How "smart" should my level 5 Wizard BBEG play?

[Rukia]

So long story short I'm running a group of 6(2 are NPC's) characters through the Village of Hommlet module. Characters are all level 3 now and last night's game ended with them basically finding Lareth's area. Just as an FYI I am not going to send them through the Temple, I just wanted them to experience some classic D&D and then they'll be moving on to another leg of the campaign.

Setup thus far:

We started in Faerun. They took a job in Waterdeep to investigate an mysterious portal that popped up a few miles outside the city. They stepped through it and ended up near the Village of Hommlet(they plane shifted to Greyhawk) with no return portal in sight. Basically they went about searching for information for a way to get home and eventually ended up at the Moathouse. So instead of ending it with Lareth, they will be finding a trap door in Lareth's chambers that will lead to a hidden underground cavern.

Basic idea is that Lareth and his Wizard partner were trying to find a way to summon Lolth to their world unbeknownst to the temple itself. In this hidden cavern will be a gateway with a sort of magical control panel which will be sort of a puzzle for them to figure out how to set the portal back home.

So basically the final BBEG will be a Wizard who has been the one experimenting with portals and why the random one popped up at all. I was going to create him as a level 5 Drow so that he had access to some level 3 spells. Question is just how optimized/intelligent should I play him? My instinct is to go all out in his defensive capabilities to slow down the fight and let his comrades(likely low level Drow fodder) wear down the PC's, but not really focus on his offense. I'm afraid a couple of fireballs could be a TPK if I roll good and they roll bad.

I'm thinking he would have setup an alarm so he'd be aware of their presence as they descend into the cavern and be able to pre-buff(greater mage armor/shield). He'd have nerveskitter ready along with the fighter bonus feat ACF(improved initiative) and decent dex to stand a good shot at winning initiative. Was thinking about casting blur and mirror image so that even if they reach him it won't be so easy to hit him and would allow his minions to continue their assault. Perhaps he could cast a slow on the party, maybe a single fireball just to get them sweating and then perhaps summon a few monsters while the PC's cut through the fodder. He could always turn invisible, fly, etc.. but they aren't really equipped for the flying part just yet.

The PC's are definitely not optimized, but a couple are decent. There is a wizard, 2 clerics, warforged crusader with adamantine body, shapeshift(the druid one) variant ranger and a beguiler. They are a little behind in WBL by design and will catch up as soon as they complete this part and can return to Faerun for their reward.

My worry is if I go too crazy I might end up actually killing them, but if I go too easy then the fight will be a dud and he'll go down in a couple of rounds. Just looking for a few thoughts from what others tend to do in a situation like this where balancing the fight is difficult.

[Randomguy]

Optimize to the same level as the PC's. They aren't optimized, so I'd say get a good spell selection but stay away from ACF's.

In terms of battle tactics I'd suggest sticking with core/well known spells and buffing his minions. Cast haste on them, enlarge person on the strongest one, then go for a few self buffs and attack spells. Web on the party would be very thematic, and would really mess them up, too.

I'd save self buffs for before combat (if the wizard knows the party is coming in advance) or for points during combat when there isn't much to be gained by buffing or battlefield control; for example if the party is all tied up in melee with the minions.

[winter92]

One option to make the fight feel credible would be to make him quite intelligent, but give him a general-purpose spell list as befits someone who isn't expecting major combat today? This would justify keeping him to maybe 1 fireball, 1-2 control spells, and making most of the rest utility, defense, and escape. That way he still feels sensible to the players, but doesn't pose an extreme threat.

[Slipperychicken]

He could prep an Invisibility and Mirror Image to survive/escape better. A guy with such high Int knows when he's beat.

[Callin]

You could just load him up with his typical everyday Workshop spells and then toss in the fact that he is a Drow and add 1 spell per level that is Combat Related. Then consider he is Drow and a Wizard and give him a few scrolls or a low charge wand for when he REALLY needs to do something.

That way most of his stuff is not tailored to fighting, he still has his typical Drow paranoia and that gives him some combat ability to do some damage and GTFO.

[Rukia]

After reading the responses I think I'll definitely tame his spells back a bit and go with a more meager lineup. I was sort of wanting them to experience how deadly a wizard can be when played correctly since there are a couple in the group that don't seem to understand that yet, but at the same time I don't want a TPK.

In reality he probably would be prepared for them due to their own mistakes. They took a job hunting down bandits that were hijacking shipments into and out of Hommlet. They killed 2 large groups and left their bodies right in the middle of the road. One PC actually cut all the ears off and brought them back to the Inn as proof. Anyone familiar with Hommlet knows that there are agents of the temple scattered throughout the village so their exploits would have been well known as they've been asking around town if anyone was aware of any strange portals.

They learned of the Moathouse via one of the bandits but waited 2 full days before checking it out, giving plenty of time for the moathouse to organize. In fact I sent in some Assassins to their room, they were ambushed on the way to the Moathouse and the bandits at the moathouse were already aware of their approach. I'd think Lareth and the Wizard would have full well known of these nuisances heading towards them and would prepare, but still I don't want to kill them all.

Anyways I think I'll stick to mostly core spells. I'd love to hit them with a fireball just because. Perhaps I can web them first which will severely cramp their style, that'd give me a few rounds to get a mirror image up, maybe even a blur, and then the fireball before they escape. If I read correctly that'd be 5d6 for the fireball and another 2d4 from the web as it burns. I'd love to drop a stinking cloud on them while hasting the mooks, but it might just be a bit too much for them. I think I'll just play it by ear and if they are doing alright I'll keep hitting them with the nasty stuff, and if they're hanging by a thread he'll go into "I ran out of good spells" mode and attempt to escape. Either way I'm putting up an alarm to give him time to at least mage armor/shield so his AC isn't so low as to give automatic hits.

[AttilaTheGeek]

Optimize to the same level as the PC's. They aren't optimized, so I'd say get a good spell selection but stay away from ACF's.

In terms of battle tactics I'd suggest sticking with core/well known spells and buffing his minions. Cast haste on them, enlarge person on the strongest one, then go for a few self buffs and attack spells. Web on the party would be very thematic, and would really mess them up, too.

This is always true. If they use splatbooks and dragon magazine, then feel free to make stuff up. If they use core only, then you should stick to core plus a few more books to change things up a little. And if they try to pull off pun-pun levels of cheesy combos, show them what it's like to be on the business end.

[Runestar]

Your drow wizard is going to have what...20hp at most? Con penalty + d4s make for a bad combination. He is going down in 1-2 hits. I personally wouldn't bother holding back on the optimisation, though you might want to work on his durability.

This might mean more life in the form of temp hp (false life) and defense (displacement+mirror image). Forget mage armour - the fighters will be punching right through his AC anyways. Also, PHB2 lets you trade out your familiar for abrupt jaunt (teleport 10ft as an immediate action int-mod times/day).

Since he has mooks, the wizard is unlikely to prepare AoE spells (though you can rationalise it that he doesn't really care about their well-being). Maybe go the classic battlefield-control route? Sculpted glitterdust to blind the whole party, then plink away with targeted damage spells like magic missile).

Exemplar of evil has the uncanny forethought feat, which lets you cast any spell you know. With an int score of 18 (base15, +1stat, +2racial), this means the drow wizard can spontaneously cast any 4 spells from his spellbook without having them prepped. If you want to justify how he somehow always has the right spell for the fight...:smallamused:

[Rukia]

Your drow wizard is going to have what...20hp at most? Con penalty + d4s make for a bad combination. He is going down in 1-2 hits. I personally wouldn't bother holding back on the optimisation, though you might want to work on his durability.

This might mean more life in the form of temp hp (false life) and defense (displacement+mirror image). Forget mage armour - the fighters will be punching right through his AC anyways. Also, PHB2 lets you trade out your familiar for abrupt jaunt (teleport 10ft as an immediate action int-mod times/day).

Since he has mooks, the wizard is unlikely to prepare AoE spells (though you can rationalise it that he doesn't really care about their well-being). Maybe go the classic battlefield-control route? Sculpted glitterdust to blind the whole party, then plink away with targeted damage spells like magic missile).

Exemplar of evil has the uncanny forethought feat, which lets you cast any spell you know. With an int score of 18 (base15, +1stat, +2racial), this means the drow wizard can spontaneously cast any 4 spells from his spellbook without having them prepped. If you want to justify how he somehow always has the right spell for the fight...:smallamused:


He'll end up having decent hps, but still not a lot. I allow my players to take their con score and roll their level 1 HD for starting hps. Then from level 2 on it goes back to con mod plus HD. This allows everyone a buffer to survive an errant critical at low levels, but I also give this to any NPC that is created.

The crusader uses a Glaive and has mountain hammer so if he made it to the wizard he may be able to take him down in a single attack. With blink+mirror image he'll be tough to hit at all(in this application it seems better than displacement) and with any luck he'll win initiative and be able to drop at least a web or stinking cloud on the group to give him time to do whatever he wants.

With mooks he normally wouldn't prep AoE spells as you say, but he probably doesn't care and would just light them up if it meant killing his enemies as well. He is a Drow after all.