Wanted:Good Aquatic-themed villain.

[strangebloke]

I'm getting ready to DM a naval campaign. The group is start at eighth level, and they're all playing pirates of some type. So far we have a duskblade, a dervish, a swordsage, and very poorly optimized druid. (druidic avenger with a +1 LA)

I have everything ready, but I need a BBEG.

What sorts of Villains have you guys encountered that you think would do well in such a setting?

[Phelix-Mu]

- A Hadozee (Stormwrack) slaver runs a series of slave ships and himself is a steroid addict, abusing drugs (Book of Vile Darkness) that improve his combat prowess. Hulk smash!

- A kraken mastermind is recruiting inland minions by monopolizing trade along a trade lane by sinking all the competition's ships. Only one company/affiliation/nationality is left unscated, and those captains are bribed/charmed/coerced by the kraken into advancing the kraken's interests on land.

- A sahuagin cult worshipping the demon prince Daagun (spelling?) has emerged, and their god-blooded, four-armed psychic warrior leader is looking for virgin sacrifices or [insert cliche].

[Nirhael]

I've always wanted to make a BBE whale.

But maybe I like weird things in my campaigns too much.

[BowStreetRunner]

I've always been a big fan of the classics. Something like Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Maybe make him an artificer with a combination ironclad/theurgeme (from Stormwrack) that can submerge?

EDIT: As long as I am championing the classics, how about this:


I've always wanted to make a BBE white whale. Fixed!

[Dming For Noobs]

If you can use the A&EG, they have the stats for a gnomish submersible. That could be an interesting encounter, with some equally memorable loot (a submarine).

[Lightlawbliss]

give a normal bbeg the amphibious template.

[Vhaidara]

A summoning focused merfolk druid. Wearing orange.

He can finally be useful outside of Injustice

[Dr. Azkur]

Look at the Leviathan chapter on Elder Evils, it has some very useful things.

[Valwyn]

Anthropomorphic octopus Sea Witch? :smallbiggrin: Just make sure to give her some way to resist piercing damage and she should be good.

[Thurbane]

I find Sahuagin to be a classic aquatic villain race.

Maybe the PCs get caught in a turf war between the Sahuagin and the Ixitxachitl.

Or, as above, how about a Spellwarped or Fiendish whale?

[Glimbur]

Aboleth. Sure, they might not like the ocean so much as underground, but on the other hand that will just make him/her/it meaner.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Amphibious mind flayers, with giant octopus minions. They use mind-affecting powers, trickery, stealth, and when necessary brute force to drag sailors below the waves to either devour their brains or implant them with a tadpole the turns them into one of the illithid.

Their ultimate mission is to grow their population large enough that when the elder god who slumbers beneath the waves awakens, they can cast themselves into his maw and be the first to be devoured. The sudden influx of highly intelligent life is enough to thoroughly satisfy his initial craving and cast him back into his slumber. Should they fail in this mission, this elder god would rise from the depths and devour all intelligent life on the entire world.

Plot twist: That's just a story they've been spreading to ward off anyone who may interfere with their schemes, and to attract cultists who want to help save the world. The real story is that the elder god which spawned them was permanently sealed ages ago by a priests of a long-dead god of the sea. They managed to defeat it and performed a ritual to seal it away forever, but after their god's death the magic that binds it is diminished, but the seal is still eternal. The illithids have researched a ritual to break the seal, but it will require a massive amount of casters and sacrifices to complete. The PCs may learn of the above fabricated tale, and even seek to aid the mind flayers thinking they're doing good! This type of game will take a lot of subtle hints and clues over a long period of time to properly pull off.