(PF) Help making an incredibly intelligent enemy who combats each player's weaknesses

[Analias]

I'm the DM of a pathfinder campiagn and I'm trying to come up with an enemy who has Batman-style preparation for battle, researching the weaknesses and strengths of his enemies, and looking for some input. The part is composed of a gunslinger, a ranger, a wizard, an inquisitor, a rogue and a cavalier.

To take care of the gunslinger and ranger's ranged attacks, I was thinking he could utilize a number of prepared Arrow Magnets placed throughout the room. Since the enemy would consider the gunslinger the most dangerous enemy, he would also carry an Amulet of Bullet Protection.

To combat the cavalier, he will make it difficult to charge or use his mount in the battle area. To combat the rogue he will give little change of sneak attack. Not sure how to combat the wizard, as the enemy is a caster and would prefer being able to use his own magic. The inquisitor will be somewhat countered by the enemy's partner being skilled at Sunder.

I look forward to any suggestions. The party will be at level 7 for this encounter.

[Thrair]

What level is the bad guy, and what class? Need to know what we have to work with.

[Analias]

What level is the bad guy, and what class? Need to know what we have to work with.

Was currently planning L9 Cleric, he hasn't made a direct appearance yet and has only been hinted at, so I have a lot of flexibility (other than that he's CE)

[Katana1515]

Would definitely stick with cleric if your looking for a "I saw you coming and know all your weaknesses" kind off enemy. They get access to all the best divination spells at fairly early levels giving you a good in game reason to explain his preparations. However be warned, I find a single NPC character (even a much vaunted tier 1 caster) can be quickly taken out by a competent party, in the end only getting one action per round VS the parties 6 tends to lead to a short one or two round combat. Give the Cleric some strong beatstick minions, Undead pets or bound outsiders work well or if you like bad guys with class levels (I really do!) A pair of tooled up/prebuffed Antipaladins (perhaps Level 6 or 7). with a healthy share of clerical buffs they should be able to act as a nice foil for your parties front-line guys, Combine with the anti ranged prep you discussed before and that should allow your cleric to lay in some hurt before the PC's get to him.

Additional note, for added options and survivability can I recommend the trickery domain? Copycat gives you a miss chance which is a nice defence against ranged attackers. Invisibility is a nice option for clerics too since you have so many summoning/buffing options that wont blow your invisibility (equip with a lesser rod of silence if you want to take this tactic further). Confusion is a great spell that might be worth opening the encounter with.

Plan out the room in which the encounter is to take place, perhaps consider additional features like balconies and other raised areas, or difficult terrain and line of sight obstructing obstacles that your Batman could use to ensure he only has to engage part of the party at any one time.

PS dealing with the wizard depends largely on his playstyle, if he is a blaster prep the relevant resist energy spells, if not consider his spell list and casting habits, how does he tend to deal with a BBEG? once you have that worked out cast spell immunity and laugh when his favourite spells bounce off you. again using prepared terrain and possibly illusions to break line of sight should be both tactically usefully but also fits the theme of a carefully prepared enemy.

[KnightOfV]

Target their weakest saves in the surprise round with the save or suck of your choice to neutralize one of them right away, (like Hold Person against the Rogue or Shatter against the gunslinger to destroy his firearm). Maybe Blindness on the Wizard. Just a warning though, depending on your group's playstyle you might get some angry players using this kind of tactic.

Summoned demons/ monsters that grapple or trip are also very effective against the ranged guys and casters, and in my experience feel more 'fair' to players.

EDIT: I like the above posters idea of putting your evil Cleric on some kind of balcony to make it hard for melee to close then warding himself against ranged attacks. I'd advise you to shut down the wizard first then with a Fortitude or Reflex saveorsuck

[Averis Vol]

If you want to invalidate the caster, the best thing I can suggest is spells that obscure vision; have him throw it down once the front liners close in so he cannot buff when the ambush is sprung on them (which should be happening) then either utilize paid minions or summoned once with some form of alternate sensory systems so they can find your PCs. This also works for the ranged combatants in your party (if you are worried about the gunslinger because his range is fairly limited to begin with, hit him with some nets or other form of entanglement) to deal with the frontliners, try and get some dr like cold iron or silver; something not always carried.

Hope this helps.

[Bhaakon]

If you want to invalidate vision (which shuts down most everyone, but the wizard and ranged combatants need line of sight the most), then Oracle with the Waves mystery is probably the way to go. Water sight revelation would let him look through fog and mist without penalty, and fog cloud is a second level spell with no save.

It would also prevent charging (charging requires that nothing hinder your movement, and poor visibility hinders movement by doubling movement costs) and sneak attacking (concealment from the fog means no sneak attack).

If you want to be really mean, have them fight in a room with waist-deep water. The Wave Oracle can walk on its surface, while all the PCs have to treat it as difficult terrain (which stacks with the x2 movement cost for poor visibility). Compound the problem by summoning aquatic creatures (which would see just fine, since the fog cloud doesn't work under water)

[Analias]

Give the Cleric some strong beatstick minions, Undead pets or bound outsiders work well or if you like bad guys with class levels (I really do!) A pair of tooled up/prebuffed Antipaladins (perhaps Level 6 or 7). with a healthy share of clerical buffs they should be able to act as a nice foil for your parties front-line guys, Combine with the anti ranged prep you discussed before and that should allow your cleric to lay in some hurt before the PC's get to him.

Additional note, for added options and survivability can I recommend the trickery domain? Copycat gives you a miss chance which is a nice defence against ranged attackers. Invisibility is a nice option for clerics too since you have so many summoning/buffing options that wont blow your invisibility (equip with a lesser rod of silence if you want to take this tactic further). Confusion is a great spell that might be worth opening the encounter with.

Plan out the room in which the encounter is to take place, perhaps consider additional features like balconies and other raised areas, or difficult terrain and line of sight obstructing obstacles that your Batman could use to ensure he only has to engage part of the party at any one time.

PS dealing with the wizard depends largely on his playstyle, if he is a blaster prep the relevant resist energy spells, if not consider his spell list and casting habits, how does he tend to deal with a BBEG? once you have that worked out cast spell immunity and laugh when his favourite spells bounce off you. again using prepared terrain and possibly illusions to break line of sight should be both tactically usefully but also fits the theme of a carefully prepared enemy.

Some antipaladin minions would definitely fit the theme, maybe L6, along with his partner (currently thinking a L8/9 N fighter he dominated into service). Trickery as a domain would fit his style for sure. Room of obstructions sounds good too - I was thinking a ruined temple hall with fallen pillars. As for the wizard - he's very much a universalist, and tends to be hard to predict, so spell immunity wouldn't be hugely useful.


(like Hold Person against the Rogue or Shatter against the gunslinger to destroy his firearm). Maybe Blindness on the Wizard. Just a warning though, depending on your group's playstyle you might get some angry players using this kind of tactic.

Fortunately for the 'slinger, his firearm has a +1 so I think that negates Shatter. Blindness is a bit brutal I think, might just go with obstacles to limit line of sight, gives the wizard a chance to get around it.

[Dr. Yes]

Clerics have access to a level 2 spell that provides some of the strongest caster shutdown in the game: Silence. Put it on a melee mook that can get in his face, and he won't even get the benefit of a save. A well-placed Wind Wall will force the ranger and gunslinger into melee range, where your cleric's allies and summons can beat on them and punish their ranged attacks with AoOs. As others have mentioned, difficult terrain will be good for preventing charges and slowing down the melee characters. Bonus points if your cleric uses Air Walk or something similar to avoid being hindered by the terrain himself.

[Karoht]

Spiritual Weapon + Toppling Spell metamagic are just made of awesome.
Works with Spiritual Ally as well. The two together are all kinds of fun, and the damage they deal can really add up quickly.