I am running an undead hunting campaign and need some ideas for some interesting undead bosses. Mostly what I am looking for is unusual but still effective class and template combinations. I already have an antipaladin/oracle of bones gravekinght, and a vampire oracle of flame. Anyone have any ideas on cool combinations?
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Liches are classic and efficient.
Most undead can have class levels, so not really a problem there.
Ravener aka Dracolich should make for a memorable encounter.
Ecorche are relatively rare and should take most players by surprise since they can take the skin of somebody, go with a caster (Wizard or cleric) for more fun.
Mummies cleric for classic fun adventures.
Zombie Lord...class any, zombie lord are exactly what they sound like intelligent zombies.
Dybbuk bard for a puppeteer.
The skeletal, vital-striking, t-rex is one my players still talk about to this day.
At a lvl 6 adventure i used a "Deathweb" counter as one of my mini-bosses, added with a lot of giant spiders and spiderswarms with the undead template.
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I like the lowish cleric that have manager to get some powerfull undead under his control and now live in fear of the Day where that control breaks.
A level 5 cleric comtrolling a 10 HD vampiers and via him all his spawn. Or depending on the Reading of the undead Master feat a even bigger one.
The party is a group of undead hunters sponsored by Sarenrae. They will be optimized to deal with undead so the opponents can, and should be deadly. A big part of the campaign will be investigation so most of the Boss types will be humanoid of some sort. Undead will always be evil, but not always obviously evil. What I am having trouble with is coming up with ideas for the leaders. I am trying to avoid the obvious stereo types and would like to throw some unusual combinations of class and templates at the party.
I like the idea of the skeletal T-rex and will be using it just not as a leader. Probably have one of the leaders animate it as a diversion.
A Ravener is also a good idea but probably for later in the campaign.
I created a shadow cleric of Urgathoa (add class levels to get desired CR) which turned out to be quite deadly. I also have a mystic theurge (wizard/cleric) lich who controls undead and has taken over a fallen temple as a bbeg.
Lots of undead lend themselves to adding class levels. Enjoy!
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I have a newfound love for the Ecorche. They can steal a creature's skin and wear it to infiltrate virtually anywhere.
Also, if you're not strictly using Paizo's products, I highly recommend Minotaur Games' Monster Focus line of cheap PDFs. There is one on ghouls that I particularly love, but also mummies, skeletons, zombies and another that I can't recall.
Also, Monster Codex has chapters on ghouls and vampires that will likely serve you well.
What level is the party?
- People start getting eaten off and suspect zombies. Then, BLAM! Pack of Fiend Totem Raging Cannibal Barbarians who are not really undead but pretty fricking evil.
- Another one could be a ton of undead appearing at a location and a Lich is feared as their controller... but oh, wait, it actually was the Dirge Bard Bard with levels on Agent of the Grave (if he's level 9 or higher). He'd be the church pianist.
- An extra boss for the previous one could be a Druid that lives on the fringes of the town and wants revenge on civilization for bringing the plague of necromancy to his forests. He could be reasoned with high Diplomacy DCs, but failing that, he reveals as a high level Goliath Druid. If the players kill him before they kill the Dirge Bard (because the undead have done too much damage to nature already), the Dirge Bard revives the Goliath Druid as a zombie on his encounter.
- A team of Druman Blackjacket Fighters suffered an unexpected accident doing a nefarious mission (perhaps they were paid by a rival aristocrat to infiltrate into a local mine and detonate some charges there, to bury the town nearby with the collapse). Half the team dies, but they come back as undead due to some curse on the mine. The other half, still living, infiltrates the nearby village and work with their undead buddies to try another plan to bring ruin to the village now that the mine is too heavily guarded to strike it - perhaps frame its most upstanding citizens of necromancy?
- VAMPIRE HUNGRY GHOST MONK.
- Oath of Loyalty Paladin, a Witchguard Ranger, and the ward of both of them, a Dimensional Occultist Witch, stumble upon an artifact that can destroy undead in a huge radius easily, but using it requires the blood of many creatures. When their sworn enemy (a necromancer) starts summoning waves upon waves of undead on a particular location, the three of them want to put the object to use to finish their nemesis, and to do so start slaughtering tribal orcs, goblins and gnolls that live near the local town, and the Paladin even does some half-orcs in. Test your party's moral views with this adventure, and if they decide to stop the trio, that would be a tough fight.
- Ton of Undead Ratfolk Knifemasters that use Swarming to flat-foot enemies.
BY THE WAY: Do you happen to have a Youkai Hunter Ranger or a Spirit Master Monk on your team?
You could have a Dr. Frankenstein-style gnome - only this one's no amateur. He's stitched together about a dozen zombie hybrid beasts, using the most interesting creatures he can find.