Need a Build for a BBEG Concept

[EntrerisShadow]

So I have a homebrew campaign with two BBEG's, each one leading a side in a brutal civil war that has essentially served as a cover for a personal vendetta against one another. The PC's will essentially be given a chance to choose sides so they can eliminate one more easily or take the high road and have a much more uphill battle in returning peace to the land.

The first was easy. He was a repurposed PC I'd been fond of and wanted to take further - a vampiric Enchanter Wizard. An affably evil Decadent Noble, hands-off sort. He got where he was through bribery and trickery, and true to the nature of an Enchanter, prefers not to get his hands dirty - using lackeys and minions to do his bidding.

As a counterpart to that, I drafted the other BBEG as a hands-on heavily-armored former general wielding a vicious axe. He's huge, menacing, and a tactical genius. I had initially drafted this character as a fighter, but then it hit me that if I have two BBEG's facing against one another, there's a serious power discrepancy when facing a martial against a caster - in particular, one who specializes in attacking his weakest save.

So the typical tactically-minded martial suspects would be out - Fighter, Cavalier, and of course Paladin is eliminated on alignment grounds. I'm looking at a 12th level build for a heavily-armored martial with decent skill points and some sort of protection against mind-control. I'm not necessarily married to the idea of a full-BAB class, but he definitely has to be able to go toe-to-toe in melee combat.

So, good posters of the boards, any suggestions?

[master_marshmallow]

What sources can I use? Am I working with NPC Heroic array as my gut tells me I should, or should I be using the same stat generation method that his antithesis used? What kind of gear can I have? Should/can gear be an integral part of this character? What kind of alignment is this guy gonna have? Are we looking at a LE vs CE, a LG vs CE, CN vs LE, such things may change his entire demeanor and thus build. Do you have a preference on race? Is the other one actually a Vampire? That tips the scale significantly.

[Desidero]

I'm probably going to get flack for this, but I feel like the classic route would be to give him a werewolf vibe. Maybe like a pouncing Armored Hulk Barbarian kinda dealio with tooth and claw to supplement his axe.

[EntrerisShadow]

master_marshmallow wrote:

What sources can I use? Am I working with NPC Heroic array as my gut tells me I should, or should I be using the same stat generation method that his antithesis used? What kind of gear can I have? Should/can gear be an integral part of this character? What kind of alignment is this guy gonna have? Are we looking at a LE vs CE, a LG vs CE, CN vs LE, such things may change his entire demeanor and thus build. Do you have a preference on race? Is the other one actually a Vampire? That tips the scale significantly.

Sorry, I should've been a bit more specific.

The array I wasn't too worried about. I typically do a straight 25-point buy with PC-level WBL - but the concept stays the same with slightly higher numbers either way. His alignment is LE (perhaps NE). As for race, the one thing I would really like is for him to be a mortal of some variety. (So no demons, undead, etc.)

[EntrerisShadow]

Desidero wrote:

I'm probably going to get flack for this, but I feel like the classic route would be to give him a werewolf vibe. Maybe like a pouncing Armored Hulk Barbarian kinda dealio with tooth and claw to supplement his axe.

Ooh, armored hulk is one I was unaware of. It seems to have everything I need - including removing some of the more unnecessary Barbarian abilities and providing the flavor I want. Now the only question is how to shore up that Will save . . .

[master_marshmallow]

Superstitious?

[Bobo D]

throw in steel soul/iron will dwarf for godly will saves. I mean, this is the kind of guy who would pick a fight with an enchanter right?

[andreww]

Anti-Paladin, Inquisitor, Magus, Oracle, Cleric? Any of them can happily hang around in melee and potentially have significant defences.

Of course you could just give him a clear spindle ioun stone in a wayfinder and negate many of the enchantment based options.

[Douglas Muir 406]

+1 to the clear spindle ioun stone, or some similar enchantment-breaking device. Of course, this then becomes his weak spot if someone can steal or break the item.

A magus is a glass cannon; fantastic amounts of damage, relatively fragile. Good Will saves! Lots of bookkeeping, though.

If you want to keep it simple, an Armored Hulk barbarian with a 12 Wis, Superstition, Iron Will, and the Human favored class variant (add 1/3 per level to your superstition bonus) would have a Will save of +4 barb +1 Wis +5 superstition +2 Iron Will +4 favored class = +16. Throw in a +2 Cloak of Protection (pretty trivial for a character his level) and now it's at +18. That means even the enchanter's most powerful spells have less than an even chance of affecting him. And he's only spent one feat, really -- Superstition is such a great power that almost everyone takes it anyway, and if you do then the Human favored class is almost a no-brainer.

Doug M.

[Douglas Muir 406]

And then throw in the Eater of Magic barbarian rage power (reroll a failed save against any spell or SLA once/rage). That should do it.

If you really want to go crazy, toss in the Clear Mind power (reroll a failed Will save once/rage) and/or the Greater Iron Will on top of that (reroll a failed Will save once/day). That gives him two saves at +18 even if he isn't raging, and up to four (!) saves if he is. But honestly, it seems like overkill.

If you're comfortable handing out the Savage Intuition rage power (normally only available to "wereboars, wereboar-kin and those who associate with these creatures"), that one dovetails nicely... even with surprise, he rages the instant you start attacking him. So he's always got Eater of Magic (and any other rage powers) working in his defense.

Doug M.

[Corvino]

Another way to shore up saves is to go Half-Orc and take the Sacred Tattoo alternate racial for +1 luck bonus to saves. If you're not averse to giving him traits then stick Fate's Favored on him to upgrade Sacred Tattoo's bonus to +2 on all saves!