Build me a Robilar! (v3.5)

[AwfulLawful]

Im currently GMing the Return to Castle Greyhawk campaign, and my petty heroes have been hired to kill the mighty (anti)hero Lord Robilar... And as they are men of action they decided to attack him straight away.

Robilar is currently staying in an inn under disguise (wears a Hat of Disguise) and the heroes attack him in the middle of the night by use of Passwall to get to his chamber (and therefore bypassing the Arcane Locks, but not the Alarm spell in the room)

Robilar has just awoken in his nightshirt (but still with Hat of Disguise on), and initiative is about to be rolled.

And now I humbly ask for your help....

I need you to build a 24 lvl fighter, with a full layout of feats and equipment
Robilars stats are 22, 10, 22, 13, 14, 16 (or switch them around if you feel like it :smallsmile:)
Use standard wealth per level guidelines

Also, what other protection would such a high level character have in his room? Any contingency plans?

All books are welcome, but in our campaign we've banned all items boosting ability scores

It should be mentioned that I don't want to end the campaign here by annihilating all pc's, but I definately don't want them to win either... Later in the campaign they'll get plenty of options to bring him down, but right now he's clealy out of their legue...

Hope you can help me :smallbiggrin:

[Fax Celestis]

Robilar has a feat named after him entitled Robilar's Gambit. If I recall correctly, the King of Smack uses such a feat. Robilar could quite easily fit right in that build.

[Noneoyabizzness]

why not just use the robilar in the elh as a guideline and retweak with feats and gear from other splatbooks?

[Fax Celestis]

Also also, have him sleep with an anklet of translocation on: when he wakes up and senses danger, he teleports as a swift action into the neighboring room (which is locked and barred, since he's renting that one as well) and equips himself.

[Eldariel]

Well, he'd most definitely sleep in at least light armor. Maybe a Mithril Breastplate or so. He'd most likely have Ring of Mental Fortitude or another source of Mindblank, along with something to block the "first negative effect on him", e.g. Scarab of Invulnerability [MiC] and Shield of Time Buttress [MiC]. He could sleep with such an animated shield protecting him all the time for all it counts. And he most likely has a Luckblade [DMG] to reroll his saves along with the Luck-bonus and Belt of Battle.

Do you mean "level 24 Warrior" or "level 24 Fighter" though? 'cause I mean, how does one know their class levels? Martial types benefit greatly of multiclassing. And epic martial types are so ****ed they need all the help they can get.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Fighter 24, eh? You'll need to make him a big guy and use the feat Jotunbrud from Races of Faerun so he qualifies for feats as though he's large size. Also use the Dungeoncrasher ACF from Dungeonscape, along with the Zhentarim Soldier substitution levels (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) but reflavored to suit him. He should have visited the Otyugh Hole detailed in Complete Scoundrel to gain Iron Will without spending a feat on it. In this case it would be best to trade Ride for Tumble (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) as a class skill, and he can also get Gather Information in place of Handle Animal. Feats etc. are as follows:

Jotunbrud (H), Power Attack (1), Improved Bull Rush (F1), Dungeoncrasher (F2), Knockdown (RoS) (3), Skill Focus: Intimidate (F3), Combat Expertise (F4), Never Outnumbered skill trick (CS) (5), Extended Intimidation (F5), Imperious Command (DotU) (6), Improved Trip (F8), Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown) (9), Swift Demoralization (F9), Combat Reflexes (F10), Robilar's Gambit (PH2) (F12), Frightful Presence (Draco) (12), Martial Study: Wall of Blades (ToB) (F14), Ability Focus: Frightful Presence (15), Defensive Sweep (PH2) (F16), Hold the Line (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#holdTheLine) (18), Martial Study: Iron Heart Surge (ToB) (F18), Martial Study: Shadow Stride (ToB) (F20); Epic Skill Focus: Intimidate (21), Epic Toughness (F22), Epic Will (24), Epic Toughness (F24), Iron Will (free)

Ability scores should be more like Str 22, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16. He should have max ranks in Intimidate and probably Tumble, and probably max cross-class ranks in Disguise and Use Magic Device. Items are as follows:

I'll assume he gets 1.8 million gp, since I couldn't find epic NPC wealth anywhere. Glove of Storing (worn), +1 Parrying Eager Warning Gauntlet with a Spellblade effect for Greater Dispel Magic (worn), Blade of Black Ice (detailed below, in the glove, he would have retrieved it as he sprang from the bed), Gemstone of Heavy Fortification (Draconomicon, embedded in his flesh), Ring of Freedom of Movement with +5 Deflection (worn), Necklace of Adaptation with +5 Natural Armor (worn), Vest of Resistance +5 (worn), Armbands of Might (worn), +5 Displacement Mithral Breastplate (worn, no penalty for sleeping in light armor), +5 Animated Heavy Steel Shield (it hovers near the bed still active while he sleeps), Belt of Battle plus Belt of Hidden Pouches (worn), Socks of Expeditious Retreat (constant spell effect CL 1, worn), Golden Pearl (custom, see below), Blue Pearl (custom, see below), Black Pearl (custom, see below), White Pearl (custom, see below), Olive Pearl (custom, see below), Onyx Hounds (custom, see below).

Blade of Black Ice
In the ELH his sword is a +5 Keen Icy Burst Bastard Sword, but this is hardly impressive. We'll leave it a +5 Bastard Sword, but Keen and Icy Burst are a bit of a waste. Put the Sudden Stunning property on it from DMG2, make it Brutal Surge and Sweeping from MIC, and throw Sweeping on there so it's a +10 equivalent.


Pearls: Golden, Blue, Black, White, and Olive
These items are embedded into his flesh similarly to the Gemstone of Heavy Fortification. They are all placed in his chest, the gemstone at the center and the five pearls surrounding it in a pentagon shape. They are all beneath the surface of his skin, slightly visible but none are valid targets for disarm, sunder, slight of hand, or dispel/disjunction effects. His skin blocks line of effect for every targeted or area affect spell or effect, so they will never be affected by an antimagic field, disjunction, or anything that could damage them until he is slain. Each pearl has a unique magical effect, priced as per Table 7-33 on page 285 of the DMG.

Golden: This maintains a continual Indomitability spell effect on him, from the Spell Compendium. Once per round when the Indomitability is expended (if it prevents him from falling below 1 HP) the pearl grants him a Heal spell (150 points) and refreshes the Indomitability. (Caster level 15; Continual spell effect Indomitability (7th) x CL 15 x 2,000 gp x 2 one minute/level duration; use-activated spell effect Heal (6th) x CL 15 x 2,000 gp; total cost 600,000 gp)

Blue: Every round on his turn this pearl grants him a Vigor effect, as the psionic power, augmented to ten powerpoints. This gives him fifty temporary HP, which is refreshed every round. (Magic/Psionics transparency; Manifester level 10; Use-activated spell/power effect Vigor (1st) x ML 10 x 2,000 gp; total cost 20,000 gp)

Black: Once per day this casts an Ironguard spell on him, from the Spell Compendium, whenever he would otherwise take damage from a metal weapon. For 15 rounds he is completely immune to all metals both magical and nonmagical. Any metal object which is not one of his attended objects passes harmlessly through him and any of his attended objects. He can manually activate this effect as a free action if he desires. (Caster level 15; Use-activated spell Ironguard (7th) x CL 15 x 2,000 gp x 1/5 once/day use; total cost 42,000 gp)

White: This item functions as a Cowl of Warding from Magic of Faerun, but with a Death Ward spell effect replacing the Freedom of Movement spell effect. (Constant Mind Blank, Death Ward, and Spell Turning effects, may turn six levels of spells each day, total cost 200,800 gp)

Olive: He may use this pearl to grant him an Energy Immunity spell effect, from the Spell Compendium. He always activates this this five times, once for each energy type, and does so each night before bed, each morning upon getting up, and every time he goes to a bush to relieve himself. Each spell lasts 24 hours, and the duration is constantly being refreshed. He is continually immune to all five energy types. (Caster level 11; Use-activated spell Energy Immunity (6th) x CL 11 x 2,000 gp; total cost 132,000 gp)


Onyx Hounds
These two figurines allow the bearer to animate them as though casting a Hound of Doom spell from Complete Warrior with the Twin Spell metamagic feat applied. Each shadowy hound is statistically identical to a Dire Wolf, but it uses the caster's BAB, it has hit points equal to the caster's fully healed total HP, and it gets a deflection bonus to AC equal to the caster's Charisma bonus. Each hound lasts 15 minutes or until destroyed or dismissed, the figurines may be animate up to 45 minutes total per day. (Caster level 15; Use-activated spell Twinned Hound of Doom (7th) x CL 15 x 2,000 gp x 3/5 limited use; total cost 126,000 gp)


He still has about 90,000 gp remaining, which should probably be just in funds hidden away in his belt of pouches. This character is extremely versatile for a single-classed Fighter, mostly due to his custom magic items. Knockback + Knock-Down + Dungeoncrasher is sure to cause quite a bit of pain, and they'll have to deal an extreme amount of damage to him in a single round to be able to take him out. He can use the Intimidate skill to demoralize an opponent as a swift action every round, and he causes them to cower for a round and then be shaken on the following round. If they're already shaken due to Frightful Presence they'll instead be Frightened and voluntarily flee. He should be able to knock them around often enough that they'll have trouble coordinating their attacks, and they probably won't get many full attacks in thanks to Robilar's Gambit and Knockback. His immunity to all energy types, negative energy, mind-affecting, and Greater Dispel Magic will make killing him a significant challenge. There's still plenty of stuff they can do to keep him from acting, but if he gets worried he can Iron Heart Surge off one effect and Shadow Stride away.

[Greenish]

Well, he'd most definitely sleep in at least light armor. Maybe a Mithril Breastplate or so.How about Ring of Arming? He wakes up, standard action and he's wearing his armour and wielding his weapon.

[Edit]:
Fighter 24, eh? You'll need to make him a big guy and use the feat Jotunbrud from Races of Faerun so he qualifies for feats as though he's large size.Does that even work?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

[Edit]: Does that even work?

Jotunbrud is mechanically identical to the Powerful Build trait of Goliaths and Half-Giants, with the exception that it doesn't allow you to wield oversized weapons. Knockback in Races of Stone has a prerequisite of large size but goes on to say that creatures with the powerful build trait also qualify. Jotunbrud was printed some time before Powerful Build was refined into what it is now, the two are similar enough that whatever is allowed for one should be available to the other as well, with the exception of the bigger weapons.

[Eldariel]

How about Ring of Arming? He wakes up, standard action and he's wearing his armour and wielding his weapon.

Combined to another Ring, sure. It's not terribly expensive anyways, and Ring-slots are precious. Tho Epic opens up Extra Rings...

[Greenish]

Jotunbrud is mechanically identical to the Powerful Build trait of Goliaths and Half-Giants, with the exception that it doesn't allow you to wield oversized weapons. Knockback in Races of Stone has a prerequisite of large size but goes on to say that creatures with the powerful build trait also qualify. Jotunbrud was printed some time before Powerful Build was refined into what it is now, the two are similar enough that whatever is allowed for one should be available to the other as well, with the exception of the bigger weapons.Hmm, sounds reasonable. Scary critter you built, too.

[Diarmuid]

I guess the question I have is how do you want them to not win without him killing them all?

Is he going to just leave them all wounded/dying and then depart the scene? If you dont want to wipe them, I would say have him just teleport away via some custom magic item that lets him do such a thing and then have them fight his super nasty guard "dog" or whatever kind of guard animal he might have and then he has even more animosity to them for having killed his critter.

[AwfulLawful]

Thanks friends, you gave me a lot of ideas :smallsmile:

@Eldariel: it is stated in the campaign book that he is a 24 lvl fighter

[Eldariel]

@Eldariel: it is stated in the campaign book that he is a 24 lvl fighter

I know, but how necessary is it really to stick to the canon with regards to builds? 'cause I'm pretty sure WoTC didn't realize they had screwed up Fighter-class when they wrote him.

[Fax Celestis]

it is stated in the campaign book that he is a 24 lvl fighter

All that really means is that he needs to kill things with a sword instead of his brain.

[imp_fireball]

Even a low ECL adventure can have them pitted against a very tough foe like Robilar, which I quite like. Fighters are weak after all.
:smallbiggrin:

But yah, Robilar's gambit - and combat reflexes. Maybe he's got a few magic items to fool them into thinking he's a gish, I don't know.

He should have one that triggers teleport as a contingency in case he's about to die (at so-and-so hp range). It also detects magic and uses automatic success on a spell craft check (as if it were a item with a personality that had a massive modifier to spellcraft) to determine if there's an anti-magic field or anchor in the area and casts greater dispel magic once (or even twice) to get rid of that before teleporting him, all as a free action. It'd be a very powerful magic item (nearly an artifact), but then again Robilar would be very wealthy to be 24th level.

Also he should be wearing a magic item that gives him heavy fortification (something like 75% chance to avoid critical confirmation from critical hits), so that he doesn't die suddenly from a character's keen and/or cheesed scythe.

Robilar shouldn't have some truly slayingful feats (you could give him 'great cleave' or 'superior cleave' though to make it seem like he actually is dangerous to them though) - most of his stuff should just be there to hinder the PCs. You can make him dynamic by allowing him to move about a lot (maybe he's got freedom of movement and/or spider climb and the 'leap of the heavens' epic feat or whatever that one is called). Give him some ability score boosting gear so that he can do things like 'awesome blow' (although that is pretty much the same as knock back except I think the PCs can fly vertically and what not).

Maybe he's got 'martial study: sudden leap' for enhanced mobility.

You can also alter the existing Robilar character block (if there is one).


Well, he'd most definitely sleep in at least light armor. Maybe a Mithril Breastplate or so.

So he should have endurance as the feat. You could even give him mithril ghost touch full plate and give him the feat 'campaigner' (basically enhanced armor sleeping from dndwiki).


I know, but how necessary is it really to stick to the canon with regards to builds? 'cause I'm pretty sure WoTC didn't realize they had screwed up Fighter-class when they wrote him.


I don't think it matters. As long as the OP makes a fun adventure that keeps Robilar a fresh in their memories. Who knows, maybe he has a magical top hat, pin stripe pajamas and is fond of tap dancing during a fight? He also uses a cudjel or cane (one handed quarterstaff basically) that can magically extend its reach and become like a spiked chain. :smallbiggrin:

Fighters can be goofy at times.


Epic Skill Focus: Intimidate (21), Epic Toughness (F22), Epic Will (24), Epic Toughness (F24)

Those epic feats could be brushed up a bit. 60 bonus hp is hardly anything, assuming the party is low EL, 24 levels in fighter should do enough for hp - if his Con is below average, the OP can just cheat a little and give him bonus hp for some of his HD or all HD (since he is basically a 'boss encounter' after all).

[Greenish]

So he should have endurance as the feat. You could even give him mithril ghost touch full plate and give him the feat 'campaigner' (basically enhanced armor sleeping from dndwiki).Restful Armor Crystal, MIC. Sleep in full plate for no penalties, only -5 penalty to listen checks.

[imp_fireball]

Restful Armor Crystal, MIC. Sleep in full plate for no penalties, only -5 penalty to listen checks.

Well I mean, he already has a lot of feat slots to burn and we don't know how many times the OP is gonna re-use this guy. Ah well.


Gemstone of Heavy Fortification (Draconomicon, embedded in his flesh),

Dang I didn't even know you could do that. It's like cybernetics of fantasy.


Blue: Every round on his turn this pearl grants him a Vigor effect, as the psionic power, augmented to ten powerpoints. This gives him fifty temporary HP, which is refreshed every round. (Magic/Psionics transparency; Manifester level 10; Use-activated spell/power effect Vigor (1st) x ML 10 x 2,000 gp; total cost 20,000 gp)

Easily overcome by my homebrewed street-ninja's 4th level 'make sure they're dead' ability. :smallbiggrin:

Basically, if the street ninja is able to do enough damage with one attack that would reduce the enemy to 0 hp without their temporary hp, they would die instantly.

[Greenish]

Well I mean, he already has a lot of feat slots to burn and we don't know how many times the OP is gonna re-use this guy. Ah well.Squandering feats for things a small bag of gold can settle hurts my optimizer sensibilities, regardless of whether the NPC ever sees use in the first place. :smallwink:

Also, allowing dndwiki sets a bad precedent.

[Edit]:
Easily overcome by my homebrewed street-ninja's 4th level 'make sure they're dead' ability. :smallbiggrin:

Basically, if the street ninja is able to do enough damage with one attack that would reduce the enemy to 0 hp without their temporary hp, they would die instantly.Easily avoided by my homebrew pirate's "Never lose to ninjas" ability.

[imp_fireball]

Squandering feats for things a small bag of gold can settle hurts my optimizer sensibilities, regardless of whether the NPC ever sees use in the first place.


Well that's only if the GM allows re-training.


Also, allowing dndwiki sets a bad precedent.

Allowing some only some things from dndwiki is fine though. GM would have to specify it though. 99% of the wiki is utter garbage though, so clearly wouldn't flat out allow it for the players if he had common sense.


Easily avoided by my homebrew pirate's "Never lose to ninjas" ability.


What about solo ninjas that are potentially and thematically not technically ninjas?


And epic martial types are so ****ed they need all the help they can get.

Well you could always give them the epic feat 'You = Godzilla'. They shape shift into a collossal+ lizardman/lizardfolk. If they're multi-class DFAs, their breath weapon is enhanced (technically range and damage should be with size), so now they've got death breath as well.


This character is extremely versatile for a single-classed Fighter, mostly due to his custom magic items.

More like extremely un-killable/insured on the first encounter. :smalltongue:

Heck you may as well give him auto-true ressurection or a 'magic jar within the mind of the one who slew me!' affect, which could be hilarious.

If 90,000 Gp is enough, perhaps 'arms of the naga' (from Savage Species) with greater invisibility attached to it. He could pretend that he has telekinesis when the PCs notice two additional swords floating around him with absolute precision.

[Greenish]

Well that's only if the GM allows re-training.Well… What? Seriously, what has retraining to do with anything?

What about solo ninjas that are potentially and thematically not technically ninjas?Yarr, pirates care not for your technicalities! The ability explicitly leaves defining "ninja" to the individual pirate (because pirates would break the rules anyway).

[imp_fireball]

Well… What? Seriously, what has retraining to do with anything?


Well nothing for NPCs, but if the NPC was a lower previous level he could take certain low end feats to get to a higher level and then retrain later on. The PCs would meet him at various intervals.

... Y'know what, never mind. None of this applies to Robilar obviously.


Yarr, pirates care not for your technicalities! The ability explicitly leaves defining "ninja" to the individual pirate (because pirates would break the rules anyway).

So they're invincible? Might as well allow them to fly with perfect maneuverability (can walk on air) since they never studied the affects of gravity (and if they did, they must roll bluff to bluff PHYSICS).

[RebelRogue]

As the player of the sorcerer who happened to passwall the roof, I look forward to hearing about next week's session :smallbiggrin: *grabs popcorn* (Don't worry, I only participated as a player for a one-off, so I won't use this to cheat or metagame).

[Runestar]

Rebuild him as a warblade20/fighter4? He can still qualify for the cooler fighter only feats such as weapon supremacy. :smallbiggrin:

[FMArthur]

Make him a brutal counterattacker without many serious offensive options. Give him some levels in Riposte (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) Scout with Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Dodge, TWF, ITWF, Double Hit (MH), Karmic Strike (CW), and of course Robilar's Gambit (PHII) as feats. Snap Kick (ToB) recommended and Aptitude Weapon (ToB, CW) abuse optional.

With Riposte he'll deal 1d6 extra damage on attacks against anyone who tries to attack him for 1 level in Scout and another d6 for every four levels after that, which is small but because he'll get 4 attacks for every one of theirs (using up only 2 AoOs), you might want to limit his Scout levels depending on how sturdy/high level your PCs are.

Crusader levels or any sort of Damage Reduction would be enormously helpful in keeping him alive if the -8 to armor class from Karmic Strike and Robilar's Gambit are a problem.

[AwfulLawful]

I like the riposte idea, but the only problem is that he cant use medium og heavy armor, which leaves him with a horribly low AC :smallfrown:

I think I'll have him play with the party for a while (maybe even tapdancing a little :smallbiggrin:) before he gets bored and teleports away... He'll then leave them with some sort of pet-guard-thingie of a more appropriate ECL.
This way the party (consisting of 9th level characters) wont win the fight and should get the impression that they cant take him out in a direct fight, without having to kill them and start rolling up new PC's

Oh Oh, and not to forget the encounter with the owner of the inn when he finds out someone made a big hole in his roof :smallbiggrin:

[Eldariel]

I like the riposte idea, but the only problem is that he cant use medium og heavy armor, which leaves him with a horribly low AC :smallfrown:

With such Dex, Light Armor can give him just as high an AC (or even higher) than Heavy Armor. 26 Dex + Celestial Armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#celestialArmor) upgraded to +5 enhancement has the best composite AC bonus of all the armors in the game, and is Light.