
That clears it up. Yeah, if Baphomet is on his home plane he should be MUCH harder to defeat. Those abilities don't appear to be factored into his stats so I will have to work up a stat block that includes them if the party wishes to fight him.
Lochar is right. If he is in his abyssal realm, he has 10 mythic tiers (10 uses per day, surge +1d12, his sp-like abilities are the mythic version), the Heightened Awareness quality (+10 to initiative and perception), and additional sp-like abilities.
EDIT: Baphomet doesn't get the benefits of the mythic subtype, so no additional hp's, mythic feats and increased scores.
These are explained at the end of Bestiary 4 and in the bestiary section of "The Worldwound Incursion".
On a quick glance over the statblock, I found two errors:
- He is missing the standard demon lord regeneration (30 mythic or deific). Completely useless against mythic PCs, but missing anyway...
- His flat-footed AC is wrong. Even if he cannot be caught flat-footed, Paizo always includes the AC without Dex and Dodge bonuses to account for effects that blind or otherwise makes the monster lose Dex to AC.
Overall the statblock seems to be pretty standard for a creature of his CR, nothing particularly powerful except for the CL27th Blasphemy sp-like ability at-will, he can wreck a party pretty badly if they fail the save. It will depend on the level (total number of hit dice) the PCs have when facing him. Since PCs are considered extraplanar creatures while on the Abyss, the Blasphemy can banish them to the material plane if they fail the save at -4 (Baphy is on his home plane).
He is very dependant on his weapon to deal damage appropriately. Even worse, since it is a reach weapon, once a character gets close, he cannot attack with the weapon anymore. A 5' step doesn't help, due to the way reach weapons work on larger creatures (10 ft. of his 20'). I expected the Glaive Mastery to include some ability to "shorten" the saft on the weapon, so he could attack adjacent enemies. Also, an ability to recall the weapon to his hands in case he is disarmed would be very useful (Treerazer can do it with blackaxe).
Some defensive abilites like those the mythic minotaurs have inside a lair would be nice, too.
After seeing the statblock, I'm pretty sure I will have to rework him to suit my needs, using various ideas I have.
Thanks for the information, Aldarionn!
Sorry, yeah they are ranks, but what gives all the benefits is acquiring the mythic subtype. Demon lords don't get it. They have uses per day of mythic power, the surge ability and can empower their sp-like abilities. That's it.
I remember James Jacobs confirmed this, but right now I cannot tell you on what thread.
Only think I'm genuinely surprised about is that he can't turn any of his spells into Mythic versions of them. Spell-like abilities marked with an asterisk can turn that spell into a Mythic version of them. I'll probably change that if I run him, not for difficulty sake, but for logic's sake.
Yeah I'm likely to give him the Mythic Subtype anyway, otherwise he will probably be a bit of a pushover for characters of that level. I also agree that an ability to recall his weapon to his hand, and to shorten the reach on his Glaive should be included in Glaive Mastery.
If you re-work him let me know what you come up with. I'd like to see your take on it.
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Sorry, yeah they are ranks, but what gives all the benefits is acquiring the mythic subtype. Demon lords don't get it. They have uses per day of mythic power, the surge ability and can empower their sp-like abilities. That's it.
I remember James Jacobs confirmed this, but right now I cannot tell you on what thread.
When James pokes his head back in this thread, could he please confirm this if you can't find the previous thread, Scorpion?
I assume labyrinth minotaurs are statted out here, or else I'm just missing where on the SRD they are.
--Edit
Nevermind, I see where it says see page 90.
Interesting that Baphomet has both Summon Minotaurs AND Summon Demons. That's going to be a lot of extra enemies he can throw at you.
I found her method of chastising the PC's a bit petty for a LG goddess of justice, to be honest.
I found her method of chastising the PC's a bit petty for a LG goddess of justice, to be honest.
To be honest though, if a PC is being that much of an ass to mock a god, I'd expect no less.
For mocking, sure. But blasting them if they answer her questions 'wrong' could very easily start the adventure off on the wrong foot.
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It turns out, in the biggest plot reveal in Paizo history, Iomedae is a complete jerkass.
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Well she would be like that since she has been the only deity to be largely involved in the Mendevian Crusade, the other gods are not as involved. You try not being cranky after having to deal with your predessesors death, your home nation falling to darkness, and a tear into the Abyss all at the same time.
Just check the demon lords stats in the other volumes, they are not given thier mythic stats either. So I believe that all their spell like abilities are treated as mythic in thier domain. Though he is missing regeneration.
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Time Stop, Mythic.
Augmented (10th): If you expend three uses of mythic power, the duration increases to 1 hour per level of apparent time. You and other affected creatures gain no benefit from rest or sleep while the spell is active.
I'd be impressed to think about what Baphomet can do with 27 hours to f~&* with the party, beyond a customized unhallow on top of them.
While you might not gain the benefits or rest or sleep, would you regain the use of 1/day or 3/day SLA's?
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Time Stop, Mythic.
Augmented (10th): If you expend three uses of mythic power, the duration increases to 1 hour per level of apparent time. You and other affected creatures gain no benefit from rest or sleep while the spell is active.
I'd be impressed to think about what Baphomet can do with 27 hours to f&~~ with the party, beyond a customized unhallow on top of them.
While you might not gain the benefits or rest or sleep, would you regain the use of 1/day or 3/day SLA's?
Well considering a spell/effect must have a duration longer than the duration of Time Stop to affect creatures locked in normal time, it won't do him much good to use Mythic Time Stop on just himself other than to run the hell away, and he can do that just as effectively as with regular Time Stop. He could heal himself I suppose, if he had a bunch of scrolls of Heal, but again he could just do that with normal Time Stop.
What he COULD do is cast Mythic Time Stop on himself and any members of the party he would like to isolate from the group, then absolutely wail on them for up to 27 hours since there does not seem to be a save for the spell. Pick the healer and the squishy caster, then tear them to shreds before summoning a trio of Balors and absolutely trashing the other two party members.
As for your other question, I would rule no. I believe the intent is for a creature to have to rest before it regains any of its per-day abilities including SLA's.
I think a major restriction people forget about Time Stop (even the mythic one) is that you can't dismiss it at will.
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Dismissal at will is not necessary. He casts Mythic Time Stop for 3 MP and includes himself and two members of the party. THEY can't dismiss it either so he spends any time up to and including 27 hours horribly murdering the two he chose, then spends the remainder of the time (except the last three rounds which he uses to summon a trio of Balors) quietly contemplating how hilariously screwed the other two are. The time runs out and he murders the other two. Pretty simple.
As tactical as that is, it's not really fun for the other players.
"Alright, Baphomet is casting Time Stop. So you two, roll initiative. The rest of you, go play Xbox or something."
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As tactical as that is, it's not really fun for the other players.
"Alright, Baphomet is casting Time Stop. So you two, roll initiative. The rest of you, go play Xbox or something."
Well, I think the point is that the players really should not try to fight Baphomet at this point in the campaign, and when the Demon Lord appears he is straight up looking to kill them by whatever means possible, not just make them leave. They killed his daughter, foiled his plans and slighted him in his own house which should put them squarely on his $%!7 list.
Since Paizo seems to forget sections of their own rules when stating encounters/forming tactics (In this case that Baphomet is Mythic Rank 10 in his own realm and knows the Mythic version of all of his SLA's), it's up to the DM to adjust accordingly. If my players decide they want to face a Demon Lord, I am not going to pull a single punch, and they are going to face him in all of his terrifying glory regardless of if it's fun for them or not.
I WILL give them a chance to escape, and if they choose to stay I will even give them a second chance as long as they have not all used all of their Mythic Power. When I pull two party members into an Augmented Mythic Time Stop I will pull the Paladin and the Cleric together, leaving the Warpriest and the Wizard outside. This means both groups of two have a character with the Wild Arcana (or divine equivalent) ability to spend a Mythic Point and just Planeshift the hell out of there once they realize their error. If they still choose to fight, they can TPK at that point.
Why it is always a trio of balors? Why do Vrolikai never get any love?
Vrolikai have a lower attack bonus, and at this level of Mythic play every point counts. They do have some nice abilities, but both of them are likely to die in conflict with Mythic PC's unless Baphomet just murders them, and when Balors die they explode for extra damage which helps.
Actually, I think saying that you can pull opponents into a mythic time stop without them even having a save is pretty much BS. And if Baphomet pulls in the wrong ones... well, bye-bye, Baphy.
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Actually, I think saying that you can pull opponents into a mythic time stop without them even having a save is pretty much BS. And if Baphomet pulls in the wrong ones... well, bye-bye, Baphy.
By the RAW that is exactly how it works, and any Mythic character capable of casting Mythic Time Stop can do so. It only gets crazy when they augment it, which requires 10th tier, but your run-of-the-mill Wizard that takes Mythic Spellcasting can do it for 1d4+1 rounds at 17th level.
Mythic play is absurd in the extreme. Some abilities are beyond crazy, and the Mythic Time Stop trap is actually kind tame compared to the Mythic Feather Fall Nuke or Mythic Vital Strike Shenanigans. Keep in mind that players can do all of this themselves, so if they are facing a BBEG at 10th tier with a bunch of minions, the Wizard can Time Stop the entire party and either pull all of the minions in with them for easy slaughter away from their master, or pull the BBEG in alone and there is nothing he can do to stop it. The only thing that makes it worse here is that a Demon Lord can spend 27 hours waiting for Mythic Time Stop to end and not give a damn about not having any rest.
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Sure, they can have a save.
Will save DC 31. Pray that you don't strand someone alone in there with him.
No, there is no save. Time Stop does not have a save, and the augmented version simply mentions "Creatures" not "Allies" meaning it works on any creature you designate. Nowhere in the augmented version does it list a save, so by the RAW Mythic Time Stop does not allow one. If you want to ADD a save you can, but that would be a house rule, not RAW which is an important distinction to some people.
No, there is no save. Time Stop does not have a save, and the augmented version simply mentions "Creatures" not "Allies" meaning it works on any creature you designate. Nowhere in the augmented version does it list a save, so by the RAW Mythic Time Stop does not allow one. If you want to ADD a save you can, but that would be a house rule, not RAW which is an important distinction to some people.Sure, they can have a save.
Will save DC 31. Pray that you don't strand someone alone in there with him.
Look, man, I really think Paizo simply edited badly there. It has happened before, it will happen again. But, yes, by RAW it has no save. Which is ridiculous. DC 31 Will, btw, is trivial at that level.
Oh I don't disagree with you there. They probably didn't even think to add a save when they wrote the augmented version because they probably didn't even conceive of the tactic of using it to split enemies for easy murder. Then again, a lot of the Mythic things that are available are probably somewhat ill conceived considering how badly they can be broken without even trying.
I do find it somewhat amusing though that you are on the opposite side of this one considering your usual position of "These AP's are never hard enough, and I have to alter them to be harder for my group of 6 very experienced players." I tend to be right there with you. In this case one impossible to resist ability basically makes this optional final encounter extremely difficult. You should be happy!! ;-)
Actually, it would be lethal. Because assuming any Demon Lord has at least six Mythic Points, six Mythic Time Stops would be viable to snag one character at a time, kill him or her, and then move on to the next. And considering that the Demon Lord is in there for what is basically a day... wouldn't Mythic points just regenerate? So the Demon Lord could do this an infinite number of times really.
Admittedly, it would be per round. But even then the Lord could just move a distance from the PCs, Greater Teleport in, use a Swift Action for the Mythic Time Stop, snag another character... in essence, destroying the party without any significant effort. All the players see is one of their companions dying a round. And each round the Lord shows up and then vanishes... and another person is dead.
No doubt this is why people don't fight Gods. ;)
Oh I don't disagree with you there. They probably didn't even think to add a save when they wrote the augmented version because they probably didn't even conceive of the tactic of using it to split enemies for easy murder. Then again, a lot of the Mythic things that are available are probably somewhat ill conceived considering how badly they can be broken without even trying.
I do find it somewhat amusing though that you are on the opposite side of this one considering your usual position of "These AP's are never hard enough, and I have to alter them to be harder for my group of 6 very experienced players." I tend to be right there with you. In this case one impossible to resist ability basically makes this optional final encounter extremely difficult. You should be happy!! ;-)
It's way too swingy for me, which is my usual problem in that I dislike rocket tag scenarios. If we go by this model, it's a simple question of whom wins initiative. Hell, you could just as easily say that the players ready an action to act when Baphomet arrives and they automatically "win initiative" that way.
But ultimately, it's the systems fault for devolving into rocket tag. One would think that long drawn out battles would happen the higher the level of play is, but nooo...
It doesn't exactly work like that. Time Stop is his 1/day ability, and while he can expend 3 MP to cast it as an Augmented Mythic Time Stop, he does not have Wild Arcana or any other ability that would allow him to spend MP to cast it again.
I suppose an argument could be made that since Mythic Augmented Time Stop lasts 27 hours he could regenerate it along with his MP after 24 hours since he does not need rest/sleep, only time for his abilities to regenerate but that might be going a little far. Then again as long as we are breaking the game here I suppose it won't hurt.
Except it's 27 hours in the Mythic Time Stop. Surely that's more than enough time to "recharge" his spells per day.
But a Demon Lord does not need rest or sleep. His abilities just reset after 24 hours.