I'm planning on using one of the Dread X templates from the Advanced Bestiary, not decided on which one; not sure what race or base creature yet; nor the class. What I know is something of his backstory - hundreds of years ago, there was a huge battle near an ancient ruin - he was one of the commanders.
He died there.
Through his will and the help of a minion (ex-familiar?), a divination ritual was corrupted, and he and some of his (now zombie and skeleton) troops have risen. Where there was once field is now thick forest, and it's quickly dying off.
A vile tower has risen (either due to his magic, or that of his demon lord or whatever), and undead flood the area (moreso as he gathers strength to raise them). His lieutenants are low level dread skeletons and zombies. He should be CR 12-13, just enough to utterly terrify my 3rd level players. Soon, corpsewights will rise...
I have lots of ideas as to what to make him...but I love input. He must be able to raise and command undead, of course, but other things might be under control of a fiendish master (who won't need to be present!).
The ritual happened in the presence of the (theoretically non-heroic) party. I'm doing this so I can have a brand new long term threat and a zombie outbreak. ;)
Ideas?
The first thing to cross my mind was "what's the BBEG's motive?". The second was "why was forest growing up unnaturally fast?"
Put them together and the obvious answer is that BBEG was a druid of the anti-civilisation sort. It's just barely possible for a druid to raise and control undead - shade of the Uskwood feat, threnodic spell feat, either the fey spell lore feat or one of the archetypes which adds some mind-affecting spells. Efficiency doesn't really matter for this so it could work IMO.
avr wrote: The first thing to cross my mind was "what's the BBEG's motive?". The second was "why was forest growing up unnaturally fast?"
Put them together and the obvious answer is that BBEG was a druid of the anti-civilisation sort. It's just barely possible for a druid to raise and control undead - shade of the Uskwood feat, threnodic spell feat, either the fey spell lore feat or one of the archetypes which adds some mind-affecting spells. Efficiency doesn't really matter for this so it could work IMO.
I do like the idea - I've toyed with using maybe a Dread Morgh Druid - though the forest has had plenty of time to grow naturally. What race or creature might you think? An undead fey seems oddly compelling at the moment.
...not that Dread Morgh is carved into stone, either.
Depends. Do you want the players to feel any sort of connection to the druid? Then it'd probably help if the druid shared some background with one of them, race or otherwise. Do you want them to think of the druid as a terrifying merciless stranger? Then undead fey works.
avr wrote: Depends. Do you want the players to feel any sort of connection to the druid? Then it'd probably help if the druid shared some background with one of them, race or otherwise. Do you want them to think of the druid as a terrifying merciless stranger? Then undead fey works. Yeah, more of the terrifying...maybe not merciless, that remains to be seen...but yes, very much a stranger.
I actually like the idea that he might have some agenda he might recruit the party for. They're pretty neutral, and it might be interesting to give them a not entirely nefarious task.
I'm thinking maybe the theft of something of his previous life, something not just raw powerful, but an object of his desire, nonetheless.
...for which, he would agree to keep the mindless undead corralled.
I like creating unusual situations that aren't just solved with violence. ;)
Any other ideas? I know avr isn't the only creative voice out there...
EldonGuyre wrote: Any other ideas? I know avr isn't the only creative voice out there... Well, what was the battle about? Was your undead commander on campaign or defending their home?
If they were on a campaign of conquest, then I see them marching on, cutting a path of destruction according to long-irrelevant military plans
If they were defending their homes, then the ground they control used to be their village or some crucial pass that must be held at all costs.
Maybe they were a scouting party; maybe they were carrying an urgent message or urgent supplies to somebody important, and if the party finds the descendant of the recipient of the message, then the undead army can have final rest.
Scott Wilhelm wrote: EldonGuyre wrote: Any other ideas? I know avr isn't the only creative voice out there... Well, what was the battle about? Was your undead commander on campaign or defending their home?
If they were on a campaign of conquest, then I see them marching on, cutting a path of destruction according to long-irrelevant military plans
If they were defending their homes, then the ground they control used to be their village or some crucial pass that must be held at all costs.
Maybe they were a scouting party; maybe they were carrying an urgent message or urgent supplies to somebody important, and if the party finds the descendant of the recipient of the message, then the undead army can have final rest. All questions that could be tied into the commander, and things worth exploring, but as of yet undecided. At the moment, I'm just working on the commander himself, and perhaps that will help 'tell the story' of the battle.
I really like the Blight Druid + Death Domain + Shade of the Uskwood feat + Agent of the Grave prestige class for an unconventional necromancer.
I used this combination to make a Wildshaping Incorpreal Lich. Lol.
For your target Challenge Rating, I would go 5 levels of Blight Druid and all 5 levels of Agent of the Grave, then add whatever template that interests you.
VoodistMonk wrote: I really like the Blight Druid + Death Domain + Shade of the Uskwood feat + Agent of the Grave prestige class for an unconventional necromancer.
I used this combination to make a Wildshaping Incorpreal Lich. Lol.
For your target Challenge Rating, I would go 5 levels of Blight Druid and all 5 levels of Agent of the Grave, then add whatever template that interests you.
Nice. What are your thoughts on race?
|
