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View Full Version : Equipment & build for a corrupt mayor (Rogue) [3.5]



true_shinken
2010-05-21, 11:55 AM
Hello, guys.
I have a character in my game that I have not completly statted yet, he is a Rogue more focused on skills than direct combat. He is the neutral evil mayor of a small town recently taken over by hobgoblins; the PCs recently saved some of the citizens, and the mayor has been pretty annoying for them, stealing stuff, concealing resources that could help the refugees and all. He is a quite shady character, dealing with smugling and the like.
I'm in doubt with the equipment he should have; he is a level 11 rogue, meaning I have 21k GP to spend. He needs a Field Provision Box and an Everful Mug, meaning 2.2k of hid gold are already spent. I was thinking on a Bag of Flames, maybe also a Bag of Tricks, a Wand of Summon Monster X (he already used this once, so I need it), perhaps a Vanisher Cloak and a Circlet of Persuasion.
Any thoughts on equipment?
Also, I don't know exactly which feats I should take for him. Maybe Combat Panache, Improved Feint and the like to make his sharp tongue useful in combat. Any suggestions on build would also be welcome.

Escheton
2010-05-21, 01:01 PM
hat of disquise so he looks dressed as a dignitarion while tricked out like a adventurer would be good.
Some cash would go to hiring assassins, trackers and hoodlems.
Items that grant compulsion effects such as charm and dominate would fit.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 01:35 PM
hat of disquise so he looks dressed as a dignitarion while tricked out like a adventurer would be good.
Some cash would go to hiring assassins, trackers and hoodlems.
Items that grant compulsion effects such as charm and dominate would fit.
Hat of Disguise looks nice, but then I'd have to skip on the Circlet of Persuasion (same slot). Perhaps a Wand of Disguise Self?
As for hirelings, since they award XP on their own, I will not spend resources from the NPC for them - if I did that, the party would be basically gaining XP twice for the same thing.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 01:45 PM
He is the neutral evil mayor of a small town ... he is a level 11 rogue, meaning I have 21k GP to spend.
That doesn't compute. How could he not have way more than that? Even the standard wealth by level figures are much higher, and I'd expect someone with both thieving skills and access to public funds should be obscenely quite wealthy

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 02:15 PM
That doesn't compute. How could he not have way more than that? Even the standard wealth by level figures are much higher, and I'd expect someone with both thieving skills and access to public funds should be obscenely quite wealthy

Wealth by level of NPCs is significantly lower than that of PCs.
21000GP is A LOT of money, really.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 02:22 PM
Wealth by level of NPCs is significantly lower than that of PCs.
21000GP is A LOT of money, really.
But again, not for that class and position. Remember, those are just guidelines. It's common for politicians to have modest salaries but be worth millions. If you want to reflect that, revise his wealth upward -- way up.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 02:29 PM
But again, not for that class and position. Remember, those are just guidelines. It's common for politicians to have modest salaries but be worth millions. If you want to reflect that, revise his wealth upward -- way up.

His total wealth is surely more than 21000gp. It is also surely stashed in safehouses, invested in real state and the like. 21000 is the value of his gear.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 02:52 PM
Well, it's your game, of course, so you can set any limits you want. But I would suggest giving him PC type wealth, with the rest of his fortune in real estate, business ownership, & c. After all, he'd want to have enough in protective gear to feel safe.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 02:56 PM
The problem here is that if he has too much gear, then the PCs get too much gear when he is defeated.

Human Paragon 3
2010-05-21, 03:00 PM
Two recomendations:

1: Consider using the PC Expert class instead of Rogue. It can be found on the SRD. Instead of sneak attack you'll get bonus feats which you can use for anything you want. Also you get to pick your class skills.

2: Tomes to bring up his stats would be a good choice. That way your players don't get a ton of items for beating him. Also scrolls and potions he can use during combat to survive or make his escape. Or he could have paid for a contingent spell with some of his WBL. Stuff like that.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 03:09 PM
Two recomendations:

1: Consider using the PC Expert class instead of Rogue. It can be found on the SRD. Instead of sneak attack you'll get bonus feats which you can use for anything you want. Also you get to pick your class skills.
Nah, I don't think generic classes should be used while you also use standard classes. But thanks nonetheless.



2: Tomes to bring up his stats would be a good choice. That way your players don't get a ton of items for beating him. Also scrolls and potions he can use during combat to survive or make his escape. Or he could have paid for a contingent spell with some of his WBL. Stuff like that.
I think tomes for NPCs are kinda pointless; I could just give him arbitrarily high ability scores if so needed. Scrolls/potions and a contingent spell are all excellent suggestions, though - thanks a lot.
I imagine the look on the barbarian's player's eyes when he pounces and power attacks for full... and a heal spell triggers, the bad guy uses his vanisher cloak and lives to fight another day.
For those who played Baldur's Gate, I'm going for a Saemon Haverian kind of guy. He is not exactly a threat in combat, but he is annoying as hell.

gbprime
2010-05-21, 03:13 PM
Well every effective corrupt official needs someone he can trust who owns a Detect Thoughts item. This person is adept at shadowing people in crowds and picking their brains, so the mayor learns all their dirty secrets, plans, and capabilities..,.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 03:42 PM
The problem here is that if he has too much gear, then the PCs get too much gear when he is defeated.
Suggestions:

Give a few items 30% discounts for "Rogue-only" use.
In place of some gear, give the mayor Permanency-applied spells. With Use Magic Device the mayor can use a scroll of Permanency for Comprehend Languages, See Invisibility, and Arcane Sight. And either the mayor or an NPC spellcaster can add things like Greater Magic Fang (just so he's never without a weapon) and Telepathic Bond (to keep in touch with his chief aide).
Include some value from inherent boosts from Tomes and Manuals.

Greenish
2010-05-21, 03:45 PM
The problem here is that if he has too much gear, then the PCs get too much gear when he is defeated.Grafts & symbionts.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 04:06 PM
Suggestions:
Give a few items 30% discounts for "Rogue-only" use.
Since there is a Rogue on the party, that would be of little use.


In place of some gear, give the mayor Permanency-applied spells. With Use Magic Device the mayor can use a scroll of Permanency for Comprehend Languages, See Invisibility, and Arcane Sight. And either the mayor or an NPC spellcaster can add things like Greater Magic Fang (just so he's never without a weapon) and Telepathic Bond (to keep in touch with his chief aide).
His loyal underlings died in the siege, so telepathic bond is a no-no, but I really like the thoughts of permanency going along the theme of the contingent spells. Thanks a lot.


Include some value from inherent boosts from Tomes and Manuals.

Like I said before, I find that vastly pointless for NPCs, since I can simply assign whatever value I want for their ability scores anyway.


Grafts & symbionts.
Nice thoughts, but can you think of some that are both easily disguisable and useful?

On a sidenote, any suggestions for his feats? For now I have Combat Panache, Improved Feint and Weapon Finesse - his level 1 feat and his human bonus feat are both open.
I'll probably get him a few skill tricks as well.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 05:08 PM
Nice thoughts, but can you think of some that are both easily disguisable and useful?
Silthilar grafts (Lords of Madness, pages 216-217) include Flexible Spine (boosts to initiative and several skill checks), Healing Blood (fast healing 2), and Heart (automatic healing when he drops below 0 HP). Not a one of these is apparent without surgery.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 05:35 PM
Silthilar grafts (Lords of Madness, pages 216-217) include Flexible Spine (boosts to initiative and several skill checks), Healing Blood (fast healing 2), and Heart (automatic healing when he drops below 0 HP). Not a one of these is apparent without surgery.

Excellent! Guess I'll go with them.

Curmudgeon
2010-05-21, 05:58 PM
Glad I could help. It's highly unlikely your PCs with have Graft Flesh plus the foresight to cast Gentle Repose (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gentlerepose.htm) on the corpse to make it possible to harvest those grafts before they spoil.

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 06:07 PM
Glad I could help. It's highly unlikely your PCs with have Graft Flesh plus the foresight to cast Gentle Repose (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gentlerepose.htm) on the corpse to make it possible to harvest those grafts before they spoil.

Indeed, not even a single one of them can cast that spell. They also don't have and don't anyone who has the Graft Flesh feat... and the last time one of them got a graft it was a trap to scry on them, so I'm pretty sure they'll just let the grafts be.

Nidogg
2010-05-21, 06:57 PM
Use complete scoundrel skill tricks to confuse pcs, and give him retries on bluff checks, also use luckfeats to make him Lucky. and win. Also give him a wand of major image (or the variant wich allows thermal effects...) and have him set his own office on fire while his illusion talks and the PCs dont notice a thing....

true_shinken
2010-05-21, 07:15 PM
Use complete scoundrel skill tricks to confuse pcs, and give him retries on bluff checks, also use luckfeats to make him Lucky. and win. Also give him a wand of major image (or the variant wich allows thermal effects...) and have him set his own office on fire while his illusion talks and the PCs dont notice a thing....
I was thinking on skill tricks and I do have two open feats on him, might as well get luck feats. He does not actually have an office anymore since his town was invaded by hobgoblins, but I'll think about illusion spells.

Sidenote: I just noticed Saemon Haverian is a multiclass human Fighter/Mage. Humans can't multiclass, just dual class! Damn you, BioWare! ^^