Gentleman BBEG

[Guardianlord]

Hello, I am currently creating a campaign where the BBEG will be the archetypical aristocrat. A charming, dashing, manipulative figure that convinces his victims that it was a good thing he beat them. He is going to be a Varissian Human noble that is the darling of his court running a proxy war (with allies he manipulated or enchanted into following him). When his charm (or spells) fail him, he can always fall back on a large pool of panache and quality steel and dueling skills.

I was thinking a lvl 12-14 character, 5-7 of swashbuckler (or an archetype that lets them parry and riposte). And 5-7 of an enchanter spellcaster.

The trouble is, I have never played a swashbuckler or an Enchanter specialist. I am somewhat at a loss on how to build this BBEG using first party paizo materials only (to be fair to my players who are likewise limited to first party materials).

I am curious if anyone has a solid build already, or can help me stat out the feats, spells and classes needed to pull this enemy off as a credible threat to the party and their allies.

Thank you all.

[Meirril]

First thing to say, a level 7 swashbuckler + 7 caster (that isn't a magus) isn't a threat to a 14th level player that actually focuses on doing his thing for 14 levels. The swashbuckler's BAB is going to be a little low, though since this is a MONSTER you could cheat and pick his bonuses to hit up enough to compensate for it.

But the real weakness here is the spell casting. A 7th level caster throws 4th level spells. The DC to save is affected by the level of the spell. If this is suppose to be more than dabbling, you need to have the actual caster level match (or exceed) the party. If you don't, your BBG's spells will mostly be saved against and lack punch compared to what the PCs throw out.

Instead of just being a vanilla human, make your BBG an actual monster. Lots of different monsters could be in his position. Your noble could be a Vampire. With all 14 levels devoted into spell casting he'll still be quite good at melee combat but not as skilled. He could also be a 14th level Swashbuckler that uses his innate charm abilities and made a few others into his vampire slaves.

Or he could be a lich. Less weaknesses, more reason why he has powerful magic to disguise his condition. Can be an incredibly powerful opponent.

A creature disguising itself as human equal appeal. A Rakshasa or Succubus could easily slip into human society and replace the real duke. Give the monster 12-14 levels of a casting class and it goes from being a CR 6 or 10 to whatever level caster you make it. Add a few levels of Swashbuckler to satisfy your desires. As long as the swashbuckler levels + CR of the base creature is less than the caster level it should be fine. After all, this is suppose to be THE BBG, right?

Also give your BBG some decent followers. For a monster living in human society, give them 3 'maids' that are actually 2 witches and a Hag that form a coven and provide the BBG with Mind Blank to help keep him from being found out. Also some base succubus to do the dirty work of ensuring the loyalty of important followers is a good idea. They should be very good at gathering blackmail and manipulating mortals without resorting to magic. The best control doesn't depend on things that can be dispelled.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Meirril is right about multiclassing being too weak. Sticking with a single class is going to work a lot better. Arheaologist bard would actually work well for this. Pick up lingering performance and spend the rest of his feats on combat and he should be fairly competent. Focus on DEX and make sure to take fencing grace. Take fates favored and make sure to pick up heroism as one of your spells. Combining his luck bonus with heroism and DEX to damage will allow him to be very effective in combat.

Bards get most of the enchantments spells so that covers the enchantments. As a single classed bard he is not losing any cater level and gets access to higher level spells. Bards even get early access to some spells.

[Matthew Downie]

Meirril wrote:

First thing to say, a level 7 swashbuckler + 7 caster (that isn't a magus) isn't a threat to a 14th level player that actually focuses on doing his thing for 14 levels.

What if the campaign only goes up to level 8 or so?

A Swashbuckler / Wizard hybrid is going to be weak relative to their level, but we can make him whatever level we want. There's nothing to stop us having a Swashbuckler 11 / Enchanter 11 if that's what it takes to challenge to PCs. (That might be worth a ridiculous number of XP to the party, but when you beat him the campaign is probably over anyway.)

Another option: Swashbuckler 1, Enchanter 5, Eldritch Knight 10. Can cast a spell as a Swift action whenever he gets a critical hit. Casts as a level 14 wizard.

[Oli Ironbar]

Add SLA’s to a full progression swashbuckler and find a cool reason he has them... radioactive blood from ... idunno ... an ankh. Or he is blessed by a suave deity, or cursed, whatever seems coolest and most debonair.

[Danny StarDust]

Like Mysterious Stranger said, the archeaologist Bard is a good class or Matthew Downie's Eldritch Knight. But, to spice things up, you can also make a gestalt character as the BBEG.
Swashbuckler and Bard, for exmaple, will fit your description perfectly. Just add some to the CR of the BBEG, but at 6th or 7th lvl, the gestalt BBEG is a formidable foe.

[Guardianlord]

Any suggestions on builds?
I am thinking Swashbuckler 2 for charmed life, panache for parry's. Then Archaeologist Bard 12 for good self buffs against a party with 2 witches.

Max CHA, then DEX, then CON and STR on a Heroic stat list. Possibly with a +1/+2 CR template.

He can send minions in as fodder, casting support and debuff spells to disrupt the party. Utilizing an illusionary double and invisibility to avoid combat directly. If he does need to fight he can survive with maxed DEX, Panache pool for parry and riposte, boosted saves vs debuffs, and some high end gear befitting a noble.

The trick here is which spells to select, and what feats would be good for a charming, manipulative BBEG

[avr]

Hold monster and envious urge are some nasty bardic spells which he might use. Actually getting his enemies to fail saves may be difficult, seeing that he's several spell levels behind what you might expect of a level 14 character; a cruel weapon and intimidate feats may help there.

[Guardianlord]

avr wrote:

Hold monster and envious urge are some nasty bardic spells which he might use. Actually getting his enemies to fail saves may be difficult, seeing that he's several spell levels behind what you might expect of a level 14 character; a cruel weapon and intimidate feats may help there.

I can certainly create something to up his DC's a lot. Maybe a fragile item the party can Spellcraft and sunder with a lucky shot.

Envious Urge is definitely on the list now =D
Hold monster is brutal, I love it!

I was going to arm him with a powerful Rapier, cruel would be a good add on for it.

Keep the suggestions coming

[Chromantic Durgon <3]

You could quite easily do this without complicated builds.

1 level inspired blade swashbuckler/13 levels of Mesmerist, take fencing grace, combat reflexes, Spell focus enchanting and greater Spell focus enchanting.

You’re sorted at that point he’s set.

This character will have mass suggestion, hold monster and dominate person