How powerful can i make this guy's pawns?

[gallagher]

So i have a level 20 cleric posing as a paladin. with the players trying to destroy him, they will have an easier time than i want going against just this one guy (even if i give him divine rank 0, like i plan)

so i am giving him some mooks. in the setting, this guy has been spending his entire life shutting down attack magic, as it is unruly and often used irresponsibly. he has been having dragons killed off left and right, sponsoring campaigns and sending clerics to help out. however, defensive arcane magic is useful, though inferior, and he uses low level wizards to craft items (and has them killed off after a while). so he has one, ONE, high level wizard. i want to have him be very obedient somehow (whether through a spell, fear, or lobotomy) but i have no idea how high level i can make him before he becomes too much that the cleric can handle. he will have the inquisition domain, so he can dispell anything the wizard tries, but i dont want the players to just call BS on this guy, which will obviously end with the players debating amongst themselves.

he will also have a few devoted knights, paladins, and crusaders throughout his stronghold, and the team of recurring villains will be there too (a dungeoncrashing barbarian, a TWF tiger claw psychic warrior, and a spellthief/sorcerer/unseen seer that gets a pass because he is the first guy to actually take spells from someone that this guy has ever seen). the thing is that the only arcane powerhouses that they will encounter will be underground, since anyone who sees so much as an acid splash will go to the nearest group of overzealous ambitious guards and collect the pittance of a reward. i want this guy to really be a surprise.

any help? also, if there are any other ideas for alot of good mooks, that will be cool too. i was thinking that they should have to fight a bunch of peasants that try and defend the stronghold to gain more favor from their overlord, thinking he wont be stopped

[G3N3R3L GHOST]

With the leadership feat and the proper back story for you wizard....aka hey I have the same outlook on life as you Mr Cleric Posing as a Paladin. Then that would be about as obedient as you would need anyone to be. Not really going with your character concept there is also mindbender's eternal dominate and the thrallherds whatever awesome thing they get from psionics. If you can find a way to make either one of those work that would take care of it regardless of what you asked of your follower.

[Volomon]

So i have a level 20 cleric posing as a paladin. with the players trying to destroy him, they will have an easier time than i want going against just this one guy (even if i give him divine rank 0, like i plan)

so i am giving him some mooks. in the setting, this guy has been spending his entire life shutting down attack magic, as it is unruly and often used irresponsibly. he has been having dragons killed off left and right, sponsoring campaigns and sending clerics to help out. however, defensive arcane magic is useful, though inferior, and he uses low level wizards to craft items (and has them killed off after a while). so he has one, ONE, high level wizard. i want to have him be very obedient somehow (whether through a spell, fear, or lobotomy) but i have no idea how high level i can make him before he becomes too much that the cleric can handle. he will have the inquisition domain, so he can dispell anything the wizard tries, but i dont want the players to just call BS on this guy, which will obviously end with the players debating amongst themselves.

he will also have a few devoted knights, paladins, and crusaders throughout his stronghold, and the team of recurring villains will be there too (a dungeoncrashing barbarian, a TWF tiger claw psychic warrior, and a spellthief/sorcerer/unseen seer that gets a pass because he is the first guy to actually take spells from someone that this guy has ever seen). the thing is that the only arcane powerhouses that they will encounter will be underground, since anyone who sees so much as an acid splash will go to the nearest group of overzealous ambitious guards and collect the pittance of a reward. i want this guy to really be a surprise.

any help? also, if there are any other ideas for alot of good mooks, that will be cool too. i was thinking that they should have to fight a bunch of peasants that try and defend the stronghold to gain more favor from their overlord, thinking he wont be stopped

Well your the DM, first off I would of had the Wizard create an orb of magical absorption, it gives off a dispel magic four people are placed within the chamber with the orb and as it sucks out their souls it allows not only full control over the individuals but they gain Spell Resist 15 and the ability to counter magic spells as if they had the spell to counter with and the ability to cast spells, upon successful Spellcraft check. Instead of doing anything outright when a spell hits them they merely absorb it into their bodies and it is dumped into the orb the orb can hold X levels of spells per day.

The wizard under the assumption that a collar is being made for a particularly powerful slave PC, makes a collar of mind control. An extremely powerful one that goes around the neck. After the wizard has made it he is subdued by the previous soulless beings under the Lords control, with no way for magic to help is a harmless as a puppy.

An addon could be followed up, the orb is actually from another plane, to which the spells are being absorbed for the purposes of opening a powerful gate for a demon. The demon actually takes over the lord and everything becomes that much more evil.

[gallagher]

Well your the DM, first off I would of had the Wizard create an orb of magical absorption, it gives off a dispel magic four people are placed within the chamber with the orb and as it sucks out their souls it allows not only full control over the individuals but they gain Spell Resist 15 and the ability to counter magic spells as if they had the spell to counter with and the ability to cast spells, upon successful Spellcraft check. Instead of doing anything outright when a spell hits them they merely absorb it into their bodies and it is dumped into the orb the orb can hold X levels of spells per day.

The wizard under the assumption that a collar is being made for a particularly powerful slave PC, makes a collar of mind control. An extremely powerful one that goes around the neck. After the wizard has made it he is subdued by the previous soulless beings under the Lords control, with no way for magic to help is a harmless as a puppy.

An addon could be followed up, the orb is actually from another plane, to which the spells are being absorbed for the purposes of opening a powerful gate for a demon. The demon actually takes over the lord and everything becomes that much more evil.

i do like the idea of the collar. is there anything that can be implanted directly into the brain for this? i like the picture of stitches scars all around the head as if he is a 7th grade biology experiment

[Volomon]

i do like the idea of the collar. is there anything that can be implanted directly into the brain for this? i like the picture of stitches scars all around the head as if he is a 7th grade biology experiment

Totally on you I mean pretty much you can make up any magic item you want, it doesn't have to be in the book. Sounds a bit gruesome but I would suggest something more like some kind of brain worm or slug that is implanted.

Even if you do end up opening up his head a cool description might be blood squirts out his ears every once in a while when the PCs do run into him.

[Radar]

A different thought: maybe the wizard was too much for the cleric to handle? Maybe he is an exceptional enchanter/illusionist, who first allied with the cleric and then tricked him into submisssion? The whole crusade against every other wizard benefits mostly the one wizard remaining, since "with all other aracanists dead, noone can stop me!" *cue evil laughter*.

It's not a very original plot, but it has been used often for a reason - it works.

[Acero]

the wizard is his brother/sister for good drama.

then any other tropes where one bro is the leader and the other works for him.

[gallagher]

A different thought: maybe the wizard was too much for the cleric to handle? Maybe he is an exceptional enchanter/illusionist, who first allied with the cleric and then tricked him into submisssion? The whole crusade against every other wizard benefits mostly the one wizard remaining, since "with all other aracanists dead, noone can stop me!" *cue evil laughter*.

It's not a very original plot, but it has been used often for a reason - it works.

that wont work, unfortunately. the wizard will be one that was originally on the good side. part way through a very long campaign this guy (a high ranking member of the people hiring out the adventurers) will disappear, to reappear at the end as some sort of mindless (not really mindless, but brainwashed i guess) ally to the evil team