making a lunatic showman bbeg (a joker ripoff)

[Ishpumalibu]

Hi, so I'm making a bbeg, I've read about the joker bard from 3.5. I was thinking about making him an alchemist, especially for the feat where you trick someone into taking an object from you. Deceptive exchange i think. But i'm not sure if bard would be better overall, glibness is a boon on it's own. Not to mention the charisma based skills needed. Anyone have advice how to best pull off the mysterious madman?

[Deadmanwalking]

The choices you list are solid. Oracle's also a good option (with Dark Tapestry particularly thematically appropriate and solid mechanically to boot). As is Wizard or Sorcerer if done properly.

It really depends mostly on what exactly you want the character to do and what you want his motivations and thought processes to be what class you want to go with.

[Ishpumalibu]

Well i want him to be able to lie in any situation, be a great disguise artist. Have lots of disposable lackeys, and impossible to track down unless he wants to be. Other than that i think the rest is rp. I'll check out those options. Thanks:)

[Deadmanwalking]

Bard or Oracle are what I'd go with then.

A Ring of Mind Shielding and a Hat of Disguise are also excellent items to aid in the concept you suggest, as is Nondetection if you can figure out a way to get it on his spell list (there are a couple of ways...Arcane Bloodline via Eldritch Heritage leaps to mind). Teleportation or other escape spells are also a must-have, and available to most of the classes suggested (Alchemists can't manage the getaway stuff as well...but do start out with Nondetection on their list).

[andreww]

OK, I thought I would knock up an example of a character that could pull this off. I present to you the Greatest Showman who Ever Lived!

Our showman is a half elf Oracle of Lore, cursed by Calistria to travel the world delivering vengeance on those who have wronged the gods, broken their oaths or just pissed him off. I have avoided too much Paragon Surge cheese and instead opted for the ancient lorekeeper archetype to allow him to poach a number of wizard spells. Obviously he can still surge for any divine spell as he needs them.

Outside of combat he is a monster who can cause untold trouble for those who offend him. He can pretty much get into anywhere with a +24 base Disguise skill and the Disguise Self spell. With +30 Bluff and +29 Diplomacy he can generally talk his way into or out of anywhere and +15 Stealth combined with invisibility means he can sneak where he needs to as well.

Once he is where he needs to be then he can, quite literally, charm the pants off people. Suggestion, Charm Monster and Dominate Person mean he never lacks for friends, whether it is convincing the city watch to harass the PC's for unpaid taxes or bringing the local stone giants down to demolish their town.

Dealing with him as an NPC tends to be vexing as he always seems to be far better informed about what is going on than anyone else. With a rank in every knowledge skill and the ability to add +20 to a check 9 times per day his minimum knowledge skill check is 34. Added to that he has full access to all the divine divination spells including Commune.

He is also next to impossible to deceive. With a starting Sense Motive of +21, Zone of Truth and Detect Lies (both of which he can apply Persistent Spell to) he is a strong advocate of always telling the truth, often helping people to understand when they are even lying to themselves.

In running his carnival of delights as a cover he liberally employs spells such as Minor Image, Pilfering Hand, summoned monsters and Telekinesis.

In combat he has a whole range of options. He never lacks for allies, whether charmed or dominated monsters (giants are subject to dominate as humanoids), animated dead or planar allies (gained from paragon surge for planar ally). Dominating the group martials is also highly effective.

Generally he prefers to remain on the side lines directing his various allies while disrupting the enemy with spells such as Murderous Command, Suggestion, Dominate, Greater Forbid Action, Hold Person or Compassionate Ally. He applies Persistent Spell to many of these. Sometimes instead he will simply Air Walk about the battlefield dropping summoned monsters while Invisible.

If he is feeling in a mood to simply teach people a lesson he will disarm enemies with Pilfering Hand, disrupt them with Telekenesis or ask them searching questions while keeping them in a Zone of Truth or employing Detect Lies. If he is feeling vindictive then he may banish enemies to inconvenient alternate planes with Plane Shift.

If he feels truly threatened then he will simply escape by Plane Shifting himself to the ethereal and then shift back to the material. If he needs to escape melee first then he will use Grace to do so. Freedom of Movement helps ensure he cannot be grappled. Plane Shift sends him 5-500 miles off course but can easily surge for Wind Walk or Word of Recall to get where he needs to be.

The Joker:

Half-Elf Oracle (Ancient Lorekeeper) 12
CN Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20

--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 33, touch 23, flat-footed 24 (+4 armor, +4 shield, +9 Dex, +2 natural, +4 deflection)
hp 99 (12d8+36)
Fort +12, Ref +21, Will +16 (+8 vs. charm and compulsion); +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep; poison; SR 24
Weakness oracle's curses (haunted), light sensitivity

--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft., Air Walk 30'
Melee adamantine morningstar +17/+17/+12 (1d8+8)

Oracle (Ancient Lorekeeper) Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +21):

6th (4/day)—dominate person (DC 27), heal, mass cure moderate wounds, summon monster vi

5th (7/day)—charm monster (DC 26), greater forbid action (DC 26), mass cure light wounds, plane shift (DC 24), spell resistance, summon monster v, telekinesis

4th (8/day)—air walk, blessing of fervor (DC 23), cure critical wounds, discern lies (DC 23), divine power, freedom of movement, greater magic weapon, suggestion (DC 25)

3rd (8/day)—animate dead, borrow fortune, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, invisibility, invisibility purge, magic vestment, paragon surge, wind wall

2nd (8/day)—compassionate ally (DC 23), cure moderate wounds, delay poison, disguise self, enthrall (DC 23), grace, hold person (DC 23), levitate, minor image (DC 21), pilfering hand, resist energy, zone of truth (DC 23)

1st (9/day)—air bubble, compel hostility, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, divine favor, endure elements, liberating command, murderous command (DC 22), obscuring mist, prestidigitation, protection from chaos, protection from evil, protection from good, protection from law, remove fear, sanctuary (DC 20), shield of faith

0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound (DC 19), guidance, light, mage hand, resistance, scrivener's chant, spark (DC 19), stabilize

--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 7, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 28

Base Atk +9; CMB +14; CMD 22

Feats Craft Wondrous Item, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Noble Scion of War, Persistent Spell, Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment)

Traits fast-talker, irrepressible

Skills Bluff +30, Climb +5, Diplomacy +29, Disguise +24, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (history) +16, Knowledge (local) +16, Knowledge (Engineering) +13, Knowledge (nature) +13, Knowledge (nobility) +18, Knowledge (planes) +16, Knowledge (religion) +16, Perception +20, Perform (Showman) +13, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +15, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception

Revelations: Focused Trance, Lore Keeper, Mental Acuity, Sidestep Secret

Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Elven, Infernal

Gear extend metamagic rod (lesser), +1 shadow mithral haramaki, mithral buckler, adamantine morningstar, amulet of natural armour +2, belt of mighty constitution +4, bracelet of bargaining, circlet of persuasion, cloak of resistance +4, eyes of the eagle, headband of alluring charisma +6, ioun stone (dusty rose prism, cracked), ioun stone (pale green prism (cracked, saves), page of spell knowledge (air bubble), page of spell knowledge (comprehend languages), page of spell knowledge (endure elements), page of spell knowledge (obscuring mist), page of spell knowledge (protection from chaos), page of spell knowledge (protection from evil), page of spell knowledge (protection from law)

He has about 5k left available to purchase wands, scrolls or potions.

--------------------
Permanent Spells:
See Invisibility, Tongues

Long Duration Buffs:
Extended Magic Vestment (Armour and Shield)
Extended Delay Poison

If he suspects combat might be imminent he will cast as many of the following as he has time for:

Freedom of Movement, Invisibility, Air Walk, Shield of Faith, Spell Resistance, Divine Power and Greater Magic Weapon. They are included in his stat block. If he has a lot of allies with him he casts Blessing of Fervour on as many as he can.

[Ishpumalibu]

This is very cool, a whole different approach i hadn't even considered. Thanks so much. This will be a blast for me and the players. :)

[andreww]

You are welcome to use him however be aware that I have cocked up his spells known a bit. He should have 1 fewer spell known at each level. I suggest removing liberating command (get it back with a page), hold person, animate dead (he can surge for it out of combat), greater magic weapon (he rarely if ever uses a weapon and can surge for it), summon monster V (he has VI) and Heal. I might also be inclined to swap Suggestion for Non Detection for his mystery spell from lorekeeper.

[Ishpumalibu]

Oh, good to know, since he's going to be the main recurring villain, i don't mind him having a little fudge in there, but at the same time it probably isn't necessary. :)

[andreww]

If you want an interesting alternate version then switch him to the
Lunar Mystery

Change his revelations to:

Prophetic Armour, this is effectively the same as Sidestep Secret
Form of the Beast, some handy shapeshifting abilities here which add a trickster aspect
Primal Companion, a full strength animal companion
Touch of the Moon (see below)

You lose out on the Knowledge skill aspect of the character and lose 12 skill points as he loses 2 points of inherent Int. You also lose Charisma to knowledge checks. What you gain however is quite exceptional for this character.

Touch of the Moon: If you cast inflict spells (and you should switch to them) then anyone who takes damage from such a spell must make a Will save with a DC of 10+half oracle level +Charisma modifier, in his case DC25. Anyone who fails is Confused for a number of rounds equal to the level of the spell used. Note that it is anyone who takes damage, so if they save against the inflict and take half damage they still have to save against the confusion.

Pretty great as is but then we look at the generally mediocre Mass Cause Light Wounds and realise that this now acts like a 5 round duration high DC selective confusion spell. It has the potential to be incredibly potent and utterly hilarious although your players may come to hate you.

[Ishpumalibu]

That's cool, but i like the original one more, he just fits better imo.