In need of Evil!

[Captainspork]

So I am currently running a 3.5 campaign among friends with a party consisting of 2 rogues, a spell-sword, a ranger, and a sorcerer. As the party prepares to delve into some dwarven ruins, I am throwing it out for suggestions for some baddies to put into their way :smallyuk:. The environment traveled will primarily be underground caverns beneath some mountains, although throwing in a few open mountain areas wouldn't be totally out of question. I really don't have any limitations on this, but something a little more unique than goblins and orcs would be great :smallsmile:

My best thought so far was a Puppeteer-type monster. Having never used one in a campaign before, I'm not sure if the cool-ness it seems to have will translate to a game. But really, how could a sorceress tossing out disintegrates and fireballs at her allies not possible make for a fun time?? Feel free to comment on that as well if you like.

Happy Gaming! :smallcool:

[Waker]

Are you asking for recurring monsters or just stuff for one battle? Did you want a particular theme for the encounters? What is the levels of the party?

Grimlocks make a decent underground encounter for lower to mid level parties, especially if they are augmented by class levels. With their blindsight, they can ignore many common tactics like invisibility, fog clouds and Darkness spells.
Earth elementals can make excellent use of their Earth Glide ability for hit and run tactics.
If you want a puppeteer type monster, an Aboleth can serve the role just fine. They can dominate creatures, have access to various illusion abilities, plus water combat can be a real pain for the unprepared.

[J-H]

Ideas:

A bulette or landshark

An aspiring evil necromancer and his army of (not ready yet!) skeletons and constructs, hiding in an out of the way place

A lost planar traveler

A group of evil dwarves out for some easy loot

A moderately young dragon and some kobold minions

[Captainspork]

What? My party's level is important?? Psh! :smallsigh:


Are you asking for recurring monsters or just stuff for one battle? Did you want a particular theme for the encounters? What is the levels of the party?
Probably more likely just for one encounter, although I wouldn't entirely rule out anything at this point. We are nearing the end of our ongoing story right now involving creatures from the shadow plane, and don't have anything set in stone for the future.

No particular theme in mind. I'm envisioning a situation where the party is involved in an ambushed of sorts, but I'm open to new ideas.

The party ranges in level a bit: Rogues are lvls 8 and 11, Spellsword is lvl 11, the sorcerer is lvl 13 and the ranger is lvl 14.



If you want a puppeteer type monster, an Aboleth can serve the role just fine. They can dominate creatures, have access to various illusion abilities, plus water combat can be a real pain for the unprepared.
Do these basically function like underwater mind-flayers/Illithids?

[Waker]

Do these basically function like underwater mind-flayers/Illithids?
You could say that I guess. They are intelligent aberrations that have access to several psionic abilities, built-in ability to dominate servants and they are real nasty if you don't have curative magic ready to counter their slime. They are also make good puppeteers since they are schemers with inherited racial memory stretching back thousands of years, handy if he escapes and decides for some revenge against the party later.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aboleth.htm
That's the link to their description.

Almost forgot, the standard aboleth is CR 7, so if you want to beef him up a bit, I would suggest taking a few levels of sorcerer or bard if you are feeling puckish. The Aboleth does have higher charisma, hence why I suggested that in place of Wizard.

[mattie_p]

You could say that I guess. They are intelligent aberrations that have access to several psionic abilities, built-in ability to dominate servants and they are real nasty if you don't have curative magic ready to counter their slime. They are also make good puppeteers since they are schemers with inherited racial memory stretching back thousands of years, handy if he escapes and decides for some revenge against the party later.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aboleth.htm
That's the link to their description.

Aaaaand... here's a link to Steve the Aboleth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250938).

[Captainspork]

Aaaaand... here's a link to Steve the Aboleth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250938).
Great link, sorry I didn't respond Immediately but I wanted read a fair amount of it. The more I read about this the more I like it. A few questions though, if you don't mind:

1. Dominate person has a 30 ft range on cast, but I assume it remains in effect past that range. Is there a range limit on giving orders to dominated creatures, or is that also unlimited?

2. Is there a limit on how many creatures can be dominated at once, and, if so, is the saving throw easier to resist each time?

3. As the DM I spose I could rule however I want, but is there a limit to how complicated the orders can be on a dominated target? Are the orders limited to simple commands (attack, run, etc.) or can I go all out on my party Lelouch style? lol. :smallwink:

[Zanthy1]

Underground group of gray dwarves, maybe they are dominated by aboleth?

If you are just finishing up a major part of your campaign, and are looking for new baddies to face, a subterranean evil dwarven society could totally be used. Maybe their initial encounter is against dominated ones, but after dealing with it, and further exploring the deep tunnels of this mountain, they find many more, and they appear to be preparing for...something.

Also the idea about a necromancer preparing an army of undead, totally a cool thing to stop for an encounter. To tie it back to the baddie dwarves, maybe they commissioned the undead horde?

If you just want single monster encounters, basilisks are interesting, dragons are always fun, especially with a brood. Maybe another adventuring party?

[Jack_Simth]

Great link, sorry I didn't respond Immediately but I wanted read a fair amount of it. The more I read about this the more I like it. A few questions though, if you don't mind:

1. Dominate person has a 30 ft range on cast, but I assume it remains in effect past that range. Is there a range limit on giving orders to dominated creatures, or is that also unlimited?

"Three times per day, an aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 16th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every 24 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based. "





2. Is there a limit on how many creatures can be dominated at once, and, if so, is the saving throw easier to resist each time?

Technically there's no limit to how many critters the Aboleth can have under it's command... but with a limit to three attempts to enslave something per day, and a new save every day for the victims, the expected number of enslaved creatures for an aboleth that's been in place for a very long time makes for an infinitive; each day, he makes three attempts to enslave a critter, and each critter makes an attempt to break free. The expected slave count (discounting death...) basically is the at-infinity solution of a recursive function F(Day)=(F(Day-1)+3)*(Save Failure Rate), starting at F(0)=0
There's an actual way to calculate that, but I'm feeling lazy, and am just having a spreadsheet approximate it for me by running it to about 200 or so
{table=head]Probability of a failed save |Expected Minion Count
0.95 | 57.0
0.90 | 27.0
0.85 | 17.0
0.80 | 12.0
0.75 | 9.00
0.70 | 7.00
0.65 | 5.57
0.60 | 4.50
0.55 | 3.66
0.50 | 3.00
0.45 | 2.45
0.40 | 2.00
0.35 | 1.62
0.30 | 1.29
0.25 | 1.00
0.20 | 0.75
[/table]
It's not really worthwhile to continue counting below that save failure probability - once you're below 1, they either have a minion, or don't, based on the luck of the dice. It's based on the Save DC of the Aboleth vs. the Will save of the minion pool. An Aboleth with a lot of minions probably has really weak minions (or at least, ones with really weak will saves). An Aboleth with only one minion probably has a minion with good Will saves.



3. As the DM I spose I could rule however I want, but is there a limit to how complicated the orders can be on a dominated target? Are the orders limited to simple commands (attack, run, etc.) or can I go all out on my party Lelouch style? lol. :smallwink:It inherits from Dominate Person (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dominatePerson.htm):
If you and the subject have a common language, you can generally force the subject to perform as you desire, within the limits of its abilities. If no common language exists, you can communicate only basic commands, such as “Come here,” “Go there,” “Fight,” and “Stand still.” You know what the subject is experiencing, but you do not receive direct sensory input from it, nor can it communicate with you telepathically.
- So if the Aboleth speaks whatever language the slave does, then yes, the orders can be as complex as needed. Otherwise, they're more like a trained animal.

[Certified]

Half Fiend Earth and Fire Elementals, with a rocking evil cleric to bind them. At any moment you can split the party attacking from every side even up sides and slantways.

[Zanthy1]

Would like to take a brief moment to say, "wow" @jack_smith

[Captainspork]

Would like to take a brief moment to say, "wow" @jack_smith
Yea, kind of a lot, but lots of good information there too. Thanks @jack_smith.

[Jack_Simth]

Glad to help.