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I need some good advice/guidance to build my NPC enemy before the game I'm running on Friday. Any help you can provide is appreciated.
NEED: A challenging NPC that acts like a living (or undead) Druidic Defiler Assassin). The idea is 3 such villains were sent by the Dread Lords (read undead forces) to slay an ancient enchanted tree. The PCs must slay each of these three "tree-assassins" before they can complete their ritual (the villains need not be co-located - perhaps they are performing their defilement ritual along the nodes of an equilateral triangle around the tree, but perhaps a mile apart from one another.) For a variant: This could mean they must be slayn "at the same time" so the party has to split up! OOH this is interesting. Each is protected by a Mythic Worg or worgs.... Perhaps if not slayn at the same time, they will all re-materialize and continue the profane ritual to slay the tree?
PROBLEM: I have no idea what to build here to be reflective of this story theme? Please help!
BACKGROUND: The PCs must save an old enchanted tree from three druidic defiler assassins who seek to destroy/kill it. They each travel with a Mythic Worg. Party level is 6 (enhanced with boost to ability scores and skils to accommodate Mythic encounters per James Jacob's advice column in "Sword of Valor" AP74).
DOWN N DIRTY: Should I just make up a druid, call it evil, and be done with it? Maybe add an Undead template?
ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE, INCLUDING IDEAS OR THE POSTING OF A PROPOSED STAT BLOCK WRITE UP WOULD MAKE MY DAY!
Warm regards,
Pax
Why not take a few thematic and strategic pages from siabrae and just make your druids focus on earth elementals and earthglide.
I am not an expert on CR and balance, but you could possibly make each druid level 8+, right? Perfect level to make them wildshape into medium earth elementals. The bonuses from that are decent enough (+4 STR, +5 natural armor). Level 10 would be better though if you can swing it (final boss?) since they can go large and take advantage of reach
For strategy, have them focus heavily on earthglide/burrow. Attack hidden from below/behind. Have servants take on the pesky do gooders while creeping up on the tree. Obviously, to keep things fair, the druid would have to surface to kill the tree. Run away if things turn sour. Done well, and you can actually establish a siege situation- the druid would come in with a fresh batch of undead (the shade of the uskwood feat adds animate undead at level 9), they try to sneak in while the party wipes out the skeletons, and the party has to drive him off before he succeeds. The druid then goes off to heal, kills some innocents to make more undead, and then try again. Wash, rince, repeat, force the party to take shifts throughout the night. Eventually, they either kill the bugger, or he kills the tree.
Other things to note- you can arm your elemental form druid with proper weapons and armor. Humanoid shaped elementals can use them. While there is debate about whether you can earthglide with items (I always found the argument odd- it never says you can't, even across a few dozen character options), but you can still burrow if need be.
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There is several druid archetypes that focus on aspect of death, such as Blight Druid.
There is Defoliate spell on druid's list (destroy's foliage and plants). You could maybe set trees to have fixed hp and give PCs several rounds before they manage to weaken or destroy it.
The Undead Form I or something like that spell (wizard/sorcerer) changes caster shape into any medium sized undead like ghoul or zombie. Maybe that is of some use to you.
That's what I came up at the moment.
Adam