So as I am pecking away at the major plot enemies in the campaign I am building I am coming up with builds that are interesting as opposed to broken.
All of the major bosses could be aasimar EKs who will massacre the party, but that isn't very interesting. So, I'm building more for interesting or unique builds instead of power builds. There is one group in the campaign that is comprised of EK Power-Builds, but that is the primary villain group of the story.
Exploration is open-world and uses the following chart from Ultimate Campaign.
d% RESULT
01–50 No encounter
51–60 Hazard
61–100 Monster
This is modified to be this:
d% RESULT [Has encountered a Villain's Minions, and has not gone out of the way to throw off the trail.]01–50 No encounter
51–60 Hazard
61–90 [61-70] Monster
91-100 [71-100] Villain's minions
So when the PCs are in the open world and have not encountered or have conquered a recent villain party they are always hunted by the Primary Villain party.
There are a handful of villain parties in the campaign:
The Elzmaria; Primary Villains. (The Gish party)
Minimum level: 10
Location: Absalom, Absalom
Leader: (NG) Mastro
Aasimar
Fighter 1/Oracle 1/Sorcerer 1/EK 7 (Fighter 1/Oracle 1/Sorcerer 1/EK 17)
Mastro first learned about the Nethysian artifacts after he found one in a temple of the Magic God in a fortress that was inhabited by Troglodites (hinting Master of the Fallen Fortress). Once he realized that they could bring people back from the dead once a month he extrapolated that in the wrong hands these could be extremely dangerous, but worse that the artifacts merge to grant even more magical powers. He knew, from that point, that these artifacts must, at all costs, be gathered and brought to Absalom to be safe from those who would use them for personal gain. He does not wish for other people to be killed, and if they will surrender said artifacts peacefully then they can go on their merry ways, otherwise he will do whatever it takes.
Other members:
Aasimar (LG) (Scion of Humanity)
Paladin 2/Oracle 1/Sorcerer1/EK4/DD2 (Paladin 2/Oracle 1/Sorcerer 1/EK 4/DD 10/HKE 2)
2 others.
The other members of the Elzmaria follow Mastro in his goal. The possibility of the Nethysian artifacts falling into the hands of evil has far too many implications. Furthermore because no one knows what the final form of the artifact is there is no telling how dangerous the artifacts could be or what it will ultimately do!
The Elzmaria:
A group of magi, knights, and dragons who seek to master the secrets of the universe for the betterment of all. Many paladin gishes join this group by its overall mission statement, but there are a great deal who oppose or are in competition with the Elzmaria for various magical items and artifacts. Their greatest competition is the Pathfinder Society, but the two groups keep an easy peace with one another. Mostly the Elzmaria seeks to claim powerful and dangerous items for safe keeping in Absalom.
Maheto's Bane; Secondary Villains. (We are rogue, hear us sne....)
Minimum level 7
Leader: (CN) Obscuro
Ratfolk
Magus Kensai 7 (20)
The leader of Maheto's Bane, he prefers to let people who encounter him escape to tell the tale. Lightning fast beyond the skill of most of his adversaries, but cursed with being neither charismatic, strong, having a high constitution, nor being particularly wise--in other words, he is min-maxed to an extreme, he only has around 60-80 hp at lvl 20, but his AC makes him prohibitively hard to hit without a crit.--
Other members:
2x Ratfolk (Specialize with whips)
Chiaroscuro (CN) and Tenebro (CN)
Ninja 5 (18) and Ninja 5 (18)
The whip wielding duo that are feared by most of the town guard for their lightning quick whips. These two skulk within the city, unlike Deadi and Mouse, but are quite adept at not being seen when they don't want to be.
Ratfolk (Sniper) (Has Burrowing Teeth)
Deadi (CE)
Rogue 7 (20)
Once the PCs have killed some of the gang members Deadi starts trying to pick them off. He uses a heavy crossbow with a pair of snipers goggles. He shoots once when the PCs are not on their guard, and when they start coming his way he uses his burrowing teeth to escape. His tactics make him almost impossible to kill since he will be attacking from beyond their effective range and using stealth to snipe. He works for Obscuro for profit in the prosperous city of Maheto, and all of the gang's upper management (these guys) are wanted with large bounties Dead or Alive mostly because of Deadi's actions in assassinating guards and military leaders who have tried to weed out the gang.
Aasimar (Scion of Ratfolkity) Wererat (actual rat, not dire rat)
Mouse (CG)
Ninja 6 (19) (has Burrowing Teeth, and eventually Aasimar wings, Bite -5 /2x Claw-5/Tail blade/2x Wing-5/2x Blade Boot/2x Blade Boot -5/2x Blade Boot -10)
Finesse rogue who relies on sneak-attack and elemental damage from enchants to kill people. Mostly, he is the gang's sneak and vault breaker. Mouse has a deep seeded loathing for Deadi, and is now stuck with the Maheto's Bane gang partially due to his race and curse, but also due to the actions of their nefarious sniper. He has no desire to kill people unless they force his hand, which has become more common recently.
About Maheto's Bane:
Most of the actual gang-members are Ratfolk, but there are associated gangs that are encompassed by and subservient to Maheto's bane in a similar fashion as the crime lords of Riddleport are to the Warlord. The ratfolk members of the gang tend to have burrowing teeth, but there are also wererats (rat, not dire-rat) who join the gang for self preservation.
Maheto:
There are several Taldori legions stations in Maheto who help the local guard root out the gangs and quell criminal insurrections. The dwarven smiths and miners hire many of their own kind as well as others as guards. Very few ratfolk live out in the open and work above the table in Maheto, but there are a few small communities.