Need to kick the party in the teeth with a Mystic Ranger

[(Un)Inspired]

Hey everybody. I'm running a 3.P game and I need to have a npc that can beat my pcs at each of their own games. All the pcs will be level 9-10 and the npc needs to be 10. At first I had a factotum 8/ warblade 2 but now I'm kinda into the idea of using a mystic ranger 10 with sword of the arcane order.

The party consists of:

Pathfinder Ninja/swordsage catfolk (mobility and damage focused with shadow hand, tiger claw, smoke bombs and ki points)

Two handed ranger oread (tends to rhino rush into melee then chop the hell outa stuff with full attacks

Diviner elf. (Worlds least effective wizard. Casts shield and Mage armor on himself at the beginning of every combat...)

Cloistered cleric undine ( actively trying to be a heal bot despite knowing better...)

The mystic ranger in question is already established as a sylph wielding a greatsword and using arcane magic.

What wizard and ranger spells would you prepare with these players? Keep in mind that neither the wizard nor the cleric are gonna throw anything at you to shut you down that you can't save out of.

[Captnq]

Where did I put that unfinished handbook? Ah, HERE (http://www.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1380336827) it is.

My EVD can fill in the gaps. Remember they suck at HTH, so make sure to give him an Energy Bow. And if you want and are the DM, I'd make it a Sorcerer's Hand/Energy Bow. That's pushing the rules a wee bit, but mathmatically would be do-able. So then you could shoot Rays with all sorts of WSAs on them, and if you need to, fall back to Force blasts. Splitting and Exit Wound a must.

Or is you wanna get f'd up, go with just the sorcerer's hand standard crossbow, add deathwand, spitting, and exit wound, then add the underslung crossbow bayonet before making it a illithid weapon graft. All your ray attacks are now natural attacks and thus subject to natural attack bonuses. However, as a DM I'd say, NO WAY to a player, but this is an NPC. Go hog wild. Hell the Augmentation section of the EVD is ripe with natural attack boosts. You can really trick this puppy out.

If you check out the Magic Addict Build at the end (The only build I finished), You'll see it's possible (In theory) to cast 5th level spells by 7th level as a MR. But that's also bitch-slapping the Rules like a red-headed step child.

[Irk]

The offensive PCs seem to be focused on movement of some sort, whether that be general mobility or charging, so any spell that hinders that is good some that come to mind are web and the various wall spells. alternatively, consider fly, just so they the chargers can't reach you.
Additionally, consider the shooting star substitution levels to for greater spellcasting ability (higher CL)

I do also have an infinite CL trick that works with rangers/paladins, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

[(Un)Inspired]

The offensive PCs seem to be focused on movement of some sort, whether that be general mobility or charging, so any spell that hinders that is good some that come to mind are web and the various wall spells. alternatively, consider fly, just so they the chargers can't reach you.
Additionally, consider the shooting star substitution levels to for greater spellcasting ability (higher CL)

I do also have an infinite CL trick that works with rangers/paladins, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

I'm thinking about shooting star levels. I'm not quite interested in infinite cl but I like the way you think. Both the ninja and the ranger are clever and both ensure that they can fly one way or another each combat. Additionally they both have excellent acrobatics and reflex saves so grease and web aren't as effective as I'd like. Also the ninja can teleport very reliably through shadow hand.

Captnq I appreciate the mystic ranger file. I was planning on disabling Pcs with spells then carving them up in melee but an energy bow isn't a bad idea.

I was also hoping that encountering this npc would be a good way to show off a few more interesting spells to the party wizard. Maybe he'll start changing up what he prepares.

[WhamBamSam]

I'd recommend cheating the action economy somehow, since this guy is going to be taking on 4 opponents all by himself. That's probably going to mean some means of free Quicken or Celerity+Mark of the Dauntless. Possibly both. Summon some allies up as well if you've got prep time. A spell-storing reach weapon to pop the charger with a (possibly metamagiced up a bit) Shivering Touch on an AoO when he tries to get in your face wouldn't go amiss either.

[Faily]

What kind of Wizard does not have Mage Armor going continually? :smalltongue:

But yes, I second the notion of summoning some allies for better Action Economy (4 on 1 is bad odds). A Belt of Battle could help too. There's also a magic item in Pathfinder (name escapes me now) that grants an additional move action 1/day or something.

[(Un)Inspired]

I probably should have said this before but in the setting were playing in there's no summoning spells. You can bet that im going to celerity and quicken spell them into oblivion.

Belt of battle is smart thinking

[Irk]

I'm thinking about shooting star levels. I'm not quite interested in infinite cl but I like the way you think.

Thanks!:smallsmile:



Both the ninja and the ranger are clever and both ensure that they can fly one way or another each combat. Additionally they both have excellent acrobatics and reflex saves so grease and web aren't as effective as I'd like. Also the ninja can teleport very reliably through shadow hand.


Alright lets see here. First off, we wanna take down those reflex saves. What does that ? Shivering touch does. I advise taking empower spell, easy metamagic, an arcane thesis in order to get 5-27 dexterity damage out of the spell, though I recommend fudging the roll if it would really mess things up.
Then, once their ref saves suck, maybe hit them with wands of arcane thesis practical metamagic easy metamagic sanctum spell wands of web or grease (4500 and 750 GP respectively). Then you can also apply walls for battlefield control, or black tentacles. To shut down the ninja, you can use dimensional anchor, and as an offensive spell try enervation, which could also be in a wand similar to those above (21000 GP). You could even empower the enervation if you REALLY wanted to be mean. to stop flying, dispel magic always works fine. remember to keep these all in wand holders with appropriate matamagic effects (consider dual wielding to have two wand holders and an animated shield to have a third).

As for action economy, evidently celerity seems like a good choice. If you go that route, I recommend taking mark of the dauntless to negate dazing.

Some other ways: 1 level of psion + linked metapower synchronicity (versatile spellcaster to make up for the lost spell slot), or try and get white raven tactics either through the feat or a dip in warblade and versatile spellcaster to retain the 5th level slot.

Hope this helps.

[Coidzor]

The party consists of:

Pathfinder Ninja/swordsage catfolk (mobility and damage focused with shadow hand, tiger claw, smoke bombs and ki points)

Two ranger oread (tends to rhino rush into melee then chop the hell outa stuff with full attacks

Diviner elf. (Worlds least effective wizard. Casts shield and Mage armor on himself at the beginning of every combat...)

Cloistered cleric undine ( actively trying to be a heal bot despite knowing better...)

That doesn't sound too bad, at least. Seems a bit tricky to duplicate though, what with maneuvers and all.

Do you mean TWF Ranger Oread? :smallconfused: Otherwise I don't quite understand what you mean by "Two ranger oread," exactly.

I... What... Did he even read the spells? You guys do know Mage Armor (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mage-armor) has hours long duration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mageArmor.htm), right? :smallconfused:

Smack him with this (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2710) and then rub his nose in it. :smalltongue:


I probably should have said this before but in the setting were playing in there's no summoning spells. You can bet that im going to celerity and quicken spell them into oblivion.

Belt of battle is smart thinking

What about calling spells?

[(Un)Inspired]

That doesn't sound too bad, at least. Seems a bit tricky to duplicate though, what with maneuvers and all.

Do you mean TWF Ranger Oread? :smallconfused: Otherwise I don't quite understand what you mean by "Two ranger oread," exactly.

I... What... Did he even read the spells? You guys do know Mage Armor (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mage-armor) has hours long duration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mageArmor.htm), right? :smallconfused:

Smack him with this (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2710) and then rub his nose in it. :smalltongue:



What about calling spells?

Sorry about the typo (trying to post on my phone... At work... While hiding from my boss...) he's a two handed ranger with a greatsword. The wizard doesn't gave extend and I like to put a lot of hours between encounters.

[Coidzor]

Sorry about the type he's a two handed ranger with a greatsword. The wizard doesn't gave extend and I like to put a lot of hours between encounters.

Over nine hours? When not traveling? :smallconfused: Considering it seems to be a likely contributing factor to your wizard problem, I'd recommend re-examining this habit of yours.

If this is all for the benefit/edification of the Wizard, it seems more like you'd want to isolate them from the rest of the party for this than to just trounce the entire party, though if you do go through with that, a spellcaster playing (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1570.0) GOD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/treatmonks-lab/test)and enabling a bunch of things they'd otherwise dismiss as mooks to defeat them would be more persuasive than pulling out all the stops with a single character that's acting alone. Maybe led by a non-healbot cleric if you really want to rub the cleric's nose in it at the same time. Or maybe have the primary caster that's playing GOD be an archivist for two birds with one antagonist.

The other two players seem fine, albeit happily limited to having less raw potential, really. :smallconfused:

[Grizzled Gryphon]

What kind of Wizard does not have Mage Armor going continually? :smalltongue:. The kind that knows Greater Mage Armor?

I have had a similar situation in a game I was running. I shut the two mobility damage dealers down with Defenstrating Sphere. Bowling for PC's!

And Mage Armor has an hour per level duration without extend spell.

[(Un)Inspired]

I'm absolutely gonna have a chambered wand of shivering touch. That'll teach em.

Defenstrating sphere is ridiculous. Doesn't defenstrate mean thrown through a glass window? Regardless, move action Jacksoning against my party sounds good.

[Grizzled Gryphon]

Defenstrating sphere is ridiculous. Doesn't defenstrate mean thrown through a glass window? Regardless, move action Jacksoning against my party sounds good.

The spell is in Spell Compendium. And, there is a special note in the spell that if there is a window in range, the target is thrown through said window. The spell is just loads of fun!

[Coidzor]

Defenstrating sphere is ridiculous. Doesn't defenstrate mean thrown through a glass window? Regardless, move action Jacksoning against my party sounds good.

Defenestration is just throwing someone out of a window, and in the Defenestration of Prague, I believe they opened the window first. Either way is good though, I believe.

[(Un)Inspired]

Defenestration is just throwing someone out of a window, and in the Defenestration of Prague, I believe they opened the window first. Either way is good though, I believe.

Works for me. If I need some BC + direct damage I'll use it

[nedz]

You could consider targeting Will saves instead of Reflex for BFC. This should shut down the melee characters but leave the casters to act. Similarly you could dominate on of the melee types and turn him on the party, this causes similar issues for the party and helps address the action economy.

I'm not sure that Mystic Ranger is the right vehicle for this tactic, but still — one to keep in mind.