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Warning: possibly some small spoilers below.
I have been running a weekly game of Mummy's Mask for the past 3 years, and my players are just about to begin the sixth book.
The players I have for this game are generally min/maxers (for example, the party level 15 unchained rogue, can roll under a 10 for stealth, with no cover available, and get over 50 as the result. We also have a regular summoner). They tend to roll over encounters with single monsters that are intended to be bosses without any problems.
So, I decided to make a harder Hakotep, as I really would not like the last encounter to be the summoner sending his eidolon up to the villain of the whole AP and killing him with one full attack. The shield golems don't really seem that threatening.
Let me know what what you think, and feel free to use him if you like him.
XP 614,400
Male human mummy lord sorcerer 20 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 176)
LE Medium undead (humanoid, human)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +36
Aura great despair (30 ft., DC 34)
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Defense
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AC 43, touch 20, flat-footed 43 (+8 armor, +5 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +15 natural)
hp 382 (20d6+300)
Fort +20, Ref +12, Will +17
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, channel resistance +4, rejuvenation; DR 10/—; Immune cold, critical hits, electricity, sneak attacks, undead traits
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee flail of kings +15/+10 (1d8+9 plus insidious mummy rot) or
. . slam +12 (1d6+3 plus insidious mummy rot)
Special Attacks channel rot, insidious mummy rot (DC 24), sandstorm wrath (12d8 fire and slashing, DC 34), undead mastery (DC 34)
Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +34)
. . 17/day—elemental ray (1d6+10 electricity)
. . 3/day—elemental blast (20d6 electricity, DC 34)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 20th; concentration +34)
. . 9th (8/day)—dominate monster (DC 34), elemental swarm, meteor swarm (DC 35 [37 if electricity]), time stop
. . 8th (8/day)—demand (DC 33), polar ray, stormbolts[APG] (DC 36), summon monster VIII (elementals only)
. . 7th (8/day)—deflection[APG], elemental body IV, mass hold person (DC 32), prismatic spray (DC 33)
. . 6th (9/day)—chain lightning (DC 34), elemental body III, sirocco[APG] (DC 32 [34 if electricity]), tar pool[UC] (DC 30)
. . 5th (9/day)—cone of cold (DC 31 [33 if electricity]), elemental body II, mind fog (DC 30), sonic thrust[UM] (DC 31 [33 if electricity]), wall of force
. . 4th (9/day)—ball lightning[APG] (DC 32), boneshatter (DC 28), crushing despair (DC 29), elemental body I, enervation
. . 3rd (9/day)—elemental aura[APG] (DC 29), howling agony[UM] (DC 27), lightning bolt (DC 31), protection from energy, vampiric touch
. . 2nd (10/day)—blindness/deafness (DC 26), bull's strength, false life, hideous laughter (DC 27), minor image (DC 26), scorching ray (electricity)
. . 1st (10/day)—burning hands (electricity) (DC 27), mage armor, magic missile, shield, shocking grasp, unseen servant
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, bleed (DC 24), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 24), jolt[UM], mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic, touch of fatigue (DC 24)
. . Bloodline Elemental (air)
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Statistics
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Str 24, Dex 19, Con —, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 38
Base Atk +10; CMB +17; CMD 37
Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Elemental Focus[APG], Eschew Materials, Greater Elemental Focus[APG], Greater Spell Focus (evocation), Improved Critical (heavy flail), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Martial Weapon Proficiency (heavy flail), Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Toughness
[b]Skills Acrobatics +24, Diplomacy +34, Fly +17, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (nobility) +13, Knowledge (religion) +16, Perception +36, Sense Motive +24, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +12; Racial Modifiers +8 Intimidate, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth
Languages Ancient Osiriani, Jistka, Shory, Div
SQ bloodline arcana (change energy damage spells to match bloodline energy), elemental body, elemental movement
Combat Gear gloves of the commanding conjurer[UE], halo of menace[ARG], pearl of power (9th level), scroll of greater teleport, scroll of reverse gravity, scroll of time stop; Other Gear amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical might +6 (Str, Dex), bracers of armor +8, crook and flail of kings, headband of mental superiority +6, major cloak of displacement, ring of freedom of movement, ring of protection +5, robe of eyes, tome of leadership and influence +1 (already read)
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Special Abilities
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All-Around Vision (Ex) You can see in all directions and cannot be flanked.
Bloodline Arcana: Elemental (Ex) You may change any energy spell to use Electricity energy.
Channel Resistance +4 +4 bonus to save vs. Channel Energy.
Channel Rot (Su) Mummy rot applies to any manufactured weapons as well.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Damage Reduction (10/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Elemental Blast (20d6 electricity, 3/day, DC 34) (Sp) As a standard action, deal dam in 20 ft. burst up to 60 ft. away (Ref half).
Elemental Body (Su) Gain immunity to energy type, critical hits and sneak attacks.
Elemental Focus (Electricity) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Elemental Movement (Su) Gain an enhanced move
Elemental Ray (1d6+10 electricity, 17/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch attack deals damage to foe.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Fly (60 feet, Average) You can fly!
Great Despair Aura (DC 34) (Su) Creatures in aura are paralyzed 1d4 rds, then shaken 1d4 rds (Will neg).
Greater Elemental Focus (Electricity) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Greater Spell Focus (Evocation) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Immunity to Cold You are immune to cold damage.
Immunity to Critical Hits You are immune to Critical Hits
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Sneak Attacks You are immune to sneak attacks.
Insidious Mummy Rot (DC 24) (Su) Insidious mummy rot—injury; save Fort DC 24; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 2d4 Con and 2d4 Cha; cure —. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Quicken Spell Cast a spell as a swift action. +4 Levels.
Rejuvenation (Su) One day after destruction, rebuild body over 1d10 days.
Sandstorm Wrath (12d8 fire and slashing, 3/day, DC 34) (Su) Hot sand deals fire and slash dam in 40 ft cone and blinds 2d4 rds (Ref part).
Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Undead Mastery (DC 34) As a standard action, gain control of undead in 50 ft (Will neg).
Undead Traits Undead have many immunities.
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I would also give his part of the pyramid a sort of effect where he can harass the party in the other areas beyond his throne room. Some remote casting shenanigans or what-have-you.
The Plasma Ooze, for my ridiculous OP party was the hardest monster in the book (though through their actions available elsewhere in this forum Neferuset ended up being the boss), simply because its immunities were my party's strengths.
The shield golems are a complete joke, and if your party is anywhere near tactical, the heavy hitters will be between Hakotep and the golems in round 1. Hakotep needs better guards, either doubling the golems' stats, or adding something else of a threat (maybe Neferuset if she's had time to regenerate).
I would Gate in a something (or things!) that ties up the Eidolon to make the PCs themselves tackle Hakotep instead of letting the player controlled Marilith (basically every eidolon) 2-round the mummy lord. That Dominate Monster spell is also a good choice for tying up the Eidolon.
What is the rest of your party beyond a summoner and a rogue?
If I ever get to run MM, I probably will use your version of Hakotep too. Thanks for posting it! :)
If the Rogue is Unchained, why is the Summoner not too? As far as I recall, the intent with the Unchained classes was to help/simplify the Barbarian, Monk, and Rogue, and to give the Summoner a much-needed series of corrections (apparently the wrong things had crept into its entry in APG before it was published).
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If I ever get to run MM, I probably will use your version of Hakotep too. Thanks for posting it! :)
If the Rogue is Unchained, why is the Summoner not too? As far as I recall, the intent with the Unchained classes was to help/simplify the Barbarian, Monk, and Rogue, and to give the Summoner a much-needed series of corrections (apparently the wrong things had crept into its entry in APG before it was published).
I wasn't aware (until I read your post here) that the unchained classes were suppose to completely replace the others. I thought they were just intended to be Unearthed-Arcana-like options. Needless to say, my experience running Mummy's Mask has led me to go the PFS route and ban regular Summoner from my furture games.
What is the rest of your party beyond a summoner and a rogue?
We have:
Halfling unchained rogue
Tiefling cleric of Abadar/arcanist mystic theurge
Human fighter (tower shield specialist)
Human summoner (with, as you mentioned, a many-armed "Marilith" eidolon)
Because I'm an idiot, I let the summoner take leadership, so he has a Ratfolk wizard (exploiter wizard) as a cohort.
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Using your build here is what I would do as a basic strategy:
*Double many of the stats of the shield golems, and maybe give them some feats that let them harass the eidolon better (trip, dirty trick, grapple, etc to force an action to keep the multi-attack from triggering on a full attack).
**If the party retreats to heal up after killing Neferuset but doesn't find her phylactery, have her regenerate in 1 day, and be in the room with Hakotep.
***If they retreated but ended Neferuset, fill the dungeon with some incendiary fog or something crappy on their way back through.
1) In round 1, ready an action to cast time stop the moment that the fighter and/or the eidolon get enough separation from the group. Summon away, and plop a wall of force between the party and the melee brute(s).
2) Party fights/burns resources against Swarm and SM8 summons while melee brutes are on other side of the wall of force. If Neferuset is with Hakotep, have her focus on the summoner, while Hakotep worries about the eidolon or fighter.
3) Hopefully this will buy you 3 rounds of combat before things need to revert to an easy fight like the Forgotten Pharaoh (which in all honesty is bascially the same boss but with explodey mooks instead of golems and no mummy powers).
By this level, the fighter or eidolon should be able to pierce through the wall of force in 2-3 rounds of full attacks, as 400 damage vs an adamantine weapon should be quick pickens. The idea here, though, is to at least extend the fight enough for the whole party to get in on the action beyond cleaning up shield golems while the eidolon melees with the boss.
I would avoid your two big elemental class abilities (blast and ray), as blast will likely be completely negated by the evasion of the rogue and eidolon (assuming on this one), and I'm sure the group will have figured out that Hakotep is a big "ELEMENTS" guy and have resistances a plenty. Quickening that Enervation is a pretty efficient use of an 8th level slot against the summoner (maybe the theurge, depending on Fort).
If you wanted to beef him further, though, I would probably, though, add rays of fatigue and exhaustion into the build, as a round with a quickened enfeeble or exhaustion can yield a solid minus 1-3 to-hit and some damage and AC penalties from even successful fort saves (and the chance of a -11 to STR is always there on a max roll failed fort save for enfeeblement). Not to mention there is the cheaty combo of Ray of Exhaustion + Quickened Ray of Exhaustion = guaranteed exhaustion on 2 successful saves.
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I gave Hakotep a series of boosts, but in my group the one that had the biggest impact was one they learned about through their own investigations.
I gave him Sacred Geometry.
If you look at the lore, so much of Hakotep's power and resources are things he used his then-current power and resources to cajole, swindle, or steal from others. The flying tech. Some of his artifacts. Etc. Hakotep is basically a high CR conman. So, I took it one further.
In my games, due to a unanimous player vote, Sacred Geometry was deemed "unbalanced". So, I had my players find snippets of lore as they researched their for that implied a hermitage of Nethysian scholars had discovered the "secret underpinning geometry of reality and magic". Which Hakotep promptly stole from them, under some BS cause. The lore they were researching couldn't even keep the story straight, it waffled between "retribution of the gods", "insulting the Pharoah by refusing to share" (they taught him willingly), and "eliminated subversive threats to the country".
So yeah, my players gave me playful glares of "oh you cheeky bugger" and their characters had one more reason to loathe the Sky Pharaoh. And when he started tossing free metamagic around later? Still gets called out as the worst AP boss. Maybe not hardest, but worst, with all the loathing that can be packed in the word. Job done.
Let me know what what you think, and feel free to use him if you like him.
** spoiler omitted **...
Hello! I'm glad to see interest over this character.
While I like tougher opponents, I would not focus so much on the fight on the throne room. I would suggest to shift one of Hakotep's spell with either project image or a form of astral projection which allows him to actually appear, in the "bandages", in front of the pcs, when they arrive in front of the Pyramid. Basically, you have to have him appear at least once before he's met in the throne room.I would suggest you to have him appear and speak with the character wearing his mask, like he's speaking with a part of himself, while ignoring the others, and offer a few propositions, like "the rights over a city" or "being his hands for the invasion of the neighbour nations". He's clearly blind of the possibility the pcs may refuse such offerts from a god. When this happens, if they PC didn't just jump at this projection, have him actually engage for a few rounds and a few spell slots over them with overwhelming power, possibly fueled by the Pyramid, until he's either weakened or gets actually tired by using so much power against mere mortals.
For the actual fight, I would actually suggest you ...
to halve the shield guardians and put some divine creature in the room, possibly an outsider representing either Set (modified Xacabra?) or the pharaoh's power (lighting elementals?). What should make this fight toughter is that each NPC that the characters have not destroyed should run to assist Hakotep, appearing one each 1/2 rounds.
Has anyone considered changing his class? PrimarIly One element blasting doesn’t seem like the way to go as an enemy in high level play
Disclaimer: I haven’t read the whole thing so I don’t know if his class is firmly tied to the story. His doesn’t mention any elemental bloodline explanation ...
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Hey folks. I don't mean to necro this thread, but I made some further tweaks to Hakotep, mainly to remove feats that are not very useful for a spellcaster. I did leave in his weapon proficiency with flails as it seems pretty central to his character to wield the Crook and Flail of Kings
The DCs of all his elemental spells have been altered to assume he is casting them as electricity spells. If he chooses to cast them using their normal elements, their DC is 2 lower.
A downloadable character sheet can be found here and complete spell list here.
XP 409,600
Male human mummy lord sorcerer 20 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 176)
LE Medium undead (humanoid, human)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +36
Aura great despair (30 ft., DC 34)
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Defense
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AC 43, touch 20, flat-footed 43 (+8 armor, +5 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +15 natural)
hp 382 (20d6+300)
Fort +20, Ref +10, Will +15
Defensive Abilities all-around vision, channel resistance +4, rejuvenation; DR 10/—; Immune cold, critical hits, electricity, sneak attacks, undead traits
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee flail of kings +15/+10 (1d8+9 plus insidious mummy rot) or
. . slam +12 (1d6+3 plus insidious mummy rot)
Special Attacks channel rot, insidious mummy rot (DC 24), sandstorm wrath (12d8 fire and slashing, DC 34), undead mastery (DC 34)
Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +34)
. . 17/day—elemental ray (1d6+10 electricity)
. . 3/day—elemental blast (20d6 electricity, DC 34)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 20th; concentration +34)
. . 9th (8/day)—dominate monster (DC 35), elemental swarm, meteor swarm (DC 37), overwhelming presence[UM] (DC 35)
. . 8th (8/day)—demand (DC 34), polar ray, stormbolts[APG] (DC 36), summon monster VIII (elementals only)
. . 7th (8/day)—deflection[APG], elemental body IV, mass hold person (DC 33), prismatic spray (DC 33)
. . 6th (9/day)—chain lightning (DC 34), greater dispel magic, elemental body III, sirocco[APG] (DC 34)
. . 5th (9/day)—cone of cold (DC 33), elemental body II, mind fog (DC 31), sonic thrust[UM] (DC 31), wall of force
. . 4th (9/day)—ball lightning[APG] (DC 32), boneshatter (DC 28), crushing despair (DC 30), elemental body I, enervation
. . 3rd (9/day)—elemental aura[APG] (DC 31), howling agony[UM] (DC 27), lightning bolt (DC 31), protection from energy, vampiric touch
. . 2nd (10/day)—blindness/deafness (DC 26), bull's strength, false life, hideous laughter (DC 28), minor image (DC 26), scorching ray
. . 1st (10/day)—burning hands (DC 29), mage armor, magic missile, shield, shocking grasp, unseen servant
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, bleed (DC 24), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 24), jolt[UM], mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic, touch of fatigue (DC 24)
. . Bloodline Elemental (air)
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Statistics
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Str 24, Dex 19, Con —, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 38
Base Atk +10; CMB +17; CMD 37
Feats Combat Casting, Dazing Spell[APG], Dodge, Elemental Focus[APG], Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Greater Elemental Focus[APG], Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (evocation), Improved Initiative, Martial Weapon Proficiency (heavy flail), Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Toughness
[b]Skills Acrobatics +24, Diplomacy +34, Fly +17, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (nobility) +13, Knowledge (religion) +16, Perception +36, Sense Motive +24, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +12; Racial Modifiers +8 Intimidate, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth
Languages Ancient Osiriani, Auran, Jistka, Shory
SQ bloodline arcana (change energy damage spells to match bloodline energy), elemental body, elemental movement
Combat Gear gloves of the commanding conjurer[UE], halo of menace[ARG], pearl of power (9th level), scroll of greater teleport, scroll of reverse gravity, scroll of time stop; Other Gear amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical might +6 (Str, Dex), bracers of armor +8, crook and flail of kings, headband of mental superiority +6, major cloak of displacement, ring of freedom of movement, ring of protection +5, robe of eyes, tome of leadership and influence +1 (already read), 5,225 gp in adornments
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Special Abilities
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All-Around Vision (Ex) You can see in all directions and cannot be flanked.
Bloodline Arcana: Elemental (Ex) You may change any energy spell to use Electricity energy.
Channel Resistance +4 +4 bonus to save vs. Channel Energy.
Channel Rot (Su) Mummy rot applies to any manufactured weapons as well.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Damage Reduction (10/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Dazing Spell You can cast a spell that dazes those injured by it (duration = spell's level in rounds, Fort negates).
Elemental Blast (20d6 electricity, 3/day, DC 34) (Sp) As a standard action, deal dam in 20 ft. burst up to 60 ft. away (Ref half).
Elemental Body (Su) Gain immunity to energy type, critical hits and sneak attacks.
Elemental Focus (Electricity) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Elemental Movement (Su) Gain an enhanced move
Elemental Ray (1d6+10 electricity, 17/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch attack deals damage to foe.
Empower Spell Numeric effects of a spell are increased 50%. +2 Levels.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Fly (60 feet, Average) You can fly!
Great Despair Aura (DC 34) (Su) Creatures in aura are paralyzed 1d4 rds, then shaken 1d4 rds (Will neg).
Greater Elemental Focus (Electricity) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Greater Spell Focus (Evocation) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Immunity to Cold You are immune to cold damage.
Immunity to Critical Hits You are immune to Critical Hits
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Sneak Attacks You are immune to sneak attacks.
Insidious Mummy Rot (DC 24) (Su) Insidious mummy rot—injury; save Fort DC 24; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 2d4 Con and 2d4 Cha; cure —. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Quicken Spell Cast a spell as a swift action. +4 Levels.
Rejuvenation (Su) One day after destruction, rebuild body over 1d10 days.
Sandstorm Wrath (12d8 fire and slashing, 3/day, DC 34) (Su) Hot sand deals fire and slash dam in 40 ft cone and blinds 2d4 rds (Ref part).
Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Undead Mastery (DC 34) As a standard action, gain control of undead in 50 ft (Will neg).
Undead Traits Undead have many immunities.
Regarding his CR, Herolab gives it as 21, I decided to make it 22 as he has PC wealth.
Secondly, I have for his encounter replaced his normal shield golems with 4 of these.
XP 153,600
Semi-unique Shield guardian advanced gold golem (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 158, 288, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 6 140)
N Large construct
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2
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Defense
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AC 34, touch 15, flat-footed 28 (+6 Dex, +19 natural, -1 size)
hp 156 (23d10+30); fast healing 5
Fort +7, Ref +13, Will +9
DR 15/adamantine; Immune construct traits, magic
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 slams +36 (4d8+14 plus prismatic surge)
Ranged 2 prismatic surges +29 (hits touch AC, max range 100 feet with no range increments, affects a hit target as per prismatic surge)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 23rd; concentration +20)
. . —improved spell storing
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Statistics
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Str 38, Dex 22, Con —, Int —, Wis 15, Cha 5
Base Atk +23; CMB +38; CMD 54
SQ controlled, death throes, find master, guard, shield other
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Special Abilities
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Construct Traits (+30 HP) Constructs have many immunities.
Controlled (Ex) A shield guardian that has the berserk special attack cannot go berserk as long as the wearer of its amulet is within 30 feet.
Damage Reduction (15/adamantine) You have Damage Reduction against all except Adamantine attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Death Throes (DC 21) (Ex) When killed, melt and release 10-ft. rad. cloud that deals 1d4 Con (Fort neg)
Fast Healing 5 (Ex) Heal damage every round unless you are killed.
Find Master (Su) As long as a shield guardian and its amulet are on the same plane, the shield guardian can locate the amulet's wearer (or just the amulet, if it is removed after the guardian is called).
Guard (Ex) If ordered to do so, a shield guardian moves to defend the wearer of its amulet. All attacks against the amulet wearer take a –2 penalty when the shield guardian is adjacent to its master.
Immunity to Ability Damage Immunity to ability damage
Immunity to Ability Drain Immunity to ability drain
Immunity to Bleed You are immune to bleed.
Immunity to Death and Necromancy effects You are immune to Death and Necromancy effects.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Energy Drain Immune to energy drain
Immunity to Exhausted You are immune to the exhausted condition.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Immunity to Magic (Ex) Immune to spells that allow SR, with some exceptions.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects.
Immunity to Nonlethal Damage You are immune to Nonlethal Damage
Immunity to Paralysis You are immune to paralysis.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Immunity to Stunning You are immune to being stunned.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Prismatic Surge (DC 21) (Su) With sucessful attack affect foe struck or another within 30 ft. (ranged touch atk) with prismatic ray.
Shield Other (Sp) The wearer of a shield guardian's amulet can activate this defensive ability as a standard action if within 100 feet of the shield guardian.
Improved Spell Storing (Sp) A Golden Guardian can store one spell of any level that is cast into it by Hakotep (only spells of 4th level or lower for another creature). It “casts” this spell when commanded to do so or when a predefined situation arises. Once this spell is used, the shield guardian can store another. Hakotep has placed a greater dispel magic (CL 20) into each of his 4 Golden Guardians.
Here is a downloadable sheet for the Golden Guardians, but it doesn't include my further alterations (the addition of a ranged attack and improved spell storing).
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With this new Sky Pharaoh and Golden Guardians, how tough was the fight? What was the party makeup when they encountered him?
I'll let you know in a bit, since the party is 2 rooms away from him. We started the campaign in Sep 2015 but only play for 3 hours one day a week.
We have a halfling unchained rogue 17, a human summoner 17, a human fighter (tower shield specialist) 17, and a tiefling arcanist/cleric/mystic theurge 17. They also have a level 15 ratfolk exploiter mage cohort.
The party is extremely optimized (in my opinion). For example, the halfling can hide in plain sight with a +50 something bonus and can do close to 300 damage with a full attack if he gets sneak attack damage.
Pretty much their only weakness is will saves but that is not really even that difficult for them because the mystic theurge has amazing saves all around and is a master dispeller of magic (he pretty much has all of the dispelling improvement feats and exploits).
@ckdragons @drsparnum
It looks like he's not coming back, but I played in this campaign (as the rogue), so I'll give a synopsis. The party is:
Human Summoner 17 (shreds basically anything that dies to full attacks that deal hit point damage)
Halfling Unchained Rogue 17 (stealth and thrown daggers with UMD)
Human Tower Shield Fighter 16/Cleric of Wadjet 1 (mobile bulwark style master of lots of AC, and trips with a whip)
Tiefling Arcanist/Cleric of Abadar/Mystic Theurge (dispelling focused, but also basically most of the magical clout of the party)
Ratfolk Exploiter Wizard 15 (the summoner's cohort from before we had enough players and before the mystic theurge joined to provide any reasonable amount of magic, blaster evoker)
We prebuffed a lot, but walked into the wrong room (the room with the sarcophagus), and after realizing this, we made a mad dash to the boss room before our buffs ran out. The party was most afraid of an opening move greater dispel magic busting through our buffs, so we walked into the room all huddled together in an antimagic field.
Hakotep started with 2 golems adjacent to him on his raised platform, and 2 golems down by us. After some banter, hakotep wins initiative and delays (since we're all in an antimagic field). The summoner steps out of the field and uses fuse eidolon for the first time, triggering hakoteps's time stop from a scroll. He presumably buffs, then targeted greater dispel magic on the summoner blasting down his buffs. The mystic theurge uses greater invisibility on me, and between that, a massive hide check, and a scroll of mind blank, I head over to the boss. The evoker hucks a blast his way, which he passes his save against. The fighter starts fighting the golems in the antimagic field, foregoing his buffs and magic items for good old fashioned not-getting-dominated-by-the-boss.
Hahotep tries an overwhelming presence that gets counterspelled, and the mystic theurge manages to beat his caster level with an 18 on the die. He quickens a dispel magic bringing down buffs on the theurge, but the antimagic field did its job, letting the party spread out to avoid bursts that hit multiple PCS. The golems on the ground engage the fighter (who gets in the way so they can't attack the theurge) and summoner, while the golems flanking hakotep shoot prismatic rays at the evoker, killing her (poison).
Hakotep fights the dispel war with the summoner's spell turning, the fighter trips both golems engaging him, I attack hakotep but miss and get hit with my own weapon, but manage to not completely kill myself due to not being able to sneak attack myself (improved uncanny dodge saves the day). The theurge uses his twin cast for the first time to breath of life the evoker and targeted greater dispel magic hakotep to take care of some of his buffs.
Hakotep hucks an electrical meteor swarm and a quickened enervation, but deals less damage than he wants between half the party passing the save and has some minor electricity resistance (from greater angelic aspect) and finds his enervation target death warded. The theurge puts a wall of force up around the golems by hakotep to keep them reigned in while I take them out. The golems on the ground are trashed.
After another round of similar (I trash the last golem, Hakotep's main spell gets counterspelled, the rest of the party drinks potions, Hakotep lets loose a devastating prismatic spray hitting everyone but me (who is still invisible). The evoker is killed and sent to another plane. The fighter rolls damaging color and passes the reflex save (and takes no damage due to ring of evasion). The summoner gets poison and damage, but passes the save against the poison and is immune to that damage type (fire). The theurge also rolls damage, and also makes the save, but gets downed anyway, 1 point away from his negative Con.
Things look bad, and the fighter and summoner both charge hakotep hoping to disrupt his next spell. I run into the middle of the battle and whip out a scroll of Mass Heal that I bought at the beginning of book 6, and use the artifact hunter feat to not have to chance the failed UMD, fully healing the entire party. Now up, the theurge prepares an action to counterspell.
Hakotep gets his spell disrupted, but the summoner and fighter have a hard time actually hitting him. I fly to the square under hakotep and use another key scroll, a scroll of antimagic field, dropping myself, hakotep, the fighter, and the summoner all out of the air in a crumpled heap. The theurge uses wall of force to completely cage in the antimagic field, and that's the fight. Hakotp's non-magic AC is minuscule, and he's locked in a 3v1 cage match without most of his abilities.
Was it difficult? Yes, but not as much as it looked. The heavy use of dispel magic from both sides (the golems were alternately hucking greater dispel magics and prismatic rays at the party) made a lot of the fight a contest of can we keep buffs up that prevent hakotep's spells from being useful. Creon (the GM) says Antimagic Field is now banned in his games, although I'm still not sure if that was a joke. Hardest thing was figuring out what we would actually be affected by from hakotep's spells, between the mountains of buffs especially the spell turnings. Everyone thought it was a fun climactic fight where everyone whipped out a new special ability, but the GM still seemed a little disappointed it wasn't harder.
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Hey all,
Sorry for not posting, I really intended to, but I lost my job the week leading up to the final session and it was basically taking all of my willpower to not have a nervous breakdown daily (no need to worry, I have a new job now and all is well). After that point Gaston would remind me during our weekly sessions (I have passed the GM hat to him and he is running Strange Aeons for our group now), but the rest of the week and getting acclimated to a new job sort of crowded everything else out.
My friend Gaston, who was a player in the game, gave an admirable summary.
My antimagic field quip was a bit of a joke. Something I will actually probably do is houserule protection from X to instead allow people to make a caster level check (DC 11+caster level) to overcome it on a spell-by-spell basis. As it stands a 1st level spell can just shut down any character who relies on enchantment magic, it was like my harder Hakotep just didn't have half his spell list.
@drsparnum I'm really bad at balancing encoutners, but a lot of it depends on how optimized your characters are and how good they are at pre-BBEG fight preparation (including how much time you give them to prepare). The encounter I prepared using Harder Hakotep (who is CR 22, not 21 as Hero Lab calculates) and 4 CR 18 Golden Guardians was a CR 24 fight. This was APL +7, which according to the Gamemastering Guide should be an impossible encounter without deus ex machina levels of outside help. It only resulted in the very temporary death of the party's utility caster and the Summoner's cohort (not his Eidolon, mind you, his cohort).
Having said that, I recommend 1 major and one minor change to Harder Hakotep. I had forgotten his Crook and Flail of Kings acts as a greater empower metamagic rod, so I suggest changing his Empower Spell feat out. If you want to give his evocations more power, I suggest Intensify Spell or Maximize Spell. If you want to make his enchantments stronger, I suggest Persistent Spell or Bouncing Spell.
The minor change is that his Pearl of Power (lvl 9) should be a Runestone of Power (lvl 9).
Not threadcrapping but the title of this thread made me think of Bubba Hotep. Carry on :)
Late edit*** sorry about your job situation. Glad you landed on your feet.
I think I've finally settled on much Harder Hakotep build. There was a point when my party was considering whether a revived Hakotep might not be a better pharaoh than the guy currently occupying that position. Over the course of book 5 (and the departure of the player and character most interested in that), they are firmly onboard with sending Hakotep I to his final rest. The problem is that way back, they gave the Mask to the Forgotten Pharaoh.
I decided that this turn of events resulted in Hakotep being returned fully to his life and former glory. I wanted a pharaoh who was a powerful wizard as well as a military threat. My players are expecting him to be a high level caster, so they will roll up on him expecting to give him a beat down.
I've also changed his golems so they are a collection: one clay, one iron, one brass, one stone.
He will be facing 5 optimized 17th level characters. Arcanist, Inquisitor, Bard, Life Oracle, Warpriest.
He is so complicated I'm going to have to make a flow chart of options, I think.
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Hakotep I CR 22
XP 614,400
Male suzerain fortune-blessed human (Garundi) eldritch knight 10/fighter 1/wizard 9/Archmage 2 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 142)
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses true seeing; Perception +29
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Defense
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AC 42, touch 25, flat-footed 36 (+8 armor, +3 deflection, +4 Dex, +2 dodge, +2 luck, +4 morale, +5 natural, +4 shield)
hp 389 (20 HD; 9d6+11d10+225)
Fort +27, Ref +22, Will +25; +8 resistance bonus vs. mind-affecting
Defensive Abilities dauntless courage, evasion, hard to kill; Immune fear; Resist fire 10
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Offense
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Speed 70 ft., fly 70 ft. (good)
Melee flail of kings +34/+34/+29/+24 (1d8+33/19-20) or
luck blade (0 wishes) +29/+29/+24/+19 (1d6+28/17-20)
Special Attacks augmented criticals, born to lead, enchanting presence (DC 17), lightning flash, lucky strike, mythic power (9/day, surge +1d6)
Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +29)
At will—feather fall, levitate
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 18th; concentration +29)
9th—prismatic sphere (DC 30), time stop (2), winds of vengeance[APG]
8th—frightful aspect[UC], mind blank, polar ray, power word stun, stormbolts[APG] (DC 32)
7th—elemental body IV, mass invisibility, mage's sword, prismatic spray (2, DC 30), waves of exhaustion
6th—chain lightning (DC 30), mass fox's cunning, hellfire ray (2), greater heroism, last azlanti's defending sword, starfall (DC 29)
5th—overland flight, mass pain strike[APG] (DC 28), suffocation[APG] (DC 26), wall of force (2), wall of light (DC 28), wind blades[ARG] (DC 26)
4th—bit of luck, cloud shape[ARG], greater false life[UM], ice storm (2), unbearable brightness[ACG] (DC 27), web cloud[ARG] (DC 25)
3rd—call the void (DC 26), displacement, fly, haste, greater magic weapon, slow (DC 24), greater thunderstomp[ACG]
2nd—aggressive thundercloud[ACG] (DC 26), burst of radiance (2, DC 25), invisibility, mirror image, raven's flight, scorching ray (2)
1st—burning hands (DC 24), endure elements, magic missile (4), shocking grasp, vanish[APG] (DC 22)
0 (at will)—detect magic, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue (DC 21)
Opposition Schools Earth
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Tactics
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Before Combat Hakotep casts mage armor and false life on himself every day. As soon as the stone block in area E21 is opened, Hakotep casts bull’s strength, mirror image, and shield.
During Combat Hakotep orders two of his shield guardians to guard him (all attacks against Hakotep take a –2 penalty for each golem adjacent to him) while the other two engage opponents in melee. Thereafter, Hakotep concentrates his attacks on the wearer of the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh, preferring to use evocation spells he can cast at range, such as meteor swarm, polar ray, prismatic spray, and chain lighting, while taking advantage of the metamagic abilities of his crook and flail of kings.
Morale The first time Hakotep takes damage in combat, he activates one of his shield guardians’ shield other abilities. If reduced to 100 hit points or fewer, Hakotep casts tar pool to entangle as many of the PCs as possible, or casts mass hold person to slow them down. He then flies to reposition himself in the eastern portion of the room, ordering his shield guardian bodyguards to accompany him, and continues throwing spells at opponents. If reduced to 50 hit points or fewer, Hakotep directs him golems to cover his retreat while he flees to the temple of Set (area E9). There, Hakotep kneels before the altar and beseeches Set for aid: “Father of Darkness! Would you deny your beloved our throne? We call for your aid!” Set does not answer this prayer, and Hakotep makes his final stand in the temple, fighting until destroyed.
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Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 18, Con 22, Int 32, Wis 21, Cha 25
Base Atk +15; CMB +27 (+29 disarm); CMD 46 (48 vs. disarm)
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Elemental Focus (electricity)[APG], Furious Focus[APG], Greater Spell Focus (evocation), Greater Weapon Focus (light flail), Improved Critical (light flail), Improved Disarm, Leadership[B], Power Attack[M], Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (evocation), Steward Of The Great Beyond, Toughness, Weapon Focus (light flail), Weapon Specialization (light flail)
Skills Acrobatics +18 (+34 to jump), Appraise +17, Bluff +39, Climb +12, Diplomacy +47, Disable Device +28, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +10, Fly +36, Heal +13, Intimidate +39, Knowledge (arcana) +40, Knowledge (engineering) +26, Knowledge (history) +30, Knowledge (nobility) +30, Knowledge (planes) +39, Knowledge (religion) +30, Linguistics +22, Perception +29, Ride +10, Sense Motive +32, Spellcraft +33, Stealth +10, Survival +11, Swim +12, Use Magic Device +33; Racial Modifiers +8 Bluff, +14 Diplomacy, +6 Intimidate
Languages Abyssal, Ancient Osiriani, Auran, Azlanti, Daemonic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Ignan, Infernal, Osiriani, Shory, Terran
SQ amazing initiative, arcane bond (ring of freedom of movement), competent caster[MA], cyclone, extra mythic power[MA], favored, inspiring example (+7), mage strike[MA], spell critical, stirring speech 7/day, turn of fate
Combat Gear scroll of reverse gravity, scroll of time stop; Other Gear luck blade (0 wishes), amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical perfection +6, bracers of armor +8, cloak of resistance +5, crook and flail of kings, headband of mental superiority +6, khepresh of refuge, mask of the forgotten pharaoh, ring of evasion, ring of freedom of movement, gold and emerald necklace (worth 20,000 gp)
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Special Abilities
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Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Arcane Bond (Ring of freedom of movement) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Augmented Criticals (Su) Critical threat ranged of all attacks doubles.
Born to Lead (Ex) Gain bonuses within sight of followers and grant followers teamwork feats.
Combat Expertise +/-4 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Competent Caster (Ex) Concentration checks for arcane spells auto succeed (unless highest level castable).
Cyclone (9 rounds/day, DC 28) (Su) Vortex causes all ranged attacks passing through it to miss, and creatures flying through it must make a Fly skill check or fall.
Dauntless Courage (Ex) Suzerain and allies within 30 ft. immune to fear.
Earth You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Earth school.
Elemental Focus (Electricity) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Enchanting Presence (DC 17) (Su) Creatures within 30 ft. attitude shifts one step positive (Will neg.).
Energy Resistance, Fire (10) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Favored (Ex) +2 luck bonus on all opposed checks, saves, and +1 luck bonus on attack rolls
Fly (70 feet, Good) You can fly!
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Greater Spell Focus (Evocation) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Immunity to Fear (Ex) You are immune to all fear effects.
Improved Disarm You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when disarming.
Inspiring Example (+7) (Ex) Allies within 60 ft. gain +7 morale bonus to attack, damage, and saves.
Leadership (score 27) You attract loyal companions and devoted followers.
Lightning Flash (1d6+4 electricity damage, 14/day, DC 25) (Su) 5 ft burst deals electricity dam and dazzles for 1d4 rds (Ref part).
Lucky Strike (1/minute) (Su) Once per minute apply true strike to a single attack.
Mage Strike (Su) As a swift action, use 1 power & a spell for extra melee att (2x spell lev energy dam & att bonus).
Power Attack [Mythic] Use 1 power to eliminate attack penalties of Power attack for 1 min.
Quicken Spell Cast a spell as a swift action. +4 Levels.
Spell Critical (Su) Cast a spell as a swift action when you confirm a critical hit.
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Steward of the Great Beyond (1/day) As an immediate action, if foe summon/teleports in 30 ft, you gain CL check to block the effect.
Stirring Speech (7/day) (Su) Inspire greatness in all allies within 30 ft. as a standard action
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Turn of Fate (1/day) (Su) Once a day reroll any failed roll.
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