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Irreverent Fool
2010-04-22, 02:39 PM
I need to stat up a powerful Gnome Lich Were-Rat Wizard 12 (or more) with spells and items.

I decided to throw in an adventure from Dungeon Magazine #121 when my players insisted on skirting around the coast rather than swallow a number of plothooks with which I'd presented them. This is to be expected and I worked the Styes (pg. 40) into my world quickly without breaking the flow too much.

Well, playgrounders, I never quite expected them to spend so long in this city. For one thing, in spite of its size, its gold limit is 1,000gp unless Gather Information checks are made (due to its squalor and oppression from the Council). Since none of the party is any good at Gather Information, they've been unable to use much of their wealth. They know of other large cities not too far away, but insist on staying in the slums.

They've completed the main adventure but have remained in the town for a few reasons. For one thing, they're obsessed with uncovering the 'cult', which is primarily common folk who were promised prosperity. The cult more or less evaporated with the fall of its organizational leadership, but the party has rallied the town into a witch hunt, leading to several problems (for them, not me).

They originally petitioned some of the Councilmen for help, but to no avail. Now, however, due to the fact that they've spent so long in one place and make waves wherever they go (which a level 11 party should do), an old enemy has managed to track them down. They'd previously angered and slain a red dragon, but allowed some of its remains to fall back into the hands of the dragon's followers, who subsequently made efforts to raise their leader from the dead. Rhyaxdelon (the red dragon) has tracked them down and is angrier than ever and bent on their ultimate destruction.

Well, the Council rather likes ruling over the Styes and while it doesn't care if the people riot and turn on each other, none of the oft-at-odds members wish to see the city destroyed by dragonfire. So I imagine Councilman Ssliris, a creature with whom the party has met on a couple occasions, might step in and actually help.

I've given him a number of minions with which to strong-arm the populace. He's got a few were-rat troll bodyguards that he likes to equip with energy resistance, and some hobgoblins under his command. There is little divine magic to be had in the Styes due to the Council's heavy oppression and taxation of religious gatherings.

The adventure has no stats for any of the councilmen who still remain, aside from brief descriptions. So I am left with "Sliris: Wererat Gnome Lich Wizard 11". He has the resources of a city with a 15,000gp limit, and with lichdom, I can only imagine has had a great deal of time to acquire spells. I'm raising him to at least level 12 just for intimidation factor, though swapping his wizard levels for PrCs is viable. I'm reluctant to go into a full construction as whenever I do, the PCs invariably kill the NPC. However, as a lich, he can come back over and over, so I feel it behooves me to (finally) give him some more detailed stats.

TL;DR
I turn to you for suggestions on statting and equipping a Gnome Wererat Lich Wizard 12, playgrounders, as I have been procrastinating and need the character ready for my game on Sunday. I'm familiar with the usual 'batman' tactics, but I want some more thematic effects/equipment for this little rat.

Edit:
I think it's worth mentioning that the players are not particularly optimized and the party has not had a full caster in some time. Daneel's player misses sessions a lot due to work, and is usually just a source of free cleric spells for the party. When he does play, he's optimized for healing and frequently makes use of his powerful healing in combat, so I don't really count him as a full caster :smallsigh:. We've given the Fighter class a bonus feat at every level rather than every other, so Mughlok isn't as awful as he looks. The current party makeup is more-or-less:

Xantia: Drider Warlock 10
Daneel: Deathtouched Draconic Human Cleric 5/Radiant Servant 5
Mughlok: Goliath Fighter 8/Warblade 2
X: One of the player's characters dies a lot and he has yet to make up his new one for Sunday, though he said he's leaning toward a full caster of some sort.
Alfonze: Halfling Bard 6/Rogue 2/Wizard 1/Seeker of the Song 2
Chuck: Fighter 5/Occult Slayer 4 (Alfonze's cohort)

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Harperfan7
2010-04-22, 04:31 PM
I think Dragon just loves throwing out templates at random. I remember looking at that adventure and thinking "what?!". As for the actual stats, the only thing I would suggest is that he/she be an illusionist with some enchantment and divination spells.

Irreverent Fool
2010-04-22, 10:56 PM
I think Dragon just loves throwing out templates at random. I remember looking at that adventure and thinking "what?!". As for the actual stats, the only thing I would suggest is that he/she be an illusionist with some enchantment and divination spells.

Heh. I thought the same thing. I wasn't really expecting them to confront any of the councilmen directly right off the bat (which they did, of course) and so I was left with trying to describe a small-sized wererat lich on the fly. They really seemed to dislike him, so I must've done something right.

Illusion -- of course! I didn't think about that. He is a gnome wizard, after all. Classic. I'd even go so far as to make him a specialist illusionist but with all those familiar with 2e at my table, any classicism would be lost thanks to the fact he's a lich.

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