Villainous Competition VIII: The Weather Outside is Frightful

[Telonius]

Welcome to Round 8 of the Villainous Competition!

Previous Competitions
Round One: Leader of Armies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?395046-Villainous-Competition-Or-Optimize-my-BBEG!)
Round Two: Nature's Revenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400517-Villainous-Competition-Round-2-Or-Give-me-something-evil!&p=18868986)
Round Three: Double Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?406015-Villainous-Competition-3-Or-No-Holds-Barred!)
Round Four: Grave Keeper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413480-Villainous-Competition-IV-or-The-Truth-is-in-the-(Blood)-Pudding)
Round Five: Crime Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420704-Villainous-Competition-V-A-Contest-You-Can%92t-Refuse)
Round Six: Ultimate Predator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430650-Villainous-Competition-VI-Clever-Girl)
Round Seven: Wicked Witch (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?444478-Villainous-Competition-VII-Double-Double-Toil-and-Trouble&p=20099077)


We're a little different than most of the optimization threads. We run on CR instead of ECL.

Contestants: You will need to present a write-up of your build with at least one of the following points: 5 CR, 10 CR 15CR, 20 CR, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20 CR build in the table below. Feel free to present as many of these as you like, and please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability at all of the levels you didn't show. The rules are as follows:

Secret Laboratory: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Item Familiars and Taint are also banned from the competition. We don’t want to make this too easy, do we?

Some monstrous characters can technically qualify for Epic feats as soon as their ECL is over 20. While regular Epic feats will be allowed, Epic Spellcasting and all other Epic feats that affect spells, psionic powers, or item creation are not permitted. Including these would give an unfair advantage over standard characters. For Incarnum characters, Epic Open Chakra feats are allowed; other Epic Incarnum feats are not. The Essentia Capacity increases for Epic capacity as described on p. 212. For all characters, please note that Racial Hitdice do not count towards Epic Progression; use the regular progression even if the BAB ends up higher than 20.

Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Friday December 18th to create their builds and PM them to the Supreme Chancellor (yours truly, Telonius). Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until Sunday January 3rd to judge the builds and submit their scores.(This is a bit longer than usual, to accommodate the holidays). If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Build Elegance, Competence and Power, Memorable Villainy.

Keep these questions in mind when judging each category:
Originality - Is it unexpected?
Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?

Build Elegance: Fully monstrous builds are allowed, at no penalty. All class levels are to be added on as associated class levels. Amount of sources can be penalized, but obscurity of sources should not be penalized. Count the three Core books as one source. For this competition, Frostburn is a required component, and should be included with the Core books as a single source. Unearthed Arcana can be penalized for elegance if the specific feature seems unnecessary or makes the playing field unfair (In this case, you can give a 0 if it makes the field unfair.)
Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. As the Iron Chef competition states, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.


Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build, as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries!

Using the table below, the easiest way to use it is to go to the top left of the private message, and click the little a/A icon. It allows you to see what you're writing.
Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.


Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


1st
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


2nd
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


3rd
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


4th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


5th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


6th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


7th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


8th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


9th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


10th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


11th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


12th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


13th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


14th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


15th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


16th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


17th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


18th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


19th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


20th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


Code immediately below (spoiler).

Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


1st
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


2nd
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


3rd
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


4th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


5th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


6th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


7th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


8th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


9th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


10th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


11th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


12th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


13th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


14th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


15th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


16th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


17th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


18th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


19th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


20th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


You can use the below table for Spells.

Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


14th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


15th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


16th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


17th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


18th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


19th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


20th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Code Immediately Below,
Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


14th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


15th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


16th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


17th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


18th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


19th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


20th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-





Speculation: Please don’t post or speculate on possible builds until the reveal, in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.

Bundle up, cause it’s about to get chilly in here.
This edition’s villain is:


Master of the Tundra
In keeping with the season, we’re asking for a villain who’s at home in the icy wastes. Their heart is as cold as the land, and they strike dread in all who eke out their existence in the places warmth never reaches. This villain could be anything from a terrible beast to a person who’s given their being over to the ice. Exactly how you terrorize the Hyperborean reaches is up to you.

Limitations:
Must have the Cold subtype. (The Ritual of the Elements in Savage Species is explicitly allowed for meeting this, and there doesn’t need to be anything in the backstory to justify meeting a 9th level Cleric; EDITED however, for the purposes of this competition it will come with a +1 CR).
Must live in a very cold location.
Must contain at least one item (race, feat, spell, prestige class, etc) from Frostburn in the build
Must have some means of defending against Fire damage. This should go without saying, but we can’t make things too easy for the heroes.
Must have an Evil alignment. No misunderstood snow queens, please; we’re looking for villains.


We will award 1st through 3rd places, and a possible Honorable Mention.


Use Elite Array instead of Normal Array, no Penalty on using Elite Array on a creature without any class levels.

Tips for submitting your entry, provided by Weaselguy:

- Use capitalization and punctuation, correctly.
- Make good use of Spoilers, for cleanliness.
- Don't forget your sources. If it's something that can be found in the contents section, then book title seems to be fine. Obscure stuff, may want to include page number too.
- DeviantArt has about 9 billion pictures that you can reference, I can almost guarantee you can find one there to fit your character.
- Make good use of tables. In addition to the Build table and the Spells table, I like doing on e for my Ability Scores, just to keep it neat.
- Do a build stub at the top of your Build Table, something like Wizard 2/Fighter 3/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldritch Knight 10


So, start your evil plotting!

To standardize Entries, please use this format when emailing it in:

PM: Telonius
Subject: Villainous Competition 8, Name of your Entry

For Revisions and disputes, do the same thing. It makes it easier for me finding the entries in my mail box.

More questions? PM me with Villainous Competition 8 Questions in the header.

[Amphetryon]

Vizzini and I have an idea we'll wrangle over.

[Telonius]

One special item for this contest: I'll be posting a build of my own (not for official judging) after I post the official contestants. (Assuming it's not too similar to any of the submitted builds, of course).

[AvatarVecna]

Are we allowed to rework racial feats/skill points? It's worth asking...

[sakuuya]

It finally got cold where I live, so this seems appropriate. I'm in to judge.

[Telonius]

Are we allowed to rework racial feats/skill points? It's worth asking...

Explicitly racial feats (marked with a B, such as TrackB and Weapon FinesseB in the Badger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/badger.htm#) entry) are set in stone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/intro.htm#feats). You can re-assign any feats and skill points the creature gets from hit dice, such as Agile (taking the Badger example), but be aware that the class skills are limited to the ones listed in the entries.

[Telonius]

From my inbox, a question about the order in which you apply templates. In general, if you're applying multiple templates to a base creature, you can choose to apply them in whichever order you want. However, be careful that each application of a template must be rules-legal, and that certain Types can over-ride others. The "Type pyramid" that describes this is in Savage Species, pages 142-143:
1. Animal, Humanoid, Vermin
2. Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid
3. Fey, Giant
4. Dragon, Humanoid (Shapechanger)
5. Aberration
6. Elemental, Ooze, Plant
7. Construct, Outsider, Undead

[ben-zayb]

Please tell me you did not just say Frostburn! I... [REDACTED]:smallbiggrin:


1. What qualifies as defense against fire? Resistance and immunity? Simply high HP or reflex saves?
2. Would using too many FB materials this round merit an elegance hit?

[Troacctid]

The type pyramid is actually defunct--3.5 overhauled the creature type rules IIRC.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

My first time doing one of these, and I am a tad uncertain about the associated class rule. Does that mean any class is considered associated? For instance Barbarian on a Phaerimm? Or does it mean we can only use the class that seems most related to the racial abilities?

[Amphetryon]

My first time doing one of these, and I am a tad uncertain about the associated class rule. Does that mean any class is considered associated? For instance Barbarian on a Phaerimm? Or does it mean we can only use the class that seems most related to the racial abilities?

It means any Class is added as if it were an 'associated Class level,' regardless of whether it seems related to the Racial abilities. The rules for non-associated Class levels are relatively rife with abuse potential in this sort of contest, so they are ignored as a viable option.

[Telonius]

More from the inbox. There are certain official Wizards of the Coast monsters (mostly in the web articles) that were created using 3.0 rules, but never received an official update. If you're planning on using one of these creatures, please be aware that monster creation rules were significantly different back in 3.0, and the entries much less standardized.

For example, the only Types that have the same Skill point distribution as they do now were Dragons, Giants, Humanoids, and Outsiders. The other Types had either a set number of skill points (10-15 for animals, beasts, and vermin) or a number of skill points equal to the Int Score (yes, entire Int score, not just bonus) multiplied by 2 or 3, or no skill points at all. And just in case that was too simple, you would get a flat bonus to skill points for every extra hit die; except you used to get extra hit dice based on size, so you had to ignore those, unless you were also an elemental.

No, seriously:


*-EHD: Extra Hit Die. To calculate EHD for any creature other than an elemental, subtract 1 from the creature’s total Hit Dice if it is Medium-size or smaller; 2 if Large; 4 if Huge; 16 if Gargantuan; and 32 if Colossal. Treat results less than 0 as 0.

... Yeah, that's why we don't do it like that anymore.

Anyway, if you are using one of those creatures, just use the 3.5 rules for getting skill points: Int bonus plus Type bonus, times four for first HD.

The 3.0 entries also typically neglected to show which feats were racial bonus feats, and which were selected based on hit dice. This is a much trickier situation, since 3.0 tended to give out a lot more bonus feats (on the assumption that Monsters are DM-only things). To take an example that was updated, a 3.0 Pixie got the following feats at 1hd: Dodge, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Finesse (dagger), Weapon Focus (shortbow). None of them were marked as racial, and they're all just listed alphabetically.

I'd like to leave it up to the competitors which of the listed feats were actually the racial bonus feats, up to a certain limit. Would two racial bonus feats sound about fair in that situation? I think that's about as many as most 3.5 monsters ever get.

[Thurbane]

I have definite build in mind for this, we'll see if time allows me to get an entry in.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Just to verify, a monster with a type other than humanoid and 1 or less racial hit die; still replaces it's racial HD with the HD of it's new character class?

And this creature's CR remains the same at it's first character level; the CR not advancing until the creature reaches it's second character class level?

[Telonius]

Generally, monsters that have their first level replaced by a class level will have that noted just above the stat block. For example, the Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm) entry says that the example statblock is for a 1st-level Warrior. This is also the case for other creatures, like the Elan (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/elan.htm), that have types other than Humanoid. The "Monsters as Races" (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm) section creates a bit of confusion on that count by initially putting the rule under "Humanoids and Class Levels," but it restates the rule again under "Level Adjustment and Effective Character Level," which isn't limited to humanoids.

Elf has CR listed at 1/2 in the statblock. In standard D&D advancement, NPC levels always count as non-associated, and non-associated class levels only count for half a CR. However, in this contest, all levels count as associated; so whatever class you replace it with would give a CR of 1. (A Commoner20/Expert20, for example, would be breaking the contest rules even if it's technically CR 20). If you're starting with a creature that has a CR of more than 1 in the statblock (like a Pixie (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/sprite.htm#pixie), for example), you would just replace the hit die and keep the same CR (4 or 5, for a Pixie, depending on whether or not you have irresistible dance). So if you took Pixie with no irresistible dance, and made him a Commoner at level one, it would have a CR of 4. At that point, you could also add on any templates you qualify for, and that might also affect the CR. So if you took that same Pixie and added the Half Dragon template, it would start out as CR 6. The next level it takes is Commoner, which would make it CR 7, and so on.

(I apologize if I just spoiled anybody's Half-Dragon Pixie character concept). :smallbiggrin:

[sakuuya]

How does the Ritual of the Elements affect CR? It's got a listed LA of +1, but no listed CR adjustment I can find. Should we just assume it counts for +1 CR as well? That seems steep, but it makes sense for the purposes of this competition.

[Vaz]

Vizzini and I have an idea we'll wrangle over.
I think you are Vizziniing what I'm Vizziniing.

[Telonius]

How does the Ritual of the Elements affect CR? It's got a listed LA of +1, but no listed CR adjustment I can find. Should we just assume it counts for +1 CR as well? That seems steep, but it makes sense for the purposes of this competition.

Gah! Mixing up my CRs and LAs again. But yes, for the purposes of this competition, it will count as CR +1.

[Amphetryon]

I think you are Vizziniing what I'm Vizziniing.

I think so, Brain, but where are we going to find a sack race at this time of night? *poit*

[Tarlek Flamehai]

How do custom magic items affect scoring?

[Telonius]

I answered a similar question by PM, so I'll address it here.

The contest has typically glossed over equipment, unless there's something specific in the build that requires it (choosing a Weapon Focus, Kensai's signature weapon, etc). These are BBEGs were trying to design, so the DM can give them whatever treasure the DM wants to give them. Picking a magic item out of Frostburn to qualify for the "one thing from Frostburn" requirement would definitely be something you should note. If there's something else that the character really needs in order to function, you should probably list that somewhere. (Personally, in some of my submissions I've included a section on "Suggested items," for useful and thematic things). But otherwise, we're trying to compare builds, not skill at WBL-mancy. As long as it's not something really wacky or out of line (item of at-will True Strike, stuff like that), it should be okay.

[GreatWyrmGold]

No misunderstood snow queens, please...
This gives me a bit of an idea...I'm guessing misunderstood snow queens are fine if the misunderstanding comes from them being more villainous than was believed?

Quick question—are there templates or something other than Savage Species's Ritual of the Elements and Frostburn's Ice Beast template which can grant the (Cold) subtype? Also, can the protection against fire simply be a magic item, or does it need to be innate (e.g, a spell or special quality)?

[zergling.exe]

This gives me a bit of an idea...I'm guessing misunderstood snow queens are fine if the misunderstanding comes from them being more villainous than was believed?

Quick question—are there templates or something other than Savage Species's Ritual of the Elements and Frostburn's Ice Beast template which can grant the (Cold) subtype? Also, can the protection against fire simply be a magic item, or does it need to be innate (e.g, a spell or special quality)?

Mantle of the icy soul from Frostburn (not the one in the SpC) is an instantaneous granting of the cold subtype for 2000 xp. The SpC version is hours/level instead. Would the original version from Frostburn be allowed to qualify for both the Cold subtype requirement and the one component from Frostburn?

[AvatarVecna]

This gives me a bit of an idea...I'm guessing misunderstood snow queens are fine if the misunderstanding comes from them being more villainous than was believed?

Quick question—are there templates or something other than Savage Species's Ritual of the Elements and Frostburn's Ice Beast template which can grant the (Cold) subtype? Also, can the protection against fire simply be a magic item, or does it need to be innate (e.g, a spell or special quality)?

IIRC Half-White Dragon does, but I'm only like 40% sure of that. I'll go check...

EDIT: Huh. No, no it doesn't. Nevermind...

[ben-zayb]

^^^ I can think of one more method, but that might be counted as speculation.

[GreatWyrmGold]

^^^ I can think of one more method, but that might be counted as speculation.
Seriously? Helping someone understand how to complete one of the requirements might be against the rules? Right now, the options I see are to use a dull, inefficient ritual or to use one of the small handful of monsters which natively have the (Cold) template.

[Telonius]

This gives me a bit of an idea...I'm guessing misunderstood snow queens are fine if the misunderstanding comes from them being more villainous than was believed?

Absolutely.


Quick question—are there templates or something other than Savage Species's Ritual of the Elements and Frostburn's Ice Beast template which can grant the (Cold) subtype? Also, can the protection against fire simply be a magic item, or does it need to be innate (e.g, a spell or special quality)?

There are a few Prestige Classes that (explicitly or potentially) allow a character to gain the Cold subtype, usually as a capstone. Several spells do so (at least temporarily) as well. Another template in Frostburn grants it, too.

Protection against fire could be either a magic item or innate. The idea is, basically, make it so the party can't just pull out a maximized Energy Substituted Cone of Fire and melt your BBEG in a single round.

[GreatWyrmGold]

There are a few Prestige Classes that (explicitly or potentially) allow a character to gain the Cold subtype, usually as a capstone. Several spells do so (at least temporarily) as well.
Would you happen to know what or where they are? I found the Frost Mage and Winterhaunt of Iborighu, but the former only helps mages and the latter restricts concepts significantly.


Another template in Frostburn grants it, too.
Are you sure about that? The only templates I found were Spirit Animal (not good for villains and doesn't even give the (Cold) subtype) and the aforementioned Ice Beast (which makes a mindless construct). I suppose I could make an incarnate Ice Beast, but that seems clunky and heavily restricts background options.

[Telonius]

Huh, could have sworn it was there - but it appears it's actually in Fiend Folio.

For the rest, it's the competitors' job to find and put together obscure things into surprising combinations.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Huh, could have sworn it was there - but it appears it's actually in Fiend Folio.
The wendigo template? That strikes me as less useful for making villains and more useful for monsters.

I'm starting to question the Cold subtype requirement...I'm finding that figuring out how to get that and justify it is turning into a major part of my character's background.

[Amphetryon]

The [edit] template? That strikes me as less useful for making villains and more useful for monsters.

I'm starting to question the Cold subtype requirement...I'm finding that figuring out how to get that and justify it is turning into a major part of my character's background.

Please stop listing possible methods in the thread. Listing them makes them more anticipated by judges and other competitors, reducing possible Originality scores.

[Deadline]

I'm starting to question the Cold subtype requirement...I'm finding that figuring out how to get that and justify it is turning into a major part of my character's background.

I've got that part nailed pretty solidly for both of my ideas, it's the requirement that something come from Frostburn that is proving difficult. Very little in that book is something that you can just add to something else. You almost have to specifically build for components out of that book. Then again, maybe what I'm trying to do is just silly. :smallbiggrin:

[GreatWyrmGold]

Please stop listing possible methods in the thread. Listing them makes them more anticipated by judges and other competitors, reducing possible Originality scores.
Considering that I'm pointing out how bad they are to begin with, I don't think that's a serious problem.
Seriously. "Wandering fey monster who eats people" isn't exactly a great villain concept. It doesn't leave much room for plans or minions or anything else that distinguishes villains from monsters.

[Deadline]

Considering that I'm pointing out how bad they are to begin with, I don't think that's a serious problem.
Seriously. "Wandering fey monster who eats people" isn't exactly a great villain concept. It doesn't leave much room for plans or minions or anything else that distinguishes villains from monsters.

There are a number of ways to accomplish the Cold Subtype requirement (and all of the other requirements at that). If you can't make one of them work, find another way. The resulting entries will almost certainly be incredibly varied and I'm sure at least one of them will surprise you. Without the restrictions in place, there wouldn't be much of a competition, would there? :smallwink:

[Telonius]

The first submission is in, just in time for December! So will we have an Advent Calendar of villains this time? :smallbiggrin: Still plenty of time left.

[ben-zayb]

I already have the character's personality and general background to go with the crunch, but I can't manage to not procrastinate this time of the year.:smallsigh:

[GreatWyrmGold]

I've submitted my villain, which may or may not be disqualified due to a concern which isn't actually mentioned in the rules.

[sakuuya]

I don't think we do Refusal to Judge in this competition. If your build's illegal, you'll just receive a 0 in elegance. But if you're concerned about a rules issue, you can always PM the chancellor.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I don't think we do Refusal to Judge in this competition. If your build's illegal, you'll just receive a 0 in elegance. But if you're concerned about a rules issue, you can always PM the chancellor.
No, I mean an issue with the submission which isn't mentioned in the rules but might make judging difficult.

I'd explain, but then the judges could know which one is mine, which I think Telonius wants to avoid.

[sakuuya]

No, I mean an issue with the submission which isn't mentioned in the rules but might make judging difficult.

I'd explain, but then the judges could know which one is mine, which I think Telonius wants to avoid.

If it makes my job a lot more difficult, I can see maybe giving a hard-to-read entry an elegance penalty, but that's an extreme case. As long as it's written in readable English and has all the required bits (build table, spell table if applicable, level highlight(s), sources, fluff), you're probably fine. But don't tell me now if it's missing any of that, obviously. My point is just that you shouldn't worry about getting DQ'd, because that's not gonna happen.

[daremetoidareyo]

If it makes my job a lot more difficult, I can see maybe giving a hard-to-read entry an elegance penalty, but that's an extreme case. As long as it's written in readable English and has all the required bits (build table, spell table if applicable, level highlight(s), sources, fluff), you're probably fine. But don't tell me now if it's missing any of that, obviously. My point is just that you shouldn't worry about getting DQ'd, because that's not gonna happen.

DQs are rare. It seems to be a combo of rudeness and active hostility that precipitates such a thing more so than build specifics. Which, in a community, is fair enough. Seeing as how greatwormgold seems to care about how they present themself to others, the worst case scenario is a zero in elegance. That time I was too clever by half with ACFs and knocked myself out of compliance with prestige needs resulted in this.

But if it's a shady reading of RAW? Then it is up to the judge to evaluate. When I judge, the elegance hit I try to traingulate by evaluating how many DMs out of 10 would allow such a thing, given the diversity of GMs I've met in the past. And then I look at this one build in relation to the rest. If other people are doing similar things, I may be more forgiving. If everyone else is totally rules legal, the elegance hit may be more severe.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Dumb question, in the build table are the skills supposed to be Ranks, Ranks+Misc, Ranks+Stat, or Ranks+Misc+Stat?

[Troacctid]

Just ranks.

[Telonius]

Huzzah, the forums are back up! I'm back on and answering questions; GreatWyrm (or anybody else) feel free to shoot me a PM if there's any concerns.

[Lagren]

According to the SRD:


Adding Special Abilities
You can add any sort of spell-like, supernatural, or extraordinary ability to a creature. As with a class level, you should determine how much, or how little, this ability adds to the creature’s existing repertoire. A suite of abilities that work together should be treated as a single modifier for this purpose. If the ability (or combination of abilities) significantly increases the monster’s combat effectiveness, increase its CR by 2. Minor abilities increase the creature’s CR by 1, and truly trivial abilities may not increase CR at all. If the special abilities a monster gains are not tied to a class or Hit Die increase, this CR increase stacks.

Is this option open to chefs in this contest?

[Telonius]

Hey, sorry for the late reply!

For the current competition, I'm going to say no. But I'd like to discuss it after the deadline has passed. Including that option could open up a whole bunch of interesting new ideas for the chefs, but it could also lead to some serious cherry-picking of published abilities. (Golem's Immunity to Magic or Phasm's Altenate Form would probably be worth a lot more than CR +2, for instance; I'm sure there would be others).

[Telonius]

The deadline is fast approaching! No bonus points for sending in a build while waiting in line for Star Wars. :smallbiggrin:

[Deadline]

Well, my submission is in, and I'm not going to submit my second idea on account of it being kind of boring and ridiculously OP for a certain CR range due to the way CR and advancement by HD works. I may still save a version of it to be used in a future campaign.

How are those Villainous creations coming folks?

[GreatWyrmGold]

...and I'm not going to submit my second idea on account of it being kind of boring and ridiculously OP for a certain CR range due to the way CR and advancement by HD works. I may still save a version of it to be used in a future campaign.
Once the deadline hits, will you at least describe it? I'm sure there are people who would be interested in it.

[Deadline]

Once the deadline hits, will you at least describe it? I'm sure there are people who would be interested in it.

Oh, absolutely. Posting ideas that didn't make muster after the entries are posted by the Chairman seems to be the norm.

[Korahir]

I have a build and concept I am quite satisfied with. I hope to finish in time, though table is done, all that left is the tiresome work on the details.

[Telonius]

Yep, I'll be posting one as well (not for judging, since I'm chancellor).

Also, I just noticed I was really close to my inbox limit and deleted some older PM's. If anybody got a bounceback message you should be able to send again.

[JyP]

I just sent a build - I hope it’s not too obvious, we will see !

[Telonius]

Just a couple days left to build your villains. The turnout has been pretty good so far, let's keep it going!

[WeaselGuy]

I feel like I'm gonna take the Low-Hanging Fruit on this one. I was gonna try some random off the wall stuff, but none of it was really working out. So yeah. Maybe it's so Low-Hanging, people will overlook it? That happens sometimes, right?

[Telonius]

http://cdn.meme.am/instances2/500x/3410306.jpg

[Amphetryon]

http://cdn.meme.am/instances2/500x/3410306.jpg
You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Deadline]

Now now, everyone calm down. I'm certain that I've made the blisteringly obvious choice.

And I'm also sure that there are enough entries for me to once again take my customary 4th place. :smalltongue:

[GreatWyrmGold]

http://cdn.meme.am/instances2/500x/3410306.jpg
Would you please say what obvious choice people didn't go for after the submissions are closed?
...And possibly what the choice was before then? The most obvious suggestion would be adding the (Cold) template, but I'm pretty sure I picked the most obvious choice for that.

[JyP]

What is my obvious choice may not be your obvious choice :smalltongue:

[Amphetryon]

Would you please say what obvious choice people didn't go for after the submissions are closed?
...And possibly what the choice was before then? The most obvious suggestion would be adding the (Cold) template, but I'm pretty sure I picked the most obvious choice for that.

Pretty sure the image was entirely a response to WeaselGuy saying he was going after Low-Hanging Fruit and hoping the other contestants had overlooked it or chosen to ignore it.

[GreatWyrmGold]

What is my obvious choice may not be your obvious choice :smalltongue:
Eh, that's probably it. It's always interesting to get a look in others' heads.

[Troacctid]

I think we all know the obvious choice is Walker in the Waste.

[ben-zayb]

I think we all know the obvious choice is Walker in the Waste.

Uhm, you know even the most crack speculations can still gut a supposedly original and brilliant idea, right? :smalleek:

[Lagren]

Uhm, you know even the most crack speculations can still gut a supposedly original and brilliant idea, right? :smalleek:

After all, it's not as if all deserts are hot. :smallbiggrin:

[Troacctid]

After all, it's not as if all deserts are hot. :smallbiggrin:

To be fair, they are when you're a Walker in the Waste.

[Lagren]

To be fair, they are when you're a Walker in the Waste.

Well, you could continuously suppress your heat aura... :smallamused:

[Troacctid]

Well, you could continuously suppress your heat aura... :smallamused:

Ah, you're right, that's a good point. Okay, I'll change my answer, the obvious choice is Ex-Shining Blade of Heironeous.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Clearly, the obvious choice is a fire elemental pyromancer.

Actually, it would be pretty cool if someone managed to make that into an arctic villain.

[Lagren]

Clearly, the obvious choice is a fire elemental pyromancer.

Actually, it would be pretty cool if someone managed to make that into an arctic villain.

Uh... :smallbiggrin:

[Telonius]

And with two last-minute entries, that's time! I'll be posting the builds in a bit.

[Telonius]

You’d better watch out… it’s the Krampus!


http://static.underthegunreview.net/2015/09/Krampus-2015.jpg
The Krampus
LE Greathorn Minotaur of Legend Ranger 1/Justiciar 10
Large Outsider (Earth, Cold)



He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been good or bad, and the bad one's he will take,
Much larger than his counterpart, with fur from head to toe
Two horns as large as antlers, and claws where hands should go
All the naughty children, in rope or chains are bound
The earth will start to rumble, and toss them all around
He holds his sack wide open, and throws the children in
Then with a full sack on his shoulder, he'll flash a wicked grin
So sinister a creature, this frigid hungry beast
Will take them home and eat them, for a tasty winter treat

- The Krampus (a poem by Kenneth Widman, butchered and modified by me)

Build Details


Ability Score Array:

Str - 10 (34)
Dex - 12 (16)
Con - 13 (33)
Int - 14 (14)
Wis - 15 (22) +5 from 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th
Cha - 8 (12)

Greathorn Minotaur
+14 Str
-2 Dex
+10 Con
-2 Int

Monster of Legend
+10 Str
+6 Dex
+10 Con
+2 Int
+2 Wis
+4 Cha





CR
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


9
Greathorn Minotaur of Legend (11 HD)
+11
+6
+10
+10
Gather Information (cc) 5, Listen 9, Search 14, Spot 9, Survival 14
Awesome BlowB, Improved InitiativeB, MultiattackB, Skill Focus(Gather Information), Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Scorpion's Grasp
Earth Glide(Ex), Earth Warp(Su), Natural Cunning(Ex), +4 Racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks, +12 Natural Armor, Gore Attack (1d8), Spells(Casts as a 5th level Cleric with access to the cleric list and the Protection, Strength, and War domain spells), Fast Healing 5(Ex), Cold Subtype


10
Spiritual Connection Ranger 1 (12 HD)
+12
+8
+12
+10
Listen 12, Spellcraft (cc) 1, Spot 12
TrackB, Fiendish Heritage
Speak With Animals and Speak With Plants in any combination up to 3/day, Track bonus feat, Favored Enemy - Humanoid(Human)


11
Justiciar 1 (13 HD)
+13
+8
+12
+12
Spellcraft (cc) 4

Bring 'em Back Alive, Nonlethal Strike +1d6


12
Justiciar 2 (14 HD)
+14
+8
+12
+13
Search 17, Survival 17
Practiced Spellcaster (retrained Improved Grapple), Improved GrappleB
Improved Grapple Bonus Feat, Crippling Strike, Re-train Improved Grapple to Practiced Spellcaster


13
Justiciar 3 (15 HD)
+15
+9
+13
+13
Listen 14, Search 18, Spot 14, Survival 18
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Manacles)B, Fiendish Legacy
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Manacles), Street Savvy +2


14
Justiciar 4 (16 HD)
+16
+9
+13
+14
Listen 16, Search 19, Spot 16, Survival 19

Nonlethal Strike +2d6


15
Justiciar 5 (17 HD)
+17
+9
+13
+14
Listen 18, Search 20, Spot 18, Survival 20

Hog-tie


16
Justiciar 6 (18 HD)
+18
+10
+14
+15
Listen 20, Search 21, Spot 20, Survival 21
Fiendish Presence
Street Savvy +4


17
Justiciar 7 (19 HD)
+19
+10
+14
+15
Listen 22, Search 22, Spot 22, Survival 22

Nonlethal Strike +3d6


18
Justiciar 8 (20 HD)
+20
+10
+14
+16
Knowledge(Local) 2, Listen 23, Search 23, Spot 23, Survival 23

Improved Hog-tie


19
Justiciar 9 (21 HD)
+21
+11
+15
+16
Knowledge(Local) 4, Listen 24, Search 24, Spot 24, Survival 24, 2 more
Superior Unarmed Strike
Street Savvy +6


20
Justiciar 10 (22 HD)
+22
+11
+15
+17
Knowledge(Local) 6, Listen 25, Search 25, Spot 25, Survival 25, 2 more

Intuition, Nonlethal Strike +4d6





Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known


CR
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


9-20
5
3
2
1
-
-
-
-
-
-





CR 10

In his earlier years, the Krampus is a powerful and dangerous beast, still prone to killing his prey rather than capturing it alive to eat later in its lair. His tactics are straightforward. He tunnels into the outskirts of a village, and emerges to search for prey. He casts Detect Evil to locate a suitable target, and then usually opts to tunnel into the target's dwelling and erupt from the ground. He activates his Earth Warp ability to keep his prey from running too quickly, and initiates a grapple (usually by performing a nonlethal unarmed strike and benefitting from his Scorpion's Grasp feat). If the target is knocked unconcious by the attack, they are stuffed into his sack. Otherwise the Krampus will attempt to pin his prey and either throttle it into unciousness and stuff it in his sack, or will hold his prey in one hand (as per the Scorpion's Grasp feat) and flee with it back into the earth.

If he's expecting trouble, the Krampus will summon up an Icebeast or two to wade into the fray with him, and will make sure to put up a Protection from Energy (Fire) or Resist Energy (Fire). Against targets that prove to be difficult to grapple, he'll use Shivering Touch (or its lesser cousin) to incapacitate them. If he finds himself facing a large crowd, he'll cast Blood Snow on the area, and then burrow away.

If his prey escapes him, he can cast Circle Dance to locate them, or Track them.


CR 15 - "Sweet Spot"

Here the Krampus has access to most of his options. In addition to his abilities from before, he's picked up a few new spell-like abilities from the Fiendish Legacy feat, which notably give him a new travel option and some new muscle he can bring to a fight against multiple targets. He can now freely batter his targets with any weapon and do subdual damage. If he's flanking with one of his summoned creatures, Nonlethal Strike and Crippling Strike let him take down the flanked target even faster. He now carries manacles and chains for use as either weapons, or with his new Hog-tie ability. Now he grapples, pins, and hog-ties his prey prior to stuffing them into his sack.


CR 20

The Krampus enhances his existing abilities with Improved Hog-tie to expedite his capture process, Fiendish Presence to provide an additional method of detecting prey, and Superior Unarmed strike to enhance his damage output.


Notable Treasure

The Krampus always carries a few noteworthy items:

Bag of Holding Type III - For stuffing naughty children into
A Bottle of Air and a Wind Pipe - Located in the Bag of Holding, creates an infinite supply of breathable air inside the bag.
Several lengths of Chain (for chaining up naughty children).
Several sets of manacles (for chaining up the very naughty folks).


Meeting the Limitations
Must have the Cold subtype - The Krampus gains the Cold subtype from the Monster of Legend Template.
Must live in a very cold location - The Krampus preys on villages in the frozen wastes of the Frostfell.
Must contain at least one item from Frostburn - The Krampus will often cast Conjure Ice Beast (Frostburn, pg. 89) to call allies prior to engaging multiple foes, or Shivering Touch (Frostburn, pg. 104) to incapacitate targets that resist its grapples. Blood Snow (Frostburn, pg. 91) is also used to cover his escape once he's filled his sack and burrows beneath the ground.
Must have some means of defending against Fire Damage - The Krampus often casts either Protection from Energy (Fire) or Resist Energy (Fire) before engaging in combat.
Must have an Evil alignment - The Krampus is definitely Evil, but keeps to a code. He only preys on the guilty (i.e. "naughty"). Therefore he holds a Lawful Evil alignment.



Variations

If you need the Krampus at a lower CR, you can substitute in a normal Minotaur. This will lower starting CR to 6, and leave room for additional Ranger levels.


References

Player's Handbook - Ranger, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Skill Focus, Track
Complete Arcane - Practiced Spellcaster
Complete Mage - Fiendish Heritage, Fiendish Presence, Fiendish Legacy
Complete Champion - Spiritual Connection Ranger
Complete Warrior - Justiciar
Dungeon Master's Guide - Bag of Holding, Bottle of Air
Frostburn - Blood Snow, Conjure Ice Beast, Shivering Touch
Monster Manual 2 - Monster of Legend Template
Monster Manual 4 - Greathorn Minotaur, Awesome Blow, Multiattack
Sandstorm - Scorpion's Grasp
Stormwrack - Wind Pipe
Tome of Battle - Superior Unarmed Strike



This icy dragon will chill you to the bone. The White Flame of Hate!



Dartakaussirixen, the White Flame of Hate

LE Double-headed Mature Adult White Dragon CR 15 / Cleric 1 / Unholy Ravager of Tiamat 2 / Hidecarved Dragon 2

http://img00.deviantart.net/f5f2/i/2010/216/f/f/double_dragon_head_by_hardcolico.jpg




Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


5th
Double-headed white dragon wyrmling (5 RHD)
+5
+4
+4
+4
Concentration 2, Diplomacy 2, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 2, Hide 2, Listen 8+2 , Move Silently 2, Search 8+2, Sense Motive 1, Spot 6+2, Swim 2 and Use Magic Device 1 (+2 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, Search)
Chosen of Iborighu, Shape Soulmeld: Flame Cincture, Improved Multiattack (B), Improved Initiative (B), Combat Reflexes (B)
Size Tiny, 2 Bites 1d4 5-ft reach, 2 Claws 1d3, 2 Breath weapons 1d6 15-ft cone, Immunity to sleep and paralysis, Blindsense 60-ft, Keen Senses, Icewalking, immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire, Darkvision 90-ft, resistance to fire 10 (flame cincture), Freezing glare 1/day (Chosen of Iborighu)


6th
Cleric 1
+5
+6
+4
+6
Concentration 2, Diplomacy 2, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 2, Knowledge (religion) 1, Hide 2, Listen 8+2 , Move Silently 2, Search 8+2, Sense Motive 1, Spot 6+2, Swim 2 and Use Magic Device 1
Bonus Essentia
Aura (evil), Spellcasting CL 1, Domain: Cold, turn/destroy fire creatures, rebuke/command ice creatures, Domain: Destruction, Smite 1/day, Spontaneous casting (inflict spells), rebuke undeads, resistance to fire 20 (flame cincture)


7th
Very young white dragon (8 RHD)
+8
+8
+6
+8
Concentration 2, Diplomacy 2, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 2, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 1, Hide 2, Listen 10+2, Move Silently 2, Search 10+2, Sense Motive 2, Spot 10+2, Swim 2 and Use Magic Device 2
Recover Breath
Size Small, 2 Bites 1d6, 2 Claws 1d4, 2 Breath weapons 2d6 20-ft cone


8th
Young white dragon (11 RHD)
+11
+9
+7
+9
Concentration 2, Diplomacy 2, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Hide 2, Listen 13+2 , Move Silently 2, Search 13+2, Sense Motive 2, Spot 13+2, Swim 2 and Use Magic Device 2
Maximize Breath
Size Medium, 2 Bites 1d8, 2 Claws 1d6, 2 wings 1d4, 2 Breath weapons 3d6 30-ft cone


10th
Juvenile white dragon (14 RHD)
+14
+11
+9
+11
Concentration 5, Diplomacy 2, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Hide 2, Listen 16+2 , Move Silently 2, Search 16+2, Sense Motive 2, Spot 16+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 5
Power Attack
2 Breath weapons 4d6, Fog cloud 3/day


12th
Young adult white dragon (17 RHD)
+17
+12
+10
+12
Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Hide 2, Listen 19+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 19+2, Sense Motive 2, Spot 19+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 5
Tempest Breath
Size Large, 2 Bites 2d6, 2 Claws 1d8, 2 Wings 1d6, 1 Tail Slap 1d8, 2 Breath weapons 5d6 40-ft cone, Frightful Presence, DR 5/magic, SR 16


13th
Unholy Ravager of Tiamat 1
+18
+14
+10
+14
Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Hide 2, Listen 19+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 19+2, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 2, Spot 19+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 5

Divine Conversion


15th
Adult white dragon (20 RHD)
+21
+16
+12
+16
Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 1, Hide 2, Listen 22+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 22+2, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 5 (bought as cross-class skill), Spot 22+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 5.
Open Greater Chakra: Waist
2 Breath weapons 6d6, Gust of Wind 3/day, SR 18, Spellcasting CL 2 (Divine Conversion), Blast of Fire (flame cincture)


17th
Mature adult white dragon (23 RHD)
+24
+17
+13
+17
Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (geography) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Hide 2, Listen 25+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 25+2, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 25+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 9
Iron Will
Size Huge, 2 Bites 2d8, 2 Claws 2d6, 2 Wings 1d8, Tail Slap 2d6, Crush 2d8, 2 Breath weapons 7d6 50-ft cone, DR 10/magic, Spellcasting CL 4 (Divine Conversion), SR 20


18th
Hidecarved Dragon 1
+25
+19
+15
+19
Concentration 11, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (geography) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Hide 2, Listen 25+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 25+2, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 25+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 9

Increased Spell Resistance - SR 21


19th
Hidecarved Dragon 2
+26
+20
+16
+20
Concentration 17, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (geography) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Hide 2, Listen 25+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 25+2, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 25+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 9
Suppress Weakness (B), Overcome Weakness
Poison Resistance, SR 22, no vulnerability to fire anymore


20th
Unholy Ravager of Tiamat 2
+27
+21
+16
+21
Concentration 17, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (geography) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Hide 2, Listen 25+2 , Move Silently 5, Search 25+2, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 11, Spot 25+2, Swim 5 and Use Magic Device 9

Breath Weapon Substitution, Spellcasting CL 5 (Divine Conversion)







Level
Class
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Nat. armor bonus



standard array
+0 -2 +4 +2 +2 +4


multi-headed template
+2 +1

5th
wyrmling
11 8 19 8 13 10 +4

6th
cleric (1st class level)
11 8 19 8 13 10 +4

7th
very young
13 8 19 8 13 10 +7

8th
young
15 8 21 8 13 10 +10

10th
juvenile
17 8 21 10 13 12 +13

12th
young adult
19 8 23 10 13 14 +16

13th
Unholy ravager of Tiamat 1 (2nd class level)
19 8 23 10 13 14 +16

15th
Adult
23 8 25 12 13 16 +19

17th
Mature Adult
27 8 27 14 15 16 +22

18th
Hidecarved Dragon 1 (3rd class level)
27 8 27 14 15 16 +22

19th
Hidecarved Dragon 2 (4th class level)
27 8 28 14 15 16 +22

20th
Unholy ravager of Tiamat 2 (5th class level)
27 8 28 14 15 16 +22




Spells per Day


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd


CR 6 - 1st
3
1+1 Wis +1 domain
-
-


CR 15 - 2nd
4
2+1 Wis +1 domain
-
-


CR 17 - 4th
5
3+1 Wis +1 domain
2+1 Wis +1 domain
-


CR 20 - 5th
5
3+1 Wis +1 domain
2+1 Wis +1 domain
1 +1 domain



Prepared Spells


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd


CR 6 - 1st
3
Ice Slick, Command +Chill Touch
-
-


CR 15 - 2nd
4
Ice Slick,Fortify Cold Creatures, Command +Chill Touch
-
-


CR 17 - 4th
5
Ice Slick,Fortify Cold Creatures,Command, Obscuring Mist +Chill Touch
Conjure Ice Beast II, Obscuring Snow, Enthrall+Shatter
-


CR 20 - 5th
5
Ice Slick,Fortify Cold Creatures,Command, Obscuring Mist +Chill Touch
Conjure Ice Beast II, Obscuring Snow, Enthrall+Shatter
Binding Snow+Sleet Storm







Almost all members of our sect are dead now - for the glory of Iborighu. We succeeded at last, we stole a white dragon egg from the frozen wastes, and used rituals and runes so it would be a perfect unholy vessel for our God, so he would freeze this accursed world. The shamaness said it would hatch soon, so we all chanted the evil gospels of Ice, and waited [...]
Now I am the only one survivor, as we learned too late that Tiamat is a jealous mistress of evil dragonkind. I remember the first moments, when a pale draconic head with one blind eye erupted - we were all ecstatic to see a dragon with the Mark of Iborighu. But our joy was short-lived, as soon afterwards an imperious roar came from the egg - and a second head with a pale fire aura began to hit the first one and subdue it. Then its evil glare went to us... and we knew we were the first ritual feast it required after its birth.

So here we have a dragon which is torn between Iborighu and Tiamat - each head marked by one deity/feat - for the better evil. I did so because I did not find any god with both Cold and Destruction domains, as I wanted to go both Winterhaunt of Iborighu and Unholy Destroyer of Tiamat at the beginning - but we can have fun with an evil dragon with priestly powers all the way ! Multiheaded template also adds nasty surprises with Improved Multiattack and improved senses for +2 CR… and a second breath weapon which costs +1 CR. It also adds 2 racial hit dices, but as this is part of the template this does not count for CR change by itself.

This is the sweet spot for me - as a newly hatched dragon the big surprise is the 2 heads, so adventurers cannot know this beforehand ;-) With an older dragon spellcasters may have the upper hand also...


A new terror awaits in the icy wastes... These damned uldras follow a new totem with two heads, the same than the ice goblins. We cannot play one against the other anymore, it will be difficult to get some trade for eternal ice... Unless you adventurers can make them see "reason" of course. I have just one strange warning from the last survivor of the last expedition - beware the fog.

Main trick there is that each dragon age category adds 3 racial hit dices for only one or two CR - where any level in a basic or prestige class adds one CR. So I feel it is better to focus on few class levels and keep the dragon growing. As I added some class levels in between, I kept the same CR growth whenever I increase age categories. Right now the cleric dip adds some spice to our dragon, but it remains a devious hunter. By RAW you cannot have a cleric of two gods (unless following whole pantheons), but here I devised a tailored background to do so. Feats since CR 5 are all prerequisites for future prestige classes, they add some more focus on breath weapons.


This damn dragon claim huge tracts of the frozen wastes now - no caravan can go through without paying some tithe to Iborighu and Tiamat, savage tribes are all under his claws as fanatics... And now I learn they prepare an invasion, to lay waste to lands which are not under the grip of ice. Our only way to prevent this is to kill the beast !

The cleric dip was a prerequisite for Unholy Ravager of Tiamat prestige class - and this way we have a dragon with divine spellcasting. Incarnum feats are used as a mean of protection against fire, with a little surprise there - fire can be sent right back ! Our dragon has grown to Large size, and gained some SR, Frightful Presence, some attacks… and enough intelligence to setup traps in his lair.

I have only one fear : if this dragon finds the secret to build icehearts, he would be mighty enough to conquer the whole world ! So please, find this secret before him and definitely erase it from history.

At 20th-level our dragon now has spellcasting like a 5th-level cleric, so he can prepare spells according to his foes. Hidecarved dragon prestige class is used to remove fire vulnerability altogether, and Unholy Ravager of Tiamat to change a bit breath weapons - as growing up to Old category needed 3 CRs, I deemed it was a bit too costly to finish the build at CR 20. At 19th-level he attained the 4th class level - so I added one to Constitution score. Finally this is is a dragon of huge size - so not so easy to subdue.



Draconomicon (Hidecarved Dragon, Unholy Ravager of Tiamat, breath & monstrous feats)
Frostburn (Chosen of Iborighu, Cold Domain, spells)
Magic of Incarnum (Flame Cincture, Shape soulmeld, bonus essentia, bind greater chakra),
Savage Species (multiheaded template)

[Telonius]

She’s a terrifying snow spirit. Gealghaireach, The Lady!


Gealghaireach, the „Lady“

CE Yuki-On-Na (CR 4) Spirit shaman 11 /Dracolyte 5



Attributes:

Str 8 = 8
Dex 13 +2 = 15
Con 10 =10
Int 12 +2 =14
Wis 14+ 4 =18
Cha 15 + 8 = 23


Saves:
Good Wil+Reflex

Skills:
6+Int(2) x11= 88

Class skills: 72 +2 (apprentice:spellcaster)
Bluff 11
Hide 11
Intimidate
Knowledge: Religion: 8
Listen 11
Move Silently 11
Perform (dance)
Spot 11
Use Magic device 11

Cross class: 16
Speak language (draconic) 1
Knowledge (Arcana) 4
Concentration 3




Snow was falling heavily. The adventurers sat around the camp fire covered in blankets. Their local guide squinted into the sky. “We better head west tomorrow. I don't want to get to close to the Lady with snow falling this thick.” he muttered into his thick red beard. “The Lady? Care to elaborate? We are not locals after all” one of the adventurers replied. “Well the Lady is half myth, half reality. Not many have met her and can tell a story, so you can take everything I tell you with a grain of salt”, the guide replied and sat down chucking down a gulp of hot ale. “The elderly told us that once there was a mage ruling over this domain, who vanished around 50 years ago. This mage had three associates: spirits living in the harsh winter out here, we call 'em the Ladies. Sometimes one could see some of the Ladies dance in the Snow, but never during any other weather. After the mage vanished slowly the Ladies vanished too, no Lady was ever seen dancing again, but one thing happened more frequently: more pepole who entered the former territory of the mage died. Some travelers told stories of strangers appearing to be helpful only to vanish later. One of the elders decided to lead a group himself. He returned and told us one of the ladies is still there and it is her territory now. It seemed to him she had slain the other two ladies, whom she called her siblings. He told us he managed to sooth her by gifting her a precious brooch and flattering her. Many of us guides have tried leading groups through her territory but few were as successful as the old man. Most simply never were found again, but there are tales of groups crossing with the actual help of the Lady. Long story short: I try to avoid her territory because you never know with the Lady. She might help you, she might kill you, she might not even be there, but I don't like to push my luck in these conditions out here.” He took another gulp from his hot ale. Bjorn, a tall blond brute of a man stood up and snow fell from his blanket all around him. He clearly was the leader of the adventure group. “Sounds like a fey to me. Not really in the mood for fey hunting or bargaining with one. So let's go west. Seems the gold invested in you, was not a complete waste” he said nodding at the guide. “Now let's settle in for the night. Usual schedule, keep your eyes open. May the Lady stay were she is right now.”





Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


4th
Yuki-On-Na
+4
+3
+8
+10
Bluff +11, Concentration +3, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +11, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spot +11, Use Magic Device +11
Apprentice: Spellcaster, (1st HD) Dragonfriend (3rd HD), Toughness (6th HD)
Lose the way, Paralyzing gaze, SLA: disgusie self, comprehend languages, detect thoughts


5th
Spirit shaman
+4
+5
+8
+12
Bluff +11, Concentration +6, Diplomacy +1, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +12, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spot +12, Use Magic Device +11
Spell Focus (conjuration) (9th HD)
Spirit guide (Wolf), Wild empathy


6th
Spirit shaman
+5
+6
+8
+13
Bluff +11, Concentration +9, Diplomacy +2, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +13, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spot +13, Use Magic Device +11
-
Chastise spirits


7th
Spirit shaman
+6
+6
+9
+13
Bluff +11, Concentration +12, Diplomacy +3, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +14, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spot +14, Use Magic Device +11
-
Detect spirits


8th
Spirit shaman
+7
+7
+9
+14
Bluff +11, Concentration +15, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +15, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spot +15, Use Magic Device +11
Augment Summoning (12th HD)
blessing of the spirits


9th
Spirit shaman
+7
+7
+9
+14
Bluff +11, Concentration +16, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +16, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +3, Spot +16, Use Magic Device +11
-
Follow the guide


10th
Spirit shaman
+8
+8
+10
+15
Bluff +11, Concentration +17, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +17, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +6, Spot +17, Use Magic Device +11
-
Ghost warrior


11th
Spirit shaman
+9
+8
+10
+15
Bluff +11, Concentration +18, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +18, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +9, Spot +18, Use Magic Device +11
Empower Spell (15th HD)
Warding of the spirits


12th
Spirit shaman
+10
+9
+11
+16
Bluff +11, Concentration +19, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +19, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +12, Spot +19, Use Magic Device +11
-
-


13th
Spirit shaman
+10
+9
+12
+16
Bluff +11, Concentration +20, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +20, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +15, Spot +20, Use Magic Device +11
-
Spirit form 1/day


14th
Spirit shaman
+11
+10
+12
+17
Bluff +11, Concentration +21, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +21, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +16, Spot +21, Use Magic Device +11 Skill trick: Swift concentration
Twin spell (18th HD)
Guide Magic


15th
Spirit shaman
+12
+10
+12
+17
Bluff +11, Concentration +22, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
-
Recall Spirit


16th
Dracolyte
+12
+12
+12
+19
Bluff +14, Concentration +23, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
-
Prestige domain (Domination)


17th
Dracolyte
+13
+13
+12
+20
Bluff +17, Concentration +24, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
Quicken Spell (21th HD)
-


18th
Dracolyte
+14
+13
+13
+20
Bluff +20, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
-
Alertness


19th
Dracolyte
+15
+14
+13
+21
Bluff +23, Concentration +26, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
-
-


20th
Dracolyte
+15
+14
+13
+21
Bluff +26, Concentration +27, Diplomacy +4, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Listen +22, Move Silently +11, Speak language (draconic) 1, Spellcraft +19, Spot +22, Use Magic Device +11
Versatile spellcaster (24th HD)
Foster dragon







Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


4th
3/3
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
3/3
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
4/3
3/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
5/3
4/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
6/3
5/3
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
6/3
6/3
4/1
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
6/3
6/3
5/1
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
6/3
6/3/
6/2
4/1
2/1
-
-
-
-
-


12th
6/3
6/3
6/2
5/2
3/1
-
-
-
-
-


13th
6/3
6/§
6/3
6/2
4/1
2/!
-
-
-
-


14th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
5/2
3/1
-
-
-
-


15th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
4/1
2/1
-
-
-


16th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
5/2
3/1
-
-
-


17th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
4/1
2/1
-
-


18th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
5/2
3/1
-
-


19th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
4/1
2/1
-


20th
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/3
6/2
5/2
3/1
-





Simply put: I planned to list here some spells and applied metamagic feats to highlight the build more. But time is running out on me, so I simply can refer to some ideas quickly:

Most important: You must plan ahead and be efficient with your chosen spells. Your resources are limited. Play this villain intelligent and cautious. If she attacks she will try to lure the PCs away from the dragon lair. Use the environment as much as possible.


Abuse concentration spells through guide magic and swift concentration:

List of concentration spells as mentioned in the spirit shaman handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6071):
Players Handbook Spells
Orizons: Detect Magic
1st: Detect Animals and Plants, Detect Snares and Pits
2nd: Animal Trance, Summon Swarm
5th: Fire Wall
9th: Storm of Vengeance (Max 10 rounds)

Complete Divine Spells
5th: Binding Winds
8th: Storm of Elemental Fury (Max 4 rounds though)

Complete Arcane Spells
1st: Animate Wood (Max 1 round per level)
9th: Summon Elemental Monolith (Max 1 round per level)

Frostburn Spells
5th: Wall of Coldfire

Magic of Faerun
0th: Detect Crossroads (Up to 10 minutes per level)
2nd: Share Husk

Players Guide to Faerun
???st: Wall of Sand

Sandstorm Spells
1st: Locate Water (Up tp 10 minutes/level)

Spell Compendium
1st: Animate Fire, Animate Water, Animate Wood, Enrage Animal
2nd: Binding Winds
4th: Summon Elementite Swarm
5th: Wall of Sand
6th: Summon Greater Elemental
8th: Phantom Wolf
9th: Phantom Bear, Summon Elemental Monolith, Tsunami

Tome of Magic
5th: Spurn the Supernatural


Prepare spells to counter fire weakness like protection from fire or similar.

Prepare spells that grant you movement or teleportation (quickened frostfell slide i.e.).

Prepare and use freedom of movement.








Context to the story: Gealghaireach has lost her mentor, who was like a father to her. After falling out with her sisters and subsequently killing them she is a lonely creature fiercely guarding the domain of her former mentor.

Why I think Gealghaireach is a memorable villain:
I have written up seven traits that should display the complex character of Gealghaireach. Here is the short list: lonely, territorial, admires dragons, protective, playful, naive, cheerful. I am also referring to this excellent handbook by thealtruistorc by using two of his archetypes: radical and varelse. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?446414-No-Limits-No-Regrets-A-guide-to-the-Chaotic-Evil-alignment)


After losing her mentor and killing her siblings Gealghaireach has fallen prone to loneliness. Her main goal is to search for a family/pack to populate her domain/territory (spirit guide wolf) but has almost impossible to fulfill standards regarding race (only dragons and fey may apply) and most of all personality as she viciously enforces her own rules which may change by the minute but still these rules apply to the pack and compliance is expected but in no way possible to achieve. So her pack is at a pretty constant count of one member, herself, and one aspirant, the white wyrmling. Because of this fact she sometimes considers extending her pack definition to other races and genders, but when this happens she changes her mind pretty quickly and/or she is disappointed with the compliance of the pack aspirant and disposes of him/her/it. The only one immune to this is the white wyrmling because of the trait (admires dragons).
Everything outside of the pack can be considered prey, but mostly she considers everyone outside the pack non-factors unless they manage to entertain her (see cheerful trait).
Think Allen in Hangover and his definition of wolf pack to understand the varelse aspect of this and think hardcore racists to understand the radical aspect of this.
Ingame: Chaotic Evil alignment, Spirit guide (wolf), foster dragon



Her chosen domain/territory is off limits for any thinking creature except members of her pack. Mindless creatures (animals, vermin, mindless undead, occasionally aberrations and monstrous humanoids with low INT scores also qualify) are beneath her and can crawl around the territory and are often welcome to be used for her playful trait. Anyone else entering has better asked her beforehand. If someone tries reasoning with her, she will always point out that if politely asked and offered pleasantries or gifts, she gladly helps crossing the territory, which is true as in her mind she considers crossing her territory by creatures showing respect to her, brief members of her pack (see protective trait).
Trespassers are to be dealt with as described under the playful trait.
Ingame: Scrying the domain. Hunting down trespassers.



Simply put this is the part sane creatures might not be able to get easily. She loves and admires dragons for their inherent greatness. This is in some way linked to her hope that one day, when she is no longer among the living, her pack will be led by a dragon, thereby creating a possible realm led by dragons and fey. Her menotr might have influenced her in this viiew of dragons.
Ingame: dracolyte prestige class



Tries to keep the balance in her domain/territory, but may be difficult to understand her definition of balance. Will guard the white wyrmling with everything she has to give.
Optional: If a creature or multiple creatures managed to change her attitude to friendly by using gifts or pleasantries (and a Diplomacy check of course), she actually immediately jumps to being helpful and protects the creatures crossing her domain from possible harm.
Ingame: foster dragon



Like a cat she will play with her pray before killing it. This doesn’t necessary mean she uses only non-lethal force, but may use more indirect methods such as using her disguise self SLA and bluff skills too impersonate helpful strangers to isolate individuals and lead them into dangerous territory to use her Su Ability (Lose the way). Simply changing the weather or winds is another method. More blunt approaches revolve around using the domination domain spells to achieve isolation. Her playfulness changes as soon as the wyrmling or her domain are threatened, which immediately leads to her using her spells to maximum effect.
Ingame: bluff skilled, disguise self SLA, hit and run battle style,



While she isn’t dumb, she actually isn’t really knowledgeable. Curiosities may spark her cheerful trait, but she is prone to being tricked or flattered into helping. Yet keep in mind, she isn't very mentally stable and some minor insult may change everything.
Ingame: No ranks in sense motive, almost no ranks in knowledge.




Gealghaireach means cheerful in gaelic. This name was given to her by her mentor and this aspect may be difficult to display, but if she considers someone a friend, she is a very pleasant company and actually really funny. She enjoys gifts and pleasantries and loves to watch others perform as long as it isn't dancing, which reminds her of her sisters.
Ingame: -





Basis:
Based on a Yuki-On-na. Apprentice (spellcaster) refers to her mentor as mentioned in the backstory. She has no ranks in perform (dance) as she actually hates dancing and even more after killing her siblings. Spirit shaman is actually taken because fey count as spirits and many class features can be used on fey. So the class actually was chosen after writing the backstory. Highlights of the Yuki-On-na are lose the way which has no save and very nice roleplaying possibilities, Paralyzing gaze which is a Will save based on CHA, scaling actually pretty good into even late game and also a deflection bonus to AC of +4 which must be based of CHA but isn't mentioned in the entry. Her broad skills allow for a more skill focused villain approach although there are limits and these limits are given attention in the naive trait. UMD is kept +11 because of high CHA and very possibly an CHA stat booster item as loot for the PCs that would push her bonus to +19 at least.


The spirit shaman levels (CR 5 - 15):
If you want to use Gealghaireach I would skip CR 5 and 6 as the first to levels of spirit shaman only grant 1st level spells and very specific class features that actually don't add that much. An early sweet spot would be CR 8 were Gealghaireach picks up augment summoning to boost SNA II and her Paralyzing gaze is still a rather brutal save of 23=10+6 (½ HD)+7 (CHA). Another major boost in power is achieved at CR 13 and 14. Spirit form 1/day and guide magic and the possibility to concentrate on multiple spells is simply put rather terrifying even for that CR. At this point Gealghaireach is also casting 5th level druid spells.


Dracolyte levels (CR 16-20):
Dracolyte gives the bonus domain domination if evil aligned. Enchantment spells this late aren't game breaking but these are also additional spell slots. The final piece to the build or rather the villain is foster dragon (white wyrmling) which is mechanically pretty boring but it hopefully turns Gealghaireach into a memorable villain. I know mother of dragons is pretty overused these days (thanks George RR Martin) but in a twisted way Gealghaireach hopes to be exactly that. Mechanically Gealghaireach is castin 8th level druid spells (and domination domain spells), she has an array of metamagic feats to prepare spells with and versatile spellcaster to adjust on the fly. While she surely is no real obstacle for an optimized group at this level, I think she still might be an excellent villain as she is probably harder to understand than kill.


if you use his villain at CR 20 here is an idea for the lair: lair wards (draconomicon p.84) include a cloud gathering orb, which may be a very efficient way of dissuading by-passers to enter as it creates a blizzard a permanent blizzard in winter, as


Sweet spot: I am really torn on this, I would recommend CR 8, 14,15,16 or 20. Can't really decide myself, which is the real sweet spot.




Yuki-On-Na: Frostburn
Spirit shaman: Complete divine
Dracolyte, dragonfriend: Draconomicon
Swift concentration: Complete scoundrel
Versatile spellcaster: races of the dragon
Twin spell: complete arcane




He’s a Frost Giant to be reckoned with. Helblindi Ymirson!



Helblindi, son of Ymir, looked out upon the frozen tundra. He turned slightly, projecting his voice to the commander behind him.

"Assemble the warband. Let the age of the frost giants reign supreme!"

And with that, towns came under seige, falling swiftly to the might of Helblindi and his troops. One by one, the towns fall like snowflakes...



Str 13-> 27(racial + templates)->29(level up x2)
Dex 15->17(racial + templates)->18(level-up)
Con 14->22(racial + templates)
Int 8->18(racial + templates)
Wis 12->14(racial + templates)
Cha 10->22(racial + templates)

HP @ 20: 19d8 + 5d10 + 144 (average 257)



Helblindi Ymirson
NE Half fiend Primordial Advanced Frost Giant Spiritspeaker
Giant* 18/Suel Archanamach 1/Abjurant Champion 5
*Gains skills as an outsider

Known Languages: Ancient Suloise, Common, Giant, Orc, Goblin, Dwarven



CR
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


14
Giant 18
+13
+11
+6
+6
Climb 20, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 10, Intimidate 21, Jump
21, Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (History) 10, Knowledge (the planes) 3, Listen 21, Sense Motive 21, Spot 21, Spellcraft 10, Tumble 10
Power Attack, Combat Casting, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, Martial Study (Action Before Thought), Quicken Spell-like Ability (Invisibility), Awesome Blow
Rock throwing, Smite Good, Spell-like Abilities, Rock Catching, Spell Resistance


15
Suel Archanamach 1
+13
+11
+8
+8
Diplomacy 11, Intimidate 22, Knowledge(History) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 11, Listen 22, Sense Motive 22, Spot 22
-
Spells, Ignore spell failure chance 5%, tenacious spells


16
Abjirant Champion 1
+14
+11
+8
+10
Concentration 23, Intimidate 23, Knowledge(History) 12
-
Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration


17
Abjurant Champion 2
+15
+11
+8
+11
Intimidate 24, Knowledge(History) 13, Never Outnumbered Skill trick
Improved Spell Resistance
Swift Abjuration


18
Abjurant Champion 3
+16
+12
+9
+11
Intimidate 25, Knowledge(History) 14, Dwarven
-
-


19
Abjurant Champion 4
+17
+12
+9
+12
Intimidate 26, Knowledge(History) 15, Knowledge(Arcana) 14
-
Arcane Boost


20th
Abjurant Champion 5
+18
+12
+9
+12
Intimidate 27, Knowledge(History) 16, Knowledge(Arcana) 16
Improved Spell Resistance
Martial Arcanist





Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known


CR
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


14
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


15
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


16
-
2
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


17
-
2
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


18
-
2
2
1
-
-
-
-
-
-


19
-
3
2
2
-
-
-
-
-
-


20
-
3
3
2
1
-
-
-
-
-



1st:
Shield; Nerveskitter; Ray of Clumsiness
2nd:
Wraithstrike; Whirling Blade; Slide, Greater
3rd:
Protection from Energy, Haste
4th:
Friendly Fire

Spell like abilities:
At will—detect magic, heat leech (DC 18),rage; 3/day—blindness/deafness (DC 18), cure serious wounds,fear (DC 20), ice storm; 1/day—dispel magic, invisibility, invisibilitypurge, prayer, wall of stone. Caster level 15th.

1/day—invisibility. Caster level 19th.

3/day—darkness, poison (DC 19), Unholy aura (DC 24); 1/day—blasphemy, contagion (DC 20), desecrate, destruction (DC 23), horrid wilting (24), summon monster 9 (fiends only), unhallow, unholy blight (DC 20). Caster level 27th.



CR 14:
A half fiend advanced frost giant with custom feats. The big point here is the bevy of spell like abilities. At this point, it has high spell resistance and HP and OK energy resistance to ensure survival, and many of the spell likes are deadly. Horrid wilting, blasphemy, and destruction are the standouts, but even lowly blindness can still play a key part. Even if opponents are still standing after spell-likes have been used however, it's still a giant with a big strength modifier and power attack, and can still deal serious damage. It has a surprisingly high spot and listen for a giant, and with a decently high initiative modifier it can probably go before several of the party members. It's a little weak to mailman style of play, but that's about it.

CR 20:
It's just more of the same, but better. Nerveskitter helps ensure the Helblindi goes first, while Wraithstrike allows
for delicious delicious power attack for full. Protection from energy and friendly fire, along with SR 39, protects Helblindi from just about every spell and ranged attack that exists.



With minions around: Go invisible, and buff the **** out of them. Rage, haste, unholy aura, protection from energy, prayer - all of these create minions that are harder to deal with, and sticking back and throwing out damaging spell likes is a perfect solution.

Without minions: Helblindi is only one spell like away from minions, but in the event that they are only buy him a few rounds of buff time, spell likes like horrid wilting and blasphemy still do a lot to even the playing field. From there, it's swinging till he or his opponents are dead.


Sources:
Frostburn
Spell compendium
Exemplars of Evil

[Telonius]

This last entry is slightly over the post limit, so I'll break it up into two parts.

Conquering the frozen wastes? It might not be simple, but this Neanderthal can do it. Lady Lenadel Sere!


Alsanel, Lorekeeper of the Deer Tribe, AKA Lady Lenadal Sere


A woman from a primitive land, exposed to the outside world and dedicated to bringing her home up to its standards by any means she can—which involve manipulating a colony of a great elven empire to “conquer” and teach them, before taking control of the colony herself. She might go for a little vengeance on the side if she gets the chance...


The importance of these details varies greatly. If some need to be changed, check how it affects the rest of the character and her plans (if such details matter to you).

Obviously, there needs to be a frozen but inhabited continent or region. Its inhabitants need to include tribes of nomadic neanderthals and of other races; there also need to be elven colonies. Some neanderthals and other wasteland residents need to have settled near the colonies, probably with some working as lower-class citizens.
The world also needs a prosperous elven empire settling colonies in distant lands. (I’m imagining something like the Norse colonies in Greenland, but backed by the Holy Roman Empire or England or something instead of one of Europe’s poorest kingdoms. Except, you know, with magic.) Changing the details of the colonial power will naturally require changing details of Alsanel, though the boring statistical stuff should be able to remain intact.

There also needs to be a much warmer region for her to be taken to, either one where slavery is acceptable or one where powerful wizards can conceal their slave-experiments. There also need to be pirates willing to capture slaves and bring them from the north to civilization proper.


Everything not listed is from the core rules or Frostburn. (Unless I screwed up, of course.)

Complete Arcane: Night Haunt feat, Warlock and associated material
Sandstorm: Mantle of the Fiery Spirit

The NPCs mentioned may have material from other books, but they’re not terribly important.



Peace
Alsanel was born to the Deer Clan. She was not exceptionally strong, but she was inquisitive, clever, and had arcane gifts, so she was trained to be the Lorekeeper of the tribe. She grew up, found a partner, and had a daughter.
Alsanel’s tribe was a nomadic one, hunting and fishing along the coastline, trying to keep their distance from the encroaching elven colonials. In the end, it wasn’t the colonials who caused problems—it was pirates.
(CR 0-2, age 0-21)

Slavery
One night, pirates attacked the Deer Clan’s camp. Many were killed, including Alsanel’s partner; a scant few ran off into the cold night. The rest were captured, bound, and stuffed under the decks of one of their ships. Many, including Alsanel’s daughter, died along the way; Alsanel survived, and she thought.
The survivors were sold to Fenmar, a mighty wizard living in a much warmer region. The wizard had them do some work, naturally, but their main purpose was as test subjects for the wizard’s experiments, primarily involving seeing if mutually opposed energies could coexist in one soul. Many died, their bodies turning to steam or dust or other lifeless substances, while others went mad.
Alsanel was hardy enough to survive her experiments, which involved binding spirits of ice and fire to her soul; not only did she survive, but she gained strange new powers. The wizard deemed her one of his greatest successes. Alsanel simply thought.
Why? she wondered. Why were these people able to take her people so easily? And for that matter, why were these elves and others from the south pushing her people out of the best hunting grounds, the best fishing harbors, the most fertile gathering fields? What stopped them from pushing the elves out?
How could Alsanel make sure nothing like this happened again?
Alsanel planned. But more importantly, she learned. She learned the ways of the south. She learned their arts, their philosophies. And she learned to use her newfound powers...
(CR 3-5, age 21-23)

The Long Road Home
Alsanel began preparations and friends. She lived in a cell block with a permanent antimagic field, which prevented her from using any magic, but also meant that minor magic items she or her comrades managed to filch could be sequestered in her cell, safe from magical means of finding them. Plans were devised.
A few of the conspirators—mostly other experiments—worked to subdue one of the guards Fenmar employed (to make sure the experiments didn’t damage themselves or each other, more than out of fear of rebellion). Alsanel used a pilfered hat of disguise to pretend to be said guard, and used a few spells to bring her allies out. By the time her guile, magic, and luck ran out, they were close enough to make a break for it (with the help of a ring of the ram). Many were recaptured, a few killed, but Alsanel and a few others escaped.
Initially, they lived as bandits, but Alsanel never gave up on hopes of returning home. Eventually, they hit the jackpot—a band of minor adventurers carrying a folding boat. After recruiting a sailor, Alsanel and what friends were willing to accompany her sailed north.
By chance, they encountered a ship containing an elven noble-lady named Lenadel Sere, a daughter of the third son of one Duke Sere. Alsanel’s group engages in some ad hoc piracy, and captured the good lady (though they were beaten back before they could take much else). Alsanel was struck with an idea. On the rest of the voyage, she and the others befriended Lenadel. After a few days, she was willing to talk—and talk she did. With subtle prodding from Alsanel and others, Lenadel told them all about her family and court, among other things.
One night, hours from port, Lenadel was killed and stripped, her corpse dismembered and thrown overboard, her clothing savaged. Alsanel used her hat of disguise to make herself look like the late lady and put on the clothes, before having the others rough her up. Not far offshore, Alsanel jumped overboard; she soon washed ashore, and was found. Alsanel was rushed to the temple, and after being healed, told how she was captured and abused by pirates, how she escaped into the ocean, how a neanderthal fisher found her bobbing in the water and dumped her close enough to civilization that she could be found. The locals believed her story, and treated her as they would the real Lenadel.
(CR 6-8, age 23-28)

A Game of Throne
Alsanel lived a double life. As “Lenadel,” she was a compassionate but easily-frightened elven woman. “Lenadel” claimed to be afraid of the ocean, refusing to even approach the beach or docks, let alone get on a ship to return home; the local governor provided room and board for her. She frequently visited the neanderthal shantytowns at the edge of colonial territory, demonstrating remarkable care for such monstrous creatures. Her apparent Sere heritage gave her much power over everyone in the distant colony (even the governor was only a minor count’s knighted cousin), power which she refused to abuse.
But at night, or when allowed to roam, she would leave town as Alsanel and plan for the future. Early on, she found Calek, a Deer Clan survivor, who was in a position of power in a nearby native village. Alsanel occasionally ventured out, deeper into the wilderness, to bring other tribes closer, even bringing goblinoids, gnolls. With the help of her friends from down south, the village slowly adopted a few more civilized practices (even electing Calek mayor), but as all they had were second-hand memories of a few slaves and crooks, progress was slow. Alsanel knew more drastic measures were needed.
The governor had a son, Norian the Adamant, who was barely a man in elven terms, scarce over a hundred; the real Lenadel was nearly two hundred. Nevertheless, the governor recognized that marrying his son into a family as noble as the Seres would be a great boon for his descendants and his colony—and, as “Lenadel” was unwilling to sail away, and there were few nobles of any kind on the northern continent, Norian was far from the least appropriate available man for her to marry. The governor left Alsanel alone for a month, then played matchmaker for a few more weeks before proposing an alliance between their houses. Alsanel gladly accepted.
Unfortunately, the old governor fell ill and died within weeks of the wedding. A few whispered about poison (started after by Alsanel herself a few days with no convenient rumors). Fearful, “Lenadel” begged to move out of town, away from the (relatively) busy town and to a location where the guards would be able to identify intruders much more easily. Norian capitulated, in part due to being able to convince a tribe of neanderthals to sell him a large, comfortable building which they had been building as a “shrine,” which quite conveniently would make a decent manor...and which the builders incorporated secret tunnels into, allowing Alsanel to go on nighttime excursions more easily than ever.
All the pieces were in place. Alsanel had the ear of the elves’ governor, friends in places of power among native tribes and villages, and growing mastery of her magic, natural and unnatural.
(CR 9-11, age 28)

Consolidating Power
Alsanel continued her attempts to bring the tribes of the frozen north—mainly the neanderthals, but also other races—to come closer to the colonies and consolidate into confederations, town-states, and the like. Needless to say, this unsettled the elves, but peace was maintained. Trade between elves and natives (both of goods the settled natives produced and those they traded with the still-nomadic ones for) slowly grew, and tensions sank (in no small part due to a gnoll tribe called the Bile Wargs conquering and enslaving many natives who caused trouble for the elves).
Unfortunately, this peace was not to last. One day, when Norian was riding into town to meet with some merchants considering investing in the colony, he was attacked by a band of gnolls lead by a half-ogre. He was captured, robbed, and eventually set free in the wastes less any clothes the ogre thought fit to keep; luckily, his dear wife came across him before he froze. Norian almost ordered the gnolls and their allies be exterminated, but “Lenadel” convinced him that the natives were redeemable. The gnolls aren’t so unlike the neanderthals, she said. They aren’t evil, they’re merely savage—savages that can be tamed. That should be tamed, for their own good.
The war was swift, as most between an advanced society and a primitive one are. Oh, the natives had a few steel weapons, some enchanted items and magicians, but the elves had better equipment, more and stronger magic, superior tactics, and the support of “Lenadel”’s grandfather, who hoped the northern Seres would bring honor and power to his family in centuries to come. And on top of that, once the leaders of various groups of natives were captured, most of their followers surrendered. Some wondered if they had something planned, but none suspected the true magnitude of the situation.
(CR 12-14, age 28-34)

Taking the Reins
Alsanel knew she was racing against the clock. She bore a lovely daughter for Norian a few years before the war, and she was growing quickly—too quickly for a full elf. Some whispered that Norian had been cuckolded, but Alsanel knew the truth...the child was half-human on her mother’s side. A year after the war, Alsanel bore a son, and she knew that if both of her children were realized to be half-elves, some would suspect…Her task was simple, but far from easy. Consolidate the power of the native races and herself in particular, such that she could take over the colony for her own kind.
First, she convinced her husband to release the leaders of native groups—but appoint various elves to oversee them. This would allow her old allies to not be seen as puppets of the elves, while still being able to hold positions of authority in rebel groups and militias which would doubtless rise under the elven rule—particularly since “Lenadel” insisted on dividing up responsibilities, and made sure to draw the boundaries along lines which would cause unrest.
Having managed this, “Lenadel” began making friends among the elven military, finding friends who would stay loyal to her if they knew the truth (due to native sympathies, bribes, or simply being kind fools), revealing herself, and then helping them rise—or eliminating them, if she misjudged their loyalty.
Alsanel was aware that the might of the elven empire was too great to fight alone—and they would fight to reclaim the colony, she had no doubt. So she quietly made alliances, arranging a betrothal between her son and the eldest daughter of a weaker branch of the Sere family, and a secret one between her daughter and a young dwarven prince. She also decided to leverage unique products of the north to gain wealth and an economic edge, driving up demand for ivory while consolidating all sources of it she could.
Finally, she worked to bring the natives up to the standard of the civilized world. She hardly had enough time to do a thorough job, but the natives at least wouldn’t be crushed so easily as in previous battles.
After some time, she prepared to launch her coup. She made sure the soldiers under the officers loyal to her were the best and most loyal (or bribable), had her allies in native groups prepare their followers, and extorted the last gifts she could out of the Seres. Then comes the night of reckoning. Seemingly-separate groups of discontented natives somehow coordinate an attack, entire regiments of soldiers and guardsmen turn on the governors and the loyalists, and Norian was forced to turn power over to his wife.
(CR 15-17, ages 34-41)

Revenge!
If all goes as intended, Alsanel has everything she intended. She now has to consider what she wants in the future.
First, she wants to be able to show her real face. She waits a few years for the anger from the coup to fade, and quietly reveals herself to the public. This causes waves in the general public, but Alsanel has enough of a grip over the ivory trade and enough powerful friends that no one in the empire feels particularly enthusiastic about sailing an army to the far north to contest her claim (which was won by natives, anyway) or questioning her possible role in the real Lenadel’s disappearance…
...except for the other Seres. Luckily, due to the aforementioned allies (including some Seres), General Winter, and having more high-level spellcasters on hand, Alsanel manages to drive the elves back...but this inspires her. She remembers the people who started it all—Fenmar and his magic. She decides to thank him for his help in her quest to unite and protect her people...by killing him, freeing his slaves, and taking his research to use for various unknown ends.
Needless to say, launching such an invasion—against an even-higher-level magic-user, no less!—is a major endeavor. Still, it’s not out of her reach...
(CR 18-20, ages 41-53)

What Lies Beyond?
Chances are, Alsanel will be content once she brings Fenmar justice, the Deer Clan rest, and the north peace. But that could change if she finds something (or someone) of note in his laboratory—a scepter allowing one to travel through time, or a neanderthal with gods’ blood, or a ritual which can awaken the true form of one’s soul. The sky’s the limit when archmages’ knowledge get pilfered by ambitious heads of state...
(Epic)


In general, the name of the game is “Well-Intentioned Extremist,” emphasis on the “Extremist”.

Before being enslaved, Alsanel was a kindly woman. Unfortunately, her poor treatment at the hands of pirates and Fenmar lead her down darker paths. She grew to despise elves, and southerners in general. The misery of her situation drove her into a melancholic state. The elemental spirits bound to her soul did little to improve her mood, making her swing from bouts of furious passion to spells of cold hatred. As she grew accustomed to her augmentations and enslavement, she began to learn to cut ties and think pragmatically.
Escape helped her tame many of these flaws, with the help of her allies. She controlled her anger, learned to appreciate life and seize the day, and softened her opinion of southerners in general—though she continued to nurse a grudge against elvenkind.
Alsanel’s experiences pretending to be an elven lady changed her yet more. She grew more aloof—in part to play the part, in part due to being surrounded by similarly-aloof elves, but largely because she was usually surrounded by a race she despised. She also grew to appreciate elvish culture, in particular their stories, but also their religion; while she only prayed to elvish gods when watched by elves, she meant every word. At last, her feelings towards elves began to soften—from steel to iron, say. She also accepts that some elves are okay, even coming to appreciate her husband.
Once Alsanel began to wield more and more power directly, she drew on her cold, aloof, pragmatic side more and more. In private, however, her hatred and passion and whims were released—sometimes going a bit out of control. These emotional spells wax and wane with stress—which tends to correlate with important parts of her plots, leading to a greater risk of them being discovered.

Some things remain constant, most importantly her love for her fellow neanderthals. She will sacrifice anything for their sake, though she is very much pragmatic enough to accept a little sorrow today for a large amount of safety later. She also cares deeply about her friends and family, and to a lesser but still significant extent to her allies and associates.
Alsanel also hates the elves; while this dims over time, she will generally choose a plan where many elves die over one where few do if they have about the same result and chance of success. She feels neutral towards other races; she is willing to send them to their deaths, but would certainly prefer not to. (She’s a villain, but she doesn’t have a card (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CardCarryingVillain).)
Alsanel is naturally curious. While much of this curiosity has been tempered by the pragmatism which strife forced on her, Alsanel retains a love for knowledge and legends. She loves almost any kind of knowledge or lore, though she disdains fiction. If well-known adventurers are at risk of thwarting her plans, she might want them captured just so she can hear all of their stories firsthand (unless they’re elves...or serious threats to her plans).
Ever since learning how to read, Alsanel has practically worshipped the written word, writing down almost everything of importance, including the lore of her tribe—even things which would probably be left unwritten, like details about her plans, or the lore of a dead neanderthal tribe.

Overall, she qualifies as Lawful Evil.

P.S. I wouldn’t personally call her a “misunderstood ice queen”. First off, her rank is technically governess. More importantly, while she does have a pitiable backstory and sympathetic motives, her actions are (in the author’s opinion) entirely disproportionate to both.


The title refers to both plots cooked up by Alsanel and plots which can be launched by the GM.

At CR 0-5, Alsanel is not an effective villain. Before being captured, she lacks motivation; while she is in the dungeons of Fenmar, she lacks the resources to perform much in the way of plots, aside from the escape plot described above. In a long-running campaign, the GM may consider having the PCs free Alsanel and others in an otherwise-incidental encounter with Fenmar, only to encounter her again later.
At CR 6-7, Alsanel has no specific goals for the most part, just a vague desire for returning home (and vengeance). If the GM wants to introduce her at this point, there are always places for plots about bandits.
At CR 8-12, Alsanel is mostly consolidating her power, preparing for future plans. That doesn’t mean she isn’t doing anything interesting. There are all sorts of steps and sub-plots Alsanel is performing to set up her final gambits. The ones explicitly noted or implied (from poisoning the old governor to setting up a puppet chief for the Bile Wargs) are only the tip of the iceberg. What does it take to earn the trust of her old people, let alone that of the neanderthals’ long-time rivals and enemies? How does she get the far-flung tribes of the wastes to come to the colony’s doorstep? Where did she get skilled neanderthals to make the manor? There are countless steps which could be interrupted. Or an outside source could cause issues, such as her “grandfather” demanding she get over her fear of the ocean and come home so she can marry a real noble, or someone else plotting to take over the colony and getting in her way, or even the frozen head of the real Lenadel washing up on shore inconveniently close to civilization and being recognized.
At CR 13-14, Alsanel is mostly focused on making sure the “war” goes smoothly. In particular, she needs to make sure that individuals on both sides who might want to take things too far (elves wanting to exterminate or natives wanting to keep fighting) are eliminated. If the PCs are hired to help the elves and slaughter orcs, gnolls, and goblins in their wake like most PCs do, they may well become targets! A secondary goal is to minimize neanderthal casualties, making sure elves attack other races instead.
At CR 15-16, Alsanel is once more consolidating her power. She has many plans and allies to make, many deals to arrange without the public knowing. There are even more things which could go wrong; one of her allies might think she’s taking too long, a potential ally might learn “Lenadel”’s secret and back out, or one of Lenadel’s close relatives might visit and realize she isn’t who she claims to be.
At CR 17-20, Alsanel’s thoughts begin to turn to the future. She may be cementing her legitimacy as leader of the north, or preparing programs to bring her domain to the level of the rest of the world, or planning to declare war on the archmage who experimented on her all those years ago. One of these things is more interesting than the other.
At epic levels, Alsanel’s plans—and the adventures which could result from them—depend on what she finds in Fenmar’s lab. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a campaign to free an elven colony from its deceptive, murderous queen.

There is nothing stopping the GM from using her statistics for one level to represent a different part of her life if the PCs are the wrong level for what seems like an interesting adventure. The exact numbers don’t matter much anyways—what matters is the character herself.



Statistics and details for the following individuals are left to any GM who runs Alsanel. Characters have variable importance. That said, don’t feel restricted by this list of characters—Alsanel’s plans require many allies and many more minions.

Adart—Male dragonwrought kobold ranger. Formerly worked for a paranoid blue dragon, who ordered any kobolds with a strong draconic heritage to be purged. Adart’s crechemates hid him, allowing him to survive long enough to escape. Adart and a few of his crechemates joined Alsanel’s bandit gang; Adart and Malla became mates, and followed Aldanel north. Adart likes the idea of starting a tribe of kobolds, but isn’t sold on his mate’s “turn-into-a-dragon” dream.
Bahgdra—Female celestial fiendish neanderthal barbarian. Former hunter. The only other member of the Deer Clan to survive and escape. Like Alsanel, impressed by the wonders of southern civilization; unlike Alsanel, perfectly content to live in the south indefinitely. That said, she cares about her friends, and hence follows Alsanel north.
Calek Deerwolf—Male neanderthal expert. A child in the Deer Clan who was adopted by the remnants of a shattered tribe calling itself the Wolf Clan. Calek and the Wolf Clan settled in a small village on the outskirts of elven territory. Calek always enjoyed carving bones, learning from his uncle and practicing on waste bones from fish and birds, too small or weak for anything else. As he grew, he learned more about bone-carving from a Wolf Clan craftsman, and a little from a friend from the Raven Clan. During his late adolescence, his scrimshaw was noticed by elves passing through; this gave Calek a surprising amount of income from selling trinkets to the elves. This consistent contact gave Calek understanding, respect, and distrust of southerners.
Fenmar the Yellow Master—Male elven wizard (transmuter). Powerful—if not epic, then close to it. Researches, with many experiments relating to duality. Perfectly willing to use almost any method to advance his research, as long as the suffering is mostly out of his backyard.
Harduin the White Merchant—Male human expert. A rich merchant who Alsanel arranged various trade deals with, in exchange for support and help consolidating sources of elephant ivory. (Or, when that wasn’t possible, disrupting them.)
Kelfan Greenbottle—Male half-vampire half-clay-golem gnome expert. Tinkerer. Unlucky enough to be captured by bandits and sold into slavery to Fenmar. Tested mixing living, nonliving, and unliving methods of animating our mortal clay; the results are not pretty, but they are powerful. Struggles against the darkness which experiments introduced to his soul. Primarily keeps to himself.
Malla—Female half-silver-dragon dragonwrought kobold sorceror. A kobold with prominent red dragon ancestry, who had silver dragon blood implanted into him by Fenmar. Wants to become a true dragon and rule her own nation of kobolds in the north; Alsanel is perfectly willing to support this goal as long as it doesn’t require diverting too many resources from her own goals. Malla accepts this—after all, she is going to outlive her leader.
Norian the Adamant—Male elven aristocrat/paladin. Honest and gallant, but lacking in guile. Second cousin once removed of a minor count, and son of a knight sent to govern one of the coldest colonies in the empire. Lucky enough to marry a daughter of the prestigious Sere family...only it’s actually a neanderthal with elemental spirits bound to her soul, oops! Campaigned against an aggressive gnoll tribe in his youth, which makes him not like the gnolls much. His life after becoming governor is fraught with scandal, particularly his home life. More than a few people have noticed unexplained bruises on his face, or whisper about how quickly his children grow...
Lenadal Sere—Female elven aristocrat. Member of one of the more influential elven noble families.
Chief “Tiny” Tek—Male half-ogre fighter. Joined Alsanel in her bandit days, and followed her due to trusting Alsanel (and not liking summer—he misses the heat now). Currently the chief of the Bile Warg gnolls, a large and warlike tribe. The Bile Wargs grant chiefdom to anyone who can kill the old chief. One guess as to why he’s the chief.



Neanderthal Bard 8/Warlock 10


I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to record base or total saves, so I did both.
Skills do not include armor check penalties, due to Alsanel often being unarmored—especially when pretending to be Lenadel. On the other hand, skills do include the effects of ability-enhancing magic items.
At CR 8+, Alsanel is constantly under the effects of Beguiling Influence. This gives her a +6 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy, which is noted below, as well as Intimidate, which Alsanel is unlikely to use.

LevelClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveRef SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsClass Features
CR 1Bard (Bard 1)+0+0/+2+2/+1+2/+4Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +4 (4), Knowledge (nature) +4 (4), Move Silently +1 (2), Perform (sing) +6 (4), Survival +8 (4)Point Blank ShotBardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1[/td]
CR 2Bard (Bard 2)+1+0/+2+3/+2+3/+5Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +1 (2), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5)Track—
CR 3NA—Mantle of the Icy Spirit+1+0/+2+3/+2+3/+5Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +1 (2), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5)Point Blank ShotCold Subtype
CR 4NA—Mantle of the Fiery Soul+1+0/+2+3/+2+3/+5Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +1 (2), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5)TrackFire Subtype
CR 5Warlock (Bard 2/Warlock 1)+1+0/+2+3/+2+5/+7Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +1 (2), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5); Literacy (2 skill points)Night Haunt, TrackEldritch Blast (1d6), Invocations
CR 6Warlock (Bard 2/Warlock 2)+2+0/+3+3/+2+6/+8Bluff +3 (1), Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +2 (3), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5)Night Haunt, TrackDetect Magic
CR 7Warlock (Bard 2/Warlock 3)+3+1/+4+4/+3+6/+8Bluff +5 (3), Diplomacy +6 (4), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +2 (3), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +9 (5)Night Haunt, TrackDamage Reduction 1/cold iron, ElBl (2d6)
CR 8Warlock (Bard 2/Warlock 4)+4+1/+4+4/+3+7/+9Bluff +13 (3), Diplomacy +14 (4), Disguise +3 (1), Hide +1 (2), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +2 (3), Perform (sing) +7 (5), Spellcraft +2 (2), Survival +11 (5); Speak Language (Elvish)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, TrackDeceive Item
CR 9Bard (Bard 3/Warlock 4)+5+2/+5+4/+3+7/+9Bluff +13 (5), Diplomacy +14 (4), Disguise +4 (2), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +2 (3), Perform (sing) +10 (8), Spellcraft +3 (3), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, TrackInspire Competence
CR 10Bard (Bard 4/Warlock 4)+6/+1+2/+5+5/+4+8/+10Bluff +14 (5), Diplomacy +16 (5), Disguise +7 (4), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +2 (3), Perform (sing) +11 (8), Spellcraft +7 (7), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, Track—
CR 11Bard (Bard 5/Warlock 4)+6/+1+2/+5+5/+4+8/+10Bluff +15 (6), Diplomacy +17 (6), Disguise +10 (4), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +4 (5), Perform (sing) +13 (10), Spellcraft +7 (7), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), Track—
CR 12Warlock (Bard 5/Warlock 5)+6/+1+2/+5+5/+4+8/+10Bluff +16 (7), Diplomacy +17 (6), Disguise +10 (4), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +4 (5), Perform (sing) +13 (10), Spellcraft +8 (8), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackElBl (3d6)
CR 13Bard (Bard 6/Warlock 5)+7/+2+3/+6+6/+5+9/+11Bluff +17 (9), Diplomacy +18 (6), Disguise +13 (6), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +15 (11), Spellcraft +8 (8), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackSuggestion
CR 14Warlock (Bard 6/Warlock 6)+8/+3+4/+7+7/+6+10/+12Bluff +18 (10), Diplomacy +18 (6), Disguise +14 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +15 (11), Spellcraft +8 (8), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackLesser Invocation
CR 15Bard (Bard 7/Warlock 6)+9/+4+4/+6+7/+6+10/+12Bluff +19 (10), Diplomacy +22 (9), Disguise +15 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +17 (12), Spellcraft +10 (10), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), Track—
CR 16Warlock (Bard 7/Warlock 7)+10/+5+4/+6+7/+6+10/+12Bluff +19 (10), Diplomacy +22 (9), Disguise +15 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +17 (12), Sense Motive +3 (1), Spellcraft +11 (11), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackDR 2/cold iron
CR 17Warlock (Bard 7/Warlock 8)+11/+6/+1+4/+6+7/+6+11/+13Bluff +19 (10), Diplomacy +24 (9), Disguise +15 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +17 (12), Sense Motive +7 (3), Spellcraft +12 (12), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Negotiator, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackFiendish Resilience
CR 18Bard (Bard 8/Warlock 8)+12/+7/+2+4/+6+8/+7+12/+14Bluff +20 (10), Diplomacy +28 (14), Disguise +18 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +18 (12), Sense Motive +7 (3), Spellcraft +12 (12), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Negotiator, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackInspire Courage +2
CR 19Warlock (Bard 8/Warlock 9)+12/+7/+2+5/+7+9/+9+12/+14Bluff +20 (10), Diplomacy +28 (14), Disguise +18 (7), Hide +4 (4), Knowledge (history) +5 (5), Knowledge (nature) +5 (5), Move Silently +6 (6), Perform (sing) +18 (12), Sense Motive +8 (4), Spellcraft +13 (13), Survival +11 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Leadership, Negotiator, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackElBl (5d6)
CR 20Warlock (Bard 8/Warlock 10)+13/+8/+3+5/+6+9/+9+13/+16Bluff +30 (18), Diplomacy +35 (17), Disguise +18 (7), Hide +3 (4), Knowledge (history) +6 (5), Knowledge (nature) +6 (5), Move Silently +5 (6), Perform (sing) +25 (17), Sense Motive +12 (7), Spellcraft +15 (14), Survival +12 (5)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Improved Counterspell, Leadership, Negotiator, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), TrackEnergy Resistance 5 (acid, electric)

For brevity, all descriptions of class features are left to be found in the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#bardicKnowledge) and Complete Arcane.



Spells per Day

LevelInv.0lvl1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
CR 1∞2——————
CR 2-8∞31—————
CR 9∞32-1—————
CR 10∞33-11————
CR 11-12∞34-12————
CR 13-14∞34-13————
CR 15-17∞34-131———
CR 18-20∞3442———
Note: At CR 9-17, Undetectable Alignment is cast every morning by default. This results in one less 1st-level spell per day being available. This has been noted on the table.

CR 1: 0—Cure Minor Wounds, Know Direction, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation
CR 2: As above plus 0—Lullaby, 1—Cure Light Wounds, Charm Person
CR 5: Invocation: Baleful Utterance
CR 6: Invocation: Earthen Grasp
CR 8: Invocation: Beguiling Influence
CR 9: As above plus 0—Message, 1—Undetectable Alignment
CR 10: As above plus 2—Detect Thoughts, Suggestion
CR 11: As above plus 1—Ventriloquism, 2—Minor Image
CR 14: Invocation: Charm
CR 15: As above plus 2—Heroism, 3—Glibness, Scrying
CR 17: Invocation: Flee the Scene
CR 18: As above, less Charm Person, plus 1—Grease, 3—Dispel Magic
CR 20: Invocation: Curse of Despair

[Telonius]

Lady Lenadel, part 2:



Base:
Str 8+2=10
Dex 10-2=8
Con 13+2=15
Int 12-2=10
Wis 14=14
Cha 15=15

At CR 6, increase Constitution to 16 due to level advancement.
At CR 10, increase Charisma to 16 due to level advancement.
At CR 13, increase Charisma to 16 (18) due to cloak of charisma.
At CR 14, increase Charisma to 17 (19) due to level advancement.
At CR 15, reduce Strength to 9, Dexterity to 7(9), and Constitution to 15, and increase Intelligence to 11, Wisdom to 15, and Charisma to 18 (20), due to entering Middle Age and gloves of dexterity.
At CR 18, increase Charisma to 19 (23) due to level advancement and cloak of charisma
At CR 19, increase Dexterity to 8(10) due to manual of quickness of action.
At CR 20, reduce Strength to 7, Dexterity to 6(10), and Constitution to 13, and increase Intelligence to 12, Wisdom to 16, and Charisma 20 (26), due to entering Old Age, cloak of charisma, and gloves of dexterity.


Before CR 6, Alsanel has little equipment of note. Not that she makes a good villain at that point.
Alsanel’s first batch of magical equipment comes mostly from plundering Fenmar’s tower. While acting as a bandit, she manages to take a couple from weak adventurers. As a quasi-noble, she manages to earn a few more through favors and buy a couple with cash. Some, her semi-stable innate magic enchants or enhances (which is my way of saying not to worry too much about (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra) why her toys increase in number and power over time).

Signature Items:
Daggers—Alsanel usually has a few daggers or equivalent weapons, even before being captured and during most of her imprisonment. At CR 13, she upgrades one to a +1 dagger; at CR 15, she has a second +1 dagger. At CR 19, these get upgraded to +2 daggers. At CR 20, she gets a third.
Hat of Disguise: An important part of her escape plan and vital to her later operations. When disguised as Lenadel Sere, the hat is disguised as a ribbon tied around a lock of her hair.
Crossbow/Icechucker—After escaping, Kelfan knocks together a masterwork heavy crossbow for Alsanel. When she returns to the north (CR 8), she replaces her crossbow which fires wood with a larger one which fires icicles. See Frostburn, page 76, for base statistics. At CR 12, it gets upgraded to a +1 icechucker. At CR 15, it is upgraded to a +2 icechucker, and to a +2 flaming frost icechucker at CR 18. This weapon is used when Alsanel wants to shoot something too far for her eldritch blast to reach, though her lack of experience with it means she tries to avoid situations where she needs to use it (ie, by having allies she can buff or avoiding combat altogether).
Armor: During her bandit days, Alsanel uses masterwork leather armor. At CR 9, this gets replaced with +1 studded leather, and to +1 glamered studded leather at CR 10 after a few too many incidents. She replaces it with a +2 glamered chain shirt at CR 12. At CR 15, make that a +3 GCS. At CR 18, it gets the silent moves enhancement.
Folding Boat: It’s a boat that folds. She gets it at CR 8, after ambushing some adventurers. It came with complementary Everfull Sails (see Stormwrack, though they’re pretty much as boring as the name suggests). Note: The price for this item has been reduced for the purposes of determining Wealth By Level, because seriously, it’s a fancy boat.
Ring of Invisibility: When the old governor was preparing to arrange the final details of the marriage between “Ledanel Sere” and his son, he happened to receive a lovely ring, silver with diamonds and sapphires, which he decided to have his son give to Ledanel as an engagement ring. He later commissioned even more impressive rings (gold with rubies and emeralds) for the wedding, but “Ledanel” was more fond of the engagement ring. See, the governor was not the most cautious of individuals, and didn’t think to have the mysterious gift checked with detect magic; it turned out to be a ring of invisibility, which helped her sneak out and do her thing. The lovely bride never learned about the origin of the ring; if she had, she would have wondered who would have arranged for the ring to fall into the governor’s hands just as he was in need of a ring to give to her, why they were supporting her...and what they might want in return. (CR 11+)
Orb of Storms: As the coup was just about ready to be initiated, Alsanel happened to come across a crystal orb. Analysis revealed that it could control the weather. She kept it, and began using the weather to her advantage. (CR 16+)

Suggested Additional Equipment:
6: Buckler, Ring of the Ram (20 charges)
7: Buckler, Ring of the Ram (9 charges), Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, Nondetection, Protection from Arrows (15/magic), Remove Curse, Quaal’s Feather Token (tree)
8: Buckler
9-12: Ring of Protection +1
13: Cloak of Charisma +2, Ring of Protection +1, Salve of Slipperiness
14: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Cloak of Charisma +2, Ring of Protection +1, Salve of Slipperiness, Scroll of Cure Critical Wounds
15: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Cloak of Charisma +2, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +1, Salve of Slipperiness, Scroll of Summon Nature’s Ally VI
16-17: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Boots of Teleportation, Buckler, Cloak of Charisma +2, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +1
18: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Buckler, Cloak of Charisma +4, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +2
19: Amulet of Natural Armor +2, +4 Buckler, Cloak of Charisma +4, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +2; Manual of Quickness of Action (already read)
20: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Bag of Holding III, +4 Buckler, Cloak of Charisma +6, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Obsidian Steed, Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Ring of Protection +2




Alsanel is not a fan of fighting personally. She will do so when she has to, but she prefers to solve problems through other methods, such as plotting their assassination, charm spells, and getting other people to fight for her. When in combat, she prefers to play a supportive role, either buffing, singing, or sniping; she also isn’t too proud to run, unless something or someone she cares about is on the line. If forced into melee combat, she will fight like a cornered rat until given a chance to escape.

The north is a harsh place, but even they have a place for noncombatants, and Alsanel was in such a place. If the Deer Clan went to war, or if a group containing her was ambushed, Alsanel would help the other combatants but probably avoid combat herself. She is not a fighter at heart; she would probably run if her life was threatened. That said, she would fight to the death to protect her daughter or partner, and possibly the old lorekeeper.


Before being experimented on, Alsanel would be more likely to run than fight—if given the option—although it is also possible that she would just quietly accept her fate, if neither running nor fighting seemed likely to work. In practice, she would observe any combat she noticed, and take any obvious opportunity to escape. She would not be alone. If cornered, she would fight if she felt she had a chance, but if the cornerer was an armed and armored warrior, she would probably give up and look forward to seeing her family again.

Shortly after being experimented on, Alsanel is largely a slave to the emotions generated by the spirits bound to her soul.
When the fiery spirit is active, combat will agitate her into a rage; she will attack people or inanimate objects in her way, mostly with teeth, nails, and eldritch blasts. She would prioritize strangers over fellow slaves, servants over strangers, guards over servants, and Fenmar himself over all. She might take an opportunity to escape, if given.
When the freezing spirit is active, Alsanel will ignore combat until she is actively struck. At that point, she will begin fighting back until no one is threatening her. She will use efficient tactics once engaged, and will disengage if possible.

After beginning work on an escape plan, Alsanel will fight when she, her plans, her tribespeople, or her newfound allies are threatened. Her tactics wll resemble those she would use with the freezing spirit.


As a bandit, Alsanel prefers to avoid direct contact with the victim. She will attempt to use spells and invocations to weaken the victim before they reach the ambush, then buff allies once ready for combat. If she is within eldritch-blast range and threatened by an enemy, she may blast said enemy.

During ad hoc piracy, Alsanel will focus on eldritch blasts or buffing, depending on the situation.


When pretending to be Lenadel, Alsanel will (obviously) not engage in combat. She will run, or perhaps pretend to faint (but actually lean against a wall or statue, ready to eldritch-blast enemies). If cornered, she may use a knife. Lenadel!Alsanel will only use her magic if her life or something of great personal value is in immediate danger!


If caught in combat when in the north but not disguised as Lenadel, Alsanel will try to run, but will fight if her secret are on the line. When protecting secrets, Alsanel will attempt a quick, ideally-quiet kill or incapacitation (probably followed by a kill).

Occasionally, Alsanel will join allies on some important mission. She will prefer to stay as far from the fighting as possible, acting as a buffer and medic.


After the completion of her plans, Alsanel is the openly-non-elvish ruler of a great nation. She has guards, and will let them do most of the work...though she’ll still buff them or throw a few eldritch blasts around.



The following are some tricks Alsanel might try to pull off at various points.

CR 5
* Baleful Utterance is the one invocation in the book with a verbal component, and it’s hard not to recognize it as something foul; “Lenadel” probably wouldn’t use it, but Alsanel probably would. That said, shattering the party’s weapons and such isn’t kind to the players; consider other things it could be used on, like the base of a heavy tree branch or a key stone in a ruined archway or something clever like that.

CR 6
* If Alsanel is aware of an attack coming, she may use her Hat of Disguise to pretend to be someone else. In a pinch, she might even pretend to be someone else who is currently indisposed (possibly killed, but probably just knocked out, tied up and left, somewhere convenient).
* Earthen Grasp is a wonderful thing. For two rounds per caster level (four rounds for Alsanel at CR 6), a giant hand holds one target in place, with some damage on the side. Bookmark the grapple rules.

CR 11
* If given time to prepare and a couple spare spell slots, Minor Image and Ventriloquism combined with a Ring of Invisibility make a decent replacement for Flee the Scene. Just conjure a few illusory duplicates of oneself, give them your voice, and wait for the pursuers to assume you’re elsewhere.

CR 17
* By using Flee the Scene and her Ring of Invisibility, Alsanel can teleport a short distance, leaving an illusory copy in her original location and not being seen afterwards.


* After Fenmar’s experiments, Alsanel was unaffected by extreme heat or cold. (She is still affected by some other effects of extreme climates, such as snow blindness or dehydration, but these are usually much slower to take effect and less dangerous.) Alsanel, being the pragmatic “fighter” that she is, is quite willing to take advantage of this when she has to. She will gladly run out into the freezing cold to escape assailants, particularly if they removed their coats and donned their armor when they came inside. In extreme situations, she will even plunge into freezing water to avoid capture; she can’t breathe water, but she can hold her breath, and people without protection from cold will not like wading into cold water in freezing temperatures. Lenadel already has a reputation for surviving intense cold, so she is perfectly willing to use these tactics in broad daylight. (Incidentally, this reputation could be used to hint to the PCs that Lenadel is something more than an elf...something vulnerable to fire, even.)
* Warlock invocations are spell-like abilities, without any verbal or somatic components. This means that “Lenadel” can use her invocations without breaking character (assuming she can otherwise explain why a hand made of dirt just grabbed someone). This is most useful at CR 14 and above, when she gets Charm as an invocation!
* Speaking of spell-like abilities, the feat Night Haunt grants dancing lights, prestidigitation, and unseen servant once per day each. Don’t waste spell slots when you could be using these spells!
* Alsanel’s Ring of Invisibility is her engagement ring, which she wears constantly—even in bed. This means she can turn invisible at any time, though she is reluctant to do so in public.
* Once Alsanel gets the Orb of Storms, she can control the weather. If she knows something important is happening, she will use said orb to arrange ideal weather conditions—blizzards for if she needs to escape unseen, bright sunshine for sniping, sleet for keeping people indoors, and so on.


At CR 8+, Alsanel uses Beguiling Influence every morning and evening, giving her a permanent +6 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate.
At CR 9+, she also casts Undetectable Alignment on herself every morning. It may not be active in the early morning if she sleeps in late enough, or if she is unable to rest and recover her magic. At CR 18+, Alsanel no longer feels the need to hide and stops doing this.




Ability descriptions are omitted for brevity.

This is Alsanel shortly after beginning her productive career as a bandit.

Medium Humanoid (Cold, Fire, Human)
Hit Dice: 4d6+12 (29 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 30 feet (6 squares)
Armor Class: 12 (-1 Dexterity, +1 shield, +2 armor), touch 9, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Masterwork heavy crossbow +2 (1d10) or Eldritch Blast +1 (1d6) or Dagger +2 melee/+1 ranged (1d4)
Full Attack: Masterwork heavy crossbow +2 (1d10) or Eldritch Blast +1 (1d6) or Dagger +2 melee/+1 ranged (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Spells, Invocations
Special Qualities: Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Detect Magic
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +8
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 15
Skills: Bluff +3, Diplomacy +6, Hide +1, Knowledge (history) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Move Silently +2, Perform (sing) +7, Spellcraft +2, Survival +11
Feats: Night Haunt, Track
Environment: Roads far from civilization
Organization: Bait (solitary) or pack (1 plus 5-10 bandits of various races and classes)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard plus equipment
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Advancement: See above

Spells known: 0 (3/day)—Cure Minor Wounds, Know Direction, Lullaby, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation; 1 (1/day): Cure Light Wounds, Charm Person
Invocations Known: Baleful Utterance, Earthen Grasp

Equipment: masterwork crossbow, masterwork leather armor, buckler, 3 daggers, Hat of Disguise, Ring of the Ram (20 charges)


Lady Lenadel Sere is not what she seems to be. In reality, she is a neanderthal disguised as an elven gentlewoman, guiding her husband into a war against her people as part of her plot to empower the north.

Medium Humanoid (Cold, Fire, Human)
Hit Dice: 11d6+33 (74 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 30 feet (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-1 Dexterity, +1 deflection, +6 armor), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+7
Attack: +1 icechucker +7 (1d12+1) or eldritch blast +6 (3d6) or +1 dagger +7 ranged/+8 melee (1d4+1) or dagger +6 ranged/+7 melee (1d4)
Full Attack: +1 icechucker +7 (1d12+1) or eldritch blast +6/+1 (3d6) or +1 dagger +7 ranged/+8/+3 melee (1d4+1) or dagger +6 ranged/+7/+2 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Spells, Invocations
Special Qualities: Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Damage Reduction 1/cold iron, Detect Magic
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +11
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16 (18 with cloak of charisma
Skills: Bluff +17, Diplomacy +18, Disguise +13, Hide +3, Knowledge (history) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Move Silently +5, Perform (sing) +15, Spellcraft +8, Survival +11
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), Track
Environment: Husband’s Manor or Cold Tundra
Organization: Pair (1 plus elven paladin plus 1-5 guards) or Band (1 plus 1-15 allies of varying species and class)
Challenge Rating: 13
Treasure: Standard plus equipment
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Advancement: See above

Spells Known: 0 (3/day)—Cure Minor Wounds, Know Direction, Lullaby, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation; 1 (4/day, 3 left)—Cure Light Wounds, Charm Person, Undetectable Alignment (already cast), Ventriloquism; 2 (3/day)—Detect Thoughts, Minor Image, Suggestion
Invocations Known: Baleful Utterance, Beguiling Influence (already cast), Earthen Grasp

Equipment: +1 dagger, 2 daggers, +1 icechucker, +2 glamered chain shirt, Cloak of Charisma +2, Ring of Protection +1, Ring of Invisibility, Folding Boat, Salve of Slipperiness


Alsanel at the height of her power, ruler of a great nation, ready to sail south and get vengeance for her tribe by attacking an archmage who has almost forgotten about her.

Medium Humanoid (Cold, Fire, Human)
Hit Dice: 18d6 ( hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 feet (6 squares)
Armor Class: 25 (+2 deflection, +5 shield, +7 armor, +1 natural armor), touch 12, flat-footed 25
Base Attack/Grapple: +13/+11
Attack: Icechucker +15 (1d12+2 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d6 cold) or eldritch blast +13 (5d6) or dagger +15 ranged/+13 melee (1d4)
Full Attack: Eldritch blast +13/+8/+3 (5d6) or thrown daggers +15/+10/+5 (1d4) or dagger +13/+8/+3 (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Spells, Invocations
Special Qualities: Acid and Electric Resistance 5, Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Damage Reduction 2/cold iron, Detect Magic, Fiendish Resilience
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +16
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 6 (10 with gloves of dexterity, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 20 (26 with cloak of charisma)
Skills: Bluff +30, Diplomacy +35, Disguise +18, Hide +3, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (nature) +6, Move Silently +5, Perform (sing) +25, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +15, Survival +12
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Icechucker), Improved Counterspell, Leadership, Negotiator, Night Haunt, Skill Focus (Disguise), Track
Environment: Her own throne room (so to speak), or cold tundra
Organization: “Solitary” (1 plus 4-10 mid- to high-level guards) or army (1 plus 10-25 mid- to high-level friends and guards plus thousands of low-level soldiers plus several war machines of some description)
Challenge Rating: 20
Treasure: Standard plus equipment
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Advancement: See above

Spells Known: 0—Cure Minor Wounds, Know Direction, Lullaby, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation; 1 (4/day)—Cure Light Wounds, Grease, Undetectable Alignment, Ventriloquism; 2 (4/day)—Detect Thoughts, Heroism, Minor Image, Suggestion; 3 (2/day)—Dispel Magic, Glibness, Scrying
Invocations Known: Baleful Utterance, Beguiling Influence, Charm, Curse of Despair, Earthen Grasp, Flee the Scene

Equipment: 3 +2 daggers, +2 flaming frost icechucker, +3 glamered silent moves chain shirt, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Bag of Holding III, +4 Buckler, Cloak of Charisma +6, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Obsidian Steed, Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Invisibility, Hat of Disguise, Orb of Storms, Folding Boat

[Telonius]

And that's it for the competitors! Vizzini can go cool his head; I think we've got a bunch of real individuals.

As for my own "submission?" It looks like nobody had anything that's too similar, so I'll post what I have now. Unfortunately I ran out of time - so, no character background or level write-ups, but the build is complete. Not for judging, just for laughs: Kelvin, the Heart of Winter! Character shtick: he's an Immoth who's so bent on discovering the final Word of Ultimate Winter, that he's taken to stealing the power of the gods themselves. Finding the Last Word will not only free his kind but also bring about an eternal frost across the material plane.

Immoth Bard1/Ur-Priest2/Mystic Theurge8




CR
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


9
Elemental 10 RHD
+7/+2
+7
+7
+3
Know Arc 6, Know Relig 6, Bluff 6, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 6, Balance 1, Jump5, Hide1
Spell Focus: Evil, Iron Will, Piercing Cold, Snowcasting
-


10
Bard1
+7
+7
+9
+5
Know Relig 8, Spellcraft 8, Balance 5, Tumble 2
-
Bardic music, bardic knowledge, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1


11th
Ur-Priest 1
+7/+2
+7
+9
+7
Spellcraft 12, Tumble 3
Rapid Metamagic
-


12th
Ur-Priest 2
+8/+3
+7
+9
+8
Concentration 10, Tumble 4
-
Rebuke Undead


13th
Mystic Theurge 1
+8/+3
+7
+9
+10
Concentration 12, Tumble 6
-
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting; +1 Wisdom


14th
Mystic Theurge 2
+9/+4
+7
+9
+11
Concentration 14, Tumble 8
Frozen Spell
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting


15th
Mystic Theurge 3
+9/+4
+8
+10
+11
Concentration 16, Tumble 10
-
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting


16th
Mystic Theurge 4
+10/5
+8
+10
+12
Concentration 18, Know History 2
-
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting


17th
Mystic Theurge 5
+10/5
+8
+10
+12
Know History 5
Cold Spell Specialization
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting; +1 Wisdom


18th
Mystic Theurge 6
+11/+6/+1
+9
+11
+13
Concentration 19, Decipher Script 5
-
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting


19th
Mystic Theurge 7
+11/+6/+1
+9
+11
+13
Sense Motive 6
-
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting


20th
Mystic Theurge 8
+12/+7/+2
+9
+11
+14
Sense Motive 12
Icy Calling
+1 Sorcerer casting/ +1 Ur-Priest casting




Sorcerer Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


CR 9
6
6
6
6
6
5
3
-
-
-


CR 13
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
-
-
-


CR 14
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
3
-
-


CR 15
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
-
-


CR 16
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
3
-


CR 17
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
-


CR 18
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
3


CR 19
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4


CR 20
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6



Ur-Priest Spells per Day


CR
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


CR 11
4
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


CR 12
5
3
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


CR 13
5
3
1
0
-
-
-
-
-
-


CR 14
6
3
2
1
0
-
-
-
-
-


CR 15
6
3
3
2
1
0
-
-
-
-


CR 16
6
3
3
3
2
1
0
-
-
-


CR 17
6
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
-
-


CR 18
6
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
-


CR 19
6
5
4
4
4
4
3
2
1
0


CR 20
6
5
5
4
4
4
4
3
2
1


Bard spells/day: 2 level-0 spells


Sorcerer Spells
0: (9) Detect Magic, Read Magic, Ray of Frost, Touch of Fatigue, Ghost Sound, Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Mending, Open/Close
1: (5) Ray of Enfeeblement, Magic Missile, Grease, Shield, Ice Dagger (SpC 118)
2: (5) Spectral Hand, Touch of Idiocy, Glitterdust, See Invisibility, Mirror Image
3: (4) Haste, Lightning Bolt, Ray of Exhaustion, Greater Mage Armor (SpC 136)
4: (4) Mindfrost (Frostburn 102), Greater Invisibility, Black Tentacles, Dimension Door
5: (4) Gelid Blood (Frostburn 96), Arc of Lightning (SpC 15), Cone of Cold, Wall of Force
6: (3) Freezing Glance (Frostburn 95), Probe Thoughts (SpC 162), Greater Dispel Magic
7: (3) Ice Castle (Frostburn 98), Final Rebuke (SpC 170), Forcecage
8: (3) Polar Ray, Mind Blank, Greater Shadow Evocation
9: (3) Frostfell (Frostburn 95), Time Stop, Shades
Bard1: Know Direction, Lullaby, Summon Instrument, Message

[Lagren]

Drat, missed the deadline.

Oh well. Perhaps I shall judge. :smallwink:

[daremetoidareyo]

Drat, missed the deadline.

Oh well. Perhaps I shall judge. :smallwink:

I'll judge as well.

[sakuuya]

Drat, missed the deadline.

Oh well. Perhaps I shall judge. :smallwink:


I'll judge as well.

*Judging intensifies*

[Lagren]

I'm going to set down my judging standards in advance, before I look at any of the entries in detail.

All scores start at 3.

Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me? +0.5/-0.5
Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands? +0.5/-0.5
Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature? +0.5/-0.5
Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here. +0.5/-0.5

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.) +0.5/-0.5
Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose? +0.5/-0.5
Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels? +0.25/-0.25
Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks? +0.25/-0.25
Did you avoid dips? +0.25/-0.25
Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently? +0.25/-0.25

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
+0.5/-0.5: Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?
+0.5/-0.5: Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?
+1/-1: Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
+0.5/-0.5: Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I personally enjoy your brand of villainy?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?

[daremetoidareyo]

I'm going to set down my judging standards in advance, before I look at any of the entries in detail.

All scores start at 3.

Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me? +0.5/-0.5
Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands? +0.5/-0.5
Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature? +0.5/-0.5
Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here. +0.5/-0.5

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.) +0.5/-0.5
Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose? +0.5/-0.5
Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels? +0.25/-0.25
Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks? +0.25/-0.25
Did you avoid dips? +0.25/-0.25
Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently? +0.25/-0.25

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
+0.5/-0.5: Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?
+0.5/-0.5: Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?
+1/-1: Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
+0.5/-0.5: Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I personally enjoy your brand of villainy?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
+0.5/-0.5: Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?

I'll use Lagren's standards.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands? +0.5/-0.5
Wait, what?


Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.) +0.5/-0.5
I probably would have given +0 for following the rules and a solid penalty for not doing so.


Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose? +0.5/-0.5
Same, though less so.

And another question—for questions like "Can the villain gather minions?" and "Is the villain winter-associated?", will you go at every level, or focus on the highest levels where they have everything, or what? (It's probably only an issue for Lenadel, given that the others are of species which start them off with power and winteriness right off the bat.)

[daremetoidareyo]

And another question—for questions like "Can the villain gather minions?" and "Is the villain winter-associated?", will you go at every level, or focus on the highest levels where they have everything, or what? (It's probably only an issue for Lenadel, given that the others are of species which start them off with power and winteriness right off the bat.)

I would base the analysis generally on a holistic understanding of the build. If the build only works at 20th level, it will perform kinda less well as compared to a more dynamic build, but other factors can more than make up for this.




Wait, what?

Bottom paragraph (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19995092&postcount=94)

[GreatWyrmGold]

Bottom paragraph (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19995092&postcount=94)
...Well okay then.


Also, I'm interested to hear what people think would happen if the various villains wound up at each others' throats. (The Frostfell is a big place, but so very little actually matters.) To give my summaries of the villains at maximum power:

* The Krampus seems to be basically a nasty minotaur kidnapper. With some spells of some type, and no obvious minions.
* Dartakaussirixen is a two-headed dragon bound to two gods, with command of tribes of uldras and ice goblins.
* Gealghaireach is a spirit, again without minions but with some serious magic.
* Lady Lenadel Sere is a moderately powerful spellcaster with a few neat magic items and control over a major colony including some natives.
* For funzies, Immoth. As a bard/Ur-Priest, capable of gathering a solid cult and somehow casting sorcerer spells. Maybe it's the Immoth thing.

Immoth seems to have the most powerful personal magic, but the massive army Lenadel commands and the smaller army lead by a dragon which Dartakaussirixen could call on would probably be problems for Immoth and his followers. I don't see the personal power of the Krampus or Gealghaireach being enough to let them compete.

Thoughts? Anything I missed?

[Lagren]

Wait, what?


I probably would have given +0 for following the rules and a solid penalty for not doing so.


Same, though less so.

And another question—for questions like "Can the villain gather minions?" and "Is the villain winter-associated?", will you go at every level, or focus on the highest levels where they have everything, or what? (It's probably only an issue for Lenadel, given that the others are of species which start them off with power and winteriness right off the bat.)

For question #1: Yes, but this gives me discretion to award points over and above for creative options, as well as reward those who used more Frostburn content than required.

For question #2: It seems to be a standard that 'everything is legal' is a half-point. Far be it for me to depart from tradition.

For question #3: I naturally don't expect low-level villains to have the same minion-gathering/cold-associated capabilities as high-level ones, just as they don't have the same skills, powers, etc. I'm looking at "If I ran a campaign with this as the main villain, would they be credible as the head of some sort of enemy group", and "If I ran a campaign with this as the main villain, would the players start dreading snow after some indeterminate period of time."

[Deadline]

An interesting crop of villains this time around. Keep in mind that a villain doesn't have to be the BBEG of a campaign, just villainous. That said, I'm liking what I see here. And to GreatWyrmGold, don't reveal which build is yours, or even hint at it. The idea is that they will get judged without bias for or against any forum member. We don't get to know who did what until after the Chairman Chancellor does the reveal for the winners.

The build I didn't flesh out was an Advanced Half-Fiend Frost Salamander. The general gist was that it was a Frost Salamander that had swelled to enormous (i.e. Gargantuan) proportions with its fiendish heritage, and nominally paid fealty to Mephistopheles in ... Cania? Or is his layer Sygia? At any rate, it was nicknamed the Glacier's Roar, mainly because Half-fiend gives you a host of Spell-like abilities based on your HD, and your caster level is equal to your HD. This makes Blasphemy ... pretty much an autokill for anyone susceptible to it. And I think the thing got access to it at CR 10 or 11, with enough Hit Dice to slaughter any party (that couldn't counter that trick). It had other abilities, sure, and even though it was mainly a beat-stick, it just didn't feel right to use a quirk of the Advancement system to break game balance. And I was even advancing it as an Outsider (2 HD per CR bump) rather than a Magical Beast.


Also, I'm interested to hear what people think would happen if the various villains wound up at each others' throats. (The Frostfell is a big place, but so very little actually matters.)

Could be an interesting thought exercise. I'd need to look over the builds and tactics in more detail, but my gut tells me that the minions are irrelevant at the height of their power in a personal confrontation, so my guess is that we'd see the Dragon and your sample Immoth on top. That said, things could wind up very differently depending on how schemes worked out, what alliances could be made, etc.

Edit - Also, you forgot the Frost Giant in your list.

[GreatWyrmGold]

And to GreatWyrmGold, don't reveal which build is yours, or even hint at it.
I'm trying not to...


Could be an interesting thought exercise. I'd need to look over the builds and tactics in more detail, but my gut tells me that the minions are irrelevant at the height of their power in a personal confrontation, so my guess is that we'd see the Dragon and your sample Immoth on top. That said, things could wind up very differently depending on how schemes worked out, what alliances could be made, etc.
I was imagining more of a gambit-pileup strategy-off than a Death Battle. Some of the villains are built for personal confrontations, others are built for less direct things.


Edit - Also, you forgot the Frost Giant in your list.
So I did!
He seems to basically be a giant with some magical abilities on the side and a warband behind him. Without knowing the scale or details of said warband, I'd put him on the same general strategic tier as the dragon.

[Amphetryon]

I was building a Neanderthal Wendigo Barb/Ranger Primevalist.

[Thurbane]

The build I was going to go for was Immoth Sorcerer 1/Favored Soul (insert evil cold themed deity here) 1/Mystic Theurge 8.

Using Versatile Spellcaster to meet the divine casting ranks.

Pretty similar to Telonius, actually.

Lead up to Christmas was insane, so didn't have the time to do an entry.

[Troacctid]

I was thinking about writing up a Winterhaunt of Iborighu, but I couldn't settle on an entry class and I didn't really feel like submitting yet another full Cleric.

[ben-zayb]

Since my laptop decided to malfunction in this most opportune moment without a thought about my feelings, no entry for me this time. The villain would be a Pseudonatural Advanced Snowflake Ooze (CR+7) / Thrall of Juiblex 8 / Fiend of Possession 5. Basically, she heals back to full HP with Thrall of Juiblex Polymorph, splits herself into a legion of snowflake oozes. Then, on a large-scale, she possesses others and uses their body for Polymorphing, possesses weapons to turn them into +5 weapons, and animates piles of snow into Colossal Animated Objects.

Then again I'm a bit uncertain as to how CR would be handled with my entry anyway, so I guess it's okay.

[AvatarVecna]

If I get time, I'll judge, but don't wait up for me, because it don't look good for my free time over the next few weeks.


I think we all know the obvious choice is Walker in the Waste.

I'll remind you that in the IC Dwarven Defender round, the winner was a Sorcerer/Master of the Unseen Hand. Strange things happen all the time in these games, my friends.


Clearly, the obvious choice is a fire elemental pyromancer.

Actually, it would be pretty cool if someone managed to make that into an arctic villain.

Since the competition's already past submissions, I'm fine admitting I was working on a Young Brass Dragon Frost Mage 10/Archmage 4 that's few have ever even seen (and lived to tell of it). Anybody hearing of this winter-spreading dragon would prepare for a really old White Dragon by getting fire magic ready, and instead they're greeted by a small brass dragon with 14 class levels. Sadly, there were a couple frustrating parts that kept the build from fully coming into its own, but it was a neat idea all the same.

[WeaselGuy]

I didn't get around to finishing it, cause I ended up doing a 22 hour road trip across half the county, but my low-hanging fruit would've been Frost Giant Barbarian 1 into Disciple of Thrym 10.

[AvatarVecna]

I didn't get around to finishing it, cause I ended up doing a 22 hour road trip across half the county, but my low-hanging fruit would've been Frost Giant Barbarian 1 into Disciple of Thrym 10.

*nods*

Also considered something like this, if only because Frost Giant is a very useful base race for this particular competition for lots of reasons. Changed my mind when I got obsessed with a dragonic spellcaster immune to fire and cold alike.

[Lagren]

I have completed my first round of judging. Dispute away. :smallbiggrin:


Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me? +0.5
Greathorn Minotaur of Legend? CR 9 at level 1? You have my attention. Justicar is the icing on the cake - who expects a villain to specialize in dealing nonlethal damage? (+0.5)

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands?
Stuffing captured enemies into a bag of holding definitely counts. (+0.5)

Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature?
Justiciar never gets used, and Nonlethal Takedown is core to this character. (+0.5)

Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here.
Evil Burrowing Minotaur Santa. (-0.5)

Overall: 4

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
The Monster of Legend subtype qualification was clever, but a few spells from Frostburn is hardly a big part of the build. Have a quarter-point. (+0.25)

Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
You used retraining, which unbalances the field: I'm going to have to give you a double-strength penalty for that. (-1)

Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
Even as a regular minotaur, you start at CR 6. As the build stands, you're not properly Krampusy until CR 11, and that limits campaign options with this build significantly. (-0.25)

Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
You traded away your natural Track feat and then took a level of ranger to get it back, delaying your entry to Justiciar. That's the opposite of a cool prerequisite trick. (-0.25)

Did you avoid dips?
Only one dip is good enough to be worth a quarter-point. (+0.25)

Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently?
Stuff kids in a sack and run away. It's brilliantly simple, really. (+0.25)

Overall: 2.25

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?
You have a few summons, but the Krampus feels much more like a lone monster than the leader of an organization. No points, but no penalty. (0)

Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?

Earth Glide saves the Krampus from a lot of potential reprisals, and his 11 HD, good con, and high saving throws make him very difficult to put down, especially if he's lugging a sack of hostages on his back. I'm a little concerned that battle with him might turn into a slogfest, but that just means the PCs will rejoice more when they finally put him down. (+0.5)

Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?
Your fire protection is dispellable, and doesn't protect strongly enough to truly cover for your Cold Subtype vulnerability: furthermore, the Krampus has no way to effectively deal with flying foes, save mutual standoff via earth burrowing. If the enemy can hit him through the ground while flying, it's pretty much game over for the Krampus. (- 1)

Overall: 2.5

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
Evil Santa is interesting, but this entry feels too much like a monster and not enough like a villain. I can't envision a campaign based around hunting down the source of the mysterious disappearances: that's an adventure at best. (-0.50)

Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I personally enjoy your brand of villainy?
I like it, but I don't love it. I might run it as a one-off monster. (+0.25)

Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
Sure, he's evil Santa, but his link to cold is somewhat tenuous otherwise. A few ice spells don't make up for his whole suite of earth-themed abilities. (-0.25)

Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?
The Krampus plays on an age-old fear - Don't Split the Party. Being stuffed into a sack and hauled away to be feasted upon at leisure could make for an interesting session or two. (+0.5)

Overall: 3.00

Total Score: 11.75


Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me?
Oh look, a white dragon, taking dragon-only prestige classes. Okay, sure, it has two heads and cleric casting, but still. You can't get much more expected than a dragon. They're in the name of the game. (-0.25)

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands?
Flame Cincture for fire resistance is cute, but I'd be more impressed if you actually had an Essentia source. (+0.25)

Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature?
Nothing jumps out at me here. (0)

Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here.
Two-headed White Dragon, conquering in the names of Tiamat and Iborighu. (-0.25)

Overall: 2.75

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
A single feat from Frostburn and a few spells does not a strong usage make, but you do fulfill the letter of the law. You don't get points for Flame Cincture twice. (0)

Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
This dragon worships both Iborighu and Tiamat. The two heads justification is cute, so I won't give you a full penalty - but it smells of cheese nonetheless. Unfortunately, you're also intermixing HD increases and class levels, which is a strict no-no according to the DMG. (-0.5)

Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
You start at CR 5, which isn't great, and your saves suffer early on due to the template and your poor racial modifiers. This wouldn't have been quite so much of a problem if you had used the Elite Array at no extra CR cost, as laid out in the contest rules: therefore I'm not inclined to be lenient here. (-0.25)

Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
On one hand, you're using the feats from HD to qualify for classes. On the other hand, mixing them together like that is illegal. No points. (0)

Did you avoid dips?
You never take more than two levels of anything, and only once are those levels sequential. (-0.25)

Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently?
Even if you ignore the cleric casting, this is a dragon. It is hard to play a dragon badly. (+0.25)

Overall: 2.25

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?
YOU. ARE. A. DRAGON. The writing just cinches it. (+0.5)

Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?
You're a dragon, which are notoriously under-CR'd: what's more, you're a two-headed dragon with cleric spellcasting and a very nasty breath weapon. (+0.5)

Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?
Flame Cincture is nice, but doesn't quite hold up at mid levels: fortunately, Cleric spellcasting shows up at CR 13 and fixes that problem with additional buffing. Taking Overcome Weakness at 19th permanently removes your vulnerability, in true Evil Overlord style. Aside from that, you are a dragon and you are a cleric. There isn't much you're vulnerable to. (+1)

Overall: 5

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
The evil plot feels generic, and from the glimpses we're given of the dragon it mostly seems angry and hungry. (-0.5)

Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I personally enjoy your brand of villainy?
No, I would not. Though this villain is powerful, I don't think it has the complexity I enjoy in my BBEGs. (-0.5)

Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
It's a white dragon, and the plot is to conquer new lands and freeze them solid. Serviceable, but not worthy of points by itself: however, your spell selection adds to the thematics enough for me to award a quarter-point. (+0.25)

Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?
By giving me glimpses of the world around this dragon, you've convinced me they are a real and present danger to everything nearby. While the character might be a bit shakily defined, I can definitely see this dragon being the motivating force of a campaign. (+0.5)

Overall: 2.75

Total Score: 12.75



Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me? +0.5/-0.5
Yuki-Onna! I didn't expect to see this. A warning though: my own discarded build involved it, so I might be more harsh by accident simply due to higher familiarity. (+0.5)

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands?
Nothing leapt out at me. (0)

Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature?
Not that I noticed. (0)

Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here.
You've clearly put effort into building a complex and original villainess: I can't summarize her without losing something important. (+0.5)

Overall: 4

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
Yuki-Onna is a strong 'Frostburn' component, and qualifies as Cold subtype. (+0.5)

Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
Your build table could use some formatting help, (new skill ranks separate from total, for one thing), but so far as I can tell, you're legal. (+0.5)

Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
You're unplayable until CR 4, and not fully online until CR 7. (-0.25)

Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
Not that I could see. (0)

Did you avoid dips?
You have no dips at all. (+0.25)

Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently?

This villainess requires careful handling due to her stealthy playstyle and limited spell slots. I wouldn't be confident handing her to a novice DM. (-0.25)

Overall: 3.75

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?

Your villainess seems to be actively going out of her way to avoid gaining servants: that said, this is a measure of capacity, not actual use. Given time, her Pack could be a serious threat to a party of adventurers - and she has the social skills to keep them under her thumb. (+0.50)

Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?
Your saves aren't very good, particularly your fortitude, and your low Con score hurts you significantly. In open combat, you really need to land your Paralyzing Glance on the party caster in the first round and hope they keep failing saves. You don't have enough dedicated stealth skills to work well in non-open combat, and you don't put ranks in Disguise to keep Disguise Self working in the long term. (-0.50)

Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?
Your fire protection is dispellable and doesn't really keep pace with the party's casting. You can skirt this a little by looking human, but overall your villainess tends to melt too easily in open combat. Your fortitude save is poor as well, making you vulnerable to Slay Living etc. (-1)

Overall: 2

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
Definitely. (+0.5)

Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I personally enjoy your brand of villainy?
Yes, but only with modification: I would want her to actively seek out new members to add to her Pack, willing or unwilling. Since I would need to modify her, no bonus: since I care enough to do so, no penalty. (0)

Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
This villainess is much more closely tied to dragons and fey than she is to cold, but the cloud-gathering orb suggestion is quite wintry. Unfortunately, it comes too late in the build for me to let you off without a penalty. (-0.25)

Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?
I can't see why the party should care about this villainess: unless they need something in her territory, she'll never be an issue for them. In short, she's not enough of a threat to the world at large. (-0.5)

Overall: 2.75

Total Score: 12.5


Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me?
Wait, what? Did you say Half-fiend Primordial Advanced Frost Giant Spiritspeaker? (+0.5)

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands?
Not so far as I could tell. (0)

Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature?
Not so far as I could tell. (0)

Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here.
Big stompy frost giant, with extra spells. (-0.5)

Overall: 3

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
A single spell from Frostburn isn't winning you any points here. (0)

Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose? +0.5/-0.5
Looks okay, but I should not have to unpick 14 CR of templates and advancement all at once. Use the full table: it is not elegant to crunch 14 CR of advancement into a single row. (+0.25)

Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
Heck no. CR 14 at minimum. (-0.25)

Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
Not that I can see. (0)

Did you avoid dips?
You managed to fit a dip into your six remaining levels, and that huge template stack is hardly elegant. (-0.25)

Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently?

It stomps! It casts! It summons minions! It's pretty easy to run however you like. (+0.25)

Overall: 3

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?*

Summoned servants and a call-out in the backstory/mention in the build. (+0.5)

Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?

With all those SLAs and a bunch of Giant hit dice, Helblindi is no pushover. (+0.5)

Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?

Half-fiend grants Resist Fire 10, which is nice, but is hardly enough to really shore up your vulnerability at high levels. You don't start preparing Protection from Energy until level 18. The mailman definitely has a package full of fire damage for you. (-1)

Overall: 3

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
Uh… He's a frost giant raid leader. That's about it. (-0.5)

Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I*personally*enjoy your brand of villainy?
Nope. He's bland, and too high-level to see continued presence as a recurring force. (-0.5)

Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
He's a frost giant, and he wants to spread cold across the world. No points off, but this doesn't get you anything, either. (0)

Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?
He's attacking things, so he could serve as a plot, but I don't have any real sense of his character or the effect he's having on the world. (0)

Overall: 2

Total: 11



Originality - Is it unexpected?
Did you surprise me? +0.5/-0.5
Okay, Neanderthal I maybe expected. A Bard/Warlock? Okay, perhaps. Nothing made me go 'what', but neither was it boring. No adjustment. (0)

Did you use a cunning trick in your build, like a bag of your own severed hands?
I'm surprised by the general lack of Mantles around here. You get a bonus as the only one to take the obvious option for total fire immunity. (+0.5)

Did you turn a weakness into a strength, or make use of a normally 'bad' class feature?
Not that I noticed. (0)

Can I summarize your villain concept in one sentence or less without struggling? 'Yes' is bad, here.
Heck no. (+0.5)

Overall: 4

Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
The Neanderthal race and Icechucker weapon were more Frostburn than many bothered with. (+0.25)

Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
I don't understand how you acquire the Track feat at level 2. (-0.5)

Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
"Alsanel" is the only character presented without racial HD or a CR adjustment. That's worth points. (+0.25)

Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
Not that I can see. (0)

Did you avoid dips?
Zero dips. (+0.25)

Is it easy to play this villain competently, given your explanations? Can I hand this to a novice GM and expect it to work halfway decently?
This character definitely depends on a good GM to run well, but the supplied tactics and plots sections keep her from being overwhelming. No points, but no penalty. (0)

Overall: 3.25

Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Minions. Every villain worth the name must have minions. Does your villain have the charisma or strength to gather servants?*

You illustrated a step-by-step plan for national domination, and took Leadership. You win this one hands-down. (+0.5)

+0.5/-0.5: Personal Competence. When it comes time to throw down with a party of overpowered murderhobos, can your villain put up a good fight?

Alsanel is fairly obviously focussed on social plots and subterfuge, rather than direct combat, and a single Fort-targeted save-or-die is likely to put her down for the count. (-0.5)

+1/-1: Evil Overlord List. Does your villain avoid having 'Kryptonite' weaknesses, particularly fire vulnerability?
Mantle of the Fiery Soul gives total fire immunity. Not bad: however, that terrible Fortitude save wipes out your gains entirely. (0)

Overall: 3

Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?
Does this villain feel like a character, rather than a pile of stats? Are they complex enough to drive conflict?
Yes, definitely. (+0.5)

Would I run this villain for one of my parties? Do I*personally*enjoy your brand of villainy?
In a heartbeat. (+0.5)

Does this villain have a strong thematic link to cold and winter? Will the party shudder whenever it starts snowing?
She's driven by an urgent need to escape from the cold, and bring her people with her. As such, cold is definitely important to her character. The Orb of Storms is enough to get you the rest of the marks in this category. (+0.5)

Does this villain inspire fear, dread, hate, or other strong emotion? Like Sauron, do they cast a presence over events?
In my opinion, the presence of this villainess outstrips any other presented in this round. If the party doesn't stop her, she will be queen. (+0.5)

Overall: 5.00

Total Score: 15.25

[Telonius]

Thanks for the judging, Lagren! My inbox is ready for any disputes.


Oh, nearly forgot a discarded build idea - an "Evil Santa" Midgard Dwarf, who uses his crafting abilities (and some Scry effects - knows when you've been bad or good) to spread tyranny over the Frostfell. Discarded when I noticed he didn't have the [Cold] subtype, and couldn't figure a good reason for him to gain it.

[Lagren]

I had two or three build concepts that fought with each other, and ended up finishing none of them.


The Burned Woman:
An adventuress who burned to death in a tundra forest fire, then rose as a shade determined to destroy her killer. By which she means 'all the fire in the world.' Imix-Blooded Silveraith Yuki-Onna, Bard 1/Stormsinger 6/Sublime Chord 2/ Stormsinger +4. Concentration-duration Control Winds at CR 13, with a caster level high enough to make a constant blizzard: her incorporeality and cold subtype protects her from the effects of the weather, as well as letting her be a much better Yuki-Onna than the base race allows. Developed this one the most, but ran out of time.

The Frozen Master:
Cold Element Elan Psion/Crystal Master. Obsessed with ice, gradually crystallizes his entire body over the course of his career by implanting gemstones into himself. Didn't have a strong enough Frostburn component for me.

And then there was a third, but I'm saving it for another contest because I think the trick is generally applicable. :smallbiggrin:

[Telonius]

Dispute for the White Flame of Hate:


Thanks a lot for judging, even more for doing it so quickly :-)
Only 2 remarks on my side :


Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
This dragon worships both Iborighu and Tiamat. The two heads justification is cute, so I won't give you a full penalty - but it smells of cheese nonetheless. Unfortunately, you're also intermixing HD increases and class levels, which is a strict no-no according to the DMG. (-0.5)
I followed rules for dragons as player characters from Draconomicon - it’s true I did not think there would be different rules for NPCs.


Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
You start at CR 5, which isn't great, and your saves suffer early on due to the template and your poor racial modifiers. This wouldn't have been quite so much of a problem if you had used the Elite Array at no extra CR cost, as laid out in the contest rules: therefore I'm not inclined to be lenient here. (-0.25)
Ah, you found a typo there : it’s written “standard array” in the Abilities section, but as this is +4 +4 +2 +2 +0 -2 it’s really the Elite Array. I wonder what passed in my head to write standard array, my bad !

[Lagren]

Response to White Flame of Hate's Disputes:

Dispute 1:
1 CR is not equivalent to 1 LA, so I'm going to hold firm on this one.

Dispute 2:
On review, this appears to be correct. +0.25.

Overall adjustment: +0.25

[Telonius]

Dispute from Helblindi Ymirson:

While frost giant is in core, the spiritspeaker was presented in Frostburn, page 134-135. There are attribute differences, as well as all the SLAs. I realize it's not much, but I did use more than a single spell from Frostburn.

[Lagren]

Dispute from Helblindi Ymirson:

Whoops. :smallredface: That's enough to get a quarter-point, I think. +0.25

[Telonius]

From Krampus:


Thanks for the swift judging Lagren! I just have a couple of things (only one dispute, the rest are observations/clarifications):


Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Did you fulfill the contest requirements? (Cold subtype, Frostburn use, etc.)
The Monster of Legend subtype qualification was clever, but a few spells from Frostburn is hardly a big part of the build. Have a quarter-point. (+0.25)

Well, I wanted to use a Yeti as the base creature, but they don't have horns, and every depiction of Krampus shows him with Horns (and usually cloven hooves), which the minotaur fit better. But yeah, I only managed to work in a few spells.


Is everything legal? Did you stay within the setting you chose?
You used retraining, which unbalances the field: I'm going to have to give you a double-strength penalty for that. (-1)

I was all set to argue with you about penalizing me for something in my variations section, but I see that I didn't put that in the variations, and instead used it in the main build. Still, could you clarify why feat retraining is so harshly penalized under your rubric? It's an option available in the DMGII, so I'm a bit confused on why you hit it hard.


Is progression smooth, allowing the villain to be played at all levels?
Even as a regular minotaur, you start at CR 6. As the build stands, you're not properly Krampusy until CR 11, and that limits campaign options with this build significantly. (-0.25)

At CR 9, Krampus has all of his grapplemancy abilities except for Hog-tie, and can still easily take a -4 penalty to hit for non-lethal damage. The big stand out at that CR is the Scorpion's Grasp feat that works like a better version of Improved Grab. That means he can be used as low as APL 5, as a very difficult encounter.


Did you do any cool prerequisite tricks?
You traded away your natural Track feat and then took a level of ranger to get it back, delaying your entry to Justiciar. That's the opposite of a cool prerequisite trick. (-0.25)

This one is my only dispute. I'm not sure what you mean by "natural Track feat". Frustratingly enough, Minotaurs don't get Track as a bonus feat, meaning that their "Natural Cunning" ability is pointless. The sample Minotaur (and Greathorn variety), both take Track as one of the feats they get every 3HD (just like all characters and creatures). It's not any more "natural" than Power Attack or Great Fortitude. If they got Track as a bonus feat, then I could have skipped the ranger level entirely. The alternative is to leave Scorpion's Grasp until later in the build (15 HD), which reduces his ability to be played competently at CR 9.

Thanks again for judging!

[Telonius]

From Lady Lenadel Sere:


Dear Lagren:

I'm not going to dispute that she shouldn't have Track. In fact, I'm not sure why she does. I think I was planning a flavorful dip into Ranger, and forgot to remove the bonus feat?

Thanks for the high score, and thanks even more for the compliments! A head start is nice, but it's so much more meaningful to hear that the judge would like to run the villain despite us having different tastes in Big Bads. (I personally like a mastermind whose influence isn't steeped in personal power.)
I knew I wasn't going to win the competition through making a min-maxy villain, so I poured all the effort into flavor that I could. I honestly expected to lose a few points due to not really being villainous until several levels in and not hitting her stride until about halfway through, but I hadn't realized how many would be starting as non-humanoids.

Thanks for judging, and for doing so so quickly!

[Lagren]

I was all set to argue with you about penalizing me for something in my variations section, but I see that I didn't put that in the variations, and instead used it in the main build. Still, could you clarify why feat retraining is so harshly penalized under your rubric? It's an option available in the DMGII, so I'm a bit confused on why you hit it hard.

Feat retraining is an optional subsystem that the DM has to choose to adopt, so it makes the build significantly less portable across tables: furthermore, it opens up a huge number of shenanigans, such as taking Education at 1st level to get into a prestige class, then retraining Education once the needed skill ranks have been gained elsewhere. I have no problem with those shenanigans themselves, but it was not clear that those options were on the table: therefore, by default, I assume the retraining subsystem is not in use for this contest. If the Chair would like to contravene me on the allowability of retraining, I'll give you back a half-point. (But not a full point, due to the portability issue.)


At CR 9, Krampus has all of his grapplemancy abilities except for Hog-tie, and can still easily take a -4 penalty to hit for non-lethal damage. The big stand out at that CR is the Scorpion's Grasp feat that works like a better version of Improved Grab. That means he can be used as low as APL 5, as a very difficult encounter.

Hmm. Your points are good, but APL 5 is still higher than I'd prefer to see, and I'm penalizing builds with less online-time than yours just as badly. No adjustment: be glad I didn't go and remove penalties I gave to other builds. :smallwink:


I'm not sure what you mean by "natural Track feat". Frustratingly enough, Minotaurs don't get Track as a bonus feat, meaning that their "Natural Cunning" ability is pointless. The sample Minotaur (and Greathorn variety), both take Track as one of the feats they get every 3HD (just like all characters and creatures). It's not any more "natural" than Power Attack or Great Fortitude. If they got Track as a bonus feat, then I could have skipped the ranger level entirely. The alternative is to leave Scorpion's Grasp until later in the build (15 HD), which reduces his ability to be played competently at CR 9.

... Wow, okay. You are correct, the incompetence is indeed Wizards', not yours. :smallamused: +0.25.

Overall Adjustment: +0.25, or +0.75 if the Chair rules Retraining as legal for this contest round.



Dear Lagren:

I'm not going to dispute that she shouldn't have Track. In fact, I'm not sure why she does. I think I was planning a flavorful dip into Ranger, and forgot to remove the bonus feat?

Thanks for the high score, and thanks even more for the compliments! A head start is nice, but it's so much more meaningful to hear that the judge would like to run the villain despite us having different tastes in Big Bads. (I personally like a mastermind whose influence isn't steeped in personal power.)
I knew I wasn't going to win the competition through making a min-maxy villain, so I poured all the effort into flavor that I could. I honestly expected to lose a few points due to not really being villainous until several levels in and not hitting her stride until about halfway through, but I hadn't realized how many would be starting as non-humanoids.

Thanks for judging, and for doing so so quickly!

You're welcome- but remember, double-check your builds before submission! :smallwink:

I'm definitely of the school that a good villain is more than their stats: it doesn't matter exactly what the source of power and presence is to me, just so long as the villain has it. Some amount of personal competence is necessary so that the villain is taken seriously, but puppetmasters can be equally intriguing as barbarian warlords. Look at David Xanatos, the Joker, and Darth Vader: They're all very different villains from each other, but they share the presence and complexity of character that makes their stories worth telling.

[Deadline]

Hey Lagren, once you've finished up with the dispute cycle, would you mind going back to your scoring post and editing your scores to reflect any adjustments? Past experience in other contests has shown that this makes it easy to put together the final rankings table. It also made it easier on OMG_PONIES when he was compiling all the Iron Chef rounds up, but unless we get someone who wants to archive the Villains of this and past contests, that's less of a concern.

[Lagren]

Hey Lagren, once you've finished up with the dispute cycle, would you mind going back to your scoring post and editing your scores to reflect any adjustments? Past experience in other contests has shown that this makes it easy to put together the final rankings table. It also made it easier on OMG_PONIES when he was compiling all the Iron Chef rounds up, but unless we get someone who wants to archive the Villains of this and past contests, that's less of a concern.

Yep, I'll do that as soon as the dispute cycle's done with.

[Telonius]

Overall Adjustment: +0.25, or +0.75 if the Chair rules Retraining as legal for this contest round.


As long as the feat in the monster's statblock is gained through hitdice, and is not a Racial [B] bonus feat (or otherwise gotten through Sp, Su, or Ex abilities, etc), it's fine to choose a different one.

[Lagren]

As long as the feat in the monster's statblock is gained through hitdice, and is not a Racial [B] bonus feat (or otherwise gotten through Sp, Su, or Ex abilities, etc), it's fine to choose a different one.

I have no issue with this: this was liberally used by all the contestants. What I have an issue with is taking an already-selected feat and then retraining it.

[daremetoidareyo]

3 more judgements to process. I should finish up today.

Going forward I think it may be worth mentioning that contestants should compose 2 or 3 sentences on the theme of "Adventure Hooks." The reason that I bring it up is because, as a judge, you are limited to my creativity on how to get the PCs involved with your villain. Sometimes you really flesh out the character and it is easy to drag and drop into a campaign. Sometimes you just give me a bundle of stats with a neat combo, and having an adventure hook directly addressed will help the judge set the scene into which those abilities are at maximum effectiveness. I didn't dock anyone points on this, but having terrain and environment be directly addressed limits the amount of artistic license I have to take as a judge. Just a suggestion, but I would appreciate this consideration more than flavor text.

[daremetoidareyo]

Originality: 3.5
The anti-Saint Nicholas, in a villainous competition about winter, with an end date near christmas. It ain’t surprising, but it’s definitely appropriate. Krampus as a minotaur is an interesting take, but he is a creature of legend. There aren’t too many cunning tricks in this build, but I do really enjoy how you used justiciar to make a villain. Can you imagine if he had some sort of scrying ability? Upon further reflection, this is a great homage to krampus. It’s a shame that you only get 10 levels of him acting as a krampus like being, but that is D&D’s fault. +.5

Elegance: 3.
The villain is playable for 10 levels, and is never particularly deadly, but his villainy isn’t predicated on bodycount. This is a bit late. (-.25).

Retraining? On a villain’s build? -.25 points. I am conflicted because you didn’t need to get practiced spell caster for anything, it was just to help with casting progression against antagonistic child-protectors, and you had a duplicate improved grapple situation that seemed like a waste. (Most kids don’t need a higher level caster for spells to affect them…) PCs can defeat him not just through direct combat, but exonerating the naughty children too. I like the versatility of fiendish legacy on this guy. Scorpion’s grasp, improved grapple, and hogtie all work together pretty nicely. And for the purpose of not killing children that you kidnap. +.5.

Competence and Power: 3.25
Krampus can more than handle the abduction of children. He has very limited casting. And has most of his resources devoted towards grappling. But towards that end his is very capable, Size bonii, grapple bonii, etc. I would have liked so see mention of adamantine manacles, but that is just me anticipating that PCs will try to break through their lashings. Krampus works alone, so no deduction based on minions. Krampus very competent at kidnapping of creatures smaller than himself (+.5). Krampus is an appropriate fight for 4 tier 3 PCs of the correct CR. The reliance on grappling make him suffer in the action economy against a well organized party, especially if he is blowing turns summoning ice beasts or setting up protection from energy or resistance. (-.25) If he incapacitates 1 or 2 PCs early though, the fight can be epic. I can see PCs hating to engage this villain. Especially if the villain is played as non-murderous. Leaving PCs tied up in the town square for the villagers to discover seems like a great way to make this guy memorable. The Krampus is at max power at CR 15. His effectiveness goes down as the CR gets closer to level 20.

Memorable Villainy: 3.5
This character has ethos and pathos. He can challenge an un-optimized party, especially if he gets a surprise round. Played dead serious, the krampus would be a blast to run against the party. Especially if the stakes are strange. Maybe he abducted a brass dragon wyrmling, or maybe he cleaned out the kobold warrens. This villain is memorable if you employ horror techniques during the reveal, and then you play him to win. The krampus, as built here, could also be a monster of the week. It really depends on the DM. If this character is treated as a force of nature rather than a weird monster, it really has the ability to be a fantastic element for a campaign. +.5 There is an aspect of karma that the krampus delivers that thematically link him to christmas as a disincentive to trespass cultural norms (anti-santa who delivers punishments instead of gifts) as well as a renewal aspect with him purging the bad for the new year. Krampus is well executed +.5

Total: 13.25


Originality: 4
Stuff that wasn’t near my radar: Two headed white dragon: +.05, Two different evil patron deities +.05. Packing extra HD per unit CR is a nice little trick too. He’s wintry, but way more dragon-y.

Elegance: 2.5
Let’s start with the easy stuff: Suppress weakness is nice way to work around for fire vulnerability. +.25. You scratched all of the itches necessary to qualify for the competition. Inelegant things: Two patron deities, one per each head (so separate sentiences). The domain access isn’t an issue, because you can be a cleric of a concept and just get the domains that you desire. The patron deities then are used to qualify for the fluff “patron deity” requirements for feats and prestige classes. -.5. Some people take patron deity fluff really seriously, as there are few tampers on cleric based power. Personally, I love this approach, but it wouldn’t fly at a simple majority of tables. Another thing that affects you is this RAW from chosen of iborighu:
“If you ever lose favor with Iborighu, or change your patron deity to another deity, you lose all benefits of this feat but your unusual skin color and eye color remain. You do not gain a replacement feat. If you later return to Iborighu's faithful and receive an atonement spell, you regain the benefi ts of the feat.” Whether or not one head is faithful, the full entity of the white dragon is not being “faithful” so unless a god is willing to only accept one head’s worship…unless of course, your in campaign argument is that the entire second head is a gift from iborighu…And then there is the dippage: you collect class features from dragon only prestige classes that are appropriate mechanical choices, while iborighu is ignored. -.25

Power: 3.75
Minions: You have no mechanical means of acquiring or pressing minions (other than summons) into service. I have decided not to penalize a build for lack of minions, so you didn’t lose anything. You can control and rebuke undead and cold creatures. I wish you simply mentioned his means of accumulating these types of creatures for use as cronies. I’m just assuming them as passive abilities and not an ingredient in a preferred tactic.
Competence: This villain has breath weapons galore. The problem is that this villain will be difficult to play as intelligently as other dragons, due to conflicts and bickering between the heads with different religious fanaticism. The dual breath weapons is a great touch. Flame cincture is a great way to reflect fire damage. +.25. This challenge is a tough challenge across the levels that PCs should encounter them. Well done. +.25
Evil Overlord: This two headed white dragon has the skeletal structure to build a great evil overlord. Have him take over a den of winter wolves or other crazy cold based enemies and command them to do his bidding. +.25

Memorable villainy: 2.5
I need a motive. I can’t tell what to do with this character other than have him hatch and present a weird fight to the PCs who think nothing of killing baby dragons just because they are evil xp sacks. Especially with the incarnum being baked into the dish early, this build has a fun little reversal built into it. The lack of driving desire or explanation of personality or even detailed tactics has lead to an unfortunate situation where points are being docked from a fun build :(. -.5. I would love to run this for my PCs, if only I knew more about the character behind the stats. White dragons are typically associated with cold and winter, but they are more “dragon” than “force of nature: winter.” This, paired with a lack of fleshed out driving ambition, make it difficult to evaluate the evil overlordiness of this villain. As I read it, if I played this guy to the max of my DMing abilities, it will go down with the PCs as “the time we killed a two headed white dragon that was immune to fire.”

Total 12.5



Originality: 3.5
Yuki no Onna: spirit shaman into dracolyte. +.25. 8th level casting, white dragon cohort. Can go incorporeal at ninth level. But many of the spirit shaman class abilities beyond spell casting are wasted…unless the PCs have a number of characters that interface with “spirits”. Dracolyte is very unanticipated, and the domination domain is an excellent bonus to her abilities, although late game, she is going to need to debuff some will saves. I don’t really personally enjoy the fey/dragon interface on display here, but it is original, and can really make for some neat rippling subplots by incorporation of fey politics into the situation. +.25

Elegance: 3.5
So far as I can tell, everything looks legal. You fulfilled all the contest requirements. The only gripe I have is using spells to cover fire resistance, but I think that my personal anti-magic bias is the problem here. This is a power liability in that it eats a spell casting action that could be better spent destroying her nemesis. With all that in mind, no points are lost. I’m looking for combos, and I only found one that I really like: Ghost warrior (level 6 spirit shaman) plus lose the way (yuki no ona), + incorporeality, and you can make groups get quite lost if they rely on a single navigator. Plus some druid spell casting, this combo becomes quite meddlesome, although the PC death by exposure would be quite overwhelming. Depending on how underhanded your PCs are, this might spell the biggest challenge of the gaming session. No “dips” (+.25), her character stays on point. Having your spirit guide take over your enhanced summons while you either summon more or do other concentration based things is a nice touch. +.25. You got 16 levels to work with, 13 of which have her flavor accounted for. Considering that the earliest a build can have mechanics match flavor in 3.5 is typically between level 5-7, you points lost.


Power: 2.75
Like any caster, this creature’s power scales quadratically. It’s weakest at low levels, and clever use of spells can transform her into a pseudo batman. A wyrmling isn’t exactly a powerful addition to her abilities at later levels and sort of makes a huge liability for her. She has the ability to wild empathy some animal minions to do her bidding, and she can acquire minions, it’s just that her standards are quite high. I wish that you either pumped your disguise or your stealth, because your direct combat skills are limited, and your survival of up front, violent, confrontations, some of which you seek out, is very much a gamble. You aren’t packing a ton of high HP, and paralysis is relatively treatable. (-.5). I would run this villain in the mid levels, up to around CR 15, but I would just ignore the dragon stuff and change the feats around to make her a bit more stealthilicious.


Memorable Villainy: 3
This is the category that loses me. This villain seems like a side quest derail. An obstacle on the way to get a mcguffin. And her story doesn’t even pack enough emotional gravitas to compel me to share it and build a character arc around it. She feels like a real character, and not a pile of stats. +.25. I would use her, but I would make some changes. She is definitely wintry, even incorporating loneliness as a an associated wintry concept. +.25. But she definitely isn’t great villain material in my opinion. There is a narrative oomph that is missing in her, and she compels me to mild sadness followed by practical considerations for killing her. -.5.

TOTAL: 12.75



Originality: 2.75
Frost giant, -.25 half fiend, -.25, abjurant champion + Invisible minionmancing buff-bot? +.25.


Elegance: 2.75
All of the requirements satisfied. The progression is very unsmooth. You have only 6 levels with this villain. This is a big limitation. -.5. Besides that everything works. He can be played as described easily.

Power: 4
This is a fun villain. 1 subterfuge-y trick (invisibility), plus debuffs, plus summons, plus 3 walls of stone + physical attacks. +1 for minions and personal competence in combat situations. No points for overlordiness.

Memorable Villainy: 3.5
This is a devious villain. If you pitch him as a ravaging warlord berserker type, and then have the PCs encounter a giant that is this crafty, you might be able to catch them unawares. This build relies quite a bit on invisibility to work, so once that tactic is blown, the fight is much more direct. I like him a lot. However, his resistance to fire isn’t effective at the levels at which PCs will be encountering him. This is a villain that you toss at PCs who are more than 4 levels below, because he is rendered kind of inert by low level magics. Summons are subject to protection from evil, see invisibility is simple. So, he feels like a barbarian frost giant leader that I would play agains the PCs +.5, but he isn’t maxing out cold or winter as his essential features, and he could be an overlord. But he also could be overthrown.

TOTAL: 13



Originality: 3.25
Bard/warlock ok. Neanderthal ok. Firetype? weird +.25 Antipodal split personality bard/warlock with leadership.

Elegance: 3.0
This entire build seems like the snowballed growth of trying to get antipodal energy type resistances onto a bard with the leadership feat. Legal build, although the majority of the strength of this villain is going to be what her leadership feat musters up. As far as the prohibition against misunderstood ice princesses, you toe the line. Misunderstood ice magistrate with unexpected naughty type still runs into the same flaws as any narrative that includes a misunderstood ice princess. -.25. This was an explicit instruction. You only get 12 or 13 levels of villainy out of this character, as her transition to leadership is where her threat level increases. You can play this villain by following the instructions, that is for sure. +.25.

Power: 3.5
Minions: +.5, and lots of them. Thanks, leadership. Personal power: very little -.5, We are talking about a face bard, one on one with a party of 4, they will falter in ways that none of the other builds in this contest would. Overlordiness +.5. This character has access to wealth way beyond level, all of the power of the leadership feat, plus detailed instructions on how to build her kingdoms.

Memorable Villainy: 2.25
This is definitely a full spectrum character, although full villainy doesn’t occur until mid levels. I would totally run a traumatized bard warlock with leadership as a villain. I don’t know if this particular one stands out against similar builds on that frame. This character isn’t too thematically tied to winter, at least not mechanically -.5 This build isn’t particularly awe inspiring, as most of the text is associated with understanding her mental states to better understand her. Maybe, as a bandit leader or a humanoid chieftan, she could frustrate the PCs. But the way this whole thing is constructed, the only way to get the full effect is to include her in the party and then she could make a fine face-heel turn, but pulling it off, in a real campaign would require so many railroad tracks. -.25.

TOTAL: 12

[Telonius]

I have no issue with this: this was liberally used by all the contestants. What I have an issue with is taking an already-selected feat and then retraining it.

Sorry for the delay; I'd been traveling. Retraining an already-selected feat would be grounds for reduction, at the individual judges' discretion.

[Telonius]

Originality: 3.5
The anti-Saint Nicholas, in a villainous competition about winter, with an end date near christmas. It ain’t surprising, but it’s definitely appropriate. Krampus as a minotaur is an interesting take, but he is a creature of legend. There aren’t too many cunning tricks in this build, but I do really enjoy how you used justiciar to make a villain. Can you imagine if he had some sort of scrying ability? Upon further reflection, this is a great homage to krampus. It’s a shame that you only get 10 levels of him acting as a krampus like being, but that is D&D’s fault. +.5

Elegance: 3.
The villain is playable for 10 levels, and is never particularly deadly, but his villainy isn’t predicated on bodycount. This is a bit late. (-.25).

Retraining? On a villain’s build? -.25 points. I am conflicted because you didn’t need to get practiced spell caster for anything, it was just to help with casting progression against antagonistic child-protectors, and you had a duplicate improved grapple situation that seemed like a waste. (Most kids don’t need a higher level caster for spells to affect them…) PCs can defeat him not just through direct combat, but exonerating the naughty children too. I like the versatility of fiendish legacy on this guy. Scorpion’s grasp, improved grapple, and hogtie all work together pretty nicely. And for the purpose of not killing children that you kidnap. +.5.

Competence and Power: 3.25
Krampus can more than handle the abduction of children. He has very limited casting. And has most of his resources devoted towards grappling. But towards that end his is very capable, Size bonii, grapple bonii, etc. I would have liked so see mention of adamantine manacles, but that is just me anticipating that PCs will try to break through their lashings. Krampus works alone, so no deduction based on minions. Krampus very competent at kidnapping of creatures smaller than himself (+.5). Krampus is an appropriate fight for 4 tier 3 PCs of the correct CR. The reliance on grappling make him suffer in the action economy against a well organized party, especially if he is blowing turns summoning ice beasts or setting up protection from energy or resistance. (-.25) If he incapacitates 1 or 2 PCs early though, the fight can be epic. I can see PCs hating to engage this villain. Especially if the villain is played as non-murderous. Leaving PCs tied up in the town square for the villagers to discover seems like a great way to make this guy memorable. The Krampus is at max power at CR 15. His effectiveness goes down as the CR gets closer to level 20.

Memorable Villainy: 3.5
This character has ethos and pathos. He can challenge an un-optimized party, especially if he gets a surprise round. Played dead serious, the krampus would be a blast to run against the party. Especially if the stakes are strange. Maybe he abducted a brass dragon wyrmling, or maybe he cleaned out the kobold warrens. This villain is memorable if you employ horror techniques during the reveal, and then you play him to win. The krampus, as built here, could also be a monster of the week. It really depends on the DM. If this character is treated as a force of nature rather than a weird monster, it really has the ability to be a fantastic element for a campaign. +.5 There is an aspect of karma that the krampus delivers that thematically link him to christmas as a disincentive to trespass cultural norms (anti-santa who delivers punishments instead of gifts) as well as a renewal aspect with him purging the bad for the new year. Krampus is well executed +.5

Total: 13.25


Originality: 4
Stuff that wasn’t near my radar: Two headed white dragon: +.05, Two different evil patron deities +.05. Packing extra HD per unit CR is a nice little trick too. He’s wintry, but way more dragon-y.

Elegance: 2.5
Let’s start with the easy stuff: Suppress weakness is nice way to work around for fire vulnerability. +.25. You scratched all of the itches necessary to qualify for the competition. Inelegant things: Two patron deities, one per each head (so separate sentiences). The domain access isn’t an issue, because you can be a cleric of a concept and just get the domains that you desire. The patron deities then are used to qualify for the fluff “patron deity” requirements for feats and prestige classes. -.5. Some people take patron deity fluff really seriously, as there are few tampers on cleric based power. Personally, I love this approach, but it wouldn’t fly at a simple majority of tables. Another thing that affects you is this RAW from chosen of iborighu:
“If you ever lose favor with Iborighu, or change your patron deity to another deity, you lose all benefits of this feat but your unusual skin color and eye color remain. You do not gain a replacement feat. If you later return to Iborighu's faithful and receive an atonement spell, you regain the benefi ts of the feat.” Whether or not one head is faithful, the full entity of the white dragon is not being “faithful” so unless a god is willing to only accept one head’s worship…unless of course, your in campaign argument is that the entire second head is a gift from iborighu…And then there is the dippage: you collect class features from dragon only prestige classes that are appropriate mechanical choices, while iborighu is ignored. -.25

Power: 3.75
Minions: You have no mechanical means of acquiring or pressing minions (other than summons) into service. I have decided not to penalize a build for lack of minions, so you didn’t lose anything. You can control and rebuke undead and cold creatures. I wish you simply mentioned his means of accumulating these types of creatures for use as cronies. I’m just assuming them as passive abilities and not an ingredient in a preferred tactic.
Competence: This villain has breath weapons galore. The problem is that this villain will be difficult to play as intelligently as other dragons, due to conflicts and bickering between the heads with different religious fanaticism. The dual breath weapons is a great touch. Flame cincture is a great way to reflect fire damage. +.25. This challenge is a tough challenge across the levels that PCs should encounter them. Well done. +.25
Evil Overlord: This two headed white dragon has the skeletal structure to build a great evil overlord. Have him take over a den of winter wolves or other crazy cold based enemies and command them to do his bidding. +.25

Memorable villainy: 2.5
I need a motive. I can’t tell what to do with this character other than have him hatch and present a weird fight to the PCs who think nothing of killing baby dragons just because they are evil xp sacks. Especially with the incarnum being baked into the dish early, this build has a fun little reversal built into it. The lack of driving desire or explanation of personality or even detailed tactics has lead to an unfortunate situation where points are being docked from a fun build :(. -.5. I would love to run this for my PCs, if only I knew more about the character behind the stats. White dragons are typically associated with cold and winter, but they are more “dragon” than “force of nature: winter.” This, paired with a lack of fleshed out driving ambition, make it difficult to evaluate the evil overlordiness of this villain. As I read it, if I played this guy to the max of my DMing abilities, it will go down with the PCs as “the time we killed a two headed white dragon that was immune to fire.”

Total 12.5



Originality: 3.5
Yuki no Onna: spirit shaman into dracolyte. +.25. 8th level casting, white dragon cohort. Can go incorporeal at ninth level. But many of the spirit shaman class abilities beyond spell casting are wasted…unless the PCs have a number of characters that interface with “spirits”. Dracolyte is very unanticipated, and the domination domain is an excellent bonus to her abilities, although late game, she is going to need to debuff some will saves. I don’t really personally enjoy the fey/dragon interface on display here, but it is original, and can really make for some neat rippling subplots by incorporation of fey politics into the situation. +.25

Elegance: 3.5
So far as I can tell, everything looks legal. You fulfilled all the contest requirements. The only gripe I have is using spells to cover fire resistance, but I think that my personal anti-magic bias is the problem here. This is a power liability in that it eats a spell casting action that could be better spent destroying her nemesis. With all that in mind, no points are lost. I’m looking for combos, and I only found one that I really like: Ghost warrior (level 6 spirit shaman) plus lose the way (yuki no ona), + incorporeality, and you can make groups get quite lost if they rely on a single navigator. Plus some druid spell casting, this combo becomes quite meddlesome, although the PC death by exposure would be quite overwhelming. Depending on how underhanded your PCs are, this might spell the biggest challenge of the gaming session. No “dips” (+.25), her character stays on point. Having your spirit guide take over your enhanced summons while you either summon more or do other concentration based things is a nice touch. +.25. You got 16 levels to work with, 13 of which have her flavor accounted for. Considering that the earliest a build can have mechanics match flavor in 3.5 is typically between level 5-7, you points lost.


Power: 2.75
Like any caster, this creature’s power scales quadratically. It’s weakest at low levels, and clever use of spells can transform her into a pseudo batman. A wyrmling isn’t exactly a powerful addition to her abilities at later levels and sort of makes a huge liability for her. She has the ability to wild empathy some animal minions to do her bidding, and she can acquire minions, it’s just that her standards are quite high. I wish that you either pumped your disguise or your stealth, because your direct combat skills are limited, and your survival of up front, violent, confrontations, some of which you seek out, is very much a gamble. You aren’t packing a ton of high HP, and paralysis is relatively treatable. (-.5). I would run this villain in the mid levels, up to around CR 15, but I would just ignore the dragon stuff and change the feats around to make her a bit more stealthilicious.


Memorable Villainy: 3
This is the category that loses me. This villain seems like a side quest derail. An obstacle on the way to get a mcguffin. And her story doesn’t even pack enough emotional gravitas to compel me to share it and build a character arc around it. She feels like a real character, and not a pile of stats. +.25. I would use her, but I would make some changes. She is definitely wintry, even incorporating loneliness as a an associated wintry concept. +.25. But she definitely isn’t great villain material in my opinion. There is a narrative oomph that is missing in her, and she compels me to mild sadness followed by practical considerations for killing her. -.5.

TOTAL: 12.75



Originality: 2.75
Frost giant, -.25 half fiend, -.25, abjurant champion + Invisible minionmancing buff-bot? +.25.


Elegance: 2.75
All of the requirements satisfied. The progression is very unsmooth. You have only 6 levels with this villain. This is a big limitation. -.5. Besides that everything works. He can be played as described easily.

Power: 4
This is a fun villain. 1 subterfuge-y trick (invisibility), plus debuffs, plus summons, plus 3 walls of stone + physical attacks. +1 for minions and personal competence in combat situations. No points for overlordiness.

Memorable Villainy: 3.5
This is a devious villain. If you pitch him as a ravaging warlord berserker type, and then have the PCs encounter a giant that is this crafty, you might be able to catch them unawares. This build relies quite a bit on invisibility to work, so once that tactic is blown, the fight is much more direct. I like him a lot. However, his resistance to fire isn’t effective at the levels at which PCs will be encountering him. This is a villain that you toss at PCs who are more than 4 levels below, because he is rendered kind of inert by low level magics. Summons are subject to protection from evil, see invisibility is simple. So, he feels like a barbarian frost giant leader that I would play agains the PCs +.5, but he isn’t maxing out cold or winter as his essential features, and he could be an overlord. But he also could be overthrown.

TOTAL: 13



Originality: 3.25
Bard/warlock ok. Neanderthal ok. Firetype? weird +.25 Antipodal split personality bard/warlock with leadership.

Elegance: 3.0
This entire build seems like the snowballed growth of trying to get antipodal energy type resistances onto a bard with the leadership feat. Legal build, although the majority of the strength of this villain is going to be what her leadership feat musters up. As far as the prohibition against misunderstood ice princesses, you toe the line. Misunderstood ice magistrate with unexpected naughty type still runs into the same flaws as any narrative that includes a misunderstood ice princess. -.25. This was an explicit instruction. You only get 12 or 13 levels of villainy out of this character, as her transition to leadership is where her threat level increases. You can play this villain by following the instructions, that is for sure. +.25.

Power: 3.5
Minions: +.5, and lots of them. Thanks, leadership. Personal power: very little -.5, We are talking about a face bard, one on one with a party of 4, they will falter in ways that none of the other builds in this contest would. Overlordiness +.5. This character has access to wealth way beyond level, all of the power of the leadership feat, plus detailed instructions on how to build her kingdoms.

Memorable Villainy: 2.25
This is definitely a full spectrum character, although full villainy doesn’t occur until mid levels. I would totally run a traumatized bard warlock with leadership as a villain. I don’t know if this particular one stands out against similar builds on that frame. This character isn’t too thematically tied to winter, at least not mechanically -.5 This build isn’t particularly awe inspiring, as most of the text is associated with understanding her mental states to better understand her. Maybe, as a bandit leader or a humanoid chieftan, she could frustrate the PCs. But the way this whole thing is constructed, the only way to get the full effect is to include her in the party and then she could make a fine face-heel turn, but pulling it off, in a real campaign would require so many railroad tracks. -.25.

TOTAL: 12

Thanks for the judging! I'll be a bit slow on the posting for the next day or so, but I'll try to check in once in a while if there are any disputes.

[Telonius]

From Lady Lenadel Sere:



As far as the prohibition against misunderstood ice princesses, you toe the line. Misunderstood ice magistrate with unexpected naughty type still runs into the same flaws as any narrative that includes a misunderstood ice princess. -.25. This was an explicit instruction.
I'm pretty sure "misunderstood ice princess" means "someone everyone thinks is a monster but is actually nice," not "schemer willing to literally murder anyone standing in the way of her plans who has everyone in-universe convinced she's actually nice".
There's an element of well-intentioned extremist in Lenadel, but I tried to make the extremist part stand out more. She's willing to murder innocents and send countless soldiers to their deaths, all to accelerate the modernization of her people and put them on top. You can see where she's coming from, but I wouldn't think she's doing the right thing!


This character isn’t too thematically tied to winter, at least not mechanically -.5
I'm not sure how much mechanics matter in the end, but it's your call.

(For what it's worth, the "misunderstood ice princess" thing was an attempt at a "Frozen" reference to illustrate that we're looking for people and creatures with Evil alignments).

The White Flame of Hate has no further disputes for either judge.

[Telonius]

Gealghaireach has no disputes and would like to thank the judges; "They did a splendid job."

[Telonius]

The judging deadline is coming up quickly. Anybody else want to jump in?

[GreatWyrmGold]

It looks like no one else is likely to judge. Out of curiosity, I decided to compile the results. I'm using the following template:
[Shortened Name]: [Lagren's place]/[dare's place]/[total score]

Krampus: 4/1/25.0
White Flame: 2/4/25.25
Gaelic Fey: 3/3/25.25
Helblindi: 5/2/24
Lenadel: 1/5/27.25

Interestingly, Lagren and daremetoidareyo scored in almost opposite directions; if dare scored Hellindi half a point higher or Krampus half a point lower, the lists would be exact opposites. Which means the only thing they agree on is that Helblindi is worse than Krampus (sorry to whoever made the Helblindi).
If no one else votes, Lady Lenadel Sere will be the victor. Interesting.

[Telonius]

It looks like that's it for the judging! I'll post the reveal later today; work is crazy at the moment. In the meantime ... how do you all feel about subsystems? :smallamused:

[GreatWyrmGold]

In the meantime ... how do you all feel about subsystems? :smallamused:
Like I have no idea what you mean.

So, we can reveal which one we created now?

[Deadline]

Like I have no idea what you mean.

So, we can reveal which one we created now?

No, that's what the reveal is for! :smalltongue:

Also, it looks like Lagren didn't include his scoring adjustments in his original post, so your numbers are wrong on a couple of entries GreatWyrmGold. I'm not sure it changes anything, but it's worth pointing out.

I suppose I could just post a table with the adjusted scores, rather than being lazy about it. :smallbiggrin:



Entry Name
Lagren's Score
daremetoidareyou's Score
Total


Krampus
12
13.25
25.25


White Flame of Hate
13
12.5
25.5


Gealghaireach
12.5
12.75
25.25


Helblindi Ymirson
11.25
13
24.25


Lady Lenadel Sere
15.25
12
27.25

[Telonius]

Thanks for the table. So the final results are:

In fifth place: Helblindi Ymirson by Fuzzy McCoy!
Tied for third place: Krampus by Deadline, and Gealghaireach by Korahir!
In second place: the White Flame of Hate by JyP!
And, taking the victory: Lady Lenadel Sere by GreatWyrmGold!

Thank you to all of the competitors and judges. This was a really close competition, and the quality continues to impress!

[Telonius]

Subsystems, optional rule sets that are compatible with the general d20 system. Usually this is referring to things like Psionics, Tome of Battle maneuvers, and Incarnum; Tome of Magic is sometimes included in the mix. A particular TV show has got me thinking of a contest idea.

[Vaz]

Hard to say. If it's Shadow Magic or Truespeak, no.

[Fuzzy McCoy]

Considering that I threw Helblindi together in literally a couple of hours on the last day of submission, and only a couple of hours of prepwork beforehand, I feel I didn't do too badly.

I'm fine with subsystems.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I think you switched the names.
Lagren's order: Lenny, Kram, Hel, Gelly, Flame
dare's: Lenny and Flame, Gelly, Kram, Hel.
It's certainly better. Now they agree that Lenadel is better than the Krampus is better than Helblindi, though the dragon is worst for one and tied for best with the other, one's last-place is in the middle for the other, and the Krampus is second-best for one and second-worst for the other.


Subsystems, optional rule sets that are compatible with the general d20 system. Usually this is referring to things like Psionics, Tome of Battle maneuvers, and Incarnum; Tome of Magic is sometimes included in the mix. A particular TV show has got me thinking of a contest idea.
Ah.
Entirely dependent on the subsystem.
Go ahead; if I don't like that particular subsystem, I'll just judge.

Speaking of judging, I've been thinking of posting (obviously unofficial) judgments of the other entries (and possibly my own), using a modified version of Lagren's. It's a good start, but I wouldn't put equal weight on everything he did, consider some of the things he did, or leave out some things he did.

Originality
Was its concept surprising to me? (1.5 points)
Was its build surprising to me? (0.5 points)
Does it and its plan fall into common villain tropes or stereotypes? (0.75 point)
Does it involve some kind of clever trick or plan? (1.25 points)
How long of a phrase or sentence does it take to summarize your character? (1 point)

Build Elegance
Is the progression smooth enough to allow play at all levels? (1 point)
Is everything legal and consistent? (1 point)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? (0.5 points)
Did you avoid dips? (1.25 points)
How easy is it for a GM to run the villain as written? (1.25 points)

Competence and Power
Villains are divided into two categories—schemers and brutes. Schemers are villains designed for adventures or campaigns focused more on investigation, roleplaying, and foiling the villain's plot; brutes are villains designed for combat and destroying the villain personally.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals, with or without PC intervention? (1.75 points for Schemers, 0.75 points for Brutes)
How difficult is it to reach the villain, whether due to its lair, its minions, or unusual slipperiness? (1.5 points)
How much of a fight can the villain put up when the climatic final battle comes, between personal power, minions, and special factors? (1 point for Schemers, 2 points for Brutes)
Does the villain make any classic villainous blunders? (0.5 points)

Memorable Villainy
Is the villain a character, or at least more than a list of statistics? (1.25 points)
Would I, personally, like to run the villain? (0.5 points)
Does the villain have a sensible goal and a plan which could reasonably succeed, which consistently fits with the villain's personality? (1 point)
Does the villain inspire strong negative emotions when the players recognize and understand it? (1 point)
Does the villain have a link to cold, winter, or the like? (0.25 points)
What scale would defeating the villain be? Encounter, adventure, short campaign, long one?* (1 point)

*This is not the same as the set of levels a villain is viable for. A goblin rogue is a suitable "villain" for any level from one to epic but might not have enough of a plot to occupy the players for more than a session; an elder elemental druid probably won't work except at high CR, but with good planning can be the basis of a campaign which lasts twenty levels. Or from another point of view—Miko would work as the Order's "villain" at any level despite low staying power in the plot, but Xykon can work at every level despite not being himself without a high CR.

[Lagren]

I think you switched the names.
Lagren's order: Lenny, Kram, Hel, Gelly, Flame
dare's: Lenny and Flame, Gelly, Kram, Hel.
It's certainly better. Now they agree that Lenadel is better than the Krampus is better than Helblindi, though the dragon is worst for one and tied for best with the other, one's last-place is in the middle for the other, and the Krampus is second-best for one and second-worst for the other.


Ah.
Entirely dependent on the subsystem.
Go ahead; if I don't like that particular subsystem, I'll just judge.

Speaking of judging, I've been thinking of posting (obviously unofficial) judgments of the other entries (and possibly my own), using a modified version of Lagren's. It's a good start, but I wouldn't put equal weight on everything he did, consider some of the things he did, or leave out some things he did.

Originality
Was its concept surprising to me? (1.5 points)
Was its build surprising to me? (0.5 points)
Does it and its plan fall into common villain tropes or stereotypes? (0.75 point)
Does it involve some kind of clever trick or plan? (1.25 points)
How long of a phrase or sentence does it take to summarize your character? (1 point)

Build Elegance
Is the progression smooth enough to allow play at all levels? (1 point)
Is everything legal and consistent? (1 point)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? (0.5 points)
Did you avoid dips? (1.25 points)
How easy is it for a GM to run the villain as written? (1.25 points)

Competence and Power
Villains are divided into two categories—schemers and brutes. Schemers are villains designed for adventures or campaigns focused more on investigation, roleplaying, and foiling the villain's plot; brutes are villains designed for combat and destroying the villain personally.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals, with or without PC intervention? (1.75 points for Schemers, 0.75 points for Brutes)
How difficult is it to reach the villain, whether due to its lair, its minions, or unusual slipperiness? (1.5 points)
How much of a fight can the villain put up when the climatic final battle comes, between personal power, minions, and special factors? (1 point for Schemers, 2 points for Brutes)
Does the villain make any classic villainous blunders? (0.5 points)

Memorable Villainy
Is the villain a character, or at least more than a list of statistics? (1.25 points)
Would I, personally, like to run the villain? (0.5 points)
Does the villain have a sensible goal and a plan which could reasonably succeed, which consistently fits with the villain's personality? (1 point)
Does the villain inspire strong negative emotions when the players recognize and understand it? (1 point)
Does the villain have a link to cold, winter, or the like? (0.25 points)
What scale would defeating the villain be? Encounter, adventure, short campaign, long one?* (1 point)

*This is not the same as the set of levels a villain is viable for. A goblin rogue is a suitable "villain" for any level from one to epic but might not have enough of a plot to occupy the players for more than a session; an elder elemental druid probably won't work except at high CR, but with good planning can be the basis of a campaign which lasts twenty levels. Or from another point of view—Miko would work as the Order's "villain" at any level despite low staying power in the plot, but Xykon can work at every level despite not being himself without a high CR.


I quite like the edits and adjustments you've made to the judging criteria here, particularly the division of villains into schemers and brutes. I may use this if I judge again! :smallbiggrin:

[Telonius]

This time around, I'm going to post the criteria for the next contest here for the space of about two days or so. Totally open to questions, comments, and clarifications. Hopefully this will avoid too much editing in the next contest's official opening.


Villainous Competition IX – The Power of Villainous Thinking

Requirements:
Must have at least five Manifesting levels. (Soulknife will count as a manifesting class for this contest).
Cannot be a naturally Psionic race (Elan, Kalashtar, etc) or creature with an ability described as psionic (such as Aboleth, Couatl, Yuan-ti, Mind Flayer, etc).
As always, must have an Evil alignment.

Rules notes: Magic/Psionic transparency is in effect. Spell-to-Power Erudites and Psionic Artificers are banned. (Can't make this too easy).

[ben-zayb]

Hmm..that sounds like a really wide set of possible villainy, similar to how "Magician" is a big super-archetype for various types of characters. I personally don't mind because I like psionics, and one character concept brewing in my head for some time can apparently be done with a psionic twist.

However, I won't be surprised if one or more may not prefer this round being more "bottom-up" or mechanics-based* in approach than the more usual "top-down" or theme-based approach.


* entries likely being subsystem-focused

[GreatWyrmGold]

Cannot be a naturally Psionic race (Elan, Kalashtar, etc) or creature with an ability described as psionic (such as Aboleth, Couatl, Yuan-ti, Mind Flayer, etc).
Mind if I ask why? I mean, I'd understand if it was something like "natural manifesting doesn't count towards the first requirement," but it seems odd to cut off the best-fitting choices for psionic characters and creatures.

[Deadline]

Cannot be a naturally Psionic race (Elan, Kalashtar, etc) or creature with an ability described as psionic (such as Aboleth, Couatl, Yuan-ti, Mind Flayer, etc).

Rules notes: Magic/Psionic transparency is in effect. Spell-to-Power Erudites and Psionic Artificers are banned. (Can't make this too easy).

So, does this mean no creatures that are naturally spellcasters or creatures with spell-like abilities as well?

Also, Congrats to GreatWyrmGold and JyP! And I'm happy to share 3rd place with Korahir this time around. All of the villains were excellent this round, and I'm surprised I was the only one to submit a Krampus build, given the time of year. I'd have to say that the White Flame of Hate was my favorite this round, such a neat idea!

I'm looking forward to the next competition, as it looks to be pretty wide open.

[Telonius]

Mind if I ask why? I mean, I'd understand if it was something like "natural manifesting doesn't count towards the first requirement," but it seems odd to cut off the best-fitting choices for psionic characters and creatures.

Basically, there aren't all that many naturally-psionic races to start with. There are a couple of obviously-better races (Elan and Kalashtar, and to a lesser extent Synad) that seem to be used in most of the builds I've seen. If we just ban those three, it cuts down the "obvious" options even further. On the monstrous end, Lords of Madness (and some of the Thoon stuff, from whichever Monster Manual that was) means that a few of the Psionic beasties got a whole lot more splatbook support than others. So pulling the plug in Psionic creatures generally will (I hope) help everybody start from a level playing field, and build some interesting villains that otherwise might have been discarded for not getting enough of a psionic bonus. I'm also hoping that a something that comes from a generally non-psionic race will give an opening for some interesting backstories.

Regarding wide-open-ness... I do have that concern as well. Any suggestions on sharpening the theme, or additional requirements that might narrow it down? Psionic Suggestion was something I considered (for the Jessica Jones inspiration), but that would kind of bias it to Telepaths.

Nearly forgot, since it should probably go without saying: Thrallherd is going to be out, too. It's on my "+5 Axiomatic DMG of Bludgeoning" list.

EDIT: Creatures with natural spellcasting that isn't described as Psionic will be okay.

[WeaselGuy]

I have an idea, but i need to check some CRs... I'll probably compete in this one.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Regarding wide-open-ness... I do have that concern as well. Any suggestions on sharpening the theme, or additional requirements that might narrow it down? Psionic Suggestion was something I considered (for the Jessica Jones inspiration), but that would kind of bias it to Telepaths.
Crunch or fluff requirements? I don't have any good ideas for rules-based requirements, but I can think of plenty of story- or character-based ones. Insane psions? The first psions? Maybe even something like solitary masterminds?

[JyP]

Congrats to all for this round :smallsmile: Finally got no Vizzini obvious builds, all were quite different. I was impressed with the power cheese around Helblindi, but my vote would go for Lenadel, for an impressive background write-up, a true campaign synopsis. I may rewrite the White Flame of Hate in the future, adding more Iborighu flavor to it and deepening the character - I guess I will post here :smallwink:

As for next round : can we still use rituals from Savage Species to gain Phrenic template ? I don't plan to use this trick, but I already have some build from my previous campaign I will need to adapt -I will surely participate.

[Deadline]

I think you switched the names.
Lagren's order: Lenny, Kram, Hel, Gelly, Flame
dare's: Lenny and Flame, Gelly, Kram, Hel.
It's certainly better. Now they agree that Lenadel is better than the Krampus is better than Helblindi, though the dragon is worst for one and tied for best with the other, one's last-place is in the middle for the other, and the Krampus is second-best for one and second-worst for the other.

Man, I just couldn't quite figure out what you were trying to say here. I finally sorted out that it looks like I switched judging scores for Lenadel, AND I even added a full point. I've corrected the table. It doesn't change the rankings any, except for your order listed above, which I can't figure out how you got there from the posted scores and modifications. From what I can see, the order (from first to last) of each judge's correct scores is:

Lagren: Lady Lenadel Sere, White Flame of Hate, Gealghaireach, Krampus, Helblindi Ymirson
daremetoidareyou: Krampus, Helblindi, Gealghaireach, White Flame of Hate, Lady Lenadel Sere

My apologies all for the slight error, thankfully it didn't change the rankings.

[Vaz]

Overlord/ruler type character. While that puts a bonus on one particular class and one particular psionic school, it doesn't have to be limited to that. Be it through feats or skills.

Emperor Palpatine for example, able to use the Force and likely jedi mind tricks, but still a ruler of the senate through political ability, until he became Emperor.

Or Sauron. Clearly a True Mind Switched psionic artificer, while he was able to use his psychic abilities to control the rings, he was also quite the leader.

Nagash created his Immortals in warhammer fantasy, and ruled over the realm of Khemri.

The Dungeon Master from the Dungeon Keeper Games needs to have an admiration score to keep his minions producing things.

Cao Cao from Dynasty Warriors is presented as a 'hero of Chaos' and commonly a baddy in the setting, but he had an entire kingdom behind him and was able to control it.

The challenge should not be to get the best Cohort possible, so things like nested Leadership etc don't have any effect, and a Supermount should have something else. After all, a kingdom is not made up 1 or 2 very powerful people, it is made up of a collective of strong people.

Essentially, it comes down to the judges whether the Evil Overlord is capable of being an evil overlord. They must be a figurehead, rather than a ruler from the shadows, behind the scenes as a puppetmaster.

Jvp, might be worth pming that, or editing. Its rather specific

[Telonius]

It's a little bit specific, but it would probably be a common enough question (especially for the non-psionic-creature requirement). I think we'll allow it, since one of the ideas here is to get not-usually-psionic creatures and races.

I like the "Overlord" idea. So to put it into a requirement...

- The character must be the open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size. The character's Evil nature may or may not be open and acknowledged, at the contestants' option.

[Vaz]

I'm biased obviously, but for the record, I like it.

[Telonius]

Okay, I'll leave this open for comments for a few more hours; the official announcement of the next contest will be (most likely) this evening.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Finally got no Vizzini obvious builds...
Any what now?


I was impressed with the power cheese around Helblindi, but my vote would go for Lenadel, for an impressive background write-up, a true campaign synopsis.
Thank you very much, good sir.


I like the "Overlord" idea. So to put it into a requirement...

- The character must be the open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size. The character's Evil nature may or may not be open and acknowledged, at the contestants' option.
Alright. Let me just throw some psion levels into Lenadel's build...
No, seriously though, I like where this is going.