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View Full Version : Count Strahd Rebuild {3.5x}



AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 02:27 PM
I know Expidition to Castle Ravenloft rebuilt him, but I want him to be the BBEG of my Undead Apocolypse and want him to be a truly daunting foe for gestalt. He'd be a 20+ boss capable of "causing a new undeath plague"

Here's my remix:

Race: Evolved Half-Fiend Vampire

Class: Dread Necromancer/Pale Master//Focused Necromancer/Master Specialist

Exclusive Effects: Immunity to Vamp Weaknesses (Except Holy Damage), Vampire Bat Swarm Form, Vampire Blood Form, Command Undead, Summon: Castle Ravenloft (Like Dracula from Castlevania)

Weapon: +9 Madness Ore (Hardness of Admantine, Weight of Mithril, No Rust) Keen Vampiric Longsword (Nosferatu) that can Only be wielded by Strahd. If weilded by creature other than Strahd, they slowly become Count Strahd, eventually literally mutating into him. Unbreakable except by the sword mentioned by EtCR.


Why would I redo Strahd like this?: I wanted a super BA vampire look, like Arucard (Hellsing) and Dracula (Castlevania Series). This way, he stands above the PCs as a figure more common with a Vampyre King than just a powerful vampire. He begins as an ally to the PCs, but turns out to be the BBEG by his associate, known only as Skull, a Human Sorcerer/Osteomancer//Paladin of Tyranny/Bone Knight.

Starbuck_II
2010-02-01, 02:33 PM
Keen Vampiric Longsword (Nosferatu) that can Only be wielded by Strahd. If weilded by creature other than Strahd, they slowly become Count Strahd, eventually literally mutating into him. Unbreakable except by the sword mentioned by EtCR.


UMD beats any special clause. Really this just hurts non-rogues (although rogues might be less likely to use it).
Bards, however, are most likely to use it successfully.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 02:35 PM
UMD beats any special clause. Really this just hurts non-rogues (although rogues might be less likely to use it).
Bards, however, are most likely to use it successfully.

So how do i make an EXCLUSIVE weapon that only Strahd can weild. (Note: We have no rogue. Just a Ninja//Assassin (Taking the assassin prc and making it a base class))

J.Gellert
2010-02-01, 02:37 PM
If only Strahd can wield it, why bother with the transformation part? No one else can wield it, so no one else can become Strahd.

And you are the DM, so just say UMD doesn't work on this sword. Artifact.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 02:40 PM
If only Strahd can wield it, why bother with the transformation part? No one else can wield it, so no one else can become Strahd.

And you are the DM, so just say UMD doesn't work on this sword. Artifact.

I meant if a PC tries to weild it, they transform into Strahd.

and I like calling it an Artifact. TY

lord_khaine
2010-02-01, 02:48 PM
UMD beats any special clause. Really this just hurts non-rogues (although rogues might be less likely to use it).
Bards, however, are most likely to use it successfully.


No, the most specific clause wins, and i dont recall any mimic Strahd entry under use magic device.

Though i do agree that doesnt make any sense if it turn its wielder into Strahd anyway, and for that matter i do think that ability is a bit weird.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 02:56 PM
No, the most specific clause wins, and i dont recall any mimic Strahd entry under use magic device.

Though i do agree that doesnt make any sense if it turn its wielder into Strahd anyway, and for that matter i do think that ability is a bit weird.

It's to deter PCs from using it. They die and become Strahd as he was when he died.

Coidzor
2010-02-01, 03:00 PM
No, the most specific clause wins, and i dont recall any mimic Strahd entry under use magic device.

Though i do agree that doesnt make any sense if it turn its wielder into Strahd anyway, and for that matter i do think that ability is a bit weird.

It's part Sauron's Ring, part something else. Possibly body horror.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 03:01 PM
It's part Sauron's Ring, part something else. Possibly body horror.

Pretty Much

Shishnarfne
2010-02-01, 03:10 PM
I have a suggestion for a way to make the sword less attractive for theft, using a method applied to another sword in the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft module: make it relatively simple (+X, maybe some simple enchantments like keen), but give it the ability to channel his vampiric energy drain attack. Thus, when he hits someone with it, they take a few negative levels. Feel free to have him haste himself or have another way of getting as many attacks with it as possible (whirlwind attack is feat intensive, but thins out party melee types).

Oh, and a hint on specializing: vampires don't need enchantment, so unlike the module, have him ban that and keep something he can't replicate as a supernatural ability.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 06:26 PM
I have a suggestion for a way to make the sword less attractive for theft, using a method applied to another sword in the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft module: make it relatively simple (+X, maybe some simple enchantments like keen), but give it the ability to channel his vampiric energy drain attack. Thus, when he hits someone with it, they take a few negative levels. Feel free to have him haste himself or have another way of getting as many attacks with it as possible (whirlwind attack is feat intensive, but thins out party melee types).

Oh, and a hint on specializing: vampires don't need enchantment, so unlike the module, have him ban that and keep something he can't replicate as a supernatural ability.

Sounds complicated

The Glyphstone
2010-02-01, 06:42 PM
Not that complicated - it's actually a weapon ability from Libris Mortis, called Necrotic Focus (+3 enhancement), channeling natural abilities like Energy Drain. A +5 Profane Unholy Necrotic Focus Sword would let him channel his energy drain and get bonus damage against living enemies and non-Evil enemies while being basically impossible for any living creature to carry (1 Con damage per round), and an automatic negative level for any non-Evil character who picks it up.

A mystic cursed artifact sword of +Over 9000 Uberness that resurrects Lucius The Eternal Strahd sounds a lot more complex, especially since you'd need to figure out how long the transformation takes, if it's reversible or abortable, if the sword functions properly in the meantime (if it doesn't there would be no reason for someone to take up the blade, so he wouldn't get his free rez), and other stuff.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 06:56 PM
Not that complicated - it's actually a weapon ability from Libris Mortis, called Necrotic Focus (+3 enhancement), channeling natural abilities like Energy Drain. A +5 Profane Unholy Necrotic Focus Sword would let him channel his energy drain and get bonus damage against living enemies and non-Evil enemies while being basically impossible for any living creature to carry (1 Con damage per round), and an automatic negative level for any non-Evil character who picks it up.

A mystic cursed artifact sword of +Over 9000 Uberness that resurrects Lucius The Eternal Strahd sounds a lot more complex, especially since you'd need to figure out how long the transformation takes, if it's reversible or abortable, if the sword functions properly in the meantime (if it doesn't there would be no reason for someone to take up the blade, so he wouldn't get his free rez), and other stuff.

It seems easier, but I want that as a secondary effect

jiriku
2010-02-01, 07:03 PM
Necrotic Focus is definitely the way to go, especially if he comes charging in on some sort of fiendish wyvern mount and uses the Spirited Charger feat to deal double damage with the sword (and thus, double the negative levels). Just for the pure style, a hellish doom-charge is about the only thing that's worth giving up a turn of spellcasting.

Honestly, though, if Strahd casts like a 20th level wizard, he's probably better off just spamming wail of the banshee or horrid wilting, with a few greater dispel magics thrown in for good measure.

Dread necromancer is a good choice for him. Normally, that class sucks, but it sucks because it's weak at the beginning, gets its true strength only in the late game, and doesn't have full casting. All of those disadvantages are negated by slapping the class on a level 20//20 gestalt villain.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 07:14 PM
Necrotic Focus is definitely the way to go, especially if he comes charging in on some sort of fiendish wyvern mount and uses the Spirited Charger feat to deal double damage with the sword (and thus, double the negative levels). Just for the pure style, a hellish doom-charge is about the only thing that's worth giving up a turn of spellcasting.

Honestly, though, if Strahd casts like a 20th level wizard, he's probably better off just spamming wail of the banshee or horrid wilting, with a few greater dispel magics thrown in for good measure.

Dread necromancer is a good choice for him. Normally, that class sucks, but it sucks because it's weak at the beginning, gets its true strength only in the late game, and doesn't have full casting. All of those disadvantages are negated by slapping the class on a level 20//20 gestalt villain.

Plus, it's fricken Strahd, so he can do almost anything with the new abilities I gave him.

Project_Mayhem
2010-02-01, 07:25 PM
Why would I redo Strahd like this?: I wanted a super BA vampire look, like Arucard (Hellsing

*Twitch*


like Arucard

*Twitch*


Arucard

*Twitch*


Arucard

ThewholepointisitissupposedtobeDraculabackwards

neeeeerdrage





Sorry, continue

Glimbur
2010-02-01, 07:34 PM
ThewholepointisitissupposedtobeDraculabackwards

neeeeerdrage





Sorry, continue

So let's call him, say, Dharts instead.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-01, 07:53 PM
owiez!! Y'all make my head hurt

BenTheJester
2010-02-01, 07:57 PM
Dracura was such an awesome vampire.

Coidzor
2010-02-01, 08:07 PM
So let's call him, say, Dharts instead.

Heh, I smell an NPC a brewin'....

jiriku
2010-02-01, 08:16 PM
On second thought, I suggest that you dispense with class levels entirely, and give him abilities based entirely on Dracula's special attacks as shown in the boss fights of the Castlevania video games.

Zaq
2010-02-01, 08:59 PM
On second thought, I suggest that you dispense with class levels entirely, and give him abilities based entirely on Dracula's special attacks as shown in the boss fights of the Castlevania video games.

So his first form will consist entirely of teleporting and flinging fireballs, right? Right? Good.

Now we just need to turn Irresistible Dance into an Illusion spell, and have a Bard cast it to add a musical component. Someone has to find that funny, right? Please?

Lapak
2010-02-01, 10:45 PM
So let's call him, say, Dharts instead.My thought process:


Dharts. Darts. Darts? Stakes. Thrown like darts.

Dharts is Strahd's archenemy, a massively brawny vampire-hunting barbarian who kills his targets by hurling wooden stakes through their hearts from a safe distance. I must work up a build for him.

Gametime
2010-02-01, 11:47 PM
So his first form will consist entirely of teleporting and flinging fireballs, right? Right? Good.

Now we just need to turn Irresistible Dance into an Illusion spell, and have a Bard cast it to add a musical component. Someone has to find that funny, right? Please?

And his final form will be a Waddle Doo giant bat-thing eldritch abomination some kind of formless mass of chaos?

lord_khaine
2010-02-02, 06:20 AM
My thought process:


Dharts. Darts. Darts? Stakes. Thrown like darts.

Dharts is Strahd's archenemy, a massively brawny vampire-hunting barbarian who kills his targets by hurling wooden stakes through their hearts from a safe distance. I must work up a build for him.


Hulking Hurler, use a nice big Oak tree, that should have a pretty decent chance of hitting the heart.

BenTheJester
2010-02-02, 08:43 AM
Hulking Hurler, use a nice big Oak tree, that should have a pretty decent chance of hitting the heart.

use a nice big VORPAL Oak tree.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-02, 09:48 AM
Back to the topic...

Any improvements?

Kyrthain
2010-02-02, 01:43 PM
use a nice big VORPAL Oak tree.

I remember one adventure me and my cousins had. We had a stone golem named rocky, and when we encountered the vampire boss, we had rocky spear a tree through his chest. Then left a little sign saying "Do not remove"

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-02, 02:22 PM
I remember one adventure me and my cousins had. We had a stone golem named rocky, and when we encountered the vampire boss, we had rocky spear a tree through his chest. Then left a little sign saying "Do not remove"

That's clever...

so what do y'all think of my Strahd Redo, minus the weapon goof

Shishnarfne
2010-02-02, 05:40 PM
Strahd's big vampiric thematics revolve around bestowing negative levels, dominating foes, and grappling PC's to 0 Con. All of these are easily negated by PC magic. Thus, Strahd will require abjuration spells to eliminate these defences. The version in the module takes these away from him. Also, the module retains the enchantment school, which is not very painful for a vampire to ban. (Who needs Suggestion when you have a Dominate whose DC scales with your HD?)

I don't think focused specialist in Necromancy is really worth it for a vampire... They make really amazing gishes, so the extra spell slots in Necromancy don't synergize well with either covering their weaknesses or building on their strengths. I'd rather have one extra spell per today from a school of my choice than two necromancies for Strahd... He likely won't be casting more than one or two necromancies of a given level in a given day.
If you're gestalting with Dread Necro on the other side, I almost would consider (if dedicated to wizard) banning necromancy as a wizard school: it's all on the dread necro spell list already, right?

I'd rather have transmutations and abjurations to make him even harder to kill and more potent in melee combat/grappling/anything else he wants to buff.

Fun tip with dominate: "Hold still" is a command unlikely to cause a new saving throw. Their blood should then make a nice appetizer.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-02, 08:18 PM
Strahd's big vampiric thematics revolve around bestowing negative levels, dominating foes, and grappling PC's to 0 Con. All of these are easily negated by PC magic. Thus, Strahd will require abjuration spells to eliminate these defences. The version in the module takes these away from him. Also, the module retains the enchantment school, which is not very painful for a vampire to ban. (Who needs Suggestion when you have a Dominate whose DC scales with your HD?)

I don't think focused specialist in Necromancy is really worth it for a vampire... They make really amazing gishes, so the extra spell slots in Necromancy don't synergize well with either covering their weaknesses or building on their strengths. I'd rather have one extra spell per today from a school of my choice than two necromancies for Strahd... He likely won't be casting more than one or two necromancies of a given level in a given day.
If you're gestalting with Dread Necro on the other side, I almost would consider (if dedicated to wizard) banning necromancy as a wizard school: it's all on the dread necro spell list already, right?

I'd rather have transmutations and abjurations to make him even harder to kill and more potent in melee combat/grappling/anything else he wants to buff.

Fun tip with dominate: "Hold still" is a command unlikely to cause a new saving throw. Their blood should then make a nice appetizer.

Abjuration? That's mean... But it should shut the old DM up!

Doc Roc
2010-02-02, 09:31 PM
Um, so what's with the pale master levels? He's already undead..?

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-03, 10:04 AM
Um, so what's with the pale master levels? He's already undead..?

Any better ideas, PrC wise, to boost his Control HD?

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 09:02 AM
Take 2:

Race: Human Evolved (x3) Swarm (Blood, Mist, Bats, Wolves) Vampire

Class: Focused Abjurer 8/Tainted Scholar 2/Master Specialist 10//Lifedrinker 10/Ur Priest 10

The Corinthian
2010-02-04, 09:35 AM
The tainted scholar, due to setting DCs with its Taint score, is broken. As a BBEG he can have arbitrarily high spell DCs with that class.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 12:21 PM
The tainted scholar, due to setting DCs with its Taint score, is broken. As a BBEG he can have arbitrarily high spell DCs with that class.

Considering we have a party of optimized gestalts, including a Cold Domain Wizard/ Elemental Savant (Cold)/Frost Mage//Sorcerer and a Drow Ninja//Assassin, I need an edge

The Corinthian
2010-02-04, 02:08 PM
You know your own party best, but I must really emphasise this: I don't mean broken as in really powerful, I mean broken as in playable only by DM fiat. As an undead, Strahd is immune to negative effects from Taint, and as a Tainted Scholar, his Taint increases by 1 every time he casts a spell. (He gets a Will save, but he can elect to fail that, and he has no reason not to.)
Thus, if he casts 10 spells per day for a week, he gets a taint of 70. That means his spells have DC 45+ spell level. And I assume he's been around and casting spells for a lot more than a week.

If you want to use the Tainted Scholar, you'd have to set his taint at something high but appropriate to the challenge, and then come up with a good reason for him not to do this. I can think of none.

Apart from that, though, I must say I really like your build. Using Lifedrinker on one side of a Gestalt is an inspired way to make it useful.

term1nally s1ck
2010-02-04, 02:21 PM
Tainted scholar isn't an edge, it's an I-would-win-the-universe-if-I-didn't-go-mad, but oh wait I'm undead, so I win the universe. as many 9th level spells as you need, unreachable save DCs...what else could you want?

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 02:23 PM
You know your own party best, but I must really emphasise this: I don't mean broken as in really powerful, I mean broken as in playable only by DM fiat. As an undead, Strahd is immune to negative effects from Taint, and as a Tainted Scholar, his Taint increases by 1 every time he casts a spell. (He gets a Will save, but he can elect to fail that, and he has no reason not to.)
Thus, if he casts 10 spells per day for a week, he gets a taint of 70. That means his spells have DC 45+ spell level. And I assume he's been around and casting spells for a lot more than a week.

If you want to use the Tainted Scholar, you'd have to set his taint at something high but appropriate to the challenge, and then come up with a good reason for him not to do this. I can think of none.

Apart from that, though, I must say I really like your build. Using Lifedrinker on one side of a Gestalt is an inspired way to make it useful.


He's a depraved wacko, so I'll pick something hard, but not impossible. I thought his taint would be "set" as if he is at his "maximum physical taint of evil" via the Evolved (x3)

and I enjoy the flavor of Lifedrinker, but it seemed useless until I thought, "Hey, they have 2 mages! I can steal cool spells from them!" for added difficulty. (We have a Fire and an Ice-Focused pair of mages)

The Corinthian
2010-02-04, 02:27 PM
On reflection, though, Strahd's build has no base classes on the Lifedrinker side of the Gestalt. That should be an impossible build, do you just handwave that?

(It's technically not legal to gestalt two PRCs either, but I kind of expect you've done away with that rule in this game)

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 02:30 PM
On reflection, though, Strahd's build has no base classes on the Lifedrinker side of the Gestalt. That should be an impossible build, do you just handwave that?

(It's technically not legal to gestalt two PRCs either, but I kind of expect you've done away with that rule in this game)

I am pretty much handwaiving it, due to the fact Ur Priest "acts" like a Base Class, but isn't. However, since he's a vampyre (denontes age), I can waive this.

term1nally s1ck
2010-02-04, 02:31 PM
the maximum taint he can reach gives him something like 15 9th level spells and save DCs that the PCs can't reach, ever. He would literally BREAK a 9th level party, say for example by a single casting of phantasmal killer. Instant TPK.

Or wail of the banshee. Or any symbol, or most of his spell list.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 02:34 PM
the maximum taint he can reach gives him something like 15 9th level spells and save DCs that the PCs can't reach, ever. He would literally BREAK a 9th level party, say for example by a single casting of phantasmal killer. Instant TPK.

Or wail of the banshee. Or any symbol, or most of his spell list.

I am focused on Abjurations almost entirely, minus Necromancy and Transmutation

term1nally s1ck
2010-02-04, 02:40 PM
Imprisonment, and Maw of Chaos could still dominate them...and the prismatic line would auto-kill.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 02:43 PM
Imprisonment, and Maw of Chaos could still dominate them...and the prismatic line would auto-kill.

I'm limiting the power by HOW I PLAY HIM, not by limiting class effects...

The Corinthian
2010-02-04, 02:45 PM
Why drop Transmutation? It is probably the single most useful wizard school.
I'd drop Enchantment (redundant with Dominate gaze), Evocation (Only contains damage, which other schools have too, not to mention Ur-Priests)
or Conjuration (Also a great school, but Ur-Priest covers it better than it does Illusion).

Edit: Or did I misunderstand you? Did you mean your *available* schools were Abjuration, Necromancy and Transmutation? Ooops.

AirGuitarGod32
2010-02-04, 02:46 PM
Why drop Transmutation? It is probably the single most useful wizard school.
I'd drop Enchantment (redundant with Dominate gaze), Evocation (Only contains damage, which other schools have too, not to mention Ur-Priests)
or Conjuration (Also a great school, but Ur-Priest covers it better than it does Illusion).

I didn't. I dropped those three and kept the rest.

term1nally s1ck
2010-02-04, 02:47 PM
Good good, just be very careful..tainted scholar is among the scariest three PrCs in the game. It's perfect if you want it to be able to do whatever you need it to though.

The Corinthian
2010-02-04, 02:48 PM
You're a fast replier, AirGuitarGod.:smallsmile:
Now that you've settled on a build, will you post the stats here when they're done? I'm getting curious.