Help creating a Sub Boss

[Zotpox]

What kind of barbarian and how many levels would be most appropriate for this guy?

I am using this for the base creature.

Kitty:

Tiger, Dire (Cat, Great / Smilodon) Awakened, Anthropomorphic, Enlarge Person (Huge), Magic Fang, Greater +3 (Bite), Resistance, Telepathic Bond (to caster of Awaken)

I am running a well balanced group of 12 and they can be frighteningly efficient.

[Artofregicide]

Zotpox wrote:

What kind of barbarian and how many levels would be most appropriate for this guy?

I am using this for the base creature. ** spoiler omitted **

I am running a well balanced group of 12 and they can be frighteningly efficient.

Enlarge person? Is this an animal companion?

12 players or level 12? If 12 players, what level?

[Zotpox]

Magical beast (augmented animal) to be precise. I believe that it dose count as humanoid.

Not an animal companion as it no longer qualify's.

12 players that just hit level 4 and there teamwork is almost flawless.

[avr]

Will they be facing the caster of the Awaken or other enemies at the same time? Maybe a few smilodons with the young template - Kitty's cubs. With a 12 player party they'll need a few allies to not be overwhelmed by the action economy. 12:1 is no joke.

If Kitty is trying to handle that level of disadvantage alone then they need something which adds attacks, lesser spirit totem maybe. That means at least a couple of levels of barbarian. I can't think of good ways of avoiding terrible debuffs without a lot more levels though, and too many could outright kill anything they pounce on.

[Zepheri]

It will be a real joke if you put some helldog named kitty

[Zotpox]

If you one of my PC don't look:

The caster of Awaken is a high teens level wizard (and the big bad) so other enchantments and protections are options for kitty.

Anthropomorphic so no pounce or claws.

If you one of my PC don't look:

The party's encounter with kitty will be a rolling ambush meant to buy the big bad time to move. The objective of the encounter is to slow the party down and gauge their strength then escape. Still working on a way to get something that big away clean.

The party will know of kitty and kitty will have backups for round two.

[Meirril]

12 level 4 players is the equivalent of 3 level 4 parties, which is somewhere between a level 5 and 6 party. Figuring these guys are actually OP then lean towards 6. A deadly encounter is CR 10.

The base tiger being used is a CR 8, so a +2 encounter. Buffs are about CR +0, becoming humanoid actually makes this creature less of a threat. Technically can still pounce, but only has 1 natural attack. If you bump the CR to a total of +4 that is a deadly encounter. However, its a bit of a joke since a level 4 party should be able to hit the tiger with Hold Person which technically works and a blown will save will kill this creature.

It is actually more powerful just being awakened without being anthropomorphic.

Throw the Advanced (simple) template on Kitty, which will let you boost Kitty to Huge size without magic. Now Kitty is a CR 9. You could add 1-2 levels of a full BAB class and it wouldn't make much of a difference to Kitty's stats, but it would boost the CR to 10.

It will be far more effective to throw in 2 more Dire Tigers (normal) than further improving Kitty. 3 targets live longer than 1 slightly bigger target. Also 3 tigers have 3 times as many attacks and 3 times as many saves.

If I could rework Kitty, I'd suggest:

Kitty2:

Advanced template, make it huge due to advance. Awakened, Greater Magic Fang (+1 to all natural weapons), Cloak of Resistance +1, Telepathic Bond, Greater Hat of Disguise (for when the tiger needs hands), polypurpose pouch, a few potions and some gems/gold, 4 potion sponges of Displacement (CL 10) and the Tiger uses one the first round.

[Mark Hoover 330]

12 Perception checks at level 4 - good potential that one or more PCs can act on the Surprise round

By round 1, 12 PCs dealing an average of 7.1 damage against the base creature per round; one full round of combat sees this party inflicting 85.2 damage (if all of them used attack methods that dealt damage).

Barbarian delivers d12 HD and adds +2 HP/HD thanks to Rage. One level of barbarian gives the creature +20.5 HP; if you want the creature to survive to flee into round 2 it needs at least 35 HP. You need 3 levels of barbarian; this puts it's HP at 88.

Lastly consider: you describe this as a "rolling ambush" yet Kitty, as the base creature, has no special means of escape, ignoring difficult terrain, or Movement types other than base speed. It also has no ranged attacks. That means that your ambush predator has to get itself into melee with at least one of 12 PCs who are unlikely to spread so far apart in their marching order that they won't be able to surround and contain a threat they expect is coming.

Once kitty engages on the Surprise round, it starts round 1 at melee distance from the PCs. With no unique spells or abilities to cover it's escape, Kitty has the Withdraw action or Acrobatics to try to avoid AoOs while it flees far enough away from the PCs where they don't just automatically make up the ground and surround the creature anyway.

If, however, you HAVE given Kitty three levels of barbarian, on the other hand once it attacks in the Surprise round (via Partial Charge I'd imagine) this creature may in fact have severely damaged or even nearly killed a single PC. With those levels of barbarian Kitty gains +3 BAB meaning it's BAB +7. If Kitty took Vital Strike, didn't use the Partial Charge on the Surprise round but still managed to get a bit off in that Surprise round, you're talking about a creature with a Bite +18 (figuring Power Attack but also Furious Focus) that deals 4d6 +12 damage.

That bite on a successful hit deals an average of 26 damage. A level 4, 6 HD PC has an average of 16.5 HP plus Con bonus and FCB. In order to survive the bite, this PC would need at least +3 HP/level from the combo of these sources. That means a D6 HD PC with a Con of 14 or better who also took HP from their Favored Class Bonus.

Barring weird luck on either side, I'm guessing Kitty plus 3 levels of any barbarian archetype lasts about one Surprise round and 1-2 combat rounds.

[Zotpox]

Campaign plot spoiler:

I think i will use Meirril's rework for kitty as a later encounter. They will be well placed to be Kitty's mate and cubs.
About one Surprise round and 1-2 combat rounds sounds perfect. These guys are an experienced team and 1 or two getting badly mauled or even slain outright could be THE "Come to Hesus moment" for the group. These guys will Resurrect him and it will foster sum serious hate for the big bad.
Three levels of Barb and a feat or something that gives trample. This guy is 25' tall and weigh's entirely to much so a charge should be nasty.
I am thinking Boots of Teleportation for his dramatic entrance and escape; Que the "I'll get you my pretty's and your little dog too" monologue.

[Zotpox]

So we currenly have

The Kittys:

Tony AKA... Kitty
Tiger, Dire (Cat, Great / Smilodon) Awakened, Anthropomorphic, Enlarge Person (Huge), Magic Fang, Greater +3 (Bite), Resistance, Telepathic Bond (to caster of Awaken), Barbarian 3, Boots of Teleportation.

Ms. Kitty
Advanced template, make it huge due to advance. Former Animal Companion (10th Level), Greater Magic Fang (+1 to all natural weapons), Resistance, Greater Hat of Disguise/Sleves of Many Garments (enhanced with Enlarge/Reduce Person), polypurpose pouch, a few potions and some gems/gold, 4 potion sponges of Displacement (CL 10) and the Tiger uses one the first round.

Cubs 2 more Dire Tigers (use normal entry and dont use adolecient template and Int = 5)
Tony Jr. (son)
Antoinette (daughter)

The question is what type of Barbarian and with what Feats will give the literally Huge Sized Kitty the most bang for his buck.

[Zepheri]

Pack hunter (barbarian archetype)

Feat jaguar pounce, totemic initiate

[Zotpox]

I haven't been able to find polypurpose pouch anywhere.

Maybe the Totem Warrior (barbarian archetype) as the Totem Rage Powers can give back claw attacks or other effects.

This immense anthropomorphic hunting cat is over 24 feet tall and weigh's 48,000 pounds, that's 21.77 metric ton's.

Can he take trample as a feat?

[Zotpox]

Campaign plot spoiler:

I think that the Improved Overrun and Greater Overrun (Combat) feat's should take care of my trample concerns.

The Totem Warrior Beast Totem (barbarian archetype) sounds good, granting Beast Totem, Lesser (Su) give him back his claw attacks while raging, making Pounce great again.

A charge with greater overrun and a pounce at the end sounds like a great combo, and besides at kitty's size his farts have +12 to intimidate.

[Zotpox]

Thank you all for your help.

[Marcella]

This probably wouldn't be the most efficient suggestion for a fight-to-the-death, and you ideally would want to build for it with feats & the vigilante talent that favor breaking objects & opening doors, but I would welcome this chance to use the Kool-Aid Man feat (Stunning Irruption). It can work well for hit-and-runs, and the sheer number of PCs just asks for an AoE.

The feat requires Power Attack and a solid object to break through, and it is most effective if the PCs are already engaging creatures immune to stun. Have the PCs fighting plants or the wizard's expendable zombies beside someone's rotted old wooden fence at an abandoned farm. Kitty makes his dramatic entrance, stuns half the party for two rounds, mauls someone for a round while the mooks get free shots (and grapple/trip attempts?), then retreats before anyone can react or even pick up their weapons (or safely disengage from the others).

[Meirril]

Zotpox wrote:

I haven't been able to find polypurpose pouch anywhere.

Well, it would help if I got the name right. /sigh

Polymorphic Pouch