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PersonMan
2009-07-18, 11:11 AM
Alright, the basic premise is that I have a party of three (sorcerer, ranger,cleric, all level 6-7) and they are fighting against someone with control over the four classic elements. Quick notes: The ranger has a large damage output, as does the sorcerer. The cleric heals(and heals well, but doesn't do much else). My original question is what type this person should be. I'm thinking of Abberation(Augmented Humanoid), but I'm unsure...I'd also like assistance on working out the abilities. I can usually do this well, but I'm not sure about my ability to make abilities that fit the CR well... My end goal is to have an enemy that is strong enough to use up quite a bit of the PCs' resources-enough that they'll probably retreat for now.

This is the scenario: The element-controlled is convinced that this is a test of her ability to guard, and will stop once the entire party is unconscious. The PCs don't know this, however, and believe this to be a fight to the death. The element-controller(EC for short) was injured earlier(they tried to slit her throat), and will need fast healing to survive the encounter. I'm planning on having her surrender once she takes enough damage. Background information: The PCs are in the fortress of the BBEG and are planning on attacking her second-in-command after this battle. At this point, the Ranger is unconscious, but he'll wake up next round.

So, to sum it all up, I need help making this EC, as fast as possible(I'm using her in tomorrow's session).

Anxe
2009-07-18, 11:17 AM
Okay. Give the EC the ability to cast Burning Hands, Stone Grasp, Gust of Wind, and Orb of Cold. The Orb isn't exactly water, but it's close enough. Maybe give her wind wall too. That covers the four elements. Make these abilities an at will thing and you've got a decent encounter. Make up some saves, HP, and an AC that you think is appropriate. Then just describe her however you feel like. The players don't have to know that she isn't really a class of any kind or a creature of any kind.

PersonMan
2009-07-18, 11:24 AM
I know Burning Hands and Gust of Wind/Wind Wall, but the other two I don't recognize...Are they on the SRD? (I'm using dandwiki) Also, I'm only using core+MMs 3-5, along with whatever I can find online due to OGL.

EDIT: I'm assuming the ones I can't find are non-core since they aren't on the SRD.

I_Got_This_Name
2009-07-18, 11:16 PM
Core-only then. Remember that a lot of spells scale down below the level at which you get them, so you can use some high-level spells.

Fire: Take your pick of Evocation spells. Burning Hands is awful; I'd recommend maybe Scorching Ray, or even Fireball. Alternately, scale Burning Hands up to d6s and give it a range that isn't as bad. Flaming sphere might also work.

Air you have down. Control Winds is also an option here, too, since it scales down.

Water: You have a bunch of choices here, actually. Animate Objects (Water only) is good here. Summonings that bring in Water Elementals (you'll want Medium, probably. Definitely not small, and probably not Large) work here too. If you don't want to add combatants, Horrid Wilting works and scales down nicely. You can also use cold spells; I'd recommend Polar Ray or Freezing Sphere, which also scale down nicely. Even acid spells, like Acid Arrow, work here.

For Earth, you also have a lot of choices: Entangle, Sleep (upgraded), Hold Person, even Ray of Exhaustion or Slow could be Earth-themed. So could Black Tentacles. Spike Stones is also a nice possibility off the Druid list. Stoneskin would be good, except that it's not something to cast in-combat. Entangle and Black Tentacles are a bit risky in that they make retreat harder, which is not what you want.

Pick spells that do different things tactically. If she has Fireball, don't give her Freezing Sphere or Horrid Wilting; if she has Polar Ray, don't give her Scorching Ray. No more than two of her spells should be only direct damage, and probably just one.

So, you might build her: Gust of Wind, Scorching Ray, Summon Medium Water Elemental, and Slow. She opens with Slow on the party, then spams Medium Water Elemental to put obstacles in their way to slow them down further. When she feels safe she blasts a Scorching Ray. If the PCs get too close she uses Gust of Wind.

Or she might have Wind Wall, Flaming Sphere, Horrid Wilting, and Spike Stones. Here, she opens by dropping a Wind Wall to shut down the Ranger, then drops Spike Stones over anywhere the party might want to go. She then goes sphere bowling. When her standard action is free, she sucks their water out.

Milskidasith
2009-07-18, 11:55 PM
http://crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/

You can find a lot of 3.5 spells in there if you ever need ideas. Anyway, I think the people here have covered most everything, though you could use that link to check out some of the spells they listed.

PersonMan
2009-07-19, 01:36 AM
Here I am, thinking that the playground may have failed me-and then everyone posts while I'm asleep!

Anyways, thanks for the help. I'd already made the creature, but I modified the spell-like abilities, and I think it fits with the theme of this enemy. Once again, thanks.

TSED
2009-07-19, 01:37 AM
Some of the fog spells for concealment could be nice, too. Could use them for water, even (mist in the air and such).

Alternately, go warlock. Maybe give it more invocations than it should have or make up some new ones, ie "can turn eldritch blast into fire, cold, electric, or bludgeoning damage", "ohhhh obscuring mist'd!" (say it's smoke for fire), "suck on a stony-hand-grapple-thingy" (for earth), Fell flight for air (just keep the wings out, make it gust-y or something). Water can be... Hmm. Wait, make the grapple thingy made out of water, and give it the spiderclimb one instead!

...Wait, nevermind, CArc isn't in this. Well. Reconsider banning that because it really does work nicely for this.

I_Got_This_Name
2009-07-19, 01:45 AM
It's probably not that Completes are banned, but that he doesn't have them.

TSED
2009-07-19, 02:05 AM
It's probably not that Completes are banned, but that he doesn't have them.

Yes, but you can use Crystal Keep to essentially copy the important bits of that.

PersonMan
2009-07-20, 01:11 PM
I_Got_This_Name is correct.

...What is this Crystal Keep of which you speak?

Djinn_in_Tonic
2009-07-20, 01:30 PM
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php

Enjoy! :smallbiggrin:

TSED
2009-07-20, 05:32 PM
Side note: yes, it is legal!

I_Got_This_Name
2009-07-20, 09:14 PM
So what'd you use? How did it go?