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Nualia could be pretty horrible as a summoner who gives birth to a bunch of freakish "children". The feat Evolved Summon Monster allows eidolon evolutions for summoned monsters, which can be taken multiple times to make some pretty gross minions such as:
Constrictor snake with two extra tentacles growing from its body
Sticky giant frog with hooves
Boar with pincers on its forelegs and razor-sharp tusks (causing bleed)
Aurochs with human-like hands (slam attack) and a long giraffe-like neck (reach for gore attack)
She could be rebuilt as cleric 5/fighter 1 to give her Summon Monster III, with her feats being Lamashtu's Mark, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Evolved Summon Monster, and then Evolved Summon Monster again.
I am a little worried about TPKing the party because the feat is rather broken. I think if I restrict myself to less-powerful flavorful choices with the summons (rather than party-killers like an aurochs with claws and hooves) it might be less lethal. I'd also have her "birth" the summons (with her belly growing larger as she takes the full round to cast, and then they emerge with loud grunt from under her skirt) so they would always appear next to her rather than her being able to place them normally.
Would it make sense to move the encounter into the cathedral? (The room where the book puts her is very cramped and I don't see this combat being that interesting there.) And should I remove the yeth hound from the encounter?
Sounds like fun? Any other ideas on flavor, mechanics, balance, etc.?
May have used the wrong term, I meant she could be in the chapel to Lamashtu in Thistletop (area D12).
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Some may be stillborn. Given Nualia's history, such stillbirths would be traumatic for her. She would spend a round or two in shock before fighting again, possibly in a rage.
Adding to this flavor, the stillborn ones are "normal" when birthed. Only the twisted versions of summoned creatures make it out alive. Keep the shock and/or rage over the stillborn.
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When the PCs kill her, expect jokes about finding a proper tomb for her.
Do you rule that people can only have a single Summon spell active? Also, will she still have the Yeth hound? In practice, she may get to summon only once, especially if she'll launch out a single summon. She should still be ready for when they engage her, though you probably already had that in mind.
Some may be stillborn. Given Nualia's history, such stillbirths would be traumatic for her. She would spend a round or two in shock before fighting again, possibly in a rage.Adding to this flavor, the stillborn ones are "normal" when birthed. Only the twisted versions of summoned creatures make it out alive. Keep the shock and/or rage over the stillborn.
I like this idea!
When the PCs kill her, expect jokes about finding a proper tomb for her.
Do you rule that people can only have a single Summon spell active? Also, will she still have the Yeth hound? In practice, she may get to summon only once, especially if she'll launch out a single summon. She should still be ready for when they engage her, though you probably already had that in mind.
I don't have any houserules about number of active summons, although I am planning to ban the Summoner class (with a group of all-new players playing on Roll20, too many summons seems unmanageable.)
It is definitely possible she will only summon once (or not at all if they do some ranged damage to disrupt her spell.) I was considering removing the yeth hound, but now I'm leaning towards keeping it in, to give the PCs something to chew on while Nualia has time to summon. If I could get one summon down, that could help block off the stairs up to the altar in D12 (where I'll have her) and make it difficult to engage her in melee. The balance I'm trying to find is I want to get a couple summons down for the cool flavor, without making it totally deadly for the PCs.
I redisigned Nualia as a warpriest 7.
I also significantly redesigned room E4: Observation deck. I made it roughly double in size, and also added some interesting features in the roo: A raised platform on the north end that's about six feet above the floor, with two staircases leading up. Trapped statues of Karzoug stand beside each of the staricases. Pressure plates on the stairs activate the statues such that they continually sweep their glaives across an area that covers the stairs for three rounds. PCs who move through one of those squares are attacked by the statues [glaive +5 (1d10/x3)]. The traps can be disabled by a Disable Device check (DC 20) or by sundering the glaive.
When my party encountered Nualia, Tsuto was alive and with her. (He "escaped" from Justice Ironbriar's custody.) So, for the first part of the fight, Nualia stood on the dais, letting Tsuto and the yeth hound pound on the PCs while she cast spells at them. Once they were down, she made the PCs come to her and get through the trapped statues. The fight went 12 rounds... it's amazing how long you can keep a warpriest alive when they use Fervor to keep healing/buffing themselves!
In the end, the PCs knocked her out with a sleep arrow and captured her.
Haladir, that sounds like an epic fight! How many PCs and what level were they for that? And were they spent from fighting goblins upstairs, or freshly rested?
I redisigned Nualia as a warpriest 7.
I also significantly redesigned room E4: Observation deck. I made it roughly double in size, and also added some interesting features in the roo: A raised platform on the north end that's about six feet above the floor, with two staircases leading up. Trapped statues of Karzoug stand beside each of the staricases. Pressure plates on the stairs activate the statues such that they continually sweep their glaives across an area that covers the stairs for three rounds. PCs who move through one of those squares are attacked by the statues [glaive +5 (1d10/x3)]. The traps can be disabled by a Disable Device check (DC 20) or by sundering the glaive.
When my party encountered Nualia, Tsuto was alive and with her. (He "escaped" from Justice Ironbriar's custody.) So, for the first part of the fight, Nualia stood on the dais, letting Tsuto and the yeth hound pound on the PCs while she cast spells at them. Once they were down, she made the PCs come to her and get through the trapped statues. The fight went 12 rounds... it's amazing how long you can keep a warpriest alive when they use Fervor to keep healing/buffing themselves!
In the end, the PCs knocked her out with a sleep arrow and captured her.
OOC Can you post the revised Stat Block for her as a warpriest. I haven't reached there with the current group and it would be a different twist (as 2 of the 5 have run the AP once)
Haladir, that sounds like an epic fight! How many PCs and what level were they for that? And were they spent from fighting goblins upstairs, or freshly rested?
The party consisted of four PCs (human fighter 4, human oracle 4, elf rogue 1/arcanist 3, gnome druid 4), plus Shalelu (elf ranger 4). One of the PCs is Orik—a replacement character after one of the originally players disappeared from the Paizo messageboards.
It was the party's third foray into the dungeon. Tsuto set up a bunch of traps in the thstle maze and now-abandoned Thistletop stockade and first dungeon level. They found most of those, but sprung a few. The party encountered Bruthazmus and four goblin commandos in the Hellcat room. After killing the bugbear and his commandos (all former wives of Ripnugget), they disabled the deathtrap leading to the Observation Room, but in doing so warned Nualia and Tsuto, giving her time to cast a bunch of buffs.
Five rounds into the fight, one of my players who'd had to resign a few months earlier contacted me, asking if he could re-join. I said "yes!" So the party was aided by a 3rd-level rogue for the second half of the fight.
Actually, we've been playing on the PbP boards, so if you want to read the combat for yourself (and see the maps)... Go have a look! (Link goes to the post after the defeat of Bruthazmus.)
There's a link to the maps I've been using, too. I drew the redesigned Observation Room using MapTool and a few graphics I cribbed years ago from the now-only-semi-functional Dundjini Forums.
Maybe I'm missing something, I see you say "Okay: Go ahead and position yourselves on the map" but I'm not seeing the map.
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Can you post the revised Stat Block for her as a warpriest.
This isn't formatted, but the text is there.
XP 3,200
Female aasimar warpriest of Lamashtu 8
CE Medium outsider (native)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
Defense
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +2 deflection, +1 Dex)
hp 73 (8d8+24+10)
Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +10
Defensive Abilities sacred armor (+1, 8 minutes/day); Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5
Offense
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 bastard sword +14/+9 (1d10+10/19-20) [+1d6 damage v. good-aligned opponents] or claw +11 (1d6+3)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +8/+3 (1d8+3/×3)
Special Attacks blessings 7/day (Evil: unholy strike, Madness: madness supremacy), channel negative energy 3/day (DC 17, 3d6), fervor 7/day (3d6), sacred weapon (1d8, +2, 8 rounds/day)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +11)
1/day—daylight
Warpriest Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +11)
3rd—cure serious wounds, searing light, summon monster III
2nd—aid, bull's strength, cure moderate wounds, death knell (DC 15), shatter (DC 15)
1st—divine favor, doom (DC 14), entropic shield, sanctuary (DC 14), shield of faith
0 (at will)—bleed (DC 13), detect magic, guidance, mending, resistance
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 17
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 20
Feats Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Lamashtu's Mark, Power Attack, Selective Channel, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Specialization (bastard sword)
Skills Acrobatics -2 (-6 to jump), Diplomacy +5, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (religion) +8, Linguistics +4, Perception +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Diplomacy, +2 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Elven, Goblin, Varisian
Other Gear +1 breastplate, +1 bastard sword, mwk composite longbow (+3 Str), sihedron medallion, potion of cure serious wounds
Special Abilities
Blessings (7/day) (Su) Pool of power used to activate Blessing abilities.
Madness Supremacy (Su): Can convert for 1 round the condition of a target within 30 feet that is cowering, frightened, panicked, or paralyzed to special confused: 50% chance of attacking self or attacking nearest creature.
Unholy Strike (Su): Grant weapon evil alignment for 1 min; +1d6 damage vs. good.
Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Energy Resistance, Acid (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Acid attacks.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Fervor (3d6, 7/day) (Su) Standard action, touch channels negative energy to harm the living. Swift action to cast spell on self.
Lamashtu's Mark (1/day, DC 21) Melee hit grants deformity to reduce target's CHA by 1d4 for 1 hour (Fort neg).
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Sacred Armor +1 (8 minutes/day) (Su) As a swift action, grant armor enhancement bonus or certain powers. Use 1 fervor as free action to also activate Sacred weapon.
Sacred Weapon +2 (8 rounds/day) (Su) As a swift action, grant weapon enhancement bonus or certain powers.
Warpriest Channel Negative Energy 3d6 (3/day, DC 17) (Su) Negative energy harms the living or heals the undead.
Maybe I'm missing something, I see you say "Okay: Go ahead and position yourselves on the map" but I'm not seeing the map.
All currently-used campaign maps are linked from the Campaign Header. I do unlink temporary maps that are no longer being used, so if you're going back too far, you won't see them in the headers; I do link to new maps in the thread itself.
Also: My maps are dynamic, so you can't go back and look at the round-by-round positioning or any map notes (i.e. "I marked the spell effect area in red"), as I remove such items when they're no longer relevant.
One other thing: The links are live, so if you're not in the campaign, please do not make any changes to the maps. They're currently configured to allow anyone with the link to edit them... if other people start messing with them, I'll have to lock it down, which will make managing them that much harder.
Thanks!