Pimp my Dracolich

[Deeds]

I run a weekly "kick in the door" campaign for my friends. I take about 20 minutes to come up with encounters, loot, and approving any character activities during their downtime. After the 20 minutes, we start playing. We've all decided that an undead dragon will be the "final boss" of the campaign. I want to make this final encounter memorable. However, I'm having trouble finishing up the dracolich stats. Shoot me some ideas playgrounders!

What I've got so far:

Young Adult Red Dragon Dracolich with 1 level of Sorcerer (20 HD)
100,000 GP that can be spent on magic items/gear/traps/etc. This number is flexible.
The dracolich's ally, a level 13 vampire cleric of Falazure. He has brew potion (dracolich brew,) craft wondrous item, DMM Quicken Spell
The dracolich's familiar, a Quasit with 20 ranks UMD


Where I'm having trouble:

Names for the dracolich, vampire cleric, and quasit
World events concerning the nigh unstoppable dracolich
Feats for the dracolich: Practiced Spellcaster, Improved Familiar, and 5 undecided feats
Spell choices for the dragon/vampire duo. The dracolich will most likely invest in defensive spells (scintillating scales, alarm, etc.)
Combat tactics for the big baddies. Ebon eyes + Deeper Darkness perhaps? I dunno. ><


Thanks in advance playgrounders!

[jiriku]

Power Attack is a must for most dragons, to turn those massive attack bonuses into massive damage bonuses. I'm also a fan of Enlarge Breath, Maximize Breath, Multigrab, and Flyby Attack. Entangling Exhalation and Clinging Breath are also fun. Consider Draconic Aura (energy) to improve the DC of fire-based effects like the breath weapon and any fire-themed spells.

Spells like body of the sun, fire wings and fire shield would be fun thematic choices, and could benefit from the Searing Spell feat since the players will be packing fire resistance if they know what they're getting into.
For the vampire cleric, debuffing foes to make them vulnerable to the dragon is probably a solid choice. Dispel magic or greater dispel magic could strip away the mass of buffs players rely on. The Chain Spell feat would be very nice if you're at the level of being able to use it effectively, since you can then attempt a targeted dispel against the entire party at once. Energy vulnerability (fire) is good for laughs with a fire-breathing dragon around. If your cleric has the Spell domain, you can use anyspell to get kelgore's grave mist. The Fell Drain feat will let your campire cast fell drain kelgore's grave mist to create a large area that deals cold damage, negative levels, and fatigue over time, all with no save. Both the vampire and the dracolich are either immune to those effects or actively benefit from them, while they're slowly suck the life out of the players and limit their tactical mobility.

[Melcar]

One answer... Give it the Demi-Lich template from ELH!

[Hazrond]

One answer... Give it the Demi-Lich template from ELH!

.........:eek:

[Melcar]

.........:eek:

Yeesss... :smallwink:

[Brookshw]

What's the party level and composition?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

It has six attacks on a full attack, and knows 7/4/2/1 spells.

Definitely give it Practiced Spellcaster, I'd give it Control Temperature from Frostburn which it uses to make the area hotter. It can cast that multiple times, each instance of the spell's effect makes the area one category hotter. If the environment would normally be very hot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#heatDangers) it would have it cast twice to raise the environment to extreme heat. If the environment would normally be comfortable it would need to cast that three times to do that. Give it a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend for this so it lasts 20 hours at a time.

Its 2nd level spells should definitely include Wings of Cover, and I'd also give it Glitterdust. That gives it a way to deal with invisible opponents, and it's useful even when nobody is invisible. Wings of Cover is for avoiding targeted spells and effects, big leaping charge attacks, and similar. For its 1st level spells, I'd go with either Shield or Nightshield (SC), Mage Armor, Alarm, and probably Inflict Light Wounds. Nothing fancy, just some defenses and a way to fix gradually any damage it takes since it can't heal naturally. Its 0-level spells should include Arcane Mark, which it put on every coin and every gem, as well as all the other loot it has. Maybe switch Glitterdust for Death Armor (SC) if you're going to give it metamagic like Fell Drain and/or Fell Frighten (LM) plus Practical Metamagic (RotD).

For its feats, Practiced Spellcaster of course, Power Attack, Improved Flight in RotW for average maneuverability, and I'm a big fan of Large and In Charge in the Draconomicon. Also include Flyby Attack, Multiattack, and probably Lifesense in LM. Its skills should be easy, just be sure it has the required Spellcraft ranks for Practiced Spellcaster. Don't forget about skill tricks in CS!

[Deeds]

Thanks for the responses! I've got a good idea on where to start for my feats and spells now. For some reason I almost skipped over Power Attack. :smallsmile:


What's the party level and composition?

The party composition is a bit wonky, but oddly effective at ECL 5. There are 2 clerics: a Barbarian worshipper of Kord and a Pelor cleric hoping to prestige into the Pelor themed prestige class. I've also got 2 sorcerers who favor blast type spells, an unopotimized fighter, a death prone duskblade, and a ranger. Since there are so many PCs I'm favoring Quicken Metamagic and the like so the big bads can make an impact on their turn.

Any ideas on gear and on what the familiar should do? The cleric could make a few things cheaper than retail price and the familiar sports a +19 BaB and 20 ranks UMD. :smallcool:

[jiriku]

Wand of scorching ray is an easy choice.