Help making a bad guy.

[ASBERON88]

So early on in my campaign we had a level 2 fighter that left our group, so instead of doing the usual player turns into NPC and leaves when they're out of the dungeon, I decided to have the character go psycho and turn on them. They beat him down and left him naked with a bunch of Kobolds to look after, they eventually forgot about him. The party is now around level 12 or so, and I want to bring him back around level 16-18 and hopefully have an epic fight. Problem is I keep getting stuck trying to make the character. It's like I'm blocked and can't really decide what I want to do with him. This campaign is Gnoll heavy, so instantly I thought it would be cool to have him be a Gnoll that was polymorphed into a human and disguised himself as a hopeful mercenary only to turn on them and lead the rest of his Gnoll brethren to attack. So I was wondering if you guys had any advice on what to do with this character, and how to build him up to be where he would be a tough fight. Thanks guys.

[ASBERON88]

It's a 3.5 game btw.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What characters does the current party consist of? Most importantly, what did the PCs use against him when they beat him up and left him naked the first time? What books do you (not) have access to?

[KingAtomsk]

If the fighter can be made into a lockdown build with all the usual suspects (spiked chain, improved trip, combat reflexes, etc.) you could sick him on the party with a bunch of low-level mooks. Then the fighter could lock down the party while some bruisers went to town on them.

[lytokk]

I like the idea of him leading that group of kobolds he was left with. Just throwing that out there.

[bjoern]

Focus his build on improved sunder. Not necessarily thrashing through the party, but just breaking all their stuff. Its fitting to what they did to him, and they won't realize it until someone loses an item. And having scores of kobolds behind him would be a nice touch also.

[ASBERON88]

What characters does the current party consist of? Most importantly, what did the PCs use against him when they beat him up and left him naked the first time? What books do you (not) have access to?


The only Character that was in the party when the fighter turned was a monk.

Now the party consists of a:

Monk/Tattooed Monk who might be taking levels in Dragon Shaman soon and has a Kobold Fighter as a cohort.

A Warlock/binder/hellfire warlock.

A Cloistered Cleric/Sacred Exorcist/Dread Necromancer/DweomerKeeper.

A Druid.

All party members are close to level 12 if not level 12, except the druid is level 9.

It was mainly just a easy beat down for the group, although they used nonlethal damage and knocked him out cause they did not know he was actually evil.

And I pretty much have access to any book that can be found on a pdf by googling it.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Give him a Flindbar (MM3 p62), possibly even make him a Flind if he's going to be a Gnoll. A flindbar has a 19-20 threat, Improved Critical will make this 17-20, and any time it threatens a critical hit (doesn't actually have to crit, doesn't matter if they're immune to crits) he gets a free disarm attempt. Give him a bunch of kobold mooks. He disarms an item from an opponent and it falls to the ground, a kobold grabs it and runs away!

[ASBERON88]

Having a bunch of Kobolds with him is a good idea, but my group actually helped the Kobolds which is why they left the character there. I guess giving the fact that they are evil, the Kobolds could join him.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The only Character that was in the party when the fighter turned was a monk.

Now the party consists of a:

Monk/Tattooed Monk who might be taking levels in Dragon Shaman soon and has a Kobold Fighter as a cohort.

A Warlock/binder/hellfire warlock.

A Cloistered Cleric/Sacred Exorcist/Dread Necromancer/DweomerKeeper.

A Druid.

All party members are close to level 12 if not level 12, except the druid is level 9.

And to answer your question about who was around the fighter when he turned. It was a monk, a psion and a rogue.

A Sacred Exorcist is required to be good aligned, but a Dread Necromancer is required to be nongood. Not to mention the classes are thematically opposed. This is obviously some sort of DMM: Persistomancer, probably with Rebuke Dragons from Cleric, Turn Undead from SE, and Rebuke Undead from DN, so he gets triple the benefit of effects that increase his daily number of turn/rebuke uses. Granted he may have gone good-aligned Cleric into Sacred Exorcist, then switched to a nongood alignment to take Dread Necro and he's finishing it with Dweomerkeeper, which could work if you're not using the CW's rules on losing a prestige class if you lose any of its prerequisites on classes that don't appear in CW. However, if he went Cleric/DN into Dweomerkeeper and dipped Sacred Exorcist once he qualified for it, then returned to Dweomerkeeper, then he would have had to switch to a good alignment while being a Dread Necro, lost his DN class features, and wouldn't be able to take more Dweomerkeeper as he wouldn't have any arcane spellcasting to qualify for it with. If he has fewer than seven Cleric levels, then there are major problems with his build.


Back to the topic at hand. How smart/charismatic is this Fighter? What feats did he already have when they last encountered him?

[ASBERON88]

Yeah I'm well aware of the inconsistent build, we had a talk about it and I allowed him a hiccup meaning if he met me somewhere in the middle we could work something out, and we did. He's been working on this strategy for quite some time (in fact i'm sure he's been lurking around here looking for options) so I let him slide on a few things since he's really worked hard on this character. If he plays with me again however, I will be a lot more strict.

The person who was playing the fighter only played one session, didn't really show much of a character, just hit stuff with his greatsword. When he left I didn't have his stats so I had to quickly create an NPC version of him, I made him very quiet with low charisma. But basically I have free reign with this character.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Yeah I'm well aware of the inconsistent build, we had a talk about it and I allowed him a hiccup meaning if he met me somewhere in the middle we could work something out, and we did. He's been working on this strategy for quite some time (in fact i'm sure he's been lurking around here looking for options) so I let him slide on a few things since he's really worked hard on this character. If he plays with me again however, I will be a lot more strict.

The person who was playing the fighter only played one session, didn't really show much of a character, just hit stuff with his greatsword. When he left I didn't have his stats so I had to quickly create an NPC version of him, I made him very quiet with low charisma. But basically I have free reign with this character.

Keep his original race (Human?), it would be best for consistency to keep him the same race so it's easy for them to recognize him. Don't make him a gnoll, but give him a few gnoll minions as well as kobold minions. He'll need a decent Cha score, at least 16 base.

I would make him working for some bigger villain. He had to have found work in the time since he last saw the PCs, and chances are the party has disrupted something his boss had set in motion. On learning that it was that guy and his new friends, this fighter insisted on being the one to go after them. Ideally he should escape instead of being killed, to show up again later on, preferably when they're finally confronting his boss but possibly one or more times before that as well.

Give him at least nine levels of Fighter, with the Zhentarim Soldier (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) substitution levels and free class features (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a), plus trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a). He should have Imperious Command from Drow of the Underdark, armor with the Fearsome property in Drow of the Underdark (it's more recent than MIC), and a Flindbar as discussed. Also give him a Gnome Battle Cloak in Races of Stone, TWF, Gloves of the Balanced Hand in MIC, and make both his Flindbar and Gnome Battle Cloak +1 Disarming (MIC). Give him Improved Shield Bash so he keeps the cloak's AC bonus when disarming with it. I'll just throw together a build:

Human, Fighter 10/ Binder 1/ Marshal (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b) 1/ Warblade 5
Class Features: Zhentarim Soldier (Fighter), Dead Levels features (Fighter), always bind Aym (Binder), Art of War (Marshal).
Feats: Dreadful Wrath (PGtF), Combat Expertise, EWP: Flindbar, Skill Focus: Intimidate, Improved Disarm, Weapon Focus: Flindbar, TWF, Exotic Shield Proficiency: Gnome Battle Cloak, Imperious Command, Skill Focus: Diplomacy, Weapon Specialization: Flindbar, Melee Weapon Mastery: Bludgeoning, Improved Critical: Flindbar, Greater Weapon Focus: Flindbar, Combat Reflexes.
Warblade Maneuvers Known (Readied*): Disarming Strike, Wolf Fang Strike, Iron Heart Surge*, Mithral Tornado*, Dancing Mongoose*, Manticore Parry*.
Warblade Stances Known: Hunter's Sense, Absolute Steel Stance.
Skills: Max ranks in Intimidate and Tumble, Never Outnumbered skill trick, 5+ ranks in Balance, Jump, Bluff, Sense Motive, Diplomacy.
Equipment: +1 Fearsome armor, Restful Crystal (MIC), +1 (shield)/+1 Disarming (weapon) Gnome Battle Cloak, Lesser Crystal of Arrow Deflection (MIC), +1 Disarming Adamantine Flindbar, Lesser Revelation Crystal (MIC), Gloves of the Balanced Hand (MIC), various Necessary Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items).

Full Attack Round: Intimidate check to demoralize (swift action) or activate Dancing Mongoose (swift action), make two disarm attempts with the Gnome Battle Cloak (three with Dancing Mongoose) or make as many offhand attacks with armor spikes, make three sunder attempts with the Flindbar (four with Dancing Mongoose) or just as many normal attacks, if the Flindbar rolls within its threat range get a free disarm attempt with it even when sundering items. Make a 5-ft. step. Recover maneuvers if none were initiated this round.
Non-Full Attack Round: Intimidate check to demoralize (swift action), move into position or Intimidate check to demoralize (move action, fearsome armor) and 5-ft. step, initiate Mithral Tornado or make a single attack or make another Intimidate check to demoralize. Recover maneuvers if he attacked and didn't use any this round.
If Debuffed: Initiate Iron Heart Surge (standard action), move into position or Intimidate check to demoralize (move action, fearsome armor) and 5-ft. step, Intimidate check to demoralize (swift action).

MINIONS!

Kobold Cloistered Cleric 1/ Sorcerer 9 with the Draconic Rite of Passage for Benign Transposition, Draconic Reservoir and the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a), and Quicken Spell-Like Ability (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsterFeats.htm#quickenSpellLikeAbility) for Benign Transposition (CL 10 at 9th via Greater Rite). Domains are Knowledge, Inquisition, and Undeath. He'll need Practiced Spellcaster: Cleric and Divine Defiance (http://dndtools.eu/feats/fiendish-codex-ii-tyrants-of-the-nine-hells--67/divine-defiance--655/).

Sorcerer spells known: 9/5/4/3/2/1
0- whatever
1st- Shield, Alarm, Power Word: Pain (RotD), Nerveskitter (SC), Wall of Smoke (SC)
2nd- Wings of Cover (RotD), Arcane Turmoil (CM), Web, Glitterdust
3rd- Dispel Magic, Heart of Water (CM), Ray of Dizziness (SC)
4th- Wings of Flurry (RotD), Greater Invisibility
5th- Dimension Shuffle (PH2)

Gnoll Fighter 6 with Dungeoncrasher and Permanency: Enlarge Person (CL 20). Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Knock-Back (RoS), Combat Reflexes, EWP: Spiked Chain. Should be obvious what he does.

Flind Warlock 8, Baleful Utterance, See the Unseen, Spiderwalk, Eldritch Chain, Beshadowed Blast.

Bunch of first level Kobold Warriors with tower shields, tanglefoot bags, and alchemist's fire.

[ASBERON88]

Wow that's awesome. I'll definitely look into everything.