Greed Paladin/Cleric big bad?

[Nizhgareth]

Ok y'all, I'm running a campaign (in 5e of course, that's what we're here for,) and I want the main villain to be a king so obsessed with wealth that he draws power from it. He even intends on becoming an immortal superdeity of wealth. The big question is this; which class should he be?
I was leaning Cleric or Paladin. Note that he's a human who is about 160 years old due to magic and a pretty ok fitness regimen and diet. I want to find the class and subclass/oath/school/whatever that would most accurately depict one who gains magic through the pure power of their Greed.
I've got no issue with him having some melee or being a pure spellcaster. I must admit it would be painfully awesome if he starting clobbering the snot out of the players using the golden royal scepter. :smallbiggrin:

Thoughts?

[JNAProductions]

What level are you looking your players to end at?

[Nizhgareth]

Anywhere between 15 and 20.

[Emay Ecks]

I think either Paladin or Cleric sounds good.

If I was running it, I'd look through the Player's Handbook for every spell that has an expensive material component (bonus points if the spell consumes them), and try to fit as many as I could on this character so he is literally burning money to defeat the players. Based on that criteria, Wizard actually comes out pretty good (circle of death is 500g, Clone is 3000g, Drawmij's instant summons is 1000g, Forcecage is 1500g, Leomond's Secret Chest is 5050g, and Simulacrum is 1500g.

Although cleric also has some pretty good ones with forbiddance (1000g), Hallow (1000g), Heroes' Feast (1000g, Holy Aura (1000g), and the various resurrection spells (300g+)

Both get Glyph of Warding (200g), Planar Binding (1000g), and Symbol (1000g)

[sithlordnergal]

Might I suggest a Draconic Sorcerer/Fallen Paladin. Not only would that fit perfectly but it would be a nasty fight. I mean think of it. You have a being who gained magical power from being a descendant from a dragon, and they attempted to first use their power for good as a Paladin. However, as time went on, their greed and lust for power eventually caused them to fall and become a an Oathbreaker. He uses deception to help convince everyone he is still a hero, and is on their side. Yet he'd still sacrifice as many as needed in order to keep his Empire running, and himself alive. Plus this multi-class mixes the best of both worlds with magic and melee, depending on his level.

The only downside is that this would have to be a high level final boss. Paladin/Sorcerers really only take off after about level 13-14. You're basically just a Paladin till level 8-9, depending on if you want 3rd level spells or not, and after that you have to wait till Sorcerer level 5 to get 3rd level spells. Thaaaaat said, once you DO get there you'll have a Paladin with 5th level spell slots to smite with, Haste to cast on himself, Quicken Spell to do insane burst damage, and more. And if you go with Oathbreaker Paladin, you can use Animate Dead at level 9 Paladin, make a small group of undead to keep hidden in the throne room, and then use Crusader's Mantle. Now your undead deal their normal damage+1d4 radient while in 30ft of him+his charisma mod due to Aura of Hate while they're within 10ft from him.

And just wait till you hear about his tanking ability. With Defense as his chosen Fighting Style, he can have a 21 AC with normal Full Plate and a Shield, which can be buffed to 26 with a Shield spell. His Lay on Hands will be able to restore up to 45hp, Blur can force people to take disadvantage against every attack,and his Charisma bonus can give him up to a +5 in every save. Give him a single Cloak of Protection, and now bump his saves and AC up by 1. Sure, his HP will be a little low, but you can modify that. If you were to take the average given in the book from the Paladin and Sorcerer classes, you'd have around 101 hp with a 16 Con. But again, you can bump that up a bit if you like.

As for burst damage, Haste+Quick Spell Green Flame Blade or Booming Blade+2 normal attacks. Do that twice, with a Smite on each. You'll be able to lay on a lot of hurt for the main party tank if needed.

And as a final plus side, you can use that golden royal scepter as his main weapon to top it off.

Now, you may want to tone down his power a bit to make him kill-able, since he can 1-shot most things if he gets enough crits. But still, it will be a nerve wracking, memorable, and deadly boss fight.

[JNAProductions]

King Midas
Medium Humanoid, Lawful Greedy

Armor Class 23 (Robe of Valor)
Hit Points 428 (45d8+225)
Speed 30', Fly 40'



Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma


24 (+7)
14 (+2)
20 (+5)
18 (+4)
10 (0)
22 (+6)



Saving Throws Dexterity +9, Wisdom +7
Skills Perception +14. Investigation +11, Athletics +14, Persuasion +13, Deception +13, Intimidate +13
Damage Immunities Non-magical weapon damage
Damage Resistances Fire, Cold, Poison
Senses Truesight 10', Darkvision 120'
Languages Common, Money, any others you feel appropriate
Challenge 26


Legendary Resistance (3/day) When King Midas would fail a save, he instead succeeds.

Robe Of Valor King Midas has advantage on all saves against magical effects. In addition, his AC is 21+Dexterity Modifier (Max of +2) and he gains a 40' fly speed.

Goggles Of Revealing Grants him his 10' Truesight and 120' Darkvision.

Actions

Extra Attack 4 King Midas makes five attacks or attack actions.

Rod Of Power (Smash) Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5', one target. Hit: 2d10+7 (18) points of magical bludgeoning damage.

Rod Of Power (Sweep) Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5', all targets in three squares adjacent to both each other and King Midas. Hit: 2d6+7 (14) points of magical bludgeoning damage. (Note: Make one attack roll per Sweep attack, then compare to each target's AC.)

Rod Of Power (Beam) Ranged Spell Attack: +13 to hit, range 120', one target. Hit: 4d8 (18) points or radiant damage.

Touch Of Midas (Recharge 5-6) Melee Spell Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5', one target. Hit: The target must make a series of DC 21 Constitution saving throws or be turned to gold. The immediate affect is they take 4d10 (22) points of untyped damage. The next turn, they are restrained as their body becomes mostly gold and take an additional 4d10 (22) damage. (Note that effects such as Freedom of Movement do NOT help against this.) On the third turn, they are turned to gold entirely, and are petrified indefinitely. If at any point they die while this is active on them, their corpse will turn to gold. Each successful save halves the damage and reduces the effect by one step (from restrained to halved movement, and halved movement to free of the effect).

Bonus Actions


Animate Wealth (Recharge 6) King Midas throws his hands out, animating anything from life-sized or larger golden statues to the very coins he lays in. This works exactly like the Animate Objects spell, with the following exceptions: It lasts 10 minutes (concentration) and King Midas can animate up to 12 objects, with objects of any size counting as one object.

Devour Wealth King Midas imbibes in a portion of his wealth, greedily consuming gems and coins to fuel his unearthly power. He heals 4d10 (22) hit points, but can only utilize this healing if he is near his wealth.

Legendary Actions

King Midas can take three legendary actions per turn. Only one action may be used at a time, and only at the end of another person's turn.

Attack: King Midas makes a single attack.
Recharge: King Midas makes a recharge roll for Tough Of Midas or Animate Wealth.
Devour: King Midas uses Devour Wealth.
Save: King Midas makes another save against an effect on him.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing ties) King Midas chooses a liar action to take effect. The same option cannot be picked twice in a row.

-Piles of gold, silver, platinum, gems, and other valuables rise up in a tide. Three areas of 10' radius King Midas can see within 120' become difficult terrain for everyone but himself. In addition, anyone in the area when this effect starts must make a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

-Blinding light flashes out from all his wealth. Anyone inside the lair, except for King Midas, must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the light fades on the next turn.

-Material wealth on King Midas's enemies begins to pour from their pockets. 3d10 (17) GP worth of material goods are drained from one target in his lair, and added to his piles of wealth. For each point of wealth that cannot be drained, a point of damage is inflicted instead. Those targeted by this may hold onto their weapons and armor, requiring a DC 15 Strength save to avoid them being ripped from their bodies to be added to his treasures-if their grip is maintained, they take damage as indicated instead.

Regional Effects


-Anything lost within King Midas's nation eventually finds its way to his treasure piles.

-Gold, silver, and anything else valuable is exceptionally bright and shiny.

-Dust refuses to settle on anything of value, instead crowding around mundane and poor places and things.

So great is King Midas's power, that these effects persist long after his death. In fact, due to the ever-growing nature of his treasure piles, one might find themselves tempted to claim it for themselves...

So, in 5E, it's not necessary to stat up NPCs as you would a PC. I would recommend just GIVING him abilities to make a cool fight.

Offensive CR: He'll put out over 200 DPR, counting his objects, and assuming he Sweeps with every other attack to hit 2 people and uses Touch Of Midas for his 4th. So that's solidly CR 24, but at +14 to hit, CR 25.

Defensive CR: 428 HP makes him CR 21, but AC 23 bumps that up to 23. That being said, he has easy access to heals-we'll assume he lasts 5 rounds and heals twice on each round. So that's more like 648 HP, or CR 26, bumping up by 1 for his AC (since I think I might've highballed just how much healing he'll get). CR 27.

Total CR: 25+27=52. 52/2=26.

CR 26