| Douglas Muir 406 |
I have an NPC villain, an 8th level witch, who has just escaped the PCs. For story reasons, the next time they meet he'll have added four levels -- two each of rogue and diabolist. Yes, I know this is suboptimal and yes that is deliberate. Those are the levels he'll get -- that's fixed.
The next time the PCs meet this guy, he's going to be a spymaster type running a network of operatives in a city, with a sideline in conjuring minor devils to do various sorts of nastiness. So I'm looking to build him out in that direction. Here's the current version:
Male human witch (winter witch) 8
NE Medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +4 mage armor, +2 deflection, +2 natural)
hp 52 (8d6+24)
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +11
Resist cold 5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk dagger +5 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged mwk dagger +7 (1d4/19-20)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th, concentration +12)
Constant—endure elements (cold)
Witch Spells Prepared (CL 8th, concentration +12)
4th— ice storm, inflict serious wounds (DC 21), wall of ice (DC21)
3rd—bestow curse, dispel magic (2), vampiric touch
2nd—cure moderate wounds (2), inflict moderate wounds (2) (DC 19)
1st—cure light wounds (2), inflict light wounds (2) (DC 18), mage armor
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, read magic, ray of frost
Patron Winter
Arctic Fox familiar
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Ch 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 17
Feats Combat Casting, Elemental Focus (cold), Greater Elemental
Focus (cold), Greater Spell Penetration, Spell Penetration
Skills Bluff +14, Fly +13, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (history) +15, Knowledge (nature) +15, Knowledge (planes) +15, Spellcraft +15
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Sylvan
SQ cold flesh, hexes (beast of ill-omen, flight, frozen caress, tongues), ice magic, witch’s familiar (arctic fox)
Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds (2), potion of gaseous form
Other Gear masterwork dagger,iron circlet, wand of vampiric touch (26 charges), amulet of natural armor +2, ring of protection +2, cloak of resistance +3, holy symbol of magic unmelting ice (500 gp), noble garb, 240 gp, diamond ring (400 gp)
In the last combat, he flew and used Wall of Ice to divide the PCs and then Ice Storm. He then came in with touch spells (inflict serious wounds, vampiric touch, and curse) boosted with Frozen Caress. Of course this inevitably led to him getting dropped to single hps when a hasted melee PC closed with him, but he was able to escape using his potion of gaseous form.
I think these are okay-but-not-great tactics and would be happy to upgrade. Come the next encounter (probably weeks to months away) I expect the PCs to be 8th-9th level. The witch will be 12th level but with a suboptimal build -- those rogue levels aren't going to be all that helpful -- and casting like a 10th level caster. He should have plenty of minions on hand, including at least half a dozen low level mooks, one 9th level cleric and a couple of minor devils. So it won't be necessary to spend a feat on leadership, and action economy shouldn't be a problem for a round or two until the mooks are all dead.
So, looking for advice as to how to build this out. I don't want to rebuild the character from scratch, but I could swap out a feat or some spells if need be. The rogue levels are basically for story purposes and to give him the skills needed to be a spymaster. I doubt they'll be very useful in combat, but if anyone can think of ways to synergize this, I'm all ears. Right now I'm thinking "hellfire blaster" is the way to go, but I'm very open to suggestions. Well, that and also summoning lots and lots of nasty little zebub devils to sneak around invisibly and spy on people.
Thanks in advance,
Doug M.