Hello fellow forum users,
i am currently running a homebrew campaign, in which a highly organized undead scourge has overrun southeast andoran.
I have created the final boss for this campaign and i would like your advice on the following:
Which level does my party need to beat him? Is it doable without mythic levels?
To my players: Don't spoiler yourself!
He attacks with:
Melee
+5 icyburst unholy greatsword +43/+38/+33/+28 (2d6+39/17-20 plus 1d6 cold plus 2d6 negative energy)
Ranged
+5 frost unholy javelin +25/20/15/10 (1d6+4 plus 1d6 cold plus 2d6 negative energy)
Special Attacks
Flames of insanity, Channel negative energy (9d6, will dc 30), Touch of Chaos, vision of madness, aura of madness
And his stats are:
Str 32, Dex 14, Con -, Int 16, Wis 32, Cha 32
Base Atk +23; CMB +34; CMD 46
He has permanent vision of Madness(+9 attackrolls, -9 to saving throws and skillchecks) which is included in the above stats.
By official guidelines he is CR 28 i think.
He will be accompanied by two nightwalkers.
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Dazing ice spear will screw him up. If its a sorcerer with havoc of the society, add dazing pellet blast to the list. The cmd is not very high. I imagine a well built tetori sround lv 13, no mythic, could grapple and pin him in a single round, after using ki to suppress freedom of movement.
I think the nightwalkers are more dangerous then he is.
If I wanted to brute force my way through spell resistance, and had done enough research on him.
Aasimar tattooed sorcerer to evangelist of desna. At lv 11, assuming you started with 20 cha, have a +6 cha item, took both spell penetration feats, piercing spell, spell focus evocation, greater spell focus evocation, persistent spell.
wayang spellhunter and magical lineage fireball.
Using dweomer essence, its +29 to beat 36 for SR
Dazing, persistent, piercing fireball here we come! Everyone make dc 23 reflex saves or get dazed 3 rounds :)
Really, it's going to depend on what sort of players you have. Are they powergamers? Optimizers? Are they savvy with the system or rather unsavvy? Etc.
I generally try to create boss battles that don't revolve around the BBEG being superpowerful but instead use the "home advantage" the BBEG has to overpower the PCs. Simply having him fight in terrain that better suits him, flying overhead of the party, having minions dedicated to certain tasks based on what he's learned of the party's weaknesses, etc. are all hugely important.
I get the feeling, though, that you're looking for a high powered, mythical sort of game. That isn't my specialty. I tend to like my players to be between levels 6-12; that's my personal sweetspot.
There are a lot of ways to defeat this BBEG by using very specialized builds (which, truth be told, optimizers and powerbuilders will use), but if your players aren't especially system savvy, they won't be fighting this guy at the level Just a Mort is suggesting. So, really, it all depends on the playstyle of your players.
My players are very system savvy and tend to build strong characters but never go the full distance of optimizing, even if they could.
But currently they are in a rather bad spot of group composition:
They are a zen archer, a pummeling monk, a sword and board paladin with exceptional survivability, a bomber alchemist and a two weapon fighting ranger.
@Just a Mort:
Thanks for the heads up, but i will never understand any gm that allows magical lineage and wayang spellhutner to stack, nor do i understand how every arcane caster on this world has connections to a certain island.
Thanks for the information though.
Sorry i failed to mention, he is undead and additionally immune to: banishment, confusion, crushing despair, detect thoughts, dispel evil, dominate person, dominate monster, fear, geas/quest, holy word, hypnosis*, imprisonment, magic jar, maze, suggestion, trap the soul, or any form of charm or compulsion.
I didn't post the full statblock, as i tend to use my own way of writing them down.
NE Medium outsider (archon, extraplanar, evil)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., blindsense 30ft., detect good, low-light vision; Perception +60
Aura aura of menace (DC 17)
DEFENSE
AC 42, touch 12, flat-footed 40 (+14 armor, +2 Dex, +16 natural; +2 deflection vs. good)
hp 520 (26d8+312)
Fort +24, Ref +6, Will +24; +4 vs. poison, +2 vs. good
DR 20/good; Immune electricity, petrification; SR 36
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (average)
Melee +5 icyburst unholy greatsword +43/+38/+33/+28 (2d6+39/17-20 plus 1d6 cold plus 2d6 negative energy)
Ranged +5 frost unholy javelin +25/20/15/10 (1d6+4 plus 1d6 cold plus 2d6 negative energy)
Special Attacks flames of insanity, Channel negative energy (9d6, will dc 30), Touch of Chaos, vision of madness, aura of madness
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 26th; concentration +39)
Constant—detect good, magic circle against good
At will—aid, continual flame, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), message
3/day—align weapon, mirror image, versatile weapon
Spells (CL 26th; concentration +39)
STATISTICS
Str 32, Dex 14, Con -, Int 16, Wis 32, Cha 32
Base Atk +23/18/13/8; CMB +34; CMD 46
Feats Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (greatsword), Power Attack(-6/+18), Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Whirlwind Attack + 8 additional Feats.
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ second skin
Equip +5 unrighteous full plate
Flames of Insanity (Ex)
A legion archon can manifest a +5 icy burst unholy greatsword or +5 frost unholy javelin as a move-equivalent action. The legion archon's sword vanishes if it leaves its hand, and its javelin vanishes after striking or missing its target.
Second Skin (Ex)
A legion archon is proficient in all forms of armor. It takes no reduction to its speed or any armor check penalties from wearing any sort of armor. Most legion archons wear full plate armor. Where shield archons are the bulwarks of the armies of Heaven, legion archons are the swords, sent in file after file to match evil's boundless hordes.
Chaos Blade (Su): At 8th level, you can give a weapon touched the anarchic special weapon quality for 9 rounds.
Vision of Madness (Sp): You can give a creature a vision of madness as a melee touch attack. Choose one of the following: attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks. The target receives a bonus to the chosen rolls equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1) and a penalty to the other two types of rolls equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum –1). This effect fades after 3 rounds.
Aura of Madness (Su): At 8th level, you can emit a 30-foot aura of madness for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. Enemies within this aura are affected by confusion unless they make a Will save with DC 30. The confusion effect ends immediately when the creature leaves the area or the aura expires. Creatures that succeed on their saving throw are immune to this aura for 24 hours. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
Spell Deflection (Su)
The trapped essences (see below) provide a measure of magical protection. If any of the following spells are cast at the dread devourer and overcome its spell resistance, they affect the imprisoned essence instead: banishment, confusion, crushing despair, detect thoughts, dispel evil, dominate person, dominate monster, fear, geas/quest, holy word, hypnosis*, imprisonment, magic jar, maze, suggestion, trap the soul, or any form of charm or compulsion. In many cases, this change of target effectively neutralizes the spell (casting charm person on a trapped essence, for example, is useless). Some of them (banishment and trap the soul, for example), might eliminate a random trapped essence, robbing the dread devourer of its magical powers until it can consume another.
Spell Resistance (Su)
A dread devourer has spell resistance equal to 10 + dread devourer’s Hit Dice.
Channel Resistance (Ex)
A dread devourer has channel resistance +4.
Command Devourers (Su)
A dread devourer can automatically command all normal devourers within 30 feet as a free action. Normal devourers never attack a dread devourer unless compelled.
Energy Drain (Ex)
A creature struck by a dread devourer’s natural attack gains one negative level. The DC for the Fortitude save to remove the negative level is 10 + 1/2 dread devourer’s Hit Dice + dread devourer’s Cha modifier.
Spell-Like Abilities: A dread devourer is assumed to have one essence with 15 levels trapped inside it at the start of any encounter.
Each use of a spell-like ability drains one of these levels (see Trap Essences). The dread devourer can use one of following spells (caster level 10th + 2 per essence trapped within it): animate dead, circle of death, confusion, control undead, create undead, deeper darkness, desecrate, dominate monster, horrid wilting, inflict serious wounds, lesser planar ally, plane shift (self only, drains five levels from trapped essences), ray of enfeeblement, true seeing.
The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Trap Essences (Su)
The dread devourer is named for its ability to consume an enemy’s life essence. To do so, it must forgo its normal melee attacks and make a trap essence attack, which requires a touch attack but deals no damage. The affected creature must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 dread devourer’s Hit Dice + dread devourer’s Cha modifier) or die instantly.
The slain creature’s essence is trapped within or around the dread devourer’s body as a tiny figure with the victim’s features. The trapped essence cannot be raised or resurrected, but a miracle or wish spell frees it, as does destroying the dread devourer. A dread devourer can hold a number of essences equal to its Hit Dice.
The trapped essences provide the dread devourer with power to use spell-like abilities. Each trapped essence gains one negative level for every use of such an ability. As this energy is expended, the twisted soul fades away. When the number of negative levels gained equals the creature’s character level, the essence is destroyed and its image fades away. If an essence is freed, the restored creature must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 dread devourer’s Hit Dice + dread devourer’s Cha modifier) for each negative level or lose that level permanently. A dread devourer can use its spell-like abilities until all the essences within it have been destroyed. For each essence the dread devourer holds, the caster level for its spell-like abilities increases by +2.