Looking For Some Balance Advice On Ctenmiir Encounter


Advice


First, if any of my player happen to see this please don't read it.

I am running my PCs through the 3.5 version of White Plume Mountain and they are soon going to fight Ctenmiir, the dwarf vampire. The party is 4 lvl 7 PCs, made up of a Witch, Magus, Oracle, and a 1 Spiritualist\6 Occultist. Looking at the stat block for this guy I am worried he is going to kill them. Should I be worried? The module says to only "occasionally" use the energy drain. It also says that once he hits 10 hp or lower he should go into gaseous form and go into the next room (which has a big obstacle in it which will take the PCs time to cross) and heal. I appreciate any input or advice for running the encounter. Here are his stats:

CTENMIIR CR 8
Male dwarf vampire fighter 6

CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, dwarf)

Init +8; Senses Listen +12, Spot +12

Languages Common, Dwarven

AC 26, touch 11, flat-footed 25; Dodge

hp 39 (6 HD); fast healing 5; DR 10/silver and magic

Immune ability drain, critical hits, energy drain,
mind-affecting effects, nonlethal damage, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, stunning

Resist cold 10, electricity 10; turn resistance +4

Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +4

Weakness vampire weaknesses

Speed 20 ft. (4 squares); climb 15 ft. (as spider climb)

Melee Whelm +13/+8 (1d8+12) or
Whelm +13/+8 (1d8+9) and
slam +6 (1d6+3 plus energy drain 2 negative levels)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Base Atk +6; Grp +12

Atk Options: Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Spring Attack,
Special Atk Blood drain, create spawn, dominate
(range 30 feet; Will DC 14 negates)

Combat Gear 2 potions of shield of faith +3

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th):

At will—sense giants

Abilities Str 23, Dex 18, Con —, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12

SQ alternate form, gaseous form, spider climb,
turn resistance +4

Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes,
Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Weapon
Focus (warhammer), Weapon Specialization
(warhammer)

Skills: Bluff +9, Hide +5, Intimidate +10, Listen +12,
Move Silently +5, Ride +13, Sense Motive +10,
Spot +12

Possessions: combat gear plus Whelm, +1 full plate.

Blood Drain (Ex): Ctenmiir can suck blood from a living victim with his fangs by making asuccessful grapple check. If he pins the foe, he drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution
drain each round the pin is maintained. On
each such successful attack, Ctenmiir gains 5
temporary hit points.

Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous
humanoid slain by Ctenmiir’s energy drain or
blood drain attack rises 1d4 days later as a
vampire or vampire spawn. See the vampire
entry in the Monster Manual for details.

Alternate Form (Su): Ctenmiir can assume the
shape of a bat, dire bat, wolf, or dire wolf as a
standard action. This ability is similar to a polymorph spell cast by a 12th-level character, except that Ctenmiir does not regain hit points for changing form and must choose from among
the forms mentioned here. While in his alternate
form, Ctenmiir loses his natural slam attack and
dominate ability, but he gains the natural weaponsand extraordinary special attacks of his new form. He can remain in that form until he
assumes another or until the next sunrise.

Fast Healing (Ex): Ctenmiir heals 5 points of
damage each round so long as he has at least
1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in
combat, he automatically assumes gaseous
form and attempts to escape. He must reach
his coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly
destroyed. Any additional damage dealt to
Ctenmiir while he is in gaseous form has no
effect. Once at rest in his coffin, Ctenmiir is
helpless. He regains 1 hit point after 1 hour,
then is no longer helpless and resumes healing
at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, Ctenmiir can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 5th), but he can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.


Action economy > big numbers.


Secret Wizard wrote:
Action economy > big numbers.

Can you say more?


You shouldn't worry too much. While the monster has a relatively high AC for the level (I think), it's got not so much HP. With four enemies all ganging up on it, it should go down relatively quickly to their attacks. If you're going to use it's domination ability, then it'll a lot harder fight.


Barring a particularly vulnerable build combination, a series of crits, or dominate person shenanigans, your party will stomp this d00d. The latter is always a problem with vampires and other monsters with that ability, so best that your party learn to deal with it sooner than later.

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