Truenamer as BBEG?

[Nettlekid]

Just a curiosity I wanted to get opinions on. What if the BBEG of a campaign, that the PCs encounter when they're around level 15 or so, is a Truenamer 20? The chiefest issue with Truenamer is that it's too difficult to consistently meet the Truespeak DCs, but because the BBEG is a higher level than the party he's facing, that wouldn't be as much of an issue, would it? Also of course the DM could just arbitrarily bump up the BBEG's check, but even that wouldn't be too necessary.

I ask because I remember once reading someone suggesting that a Voldemort-esque Truenamer with "Say My Name and I Am There" where beings who speak his name really DO let him know they're talking about him, and give him the option of appearing before them if he chooses. Then again, this would only really work if even as a Truenamer the BBEG can be...scary and strong. I worry that a level 20 Truenamer would be weaker than a level 12 Psion that I've been thinking of making a midboss, or the Dominated level 16 Bard that the BBEG uses basically for UMD purposes. How could a Truenamer evoke a Voldemort-esque sense of terror?

[eggynack]

A well built 20th level truenamer is at around tier one power level, owing entirely to conjunctive gate. I don't know if a 15th level party would be able to manage that kinda power being tossed around, unless you were using it poorly.

[Nettlekid]

A well built 20th level truenamer is at around tier one power level, owing entirely to conjunctive gate. I don't know if a 15th level party would be able to manage that kinda power being tossed around, unless you were using it poorly.

Hm, I probably wouldn't be constantly just calling Balors and whatever. That feels wasteful of the Truenamer feeling, when I could just make a dedicated Conjurer for much the same. Besides, a Voldemort-ish figure probably wouldn't like it pointed out that he's not actually that strong, he's just piggybacking off of stronger outsiders.

The BBEG in question would be a Vampire Lord (whose LA I'm just dropping), in case that makes a difference? Right now I have him as a level 16 Crusader (so very strong in melee, only magical abilities are racial) but I don't know if I want him to be so mundane. But I definitely don't want to make him an actual caster, because I can't justify a Vampire Caster ever losing to a lower level party. Lack of foresight and preparation? Lack of raw magical power? Not likely.

[Vhaidara]

Truenamer: Amazing at level 1 and 20, crap in between.

my advice would be to gestalt it. A lot of people are scared of gestalts, but unless you powergame it, a gestalt is just a good way of adding abilities.

Example: you have a level 16 Crusader currently. Gestalting a Truenamer into that gives no BAB, no extra HP, a few extra skill points, +3 to a few knowledge skills, the ability to scry someone whose personal truename (PTN) you know (sounds appropriate), a coupe of bonus feats (Truename Research and 2 recitation feats), Sending (only usable with PTN), and a lot of utterances ad the like that you can ignore.

So, net gain is scrying with PTN, Sendiing with TN, and, at level 20, Say My Name and I Am There. btw, I love the idea of using SMNAIAT like that. Also, that is a beastly acronym.

[Gemini476]

Hm, I probably wouldn't be constantly just calling Balors and whatever. That feels wasteful of the Truenamer feeling, when I could just make a dedicated Conjurer for much the same. Besides, a Voldemort-ish figure probably wouldn't like it pointed out that he's not actually that strong, he's just piggybacking off of stronger outsiders.

The BBEG in question would be a Vampire Lord (whose LA I'm just dropping), in case that makes a difference? Right now I have him as a level 16 Crusader (so very strong in melee, only magical abilities are racial) but I don't know if I want him to be so mundane. But I definitely don't want to make him an actual caster, because I can't justify a Vampire Caster ever losing to a lower level party. Lack of foresight and preparation? Lack of raw magical power? Not likely.

"Could just make a dedicated Conjurer"? Dude, a TN20 is throwing out two Gates per round for a while, although the DCs get pretty high if he wants to heighten them to get around the Law of Sequence.
Two xp-free gates per round is preposterous.

Also, just to be sure: you do know that LA is just for the purpose of ECL and is unimportant for BBEGs? Also, CR is a serious issue if the Truenamer wants to buff himself.
Also also, Vampire Lords are pretty much unkillable. Really. And they have some strong abilities, but still.

A Truenamer 20 can be pretty powerful. Have you read Zaq's quire to Truenamer? It'll help a bunch.

[Nettlekid]

Truenamer: Amazing at level 1 and 20, crap in between.

my advice would be to gestalt it. A lot of people are scared of gestalts, but unless you powergame it, a gestalt is just a good way of adding abilities.

Example: you have a level 16 Crusader currently. Gestalting a Truenamer into that gives no BAB, no extra HP, a few extra skill points, +3 to a few knowledge skills, the ability to scry someone whose personal truename (PTN) you know (sounds appropriate), a coupe of bonus feats (Truename Research and 2 recitation feats), Sending (only usable with PTN), and a lot of utterances ad the like that you can ignore.

So, net gain is scrying with PTN, Sendiing with TN, and, at level 20, Say My Name and I Am There. btw, I love the idea of using SMNAIAT like that. Also, that is a beastly acronym.

That's an interesting idea, to go with a Gestalt. I guess being a Vampire Lord for free was sort of like being Gestalt in the first place. I'd be a bit concerned that a Gestalt Truenamer//Crusader Vampire Lord is a bit...much. This is the long-term villain for what'll start at level 3 as a newbie campaign, and I don't think any of the players are leaning toward casters, so I want something that can be powerful and capable of pulling strings, without being downright unbelievable. For the larger part of the campaign I plan to have the PCs chasing down three level 10 Half-Vampires (not too strong), and the apparent BBEG being a Vampire Psion 6/Elocater 7 (ML 11), with this guy in the shadows being the one who made the Psion Vampire, and probably all in a plot to summon Father Llymic or something that won't actually happen. So I need a good midway point between "Substantially stronger than Psion 11" and "Not so insane that the PCs don't actually have a chance at winning." Both Truenamer and Crusader have a degree of tenacity about them, without being overpowering.

You know, the more I think about it, I actually quite like the Gestalt idea. He shows off a few magic-esque abilities with Truenamer and people assume him to be a caster. He then shakes his head, explains that he has his Dominated Bard to do the arcane dirty work, and then draws his sword and charges.


"Could just make a dedicated Conjurer"? Dude, a TN20 is throwing out two Gates per round for a while, although the DCs get pretty high if he wants to heighten them to get around the Law of Sequence.
Two xp-free gates per round is preposterous.

What I mean is that if I rely on the Gates, then I'm not being as much a Truenamer as a Conjurer wannabe. If I'm a Truenamer then I'd rather be Truespeaking at my enemies (the PCs) rather than summoning baddies to rough them up for me.


Also, just to be sure: you do know that LA is just for the purpose of ECL and is unimportant for BBEGs?

Yeah, which is why I'm ignoring it.

Also, CR is a serious issue if the Truenamer wants to buff himself.
Also also, Vampire Lords are pretty much unkillable. Really. And they have some strong abilities, but still.
YES, which is why I feel justified in making the BBEG a not-so-magical Vampire Lord instead of a Human Wizard with tons of backup plans. So he gets smoked? No big deal, he'll come back later. His plans are still in place. Therefore, I feel freer with making him something like a Crusader or Truenamer.


A Truenamer 20 can be pretty powerful. Have you read Zaq's quire to Truenamer? It'll help a bunch.
I did, and it's a great guide, although it's geared toward Truenamer as a PC instead of BBEG, of course. Unfortunately I want the BBEG to be the one who actually has the power to make people scared instead of buffing someone else to do so, and that guide suggests that buffing is the best Truenamer role. I mean, someone who curses at his foes and makes them all take 10d6 damage for four rounds (assuming they're all the same type of creature) isn't by any means full BBEG-level powerful, but it's very flavorful. And like I said, even if he can't deal lots of damage, he's tenacious by virtue of being a Vampire Lord.