Greatly delayed Malfeshnekor encounter (advice needed!) (Spoilers pt 4)

[MaxTheDM]

So my group only found Malfeshnekor after they finished Hook Mountain. When they came back to Sandpoint, they returned to finish investigating Thistletop and well exceeded the DC ~25 perception check to solve the puzzle, and thus made their way in to the back chamber. Now that they are level 11, I'm worried that Malfeshnekor is going to be a pushover, and I'd rather not turn one of Alaznist's lieutenants into a joke. So I'd like some advice for making this fight a bit tougher; one CR 7 enemy isn't going to pose much challenge at this point, even played well, especially since they have full resources.

The composition;
Elf Wizard 9/Inquisitor 1/Anchorite of Dawn PrC 1 (He multiclassed primarily for RP reasons, but he's still quite well built)
Halfling Fighter 10/Ranger 1 (Critical build with 2 Kukris)
Human Cleric of Sarenrae 11 (Pretty standard healer/support style)
Human Bard 10 (This is actually just Ameiko from the Rusty Dragon. I leveled her up for the giant raid, and didn't expect them to bring her along to this battle, but I didn't want to have her change stats so quickly between this and the Raid later on).

So I was thinking of applying the Advanced Template, but I can't think of a good way to make up the remaining CR. Maybe some wizard or barbarian class levels? What would you all recommend? I've already described the room layout and contents, so I can't give him additional allies (at least not ones who aren't hidden).

Thanks in advance :)

[Askar Avari]

First: Mythic Greater Barghest.

Second: Once your party identifies a Barghest, they may find it odd that he's simply wildly more powerful than any known barghest. If you're intent on beefing him up though, I'd make him a Mythic Greater Barghest Barbarian 4 with the Superstitious rage power.

I should note though, no matter what you do, Malfeshnekor will not be a threat to a mid-level party like yours. He's stuck in a room. I'd simply have him try and talk to the PCs, and accept that he wouldn't stand much of a chance in an out-right fight. I also don't think I'd call him a 'lieutenant' regardless of what the book says.

[BishopMcQ]

The fact that Karzoug's agents captured him suggests that Malfeshnekor was not one of Alaznist's more powerful lieutenants.

You can have the binding spell weaken over the last millenia so that once the door is opened, Malfesnekor is free to exit the room. If he has a bit more mobility and the party can't just stand back and pepper him with ranged attacks, then he will pose more of a threat.

That in combination with the threat increase suggested by Askar should make him more of a threat, but if the party is fully rested against a single mob, it won't be a long fight

[MaxTheDM]

Yeah, I forgot the part where he can’t leave the room, that puts a pretty serious damper on his combat ability; he’ll effectively be limited to defending himself and trying to scare them into leaving. I might do something like you suggested BishopMcQ, (This is making me think that Nualia’s plan was lacking in the first place; I don’t see how she could have freed Malfeshnekor. Early game villain oversight I guess).

I think I might have him try to talk his way out of the fight, hoping to get the PCs on his side through manipulation and careful sharing of information. Still, I’d like to boost his fighting ability a little in case the negotiations go sour (and when do they not?); mythic levels are intimidating but it does look like the mythic barghest is a lot scarier, which is all I really want. My biggest worry is they’ll take him out easily and then think “well what was the big deal about this guy?”, which would be a bummer because I spent a lot of time getting them all scared of him in the first chapter.

As for class levels, do you think it would be beneficial to use Bloodrager class levels, so he can still cast spells while in his rage? Or is there something I’m missing that makes the Bloodrager weaker in that regard? I’ve never really looked at the class until just now, when I remembered that it gave that benefit.

Thanks for the advice!

[Qualidar]

Do they actually know he's a barghest at this point? If not you could always just make him a glabrezu or something similar.

[pennywit]

I think there's a little room for GM handwaving and customizing here. What if he players (for whatever reason) broke the magic that kept him in the room when they opened it? So now, he's free ... so he immediately dimension door past the PCs and runs for it? Then he can go hide in Sandpoint and become an adversary that they have to track and kill ... and tracking him can be a chore.

[Mudfoot]

If you bump him up by +6 CR to match the PCs, your players will smell a rat and know that you've done that. After all, it's not difficult to metagame the idea that there wouldn't be a CR11+ encounter in Volume 1 of a published AP. That may or may not bother your players, of course.

But in any case, he's still a solo in a confined space, so it would be a pretty uninspiring battle.

So you need to create a way to keep the PCs from wanting to immediately nuke the poor chap. Give them a reason to talk to him. Perhaps he knows something, or claims to. Secrets about Alaznist or Runeforge or Xin-Shalast, for example. He might be lying, or guessing, or otherwise playing for time, but a twisted truth is more fun later. Use the magical barrier that stops him from leaving the room to give him enough early protection to survive long enough to open negotiations.

[Lawrencelot]

I would consider keeping him as is. Let the players feel like superheroes for once, knowing that if they encountered him at low level the fight would have been very different.

That said, my party encountered him a few levels later too and I turned him into a Vrock.