Boss Necromancer

[Slayer Lord]

I'm going to be DMing for the first time this fall and I've got a lot of my important NPCs planned out, including the final boss (though final only if my players can keep the party NPC from going over to the dark side, muwhaha).

Right then.

So, my boss is a crazed human necromancer who leads the remnants of an evil cult of necromancers who nearly conquered the continent ten years ago, wants revenge, blah, blah, blah. She currently stands at level 6 with three levels of Wizard (specialist school Necromancy (duh), restricted schools Transmutation and Illusion), and three levels of cleric (Domains Death and Evil), and my intention is to level her up in Mystic Theurge as the players grow in strength.

Any advice on how to improve her build-up? Suggestions on leveling or spells? Miscellaneous comments?
Ah, and what would be an appropriate level disparity between a final boss and the party average?

Thanks in advance.

[Seth62]

I thing a dread necromancer and a cleric build with leadership and get a wizard cohort would be better then you could have the wizard as the fake bbeg. Mystic Theurge would still work as well for this.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Have her make all her skeletal minions with Bonebrittle (alchemical substance, cleric and wizard magic will let you hit the DC easily).

Invest in a single sample of Black Lotus Extract for 4,500, or 1/6 that if you make it yourself.

Before the fight, cast Minor Creation to make 7 cubic feet of it, and have your poison-immune skeletons rub themselves down with the stuff.

When the PCs hit them, they explode in clouds of DC20 contact death.

Depending on how hard you want the fight to be, you might consider using a weaker poison instead, one that will be interesting and challenging rather than "Hyep, we're all dead now."

EDIT: Sorry, misread your build. Minor Creation is outside of her league, as of yet.

[Telonius]

Big question - how optimized is the party? If we don't know this, the answers would range from "Just take Mystic Theurge all the way out," to "Here's a build that makes everything that dies within a ten mile radius immediately rise as a Vampire with levels in Tainted Scholar. Also, create free pie at will."

[danzibr]

Big question - how optimized is the party? If we don't know this, the answers would range from [...] Also, create free pie at will."

I'm interested in this build.

[Coidzor]

Earlier entry into Mystic Theurge might be in order. Precocious Apprentice does it with only 1 level of wizard and 3 of cleric IIRC.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Under the heading of "miscellaneous comments," I, as a player, always prefer bosses that are involved, preferably aggressively, before the final fight. Exposure is what gives a villain death, and initiative is what makes them scary; have him use some long-range or utility magics to attack or sabotage the party here or there, maybe send people to ambush them in their sleep, spy on them, whatever.

Of course, you probably can't have him actually out and about doing this himself- this leads to either "Oops, my players just killed my boss 10 encounters before they were supposed to" or "My players are frustrated cause I had to give the my boss so umpteen-tons of plot armor to stop them from being able to" - that's one of the things I like casters for. You can use magics to have him be directly involved with the party, without being at personal risk. Have him sneak behind them and lay traps along their exits; have one of his spies observe their abilities and tendencies, and set a personalized trap for one of them.

Or, if you want to go for a grimmer note, have him kill and animate all of the NPCs they've talked to.

[Undercroft]

I'd suggest skipping on mystic theurge and grabbing True Necromancer from Libris Mortis (page 51). It also advance arcane/divine casting plus gives assorted undead creating/buffing boosts (including a permanent desecrate aura at a certain level), and you still boost your rebuking since TN levels will stack with your cleric level.

Also corpsecrafter and destruction retribution feats rock for your weaker minions. +4 str and +2hp/hd along with 2d6 negative energy explosion when they get destroyed. Now you can send in masses of skeletons and they run the risk of actually being a threat (also use elf skeletons. they get to keep the racial weapon proficiencies)

[Telonius]

I'm interested in this build.

It's the capstone of Pastry Master. Requires 13 ranks in Profession (Baker), 13 ranks in Perform (Slapstick), Weapon Focus (Pie), and Point Blank Shot. Also grants you Turn Turnovers, Rebuke Food Critics, and Imbue Spell on any pastry you've created. :smallbiggrin:

[Slayer Lord]

It's the capstone of Pastry Master. Requires 13 ranks in Profession (Baker), 13 ranks in Perform (Slapstick), Weapon Focus (Pie), and Point Blank Shot. Also grants you Turn Turnovers, Rebuke Food Critics, and Imbue Spell on any pastry you've created. :smallbiggrin:

Dang! I should have gone with that as my boss instead!

[AslanCross]

I definitely recommend the Corpsecrafter line of feats as well. Simple zombies can turn into tough, icy, fast, necro-suicide bombers.