The Dwarf Hunter - Help me make a badguy

[Dormammu]

I'm looking for build recommendations, role play ideas, and plot hooks. The system is 3.5 mostly core material, but I'll allow occasional inclusions from other sources.

The Setting
Underdark-eske lots of Svirfneblin, Drow, and other deep dwellers. The party has recently desecrated a temple dedicated to Lloth.

The Players
2-3 Veterans, the rest inexperienced

The Party
Level 6,
Elf, Rogue (Trap-finder)
Elf, Wizard (Conjuration and Battlefield control)
Human, Wizard (Blaster)
Human, Barbarian (Ranged Thrower)
Dwarf, Fighter (Great Cleave & Spring Attack)

The Villain concept
I want somebody who's hunting the heroes. Probably hired by the Drow, or itself a Drow. I like the idea of a bunch of dwarf beards kept as trophies on a belt.
Maybe a bane weapon keyed to Dwarves or something?
How do we make this villain recurring, by which I mean how can the villain reliably escape?

[Blackhawk748]

Well first off Ranger levels feel mandatory here, give him FE: Dwarves and if he takes enough levels to get a second one FE Arcanist. As for being able to escape, a ring of freedom of movement and gem jump will greatly help, or just use tree stride (giant mushrooms count as trees right? :smalltongue:

[torrasque666]

Well first off Ranger levels feel mandatory here, give him FE: Dwarves and if he takes enough levels to get a second one FE Arcanist. As for being able to escape, a ring of freedom of movement and gem jump will greatly help, or just use tree stride (giant mushrooms count as trees right? :smalltongue:
Gotta switch those around actually. Arcane Hunter has to be taken at 1st. the other FE increments work normally though.

[Red Fel]

The Villain concept
I want somebody who's hunting the heroes. Probably hired by the Drow, or itself a Drow. I like the idea of a bunch of dwarf beards kept as trophies on a belt.
Maybe a bane weapon keyed to Dwarves or something?
How do we make this villain recurring, by which I mean how can the villain reliably escape?

Is he hunting the heroes specifically, or just hunting people generally?

I ask, because someone who is hunting this specific group of heroes will be prepared for them. He will have a selection of weapons and abilities specifically designed to shut them down, particularly the two Wizards. By contrast, if he's a general bounty hunter or the like, and the heroes just happen to be his latest prey, he'll have a more general, all-purpose spread of abilities.

With regard to keeping a villain recurring, the only surefire way of doing that is fiat. Because the fact is that a solo character in combat with the PCs will meet one of three ends: He steamrolls the PCs. TPK. The PCs steamroll him. He is but one man, while they are many. The PCs steamroll him, but take him alive.
Only the third option allows him to recur without ending the campaign.

Now, there are tricks you can pull, but they can be shut down by capable PCs. For example, he can have short-range teleportation spells or items that let him escape, Expeditious Retreat and the like, various stealth tricks to make himself invisible and get him a way out, even minionmancy to distract the PCs while he makes a break for it. But any of these things can be put down.

I generally prefer my recurring villains to avoid direct confrontation, and to attack via middle-men, plots, and devices. This ensures that they can keep causing trouble, because as soon as they engage the party in combat, it generally ends either in their death or in a TPK.

[endur]

The party has recently desecrated a temple dedicated to Lloth.

The Villain concept
I want somebody who's hunting the heroes. Probably hired by the Drow, or itself a Drow. I like the idea of a bunch of dwarf beards kept as trophies on a belt.
Maybe a bane weapon keyed to Dwarves or something?
How do we make this villain recurring, by which I mean how can the villain reliably escape?

Let's go with Drow or a Drow minion.

Drow priestesses make great enemies, but they don't tend to wear dwarven beards on a belt ... so lets not use a drow priestess.

A Draegloth (half fiend/drow) is an idea. You could also use a summoned fiend or a planar ally bound by a priestess.

Whatever you end up using, should probably have a dwarven bane weapon and at least one level of ranger (for track and favored enemy).

Reliably escape is difficult. If you select a fiend that has teleport, that would work (assuming teleport works in your version of the underdark).

An Xorn is pretty good at escaping in the underdark, but I'm not sure that an Xorn is what you have in mind. Personally I think a Purple Worm recurring villain would be kind of cool.

Ring of Spell Storing can store teleport, word of recall, etc. ... but the ring of spell storing is expensive ... might be beyond your bad guy's budget for magic items (50k for teleport version, 200k for word of recall version). I'd look for a different way to get teleport.

...

My recommendation would be a CR 6 Babau (Demon Tanar'ri) with 1 level of Ranger (making him CR 7) and a dwarven bane weapon. Add more stuff if you like having enemies with a higher CR than that. teleport at will for escaping. DR, SR, immunities, etc.

[bloodystone2]

Is this a boss? If it is, I'd recommend he baits the party into a trap.

"You're telling me that in order to save those hostages, I have to cross a 50 foot drawbridge with a crazy dwarf with two crossbows firing at us?"

That way it forces the players to adapt to a new adversary where they can't go back but they hardly move forward before he escapes or dies.

Is he a reoccurring villain?

I'd give him the leadership feat and make his minions consistantly fight the PCs until they die or the minions die.

Is he a one time villian and/or is a miniboss?

Give him a party that have prepared to deal with the shenanigans of the group but give them a crippling weakness. Maybe their cleric was killed earlier in the campaign. maybe one of the members is being mind controlled and they lose connection with the mind controller, ect.

[Dormammu]

Is he hunting the heroes specifically, or just hunting people generally?

I ask, because someone who is hunting this specific group of heroes will be prepared for them.

That's a really good point, I think that since this guy (or gal) already has a stack of dwarf beards. She's probably a hunter in general but hired for her expertise.

This also gives insight into how to make the villain recurring. Maybe the hunter pays some gnolls or something to attack the party and watches from afar to learn their tactics.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

He's after them because they desecrated a temple of Lolth, so make him Lolth-Touched from MMIV. That gives him +6 Str and Con, +4 Hide and Move Silently, immunity to fear effects, +1 CR, and makes him CE. Preferably put it on a Drow, but any race will do.

Since it's a big party, I would make him 7th or 8th level, which puts him at CR 9 or 10 if he's a Drow. For his build, I would make him a Fast Movement Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 1/ Warlock 2/ Crusader 4. Invocations known are Devil's Sight and Eldritch Glaive. Maneuvers and stances known are Revitalizing Strike, Mountain Hammer, Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Leading the Attack, and Charging Minotaur, with Bolstering Voice and Iron Guard's Glare. Favored enemy is dwarves or arcanists, your choice. Feats are Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, and Extra Granted Maneuver.

He wouldn't be alone, give him two well trained Shadow Mastiff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shadowMastiff.htm) companions. A priestess of Lolth has cast (Lesser Rod of) Extended Deeper Darkness on their collars and on one of his possessions, which lasts at least ten days. He should have an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Mage Armor, which he uses on each of them if he's expecting a fight.

His items should be magical mithral breastplate, the Eternal Wand of Mage Armor, a magical spiked gauntlet and/or armor spikes, a decent ranged weapon, a Third Eye Freedom, Anklet of Translocation, and whatever other necessary item effects (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items) he can afford.

[Dormammu]

I would make him 7th or 8th level, which puts him at CR 9 or 10 if he's a Drow.

Yes agreed. I was thinking about +4 CR since this is going to be a major (and recurring) villain.



He wouldn't be alone, give him two well trained Shadow Mastiff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shadowMastiff.htm) companions. A priestess of Lolth has cast (Lesser Rod of) Extended Deeper Darkness on their collars and on one of his possessions, which lasts at least ten days. He should have an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Mage Armor, which he uses on each of them if he's expecting a fight.


This is another great idea it adds to the impending menace!

I think we're getting close to what the build is. I also think that it might be a good idea to have him attack the PC's by proxy and from afar for a while before closing to keep him a recurring villain. I really like the idea of him being a specialist that deals with adventurers but he needs to do some legwork before he knows how to handle this particular party.

Any idea for plot hooks or non-combat interactions that could spice this up even further?

[Red Fel]

Any idea for plot hooks or non-combat interactions that could spice this up even further?

If he's hunting the PCs, his every interaction - direct or through an intermediary - should fall into one of three categories: Study them. Capture them. Kill them.
His early interactions would likely fall into the first category. As you noted, paying Gnolls is one way. Another is to study them when not in combat, as you've asked. Here's how I would do it.

He's a professional bounty hunter, right? Experienced. Successful. Likely well-funded. That means he has three things: money, influence, and connections. He also has the Church of Lolth behind him, likely adding to all three. Let him make good use of all of them.

The PCs are going into the wilderness? He locates a roaming band of Orcs, offers them some weapons, and informs them that some people who have annoyed him have more where that came from. They kill his enemies, they can keep the PCs' gear. He doesn't plan for the Orcs to succeed, of course; they might simply confront the PCs and demand the gear without a fight. But he observes.

The PCs are going to a town? He finds the innkeeper and a few important townfolk. Kidnaps children, loved ones, whatever. PCs arrived to find frightened, nervous, but strangely eager and helpful villagers who insist that the PCs spend the night. Poisoned food, poisoned drinks, hidden traps, even a town mob ensue. And he observes.

The PCs are going to the capital? He's in touch with the evil vizier, who poisons the king's ear about these dangerous assassins disguised as adventurers. The PCs are falsely arrested, they can flee or submit, they can go to trial or attempt escape, they can react however they like. And he observes.

That's it. It's really not that different from how you'd run a game normally, but for the fact that the PCs, if they're smart, will realize that someone is actively setting things up against them. These aren't simply random encounters; everywhere they go, ambushes and hostile crowds are waiting.

Not all of these scenarios require combat; in fact, many can be resolved without it. Either way, he gets to observe their problem-solving skills, their use of powers and abilities, their capacity to work as a team and to operate creatively. He observes, he learns, he prepares accordingly. Keep notes on what they use and don't use; anything they don't use in these scenarios, he has no reason to know about. Anything they do use, he can prepare countermeasures. In subsequent encounters, arrange them in such a way that he has neutralized their abilities; for example, if a Wizard keeps using teleportation effects, drop a dimensional anchor on the area or something in the next challenge, and see what he does. This forces the PCs to be more creative each time. Once the hunter realizes that the PCs are out of tricks, then he can start to engage them in earnest.

That's how I'd do it, anyway. But then, I don't wear a belt made of beards.

[PhoenixV]

My tips for making a bad guy keep coming back. Let him have friends, good friends that will work with him when needed even if he is a lone wolf. I think it is really cool to let a bad guy die the first time the PC's face him. How many times do PC's take the time to completely destroy the bodies of enemies they kill? Have said bad guy have a friend that would be willing to bring him back to life (So that can be your first plan of attack to get him in front of the PC's a 2ed time)

After that 2ed time it is a little more tricky since the PC's will know he has someone willing to bring him back if he dies so you need to be more careful. I would say have the vilan engage indirectly a lot. Rather than appearing right in front of the PC's he can set traps, and work in teams with other people. If you want your bad guy to be the lone wolf type going up against a party of 5 or more PC's then you need to think smart like this bad guy would. Who picks a fight against 5 people? Only someone who has calculated a way that they will win and not die in the process. He probably won't want to carge in with a sword drawn and get surounded and then stabbed to death.

[Deadasadoor]

If you go the leadership route, a goblin (may not make sense for a Drow to have a goblin cohort though) Stonedeath Assassin makes an okay dwarf hunter. 5 levels long, advances sneak attack and gives a special death attack that affects dwarves more easily. It also gets HiPS and Meld into Stone as class abilities.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Never, ever give an NPC leadership, just give them the follower(s) without wasting a feat. The followers' CR is still considered if the party defeats them, so there's no reason to make the main opponent weaker for it.

[atemu1234]

If you go the leadership route, a goblin (may not make sense for a Drow to have a goblin cohort though) Stonedeath Assassin makes an okay dwarf hunter. 5 levels long, advances sneak attack and gives a special death attack that affects dwarves more easily. It also gets HiPS and Meld into Stone as class abilities.

Stat it as a trained slave?

[Kol Korran]

A few ideas, some about approach, some about race:
1) Escape route? For me? Or for THEM? You're assuming you make a bounty hunter that will try to hunt the PCs, fail, and then escape. But this make for a joke villain on most times. While he should have a one or two emergency back up escape plans, I see the encounters with him as unfair, overpowering, and highly dangerous. So far in fact, that the focus of the encounters is not about "Lets defeat him this time! Shut out his escape routes!" but "Oh crap! It's him! Quickly, how do we escape! Sh*t! He blocked that too! That doesn't work as well! Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" Make the hunter terrifying. Some suggestion on how to do so:
- Make him more powerful than the PCs that even alone he presents a significant challenge. You need to play this deftly, since too powerful also means no chance of escape, which is not a good thing. Powerful, but not too powerful. I am crap at builds, so I won't suggest anything on that.
- Minions, as appropriate to the situation. Should be a challenge to the PCs, but not too much, enough to occupy and present a new threat.
- He chooses the battlefield. If at all possible, he stages encounter where the terrain is favorable, the conditions, the time (After the party is mostly depleted) and so on. Make this as unfair as possible.
- As suggested by others- he studies them. Either by the suggestions Red Fel has mentioned, or in more direct confrontations. The thing is- he starts by knowing little of them, and using more general tactics, but as time progresses, he learns to be more and more specific against the party's abilities.

2) Builing a villain, two "must read" threads:
Villain's Workshop, by the Giant itself. (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTKEivnsYuZrh94H1Sn.html) Excellent!
Building a villain 101 by Dust (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?170628-Building-a-Villain-101-The-5-Ls) Very very nice!

3) The hunter becomes the hunted: If the hunter does enough trouble, than it's quite likely that the party might want to track him down. You should plan for such an eventuality. They could search for information of him (Possibly in dwarven communities, some of which have suffered greatly from his "expertise". Try to build some "play bits" in his past, allies, enemies and such. This could lead to a more rewarding hunt, and a more memorable villain.

4) Race: Dwarf hunter dwarf? For some reason, I imagine the dwarf hunter being a dwarf! This could spark an interesting back story- Why did he betray his kind, why such hatred? You can play him adding some of their bears to his, or maybe go the other route- he is entirely bald. No hair, no beard, none! You could play his tale amongst dwarven communities and so on. Dwarves make decent base races as well. (I think...)

5) Race: Changeling menace: It's a race from Eberron, though it appears as well on MM3. (Only with far less support as to feats, prestige classes, substitution classes and so on). As changeling can change shape, have high social skills usually, and have no LA adjustment, they make a strong infiltrator hunter. This hunter can be ANYONE. And it can possibly infiltrate even safe houses or communities. Watch the Paranoia grow. And it can use it to better screw with the parties lives- affecting their loved ones, their employers, framing them and so much more.

Problem is though- you want the hunter to wear dwarven beards, which kind of ruin the disguise. Still, just a thought.

Just some thoughts, I hope it helps.