Villainous Competition XII: Power comes at a price [Archive]

Korahir

2016-05-21, 05:28 AM

Welcome to Round 11 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)
Round Eight: Master of the Tundra (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?461482-Villainous-Competition-VIII-The-Weather-Outside-is-Frightful”)
Round Nine: The Power of Villainous Thinking (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474230-Villainous-Competition-IX-The-Power-of-Villainous-Thinking&p=20267761)
Round Ten: Henchman are Villains too (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?478068-Villainous-Competition-X-Henchman-are-Villains-too)
Round Eleven: the higher they rise the harder they fall (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?483052-Villainous-Competition-XI-the-higher-they-rise-the-harder-they-fall)

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 15 CR, 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 Compendium is allowed, but Dragon magazine is disallowed. Unearthed Arcana is allowed. 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. Leadership and all similar abilities are banned for sanity reasons.
Builds that are fully monstrous are allowed at no penalty. All class levels are to be added on as associated class levels.
Use elite array for creatures without any class levels.
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.

Deadlines:
Contestants will have until 05:59 GMT Sunday June 12th to create their builds and PM them to the Supreme Chancellor. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 05:59 GMT Sunday June 26th to judge the builds and submit their scores. 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 players long to finally kill and then talk about for weeks?
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 1 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.
You may not judge if you entered the contest, unless you withdraw your submission.

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 table below 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.

Get ready to share those Evil thoughts. This edition’s villain is:

The Dealmaker

Limitations:

The character presented must be able to offer deals that involve two things: a "gift" the character bestows and a "price" the recipient has to give to the character.
"Gifts" may be anything from templates, magic items, minions, spells, powers, maneuvers, feats, temporary hit points, skill points, attribute boni, etc.
"Prices" is completely up to you. Examples could range from collecting souls as devils do, to asking for "favors".
The character presented may never lie about the gift and the price involved. Therefor you may not use Bluff or any equivalent game mechanic concealing the details of the deal if asked directly.
As always the character presented must be evil. So you better make those prices hefty ;).

We will award 1st through 3rd places, and a possible Honorable Mention.
So, start your evil plotting!

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

PM: Korahir
Subject: Villainous Competition 12, 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 12 Questions in the header.

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

As always: let's keep it nice.

Korahir

2016-06-19, 01:37 AM

Time over: Here is Jormengands entry: I declare him winner by default ;) let's move on.

Slim Jade, the Dealer
"Well hello there! Interested in some psychic sweeties? First one's always free!

Jade hated these rich kids. Snooty children of snootier nobles. But they were able to pay her good enough money. Poorer children would work their heart and soul for another dose - she knew; she had a small legion of them under her dubious employ already - but right now, she was after money. She was dressed as well as the kind of street merchant that the children might buy from could expect to be, and then just a little better to stand out.

A pair of immaculately-dressed students from the magic academy - both of whom had about as much magic in their whole bodies as the average apprentice did in his left toenail, but their parents paid, and so the magi tried in vain to teach them - approached her.

"Good day, fine sir, fine madam. Could I interest you in a free sample of my special psionic goods?"
"Father says I shouldn't trust psions."

Jade was about to scowl, until the boy who had spoken grinned.

"Then again, I never did like Father."

Jade smiled. This was going to go well.

"Ah, welcome back! But where is the young gentleman whom you always accompany?"
"He died from drinking the water from dreammist. I told him to throw it away immediately, but he never listens. He got such a hankering for it that he drank the water. The clerics didn't come in time to save him."
"Ah. I'm sorry for your loss."
"That's not going to stop me buying dreammist, though."
"That'll be 200 platinum, please."

The girl didn't even blink as she spooned out of her purse ten times the street price for the drug. Jade couldn't help herself. "I'm surprised you have enough money for this."
"My parents are very wealthy, and they think I'm spending my money on expensive medications. After all, it clears up when I take more dreammist."

Jade smiled. The withdrawal symptoms of mordayn vapour, also known as dreammist, could actually be lethal. Not as lethal as an overdose, or drinking the water that it was boiled in, or taking the powder by itself. The girl would most likely be hooked forever, unless a cleric worked out what was wrong with her. She would provide enough money. Just as well for her, or she could easily suffer a worse fate - after all, those who couldn't pay with money had to find other ways...Jade is a psion who uses minor creation to create drugs. When people try to attack her, they'll have to face off against major creation traps, vats of quintessence, and an angry psion with a ton of astral constructs at her beck and call, as well as her practical mind-slaves from years of drug addiction.

The gift she's offering you is, of course, drugs. We'll be using the book of vile darkness a lot (What? I'm a villain!). The price is anything from simple money, to effective servitude, forcing her hapless victims into forced labour, conscription or prostitution for them to get their next dose of drug.

Jade does not ever lie about the gift or the price. What she does do, however, is draw attention away from them when it suits, towards them when that suits. The first one is free, after all. What are these? Oh, they're psionic items that temporarily give you a good time. Of course, if asked directly, she'll admit that they're drugs and move on. Or shoot you full of psychic crystal. One of those.

She's evil, of course. And chaotic. Because, by this point, sympathetic villains are getting a little old from me.Chaotic Evil Grey Elf Psion (Shaper) 20

Ability Scores+Racial Adjustments: 8+2/10+2/12-2/15+2/13/14

All points go to intelligence.Jade smiled candidly at the young man laying in bed with her, and he almost frothed at the mouth wondering if he would get his next dose of the luhix he craved - a drug delivered through a self-inflicted wound which caused utter agony when used, but was horribly addictive. Jade considered. He'd done well. He deserved a little better.

She went up to the cupboard - the psychic cupboard which froze time inside it, but the cupboard nonetheless - and unlocked it, then pulled out a mertoran leaf. For a while, in her foolishness, she'd hated this stuff. The idea that all of her hard work to addict people could be, even temporarily, undone. But she realised that it had a use: she could use it to reward her slaves for doing well. She locked the cupboard and walked over to the man with the leaf in hand.

"Here," she said, offering it to him. "This stuff's good. It's barely addictive - I doubt you'll get hooked on it, and even if you do you'll get over it fast - and it'll clear up all your luhix addiction. For a while, anyway."

The man looked suspicious, but Jade never lied about drugs. They were her pride and joy. He took his dose of mertoran in stunned silence, and then burst into tears of joy. Jade ruffled the man's hair, and smiled alongside him. "Don't get any ideas, though. In half a day, you'll be craving luhix again. So don't even think about trying to run."
"I wouldn't dare, mistress."
"Good. Now, I'm still in the mood, and you're still attractive."

They slipped back into bed, though the man - she'd never bothered to learn his name - wasn't exactly willing. Not that he envied the fates of the rest of Jade's drug-addled servants.

Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save
Ref Save

Will Save

Skills
Feats
Class Features

Powers Learned

1st
Shaper 1

+0

+0

+0

+2

Concentration 4, Craft (Alchemy) 4, Craft (Poisonmaking) 4*, Disguise 4, Knowledge (Local) 4, Profession (Drug Dealer) 4

Psionic Talent (Or Magical Training*), Skill Focus Craft Poisonmaking

Discipline: Shaper

Astral Construct, Attraction, Minor Creation

2nd
Shaper 2

+1

+0

+0

+3

Concentration 5, Craft (Alchemy) 5, Craft (Poisonmaking) 5, Disguise 5, Knowledge (Local) 5, Profession (Drug Dealer) 5

-

-

Control Flames, Vigour

3rd
Shaper 3

+1

+1

+1

+3

Concentration 6, Craft (Alchemy) 6, Craft (Poisonmaking) 6, Disguise 6, Knowledge (Local) 6, Profession (Drug Dealer) 6

Expanded Knowledge (Charm)

-

Charm, Identify, Swarm of Crystals

4th
Shaper 4

+2

+1

+1

+4

Concentration 7, Craft (Alchemy) 7, Craft (Poisonmaking) 7, Craft (Trapmaking) 1, Disguise 7, Knowledge (Local) 7, Profession (Drug Dealer) 7

-

-

Knock, Tongues

5th
Shaper 5

+2

+1

+1

+4

Concentration 8, Craft (Alchemy) 8, Craft (Poisonmaking) 8, Craft (Trapmaking) 2, Disguise 8, Knowledge (Local) 8, Profession (Drug Dealer) 8

Extend Power

-

Dispel Psionics, Energy Wall

6th
Shaper 6

+3

+2

+2

+5

Concentration 9, Craft (Alchemy) 9, Craft (Poisonmaking) 9, Craft (Trapmaking) 3, Disguise 9, Knowledge (Local) 9, Profession (Drug Dealer) 9

Up the Walls

-

Greater Concealing Amorpha, Touchsight

7th
Shaper 7

+3

+2

+2

+5

Concentration 10, Craft (Alchemy) 10, Craft (Poisonmaking) 8, Craft (Trapmaking) 4, Disguise 10, Knowledge (Local) 10, Profession (Drug Dealer) 10

-

-

Dimension Door, Fabricate

8th
Shaper 8

+4

+2

+2

+6

Concentration 11, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Craft (Poisonmaking) 7, Craft (Trapmaking) 5, Disguise 11, Knowledge (Local) 11, Profession (Drug Dealer) 11

-

-

Freedom of Movement, Quintessence

9th
Shaper 9

+4

+3

+3

+6

Concentration 12, Craft (Alchemy) 12, Craft (Poisonmaking) 7, Craft (Trapmaking) 6, Disguise 12, Knowledge (Local) 12, Profession (Drug Dealer) 12

Speed of Thought

-

Hail of Crystals, Major Creation

10th
Shaper 10

+5

+3

+3

+7

Concentration 13, Craft (Alchemy) 13, Craft (Poisonmaking) 13, Craft (Trapmaking) 7, Disguise 13, Knowledge (Local) 13, Profession (Drug Dealer) 13

Psionic Meditation

-
Ectoplasmic Shambler, Plane Shift

11th
Shaper 11

+5

+3

+3

+7

Concentration 14, Craft (Alchemy) 14, Craft (Poisonmaking) 14, Craft (Trapmaking) 8, Disguise 14, Knowledge (Local) 14, Profession (Drug Dealer) 14

-

-

Greater Fabricate

12th
Shaper 12

+6

+4

+4

+8

Concentration 15, Craft (Alchemy) 15, Craft (Poisonmaking) 7, Craft (Trapmaking) 10, Disguise 15, Knowledge (Local) 15, Profession (Drug Dealer) 15

Psionic Talent

-

Disintegrate, Temporal Acceleration

13th
Shaper 13

+6

+4

+4

+8

Concentration 16, Craft (Alchemy) 16, Craft (Poisonmaking) 16, Craft (Trapmaking) 12, Disguise 16, Knowledge (Local) 16, Profession (Drug Dealer) 16

-

-

Personal Mind Blank

14th
Shaper 14

+7

+4

+4

+9

Concentration 17, Craft (Alchemy) 17, Craft (Poisonmaking) 17, Craft (Trapmaking) 14, Disguise 17, Knowledge (Local) 17, Profession (Drug Dealer) 17

-

-

Divert Teleportation, Energy Wave

15th
Shaper 15

+7

+5

+5

+9

Concentration 18, Craft (Alchemy) 18, Craft (Poisonmaking) 18, Craft (Trapmaking) 16, Disguise 18, Knowledge (Local) 18, Profession (Drug Dealer) 18

Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent

-

Astral Seed

16th
Shaper 16

+8

+5

+5

+10

Concentration 19, Craft (Alchemy) 19, Craft (Poisonmaking) 19, Craft (Trapmaking) 18, Disguise 19, Knowledge (Local) 19, Profession (Drug Dealer) 19

-

-

Iron Body, True metabolism

17th
Shaper 17

+8

+5

+5

+10

Concentration 20, Craft (Alchemy) 20, Craft (Poisonmaking) 20, Craft (Trapmaking) 20, Disguise 20, Knowledge (Local) 20, Profession (Drug Dealer) 20

-

-

Assimilate

18th
Shaper 18

+9

+6

+6

+11

Concentration 21, Craft (Alchemy) 21, Craft (Poisonmaking) 21, Craft (Trapmaking) 21, Disguise 21, Knowledge (Local) 21, Profession (Drug Dealer) 21, Psicraft 2

Psionic Talent

-

Etherealness, Microcosm

19th
Shaper 19

+9

+6

+6

+11

Concentration 22, Craft (Alchemy) 22, Craft (Poisonmaking) 22, Craft (Trapmaking) 22, Disguise 22, Knowledge (Local) 22, Profession (Drug Dealer) 22, Psicraft 4

-

-

Timeless Body

20th
Shaper 20

+10

+6

+6

+12

Concentration 23, Craft (Alchemy) 23, Craft (Poisonmaking) 23, Craft (Trapmaking) 23, Disguise 23, Knowledge (Local) 23, Profession (Drug Dealer) 23, Psicraft 7

Psionic Talent

-

Genesis, True Creation

*Craft alchemy requires you be a spellcaster. Psionics are spell-like abilities (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#psionics). Spell-like abilities are magical and work just like spells. (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Special_Abilities_Overview#Spell-Like) Therefore they should work just like spells inasmuch as they make you a spellcaster. If this doesn't fly, take the Magical Training (PGtF) feat at first level and choose to cast prestidigitation, ghost sound and, just for pun, acid splash.
Rachael rushed into the room, and that was almost the last mistake she ever made, as a scythe whirled out of each wall and arrows and darts cascaded in from every direction, laced with deadly poison. Fortunately, she was a heavily armoured paladin. Unfortunately, she still managed to get three greenblood oil darts in her face. Then, a slab of stone fell from the ceiling, almost knocking the poor woman out, and she could smell poisonous fumes in the air. She did her best to heal herself from the damage before the poison set in, and rushed out of the room. She had barely managed to make it into the building at all.

A door that she hadn't seen sprang open, and a small horde set upon her. Each had been promised a week off work, with ready access to their drug of choice, if they killed the paladin. Rachael didn't actually know this, but she guessed the essential details and wondered if it wasn't for the best just to put these poor souls out of their misery. Addiction was a disease, so she could remove it, but with the horde bearing down upon her, she would need a lot more than two uses.

She mounted onto her horse and fled, and tripped a trap that she hadn't seen before. The blade of the trap barely glanced off Rachael's face, but it was almost undoubtedly poisoned, as evidenced by her body exploding in pain. She didn't realise that the poison was luhix, a viciously-addictive drug. It didn't matter. She was immune to the addiction, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by fifty drug-addled slaves firing a volley of arrows which finally knocked her dead. She would never need to worry about addiction...So, there are a lot of drugs she can use, hailing from Sharn: City of Towers, the Book of Vile Darkness, Unearthed Arcana, and the Lords of Darkness, with an honourable mention from the Arms & Equipment Guide. Let's have a look at which ones are good and which ones are less good, and why. I'll tell you which ones I'm using the most at the end, but here's the low-down for those who want it:

Absentia (S:CoT) (Uncraftable; Decent weapon; Terrible drug; Utility purpose)
Pros: If you want a will-save drug, this is one. It's also psionic, so yay, thematic! Anyway, failing this will save knocks someone immediately comatose for an hour, and forces them to scry a random person who almost certainly isn't you, especially if you're mind blanked in which case it can't be you. No word on what happens when there's no one in range.
Cons: Maybe setting dependent; negligible addiction rating; magical so impossible to minor create; obscene craft DC.

Agony/Liquid Pain (BoVD) (Uncraftable; Decent weapon; Good drug; Utility purpose)
Pros: Extreme addiction rating, and also it actually causes intense pleasure (ironically) so she doesn't have to lie about it. Also, she can sell it off as a spell component or use it for XP shenanigans. When drunk, it temporarily incapacitates the user.
Cons: Can't be major or minor created as it isn't made of vegetable matter, stone or metal; high craft DC; possibly uncraftable.

Alcohol (A&EG) (See text)
This isn't actually an evaluation of Alcohol, but technically, in D&D, it doesn't count as a drug, so I'm discounting it offhand. Plus, it has no addiction rating. Alcohol isn't a drug and you can't be addicted to it: you heard it here first!

Arvorthin (UA) (Hard to craft; Useless weapon, Bad drug)
Pros: There aren't any; this drug is terrible. Okay, fine, you can minor create it, but why would you? The only reason is if you had a ready-made arvorthin addict.
Cons: Low addiction rating; low save DC; high craft DC

Baccaran (BoVD) (Tricky to craft; Useless weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Ingredients are hard to obtain, so it may be difficult for others to compete.
Cons: Low save DC; low addiction rating; may not be possible to major/minor create.

Carthagu (UA) (Hard to craft; Decent weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Cheapish strength poison, strictly better than tiny scorpion poison (for a buyer, not a crafter) unless you're trying to poison someone with impulse control problems or eating or sleeping disorders, which it cures temporarily. Because it's a tea, it's probably possible to minor create.
Cons: Absolutely useless as a drug; high craft DC.

Devilweed (BoVD) (Tricky to craft; Bad weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Can definitely be minor created.
Cons: Low save DC; low addiction rating.

Dragon's Blood (S:CoT) (Uncraftable; Good weapon; Excellent drug)
There are three versions of this. None of them is literally dragon's blood. All of them have similar effects, but there's no point using anything less than the strongest, red. We'll assume we're using red:
Pros: This stuff is beyond weird. It only enhances dragonmark powers, but if a creature overdoses - you can probably slip at least two in someone's drink - they roll will DC 22 or take 8d6 damage for each dose after the first. It has an extreme addiction rating. Also, a creature has to take Will DC 20 or 1d6+1 CHA damage for each dose they take.
Cons: Maybe setting dependent; obscene craft DC; magical so not minor creation-able.

Dreamlily (S:CoT) (Easy to craft; Good weapon, Good Drug)
Pros: This stuff is a flower, so psionic minor creation is a go. Restricts the creature to a single action each round (which apparently restricts their free actions, but they can take a single full-round action). The addiction rating is nice and high, and it's an anaesthetic.
Cons: Overdose allows a save and is less effective than others; high DC to create.

Haunspeir (LoD) (??? to craft, Good weapon, Bad drug)
Pros: Deals damage if the save is failed and more on an overdose, no save. Probably minor create-able.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; low addiction rating
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Jhuild/Thrallwine (LoD) (??? to craft, Bad weapon, Bad drug)
Pros: Makes creature almost impossible not to intimidate if you're trying. Can be minor created.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; low addiction rating.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Kammarth (LoD) (Uncraftable; Excellent weapon; Decent drug)
Pros: Two or more doses (of contact drug!) paralyse the subject for 2d4 minutes, with no save. Another two paralyse the target for 2d4 hours.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; medium addiction rating; can't be minor created.

Katakuda/Dragonskin (LoD) (Uncraftable; Bad weapon; Useless drug; Utility purpose)
Pros: Possible use either to buff natural armour in a pinch, or to use as a DC 18 contact dexterity poison that is, unfortunately, delayed for 30 minutes.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; utterly un-addictive; overdose does nothing but make the second dose less effective.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Luhix (BoVD) (Very hard to craft; Excellent weapon; Excellent drug)
Pros: This stuff is amazing. It can definitely by minor created, has a vicious addiction rating, can be forced through by injury, and has an absurdly high save DC so when you do force it through, the creature may easily be affected and addicted (DC 36 to avoid addiction!). Finally, if you smear two daggers with this stuff and both of them hit, the creature struck saves fortitude DC 25 or dies. Not bad at first level. You can put this on caltrops, you monster. Note that exposing yourself accidentally to an injury poison does nothing.
Cons: Because it's an injury poison, if you want to actually convince people to obtain and use it, you will have to convince them to stab themselves; obscene craft DC.

Mertoran Leaf (UA) (Hard to craft; Useless weapon; Useless drug; Utility purpose)
Pros: Because it takes away the symptoms of substance abuse, it can be used to save someone who's about to die from withdrawal or accidentally screwing with dreammist (see below) or something.
Cons: High craft DC; negligible addiction rating.

Mordayn Vapour/Dreammist (LoD and BoVD) (Moderate to craft; Good weapon; Excellent drug)
Pros: This stuff is very nasty. Not only is the water it makes a deadly poison - and putting some of that away in your quintessence fridge (more on that in a bit) for further use can't hurt - but the drug itself can definitely be minor created, is a hallucinogen so you don't have to lie about the effects, and has a high addiction rating and a relatively decent craft DC. Oh, and when the dose wears off, the user has to save will DC 17 or spend the next 1d4 hours doing, and I read you this verbatim, "Whatever is necessary to repeat the dreammist dose". That's insanely powerful. It's supposedly like a suggestion spell, except if a suggestion spell could actually do that. Plus, it's a decent weapon - if you can get someone to fail their primary save against it, they have a 50% chance to lose each action they attempt.
Cons: Easy for drug user to poison self accidentally (or deliberately, by the point that your slaves are tempted by suicide).

Mushroom Powder (BoVD) (Difficult to craft; Legendary weapon; Decent Drug)
Pros: Again, definitely possible to minor create this. While it's terrible as a drug, it does have an interesting use as a weapon. Each dose after the first taken within 12 hours, no matter whether the save is passed of failed, deals 2d6 points of damage and 4d6 and paralyses the target for 1d4 rounds, no save after the third. Let me repeat: if you can get four shots of this off at the same target, you can para-lock that target and keep on doing damage to them. With an astral construct or three handy, that shouldn't be too hard, right? Oh, and there are no saves against the side effects, which are -2 to con and wis for 1d4 and 2d4 hours respectively. Clerics beware. In fact, as a general rule, just, everyone beware.
Cons: High craft DC; low save DC; medium addiction rating.

Oruighen/Phantomdust (LoD) (??? to craft; Decent weapon; Useless drug)
Pros: It's a straight-up poison. It's literally not a drug. It's an inhaled poison that blinds for 2d4 minutes, DC 14. Impressive, perhaps, but IT'S NOT A DRUG! It has no side effects, overdose, addiction, or even secondary effect. For what it's worth, you can definitely minor create it.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; IT'S NOT A DRUG!
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given; IT'S NOT A DRUG!

Panaeolo (LoD) (Uncraftable; Good weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: The overdose deals 2d8 CHA damage, which means three doses will knock someone right out.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; can't be true created; low addiction rating.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Redflower Leaves (LoD and BoVD) (Very hard to craft; Excellent weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Can be used as a poison to nauseate a creature for 1d4*10 minutes with no save, but requires a creature to take two doses, so put two doses in one drink. Can definitely be minor created.
Cons: Very high craft DC; low addiction rating; low save DC.

Rhul (LoD) (??? to craft; Bad weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Fatigues a creature if they fail DC 15 fortitude. Can double-up to exhaust them. Can also force archers to attack in melee.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; medium addiction rating
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Sakrash (LoD) (Uncraftable (??? to craft from ingredients); Useless weapon; Useless drug; Utility Purpose)
Pros: Mind-blanks a creature. Because it has no real side effects or addiction, you can take it yourself until you get personal mind blank.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; can't be minor created (though the ingredients perhaps can).
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Sannish (BoVD) (Moderate to craft; Decent weapon; Decent drug)
Pros: This stuff causes euphoria so you can tell the truth about its effects. Reducing a creature to partial actions (which means choosing standard or move each turn as though staggered) for 2d4 hours by slipping too doses in their drink is also possible. Can definitely be minor created.
Cons: Save DC is godawful (though doesn't apply to overdose or side effect); medium addiction rating.

Sezerad Root (LoD) (??? to craft; Decent weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: This stuff is a no-save wisdom poison. If you can't think of a good use for that, you're not trying. Also, can be minor created.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; low addiction rating.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Tekkil (LoD) (??? to craft; Decent weapon; Decent drug)
Pros: This stuff's overdose slows target as the spell for 2d4 hours. It can be minor created.
Cons: May be setting-dependent; medium addiction rating.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Terran Brandy (BoVD) (Uncraftable; Good weapon; Bad drug)
Pros: Convince your DM that the effect applies to manifester level and drink some yourself? If you want to use it as a poison, slip CON+1 doses into your target's drink to no-save-just-kill them. Okay, no, that's a bit silly. The save DC is also decent, so actually it works as a conventional CON poison too.
Cons: Obscene craft DC; low addiction rating; can't be minor or major created.

Vodare (BoVD) (Easy to craft; Good weapon; Good drug)
Pros: An excellent drug for a beginner, with a craft DC that you'll make four fifths of the time from first level with no special kit, and all the time from third with a masterwork tool. High addiction rating, definitely possible to minor create, and causes euphoria, so you don't have to be evasive about its effect. As the icing on the cake, you can slip two doses into someone's drink to make them catatonic, permanently. While Fort DC 15 does negate, unlike most side effects and overdose effects which allow no save, permanent catatonia is still a really crazy effect.

Ziran (LoD) (??? to craft; Decent weapon; Good drug)
Pros: Ziran is minor create-able, and overdose deals 2 points of CON damage a shot. It's highly addictive.
Cons: May be setting-dependent.
LoD weirdness: No craft DC given

Zixalix (UA) (Hard to craft; Decent weapon; Decent drug)
Pros: This tongue-twisterishly named drug is a DC 16 INT poison, and taking an overdose also deals 1d4 CON damage, meaning that if you can get three or four doses down someone's throat you can probably kill them very quickly afterwards. Did I mention that overdoses have no save unless specified? Oh, and you can probably minor create it, though from the description of the drug I'm not sure.
Cons: Medium addiction rating; high craft DC

So, the ones I can craft and which actually have some use are:

Weapons:

Haunspeir: Direct-damage no-save poison.
Luthix: If you hit someone with it twice, they save (Fort 25) or die. If you hit even once, they save DC 36 or die over several days (unless they can succeed two saves in a row).
Mordayn Vapour: The leftover water is a deadly poison, and the steam causes the same effect on an overdose.
Mushroom Powder: Every shot after the first deals 2d6 damage, every shot after the third deals 4d6 and paralyses, no save vs either of these.
Redflower Leaves: If you can poison a creature with these, they're nauseated for 1d4*10 minutes.
Vodare: Overdose causes permanent catatonia, fort 15 negates.

Drugs:

Dreamlily, Vodare, Ziran: Bog-standard drugs.
Luhix: If you stab someone with this, they must save fortitude DC 36 or be addicted. Not a typo. Thirty-six.
Mordayn Vapour: Highly addictive, and creatures must save will DC 17 or try to repeat the experience immediately.

Utility:

Mertoran Leaf: Saves creatures from death by drugs. You can keep a creature with another addiction coming back to you for mertoran leaf instead.
Sakrash: Maybe craftable from ingredients? If so, confers mind blanks with no risk.

That's a good line-up.The last intruder had been a close call - only a well-aimed shot had taken the paladin down, and the archer responsible was currently living like a Ziran-addicted queen. As much as anyone lived like a queen around here.

The other adventurers were likely to find her soon, though, and a few traps wouldn't be enough to stop them. She would have to get creative. Everyone would be given weapons covered in luhix. The halls would be decked with traps covered in the stuff. The floors would be painted in black lotus extract, and Jade wanted to dump someone personally in quintessence, which would handily solve the problem of anyone immune to the poisons. Plus, if fewer than three of the falling blocks managed to hit, Jade would be disappointed.So, how does psionics help you make drugs?

Minor creation is a fourth-level spell. It's also a first-level power. This means that a 20th-level psion can, if they want, with a 22 INT (which she'll have) fire off four hundred and three of them (plus the 27 from psionic talent). Each one produces 20 cubic feet of material. To put that into perspective, that's one foot by one foot by one and a half miles of drugs per day, and then some. Of course, she stops at a mile of drugs, costing 264 points, and spends the other 139 (plus 27) points on personal protection.

Okay, okay, in reality, she doesn't need even that many drugs - each manifestation will produce enough drugs to buy her a cathedral, and I'm not even sure that's an exaggeration. What she does need, though, is storage. Enter the greatest invention of our age; the creation of thousands of years of psionic research, the one, the only, the TIME FRIDGE!

Okay, so, feel free to laugh, but here's the thing: the quintessence power exists. Anything totally surrounded by quintessence is frozen in time. See where I'm going? If you coat the inside of a cupboard with quintessence (or more to the point, make the walls a bit like this double-glazing (http://www.twinseal.co.uk/images/Argoninfo.png), only with quintessence instead of the argon and wood instead of everything else), then you can put temporary items on the shelves, close the door, and the duration will never expire. This means that, despite the hour/level durations, these drugs will last forever. Thanks, time-fridge!

Also, quintessence can be put in a simple pit trap for a nasty effect: a creature who falls into the quintessence takes damage, but if fully submerged, they'll be frozen in time, not taking any more damage, but being un-aging, unable to act, for all eternity. Or until someone scrapes the stuff off. Annoyingly, TIME FRIDGE makes manifesting powers hard nearby (within 5 feet), but you can just stand away from it.

TIME FRIDGE is not actually a fridge and will not keep your food cold, though it will stop it going off. Please mess with the time-space continuum responsibly.TIME FRIDGE does not just work on drugs. You can easily store an absolute ton of traps in one or more TIME FRIDGES. By eighth level (which is when you learn to make TIME FRIDGE), you have a +9 bonus to craft traps rolls, and when you get major creation next level, you have a +10. This means that at level 9, you can make a trap with a DC of anything less than or equal to 30 (or even higher with masterwork tools, intelligence items, buffs from a friendly wizard with magecraft/truenamer with universal aptitude/cleric with guidance of the avatar/whatever, or other ways of getting funky bonuses on your roll). Oh, and you can just make it out of nowhere, because that's fair and balanced. Yes, this means that you can craft traps with a higher CR than you. Ayup. Of course, you can just minor create some black lotus extract, and then command your astral constructs to smear it on stuff rather than doing it yourself, because a 5% chance of exposing yourself to that stuff is not something you want. Traps with Luhix on are also kinda mean, especially if you think you're gonna be able to drive the enemy out - they're probably going to develop a luhix addiction, which will deal 1d8 DEX 1d8 WIS 1d6 STR 1d6 CON to them every day, probably killing them in short order unless you offer them some more. That, of course, allows you to control the hapless creature's entire life...
Tens of astral constructs lurched out of temporal stasis.

It had taken her a while to store them all, but it was worth it just for the looks on the so-called heroes' faces as the doors were opened and all of these constructs stomped towards them. The wizard put on a good show of blasting them into oblivion, but one came close enough to destroy his anti-poison amulet. He swore, realising he was vulnerable. Thirteen luhix-laden arrows sailed towards him, but only one struck him. That was fine, though.

Four slaves rushed up and lobbed vials of mushroom powder towards the wizard's feet, and they rose into the air, paralysing him instantly. His companion, some priest or other, might have saved him were it not for the crush of constructs pinning him down. The rogue - rogue in more sense than one - managed to get a knife in one of the slaves' throats, and dodge the hail of arrows from twenty traps all sprung at once. What she didn't dodge was when the floor gave way into a vat of quintessence, smothering her and taking her from the time stream instantly.

Jade mused that this was going quite well, and she hadn't even got out of her chair yet.1st:
Your character concept really ought to work at first level, right? Fortunately, Jade does indeed work at first level, so long as people can consume drugs within an hour of their creation. They can, right?

Also, with Craft (Poisonmaking) you can make drow poison, so there's that. Because a single manifestation makes a cubic foot of material, you can probably create enough poison to defend yourself as well as a load of drugs. Neat, right?

At this level, Jade is just some random street dealer. The PCs might go near her, but if they report her to the watch there could be problems. If they just report her, the watch turn up a blank. She'll have a couple of thugs in order to protect her if the PCs try to take her on personally, though her low hit point total makes this an interesting proposition.

5th:
By this point, your drugs and poison last 5 hours, or 10 hours if you extend the manifestation. You can craft luhix on a decent roll, and given that you get a bunch of goes on every manifestation (costing 1 PP a shot, remember - you have 35 PP/day and very little to do with them). You can also craft most poisons (the only one that you can't is Black Lotus Extract). Coat your daggers in luhix or wyvern poison, depending on what you're going for. Remember that with a bit of help from your friends (drug-addled mind-slaves), throwing mushroom powder at people can lock them down with paralysis before inflicting stupidly high amounts of damage to them.

At this point, Jade has a small army of drug-addled guards, labourers, and other servants working for her, slaves to their next dose. The PCs won't be able to attack her fortress by themselves at this kind of level; not until the addicts are too weak to pose a threat (that said, with poisonous daggers, they're still dangerous).

10th:
This is where you can make every drug, every poison and every trap that can be minor or major created and which has a listed craft DC. You can fabricate rooms into deadly traps, or just break out all the traps from your TIME FRIDGE when PCs approach. A single manifestation of major creation can create enough traps for an encounter of perhaps about EL 15. You can use it to flood a room with black lotus extract, too. Don't forget to make a custom trap which launches about ten doses of mushroom powder at whoever sets it off. Oh, and coating random traps with luhix will mean that anyone who doesn't die instantly will probably get killed by the ludicrous withdrawal symptoms. Yay, fun! Oh, and you can probably make psionic traps, using liquid pain to pay for the XP cost due to psi-mag transparency.

The PCs will probably have found a way to be immune to poison, but if they're wearing periapts of proof against poison, get an astral construct or a mind-slave to sunder it. The astral construct rolls an attack that can almost never miss against the amulet, and then destroys it on a roll of a 3 or more on its d8, assuming it has similar physical properties to a ring. Give it the muscle ability and it doesn't have to roll. Once it's managed to make its sunder, proceed to poison the hell out of the poor PCs.

At this point, Jade is practically a queen. Able to produce drugs at a moment's notice, and probably willing to murder anyone else able to, she has a legion of drug addicts under her command.

15th:
Greater Fabricate is silly. Ah, yes, let me turn this one thousand five hundred cubic feet of wood into a small village, that sounds like a great idea. I assume the manifestation is 1 round per hundred cubic feet, not per ten (go look at the rather minimalist description of greater fabricate, and the duration of fabricate, and you'll possibly see the issue) but either way, whether it's 15 rounds or 15 minutes, that's stupid. More importantly, it means that she can make a crude city in either an hour or 10 hours, which means sweet: my own personal city! Just the place to store my drug-addicted hordes! Also, I assume that TIME FRIDGE doesn't require a "High degree of craftsmanship" (give me some wood, a few tools, some paint to represent quintessence, and a couple of hours, and I'll make you one myself, though I'm afraid it won't be functional) so she can probably fabricate a TIME FRIDGE or, like, five hundred. And then she can stick them on a mountain and d-door up and down when she needs to get some drugs, or she can just guard each drug with people addicted to a different one and then lock it just to be safe, or whatever works. If PCs try to attack her city, the guards will be under instructions to grab traps, poison and mushroom powder out of the TIME FRIDGE, and then defend their little fabricated huts for all they're worth. Oh, and each hut should have a TIME FRIDGE with an 8th-level astral construct in it, to be used in case of emergency.

Incidentally, with a single manifestation of greater fabricate, assuming the walls of a TIME FRIDGE are 3 inches thick, she can create a TIME FRIDGE to store, wait for it, four hundred sixty-four thousand, seven hundred fifty-eight (464758) cubic feet of material. That's kinda a hard number to visualise, but it's about the amount of space occupied by a house. In one manifestation. Which takes either 15 rounds or 15 minutes. It'll take a while to make all the quintessence (it's 1 round per pi/3 cubic inches, which when you're basically using it as ultra-thin paint probably means about another couple of minutes of making quintessence, tops), but you'll probably be able to find wood somewhere, even if you have to dismantle a few forests.

At 12th level, you got disintegrate, which can strip a character of a piece of their equipment. This is really, really stupid, and the save still causes the items to take 5d6 points of untyped damage which is enough to destroy amulets. Alternatively, it just does a ton of damage to a PC who fails their save.

So right now, Jade has gone from street dealer to owner of literal city, with thousands of people under her servitude and ready to repel PCs with hundreds of traps, deadly poisons, and honest-to-badness weapons. Also, she can divert people's teleportation if they try to port in, which is funny. Finally, she has the seed of her rebirth floating about on the Astral, so she's pretty much immortal unless someone actually figures out what's going on and destroys it.

20th:

Extended timeless body is stupid and should not be a power. It can't be quickened, but extending it? Fine. Just, like, be immune to everything for two rounds, costing you your move action to focus yourself, and your standard action to manifest the power. You can literally be immune to everything until you can no longer pay the nineteen power points per two rounds that you need to manifest the power. If you need to, you can keep this up for forty-four rounds.

Or, iron body and true metabolism will make you pretty hard to kill, and control flames or ectoplasmic shambler can destroy small elite armies or large mookish ones respectively (seriously, ectoplasmic shambler can sweep over and kill forty thousand and forty creatures during its duration, assuming they're neither stupid enough to walk into it or organised enough to run away), so there's that. Really, though, you don't want to get anywhere near the front lines yourself.

By this point, Jade has herself a massive city to her own, which she can probably put on another plane or even her own demiplane. Oh, and she can microcosm anyone with up to 130 hit points, and then dump them in a vat of quintessence, and then lose that on a random plane... let's just drop it somewhere in the plane of fire or whatever; it's not like quintessence is flammable. Put it in a metal drum or something (using fabricate) and then you have a PC who isn't dead and so can't be resurrected, and is lost in time and therefore immune to everything, probably including scrying. You can always make a metal time-fridge, put the drum in the time-fridge, and then cover it in traps.Rachael, the blackguard, stood watch over the ancient factory, administering drug after drug to the addicts that had once been under Jade's control. Now, they would keep coming back to Rachael.

It was an interesting set-up. A wizard and cleric who could cause and cure addictions were a valuable addition to Rachael's team, and something that Jade couldn't do, while having a rogue to locate and interrogate Jade's minions was even better. The next woman stepped up to Rachael, who looked imposing in her heavy armour, Rachael asked a question .

"What are you after, and what are you willing to do for it?"
"Your death, and anything."

Rachael recognised Jade's voice and grabbed her sword, and a moment later it was gone, and then her armour, and then her amulet. Her amulet! She rammed her shield into Jade's face and called for help, but the psion lashed out with luhix-laden daggers and Rachael died writhing in agony.

"All of you belong to me, now. Let's take this place down."