Hi guys,
Newbie GM here and have some question about Mallie.
Using the Barghest, Advanced Elite Greater template i can see the attacks to be:
bite +18 (2d6+8), 2 claws +18 (1d6+8)
are the above rolls taking in consideration Bull's Strength Spell? what about Power Attack, is the same considered as well?
thanks a lot in advance for your answers.
Cheers!
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The attack rolls stated do not appear to take bull's strength or power attack into account. If either were included, his damage bonuses should be much higher than +8, since that is what he gets from his Strength modifier alone.
You could argue that his stated 26 Strength is after having cast bull's strength, but I don't believe that is the case. My reason for this is that Malfeshnekor is a greater barghest with the Advanced template, which grants a +4 increase to all abilities. Your run-of-the-mill greater barghest has a Strength score of 23; adding the Advanced template should make it 27, which is pretty close to Malfeshnekor's 26.
Of course, Malfeshnekor is a unique barghest in most respects, meaning the writers have probably taken liberties with his stats, and you should feel somewhat free to do so as well.
To summarise, his attacks -- after including both power attack and bull's strength -- should be as follows:
bite +16 (2d6+16), 2 claws +16 (1d6+16)
Attack bonus breakdown: +10 (base attack), +10 (Strength), -3 (power attack), -1 (size)
Damage bonus breakdown: +10 (Strength), +6 (power attack)
Note: It seems like the size penalty to attacks rolls might be missing from Malfeshnekor's stats as written.
EDITED NOTE: I just discovered that Malfeshnekor in the anniversary edition of RotR is just a greater barghest, not Advanced or "elite". The one I used for my campaign is the same one that you've found on d20pfsrd.com, which I believe is a freely converted version of the original D&D edition of RotR. I didn't start using the anniversary edition before somewhat later in the campaign.
Exactly what I though. thanks a lot for the explanation it was really helpful.
I'll take the numbers above as the attack with Bull's Strength active, and will definitely use power attack as well.
it's odd as you mention that the STR score is 26, when according to the advanced template should be 27, but i'll just overlook at it.
Thanks a lot!
EDIT to the EDIT xD: so based on this, what would you suggest? you mentioned that you used the advanced template in your campaign, how it went for you? do you think will be a little bit to much with the inclusion of Power Attack and the buff in the STR?
to give a bit of background:
the party is composed by 4 level 4 PCs:
Wizard
Rogue
Cleric
Paladin
This thread should probably have a spoiler tag, so I'll wrap my entire response in one.
How have your players fared so far? If they're steamrolling encounters, they may enjoy a situation where they feel outmatched, but that really depends a lot on what kind of challenges your players look for. The campaign is designed for 4 PCs built with 15 point-buy, so if that's what your party is made of, a greater barghest (without the Advanced template) flying at them with all the strength he's got may be just spot on. If your PCs are stronger than that, I would suggest keeping the Advanced template.
On the other hand, are your players completionists? Would they be dissatisfied with an encounter that they may not be able to complete? Or perhaps it would be extra satisfactory to be able to beat him after more than one attempt?
In my game, I did keep the Advanced template, but at the same time I grossly underestimated my players and overestimated Malfeshnekor. He would've dropped a PC in the very first round of combat if it weren't for that player's Hero Points. After that, I held back too much which resulted in a very disappointing and anti-climatic experience for the party, and some of them felt it was a waste defeating him at all, suggesting that Sandpoint's NPC's would've been able to withstand him anyhow. It is worth noting that I have six players, all of whom are above 15 point-buy.
Some stories end up with the players losing one or two PCs before deciding to leave Malfeshnekor alone for later. This is closer to what I wish had happened in my campaign (obviously, PC death is not actually a necessity), as long as they prioritised getting back there.
That makes perfect sense.
I think I will be using the advanced template, after all i want Mally to be a real threat, so i'll follow that road. hopefully this will result as i expect, on the PCs retreating and live to fight another day.
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An example from my campaign if it helps...
Four pc's: wizard, cleric, bard, fighter.
My group encountered Malfeshnekor without magic weapons and after realizing they weren't getting far (combined with successful Knowledge the Planes check by the wizard to suggest it has DR/Magic) they retreated. They are completionists and after long experience with me as a DM, do not like to leave loose ends. Since they had already defeated Nualia and all her minions they could deal with Malfeshnekor at their leisure. They are also experienced players (more with 3.5 than Pathfinder at that point) so the came up with a simple plan. A couple magic weapon spells by the cleric for the dwarf's waraxe and the bard's bow and that was about it for Mal. He doesn't have much maneuverability being unable to leave his room so the dwarf fighter engaged him in melee, the cleric kept healing the fighter, the bard fired his bow while singing and the wizard used two flaming spheres and other magic. His blink ability kept Mal alive for a while but with good prep, the barghest's days were numbered. Applying the advanced template would have only prolonged the agony :)