Need help building a 3.5 NPC- insane fellow in a forest

[Milodiah]

So I find myself in need of a psychotic forest dweller who has lost his mind and has begun to terrorize people walking through "his" woods. Ideally somewhere around level 14, looking for high stealth optimization to slip in and out of ambushes/camps unnoticed, probably some light druidic casting, but not so much set up for a stand-and-deliver fight. The point isn't that he's an enemy that will be fought, the point is that he is an amorphous force in the brush who's probably watching you and planning something nasty when you let your guard down.

He is a human, first five levels are Scout (Ranger is also acceptable if needed) but from there you can go wild, no pun intended.

Anyone want to pitch some suggestions for builds?

[jiriku]

To clarify, do you intend to let the PCs fight him? If not, you don't need stats at all. If you do, do you expect him to always clash with them and escape to terrorize them another day? That would call for a specific kind of extremely defensive build to ensure he doesn't get controlled and captured or killed in the first round with an alpha strike.

[Milodiah]

I always assume the PCs will find a way to initiate combat with any and every important NPC they meet. Especially one that antagonizes them, like this chap.

Also, I'll add that there isn't anyone in the party with leanings towards enchantment spells. The casters are a warmage and a destruction-domain cleric, plus a ranger.

[StoneCipher]

Get 8 levels of scout for camoflauge, 1 barb level for rage and the rest in bear warrior. If you pick up spring attack you can run in skirmish and run out, possibly without being seen or heard....as a bear...

Edit: I've always felt that bear warriors had to be crazy mountain men.

[Extra Anchovies]

Get 8 levels of scout for camoflauge, 1 barb level for rage and the rest in bear warrior. If you pick up spring attack you can run in skirmish and run out, possibly without being seen or heard....as a bear...

Also, if the one level of barbarian uses the Lion Totem ACF from Complete Champion, they get pounce. Full attack on a charge + skirmish damage = a world of pain for whoever's in the way.

[jiriku]

I would lean toward scout/barbarian/fist of the forest. Nothing says wild like killing a dude with your bare hands.

[Shining Wrath]

Is his role solely as a nemesis for the PCs, or does he spread terror to others?

If you need someone who can hit-and-run a PC camp, adding levels of Druid seems natural (you should pardon the expression). He comes in, deals scathe, runs back out, escapes from sight, and wild shapes into a bunny rabbit, a bird in the tree, a butterfly resting on a flower, et cetera. Unless your PCs are going to kill every animal in the forest, he ought to be able to hit and run for quite some time.

So Scout 5 / Druid 9, or Ranger 5 / Druid 9.

If you're OK with the idea of a crazy person retaining good alignment, Beloved of Valarian. Ranger 5 / BoV 9. The ability to turn ethereal is going to really add to the ability to escape after attacking, and of course there's not much faster in a forest than a Celestial Unicorn mount. The fluff is also good:


A beloved of Valarian is a solitary being, shunning civilization. She retreats to the woods where she maintains few contacts with the outside world.

Maybe her mount was killed, which drove her mad - mad, I say! - and she blames Them for the death of her beloved unicorn, and anyone entering her forest is Them. She does get to call a new unicorn mount, mind, but she's still insane.

How the unicorn deals with the madness of the BoV allows for some role play. Does the unicorn return to the camp and heal wounds?

[Milodiah]

I agree with barbarian, since suppose refusing to leave the woods for like eight years while hunting and killing your own food pretty much makes this guy the poster child for barbarian. Anything besides Scout 8 camouflage to add to his concealment? I want this guy to be a ghost except when he chooses not to be. And no, this guy isn't a PC nemesis, he's just there. He has always been there, since the start of the campaign. They just unfortunately happened to stumble into his territory on a whim, so I'm rather scrambling to pull the region together, including him obviously.

Also, I'm unsure about alignment...how does the D&D alignment system deal with somebody who can't pass the M'Naughten test? He has pretty much stopped knowing the difference between right and wrong, just a wildman living in the woods. Does that give him animalistic True Neutral, or should he be ruled Chaotic Evil for...well, slaughtering the occasional travelers' camp in their sleep?

[jiriku]

Scout 8/barbarian 1 with maxed ranks in Hide and Move Silently will make you pretty darn hard to locate. Withdraw behind a tree or bush to make a Hide check, then walk away ignoring difficult terrain, Hiding even in the open (so long as it's a natural area), and leaving no tracks. With fast movement and moving unimpeded through difficult terrain, even moving at half speed to hide without penalty, you're moving faster than the party can possibly follow on foot.

[StoneCipher]

Given that he is crazy and an NPC, I didn't feel that optimization was a key thing, so that's why I went with 8 levels of scout since it makes a fair bit of sense. I just picture this guy as some primalistic nutty mountain man with nothing but a mud hut and just simple weaponry.

If he has level appropriate magic items, that's a whole different story and opens up a bit of play in terms of being more stealthy.

[Milodiah]

Given that he is crazy and an NPC, I didn't feel that optimization was a key thing, so that's why I went with 8 levels of scout since it makes a fair bit of sense. I just picture this guy as some primalistic nutty mountain man with nothing but a mud hut and just simple weaponry.

If he has level appropriate magic items, that's a whole different story and opens up a bit of play in terms of being more stealthy.

If by optimization you mean "maxing combat aptitude", no, he doesn't need to fully optimized. I just need help stretching the character sheet to fit the character concept; fully stealthy naturalist who takes pleasure in tormenting travelers.

Also, I will say that he doesn't not have magic items, but they would be the ones he's taken off whomever he's decided to lay low. Pretty much a random assortment of magic shiny baubles and things that the withered little voice of reason in the back of his mind says would help improve his performance.

[Segev]

Totemists can do the "back to nature" thing very well, and have a lot of bonuses to skills they can shift around as needed, as well as access to "natural attacks" of rather impressive sorts.

[nedz]

Scout 8 / Horizon Walker 8

Scout 8 gives you Camouflage, and a second bonus feat.

Horizon Walker 8 gives you +4 to all of your important skills, and a number of further goodies too.

If you want something a little more enchanting try:
Half Fey (2) / Scout 8 / Horizon Walker 6
Not all of the Horizon Walker goodies yet, but can fly and has a number of SLAs.

Charm person at will
Hypnotism 1/day
Detect law 3/day
Protection from law 3/day
Eyebite or lesser geas 1/day
Mass invisibility 1/day
Faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day
Enthrall or sleep 1/day
Confusion or emotion 1/day
Dominate person or hold monster 1/day
Geas/quest or mass suggestion 1/day

[Shining Wrath]

I agree with barbarian, since suppose refusing to leave the woods for like eight years while hunting and killing your own food pretty much makes this guy the poster child for barbarian. Anything besides Scout 8 camouflage to add to his concealment? I want this guy to be a ghost except when he chooses not to be. And no, this guy isn't a PC nemesis, he's just there. He has always been there, since the start of the campaign. They just unfortunately happened to stumble into his territory on a whim, so I'm rather scrambling to pull the region together, including him obviously.

Also, I'm unsure about alignment...how does the D&D alignment system deal with somebody who can't pass the M'Naughten test? He has pretty much stopped knowing the difference between right and wrong, just a wildman living in the woods. Does that give him animalistic True Neutral, or should he be ruled Chaotic Evil for...well, slaughtering the occasional travelers' camp in their sleep?

If he truly does not know what he is doing is right or wrong, then I suppose he become True Neutral. If on the other hand his madness leads him to believe that (morally speaking) black is white and up is down, that's a DM ruling as to whether he retains Good alignment because he *thinks* he's acting on behalf of all right-thinking creatures when he massacres the camp of travelers.

I don't know that living in the woods makes you Barbaric, it's perfectly appropriate for - well, any elf, rangers, druids, the aforementioned Beloved of Valarian, and so on. In fact I normally think of barbarians as being members of a tribe, and they Rage when the tribe is threatened.

The Animal Lord class from Complete Adventurer gives you +4 to Move Silently if you choose Cat Lord form, which has synergy with Lion Totem barbarian. Low-light vision, cat aspect.

King of the Wild (Forest) from Masters of the Wild gives you +10 to Hide in the forest.

So:
Scout 5 / Barbarian (Spirit Lion Totem) 1 / Druid 5 / King of the Forest 3 gets you

Scout: Skirmish, Evasion, Trackless Step, +10 move
SL Barb: Pounce, Rage
Druid: Animal Companion, Wild Empathy, Nature Sense, Woodland Stride, more Trackless Step, Resist Nature's Lure, Wild Shape
King otF: Survival +2, Climb +2, Resist Fire (5), Terrain Movement (move thru forest like plains), +10 to Hide


That's a pretty fair amount of "one with nature" coming at you right there.

[StoneCipher]

With the build I suggested, you can get pounce, charge in as a bear, and assuming 18 Str, we have 34 str after turning into a brown bear.

BAB= 12/7 (Claws/Bite)
Str Mod = +12

So our pounce attack consists of

2 Claws = +26 (1d8+2d6+12)
1 Bite = +21 (4d6+6)

Damage topping out at 94. Average being 62.

Bears have 40 ft movement so after his attack, he basically can run off very easily unimpeded by terrain and hide in the bush while the party will have very little hope of keeping up.

This guy would absolutely and brutally murder the average traveler before they even have a chance to see him.

Add in additional rage uses and he can repeat the tactic for quite some time. He will also have power attack (Bear Warrior requirement) and will have plenty of AB to spend it on.

Taking the scout levels at the appropriate time will allow the guy to have pretty much max Hide/MS at +17 each.

If you decide to advance him any further, don't go past level 5 in bear warrior, since dire bear form is only +20 str and is not significant enough of a jump to warrant the extra levels.

[The Ravensong]

I think Human Shadow-walker Scout5/Shadowcaster5/Teflammar Shadowlord5 would make for an interesting villain.
Shadowcaster will give your madman a lot of fun options. I particularly like the idea of putting him on the Ebon Whispers path, which would give him Congress of Shadow, letting him rave at the party about whatever it is that's on his mind safely as his words echo through the trees. Voice of Shadow lets him command creatures including undead and constructs. And finally... Flicker lets him teleport as an immediate action for 1 round/caster level... which combines nicely with the Shadowlord's shadow pounce and can be abused horribly alongside dimension door and shadow jump to take 2 full attack actions a turn... Also, if the party does keep him in a drawn out combat and prevent him from escaping... he discorporates into shadows when they drop him to zero, coming back at dusk.
Main abilities would focus on Dex, Cha, and Int (or cha or int if you want to handwave MAD casters)
Featwise I'd probably go with Blindfight, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Willing Deformity, Willing Deformity:Madness, Shadowcast, and Weapon Finesse... if you're playing with flaws, I'd suggest some combination of feeble, pathetic, murkey-eyed, and vulnerable to net yourself practiced spellcaster (to increase the duration of flicker) and Extend Mystery (to make Flicker last 18 rounds).
Madness will give him immunity to mind effecting spells and Live My Nightmare will cause divination effects that target him to trigger an automatic phantasmal killer. (Perhaps a local cleric attempted to investigate the madman only to be found slain in some horrific manner that tells the party something about the madman).
The build wouldn't necessarily be crazy combat effective, but it would certainly add an element of horror.
Edit: Hatchets. Every ax-murdering psycho woodsmen should have hatchets. Hatchets and gruesome traps.