Charasmatic Villain re-examined

[Sir_Chivalry]

Years ago, in my first level 1 to level 20 game, I had a villain by the name of Countess Amelia. She, though a series of things, ended up somewere in the area of having a 65 Charisma, a full 29 more than her patron Malchanthet, and 17 more than Aphrodite, the more charasmatic god I could find in Deities and Demigods.

She was a Sorcerer/Thrall of Malchanthet, and had more spells per day and higher save DCs than I knew what to do with.

She died two rounds into the final battle.

The world revolved around her when she entered a room, she openly was hostile and threatening to kings and high priests, and the party took her (and her undead werewolf lord bodyguard) apart like peanut brittle.

So, now I want to remake and re-examine this idea, and make a villain of similar vein (charasmatic, resourceful and untouchable) who is both more reasonable in combat and more durable.

Special cookies to whoever can, on a related note, figure out how to build a villainous ardent dilettante.

[Morithias]

Years ago, in my first level 1 to level 20 game, I had a villain by the name of Countess Amelia. She, though a series of things, ended up somewere in the area of having a 65 Charisma, a full 29 more than her patron Malchanthet, and 17 more than Aphrodite, the more charasmatic god I could find in Deities and Demigods.

She was a Sorcerer/Thrall of Malchanthet, and had more spells per day and higher save DCs than I knew what to do with.

She died two rounds into the final battle.

The world revolved around her when she entered a room, she openly was hostile and threatening to kings and high priests, and the party took her (and her undead werewolf lord bodyguard) apart like peanut brittle.

So, now I want to remake and re-examine this idea, and make a villain of similar vein (charasmatic, resourceful and untouchable) who is both more reasonable in combat and more durable.

Special cookies to whoever can, on a related note, figure out how to build a villainous ardent dilettante.

Just raise her from the dead and give her a custom magic item. Let's say a "battledancer's belt".

You know how the monk's belt is 13k and gives you attack and AC as a level 5 monk?

This is the battledancer (dragon compendium) version of it.

Battledancers are monks that use CHARISMA! So this 13k item given your 65 charisma would give her, +27 to ac if i'm not mistaken.

[RaggedAngel]

Just raise her from the dead and give her a custom magic item. Let's say a "battledancer's belt".

You know how the monk's belt is 13k and gives you attack and AC as a level 5 monk?

This is the battledancer (dragon compendium) version of it.

Battledancers are monks that use CHARISMA! So this 13k item given your 65 charisma would give her, +27 to ac if i'm not mistaken.

Just make her a Ghost. Then she's incorporeal and has Cha to AC built in, in addition to a bunch of racial abilities based off of Cha.

[Morithias]

Just make her a Ghost. Then she's incorporeal and has Cha to AC built in, in addition to a bunch of racial abilities based off of Cha.

Or do both! :D

[Crasical]

Just make her a Ghost. Then she's incorporeal and has Cha to AC built in, in addition to a bunch of racial abilities based off of Cha.

Certainly sounds like she has the force of personality to justify coming back from the grave...

[Sir_Chivalry]

Certainly sounds like she has the force of personality to justify coming back from the grave...

Though these are all awesome ideas, I more am looking to re-run the villain, like a reboot, not continuing.

[legomaster00156]

If a full caster cannot survive more than two rounds, something is wrong. Here's some important things to note.

Plan: What is the countess' scheme? Make sure her abilities allow her to perform the plan in an efficient manner.
Setting: Where does the campaign take place? Where is the final battle supposed to take place? Get her to lure the party somewhere that benefits her.
Spells: What is her spell selection? It should be something that suits her personality, but at the same time, her personality should not restrict her. Give her a few shining spells such as Wall of Force.
The battle: Prebuff her. I cannot stress this enough. Have her loaded up with Fox's Cunning, Displacement, Mage Armor, Greater Invisibility, and any other spells she or her minions may have on hand. This should keep her alive for at least 5 rounds. What can a Sorcerer do in 5 rounds? There's too many options to count.

[Reltzik]

Give her the Leadership feat.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

Make her a Gish?
Fractional BaB variant
Marshal1, Battle Dancer1, Paladin2, Bard1, Sorcerer/Sublime Chord
Give her Slippers of Battledancing, Thunderlance, Snowflake Wardance.
Marshal is for initiative (dex-based checks actually, which you can also use to hide and tumble).
Don't forget the unseelie fey template

[erikun]

If you are pitting her solo against the party, she really should be 4 levels above the party average. Use those four levels to get into a prestige class that gains CHA to AC. Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125732) are some options; it looks like Mystic Wonderer PrC, Arcane Duelist PrC, Risen Martyr PrC (irony), Unholy Scion race (+5 LA fits well), Monk 2 with the Ascetic Mage feat, and the Sirine's Grace spell work out well for you.

If you don't want to be quite that cheesy, you can look at picking up a bunch of turn attempts and Divine Metamagic. I believe there is a feat that will allow you to treat Arcane spells as Divine and vice versa, and so one level in Dread Necromancer, one level in Cleric (with Destroy Undead feature), and one level in Sacred Exorcist will net you 12 + Charisma modifier x3 turn attempts and equilivants, or around 93 turnings for DMM use. That should give her a lot of persisted buffs, or a lot of quickened spells for the combat. (Action economy is very much against her in the fight, so DMM Quicken may actually be better.)

[shortround]

It seems odd that a villain whose main strength is her Charismatic force of personality would even enter combat rather than have the various kingdoms under her boot fight for her.

That said, if the party isn't immune to good ol' Imperious Command and similar mind affecting shenanigans, optimizing that demoralize check might be a pretty neat way to preserve her character traits in her combat. There is also a wealth of Sorcerer guides and handbooks that help with spell selection that are just a google away.