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View Full Version : Looking for ideas for a Big Bad (3.5)



Malanthyus
2009-06-23, 06:17 PM
I'm not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I'm cooking up a final boss for a "slightly" epic campaign (22-24 level max). The basic premise is that he started out as a monk kidnapped by drow and sold to a necromancer that was turned into a vampire, that eventually became a Vampire Lord . Now this odd fellow is leading a war of conquest in the underdark, with allies such as a Beholder, an Illithid, a High Priestess of Lolth, and a Shadow Dragon.

Books:Core, Any 3.5 Faerun Supplement , Book of Vile Darkness, Any of the "Complete" series.

Race: Human

Class: At least one level of Monk with the Vampire Lord Template. Any unarmed melee class or prestige class, no casters. Preferably a class or class option with Diplomacy,bluff, and UMD as class skills.

Ability scores: Starting Stats: (Yes I know these are a bit high, but he is the big bad :P) Str: 16 Int:14 Dex:18 Wis:18 Con: 12 Cha:14

Feats: Open to any and all suggestions, again might want have something that let's him be persuasive, as well as a Mage/Magic user slayer type.

Final Notes: Somewhere along the way this guy created/dominated a school of arcane casters into his spawns, so he has had access to Tomes and Wish spells, as well as almost any conceivable magic item. His final CR will be roughly 32, with 20 levels of whatever adventuring classes are used. Any help would be appreciated...I'm up against a group of pros. o.0

mikeejimbo
2009-06-23, 06:48 PM
For some reason as I read the title, I thought "Big Bad Bard."

I still think that would be awesome. It has the Diplomacy, Bluff, and UMD at least. I'd go for some Monk / Bard multiclass action there. Bad guys don't really HAVE to make sense, after all.

Edit: Clarification. They have to make sense, but they don't always have to be extremely optimized.

Further Edit: Aww, I just saw that you said no casters. I missed that on the first run through of the post.

I still want a Big Bad Bard.

Malanthyus
2009-06-23, 08:39 PM
Thanks for the reply, I know it seems a bit silly, but I wanted this guy to somehow have been able to pull it off without resorting to actually bothering to learn magic himself, but rather relying on his natural abilities and the art of his slaves. :smallamused:

Teln
2009-06-23, 09:38 PM
Might wanna check out this thread.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109398

mikeejimbo
2009-06-23, 09:40 PM
Thanks for the reply, I know it seems a bit silly, but I wanted this guy to somehow have been able to pull it off without resorting to actually bothering to learn magic himself, but rather relying on his natural abilities and the art of his slaves. :smallamused:

Yeah, that's totally valid, especially for a Big Bad. Barring Bards, (and other casters) there's actually a lot you can do with Monks. I think. I'm a bit confused about one thing - is your Big Bad a Vampire himself? Vampire Monks are pretty awesome if I remember correctly. (I once statted one up to see what it'd be like.)

Also unfortunately, my Monk-fu is weak. I know there are really cool (for a given value of cool) prestige classes he can take, though none come to mind directly.

PumpkinEater
2009-06-23, 10:46 PM
Well, for Monks, I modify the Abundant Step ability so that the Monk can basically Dimension Door any number of times per day to a spot that he or she can see as a move action. No attack of oppurtunity. However instead of the typical range for Dimension Door, the range is 10 feet / class level + 10 feet x Wisdom modifier. The ability is gained at level 9. He or she can divide the number of feet as they desire for the Dimension Door. (I'm kinda thinking of changing it to 5 feet x Wisdom modifier).

Malanthyus
2009-06-23, 10:51 PM
Yeah, that's totally valid, especially for a Big Bad. Barring Bards, (and other casters) there's actually a lot you can do with Monks. I think. I'm a bit confused about one thing - is your Big Bad a Vampire himself? Vampire Monks are pretty awesome if I remember correctly. (I once statted one up to see what it'd be like.)

Also unfortunately, my Monk-fu is weak. I know there are really cool (for a given value of cool) prestige classes he can take, though none come to mind directly.

He started out with the Vampire template, then had this added on:

Vampire Lord (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20021018a)

PumpkinEater
2009-06-23, 10:54 PM
He started out with the Vampire template, then had this added on:

Vampire Lord (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20021018a)

Ouch, that's harsh.

Malanthyus
2009-06-24, 12:08 AM
Well hopefully anyway. I've pretty much got a group with at least 3 experienced DM's who've made up characters under the books listed, and I wanted an actual challenge to surprise them with for the final battle.

Anxe
2009-06-24, 12:25 AM
Teln's class seems appropriate. Throw in a permanent deeper darkness effect that the Vampire Lord can see through and it'd be awesome.