BBEG for a Gestalt Eberron game.

[fishbrains]

Hello playgrounders! I am looking to build a villain for an Eberron campaign I recently began DMing with some friends. It's a pretty high powered game using the Gestalt rules from UA. I want an enemy that can be a threat at all levels, whether it's through underhanded tactics and spells or creative use of charms and compulsions. The idea behind this enemy is that they want to establish their rule over Khorvaire through another ruler. Power without being tied down and stuck sitting on a throne under a silly crown. This person craves power, and will use anything available to them to gain more of it. I was thinking something along the lines of a LE Changeling Beguiler//Rouge-Assassin. Are there any neat feats or special tricks I should keep in mind? Possible PrCs? I like the flavor of the assassin and the poison use ability but it's not a necessary part of the character.

EDIT: Something I forgot to mention. I would like for this villain to have a CR of 10-12, depending on what is convenient as far as class abilities is concerned. The party is halfway to 4th level now and are not likely to encounter this guy any time soon and he's likely to gain a few levels here and there as well. But I would like to lead into the whole "I was behind it all!" sort of thing midway through the campaign.

[Novawurmson]

Check out the Assassin builds for iron chef. Here's one (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9940342&postcount=171) I like a lot.

Edit: Forgot I was going to add: Thrallherd might be a fun idea for one side :D

[fishbrains]

That build looks interesting and the author makes it sound pretty cool, but I'm very unfamiliar with 3.5 psionics. This is actually my first 3.5 game to DM; I started with 4e. Also I don't want to be instant killing the players. The idea with assassin/rogue levels is to make their life a living hell by killing off important allies while they deal with the minions. :smallwink: Thrallherd sounds interesting from the name alone. What exactly does it do?

[Novawurmson]

It's the perfect "stand behind the scenes and manipulate people" prestige class; you can see it for free on the SRD here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/thrallherd.htm). A low-power, non-psionic option might be the Mindbender from Complete Arcane.

[avr]

The standard changeling spellcaster PrC is Recaster. Races of Eberron. Works best with a wizard but certainly isn't limited to one. If you're going assassin 10 on one side though there might not be room for much in the way of PrCs, unless you lift the limitation of having a PrC on only one side of the gestalt on any given level.

In some ways though the sneakiest 'spellcasters' are psionic, since they can suppress the displays with a concentration check. A Telepath gets plenty of mind affecting powers by definition. Psionics aren't hugely hard to understand IMO.

[fishbrains]

I got to looking at the Recaster and it's pretty good. It has some pretty nifty abilities. You're right, it does seem to be perfect for a Wizard. Hmm..I believe some alterations are in order. I originally chose Beguiler for the spell selection, free silent and still spell feats and surprise casting abilities, but it seems I can accomplish something very similar with Recaster.

Rogue-Assassin on the other side isn't necessary at all really. It just seemed to fit the concept. I'm not opposed to changing this to Psion and going for some Int synergy. If I do this, what kind of build do you suggest?