TheBrassDuke
2016-09-09, 12:01 PM
Hey, Playground!
So, a while back I started this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?490140-Help-Building-Big-Bads!) thread for help in building two BBEGs, and I completed one of them (the Half-Fey Bard), but I'm still actually working on the Fallen Saint, Eleisa (http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/CainePorter/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpswtjc8trp.png) (image Copyright Maria Jang, or "Soda222" on DeviantArt, and Richard Soloyna--me, who commissioned the image).
For her build, I've decided to go with:
Human [with the Saint Template*]
Cleric x/Divine Disciple x/?
Domains: Shadow; Pestilence; Death
Weapon: Rapier; Bow
It's just a gist, but that's what I've got so far.
*there's debate as to whether she loses it after falling, so I'm not sure yet.
------------------------------------
I've selected the backstory from another Playgrounder in regards to her fall, and will be moving forward with that.*
*
I would suggest instead giving her a crises of faith in her god's goodness and wisdom. Perhaps a massive plague spread throughout the land, and Eleisa is trying to find its source. Her investigations suggest that there might be corruption inside the Church of Creation that's responsible. Greatly troubled by this, she brings her findings to the local archbishop, figuring that Creation would never let someone corrupt rise to such a high position. Unfortunately for her, the Archbishop is also a high priest of the god of Deception, Betrayal, Suffering, Despair, etc. He's responsible for the whole thing, and when he finds out that she's on his trail he slips a seditive in some food he offers her. When she awakes, she finds herself manacled in a basement in the cathedral, completely naked except for a ring of sustenance on her finger. She's inside an unhallowed area and she's been deliberately infected by the disease. There is a permanencied Minor Image of the Archbishop in the room who basically mocks her on loop until the disease kills her several days later.
Naturally, getting killed in a church of Creation by a supposed archbishop of Creation by the disease she was trying stop in such a humiliating fashion rather shakes Eleisa's conviction. She starts to question her devotion to Creation, about whether all of her service was to a being who was either too impotant to stop someone masquerading as one of it's own clergy or too apathetic or malicious to stop him. During her transit the Shadow comes to her. The Shadow recognizes her fragile state of mind and exploits it, saying all of her years of devotion were to a lie, completely meaningless. It then makes its offer: unlike Creation, it is upfront about what it is, Pestilence and Death. It would return her to life as it's servant, with the goal of spreading misery and showing everyone else just how little the gods care.
Now Eleisa's conversion from hero to villain is a tragic fall rather than her making a rather stupid conclusion in an openly polytheistic world. It also gives her a goal besides just spreading her new god's will: she wants to find and kill the 'Archbishop' for her humiliating death. Naturally, the Archbishop has moved on from that role, so she doesn't know where he is. This could lead to an interesting moment if the Archbishop shows up in game masquerading for a different religeon and becomes an 'ally' NPC for the party. He could begin spreading misery while feigning to help them, and Eleisa could recognize the MO and starting gunning for him, also bring Pestilence and Death where she goes. The Archbishop could then easily frame her for the initial plague and send the party after her. Should be quite interesting, especially when the party discover's their "ally's" true allegiance, and depending on how they play it could lead to Eleisa's redemption or tragic death. Maybe even both.
As Eleisa is a cleric of the Goddess Midnight, and essentially the Manifestation of Midnight's Horseman of Pestilence, she'll focus less on undead-related spells and more on diseases and poisons, darkness and illusion/shadow.
There's a lot of fluff I've got for her, just not a lot for mechanics. I'm not entirely settled on the exact build yet, and am probably not thinking outside the box of possibilities.
She is Lv 10 (not including the Saint Template)
Do you have any suggestions?
-Possible changes to PrC, additional ones (no ToB unfortunately)
-magic items
-feats
-spell selection (preference-wise, since she'll prepare according to her divinations)
-enchantments on weapons/armor
-anything else I'm forgetting
So, a while back I started this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?490140-Help-Building-Big-Bads!) thread for help in building two BBEGs, and I completed one of them (the Half-Fey Bard), but I'm still actually working on the Fallen Saint, Eleisa (http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/CainePorter/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpswtjc8trp.png) (image Copyright Maria Jang, or "Soda222" on DeviantArt, and Richard Soloyna--me, who commissioned the image).
For her build, I've decided to go with:
Human [with the Saint Template*]
Cleric x/Divine Disciple x/?
Domains: Shadow; Pestilence; Death
Weapon: Rapier; Bow
It's just a gist, but that's what I've got so far.
*there's debate as to whether she loses it after falling, so I'm not sure yet.
------------------------------------
I've selected the backstory from another Playgrounder in regards to her fall, and will be moving forward with that.*
*
I would suggest instead giving her a crises of faith in her god's goodness and wisdom. Perhaps a massive plague spread throughout the land, and Eleisa is trying to find its source. Her investigations suggest that there might be corruption inside the Church of Creation that's responsible. Greatly troubled by this, she brings her findings to the local archbishop, figuring that Creation would never let someone corrupt rise to such a high position. Unfortunately for her, the Archbishop is also a high priest of the god of Deception, Betrayal, Suffering, Despair, etc. He's responsible for the whole thing, and when he finds out that she's on his trail he slips a seditive in some food he offers her. When she awakes, she finds herself manacled in a basement in the cathedral, completely naked except for a ring of sustenance on her finger. She's inside an unhallowed area and she's been deliberately infected by the disease. There is a permanencied Minor Image of the Archbishop in the room who basically mocks her on loop until the disease kills her several days later.
Naturally, getting killed in a church of Creation by a supposed archbishop of Creation by the disease she was trying stop in such a humiliating fashion rather shakes Eleisa's conviction. She starts to question her devotion to Creation, about whether all of her service was to a being who was either too impotant to stop someone masquerading as one of it's own clergy or too apathetic or malicious to stop him. During her transit the Shadow comes to her. The Shadow recognizes her fragile state of mind and exploits it, saying all of her years of devotion were to a lie, completely meaningless. It then makes its offer: unlike Creation, it is upfront about what it is, Pestilence and Death. It would return her to life as it's servant, with the goal of spreading misery and showing everyone else just how little the gods care.
Now Eleisa's conversion from hero to villain is a tragic fall rather than her making a rather stupid conclusion in an openly polytheistic world. It also gives her a goal besides just spreading her new god's will: she wants to find and kill the 'Archbishop' for her humiliating death. Naturally, the Archbishop has moved on from that role, so she doesn't know where he is. This could lead to an interesting moment if the Archbishop shows up in game masquerading for a different religeon and becomes an 'ally' NPC for the party. He could begin spreading misery while feigning to help them, and Eleisa could recognize the MO and starting gunning for him, also bring Pestilence and Death where she goes. The Archbishop could then easily frame her for the initial plague and send the party after her. Should be quite interesting, especially when the party discover's their "ally's" true allegiance, and depending on how they play it could lead to Eleisa's redemption or tragic death. Maybe even both.
As Eleisa is a cleric of the Goddess Midnight, and essentially the Manifestation of Midnight's Horseman of Pestilence, she'll focus less on undead-related spells and more on diseases and poisons, darkness and illusion/shadow.
There's a lot of fluff I've got for her, just not a lot for mechanics. I'm not entirely settled on the exact build yet, and am probably not thinking outside the box of possibilities.
She is Lv 10 (not including the Saint Template)
Do you have any suggestions?
-Possible changes to PrC, additional ones (no ToB unfortunately)
-magic items
-feats
-spell selection (preference-wise, since she'll prepare according to her divinations)
-enchantments on weapons/armor
-anything else I'm forgetting