Building a harpy

[AlanBruce]

Greetings! I'm running a 3.5 nautical campaign and the party will be sailing through harpy infested islands.

One of the main 'boss' harpies in these islands has the following build:

Spellthief 11/ Bard 1/ Sublime Chord 3

With its natural ability to sing and lure the crew (and possibly the PCs) and some nice racial bonuses to dexterity, I found this build to be interesting for such monster, but would like ideas on feats, spells, and gear, since it would likely have a decent amount of wealth (going by the NPC WBL for her).

The party is failry optimized, being between ECL 12 and 14, and are all casters, arcane and divine, which should make this encounter that more fun.

Any ideas are more than welcome.

Thank you in advance.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Definitely include Heart of Water, considering a single Bands of Steel spell will automatically prevent her from flying and cause her to plummet into the sea. She can get 4th-6th level Bard and Sorcerer spells, but only knows 4/2/1. I'd probably make her 6th level spell Greater Dispel Magic if she has Master Spellthief, and also use Greater Invisibility. Give her Melodic Casting so she can still sing while casting spells. Since the party is all spellcasters she should use summons (Summon Undead V for two Wyvern Zombies at a time) and try to use a targeted Greater Dispel Magic against each of them. Greater Invisibility plus Nondetection is highly recommended, be sure to give her extra components for that.

For items, an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Hound of Doom (CW) is quite good and can be used by anyone capable of casting arcane spells. A few Scrolls of Call Avalanche from Frostburn plus UMD is ideal for taking out ships, since its weight alone is enough to sink or capsize most vessels plus it deals structural damage plus it crowd controls all the defenders on the deck. Cometfall in SC is an alternative that's not quite as mean, though it can deal considerable structural damage as well.

[AlanBruce]

Definitely include Heart of Water, considering a single Bands of Steel spell will automatically prevent her from flying and cause her to plummet into the sea.

Of all spells, that is one I neglected completely. thank you for reminiding me!


She can get 4th-6th level Bard and Sorcerer spells, but only knows 4/2/1. I'd probably make her 6th level spell Greater Dispel Magic if she has Master Spellthief


I would've thought the SC levels would give her more spells and spell slots, but GDM is a nice one to have. I have given her Master Spelltheif and Craven, to maximize her damage potential. I assume Craven does not factor in RHD, right?


For items, an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Hound of Doom (CW) is quite good and can be used by anyone capable of casting arcane spells. A few Scrolls of Call Avalanche from Frostburn plus UMD is ideal for taking out ships, since its weight alone is enough to sink or capsize most vessels plus it deals structural damage plus it crowd controls all the defenders on the deck.

Totally using these. Thank you very much!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I would've thought the SC levels would give her more spells and spell slots, but GDM is a nice one to have. I have given her Master Spelltheif and Craven, to maximize her damage potential. I assume Craven does not factor in RHD, right?

Craven uses your Character Level to determine the bonus damage it grants. "Character Level: The total number of class levels a creature has, plus any racial Hit Dice the creature has. (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20060404a)"

[AlanBruce]

Craven uses your Character Level to determine the bonus damage it grants. "Character Level: The total number of class levels a creature has, plus any racial Hit Dice the creature has."

Ouch! That's +22 extra damage with a successful SA. Well, the party has enough defenses to partially/completely negate precision damage, so they should be fine, provided they aren't dispelled.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Ouch! That's +22 extra damage with a successful SA. Well, the party has enough defenses to partially/completely negate precision damage, so they should be fine, provided they aren't dispelled.


...I'd probably make her 6th level spell Greater Dispel Magic... and try to use a targeted Greater Dispel Magic against each of them....

*Maniacal laughter*

[Dusk Eclipse]

Biff you are a bad person and should feel bad a.... oh who am I kidding that is a great idea :joins in maniacal laughter: