Arm the BBEG (D&D 3.5)

[MistressBaerne]

So I've got this villain, a gentleman by the name of the Claw Lord. He's a half-red dragon elf sorcerer who's trying to start a war between an elf empire and a bunch of other nations so that he can use the ensuing deaths to power a ritual that will allow him to obtain Ultimate Arcane Power (:vaarsuvius: TM!).

My problem is that I've no idea what the guy ought to be packing. I've friend my brain with regards to magic items, and I can't think of a single thing. Anybody got any suggestions? Price isn't much of an object; he's 20th level and the chief advisor to the Elven Emperor; the only real goal is to inspire terror in my players without making him unbeatable.

[Hawk7915]

- A Belt of Battle (Magic Item Compendium) can help him overcome his incredible action economy disadvantage.

- Generic stat boosters (+Dex, +Cha, +Con) and defensive items (+AC, +Saves) are always good. If you're feeling really cheesy, you could have him have spent the cash on a Tome or two to gain an inherent bonus to Cha or Con.

- Getting armor, rather than Bracers of Armor, is nice for the bonuses you can stack on it. +3 Mithral Twilight Deathward Heavy Fortification Chain Shirt (see MiC for details on the "Twilight" and "Deathward" enchantment) has ASF of 0, +7 armor bonus (just a bit less than Bracers of Armor), but grants immunity to crits and 1/day immediate immunity to death effects. Also is a great reward for the party's caster to really feel like they've earned something.

- Metamagic Rods (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#metamagicRods) are always good for a spellcaster, but particularly for a Sorcerer with their fewer feats known and difficulty applying metamagic.

- Orange I-win Stone and Ring of Arcana (Magic Item Compendium) can boost his caster level.

- Ring of Enduring Arcana (Complete Arcane) and Ring of Counterspelling, Greater (Magic Item Compendium) offer some resistance to dispel effects if you're worried about them.

- If the character's a half-dragon, carrying a magic weapon might be appropriate since he has a decent strength score even if you dumped it (and make another nice bit of treasure). A +1 Skillful Eager Warning Greatsword of Collision that he casts Greater Magic Weapon on each day grants +4 Initiative and lets him pretend he's proficient with it and has 3/4 BAB when he fights.

Hope that gets you started at least!

[Starbuck_II]

A Rod of Wonder. Always loads of fun.

[Hawk7915]

Oh, and :xykon: Pro-tip: If you're going to use area-of-effect spells, snag an item that makes you immune to that type of damage (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0653.html). :smalltongue:

[Gorgondantess]

- A Belt of Battle (Magic Item Compendium) can help him overcome his incredible action economy disadvantage.
Disadvantage? Sorcerers get to tell action economy to sit down and shut up while they cast their 10+ spells a round.
Nevertheless, a belt of battle never hurt anything.


- Generic stat boosters (+Dex, +Cha, +Con) and defensive items (+AC, +Saves) are always good. If you're feeling really cheesy, you could have him have spent the cash on a Tome or two to gain an inherent bonus to Cha or Con.
I agree, though tomes aren't cheesy at all.


Metamagic Rods (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#metamagicRods) are always good for a spellcaster, but particularly for a Sorcerer with their fewer feats known and difficulty applying metamagic.
Again, agreed.

Other than that, runestaves from MiC can increase his versatility exponentially. And if you have the cash to spare, nothing wrong with a +5 resistance item and maybe a +5 ring of deflection. Also, if you have the cash to spare, a belt of magnificence (miniature's handbook) is an awesome item for a BBEG. You'll have to reslot it if you want a belt of battle- or just combine the two- but for a mere 200,000 gp, +6 enhancement bonus to ALL stats. Isnice. And with that half-dragon template, helps him be a gish-in-a-can.
A few scrolls of wish never hurt anyone, either.

[Hawk7915]

Disadvantage? Sorcerers get to tell action economy to sit down and shut up while they cast their 10+ spells a round.
Nevertheless, a belt of battle never hurt anything.

- Oh right. Celerity -> Time Stop for Arcane Fusion'd buffs and battlefield control spells, followed by Quickened and/or Repeated damage spells (Wings of Flurry!), Time Stopping again as needed. A 20th level caster only let's other people take turns when they feel like it. But Belt of Battle is still handy :smalltongue:

[Incanur]

BBEGs inherently have an action disadvantage compared with the 4+ party of PCs. Sorcerers certainly pump out the spells with arcane spellsurge, arcane fusion, and greater arcane fusion, though. And time stop. They don't really need a belt of battle.

[Gorgondantess]

- Oh right. Celerity -> Time Stop for Arcane Fusion'd buffs and battlefield control spells, followed by Quickened and/or Repeated damage spells (Wings of Flurry!), Time Stopping again as needed. A 20th level caster only let's other people take turns when they feel like it. But Belt of Battle is still handy :smalltongue:

Or, better yet, arcane spellsurge for 2 twinned greater arcane fusions every round, both of which are casting, as their higher level spells, twinned arcane fusions. Meteor swarm? Pah! Lesser orb of X swarm.:smallamused: (Each of which is metamagic'd, of course, with energy substitution so you can just use whatever works.)
Then you pull out your belt of battle and do it again. Time stop is for wizards.:smalltongue:

[Incanur]

The sorcerer in the party I DMed for the longest enjoyed time stop. By the way, isn't applying metamagic feats to spells within a fusion legally dubious? And then there's the matter of just plain breaking the game by throwing in celerity. It's like wishing for more wishes.

[Grelna the Blue]

If you haven't statted him out completely giving him this feat from Sandstorm (or a rod with this) would be nice for a half red dragon:

SEARING SPELL [METAMAGIC]
Your fire spells are so hot that they can damage creatures that normally have resistance or immunity to fire. Benefit: A searing spell is so hot that it ignores the resistance to fire of creatures affected by the spell, and affected creatures with immunity to fire still take half damage. This feat can be applied only to spells with the fire descriptor.

Creatures with the cold subtype take double damage from a searing spell. Creatures affected by a searing spell are still entitled to whatever saving throw the spell normally allows. A searing spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell’s actual level.

Granted, it's mostly flavor--not a huge power-up--but given a half-red dragon sorceror, I reckon the PCs will feel cheated if there aren't some fire magics flying around. That being the case, it makes a nasty surprise for a party that thinks it's prepared for that.

[Chambers]

If his goal is to instigate a war, he's probably doing some lying and scheming. A Ring of Mind Shielding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#mindShielding) would be appropriate. At his level he's probably got Mind Blank cast, but the ring also stops discern lies.

He's a sorcerer so his spell slots are limited. Give him magic items that duplicate spells that he'd otherwise have to learn himself. Ring of Greater Blinking (MIC), or a +5 Cloak of Resistance. Lantern of Revealing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lanternofRevealing) would be good to have hanging around, freeing him from needing to learn see invisibility.

Gloves of Arrow Snaring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#glovesofArrowSnaring) help with the action economy. Not only does he avoid the attack, he gets to return it for free.

There are a couple items in the MIC that allow the wearer to use short range teleports a few times per day. He could have those instead of learning dimension door.

[Runestar]

For spells, make sure you give him dragonshape (PHB2). :smallamused:

Eq also depends on what spells he has available. For instance, if he buffs himself with superior resistance everyday, then cloak of resistance is redundant.

For armour, if you can make him a sorc21, you could pick up epic spellcasting for epic mage armour. Else, twillight mithral chainshirt is probably your best bet.

If you use the 4 heart spells in complete mage, then you won't need fortification.

[true_shinken]

So I've got this villain, a gentleman by the name of the Claw Lord. He's a half-red dragon elf sorcerer who's trying to start a war between an elf empire and a bunch of other nations so that he can use the ensuing deaths to power a ritual that will allow him to obtain Ultimate Arcane Power (:vaarsuvius: TM!).
What! I used the same idea myself in my game! We must have robbedborrowed from the same source!
Mine was the Giant's Fire King.

[Lateral]

What! I used the same idea myself in my game! We must have robbedborrowed from the same source!
Mine was the Giant's Fire King.

What he said.

Okay, first things first: You are a sorcerer. Get your tier 2 ass out to the magic item market, and get all the charisma-enhancing magic items you can use. Then, get a wand of Greater Mirror Image, unless you have it on your spell list. Apart from that, just try to boost saves, AC, to-hit, etc.

[MrRigger]

While he is a sorcerer and thus limited on spells, don't forget to pick up some Knowstones for those must haves you simply don't have room for. For the cost of spell level squared times 1000, you can pick up another spell known.

MrRigger

[MistressBaerne]

And that should just about do it. Thanks, everybody!

[Elfin]

It seems I'm too late to provide input, but I just wanted to ask: am I the only one who's reminded of Rich Burlew's Fire King (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTKEivnsYuZrh94H1Sn.html)? I mean, granted, it is a fairly common archetype...

[true_shinken]

It seems I'm too late to provide input, but I just wanted to ask: am I the only one who's reminded of Rich Burlew's Fire King (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTKEivnsYuZrh94H1Sn.html)? I mean, granted, it is a fairly common archetype...

You are also late to mention this ^^
I already did a few posts ago.