Need Help Building A Monster

[KnotKnormal]

Ok, I have never built my own monsters, and I find the book explanation a bit on the confusing side. So I leave it to you the great people of GITP.

I need to build Cupid (my BBEG) and he needs to be a Challenge Rating of between 30 and 35 as the party will more then likely be ECL 30 at that point.
Base race I know would be some sort of angel, And He'd probably be 20 sorc/ 20 Ranger. but I'm really not sure how to actually build him.

anyone care to take a stab at it?

[PraxisVetli]

Paragon Solar Angel

[KnotKnormal]

Paragon Solar Angel

Alight but what other spells would Cupid have and use? seeing as how his power is not in his ability to fight.

[Telonius]

What sort of a Cupid are you talking about here - standard "cause romance"-y Cupid? Warped version?

Some random ideas on classes or abilities...

Cleric or Favored Soul of Lastai
Merciful Bow
Some ranged variant on the "Mosquito's Bite" skill trick (CSco) - targets don't know they've been struck
A way to imbue "Suggestion" into a ranged attack. (EDIT: Spell-storing arrows could do this)
Possibly Apostle of Peace?
Possibly Chaotic alignment (though this might interfere with some of the rest...)
Levels in Bard (possibly Divine variant) for diplomancy and sappy love songs

[KnotKnormal]

What sort of a Cupid are you talking about here - standard "cause romance"-y Cupid? Warped version?

Some random ideas on classes or abilities...

Cleric or Favored Soul of Lastai
Merciful Bow
Some ranged variant on the "Mosquito's Bite" skill trick (CSco) - targets don't know they've been struck
A way to imbue "Suggestion" into a ranged attack. (EDIT: Spell-storing arrows could do this)
Possibly Apostle of Peace?
Possibly Chaotic alignment (though this might interfere with some of the rest...)
Levels in Bard (possibly Divine variant) for diplomancy and sappy love songs

Warped. He learns he not only has the power to make something fall in love with another thing but also to make something fall in love with an idea. this power goes to his head and he starts demanding the respect he deserves from the gods and when he doesn't get it he pits them against one another the throws the material plain in accidentally. very much taking the chaotic evil route of his power.

[PraxisVetli]

The plot thickens!
perhaps Half Fiend?

[KnotKnormal]

But once again the spell list and level becomes the issue. I was hoping you guys knew some off the top of your head that would be in there... Other wise I have to page through the spell compendium and ever other book I own to figure out what he does. And I don't have tim for that... First session is this weekend and I'm still trying to button up the loose ends on what I have planned for the first few sessions.

[PraxisVetli]

But once again the spell list and level becomes the issue. I was hoping you guys knew some off the top of your head that would be in there... Other wise I have to page through the spell compendium and ever other book I own to figure out what he does. And I don't have tim for that... First session is this weekend and I'm still trying to button up the loose ends on what I have planned for the first few sessions.

You don't need levels, Solars come with 20 lvls of Cleric and really a 20 levels worth of SLA's.
Making it Paragon just adjusts it for the CR you want.
honestly, a Paragon Half-Fiend Solar might be simple, but it should be fairly effective.

[Telonius]

Ahh, warped version. The way you've described him sounds very much like a Beguiler - heavy on the mind control. That has the added bonus of having a fixed spell list, so the preparation wouldn't be as bad.

[Phelix-Mu]

I'll second solar, but not before I plug my initial stupid great idea: concordant killer with Vow of Nonviolence.

Problem is that a good enchanter-type villain is really shut down by the level you are talking about.

Speaking of which, I think you will find that ECLs and CRs above 25 or so are totally meaningless. By 25 or so, a reasonably optimized party is experienced enough and decked out with enough stuff to wipe the floor with almost anything in print. Be very careful with your villain, or your villain will be part of a very short fight.

Checklist:
- Contingent teleport/heal/resurrection: Get Out of Jail Free card. Every villain needs at least one, and make it flashy, so the players get a good description of a gust of rose petals carrying away Cupid, or maybe a shower of golden light dissolves his wounds. These need to be contingent (as per Craft Contingent Spell, Complete Arcane, cheese it out for the BBEG), because Cupid won't have actions to spare for healing himself.

- Big initiative.

- Big touch AC. Give the cupid protective items, maybe even a monk's belt to get him Wisdom to AC (including touch) as long as he's unarmoured.

- Extensive pre-battle buffs. Cupid should be mind blanked, death warded, and the most important buffs should be affected by the Tenacious Magic epic feat.

- Give him an alternate source of DR, one the players won't be expecting from his creature type. There are a couple items in the Epic Level Handbook that give stuff like DR/adamantine.

- Big series of fights leading up to Cupid. Don't give players time to rest up and get down all their best buffs right before fighting Cupid, or they will be nigh invulnerable (in addition to being ECL30, which is pretty darn hard to kill even without buffs). Use up some resources, build up the tension, and whittle away at their stamina (if epic characters have such a thing). I suggest memorable stuff like having Cupid be a kind of cult leader, worshiped by a bunch of fanatic demons, devils, and celestials, all consumed by "love," to the extent that they believe they must kill those that resist their master's beckoning. The best setups typically involve a mix of toughs (try max HD vrocks with, um, maybe the Beast of Legend Template and Half-Dragon template, maybe) backed up by a caster that can lay down some pain. There are a number of celestials that have good casting ability, but you will need to buff up the DCs to challenge the party (just give them 18s in their casting stat+racial bonus+item+wishes...it will probably need to be in the high 30s or 40s to challenge the pcs).

Alright, went on a bit longer than I intended. You get the idea, I think. I will check in again tomorrow if you have any further questions. I'm sure, between all of us, we can give you tips to help this be a memorable BBEG.