Seven Lords of the Undead

[Hawkfrost000]

Hello Playground,

for the undead campaign that i have in the works i need some "boss" type monsters...

So i came up with this idea: Since being in multiple places at once is not a skill my BBEG, known as the Black Lord until i can find a better name, has mastered (yet) he has asked Orcus to give him the souls of tyrants to use as lieutenants. These undead "Lords" will be as follows:

Lord Shadow: A weaker Lord; he is the Hunter. He and his shadows follow any who oppose the Black Lord, moving through the day and the night. He can drain the strength and determination from anyone who dares to resist Him.
Lord Shadow
Evolved Incorporeal Undead (Medium)
Hit Dice: 9d12+36
Initiative: +8
Speed: Fly 80ft. (good)
AC: 19 (+4 Dex, +5 deflection), touch 19, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/---
Attack: Incorporeal touch +8 melee (1d8 plus 1d6 Str) or Shadow Missile
Full Attack: 2 Incorporeal touch +8 melee (1d8 plus 1d6 Str)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Create Spawn, strength drain
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, incorporeal traits, +6 turn resistance, undead traits, Spell Like Abilities
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +11
Abilities: Str -- , Dex 18, Con -- , Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 18
Skills: Hide +11, Listen +9, Search +6, Spot +9
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative, Track
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, pack (1 plus 5-12 shadows)
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: ---
Level Adjustment: ---

Shadow Missile: as magic missile cast by a 9th level sorcerer but with negative energy damage and 1 point of Str damage per missile.

Fast Healing

Unholy Toughness

Spell Like Abilities:
Create Undead
Command Undead
Greater Invisibility
See Invisibility
Haste

Yeah, you can see i have a long way to go. Pretty much I want this guy to be the "Big Daddy" to all the other Shadows in the world.

Lord Allip: The weakest of the Lords; he was once a powerful wizard who was driven to madness in the contemplation of the "Outer Gods" (creatures from the Far Realm) in his search for power. Most of his power has bled away due to his insanity but a significant portion still remains.
Lord Alip
Medium Evolved Undead (Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 7d12+21
Initiative: +7
Speed: Fly 30 ft. (perfect) (6 squares)
AC: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 deflection), touch 16, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/ --
Attack: Incorporeal touch +4 melee (1d6 plus 1d4 Wis drain)
Full Attack: 2 Incorporeal touches +4 melee (1d6 plus 1d4 Wis drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Babble, Madness, Wisdom Drain, Create Spawn
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., incorporeal traits
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4
Abilities: Str -- , Dex 14, Con -- , Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +9, Intimidate +8, Listen +9, Search +6, Spot +9, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Any
Organization: 1 and 5-12 allips
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: None
Alignment: neutral evil
Advancement:---
Level Adjustment: --

Unholy Toughness

Fast healing

SLA:
Create Undead
Command Undead

Lord Forgewraith: The most powerful of the Lords; he is the lord Regent of The Black Land (BBEG's lair) his power is linked to the massive forges and furnaces that power the Black Lord's realm.
Work in Progress
Lord Wraith
Work in Progress
Lord Cinderspawn
Work in Progress
Lord Ghost
Work in Progress
Lord Spectre
Work in Progress

Yeah, i have a long way to go.

pretty much all of these guys are going to be the most powerful version of each of these monsters. If you guys could give me some scaling advice that would be awesome.

[DeAnno]

Boss monster Undeads with less than a ridiculous ton of HD need Unholy Toughness (+Cha to Hit Points/HD). Also 9d12 = 9*6.5 = 58

Dodge and Alertness should be switched out for more useful things. At worst you could maybe get some metamagic for the unlisted SLAs and Ability Focus for the Strength Drain. Also another thing to consider, if an incorporeal creature likes to scout around inside walls Hear the Unseen (CA) is a pretty nice dirty trick, though it requires Blind Fight too.

[Debihuman]

Lord Shadow should be a Medium Undead with Incorporeal Subtype from the looks of it.

Base Attack is +4 not +7. Also, base attack is only ever one number. Undead have BAB like a cleric (1/2 HD)

Attack: Incorporeal touch +8 melee (1d6 Str) or Shadow Missile
Full Attack: 2 incorporeal touches +8 melee (1d6 Str) or Shadow Missile

Touch attacks are not iterative. Incorporeal touch is NOT a ranged attack, it is a melee attack. It should probably cause physical damage along with ability damage. [Edit: I forgot that incorporeal undead add their dex bonus to melee and ranged attacks]

What is the shadow missile attack?

It is one feat short. monsters gain feats at 1/3/6/9 etc. HD.

I hate to say this, but as a "unique" undead, it is rather lackluster.

Debby

[Hawkfrost000]

Yeah, a lot of what i have in my head may not have been transported into the text.

I'll keep working on it and elaborate some more, Lord Shadow is supposed to be a bit lackluster; he will be one of the earlier enemies that the party faces. Whereas Lord Forgewraith is going to be the most powerful.

Any ideas for Spell Like Abilities for Lord Shadow?

Lord Shadow is updated

[Fearan]

Well, the usual greater shadow is more frightening than their lord, due to spring attack into the walls. Care to give the Shadow lord Spring Attack?

[Runestar]

Can anyone explain why the greater shadow in the MM is a cr8? If I advance the normal shadow to 9HD, that would increase its cr to 4, maybe 5 max (taking into account its slightly more damaging touch attack).

What cr range are you gunning for? To me, there is little point making them too complex by giving them so many SLAs, because it takes away from what makes each incorporeal undead unique (as they have the tendency to just stand there blasting away with SLAs then use their own special abilities). Just max out HD, maybe slap on the evolved undead template, use the undead prcs in libris mortis and customize feats.

Unholy toughness isn't really a feat, and I generally caution against giving incorporeal undead too much hp, because their tactics and miss chance can really make them quite elusive.

[Hawkfrost000]

How does one use these "Evolved Undead Templates" and were can i procure one?

they intrigue me

[Realms of Chaos]

How does one use these "Evolved Undead Templates" and were can i procure one?

they intrigue me

Evolved undead is a single template from Libris Mortis.
It grants a bonus to Str and Cha, Turn Resistance, Fast Healing, and a SLA.
It's only +1 CR and +1 LA but it's one of the few templates that can be stacked onto a single creature multiple times.

It's a simple and streamlined way to make a particular skeleton/zombie/shadow/wraith/other undead more powerful than others of its type and set it apart in general (especially if applied multiple times).

What you are after, however, seems to be a bit better represented by the "Dread *Insert Undead Type Here*" templates in the Advanced Bestiary by green ronin. The book has everything from dread bodaks to dread zombies in template form.

[Debihuman]

Can anyone explain why the greater shadow in the MM is a cr8? If I advance the normal shadow to 9HD, that would increase its cr to 4, maybe 5 max (taking into account its slightly more damaging touch attack).

It's probably an error. WotC makes too many errors and there isn't a decent errata for the MM.

Also, you are correct: Unholy Toughness is NOT a feat. It is a Special Ability (see Dry Lich in Sandstorm). A creature with this ability gains bonus hit points equal to its charisma bonus times its hit dice.

Debby

[Hawkfrost000]

I've edited the Lord Shadow, added the Evolved Undead and altered the SLA.

Added Lord Allip

it looks better.

C&C appreciated