Villainous Competition XLVIX: Controller!

[Venger]

Surprise, everyone! I’m here as a guest chair this round.

Cold-hearted crooks lurk in shadowy streets. Evil masterminds plot the demise of civilizations. Terrible abominations rise to slaughter and devour the innocent, and grim tyrants plan their next move. Welcome… to the Villainous Competition!

Each round of the villainous competition, our conniving contestants need to build a villain showcasing a different theme, and following a different set of associated limitations. This round's villain is the charming and persuasive…


Controller!



Limitations:



I Knew You’d See it My Way: The Controller must be able to mechanically impose their will on targets
I’m Glad You’re on Our Side: Commanding the will of others is not restricted to one side or the other of the alignment pool, so neither are you: Any alignment is permitted.
You Can’t Talk Your Way Out of This:Remember, since we’re making NPCs, diplomacy cannot be used to influence the attitudes of PCs. This cannot be your only means of imposing your will. You must somehow be able to directly control the actions of the PCs.
Must This All End in Violence?: The Controller tries to get others to get their fighting for them. While it is not forbidden to have other more direct means of defending yourself in combat, getting someone else to do your dirty work should be your primary approach.



Let the carnage begin!




Rules of the Competition:

Contestants:
It is highly recommended for a new contestants to look over a few entries from past rounds to understand what's the expected presentation. We're a little bit different than most optimization competitions. We use CR, not ECL. Each entry presents a villain going up to CR 20, with ability scores based on the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8).
The contestant is to give a stub of the build (EG "Drow weretiger ranger 4/ Cleric 10"), flesh out the full build progression using the table(s) found in the submission and deadlines section, give notes on what the villain does and how it is to be used throughout its CR range, and fully source every aspect of the build that can't be found in the SRD. But what are the allowed sources?

Secret Laboratory:
Competitors will be free to use any official 1st party (WotC) 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Compendium is allowed, but individual copies of Dragon magazine are disallowed. Unupdated 3.0 materials, as well as web exclusives by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere. Unearthed Arcana is allowed but limited: The variant character options (such as Wildshape Ranger and Thug Fighter) should not be penalized. Flaws carry a 1 point elegance penalty, and traits carry half of that. Item familiars, gestalt, alternate skill systems, alternate magic systems, alternate crafting rules, generic base classes, LA buyoff, fractional saves/BAB, and bloodlines are banned. Anything not mentioned here is up to individual judges.
Builds that are fully monstrous are allowed at no penalty. All class levels are to be added on as associated class levels – meaning, each class level adds 1 CR, with the exception of NPC classes. See clarifications for more details.
Leadership and similar abilities are completely banned. Undead Leadership and Dragon Cohort are likewise banned. Wild Cohort and Obtain Familiar are allowed. If you are not sure if a specific feat violates the 'no leadership' rule, err on the side of caution, or ask me.

Epic Rules:
We do not use epic progression for BaB and saves in this competition. Remember that four iteratives are still the maximum amount granted by BaB, even if it gets to 21 or more.
A villain is eligible to Epic feats from HD 21 and above, as normal, but Epic Spellcasting and all other Epic feats that affect spells, psionic powers, or item creation are not permitted. 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.

Submission and deadlines:
Contestants will have until October 9th, 10:00 GMT to create their builds and PM them to the Chair (Venger).
Put the name of your build and "Villainous Competition round n" as your PM subject. You may ask for an extension if required. The villains will then be posted anonymously – make sure that your PM does not include any identifying details. While waiting for the builds to be posted, please avoid speculation (see speculation rules below). A contestant may submit up to 2 entries.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Code immediately below (spoiler).

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

More useful tables can be found here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BG0-5sq4dL9Ooh7-QfXuyHzO4rXSz-CRcj29t6BeUVE/edit#gid=401538143), made by the immaculate Mattie_p.
Once the villains are posted, judges should strive to finish their judgement by October 21st.

Judging:
It is highly recommended that prospective judges read through some past judgements. Judges are to give scores between 1-5 in the following four criteria: Originality, Power, Elegance and Memorable Villainy. Judges are not to use alternative criteria or score ranges. A 0 in elegance is permitted for strictly illegal or incomplete builds, but a score lower than 1 in other categories is generally not allowed.
Originality: Is the build creative? Was it surprising in the context of this round? On the other hand, does it use expected or well-known methods?
Power: Is it a powerful and threatening villain? On the other hand, does it have any glaring weaknesses?
Elegance: Is it mechanically pretty? Is it clever? On the other hand, does it have rules or presentation issues? Does it rely on shaky interpretations of text? If you find that you have trouble with this category, remember: "no issues" doesn't have to be a 5! Like all others, this category has positive criteria to follow, not just negative criteria to be avoided.
Memorable Villainy: Is this a villain with style and presence? Is it interesting to face against? Does it live up to the established theme and the spirit of the round? On the other hand, does it feel more like an encounter-of-the-week than a true BBEG?
Please try to follow the following judging guidelines:
This rule means that every source that has been declared legal for this competition is fair game. Using obscure sources, or a large amount of sources, is not by itself subject to a penalty in elegance; Similarly, using only a small amount of sources, or sources that are very well known, is not by itself subject to a penalty in originality.
One Mistake, One Penalty
Judges are only allowed to penalize once for a given mistake. If someone messes up their skills and doesn't qualify for a PrC, ding them as hard as you like. Once. In one category. You don't then get to declare that because they didn't qualify for that PrC, they don't get those levels, and thus don't qualify for anything else. If Ranger is a common ingredient, ding them for Originality. Once. Don't also take off points for Two-Weapon-Fighting being a common ingredient.

Non-exhaustive list of examples:

Skills
Allowed:

Giving a penalty for miscalculating the number of skill points gained
Giving a penalty for not having enough ranks to meet a prerequisite
Increasing the harshness of a skill miscalculation penalty if it affects critical skills including prereqs


Not allowed:

Giving separate penalties for miscalculating skill points and for non-qualification where the non-qualification is solely caused by the miscalculation



Prereqs
Allowed:

Giving a penalty for not meeting prereqs
Scaling the penalty depending on how important the item that the build failed to qualify for is
Giving minimum score in UotSI for not qualifying for the SI
Not giving credit for (note: not the same as penalising for) tactics using feats or classes other than the SI that were not qualified for (but see below)


Not Allowed:

"Cascading" failures to qualify - declaring that because a build doesn't qualify for a feat, for example, it also doesn't qualify for anything using that feat as a prereq
Treating a build as having fewer levels than it does because of FtQ for classes



Note that these are protections, not licenses. Deliberately taking a feat that you know you don't qualify for hoping to just suck up the judging penalty for a feat that you couldn't normally take is not okay, and may lead to your build being disqualified.
An important note on power, cheese, and CR appropriateness:
Being "too strong for your CR" is not by itself something a judge should penalize here. Using poorly supported cheese or cheese that isn't doing anything interesting in the build can and should get an elegance penalty. Using well-known or otherwise obvious and boring tricks can and should be penalized in originality – but power level by itself is not to be addressed anywhere other than the power category. Same goes for being too weak – that should not affect memorable villainy or anything outside of power by itself. If it helps, you can imagine low-powered villains used against low-op groups, high-powered villains against high-op groups, and TO nonsense villains pitted against TO nonsense PCs.

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.
Once builds are revealed, please do not comment on errors or rules issues on entries unless you are a judge. If you have such a comment, wait until the final reveal to post it.

Round One: Leader of Armies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?395046)
Round Two: Nature's Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400517)
Round Three: Double Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?406015)
Round Four: Grave Keeper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413480)
Round Five: Crime Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420704)
Round Six: Ultimate Predator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430650)
Round Seven: Wicked Witch (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?444478)
Round Eight: Master of the Tundra (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?461482)
Round Nine: The Power of Villainous Thinking (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474230)
Round Ten: Henchman Are Villains Too (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?478068)
Round Eleven: The Higher They Rise The Harder They Fall (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?483052)
Round Twelve: Power Comes at a Price (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?488846)
Round Thirteen: The Gadgeteer - You Are Not Batman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?491932)
Round Fourteen: The Thing That Should Not Be (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?496091)
Round Fifteen: The Horsemen Are Drawing Nearer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?500829)
Round Sixteen: Burn Baby Burn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?503974)
Round Seventeen: It's Alive! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?507768)
Round Eighteen: This is Heresy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?511933)
Round Nineteen: He Slimed Me! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?516535)
Round Twenty: Elder Evil (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?521560)
Round Twenty-One: Yarr! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527415-Villainous-Competition-XXI-Yarr!)
Round Twenty-Two: I Am The Night! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?531199-Villainous-Competition-XXII-I-Am-The-Night!)
Round Twenty-Three: Two Heads Are Better Than One! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?535437-Villainous-Competition-XXIII-Two-Heads-Are-Better-Than-One)
Round Twenty-Four: Wrong For The Right Reasons! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?541650-Villainous-Competition-XXIV-Wrong-For-The-Right-Reasons)
Round Twenty-Five: Keeper of the Gate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?550139-Villainous-Competition-XXV-No-Solicitors!)
Round Twenty-Six: Get In MY BELLY (Swallow Whole) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556705-Villainous-Competition-XXVI-Swallow-Whole!)
Round Twenty-Seven: Multiple Personality Disorder (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?559748-Villainous-Competition-XXVII-Multiple-Personality-Disorder)
Round Twenty-Eight: Tiny Only! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?565176-Villainous-Competition-XXVIII-Bad-Things-Come-in-Small-Packages)
Round Twenty-Nine: Halloween Special (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?573496-Villainous-Competition-XXIX-A-Halloween-Special)
Round Thirty: One Feat to Rule Them ALL (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?577930-Villainous-Competition-XXX-One-Feat-to-Rule-Them-ALL)
Round Thirty-One: In Cold Blood (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?582492-Villainous-Competition-XXXI-In-Cold-Blood)
Round Thirty-Two: oh HELL NO! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?586377-Villainous-Competition-XXXII-Oh-HELL-NO!)
Round Thirty-Three: The Do Over (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?589107-Villainous-Competition-XXXIII-The-Do-Over)
Round Thirty-Four: Sword and Board (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?600139-Villainous-Competition-XXXIV-Sword-and-Board)
Round Thirty-Five: I Shall Call Him Mini Me! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?605444-Villainous-Competition-XXXV-I-Shall-Call-Him-Mini-Me!)
Round Thirty-Six: The Broken Man (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?612196-Villainous-Competition-XXXVI-The-Broken-Man)
Round Thirty-Seven: Yin and Yang (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?617485-Villainous-Competition-XXXVII-Yin-and-Yang)
Round Thirty Eight: Spooks and Spectres (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?621069-Villainous-Competition-XXXVIII-Spooks-and-Spectres)
Round Thirty Nine: Sorta Psuedo (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?625680-Villainous-Competition-XXXIX-Sorta-Psuedo)
Round Forty: Negative Nancy (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?629291-Villainous-Competition-XL-Negative-Nancy)
Round Forty One: Gojira! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632587-Villainous-Competition-XL-1-Gojira!)
Round Forty Two: Caine?! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?635461-Villainous-Competition-XLII-Caine-!)
Round Forty Three: The Big Dumb Brute (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?641088-Villainous-Competition-XLIII-The-Big-Dumb-Brute)
Forty Four: The Sheriff (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?642229-Villainous-Competition-XLIV-It-s-The-Sound-of-The-Police!)
Forty Five: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?643357-Villainous-Competition-XLV-Wolf-in-Sheep-s-Clothing)
Forty Six: Nemesis! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?644622-Villainous-Competition-XLVI-Nemesis!)
Forty Seven: Fairy Queen! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?647363-Villainous-Competition-XLVII-Fairy-Queen!)
Forty Eight: Zealot! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?648561-Villainous-Competition-XLVIII-Zealot!)

[Venger]

Clarifications

Monster Advancement and Challenge Rating:
Unless granted by a template or other unusual means, advancement through racial HD is only allowed for monsters with an advancement clause allowing it, and must comply with the rulings and limitations thereof. For example, an Aboleth can only advance up to 24 HD through normal advancement, an Aranea cannot be advanced that way at all, and an Assassin Vine has no limit for such advancement.
Class levels always come after racial HD, unless using non-standard means of gaining HD (Acquired templates granting HD, monsters with special advancement rules or fluff, etc.) If you're not sure, comply with this rule or PM the chair for guidance.
CR increase from HD advancement happens at the first HD of each CR bracket. For example: fey add 1 CR for each 4 HD, so adding 1 HD to an unadvanced fey creature would increase its CR by one, while the following 3 HD would not. Adding a fifth HD would increase CR by another step, and so on.
While all PC classes increase CR on a 1 to 1 ratio, NPC classes follow the rules set out in the DMG. NPC class levels increase CR by n-1 (at least 1) when n is the total number of NPC class levels. That is, adding a single adept level to an entry would increase its CR by 1; Adding a warrior level, or another adept level, would not increase its CR; and adding further levels in any NPC class would increase its CR on a 1 to 1 ratio.

3.0 content updates:
Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine.

Deriving Ability score modifiers:
For monsters or races that don't have explicit racial ability scores, remember that the system assumes monsters start with three 11s and three 10s. Simply decrease 10 from even ability scores and 11 from odd ability scores, and you'll have your modifiers! Watch out for monsters that explicitly already use the Elite Array, though – those are handled differently, of course.

Miscellaneous House Rules and clarifications
We'll be using the following Iron Chef house rules:

All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
Feats that affect class skills or the buying of skill ranks apply to the level you take them.
Weapons from soulmelds are considered to be magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming DR.
Unarmed Swordsage grants Improved Unarmed Strike at level 1.
One dispute per entry (per judgement). Submit disputes by PM to the Chair.
Ghostwalk ghost is banned
Gold, silver, and bronze are awarded regardless of ties (e.g., 2 silvers does not preclude bronze)
Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.

[loky1109]

It was sudden!

[H_H_F_F]

Excited! Might even join in on the fun, in one capacity or another.

[ciopo]

interesting theme, but I must say I'm having some trouble wrapping my head around it.

Like... that there will be minions is kind of expected, right?

and probably also expected that we don't make a 50 pages essay about the minions

but from the players perspective, most of the adventure will be about fightning minions and big bads that turn out to not have been the big bad after all, or at least that's where my trope'o'vision brings me


So I'm having a bit of a headscratch about this? because "at 5th level" the party will fight "the minions appropriate for 5th level"... no?

[Venger]

Reasonable questions. In order, without getting into chair speculation:

Sure, it's reasonable to assume that by using the powers you have chosen for your entry, they will be able to somehow bring other monsters to bear to accomplish their goals for them, be it in combat or otherwise.

That said, you are not expected to provide stats or details about the specific kinds of monsters or characters your character can command, following the same logic as the ban on leadership. I want to see one character who is on the theme, not a bunch of characters.

Same as other rounds, if it helps you to build, at 5th level, assume that they would be fighting your dish by itself, in addition to whatever controlled entities it can bring to bear since that's baked in to the CR system. Focus on showcasing what your character can do and don't worry too much about exactly what kind or how many minions will be involved since that will vary based on how you choose to execute the theme.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

[zlefin]

Oooh, an idea i've been vaguely thinking of recently that is perfect for this; though the design I prefer may just be too weak. and now that I think about it, it's really not original at all.

[3SecondCultist]

As is becoming the norm, I will likely make a build for this. We'll see if I end up submitting it in time. :smallbiggrin:

[Thurbane]

Interesting round, I think I'll try to get something in...

[H_H_F_F]

How's everyone doing?

[ciopo]

I got an entry in the work, and a terrible idea for a second, but I'm probably only going to do the one

[Inevitability]

How's everyone doing?

Almost done with my own entry, just gotta do skills and polish it a bit.

[3SecondCultist]

The mechanics of my entry are done, and I am hoping to sit down and do the write up at some point before the deadline.

[loky1109]

Only idea for now. Didn't start working yet.

[RaiKirah]

After a fairly long hiatus from the boards I've got an idea for this I quite like! Never submitted to this particular competition, so hopefully I don't mess up the format, but should have a build in time!

[loky1109]

Oh! Three days only! Need to hurry up!

[Venger]

How are everyone's builds coming?

[loky1109]

How are everyone's builds coming?

One build - 3/4, one - 1/2, no fluff and have three days off.

[ciopo]

I've run out of steam / been feeling the burnout, so I will post what 28k words of mostly tables I've done after the reveal, but I'm bowing out to the usual whims of time, seasonal me :)

[Venger]

That's too bad. Do you think a brief extension would help? In the interest of seeing more entries, I don't think that would be a problem. As it stands, I've just got one to post. The more the merrier and all.

[3SecondCultist]

I would personally love an extension. My crunch is done, but I haven't had the time or energy to sit down and fluff it all out. However, I'm going away on vacation as of this weekend so I can't even promise that I'll get it done with an extra few days.

Depends on what other people want, I think. As usual, I'm happy with my entry for me, even if I don't end up submitting it.

[loky1109]

Yeah. Extension sounds good.

[Venger]

Ask and ye shall receive:

Extension granted: let's say 3 more days and I'll check in then. OP updated.

[loky1109]

Send the first!

[loky1109]

Link for previous round in starting post is broken.

[Venger]

I've checked it, pasted in the link from the zealot round itself, and run into the same issue. My browser pastes "%22" before the https and deletes the colon afterwards for reasons I can't understand. I have no idea what the issue is. If anyone can figure it out, I would appreciate the input and will mend it accordingly.

[loky1109]

Can you copy-past this: Forty Eight: Zealot! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?648561-Villainous-Competition-XLVIII-Zealot!)?

[Venger]

That seems to have done it on my end. Is it visible to you? All the other rounds seem to work with quote marks so I'm not sure what it is about that one.

[loky1109]

Yes, it works. Don't know, too.

[H_H_F_F]

Looking forward to seeing everyone's work! I might judge, if I find the time.

[Venger]

That would be very helpful. Is anyone still working on an entry?

[RaiKirah]

Yup - Should make the deadline (I hope)

[evedgebah]

Never entered one of these before. Was inspired.

test

[loky1109]

It's two hours till deadline, isn't it? Or fourteen?

[Venger]

It was 2, but it's 3am here and I really should go to bed and will be asleep in 2 hours. So consider it 14. Deadline in the OP amended accordingly.

[Venger]

Time for the reveal! Please refrain from posting until I give the all clear.

[Venger]

"Do not let him speak; he will put a spell on us."

Steel, the Conscript Lord

https://i.imgur.com/gUImNCF.png

“Let it be known: in the final days of the world, there will appear an armor-clad crusader, as tall as five men, who fights knowing rest nor comfort. He shall wield a sword of fire, and, in the voice of his lord, call the faithful to war unending. Many shall bear his mark, and he shall lead them in battle against great evil.“
-Unnamed Divine Oracle

LE Advanced Prodigy Gulthir Monk 1 / Fiend of Possession 2 / Paladin of Tyranny 2 / Tattooed Monk 3 / Totemist 2

Elite Array: 14 STR / 12 DEX / 10 CON / 13 INT / 8 WIS / 15 CHA
Gulthir modifiers: 22 STR / 16 DEX / 18 CON / 11 INT / 12 WIS / 23 CHA
Prodigy: 22 STR / 16 DEX / 18 CON / 11 INT / 12 WIS / 25 CHA
Large -> Huge: 30 STR / 14 DEX / 22 CON / 11 INT / 12 WIS / 25 CHA
ASI (8,12,16,20,24): 30 STR / 14 DEX / 22 CON / 11 INT / 12 WIS / 30 CHA

"The nature of humanity is not selfishness, nor goodness. It is sloth! How often have you not sat and stared, knowing a task was at hand, yet unable to bring yourself to act?"

(I was beautiful once)

"Could selfishness motivate you? Could altruism? Fear for your reputation? Love for your fellows? Perhaps at times. But these things are imposed, summoned up to banish baser urges! Just as a stone will not move without external impulse, both mind and body desire inaction first and foremost."

(I was an erinyes, versed in fine food and music, favored in the court of Mammon... or was it Fierna? I remember my crimes; not their circumstances)

"Sloth is inescapable. Even the greatest heroes must recover from battle, must let their spirit rest. Their great deeds matter not, nor does their purity of spirit; all will at one point say 'to here I go, but no further, for my will has run out before my body has'."

(I slipped up. A deal with some mortal, a composer; freedom for his father's soul, while he would spend his life writing for me alone. Some superiors caught on, tipped off by an ambitious underling of mine. They said they saw it coming, that a devil's duty should be to her liege, to Baator, not to art)

"Weep! For in spite of our many failings, the gods have given us many great tasks. Abyssal hordes assault our world, assault all worlds, even now as I speak. This fight is ours, and woe to he who looks aside, who leaves the battle to others, who pursues idle pleasures even as the wolves are at the door."

(They tied me down, shaved my hair, cut skin down to bone and made it heal into scars. They broke my arms and legs and left them to grow back mangled. My wings they cut to ribbons and threw to the fire. My face they took, leaving only pulpy flesh)

"To many of you, this sermon must be surprising, as it is unlike those I regularly make. The reason is that last night, an angel visited me, and in a state between wake and dream shared with me a great truth."

(At last, another erinyes took her blade to me. She cut two ragged wounds aside my head, and told me they were to be my ears. She cut a slit across my face, which was to be my mouth. At last, she took a stake and struck two holes in my skull, which were to be my eyes. Thus maimed, she mocked me, invited me to enjoy all that I once appreciated)

"The angel, clad in a warrior's plate and bearing a blazing blade, wished for me to call out to the righteous. One year from this day, he shall reappear, and lead a crusade of the faithful."

(They sent me off to the front. Avernus, a place of blood and death. I was a gift of sorts to the archduke, a repayment of some ancient debt. I fought a thousand battles, almost died a hundred deaths. The taste of ash, the screams of the dying, the sight of corpses piled upon corpses: all those were my new life)

"To all who take up arms, who acknowledge their duty, who resist that great sin sloth, he promises glory, gold, and entry into heaven on that distant day they die."

(I realized then that my makers, perhaps unintentionally, had been right)

"And yet! Offering us all this, purpose, guidance, glory, peace after death, the angel still promised more! For many souls, noble they might be, will still not overcome their sloth. And so, they need but seek out the angel or its servants, kneel before it, and be blessed with resolve unfaltering! No fear, no exhaustion, no bewitchings of the will shall foil them, no weakness of the spirit shall dull their blows."

(For all the cruelties visited upon me, was the Abyss not worse? Could its senseless bloodshed compare to my punishment? Who was I to enjoy fine symphonies, while a thousand devils had only the screams of demons to soothe their ears?)

"I myself shall, in days or weeks, join this angel. My life nears its end, and though I do not doubt my soul's destination, I will fight for others'. I shall take the angel's blessing, and join its cause. There, I hope I shall find many of you, so that we may fight as brothers."

(At last, when I had proved my worth to Bel, did I receive my true mission. The material plane was rotten: a place of decadence, of splendor, rejoicing in its beauty yet contemptuous of those that fought its foes. How many souls had lived, died, and gone to the upper planes without raising a single hand against chaos? They would contribute: one way or another)





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


10
Advanced Prodigy Gulthir (14 RHD, CR 10)
+14/+9/+4
+9
+9
+9
Balance 5, Bluff 8, Concentration 8, Disguise 8, Intimidate 16, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 17, Speak Language (Common), Spot 17, Use Magic Device 8
Brand of the Nine Hells (Bel), Mark of Avernus, Ability Focus (Swallow of Domination), Mindsight, Endurance
Gulthir traits, +4 on charisma-based checks


11
Monk 1
+14/+9/+4
+11
+11
+11
Bluff 9, Concentration 10
Improved Unarmed StrikeB, Improved GrappleB, Sun School
Unarmored AC, Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike


12
Fiend of Possession 1
+14/+9/+4
+13
+13
+13
Bluff 11
-
Ethereal Form, Hide Presence, Possess Object


13
Fiend of Possession 2
+15/+10/+5
+14
+14
+14
Bluff 13
-
Curse, Magic Item


14
Paladin of Tyranny 1
+16/+11/+6/+1
+16
+14
+14
Knowledge (Religion) 6
Steadfast Determination
Aura of Evil, Smite Good 1/day, Detect Good


15
Paladin of Tyranny 2
+17/+12/+7/+2
+17
+14
+14
Knowledge (Religion) 8
-
Divine Grace, Deadly Touch


16
Tattooed Monk 1
+17/+12/+7/+2
+19
+16
+16
Concentration 14
-
Monk Abilities, Tattoo (Bellflower)


17
Tattooed Monk 2
+18/+13/+8/+3
+20
+17
+17
Concentration 18
Combat Reflexes
-


18
Tattooed Monk 3
+19/+14/+9/+4
+20
+17
+17
Concentration 22
-
Tattoo (White Mask)


19
Totemist 1
+19/+14/+9/+4
+22
+19
+17
Concentration 26
-
Wild Empathy


20
Totemist 2
+20/+15/+10/+5
+23
+20
+17
Concentration 27, Listen 18, Spellcraft 2
Mage Slayer
Totem Chakra Bind (+1 capacity)



Soulmelds: Girallon Arms, Blink Shirt (Totem bound), either Pegasus Cloak (normally) or Disenchanter Mask (during downtime). Steel has two points of essentia, both invested in the blink shirt.

CR 10
Steel doesn't need any classes to be a notable threat in combat, though at these levels he's more of a random encounter than a true villain. +32 grapple is beastly, +15/+11/+10 saves are pretty good, and Mark of Avernus is a great feat that can be used to avoid threats (immediate action Greater Teleport), sneak in an extra attack, or just Villain Exit Stage Left once that HP bar starts looking low. The prerequisite feat gives us a fancy cold iron longsword that deals more damage to demons or Good creatures, which I suppose is alright. More importantly, because we're a Gulthir, we can swallow (standard action) and disgorge (full-round action) grappled creatures to temporarily dominate them (they get a save every turn).

There's a bit of a question raised by the Gulthir's base statblock: what happens if you swallow someone and then teleport away? Personally, it seems clear to me that the victim doesn't teleport along: Greater Teleport is especially self-only, and it'd give Summon Monster VI a wholly unintended use. As Swallow of Domination triggers when someone enters your stomach, rather than when you regurgitate them, it seems to me like the creature you leave behind would still be dominated and start making saving throws normally (the RAW argument that you never 'disgorged' them and they thus never get to make saving throws is too much even for me).

15 ft. reach and spammable teleportation makes it difficult for PCs to consistently get in melee range. Worse, anyone grabbed with an AoO will be subject to a Swallow of Domination the next turn... which Steel can then follow up with an immediate-action Greater Teleport, either repositioning some distance away or leaving the fight entirely, while the dominated PC is now free to attack their allies. By the way, Swallow of Domination has DC 27 (10+7 from RHD+8 from charisma+2 from feat) at these levels: the wizard with okay Wisdom has maybe a 20% chance to break free, the cleric with Iron Will might almost get even odds, but most characters are stuck waiting for a nat 20.

Skills are a bit of an afterthought, but serve to compliment our sky-high Charisma. Bluff and Intimidate give us a fair deal of social options between them, Disguise makes it slightly more plausible to pass ourselves off as a celestial (if necessary, wear full armor for these scenes already: you aren't proficient but if combat happens you can always teleport out of it). UMD is just solid utility, Spot and Listen are never bad either, and Balance saves us from the dread level 1 wizard with Grease. Concentration helps when defensively casting our Greater Teleport SLA. Note that many of those skills get +4 from Prodigy.

CR 13
We're a giant devil with a heavy focus on charisma... so naturally, we take a level in monk. Monk gives us free Improved Unarmed Strike (useful for later) and Improved Grapple (useful now). We get a minor AC bonus, a tumble bonus, the ability to throw in an unarmed attack if we ever feel like full attacking, and Flurry of Blows: something we're never going to use but that qualifies us for the excellent Sun School feat.

Flash of Sunset, one of its three tactical maneuvers (and the only one we care about), gives us a free attack every time we 'move adjacent to a foe instantaneously'. It's pretty neat with standard-action teleports, letting us vacate our gizzard and immediately grab a new foe, but it works extremely well with Mark of Avernus. Wizard about to cast Dismissal? Teleport over as an immediate action, make a bite attack, start a grapple, swallow him next turn.

Meanwhile, we also get our main out-of-combat trick online. Two levels in Fiend of Possession give us Curse, which lets us possess objects to bestow curses on anyone who touches them, which persist after you vacate the item. One of the possible curses listed in the BoVD (p28) is 'Every time the victim makes a d20 roll, a roll of 20 counts as a 1'. Remember how for many creatures, the only way to escape our dominating swallow was a nat 20?

As if that wasn't enough, different curses stack. Desperate for a high-Will servant? Hit it with -4 to all rolls and -6 to wisdom, and see if it still manages to resist. Swallow of Domination's save DC is 28, but with the penalties you impose and the highest possible roll being a 19, creatures need a Will save of +16 to have a chance of breaking free (again, there's a cheesier reading where the curse penalty is unnamed and therefore stacks with itself, but I'm making a point of avoiding that kind of nonsense). Just tie a dominated victim up, start stacking curses, re-swallow if needed, and release them in the confidence that they won't escape your hold. How many level 13 PCs have +16 Will? A cleric would need 26 wisdom before magic items, which even an anthropomorphic bat struggles to hit.

CR 16
It's about time we put our sky-high charisma to use. Paladin of Tyranny is a great fit thematically and gives us heavy armor and a shield (which is actually a decent option on a build where weapon damage is counterproductive and survival is everything), as well as 1/day Smite Good, which offers a solid +9-10 to hit on our bite if we really need to connect. We then get the insanely good Divine Grace for a massive bonus to all saving throws, further augmenting our survivability, and finally enter Tattooed Monk.

Tattooed Monk has one of the best payoffs for high charisma monks, of which I'm sure there are many, in the Bellflower tattoo. Once per day, as a move action, gain your charisma modifier as an enhancement bonus to any stat.

Now, the rules aren't explicit about this, but in general if you use boosts to generate an ongoing effect, the effect does not weaken once the boosts wear off. If you temporarily raise your caster level and cast Darkness, the spell doesn't have its duration reduced after the CL goes back to normal. If you need your ally to save against Hold Person, dispelling the caster's stat buffs won't help. And if you apply a Dominate Monster effect on a turn where your charisma is boosted by nine or ten points, the raised DC should simply apply

We can obviously also use this to boost any other stat (str for attacks and grapples, con for saves and HP) if it turns out to be necessary. With a build that doesn't really need full attacks, locks foes down with AoOs, and can if need be use immediate action teleportation, you should have a move action available quite frequently.

Speaking of constitution boosts, those work great with our shiny new Steadfast Determination, which also serves to make the Tattooed Monk feat tax slightly less pointless. It effectively gives us a +5 bonus on Will and stops us from failing Fortitude saves on a natural 1 (note: our fortitude save modifier, before temporary boosts, is currently +34).

CR 20
More levels in tattooed monk let us use Bellflower twice per day for three rounds at a time. We also gain White Mask, which boosts our Bluff to sky-high levels and gives immunity to most magical detection spells (like so much of Tattooed Monk, it is a great ability that's inexplicably been placed on a monk-centric class). Also, our unarmed strike is upped to 3d6.

The second Bellflower use makes an additional trick possible: boost your charisma to 40 (30 natural, +10 enchantment), then use the tattoo again, overriding the previous +10 enchantment bonus with a +15 enchantment bonus, and ending up with a charisma of 45. This makes the DC for SoD two points higher than it'd otherwise be, but can only be pulled off once per day (then again, how many targets don't make the usual DC?).

Another use of Bellflower: after we hit 30 charisma, if we activate the ability once, our UMD increases to the point where we can activate CL9 scrolls (aka, level 5 spells) 95% of the time, which represents a huge jump in reliably available power.

We also obtain Combat Reflexes, giving us more AoOs and more chances to bite and grapple, and Mage Slayer, which makes for great lockdown together with teleportation and our giant reach.

Magical Beasts were always a solid creature type for Steel to dominate (poor Will saves, good abilities, large variety), and constant exposure to their souls has left its marks. Totemist gives us a Blink Shirt and a Totem Chakra to bind it to. With move action teleportation, we can now settle into a comfortable combat routine of move action teleport, Flash of Sunset bite to grapple, standard action swallow, and then outside of our turn possible AoO bites with Mark of Avernus as a backup panic button.


Conclusion:
At level 20, we end up with about 29 AC (+8 full plate, +2 shield, +10 natural, +1 dexterity, -2 size) before considering special materials or magic items (note that both your shield and armor can be enchanted separately). It's not insane, but it's hardly maximum power attack bait either.

Steel's grapple check is +44 (+8 size, +10 strength, +20 BAB, +2 girallon arms, +4 improved grapple), which can be increased to +49 with the Bellflower Tattoo.

Steel's saving throws are +39 Fortitude (+23 base, +10 charisma, +6 constitution), +32 Reflex (+20 base, +10 charisma, +2 dexterity), and +34 Will (+17 base, +10 charisma, +6 constitution, +1 mage slayer). Fortitude saves aren't failed on a natural 1. Additionally, Steel has DR 10/Good,

Swallow of Domination has a DC of 29 (10 + 7 from RHD + 10 from charisma + 2 from ability focus), which the Bellflower Tattoo can raise to 34 for three rounds twice per day, and to 36 by stacking Bellflower uses. Steel has the ability to lower the saves of victims by -7 and turn rolls of 20 into 1, essentially forcing a Will modifier of +17 to have a chance of making the lower DC, and +22 or +24 for the higher ones. This puts things like pit fiends, balors, solars, and formian queens all in reach of perma-domination, just to name some high-level MM monsters. PCs similarly need insanely high stats: a cleric with two high-Will PrCs would need about 26 wisdom before items to make the highest save (+16 base, +8 modifier). (Technically, targets given an order against their nature receive +2 on the save, but any truly high-Will target is probably a caster and can just be used for utility and behind-the-scenes support, rather than outright combat)

Finally, we have a Bluff modifier of +37 and are immune to magic that'd pierce it. We also have an impressive +31 to Intimidate, +33 to Concentration, and +22 to Use Magic Device, to name the skills we're likely to use often. All of these can be boosted by at least +5 with the Bellflower Tattoo.
Out-of-combat, you obviously want to grab as many casters and brutes as possible. Clerics are the main target for several reasons: they have really good utility spells and buffs (Deeper Darkness is notably costless concealment for you), they get Plane Shift to ferry people to Baator, and removing them from the equation also removes many of the people who could identify you or (if Good) produce the holy water that undoes your domination. Evil clerics get Command Undead, which can give you allip servants-by-proxy that you can use to drain the Wisdom of anyone who's just a little too resistant to dominate.

Another way to ensure wisdom damage is through sleep deprivation: after keeping a character awake for twice (constitution modifier) days, it starts taking a point of wisdom damage per day, sometimes allowing for a brief window where they may be dominated without falling unconscious or coming under an Insanity effect. Once it sleeps, this forces you to do the whole procedure again, so make productive use of the time and use the creature for Liquid Pain extraction (which, as a bonus, is sure to keep it up).

While you can't teleport caster support along, scrolls are cheap and lightweight, and you have a very high UMD check. If the PCs feel confident they're about to counter your strategy, just pull out a scroll of Maze, AMF, or simply Disintegrate.

In-combat, there's a few tricks worth noting.

-If you find a caster with Still Spell, you can carry them around in your gut and enjoy free buffs during combat (later, you teleport away, leaving the dominated NPC as phase 2 of the fight).

-Pinpoint the location of a PC somehow (mindsight works well for this), teleport in, get a free attack from Sun School, possibly get a surprise round to make a swallow attempt, and teleport out as an immediate action with Mark of Avernus, possibly leaving a dominated PC to fight his friends for a bit. Very little counterplay, with Mark of Avernus available throughout as a panic button. Speaking of MoA, it recharges after 'the encounter', so you can pull this one again and again until the PCs find a way to counter the strategy somehow.

-Dominate someone capable of casting Antimagic Field. Swallow them, and have them ready an action to cast the spell the moment they are free and see you make a bite attack. When PCs show up loaded with Protection From Evil and Freedom of Movement buffs, wait for one to get in melee and teleport a short distance. The mage gets free, you make a sun school attack, the mage interrupts and casts AMF, and your target is stripped of all protections just in time for you to start a grapple. Swallow of Domination is (Ex), for some reason, so you can apply it within an AMF!

Basically, Steel's main weaknesses are anything that prevents grapples and anything that prevents mental control. The second can be discouraged by bringing servants that would, even if freed from mental control, still happily attack the PCs. The first requires some dispelling support (if necessary through UMD), ambushes when the PCs buffs are down, or simply non-combat means of assault (abducting a PC's family is the classic here).


The mechanical level
Firstly, I want to stress that parties can meaningfully interact with Steel's minions. Low-level spells like Protection from Evil can temporarily or permanently break the devil's control, something like Remove Curse will eventually let the subject break free (but 'fight unfamiliar people who cast spells on you' is a solid standing command to issue), and holy water is cheap, but unintuitive to use and only rarely carried by PCs. Still, dominated monsters aren't just diplomacy-immune roadblocks, and a party can find ways to deal with them that wouldn't apply to uncontrolled monsters.

Steel's main goals are simple: create local bases, identify highly powerful individuals, preferably attracted to the cause of law or evil already (to minimize the penalties imposed on them by Baator), and then use dominated clerics to bodily shift any priority targets to Avernus, where they may fight in the Blood War until their death. This base plot can easily be expanded: will Bel use the dominated adventurers to further some other goal? Is a valuable ally of the PCs dominated and abducted, forcing them to descend into hell to save him? Or perhaps Steel turns out to be the power behind a recent LE villain's rise: having removed key rivals and collecting new servants from the despot even now.

At low levels, the party might come across small enclaves of dominated creatures, working together in eerie unison to fight the forces of chaos, join up with more dominated creatures, or simply find and subdue more valuable servants, which they leave unconscious for Steel to swallow and disgorge once he teleports in. At this stage, Steel is probably just teleporting all over the map, trying to locate and obtain the most valuable mortals: trolls, adventurers, ogre mages, young dragons, whatever you feel like making the PCs fight.

They might also come across some of Steel's attempts to establish legitimacy: how to feel about an orc barbarian, eyes filled with slime and clearly under some kind of mental compulsion, who explains that an armor-clad angel dominated him and now compels him to seek out and destroy demonic cults? Is it right to let such a thing happen? Should the orc be freed to return to his life of banditry? Should he be killed? Assisted in battle?

At mid levels, Steel's dominated monsters can grow with the party. He might have enough clerics under his sway to start directly sending the best dominated troops to Avernus, where they may join the eternal battle against invading demons. Two 9th-level clerics can shift six people that way each day, and Steel is set up to have much more than two of those clerics (if six doesn't seem like much... a mid-level PC, depending on build, can turn out much better at fighting demons than most devils of similar CR). Gulthirs can also create new Gulthirs from evil outsiders they consume: these can serve as lieutenants or lesser foes, especially if advanced somehow: if the PCs are puzzling out Steel's nature then these will serve as a hint.

After obtaining the White Mask tattoo, Steel can safely pose as a LG or LN outsider even in front of those who should be able to tell otherwise. With this influence, he begins to manipulate people into joining his cause of their own free will. After all, if the demons win the Blood War, is all of creation not at stake? Steel doesn't hesitate to test these assemblies, leading them into battle against the forces of Chaos, until at last the armies are winnowed down and the survivors can be shifted to Baator itself. Anyone who speaks up is swallowed, dominated, and made to act out the part of a loyal crusader: it's not about fooling the others, it's about showing that resistance is pointless.

A particularly interesting high-level (from CR 15) plot point can involve Steel seeking to obtain a Voidstone (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?480986-The-Voidstone-Arsenal-For-when-you-really-want-stuff-gone) weapon. With Steadfast Determination and a sky-high Fortitude save, the devil is immune to the weapon's annihilating effects, but the people he strikes with it aren't. PCs will have to disrupt his access to the negative energy plane, destroy his supply of workable voidstone, or otherwise foil the plan: without ending up destroyed by the annihilating material themselves.

An ultimate plan to place the campaign's climax around can be a great crusade raised by Steel (especially if directed at some undeserving target), or an insurrection of sorts in hell, where Steel leads a small legion of dominated mortals into a raid on several important dukes on the second and third layer. His goal: to mobilize hell, and force the archdevils into devoting more of its resources towards the Blood War and away from their own schemes and pursuits. For obvious reasons, Hell, the Abyss, and even Heaven would hate to see this happen... but when four high-level adventurers can upset the established order of the multiverse, how much can a hundred do?

Steel should make several appearances throughout the campaign. As he's much more mobile than anyone he dominates, he'll end up with scattered bands of followers, each perhaps enough to fill a dungeon with. If they are attacked, Steel might show up, but he has no interest in a fight to the death and will leave if repelled. These encounters can also convince Steel of the PCs' value as servants, and he might plot to acquire them somehow. Some of the combat tricks outlined above can be used to keep repeated encounters fresh; differences in dominated subjects will also change the tone of fights.

If you're not very interested in the social side of Steel, feel free to drop White Mask and give him the Unicorn tattoo instead to get a d20 reroll when needed. Other interesting combat-oriented options are Scorpion (impose an attack roll penalty 1/day), Falcon (fear immunity and a massive fear save bonus for allies), and Chameleon (alter self shenanigans).

An earlier version of this build didn't have Totemist and instead took extra levels in monk and paladin for Invisible Fist and Aura of Despair (possibly with the Epic feats augmenting AoD later on). It makes for a more passive, mook-reliant built, but provides support for these mooks in turn by causing -4 on saving throws in a large area. The saving throw penalty also lets Steel keep slightly more powerful victims around, though they have to be incapacitated every time he teleports away.

Marshall is another option to give your allies charisma synergies. By taking Skill Focus (Diplomacy) early on, a late Marshall level can effectively give you a third epic feat! Too bad most of them kind of suck.

Open Soul Chakra is a valid feat for your 24th HD, and gives you a free standard action 1/day with Threefold Mask of the Chimera (plus flanking immunity), plus another if you spend another feat to improve its capacity. Sadly, you still only have a single chakra bind, so this requires giving up on the Blink Shirt movement.

Spellcasting Harrier is an Epic feat that can plausibly serve as an alternative to Mage Slayer, but its advantages rely on baiting foes into casting defensively (whereas Mage Slayer informs them that this is impossible). Once enemies wisen up to this, it loses any advantage over Mage Slayer, which is bad for a villain intended to clash with the same PCs over and over.

Gulthir - MM5
Prodigy - DMG2

Paladin of Tyranny - UA
Totemist (+ soulmelds) - MoI
Fiend of Possession - FF
Tattooed Monk - CWar

Brand of the Nine Hells, Mark of Avernus - FCII
Mindsight - LoM
Sun School - CWar
Steadfast Determination - PHB2
Mage Slayer - CArc

Image generated by craiyon (https://www.craiyon.com/), then cast to grayscale. Prompt used: "armored man with unhinged jaw"

[Venger]

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Think of this world as Isekai-land, you're all special snowflakes, in that your "OMG FAST" leveling speed is in-universe justified as being the whatever special boon you get from not being in kansas anymore. It shall be mostly a sandbox for you to play around in, with plenty of tropes played straight, like adventurer guild and whatnot. The isekai effect is well known in universe, so people *know* that "you adventurers" have that special extra
Hey! no peeking!I said no peeking!overarching behind the scene plot: the "adventurer guild" is a "nursery" kind of place run by a shadow cabal of doppelgangers/illithids for the purpose of growing up excellent pawns, between monster-of-the-week adventures, the main antagonist will be the doppelganger "handler" that has been assigned to the PC, codename "Diem Pissì" because they are sure to not remember whatever random generator names I will come up for his cover identities. They may or may not realize those "vastly different" people they interact with is actually always the same dude, who may or may not accompany them on occasion.

If you can get one PC alone, see if you can land that mind control, that's more or less game over for that pc, it becomes an NPC, and he's never seen again, nor is that specific cover identity it disappeared with. Drop hints or anvils on the players about an overarching plot thread of "adventurers going missing"
??(real alignment NE) Doppelganger, Chameleon 10 / Expert 2 / Marshal 1 / Zhentarim spy 5
AbilitiesInitialRace / Template8th ASI12-20th ASIEnhancementInherentAbility boonTotalSTR826420DEX1026422CON1226424INT14264632W IS154364638CHA13216426
Schrödinger ability boon may be shifted from INT to CHA or DEX or STR as the flavor of the day commands
enhancement and inherent bonuses are fiated in because this is VC and we are the GM, not hapless players that need justifications

HP 8 + 14d8 + 7d6 + 154 (249)
AC : the baseline for whatever armor we end up using
Saves, with +5 morale from conviction, +6 resistance and +4/0/8 untyped from boons are fort 29 refl 27 will 47 , Will may be 4 less and either fort or reflex may be 4 higher due to Schrödinger ability boon being elsewhere than arcane focus
CR/HDClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveReflex SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsClass Features-/1Racial Hit Die 1+1+0+2+220: {+4} Bluff: 4; {+4} Disguise: 4; {+1} Forgery: 1; {+1} gather information: 1; {+4} Sense motive: 4; {+2} Spellcraft: 2; {+2} Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 1; {+1} Concentration: 1; Able learner -/2RHD 2+2+0+3+35: {+1} Bluff: 5; {+1} Disguise: 5; Forgery: 1; gather information: 1; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 2; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 2; Concentration: 1; {+2} Second impression; -/3RHD 3+3+1+3+35: {+1} Bluff: 6; {+1} Disguise: 6; {+1} Forgery: 2; {+1} gather information: 2; Sense motive: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 3; Know (planes): 2; Sleight of hand: 2; Concentration: 1; Deceitful 3/4RHD 4+4+1+4+45: {+1} Bluff: 7; {+1} Disguise: 7; {+1} Forgery: 3; {+1} gather information: 3; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 3; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 3; Concentration: 1; Change shape, Detect thoughts4/5Expert 1+4+1+4+69: {+1} Bluff: 8; {+1} Disguise: 8; {+1} Forgery: 4; {+1} gather information: 4; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 3; Know (planes): 2; Sleight of hand: 3; Concentration: 1; {+2} Profession (Cleric): 2; {+2} Profession (Wizard): 2; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 1; 4/6Expert 2+5+1+4+69: {+1} Bluff: 9; {+1} Disguise: 9; {+1} Forgery: 5; {+1} gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 3; Know (planes): 2; Sleight of hand: 3; Concentration: 1; {+4} Use Magic device: 4; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 2; Extend spell 5/7Zhentarim Spy 1+5+1+6+89: {+1} Bluff: 10; {+1} Disguise: 10; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 4; Know (planes): 2; {+6} Sleight of hand: 9; Concentration: 1; UMD: 4; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; Cover identity6/8Chameleon 1+5+1+6+87: {+1} Bluff: 11; {+1} Disguise: 11; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 5; Know (planes): 2; {+2} Sleight of hand: 11; Concentration: 1; UMD: 4; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; {+2} Conceal spellcasting; Aptitude focus 1/day (+2)7/9Chameleon 2+6/+1+1+6+87: {+1} Bluff: 12; {+1} Disguise: 12; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; {+3} Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; Sleight of hand: 11; Concentration: 1; UMD: 4; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; {+2} False theurgy; Invisible spellBonus feat8/10Chameleon 3+7/+2+2+7+97: {+1} Bluff: 13; {+1} Disguise: 13; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+2} Sleight of hand: 13; Concentration: 1; {+3} UMD: 7; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; Mimic class feature 1/day9/11Chameleon 4+8/+3+2+7+97: {+1} Bluff: 14; {+1} Disguise: 14; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 14; Concentration: 1; {+4} UMD: 11; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; Ability boon +210/12Chameleon 5+8/+3+2+7+97: {+1} Bluff: 15; {+1} Disguise: 15; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 15; Concentration: 1; {+4} UMD: 15; Profession (Cleric): 2; Profession (Wizard): 2; Profession (Martial dude): 2; Mastery of Faerie EnchantmentAptitude focus 2/day (+4)11/13Chameleon 6+9/+4+3+8+107: {+1} Bluff: 16; {+1} Disguise: 16; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 16; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 16; {+2} Profession (Cleric): 4; {+1} Profession (Wizard): 3; Profession (Martial dude): 2; Mimic class feature 2/day12/14Chameleon 7+10/+5+3+8+107: {+1} Bluff: 17; {+1} Disguise: 17; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 17; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 17; Profession (Cleric): 4; {+1} Profession (Wizard): 4; Profession (Martial dude): 2; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 2; Ability boon +4, double aptitude13/15Zhentarim Spy 2+11/+6+/1+3+9+119: {+1} Bluff: 18; {+1} Disguise: 18; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 18; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 18; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 3; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 4; {+2} Profession (Ranger): 2; Sudden silentSneak attack +1d6, Undetectable alignment14/16Zhentarim Spy 3+12/+7/+2+4+9+119: {+1} Bluff: 19; {+1} Disguise: 19; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 19; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 19; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 4; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 6; {+2} Profession (Ranger): 4; Poison use, unlikely cover15/17Zhentarim Spy 4+13/+8/+3+4+10+129: {+1} Bluff: 20; {+1} Disguise: 20; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 20; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 20; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 5; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 8; {+2} Profession (Ranger): 6; Slippery mind, sneak attack +2d616/18Zhentarim Spy 5+13/+8/+3+4+10+129: {+1} Bluff: 21; {+1} Disguise: 21; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 21; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 21; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; {+1} Profession (Martial dude): 6; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 10; {+2} Profession (Ranger): 8; Sudden stillDeep cover17/19Chameleon 8+14/+9/+4+4+10+127: {+1} Bluff: 22; {+1} Disguise: 22; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 22; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 22; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; Profession (Martial dude): 6; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 12; {+1} Profession (Ranger): 9; Rapid refocus18/20Chameleon 9+14/+9/+4+5+11+137: {+1} Bluff: 23; {+1} Disguise: 23; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 23; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 23; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; Profession (Martial dude): 6; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 14; {+1} Profession (Ranger): 10; Mimic class feature 3/day19/21Chameleon 10+15/+10/+5+5+11+137: {+1} Bluff: 24; {+1} Disguise: 24; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 24; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 24; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; Profession (Martial dude): 6; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 16; {+1} Profession (Ranger): 11; Epic skill focus (Sleight of hand)Ability boon +6, aptitude focus 3/day (+4)20/22Marshal 1+15/+10/+5+7+11+157: {+1} Bluff: 25; {+1} Disguise: 25; Forgery: 5; gather information: 5; Sense motive: 4; Spellcraft: 8; Know (planes): 2; {+1} Sleight of hand: 25; Concentration: 1; {+1} UMD: 25; Profession (Cleric): 4; Profession (Wizard): 4; Profession (Martial dude): 6; {+2} Profession (Mystic theurge): 18; {+1} Profession (Ranger): 12; Epic skill focus (Bluff)Minor aura
Doppelganger: (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/doppelganger.htm) Our base monster, 4 RHD of monstrous humanoid, CR 3. all ready to pretend to be a myriad different people Ability modifiers +2/+2/+2/+2/+4/+2, 4 Natural armor bonus, darkvision 60ft, medium size, 30ft land speed. Immunity to sleep and charm effects
Detect thoughts (su): as the spell, but continuous and supressable/resumable as a free action, CL18, DC 10+1/2HD+CHA, so 14-32 depending on level/circumstances. also grants +4 circumstance bonus to disguise and bluff checks
Change shape (su): at will assume form of any medium or small humanoid, grants +10 circumstance bonus to disguise that explicitly stacks with the one granted by read thoughts
+4 racial bonus to bluff and disguise checks
Racial skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Listen, Sense motive, Spot
Expert: (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/npcClasses/expert.htm) "NPC" class from the Dungeon Master Guide. d6 hit die, 6 skill points, medium BAB, poor/poor/good saves. Per the DMG, 2 level of this is only 1 CR
Class skills any 10 we chooses, We picked forgery, gather information and 8 more that are rendundant with class skills from other classes, for your peace of mind let's say it's the five professions, spellcraft, UMD, sleight of hand
Zhentarim Spy: Prestige class from Player's Guide to Faerun. d6 hit die, 6 skill points, medium BAB, poor/good/good saves. Prereq any evil, BAB +5, bluff 5 ranks, disguise 5 ranks, forgery 5 ranks, gather information 5 ranks. Cover Identity(ex): For each distinct craft of profession with 2 or more ranks, we may create or change around specific cover identities. While using a cover identity we gain 3+ranks/2 to disguise checks and 1+rank/2 bonus to bluff and gather information. Changing a cover identity information takes 1d4 tendays and6d10 gp
Sneak attack: Extra damage dealt to enemies caught flat footed or flanked, like and stacks with the rogue feature
Undetectable alignment(ex): same as the spell with the same name, but always active
Poison use(ex): no risk of poisoning ourselves when applying poison
Unlikely cover(ex): For at most CHAMOD covers, if they are drastically different from our base form, the bonus granted raises to 6+2/2ranks on disguise checks and 2 +2/2ranks for bluff and gather information
Slippery mind(ex): If we fail a saving throw against an enchantment effect, we are entitled to try to save again one round later
Deep cover(ex): for at most INTMOD covers, when using said covers, scrying and mind reading effects reveals nothing of her true nature
Chameleon: PRC from Races of Destiny. d8 hit die, 4 skill points, medium BAB, poor/poor/poor saves. Prereq human or doppelganger, Bluff 8 ranks, disguise 8 ranks, sense motive 4 ranks, spellcraft 4 ranks, Able learner. Aptitude focus: N/day selectable feature packages from list, takes 1 hour to change aptitude, no feature granted by the aptitude can be used to qualify for other things Arcane focus: Prepare and cast spell as a wizard does, from any arcane list, also +2/4 competence to arcana, spellcraft and +2/4 to will saves
Combat focus: profiency with all martial weapons, +2/4 competence bonus to attack/damage roll, +2/4 bonus to fort saves
Divine focus: Prepare and cast spell as a cleric does, from any divine list, +2/4 competence bonus to religion and +2/4 bonus to fort and will saves
Stealth focus: Trapfinding, uncanny dodge, +2/4 competence on disable device, hide, move silently, open lock, search. +2/4 to reflex saves
Wild focus: Wild empathy, woodland stride, +2/4 competence to climb, handle animal, jump, nature, survival. +2/4 to fort saves
Bonus feat: Any one feat you meet the prerequisites for. It may be changed at the start of the day. can be used to qualify for things.
Mimic class feature: a pool of N/day uses from a list of features, can not be used to qualify for other things. Evasion: Immediate action after a successfull reflex save, gain the titular monk feature Evasion for 1 minute (no damage on reflex saves that would be for half damage)
Rage: +4STR/+4CON/-2AC/+2morale to will saves for 1+CONMOD rounds, and all the other attendant conditions of the barbarian feature
Smite: add CHAMOD to the attack roll and deal extra CLASSLEVEL damage with one melee attack. See paladin class feature
Sneak attack: +1d6 per 3 class level, no listed duration, so probably for only one attack
Turn/rebuke undead: turn/rebuke as a cleric of CLASSLEVEL level
Ability boon: when choosing an aptitude focus, also gain a +2/4/6 competence bonus to an ability score of choice, lasting until the aptitude focus is changed
Double aptitude: can adopt two aptitude focus concurrently
Rapid refocus: changing aptitude takes 10 minutes instead of 1 hour
Marshal: Base class from the miniature handbook. d8 hit die, 4 skill points, medium BAB, good/poor/good saves. Skill focus(Diplomacy): gain this feat as a bonus feat at first level, or any one feat we qualify for if we already have skill focus(diplomacy), on the day we take this level we will have skill focus(diplomacy) with the chameleon bonus feat, so we are taking a general bonus feat
Minor aura: swift action activation and lasts undil dismissed,We grant a bonus equal to our CHAMOD to selected effect for all allies within 60ft, including ourself. We picked Motivate Dexterity: bonus to all dexterity check and skill checks
Feats: Able Learner: Races of Destiny, prereq human or doppelganger. all skill ranks cost 1 skill point, even if cross-class, doesn't change max purchasable rank.
Deceitful: Player's Handbook, no prereq. untyped +2 to disguise and forgery checks.
Extend spell: Player's Handbook, no prereq. +1 metamagic that doubles the duration of affected spell
Invisible spell: Cityscape, prereq any metamagic feat. +0 metamagic that makes the spell have no visual manifestation
Mastery of Faerie Enchantment: Player's guide to Eberron, prereq extend spell, know(planes) 2 ranks, spellcraft 6 ranks, membership with manifest spellshapers or expy equivalent. Can spontanously extend all enchantment spell at no cost and no increased casting time
Sudden silent: Complete Arcane, no prereq. 1/day ignore verbal component when casting a spell
Sudden still: Complete Arcane, no prereq. 1/day ignore somatic componenet when casting a spell
Epic skill focus(X): Complete adventurer, prereq 20 ranks in selected skill. untyped +10 to all selected skill check, also counts as skill focus(X) for prerequisites purposes
wild cohort: (https://web.archive.org/web/20060710191411/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) Web article, Animal companion lite, take as floating feat often
rapid spell: Complete Divine, no prereq. +1 metamagic that reduces casting long casting times. taken as floating feat often to cast awaken in only 1 hour
Skill tricks: all 3 from complete scoundrel Second impression: prereq bluff 5 ranks, disguise 5 ranks. If a spot check beats our disguise check, we can as immediate action try to beat that spot check with a bluff check. 1/day
Conceal spellcasting: Prereq concentration 1, sleight of hand 5, spellcraft 1. Make a sleight of hand check opposed by spot checks to cast a spell without observers realizing you are casting a spell
False theurgy: Prereq bluff/sleight of hand 8, spellcraft 8. Swift action as you are casting a spell, change verbal and somatic components to those of another spell

Assumptions: inherent bonuses are in the last four CR, increasing by one per CR
Enhancement bonuses to WIS/INT are 2/2 at CR 6, 4/2 at CR 10 , 4/4 at CR 11, 6/4 at CR 14 and 6/6 at CR 16
Ability boon is included when applicable because if we are taking divine/arcane boon, of course we are going to boost the relevant WIS/INT
the X//Y in spell slots mean Divine//Arcane, before CR 12 it is either Divine OR Arcane, from CR 12 onward in can be Divine AND Arcane and the assumption is that divine and arcane slots are separate entities. Generally speaking from that point onward divine focus is assumed, but the second focus is not taken for granted that it will be arcane

CRCaster levelWIS/INT1st2nd3rd4th5th6th6221/184//31//1 7421/185//42//2 8621/185//43//31//1 9823/206//65//42//2 101026/206//65//44//32//1 111226/226//66//65//43//2 121428/247//66//66//64//32//1 131428/247//66//66//64//32//1 141431/247//67//66//64//32//1 151431/247//67//66//64//32//1 161431/267//67//66//64//42//1 171632/277//67//67//65//53//2 181834/287//77//67//67//64//42//1192037/318//77//77//67//66//53//3202038/328//78//77//77//66//54//3
Some noncore spells later mentioned: divine insight: Spell compendium, 2nd level divine. 5+CL (max 15) insight bonus to one skill check within hour/level
heroics: SpC, 2nd level arcane. grant one fighter feat for 10min/level
conviction: SpC, 1st level divine, morale bonus to saves


Ok gents and ma'ams, you've read the brisk synopsis? Well, that's the campaign overall "secret" theme, and we got a chassis that makes it easy to pretend being a bunch of different "other adventurers" that may or may not tag along the PC party, I'm sure you will make little blurb of backstories for them, and fire up a random name generator, but the party if it's anything like mine will call them DMPC but in a bit more flowering way, hence Diem Pissì , as that is what flows in my mother language :). Chameleon is there to make it *easy* pretending to be different classes, and zhentarim spy is frontloaded one level to have "covers", right away.

Two level of expert are a bit of a classic VC-wise, because it's a 2-for-1 HD-CR, and that matters when it come sto be that little bit ahead of the curve whenn our own HD is so close to be 1-to-1 with CR.
The level spread reasoning is: get cover identities early, to have the fig leaf to lean on for, then Chameleon to 7th level for 2nd aptitude, because we "need" it to be believable at our pretend roles, as a single classed cleric with "only" 4th-5th level spell would seem quite suspicious around level 13, but a mystic theurge or a single classed ranger would fit right in spell access wise at those levels. Hence the shifting of skill points toward those other "professions" :)
After that, it's straight zhentarim spy to basically beat our bane : true seeing and telepathy.
After finishing chameleon, Marshal is just gravy; We took skill focus(diplomacy) with the floating feat that fateful night we took that level, and so it's one extra epic feat instead <3

At CR 5, we got no magic, so be the clerk behind the desk at the adventurer guild, or something like that, I'm going to gloss over it now because early interactions are all "setup", and will vary wildly, throw a bunch of hooks that are palatable to your players but "somehow" advances your shadow organization "nefarious" goals, perhabs that goblin nest they are setting out to clear are the catpaws of some rival organization, sorry but I'm not good at imagination here, and it's out of scope for the competition besides, I'll shorthand to "shenanigans happens, the PC level up just as they are meant to! higher level pawns get!"

At CR 10, we do have some chameleoning to go with everythign else, and so we got the "freedom" of mimic-ing a bunch of different archetypes. I'm sure you are all aware of the book-diving nature of the chameleon spellcasting, and I mention it here for "due diligence", but you are going to yawn at me if I start listing every little PrC that gives "early entry" to this or that spell, so I'm going to fiat say that our preference is divine over arcane, due to the "have antive access to the whole list" without the complication of scrolls/spellbooks, and the second fiat I put forward is : I suggest mainly sticking to the spell list of base classes, rather than this or that PrC. In this regard, we got "all the spells", and what I want to bring to the forefront of *your* mind is the urban druid variant from dragon compendium, which is of interest to us because it is a divine spellcaster that has a bunch of "bard" spells in his list, and os for our dark purposes gives us divine dominate person at 4th level! it also has glibness, just in case our absurdly high bonuses weren't enough.

CR15-16 is kindaish the sweet spot, Divine insight your disguise check, and with all the bonuses you should be very very hard to be discovered, the skill tricks and feat selection are there to be sneaky about trying to apply a dominate person, without it being apparent that that's what you're trying to do, and specific callout to invisible spell: mind fog. Just imagine the party coming to your office ( if you didn't go out and about with them), and lo and behold you have pre-set a mind fog.. but invisible! You magnificient bastard you!

Everything after those levels is just gravy. Again a callout to rapid awaken and wild cohort, specifically. That is, cheap minionmancy and "monster of the week" , even without awaken shenanigans you can have the wild cohort be whatever "kill target" be for the hook of the week.

Our disguise and bluff checks should be mostrously high even before we add spellcasting to it, thanks to the stackable nature of circumstance bonuses. We may even beat linked perception!

That point about using the floating feat for gaining and losing wild cohorts is that's an easy way to "stack minionmancy", due to my original idea being "I'mma charm monster/animal them awakened/unawakened wild cohort after it's released from service, theme yahoy!" , extending this to humanoids is easy enough. Now the execution is.. sparse in description because the whole wide nature of chameleoning. Floating feat and the heroics arcane spell should be enough to make a passable impression of martials even (I am fiating that heroics:weapon finesse is different enough from heroics:power attack that you CAN have multiple casting of heroics concurrently, just like you can have resist energy:fire and resist energy:cold concurrently).

I want to apologize but also not about the lack of spell prepared shortlists, other than casual mention of specific spells, because again the whole point of "the extreme versatility" is not pigeonholing ourselves in set roles and preparedness. They shall be tailored to counter the party, and I'm fairly sure you know "the usual suspects", but what works today does not work tomorrow, and what you would prepare to pretend to be a ranger is not the same you would prepare to pretend to be a nonpersistomancer cleric. Again the one thing I'm calling out to is urban druid givin us a bunch of "bard" spells, which are perfect for social engineering/ mind controlly stuff but on the divine list, so no fuss about spellbooks. Having access to "all" divine spell is quite potent, even if we self-limit to only base classes sources

Also of note and somewhat amusing : due to chameleoning, we can take some spells at higher level than usual, thus getting "heighten" for free! Dominate person for example is 6th level in spell compendium in the baator planar domain, and thus has a DC of 16+WISMOD when we prepare *that* dominate person in *that* slot.

Now, the build problems, from a point of view of overarching plot, is that if you do your job well, it will be kind of impossible for your PC to connect the dots that "all those disparage people" they are itneracting with is always the same one enemy! A trick you can pull is, once you succeed with some domination, and take aside a player to tell him their character are R.I.P. and they should roll up a substitution.... well, your purpose is getting pawns, yeah? so have these freshly minted NPC goons turn up against the players elsewhere later in the campaign, no? This would work best when the whole party has changed out, so that the former characters are possibly familiar to the *players*, but not their new characters. Gotta dorp some hints that there is something shady afoot about that lie you told 150 sessions ago about "adventurers sometimes go missing, presumed dead doing their usual zany shenanigans"

On true seeing: we care not, for it does not penetrate mundane disguise! and our disguise check is monstrously high! Just wear makeup

On mind blank: We got racial read thoughts :) if you cna't read thoughts do not try to dominate person in that occasion!

On false theurgy: this is absolutely devastating to use for shenanigans purpose, since it doesn't allow any way of finding the difference during the casting, thus disguising your "bad touch" for healing, or whatever else shenanigans, like pretending your dominate person is some beneficial enchantment buff

On floating feat and metamagic: if today you got floating feat metamagic X, you can prepare some spells with metamagic X, if you don't use those spells that day and change the feat tomorrow, your spell are still prepared with X

[Venger]

You've never seen a snake charmer like this.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fa424c7ece3e6637617f3a1/1604594025297-A6QWC3B6CG6IFUHPQQR9/06Dragon+Fly.jpg?format=600w

CE Half-Fey Balenar Naga Naga Overlord 10
Abilities Initial Banelae Half-fey 8th, 12th, 16th 20th Total
STR 8 16 24
DEX 10 2 2 14
CON 12 10 -2 20
INT 14 6 20
WIS 13 6 2 1 22
CHA 15 6 4 3 28

CR Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features Spell-like abilities
+1 Half-Fey - - - - - - Half-fey traits, fly (good) 60 ft. -
9 Fey-1 0 0 2 2 44: {+4} Bluff: 4; {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Disguise: 4; {+4} Intimidate: 4; {+4} Listen: 4; {+4} Sense Motive: 4; {+4} Spellcraft: 4; {+4} Spot: 4; {+4} Swim: 4; {+4} Use Magic Device: 4; Spell Focus (enchantment) (1), Eschew Materials (B), Unseelie Court Noble Kelir (B) Poison, spells, darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 2, immunity to acid and poison, magic items, resist petrification Charm person at will, hypnotism 1/day, faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day
9 Fey-2 1 0 3 3 11: {+1} Bluff: 5; {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Disguise: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 5; {+1} Listen: 5; {+1} Sense Motive: 5; {+1} Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Spot: 5; {+1} Swim: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 5;
9 Fey-3 1 1 3 3 11: {+1} Bluff: 6; {+1} Concentration: 6; {+1} Diplomacy: 6; {+1} Disguise: 6; {+1} Intimidate: 6; {+1} Listen: 6; {+1} Sense Motive: 6; {+1} Spellcraft: 6; {+1} Spot: 6; {+1} Swim: 6; {+1} Use Magic Device: 6; Extend Spell (3) Detect law 3/day, sleep or enthrall 1/day
9 Fey-4 2 1 4 4 11: {+1} Bluff: 7; {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Diplomacy: 7; {+1} Disguise: 7; {+1} Intimidate: 7; {+1} Listen: 7; {+1} Sense Motive: 7; {+1} Spellcraft: 7; {+1} Spot: 7; {+1} Swim: 7; {+1} Use Magic Device: 7;
9 Fey-5 2 1 4 4 11: {+1} Bluff: 8; {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Diplomacy: 8; {+1} Disguise: 8; {+1} Intimidate: 8; {+1} Listen: 8; {+1} Sense Motive: 8; {+1} Spellcraft: 8; {+1} Spot: 8; {+1} Swim: 8; {+1} Use Magic Device: 8; Protection from law 3/day, Tasha'a hideous laughter or suggestion 1/day
9 Fey-6 3 2 5 5 11: {+1} Bluff: 9; {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Diplomacy: 9; {+1} Disguise: 9; {+1} Intimidate: 9; {+1} Listen: 9; {+1} Sense Motive: 9; {+1} Spellcraft: 9; {+1} Spot: 9; {+1} Swim: 9; {+1} Use Magic Device: 9; Practiced Spellcaster (wizard) (6)
9 Fey-7 3 2 5 5 11: {+1} Bluff: 10; {+1} Concentration: 10; {+1} Diplomacy: 10; {+1} Disguise: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 10; {+1} Listen: 10; {+1} Sense Motive: 10; {+1} Spellcraft: 10; {+1} Spot: 10; {+1} Swim: 10; {+1} Use Magic Device: 10; Confusion or emotion crushing despair or good hope or rage 1/day
10 Fey-8 4 2 6 6 11: {+1} Bluff: 11; {+1} Concentration: 11; {+1} Diplomacy: 11; {+1} Disguise: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 11; {+1} Listen: 11; {+1} Sense Motive: 11; {+1} Spellcraft: 11; {+1} Spot: 11; {+1} Swim: 11; {+1} Use Magic Device: 11;
10 Fey-9 4 3 6 6 11: {+1} Bluff: 12; {+1} Concentration: 12; {+1} Diplomacy: 12; {+1} Disguise: 12; {+1} Intimidate: 12; {+1} Listen: 12; {+1} Sense Motive: 12; {+1} Spellcraft: 12; {+1} Spot: 12; {+1} Swim: 12; {+1} Use Magic Device: 12; Skill Focus (Intimidate) (9) Eyebite or geas, lesser 1/day
10 Fey-10 5 3 7 7 11: {+1} Bluff: 13; {+1} Concentration: 13; {+1} Diplomacy: 13; {+1} Disguise: 13; {+1} Intimidate: 13; {+1} Listen: 13; {+1} Sense Motive: 13; {+1} Spellcraft: 13; {+1} Spot: 13; {+1} Swim: 13; {+1} Use Magic Device: 13;
10 Fey-11 5 3 7 7 11: {+1} Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 14; {+1} Diplomacy: 14; {+1} Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 14; {+1} Listen: 14; {+1} Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 14; {+1} Spot: 14; {+1} Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 14; Dominate person or hold monster 1/day
11 Naga Overlord-1 5 3 7 9 7: {+1 CC} Appraise: 0.5; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 15; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (planes): 1; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 15; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 15; {+2} False Theurgy; Ability Focus (enslave) (12) Enslave 1/day
12 Naga Overlord-2 6 3 7 10 7: {+1 CC} Appraise: 1; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 16; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 16; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 16; {+2} Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Augment followers I Invisibility, mass 1/day
13 Naga Overlord-3 7 4 8 10 7: {+3 CC} Appraise: 2.5; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 17; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 17; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 17; Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Tap slave 1/day
14 Naga Overlord-4 8 4 8 11 7: {+3 CC} Appraise: 4; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 18; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 2; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 18; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 18; Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Mastery of Faerie Enchantment (15) Enslave 2/day Geas/quest or suggestion, mass 1/day
15 Naga Overlord-5 8 4 8 11 7: {+1 CC} Appraise: 4.5; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 19; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 3; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 19; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 19; {+2} Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Augment followers II
16 Naga Overlord-6 9 5 9 12 7: {+1 CC} Appraise: 5; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 20; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 4; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 20; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 20; {+2} Magical Appraisal, Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Tap slave 2/day Insanity or charm monster, mass 1/day
17 Naga Overlord-7 10 5 9 12 7: Appraise: 5; Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 21; Diplomacy: 14; Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 15; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 5; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 21; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 21; {+2} Point it Out, Magical Appraisal, Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Extend Supernatural Ability (18) Enslave 3/day
18 Naga Overlord-8 11 5 9 13 7: Appraise: 5; {+1} Bluff: 15; {+1} Concentration: 22; {+1} Diplomacy: 15; Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 16; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 6; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 22; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 22; Point it Out, Magical Appraisal, Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Augment followers III Otto's irresistible dance 1/day
19 Naga Overlord-9 11 6 10 13 7: Appraise: 5; {+1} Bluff: 16; {+1} Concentration: 23; {+1} Diplomacy: 16; Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 17; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 7; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 23; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 23; Point it Out, Magical Appraisal, Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Tap slave 3/day
20 Naga Overlord-10 12 6 10 14 7: Appraise: 5; {+1} Bluff: 17; {+1} Concentration: 24; {+1} Diplomacy: 17; Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 18; {+1} Knowledge (arcana): 8; Knowledge (planes): 2; Listen: 14; Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spellcraft: 24; Spot: 14; Swim: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 24; Point it Out, Magical Appraisal, Swift Concentration, Clarity of Vision, False Theurgy; Sudden Ability Focus (21) Enslave monster

CR Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
9 Wizard 6 4 3+2 3+1 2+1
11 Wizard 7 4 4+2 3+1 2+1 1+1
12 Wizard 8 4 4+2 3+1 3+1 2+1
13 Wizard 9 4 4+2 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
14 Wizard 10 4 4+2 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1
15 Wizard 11 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
16 Wizard 12 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1
17 Wizard 13 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
18 Wizard 14 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1
19 Wizard 15 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
20 Wizard 16 4 4+2 4+1 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1

CR Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd
9 Cleric 6 5 3+1+2 3+1+1 2+1+1
19 Cleric 6 5 3+1+2 3+1+2 2+1+1

Cleric 1st: Nystul’s Magic Aura*, Shield of Faith, Command, Command, Bless, Doom
Cleric 2nd: Fog Cloud*, Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Eagle’s Splendor, Owl’s Wisdom, Eagle’s Splendor**
Cleric 3rd: Dispel Magic*, Meld into Stone, Bestow Curse, Mass Lesser Vigor
*- Domain spell; **- starting at 19 CR.

Wizard 0th: Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Caltrops, Amanuensis
Wizard 1st: Stupor, Mage Armor, Unseen Servant, Shield, Whelm, Whelm
Wizard 2nd: Fox’s Cunning, Ray of Stupidity, Touch of Idiocy, Touch of Idiocy, Black Karma Curse
Wizard 3rd: Inevitable Defeat, Bothersome Babble, Bothersome Babble, Alter Fortune, Alter Fortune
Wizard 4th: Charm Monster, Greater Rebuke, Mass Whelm, Nondescript, Dimension Door
Wizard 5th: Dominate Person, Feeblemind, Mind Fog, Incite Riot, Hold Monster
Wizard 6th: Mass Bull’s Strength, Mass Bear’s Endurance, Greater Dispel Magic, Geas/Quest
Wizard 7th: Power Word Blind, Mass Hold Person, Final Rebuke, Hiss of Sleep
Wizard 8th: Wrathful Castigation, Maddening Whispers, Power Word Stun


Being an noble’s child is not as easy as most people think. Especially when we talk about nouble from fey's unseelie court. Especially when nouble parent finds herself in disgrace. And that's what happened with Ddernyn Siotta child of Nintra Siotta. She didn't know much about shis another parent. She was balenar naga obviously, but that's all - mother didn't like to tell her offspring stories. She was much happier enjoying her feud with the Queen of Air and Darkness. Even being very young, Ddernyn knew where it all went and what might threaten shim personally. And at the first opportunity, she ran away and hid on the Material Plan.

Here we start. Half-Fey Banelar. Two sets of spellcasting: cleric's and wizard's, plus Half-Feys SLA. All this makes Ddernyn very competent enchanter. But at this moment she yet isn't true overlord and part of spells should be use for self-surviving and making damage. Cleric has Cure and Inflict spells, Hold Person, Bestow Curse and Clutch of Orcus (SpC). Wizard - The Sky is Falling (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101074313/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fey/20030711a), Sound Lance (SpC), Manyjaws (SpC), Icelance (SpC), Acid Breath (SpC), Deep Slumber, Fireball, Battering Ram (SpC), Backbiter (SpC), Blood Wind (SpC), various Lesser Orbs (SpC). It's clear not all this wiz spells can be available for Ddernyn, but remember, she is villain and this means she will have any spells whatever the DM wishes. And the same is true about magic items. Wands of any aforementioned spells, healing or buffing potions, maybe ring of protection.
She hid for several centuries. Hid and slowly grew up in power. But then she got entirely bored of it. She wants new things, she wants to rule! It was in shis blood! Risk of reprisals shouldn't be so big. And anyway, such life - in the shadows and obscurity - it’s not worth clinging to.

Well, it's only 1 CR difference, but it's very significant 1 CR, because it's 4 HD. And with 11th HD Ddernyn obtains new SLAs: Eyebite, Lesser Geas, Hold Monster and most important thing - Dominate Person! With the last SLA (and Skill Focus (Intimidate)) she can enter Naga Overlord PrC on the next level! In addition, it looks reasonable to give Ddernyn some better magic items, but it isn't crucial.
Ddernyn knew other nagas don't respect banelars, they name shim species naja'ssynsa or even dista'ssara. It's so insulting! But Ddernyn also knew true - she is perfect ideal. Shis naga part and shis fey part are complement each other perfectly. She is better than all other nagas are. Even other banelars. Shis fairy magic and naga legacy open for shis way to become Naga Overlord. True ruler of inferior beings and later even other nagas. Way to the Ddernyn's true destiny starts now!

Here we are! Five levels of Naga Overlord. Two Enslaves every day for 15 days (CL for Ddernyn's SLAs). Geas/Quest lets shim not worry about mutiny if somebody checks his Will, gets Remove Curse or otherwise free from the Enslave. Plus, she casts spells as an 11th level wizard. Mass Bull’s Strength and Mass Bear’s Endurance isn't very useful yet - too few followers and slaves now, but 6th level of wizard's spells contains many other possibilities. Making direct damage, Teleport and Shadow Evocation one level lower, Contingency, many other good spells. I don't want to list all here, this subject is reviewed repeatedly before me and mostly doesn't fit the round theme, but wizard's spellcasting is wizard's spellcasting.
Years have passed, now Ddernyn is a powerful ruler over many mortal humanoids and monsters. Power of shis fairy charms knows almost no boundaries. Shis disempowered slaves number in dozens. Shis minions who adopt geas to serve shim number in hundreds. Shis charmed followers number in thousands!

Apotheosis. Ddernyn casts 8th level spells. She has three Enslaves monster every day, one for 42 days (with Extend Supernatural Ability feat) two others for 21 days. Plus Dominate Person spells and SLA for 40 (thanks for Mastery of Faerie Enchantment) and 21 days respectively. Charm Monster including Mass version. Plus Geases, Suggestions, at will Charm Person (this from the very beginning).
Of course Ddernyn can have almost any possible spells in wands and rods, best rings shis followers can find, lair with many traps, glyphs, Circles of Friends (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101074104/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fey/20031010a) and little (or not little) army of followers and slaves. Maximum amount of slaves is 84 (42 from Extended Enslave + 2*21 from regular Enslaves). And this slaves could be creatures of any kind and power. Save DC on 21 CR will be at least 31(33)=10+10 (HD)+2 (ability focus)+9 (base Cha)+2 (Cha improvement from Eagle’s Splendor)+2 (Sudden Ability Focus) - without any magic items.

I know most PrCes don't advance innate spellcasting without taking at least one level in actual class by RAW, but Naga Overlord has different wording. This PrC explicitly advances innate spellcasting.

...the character gains spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class he had (or could cast spells as) before...
Well... This is Serpent Kingdoms. Not the best written D&D rulebook. Augment followers I is okish. Augment followers II is... meh. At least it doesn't make Mass spells worse - they were close they became close. But Augment followers III... this is a complete fiasco. It literally is the same as Augment followers I. It's clearly a typo and the authors want to make this ability different, but what it was supposed to do... We can't know. It isn't essential for entry, but I think it can be reasonable ruling in any real game to change this ability somehow. Maybe it can make these spells double Extended, maybe Persistent, or affected by some another suitable metamagic feat for free.
There is this wording in the Life in a Noble House article.

This feat is a bonus feat to anyone with one Unseelie Court Noble parent.
and Ddernyn has one of the powerful archfey from Unseelie Court (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Nintra_Siotta) as shis mother. Yes, this is an NPC from 5th edition, but I don't think it is a problem. If you don't agree with me, well, this feat isn't something vital and you can easily ignore it.
Yeah, it's Eberron feat and my entry is Forgotten Realms based. But it perfectly feat into my entry theme, doesn't involve some Eberron specific mechanics and can easily be adapted to any setting that has fairies.

Type Name Book Page
Race Banelar Naga Serpent Kingdoms 72
Template Half-Fey Fiend Folio + spell updates in 3.0 update booklet 89
Prestige Class Naga Overlord Serpent Kingdoms 165
Feat Spell Focus PHB 100
Feat Eschew Materials PHB 94
Feat Unseelie Court Noble Kelir Life in a Noble House Link (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101074242/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fey/20030815a)
Feat Extend Spell PHB 94
Feat Mastery of Faerie Enchantment Player's Guide to Eberron 125
Feat Ability Focus MM V 204
Feat Practiced Spellcaster Complete Arcane 82
Feat Extend Supernatural Ability Tome of Magic 73
Feat Sudden Ability Focus Tome of Magic 74
Skill Tricks All of them Complete Scoundrel 84-90
Spell Vigor, Mass Lesser Spell Compendium 229
Spell Caltrops Spell Compendium 42
Spell Amanuensis Spell Compendium 9
Spell Stupor Book of Vile Darkness 106
Spell Whelm PHB II 128
Spell Ray of Stupidity Spell Compendium 167
Spell Black Karma Curse PHB II 103
Spell Inevitable Defeat PHB II 115
Spell Bothersome Babble Complete Mage 97
Spell Alter Fortune PHB II 101
Spell Rebuke, Greater Spell Compendium 170
Spell Whelm, Mass PHB II 128
Spell Nondescript Magic of Delight and Despair Link (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101074333/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fey/20030613a)
Spell Incite Riot Spell Compendium 115
Spell Rebuke, Final Spell Compendium 170
Spell Hiss of Sleep Spell Compendium 114
Spell Wrathful Castigation Spell Compendium 243
Spell Maddening Whispers Spell Compendium 135
Spell and SLA All others PHB varies

[Venger]

"Dying is easy. Comedy is hard."
Acerath, Hand of Orcus

Chaotic --> Lawful Evil Doppelganger Jester 1/Warlock 4/Blood Magus 4/Chameleon 2/Blood Magus +6



Abilities Initial Doppelganger 4th HD 8th HD 12th HD 16th HD 20th HD Final
STR 8 +2 10
DEX 13 +2 15
CON 12 +2 +2 16
INT 14 +2 16
WIS 10 +4 14
CHA 15 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 22


CR Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
3rd Doppleganger RHD +4 +1 +4 +4 35: {+7} Bluff: 7; {+3} Concentration: 3; {+7} Disguise: 7; {+7} Intimidate: 7; {+3} Knowledge (Religion): 3; {+7} Sense Motive: 7; {+1} Spellcraft: 1; Able Learner (RHD1), Great Fortitude (RHD3), Toughness (F) Abilities: +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +4 Wis, +2 Cha; Size Medium; Speed 30'; Darkvision 60'; +4 NA; +4 Racial Bonus Bluff and Disguise. When Using Change Shape +10 Disguise. If can read opponent's mind +4 Circumstance to Bluff and Disguise; Detect Thoughts (Su) at Will; Change Shape (Su) at Will; Immunity to Sleep and Charm effects
4th Jester 1 +4 +1 +6 +6 9: {+1} Bluff: 8; {+1} Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 8; {+1} Intimidate: 8; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 4; Sense Motive: 7; {+4} Spellcraft: 5; Jester's Audacity +1, Jester's Performance, Fascinate, Inspiring Quip
5th Warlock 1 +4 +1 +6 +8 5: {+1} Bluff: 9; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 9; {+1} Intimidate: 9; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 5; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 1; Practiced Spellcaster (Warlock) Eldritch Blast (1d6/3d6), Invocations (Least) - Frightening Blast
6th Warlock 2 +5 +1 +6 +9 5: {+1} Bluff: 10; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 10; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 6; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 2; Detect Magic, Invocations (Least) - Beguiling Influence
7th Warlock 3 +6 +2 +7 +9 5: {+1} Bluff: 11; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 11; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 7; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 3; Damage Reduction 1/cold iron, Eldritch Blast (2d6/4d6)
8th Warlock 4 +7 +2 +7 +10 5: {+1} Bluff: 12; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 12; {+1} Intimidate: 12; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 8; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 4; Mother Cyst Deceive Item, Invocations (Least) - Call of the Beast
9th Blood Magus 1 +7 +4 +7 +10 5: {+1} Bluff: 13; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 13; {+1} Intimidate: 13; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 5; Blood Component, Durable Casting, Stanch, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Eldritch Blast (3d6/5d6)
10th Blood Magus 2 +8 +5 +7 +10 5: {+1} Bluff: 14; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 14; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 10; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 6; Scarification, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Invocations (Lesser) - Charm, Frightening Blast --> See the Unseen
11th Blood Magus 3 +8 +5 +8 +11 5: {+1} Bluff: 15; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 15; {+1} Intimidate: 15; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 11; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 7; Combat Charm Death Knell, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Eldritch Blast (4d6/6d6)
12th Blood Magus 4 +9 +6 +8 +11 5: {+1} Bluff: 16; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 16; {+1} Intimidate: 16; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 8; Blood Draught, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Invocations (Lesser) - Fell Flight
13th Chameleon 1 +9 +6 +8 +11 7: {+1} Bluff: 17; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 17; {+1} Intimidate: 17; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+4} Use Magic Device: 12; Aptitude Focus (1/day, +2)
14th Chameleon 2 +10 +6 +8 +11 7: {+1} Bluff: 18; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 18; {+1} Intimidate: 18; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+4} Use Magic Device: 16; Fell Conspiracy, Bonus Feat Bonus Feat
15th Blood Magus 5 +10 +6 +8 +11 5: {+1} Bluff: 19; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 19; {+1} Intimidate: 19; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+2} Use Magic Device: 18; Homunculus
16th Blood Magus 6 +11 +7 +9 +12 5: {+1} Bluff: 20; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 20; {+1} Intimidate: 20; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+2} Use Magic Device: 20; Bloodseeking Spell, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Eldritch Blast (5d6/7d6)
17th Blood Magus 7 +11 +7 +9 +12 4: {+1} Bluff: 21; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 21; {+1} Intimidate: 21; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 21; Blessing of the Godless Thicker than Water, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Invocations (Lesser) - Flee the Scene
18th Blood Magus 8 +12 +8 +9 +12 4: {+1} Bluff: 22; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 22; {+1} Intimidate: 22; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 22; Awaken Blood, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock) --> Eldritch Blast (6d6/8d6), Invocations (Greater) - Devil's Whispers
19th Blood Magus 9 +12 +8 +10 +13 4: {+1} Bluff: 23; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 23; {+1} Intimidate: 23; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 23; Infusion, +1 Spellcasting (Warlock 12)
20th Blood Magus 10 +13 +9 +10 +13 4: {+1} Bluff: 24; Concentration: 4; {+1} Disguise: 24; {+1} Intimidate: 24; Knowledge (Religion): 12; Sense Motive: 7; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 24; Scribe Scroll Bloodwalk

Invocations Known:

Least - Beguiling Influence, Call of the Beast, See the Unseen

Lesser - Charm, Fell Flight, Flee the Scene

Greater - Devil's Whispers
Spells Known:

0th - Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Prestidigitation

1st - Necrotic Awareness, All (except Domain Specific)

2nd - Necrotic Cyst, Necrotic Scrying, All (except Domain Specific)

3rd - Necrotic Bloat, Wind Wall, Rage, Magic Circle Against Chaos, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Elements, Keen Edge, Tongues, Sepia Snake Sigil, Suggestion, Vampiric Touch, Nondetection, Water Breathing

4th - Necrotic Domination, Shout, Confusion, Locate Creature, Rainbow Pattern, Fear, Stone Shape, Hallucinatory Terrain, Bestow Curse, Fire Shield, Contagion, Everard's Black Tentacles, Minor Creation, Phantasmal Killer, Quench

5th - Necrotic Burst, Telekinesis, Mind Fog, Dismissal, Dismissal, Transmute Mud to Rock, Seeming, Nightmare, Cloudkill, Feeblemind, Dominate Person, Shadow Evocation, Dominate Person

6th - Necrotic Eruption, Control Winds, Mislead, True Seeing, Guards and Wards, Move Earth, Summon Monster VI (fire), Mass Suggestion, Eyebite, Shadow Walk, Control Water, Repulsion, Otiluke's Freezing Sphere

7th - Necrotic Tumor, Ethereal Jaunt, Prismatic Spray, Forcecage, Sequester, Vision, Statue, Insanity, Delayed Blast Fireball, Control Undead, Plane Shift, Control Weather, Power Word Blind

8th - Necrotic Empowerment, Summon Monster VIII, Maze, Discern Location, Sunburst, Mind Blank, Iron Body, Otto's Irresistible Dance, Trap the Soul, Greater Shadow Evocation, Control Plants, Power Word Stun

9th - Necrotic Termination, Freedom, Weird, Dominate Monster, Summon Monster IX (good, earth), Wail of the Banshee, Imprisonment, Meteor Swarm, Etherealness, Power Word Kill, Elemental Swarm (Water Only)


CR4(5)

Corwyn Smithsson was concerned. He and his companions had been asked to uncover what had happened to a young server at Baron Horace Jaques’ estate only to discover that the whole household was on edge due to a series of disappearances, but the fact that something sinister had clearly been going on wasn’t why Corwyn was concerned. Nor, indeed, was it the fact that they had tracked the disappearances to this old warehouse that now more closely resembled an abattoir. No, what had Corwyn concerned was that amongst the bodies was a thoroughly decomposing figure in stained motley and well…
“Didn’t we talk to the Baron’s Jester this morning?” Ilyana Vattasdotter asked while poking the very dead Jester with her greatsword.
“Well, my dear,” Corwyn spun around at the unctuous tones of the - probably not actually - Jester, “you did…and you didn’t.” At this, the portly frame and jaunty face of the Jester flowed and shifted until Corwyn was staring at a mirror image of Ilyana. “It’s a shame you found this place so soon, “she crooned, slinking around the edges of the warehouse in a distinctly un-Ilyana fashion and Corwyn felt his concern rising sharply, “I was just starting to have fun!”
And then Corwyn no longer had time for concern as he and his companions set about avenging the many dead strewn about the building.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If Acerath had ever considered what would happen when they died, they would have assumed that it would end up somewhere in the Demonpits, screaming for an eternity. Which made it something of a surprise when they slid off that damn woman’s greatsword and into an inky expanse of nothingness. The emptiness was shattered by a sound too vast and profound to be considered a voice.
”Acerath of no Name, do you wish to live?”
On ‘live’ the sound soured and tore at Acerath’s non-existent ears as infinite hate and fury filled the very firmament.
”I appreciated the work you did. Swear your skill, your cunning, and your hatred to my service and I will see you returned such that you might carry on and be a blight upon the living in my Name.”
Acerath hadn’t ever really considered what would happen when they died since they had had no intention of doing so, which made the decision quite simple really. Their eyes snapped open into a midden heap; clearly some time had passed since those dammned adventurers had interrupted their enjoyment. Acerath could feel the weight of their new Patron’s regard upon them and a feral grin stretched across their face.
“Thank you, Lord Orcus. I’ll get started right away.”


Mechanics & TacticsStatblock
Acerath is intended primarily as a social/intrigue villain whose ‘control’ comes from manipulation in all its various forms, mundane and magical. The initial encounter with Acerath is intended to be a murder mystery in a small fiefdom, where Acerath has used their Doppelganger abilities to infiltrate and start killing. They get a little sloppy and get found out and stopped by the party. On the social side of things, Acerath is an extraordinary liar, with a Bluff modifier of +15(+19 with Detect Thoughts) and a disguise modifier of +25(+29 with Detect Thoughts). With Intimidate +11 and the Jester’s Performance, Fascinate, and Inspiring Quip abilities Acerath should have no problem lying and intimidating their way through the court and doing whatever they want until the party catches on. Feats at this point are entirely for prereqs sadly, and when it comes to combat Acerath is only a decent melee fighter; this combat encounter is unlikely to be too difficult, though with the social abilities it is entirely reasonably to have lackies either through coercion or through recruitment from the disaffected within the fiefdom. If combat prowess is of interest in the encounter, increasing to CR5 gives Eldritch Blast 1d6(3d6 if you believe caster level increases apply to EB damage) and Frightening Blast can make things more interesting too at this level with a DC15 vs Shaken when hit by EB. This is less optimal from a narrative perspective, since we’re explaining the Warlock Levels as striking a pact after this defeat. Size/Type: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 4d8+1d6+10 (35)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30'
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Natural), Touch 12, Flat-Footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4
Atack: Slam +4 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: Detect Thoughts, Jester Abilities
Special Qualities: Change Shape, Darkvision 60', Immunity to Sleep and Charm
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +8
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 18
Skills: Bluff: +15; Concentration: +6; Disguise: +15(+25); Intimidate: +11; Knowledge (Religion): +7; Sense Motive: +9; Spellcraft: +8
Feats: Able Learner, Great Fortitude, Toughness
Invocations: N/A
Blood Well: N/A
Scarification: N/A
Scrolls: N/A



CR10

Sir Corwyn Smithsson, not concerned, no, more vaguely unsettled. For a Viscounty in disarray experiencing food shortages, banditry, and murmurings of revolt the Viscount’s estate didn’t reflect the state of affairs in the slightest. Indeed, it seemed that Viscount Othello di Menci was in fact hosting a revel, and if the hostlers could be believed it had in fact been going on for nigh on a week. Currently Corwyn and Ilyana were being escorted to the Viscount’s presence and something about the revelry was nagging at his instincts. Whether it was the complete engagement and unconcern of most of the revelers, or the subtle fear he could read in others, Corwyn didn’t know, but all told it was making him not quite concerned. As they and their escorts approached the Viscount, a handsome gentleman just reaching past his prime though still clearly keeping trim, he looked over at them and a wild nearly deranged grin spread across his face.
“Corwyn and Ilyana! Welcome to my Revelry!! It has been far too long!” The revelers came to a halt as all eyes were drawn to the Viscount, distant notes from an entertainer the only sounds in the garden.
Corwyn’s wariness was rapidly deepening at this familiar greeting. “I’m afraid you have us at an advantage Sir. We have only just come at the behest of the Earl of Jarlsberg to speak with you.”
“I’m hurt you don’t remember me,” the Viscount’s grinning face rippled and reformed as his body flowed downward into a portly frame, Fool’s motley replacing finery, “for I surely recall you!”
“Baron Jacques’ Jester!” Ilyana’s gasp nearly covered the soft grating of steel being drawn behind them.
Corwyn was now definitely concerned.


Mechanics & TacticsStatblock
The next time the party encounters Acerath they’re back at their old tricks if infiltrating existing power structures, but now that we’re working for Orcus the purpose is geared mor towards causing institutional rather than personal chaos. After all, it’s a lot easier to get institutions to kill people than to do it yourself. At this point Acerath is liable to have a large information and influence network fueled by exceptional Bluff/Disguise/Intimidate (+27/+31/+23), the acquisition of the Charm invocation, and our good friend Mother Cyst which was picked up at CR 8 (consider it a gift from Orcus). For those who don’t know, Mother Cyst gives a list of spells known that can be used to implant a Necrotic Cyst into a host through which the caster with the Mother Cyst can affect them and the world around them. This pairs nicely with Blood Magus’ second level ability Scarification, which allows the Blood Magus to make up to 6 scribe scrolls on their body from any spells known. Mother Cyst explicitly counts the spell list as known, no ifs ands or buts, so we can scribe these onto Acerath’s skin to use despite not having any spell slots. Off screen this allows for the creation of a necrotic cyst network (note that the invocation Call of the Beast allows using pets/animals as information gatherers through infected animals easy), and in combat it allows for shenanigans. Among other things when the host of a Necrotic Cyst dies, a round later an undead Skulking Cyst tears out of the corpse and attacks the nearest living creature. Also, while I would recommend sticking to level appropriate Scarifications, technically you could scribe up to 9th level Necrotic spells into your skin to use in fight. [b]Size/Type: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 4d8+7d6+22 (68)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30'
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Natural), Touch 12, Flat-Footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+8
Atack: Slam +8 (1d6), Eldritch Blast +10 (3d6/5d6 Practiced Spellcaster)
Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: Detect Thoughts, Jester Abilities, Invocations
Special Qualities: Change Shape, Darkvision 60', Immunity to Sleep and Charm
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +12
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 20
Skills: Bluff: +27; Concentration: +6; Disguise: +21(31); Intimidate: +23; Knowledge (Religion): +13; Sense Motive: +9; Spellcraft: +8; Use Magic Device: +9;
Feats: Able Learner, Great Fortitude, Toughness, Practiced Spellcaster (Warlock), Mother Cyst
Invocations: Beguiling Influence, Call of the Beast, See the Unseen, Charm
Blood Well: N/A
Scarification: Necrotic Cyst, Necrotic Bloat, Necrotic Domination, Necrotic Burst (Total 6, mix as needed)
Scrolls: N/A



CR15

Sir Corwyn Smithsson, The Bulwark, Champion of The Seven Isles, was furious and terrified. In front of him, discarded at the foot of the throne of the Kingdom of Seine, was the corpse of the Earl of Jarlsberg, whom he had been sent to protect during these negotiations. Corwyn’s entire being thrummed with the effort it took to keep himself from attacking the madman masquerading as Seine’s king, but Ilyana beside him, the rest of the Honor Guard at his back, and the entire envoy were relying on him to make it through this alive.
Corwyn’s voice only shook a little as he addressed the throne. “You know this will mean war.”
“Oh I’m quite counting on it,” The king smirked as he replied, “after all, it’s been far too long since we last played.”
Corwyn’s mind blanked as the laughing monarch’s form blurred and flowed into a horrifyingly familiar motley-clad portly man. Without thought Corwyn’s blade was free and speeding towards the monster he’d killed twice before until with a deafening clang it was blocked by Ilyana’s greatsword.
“Ilyana? What are you doing?” The man’s confusion was palpable as Ilyana stepped in front and placed herself between him and the Jester sitting on the throne.
“Oh, Ilyana’s not here right now,” The Fool cackled madly. “Hasn’t been for quite some time! Alrighty, let’s get this started shall we!”
Behind Corwyn there were a series of soft thumps and a spray of blood covered the throne room in a skein of red. The knight spared a quick glance over his shoulder to see half of the Honor Guard mishappen piles of mangled flesh, twitching at some sort of undead horror tore out of what had once been good men and women. That glance nearly cost Corwyn his life as Ilyana struck out at him, and the Champion no longer had time for concerns such as fury, terror, or grief.


Mechanics & TacticsStatblock
By this point we’ve established our entire schtick with Blood Magus 4 and Chameleon 2. And Acerath has graduated to full on death cult leader. Blood Magus 4 gives the Blood Draught ability which allows you to brew and store potions within your blood, which others can benefit from by drinking directly from you. A Blood Magus can store up to level + Con score (so at this point 19 potions, and with Chameleon we have access to every 1st and 2nd level spell in our off-time to brew potions. There are several gems out there, but Enlarge Person, Alter Self, Cure Moderate Wounds, and many others can be useful and allow Acerath to act as a mobile buffer without needing to use actions. Out of combat we have access to Tongues and Nondetection as potions to facilitate Charm and Socializing. Chameleon also gives a rotating bonus feat, which among the normal usages (namely crafting) gives Acerath access the the Bloodline feats, which can give access for Scarification to a suite of spells levels 1-9. You only have 6 slots, but six carefully chosen spells can make a difference. Note that you will probably swap out your Bonus Feat for combat, meaning you need to make a UMD check to cast these spells. At this point we can take ten on UMD for a total of 31, which lets us cast up to 6th level spells without fail. Access to Metamagic feats when using Scarification for Necrotic Feats could also be useful (starting out a combat with two folks exploding into a bloody mist from a quickened or twinned Necrotic Burst could be fun). We have access to The Dead Walk with Extra Invocation through Chameleon and Desecrate from the Necromantic Bloodline to make a custom undead mount in downtime as well. There’s enough versatility here to more or less tailor your kit out depending on the Party’s capabilities, as well as to justify however well entrenched you want Acerath to be in whatever level of society you choose to infiltrate. Speaking of Cultists, at CR 14 we picked up the Fell Conspiracy feat, which gives us mechanical means to build a cult, with benefits to the members thereof, including always on group telepathy. Between Change Shape, Charm, excellent Bluff/Disguise/Intimidate (+32/+36/+28), group telepathy, Necrotic Scry, Necrotic Domination, and various other social and stealth spells/abilities Acerath should know everything the party does as soon as they do it, allowing the DM to justify perfect counters to plans. Size/Type: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 6d8+10d6+30 (95)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30', fly 30'
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Natural), Touch 12, Flat-Footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+10
Atack: Slam +10 (1d6), Eldritch Blast +12 (4d6/6d6 Practiced Spellcaster, +2d6 Mortalbane)
Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: Detect Thoughts, Jester Abilities, Invocations, Death Knell 1/day
Special Qualities: Change Shape, Darkvision 60', Immunity to Sleep and Charm
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +13
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 21
Skills: Bluff: +32; Concentration: +6; Disguise: +26(36); Intimidate: +28; Knowledge (Religion): +15; Sense Motive: +9; Spellcraft: +8; Use Magic Device: +21
Feats: Able Learner, Great Fortitude, Toughness, Practiced Spellcaster (Warlock), Mother Cyst, Combat Charm, Fell Conspiracy, Bonus Feat (Quicken SLA/Boost SLA/Mortalbane/Corpsecrafter/Etc.)
Invocations: Beguiling Influence, Call of the Beast, See the Unseen, Charm, Fell Flight
Blood Well: 19 Potions (Enlarge Person, Alter Self, Heroics, Cure Moderate Wounds, Rage, Protection from Elements, Water Breathing, Tongues, etc.)
Scarification: Necrotic Burst, Quickened Necrotic Burst, True Seeing, Everard's Black Tentacles, Mind Fog, Dominate Person (If Corpsecrafter, take Desecrate)
Scrolls: As Needed: Necrotic Awareness, Nectrotic Cycst, Necrotic Scrying, Necrotic Bloat, Necrotic Domination, Necrotic Burst, Necrotic Eruption, Necrotic Tumor, Necrotic Empowerment, Necrotic Termination; any 1st or 2nd level



CR20

Corwyn knew this would be the last battlefield he stood on, one way or another. After the fiasco in the Court of Seine, the Seven Isles had declared war and the two kingdoms had descended into a bloody conflict that ground on for years. Whenever it seemed that peace might be obtainable, some new atrocity spurred on the fighting, until both realms were broken shades of their former glory. It was once the spirits of the people of the two kingdoms was broken that a new threat arose. Taking advantage of the chaos of unrelenting war the Cult of Orcus had risen and once the weakened kingdoms had been unable to respond had the Cult had swept across the lands leaving devastation in its wake until here the last remnants of both kingdoms had put aside their differences and come together to attempt to divert final defeat. It was a desperate attempt, but they had nothing left to lose; fall here and there would be nothing left of either the Kingdom of Seine or The Seven Isles but memories and bones. Across the field Corwyn could pick out the forms of the Cult’s champions, many suborned from both sides of the war via means still not fully understood; Samara Giantsbane, Bloody Jack, The Butcher of Kurald who once was Roland the Shining Spear, Jenna Stormcaller, and many more. And there, at the heart of the formation, achingly familiar was Ilyana Vattasdotter, now known as The Executioner. Sir Corwyn Smithsson, The Bullwark, Champion of the Seven Isles and Defender of the Realm Entire, hardened his heart, hefted his blade, shoved away his last lingering concerns, and got to it.

Mechanics & TacticsStatblock
More of the same here; increases in social skills and the addition of the Devil’s Whispers invocation continue justification of the growth of the Cult and Necrotic Domination can give us additional lackies for increasing the difficulty of combat encounters, particularly since I’ll admit that Acerath doesn’t personally scale all that well in these later levels. Blessing of the Godless gives us more mechanical ways to create and buff a group of Cultists including emergency healing. The final levels of Blood Magus give two abilities that we care about; Awaken Blood, which gives a 1/day 10d10 no save damage spike, and finally Bloodwalk, which lets the Blood Magus teleport through two living creatures on the same plane without mischance or save on either end. This can be used to flee an encounter, but it can also be used offensively, as you can choose to exit explosively, doing 10d6 damage to the creature you exit. Size/Type: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 6d8+15d6+60 (142)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30', fly 30'
Armor Class: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 Natural), Touch 12, Flat-Footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +13/+13
Atack: Slam +13 (1d6), Eldritch Blast +15 (6d6/8d6 Practiced Spellcaster, +2d6 Mortalbane)
Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: Detect Thoughts, Jester Abilities, Invocations, Death Knell 1/day, Awaken Blood (10d10) 1/day, Bloodwalk (10d6) 1/day
Special Qualities: Change Shape, Darkvision 60', Immunity to Sleep and Charm
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +12, Will +15
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 22
Skills: Bluff: +37; Concentration: +7; Disguise: +31(41); Intimidate: +33; Knowledge (Religion): +15; Sense Motive: +9; Spellcraft: +8; Use Magic Device: +27
Feats: Able Learner, Great Fortitude, Toughness, Practiced Spellcaster (Warlock), Mother Cyst, Combat Charm, Fell Conspiracy, Blessing of the Godless, Scribe Scroll, Bonus Feat (Quicken SLA/Boost SLA/Mortalbane/Corpsecrafter/Etc.)
Invocations: Beguiling Influence, Call of the Beast, See the Unseen, Charm, Fell Flight, Flee the Scene, Devil's Whispers
Blood Well: 26 Potions (Enlarge Person, Alter Self, Heroics, Cure Moderate Wounds, Rage, Protection from Elements, Water Breathing, Tongues, etc.)
Scarification: Dominate Monster, Power Word Kill, Otto's Irresistable Dance, Plane Shift, Forcecage, Elemental Swarm (Water)
Scrolls: As Needed: All Known, Metamagic'd Necrotic or 1st & 2nd level




Non-PHB Items:
Doppelganger (RoD p93)
Jester (DrC p36)
Warlock (CAr p5), Invocations (CAr, CM, Cityscape)
Blood Magus (CAr p26)
Chameleon (RoD p111)
Able Learner (RoD p150)
Practiced Spellcaster (CAr p82)
Mother Cyst (LM p28), Necrotic Spells in Libris Mortis
Combat Charm (DrC p94)
Fell Conspiracy (EoE p24)
Quicken SLA (MM)
Boost SLA (BoVD p47)
Mortalbane (BoVD p49)
Corpsecrafter (LM p25)
Bloodline Feats (DrC pp88-109)
Blessing of the Godless (EoE p23)

[Venger]

"Nothing looks down upon you from the heavens--just an endless, frozen void that cares nothing about the fate of a collection of insignificant bipedal microbes at the hands of vastly more powerful beings whose motives their puny minds cannot even comprehend!"
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GEZhuS9aVSA/S-1pzawZqJI/AAAAAAAABJk/jdX_ZQSDMUw/s700/Aboleth_114688.jpg

The Great Old One, Who Lies at the Bottom, he will save you! Listen to me, people! Come to the Great Old One and kneel before him! In his greatest mercy he will release you from your morbid and worthless freedom! Come and obtain the blessing of enslavement! You'll acquire the happiness of service and the explicit purpose of your empty lifes! Don't listen to servants of gods, they are lying to you, all that they can propose - happiness after death. Don't listen to governors, all that they want - happiness for themselves! The Great Old One gives happiness to you and right now in life!

LE Psionic Aboleth Telepath 8/Savant Aboleth 5

Abilities Initial Race 12th 15th 16th 17th 20th Total
STR 8 16 24
DEX 10 2 12
CON 13 10 23
INT 15 4 1 2 1 2 1 26
WIS 12 6 18
CHA 14 6 20

CR Class BAB Fort Reflex Will Skills Feats Class Features
- Aberration-1 0 0 0 2 24: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Local): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+4} Knowledge (Psionics): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 2; {+2} Knowledge (The planes): 2; {+4} Spot: 4; Ability Focus (Psionic dominate)1 Psi-like abilities, slime, aquatic subtype, darkvision 60 ft., mucus cloud
- Aberration-2 1 0 0 3 6: {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 3; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 3; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 3; Knowledge (The planes): 2; {+1} Spot: 5;
- Aberration-3 2 1 1 3 6: {+1} Concentration: 6; Knowledge (Arcana): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 3; Knowledge (Local): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 6; Knowledge (Religion): 3; {+1} Knowledge (The planes): 3; {+1} Spot: 6; Ability Focus (slime)3
- Aberration-4 3 1 1 4 6: {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 4; Knowledge (Nature): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 7; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 4; Knowledge (The planes): 3; {+1} Spot: 7;
- Aberration-5 3 1 1 4 6: {+1} Concentration: 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 8; Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+1} Knowledge (The planes): 4; {+1} Spot: 8;
- Aberration-6 4 2 2 5 6: {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 5; Knowledge (Nature): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 9; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 5; Knowledge (The planes): 4; {+1} Spot: 9; Quickslime6
- Aberration-7 5 2 2 5 6: {+1} Concentration: 10; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 10; Knowledge (Religion): 5; {+1} Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+1} Spot: 10;
7 Aberration-8 6 2 2 6 6: {+1} Concentration: 11; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 11; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+1} Spot: 11;
8 Telepath-1 6 2 2 8 6: {+1} Concentration: 12; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+3} Psicraft: 3; {+1} Sense Motive: 1; Spot: 11; Shape Soulmeld (Charming Veil)9, Practiced ManifesterB Bonus feat, discipline
9 Telepath-2 7 2 2 9 6: {+1} Concentration: 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 13; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+3} Psicraft: 6; {+1} Sense Motive: 2; Spot: 11;
10 Telepath-3 7 3 3 9 6: {+1} Concentration: 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 14; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+3} Psicraft: 9; {+1} Sense Motive: 3; Spot: 11;
11 Telepath-4 8 3 3 10 7: {+1} Concentration: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 15; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+4} Psicraft: 13; {+1} Sense Motive: 4; Spot: 11; Psycarnum Infusion12
12 Telepath-5 8 3 3 10 7: {+1} Concentration: 16; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 16; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+3} Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; Spot: 11; {+2} Collector of Stories; Craft Aboleth GlyphB Bonus feat
13 Savant Aboleth-1 8 5 3 12 11: {+1} Concentration: 17; {+3} Decipher Script: 3; {+3} Forgery: 3; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 17; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; Spot: 11; {+3} Use Psionic Device: 3; Collector of Stories; Glyph mastery, ossification +2
14 Savant Aboleth-2 9 6 3 13 12: {+1} Concentration: 18; {+3} Decipher Script: 6; {+3} Forgery: 6; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 18; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; {+2} Speak Language: 2; Spot: 11; {+2} Use Psionic Device: 5; Collector of Stories; Enlarge Mucus Cloud15 Enlarged enslave, recrudescent memories
15 Savant Aboleth-3 10 6 4 13 12: {+1} Concentration: 19; {+3} Decipher Script: 9; {+3} Forgery: 9; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 19; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; {+2} Speak Language: 4; Spot: 11; {+2} Use Psionic Device: 7; Collector of Stories; Greater glyph, ossification +4
16 Savant Aboleth-4 11 7 4 14 13: {+1} Concentration: 20; {+3} Decipher Script: 12; {+3} Forgery: 12; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 20; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; {+2} Speak Language: 6; Spot: 11; {+3} Use Psionic Device: 10; Collector of Stories; Recrudescent memories, true enslave
17 Savant Aboleth-5 11 7 4 14 13: {+1} Concentration: 21; {+3} Decipher Script: 15; {+3} Forgery: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 21; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; Psicraft: 16; Sense Motive: 4; {+2} Speak Language: 8; Spot: 11; {+3} Use Psionic Device: 13; Collector of Stories; Expanded Essentia Capacity18 Elder glyph, ossification +6
18 Telepath-6 12 8 5 15 9: {+1} Concentration: 22; Decipher Script: 15; Forgery: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 22; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+6} Psicraft: 22; {+1} Sense Motive: 5; Speak Language: 8; Spot: 11; Use Psionic Device: 13; Collector of Stories;
19 Telepath-7 12 8 5 15 10: {+1} Concentration: 23; Decipher Script: 15; Forgery: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 23; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+1} Psicraft: 23; {+7} Sense Motive: 12; Speak Language: 8; Spot: 11; Use Psionic Device: 13; Collector of Stories;
20 Telepath-8 13 8 5 16 10: {+1} Concentration: 24; Decipher Script: 15; Forgery: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 6; Knowledge (Nature): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Psionics): 24; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The planes): 5; {+1} Psicraft: 24; {+7} Sense Motive: 19; Speak Language: 8; Spot: 11; Use Psionic Device: 13; Collector of Stories; Psionic Meditation21
Starting Languages: Aboleth, Common, Undercommon, Aquan, Draconic; Speak Language Languages: Orc, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Goblin, Infernal, Giant, Abyssal.

CR Class New Powers (Level) Maximum Power Level PP
8 Telepath-1 Inertial Armor (1st), Charm, Psionic (1st), Force Screen (1st) 1st 2+2
9 Telepath-2 Call to Mind (1st), Detect Psionics (1st) 1st 6+4
10 Telepath-3 Read Thoughts (2nd), Suggestion, Psionic (2nd) 2nd 11+6
11 Telepath-4 Feat Leech (2nd), Brain Lock (2nd) 2nd 17+10
12 Telepath-5 Dispel Psionics (3th), Body Adjustment (3th) 3rd 25+12
13 Telepath-6 Empathic Transfer, Hostile (3rd), Crisis of Breath (3rd) 3rd 35+15
14 Telepath-7 Freedom of Movement, Psionic (4th), Mindlink, Thieving (4th) 4th 46+21
15 Telepath-8 Psychic Reformation (4th), Schism (4th) 4th 58+24
16 Telepath-9 Plane Shift, Psionic (5th), Mind Probe (5th) 5th 72+31
17 Telepath-10 True Seeing, Psionic (5th), Shatter Mind Blank (5th) 5th 88+35
18 Telepath-11 Mind Switch (6th) 6th 106+38
19 Telepath-12 Disintegrate, Psionic (6th), Cloud Mind, Mass (6th) 6th 126+48
20 Telepath-13 Mind Blank, Personal (7th) 7th 147+52

All powers are from Expanded Psionics Handbook and Psionic Compendium.

IllIIlIl, actually isn't too old. He is about half a century old. His first decade he had just grown up with his parent. Next decade he was searching for the perfect place. Several decades after that he was preparing. Two pairs of skums he took from parent's flock had multiplied during this time. IllIIlIl himself was exploring the possibilities that give his psychic power and researching elder aboleth magic knowledge - Aboleth Glyphs to become what he was meant to be. From the very birth he knew it. To be Aboleth Savant is his destiny.
If regular aboleth are in all respects a lot better than lesser beings - all these humans, elves and others like them, then savants are the apex of perfection. Greatests and the best. To be one of them is a great gift. But with great power comes great responsibility. Responsibility to rule the world. To rule lesser creatures who even don't know what to do with themselves, what can we say about the whole world. It’s a miracle they haven’t destroyed it yet. There can no longer be any hope of luck. IllIIlIl should take matters into his own tentacles.
He decided to start small. First - a fortified hideout in the underground river and lake network. Second - power above the small town. Third - the whole world.

IllIIlIl is a regular psi aboleth with feats taken with the aim to savant prestige class.

Five levels of Telepath give IllIIlIl all lacking requirements and useful psionic powers. Charming Veil soulmeld plus Psycarnum Infusion gives +4 to DC all harm and compulsion powers and psi-like abilities including Psionic dominate. Yes, without expending psionic focus it's only +1, but it isn't a big deal to expend it for 3/day PLA out of fight.
Also, IllIIlIl gets Craft Aboleth Glyph and can now fortify his lairs and hideouts with it.

Two words: true enslave. Permanent Dominate monster. Yes, also, there are Enlarge Mucus Cloud, 5th level powers, and some minor abilities from Savant Aboleth, but this all is just a nice bonus to the main course.

IllIIlIl ends with Expanded Essentia Capacity and Psionic Meditation to improve his Charming Veil. Now it's +6 DC and costs only move action to recharge. Plus, 7th level powers. I should highlight Shatter Mind Blank and Psionic Disintegrate which should help to deal with foes who have some mind protection.

Feat Leech + Psychic Reformation + many slaves = almost any needed psionic or metapsionic feat.
Mindlink, Thieving + Psychic Reformation + many slaves = almost any needed low level power.
Firstly I thought about taking Tenacious Magic (from ELH) for Psionic dominate at 21th HD, but I found out it's against competition rules. But nobody can forbid you to use this feat out of VC.

About psi version of Savant Aboleth and Craft Aboleth Glyph you can read in the Lords of Madness on p. 24.

Type Name Book Page
Race Aboleth MM 8
Race Aboleth, Psionic XPH 185
Class Telepath XPH 19
Prestige Class Savant Aboleth LoM 21
Class variant Savant Aboleth, Psionic LoM 24
Feat Ability Focus MMV 204
Feat Quickslime LoM 23
Feat Shape Soulmeld MoI 40
Feat Practiced Manifester CPsi 57
Feat Psycarnum Infusion MoI 40
Feat Craft Aboleth Glyph LoM 22, 24
Feat Enlarge Mucus Cloud LoM 22
Feat Expanded Essentia Capacity MoI 38
Feat Psionic Meditation XPH 50
Skill Trick Collector of Stories CS 85
Soulmeld Charming Veil Psionics of Incarnum link (https://web.archive.org/web/20180516093730/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a)

[Venger]

And those are our entries! Best of luck, everyone.

[loky1109]

And the table!

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Total Place
Steel, the Conscript Lord (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604680&postcount=37) LE Advanced Prodigy Gulthir Monk 1/Fiend of Possession 2/Paladin of Tyranny 2/Tattooed Monk 3/Totemist 2
Angus McQuestGyver (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604683&postcount=38) NE Doppelganger Chameleon 10/Expert 2/Marshal 1/Zhentarim spy 5
Ddernyn Siotta (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604686&postcount=39) CE Advanced Half-Fey Balenar Naga Naga Overlord 10
Acerath, Hand of Orcus (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604689&postcount=40) LE Doppelganger Jester 1/Warlock 4/Blood Magus 10/Chameleon 2
IllIIlIl (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604692&postcount=41) LE Psionic Aboleth Telepath 8/Psionic Savant Aboleth 5

[Thurbane]

Congrats to the entrants!

My stub, which I had no time to work on, was Pleasure Devil Outsider 12/Fiend of Corruption 4/Uncanny Trickster 3/Swordsage 2. Swordsage felt a bit tacked on for the last two levels, but wasn't sure what else to put in there.

[Venger]

Thanks, loky1109. Looks great.

[loky1109]

I like this round. All five entries are definitely monsters, not PC in wolf's clothing. I think it's good!

Good luck to all participants!

[Inevitability]

I like this round. All five entries are definitely monsters, not PC in wolf's clothing. I think it's good!

Good luck to all participants!

"Average VC entry is just a PC" is wrong. Average VC entry is not playable as a PC. McQuestGiver Georg, who impersonates 5000 PCs each day, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

[zlefin]

I hope y'all find a judge at some point, I like reading the judge readups.

I never could figure out a way to get any of my builds to work. My first thought was a troll that was literally about trolling the PCs; while an amusing gag, the CR spent on troll simply didn't do anything to actually make the build better, and the stats made it hard to go into beguiler or another suitable caster. While the ideas for trolling a party were fun; they're not enough to make it a proper build.

My other idea was to have something that appears as an innocuous animal, that seeks revenge on the party for some reason and thus spends time sending minions after them from a distance. But I couldn't find a good way to get their stats up enough to cast well. Adding int/cha to an animal isn't easy; and many of the methods add a fair bit of CR. More problematic is that none of the Wis casters had what I wanted, and getting int/cha high enough to be able to cast spells on level was also proving difficult. I couldn't get any of the psionic classes to work out without spending far too much CR on getting Int high enough.

[ciopo]

I had a terrible idea of making a 8-headed lillend, to abuse the discrepancy between CR per head and HD per head, basically adding 14HD for only 4 CR, all for the purpose of getting to music of the gods at about CR17

but it was kind of ugly and clunky, so I ended up dropping that

[Inevitability]

I had a terrible idea of making a 8-headed lillend, to abuse the discrepancy between CR per head and HD per head, basically adding 14HD for only 4 CR, all for the purpose of getting to music of the gods at about CR17

but it was kind of ugly and clunky, so I ended up dropping that

It'd be +5 CR, right? Improved Grab counts as a head-based special attack that scales with head number.

[loky1109]

It'd be +5 CR, right? Improved Grab counts as a head-based special attack that scales with head number.
It's wrong.

Improved Grab (Ex)
To use this ability, a lillend must hit with its tail slap attack.

[Inevitability]

It's wrong.
.

That makes... a lot more sense. For the record, I originally read 'illithid' there.

[ciopo]

*casts summon judge*

[loky1109]

*casts summon judge*
*aid in casting*

[loky1109]

Santa, why didn't you gift us judge for the New Year?

[Inevitability]

Is there still no judge? I think we'd all really like to move on to the next competition...

[H_H_F_F]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

It's been a while, hasn't it? Life here is crazy, and it seems like it's going to get real bad real soon - but in the meantime, I'm back! Just started working on judgement for this round, telling you now to keep myself motivated. Talk to you all soon!

[loky1109]

Glad to see you are back! I missed you.

[Inevitability]

Welcome back, glad to hear we have a judge!

[H_H_F_F]

Update: Slow and Steady wins the race. I don't have a ton of free time, but I'm still making consistent progress.

[ciopo]

Thank you, H_H_F_F

[loky1109]

H_H_F_F, friend, how does it go?

[H_H_F_F]

Back on it as we speak. I have been (and will likely continue to be) extremely busy. Basically almost every waking moment I'm not working, and many that I should have been working in but decided not to, is going towards volunteering in... Stuff we can't discuss here, unfortunately. Look it up, I guess?

I was already in it when I started working on judgements, but I've since been asked to take on a lot of responsibilities that I felt I cannot refuse at this time. I'm sorry for disappearing on you guys.

Anyway, I've been trying to also find time for this, and myself and my hobbies in general. Sometimes, it's hard to reconcile your duty to your ideals with the need to also be a person, and doing things you like for your own sake.

I fully intend to be done with judgement before April. I do apologize for vanishing for so long (again).

[loky1109]

I fully intend to be done with judgement before April. I do apologize for vanishing for so long (again).

RL goes first. I sure you're doing important and necessary things.

[H_H_F_F]

While we're waiting on my judgements, I'd like to discuss some general issues with judgement. I'd really appreciate feedback and participation from anyone reading the thread.

We (as in, the forum generally and VC specifically) have had some issues with getting judges. I've been trying to think of ways to address it. Here's what I've got so far:


People's Choice Award:
replacing the HM. Instead of someone just giving HM if they'd like to, we have the people's choice award. You pick your favorite entry, and give a few words to explain what you've found compelling about it – given in terms of stuff you found particularly original, elegant, or memorable about it, or simply how powerfully optimized it was. In other words – we get people used to thinking like judges. Also, while all spectators are still welcomed (and encouraged!) to participate in the people's choice awards, I'd like to make it mandatory for entrants. This is to try and encourage us to see participation in the competition as broader than building something cool and hitting "send". We're all in this together.
Judge's Handbook:
I've seen a lot of people saying they would judge, but feel unqualified to do so. In order to ease entry into judging, we could create a formalized semi-standardized judgement metric called Judge's Handbook. We have a few judges with pretty stiff metrics for judgements, that are easily replicable – I'm thinking something like that. Judging according to it would not be compulsory, but it would be a useful entry point for new judges who don't feel experienced or qualified enough to judge right now. I'd like to compound that with action 2b: officially offering new judges an open invitation to consult with the chair about judgement. It's something I'm hesitant about, with the concerns for me/future chairs showing partiality because I know who the contestants are, but I feel like it would also help making judging more accessible.
Constrict disputes:
I'm thinking the dispute process could be one of the reasons people are averse to judging. Constricting disputes only to rules disagreements, judging guidelines issues and partial judgement (2 entries receiving different scores for the same strength/weakness) could help.
Special benefits for judges:
I think giving judges some special benefits might be beneficial, as long as we don't overdo it and make others feel unappreciated. Here are my current ideas: At the end of most rounds, I let the community vote on the next round. I was thinking we could let judges only vote on that. Also, I think I'd like to make every X4th X9th round a guest-chair round, like this one. We could make it that only a person that has judged recently would qualify to be a guest chair.


What are your thoughts? Do you think any of these steps could help get more judges, or otherwise improve the experience? Any other ideas?

I'm especially interested in the opinions of "rarely judge" or "never judged" people here. Would anything I could do as chair make judging a less daunting and more fun task for you?

[Inevitability]

While we're waiting on my judgements, I'd like to discuss some general issues with judgement. I'd really appreciate feedback and participation from anyone reading the thread.

We (as in, the forum generally and VC specifically) have had some issues with getting judges. I've been trying to think of ways to address it. Here's what I've got so far:


People's Choice Award:
replacing the HM. Instead of someone just giving HM if they'd like to, we have the people's choice award. You pick your favorite entry, and give a few words to explain what you've found compelling about it – given in terms of stuff you found particularly original, elegant, or memorable about it, or simply how powerfully optimized it was. In other words – we get people used to thinking like judges. Also, while all spectators are still welcomed (and encouraged!) to participate in the people's choice awards, I'd like to make it mandatory for entrants. This is to try and encourage us to see participation in the competition as broader than building something cool and hitting "send". We're all in this together.
Judge's Handbook:
I've seen a lot of people saying they would judge, but feel unqualified to do so. In order to ease entry into judging, we could create a formalized semi-standardized judgement metric called Judge's Handbook. We have a few judges with pretty stiff metrics for judgements, that are easily replicable – I'm thinking something like that. Judging according to it would not be compulsory, but it would be a useful entry point for new judges who don't feel experienced or qualified enough to judge right now. I'd like to compound that with action 2b: officially offering new judges an open invitation to consult with the chair about judgement. It's something I'm hesitant about, with the concerns for me/future chairs showing partiality because I know who the contestants are, but I feel like it would also help making judging more accessible.
Constrict disputes:
I'm thinking the dispute process could be one of the reasons people are averse to judging. Constricting disputes only to rules disagreements, judging guidelines issues and partial judgement (2 entries receiving different scores for the same strength/weakness) could help.
Special benefits for judges:
I think giving judges some special benefits might be beneficial, as long as we don't overdo it and make others feel unappreciated. Here are my current ideas: At the end of most rounds, I let the community vote on the next round. I was thinking we could let judges only vote on that. Also, I think I'd like to make every X4th X9th round a guest-chair round, like this one. We could make it that only a person that has judged recently would qualify to be a guest chair.


What are your thoughts? Do you think any of these steps could help get more judges, or otherwise improve the experience? Any other ideas?

I'm especially interested in the opinions of "rarely judge" or "never judged" people here. Would anything I could do as chair make judging a less daunting and more fun task for you?

1. Agreed with the people's choice award, though I think it should either be anonymous (I could see some funny guys doing it in-character of their entry) or after the actual judgings.

2. I'm interested in a judging handbook, and I think my own metric is pretty rigid: I could write it up and give my own perspective on how to approach judging.

3. Disinclined; I think the current dispute process is fine.

4. In favor, and while choosing the next SI/theme is an obvious perk, I am interested in alternative rewards though I cannot think of any currently.

[Goldlizard]

I'd be down to judge if there were a handbook or some kind of guide, and like the poster above, points 1 and 4 both sound like good ideas

[loky1109]

1. People's Choice Award
It's a good idea, but I don't think it could be a replacement for regular judgment.


2. Judge's Handbook
Handbook could be useful, but I don't even know how it should look.


3. Constrict disputes
For me as contestant disputes are already excessively constrict. Sometimes I use my single dispute in order to understand what the judge did mean. For me as a judge - I'm ready to answer as many times as it will be needed.


4. Special benefits for judges
For me - doesn't matter, when I can - I judge.

[H_H_F_F]

I've been sick, wounded, and (falsely) arrested (not all at the same time, thankfully) but am on the case. Also had some fun on vacation for the first time in ages, which was very good but still left me little time to work. My apologies for the repeated, repeated, repeated delays with this round. Whoof!

As for next round (50!) It's going to be very, very extraordinary. Round L - for the way you look at me.

[H_H_F_F]

Judgement coming tomorrow.

[ciopo]

Much rejoicying!

[loky1109]

I've been sick, wounded, and (falsely) arrested (not all at the same time, thankfully) but am on the case.
I'm glad all this had a good conclusion! Vacation also sounds cool!

[H_H_F_F]

Judgement has arrived.

Originality:

Gods almighty, that is some strong fluff. Great job on that front. It works well with the theme, and harmonizes with the build's crunch.

Mechanically, there's a lot of good stuff here. Sure, a lot of the levels are just "Good_DipsTM", and Fiend of Possession is hardly a surprise – but the gist of the build is all about utilizing a creative monster pick, and you have a few very neat tricks in there: Sun School is the main one, but Tattooed Monk is also certainly… a choice.

Also, Sword and Board! Yay! It's not relevant to what you do, obviously, but it'll always get a smile from me.

Overall, this was a very creative approach.

Score: 4.5 points.


Power:

Main trick is STRONG, especially early on. Good defensive capabilities are there, as well as escape – though I do worry about a dimensional anchor locking you down.

As far as bellflower goes: It's not really reliable enough to really justify the tattooed monk pick, IMO, and it's an enhancement bonus, but it's still nice – and you have the numbers and action economy to back it up.

I do wish you'd have invested more in disguise and bluff, especially early on. Managing to max them within a few CR points of your starting point would've been great, especially since early on is when they're at their most relevant.

Outside of your main trick, you don't have much to offer. What're you gonna do, hit them with a sword? I wish you'd have at least gotten yourself something to do in case domination is out. Another grapple schtick, perhaps, or just plain-old PA? Obviously, you don't want to pour too much effort on stuff outside the theme, I get that. But I feel like having nothing to do if one ability is out is a bit much, even if you can theoretically counter it by swallowing someone that can cast AMF – which, first of all come on, and second I'm not entirely sure works. We're going to avoid that irrelevant tangent though. You do propose some other means to deal with the issue.

Other than that, I feel like you generally don't keep up. Your DCs are dropping in comparison to the PC's saves, and what you have to offer is… Bellflower? Immunities are popping up, saves are rising, and you have no backup.

Overall, Steel is a terrifying one-trick-pony in early levels – but doesn't fully keep up, and said trick has 2 points of failure (grapple, mind-affecting) which are notoriously hard to overcome.

Score: 3.25 points.


Elegance:

Sun School and mark of Avernus take the center stage for me here. You've noticed a rules-hole that allows you to disgorge an enemy much more efficiently, and you managed to follow it up. You didn't just note "you don't have to spend the action, you can teleport!" Instead, you've found ways to make it much more efficient.

As unimpressed as I am with the actual utility of tattooed monk, trying to get more umph for your ability through a now-accessible move action is commendable.

I'm sympathetic to the argument that RAW you wouldn't take a swallowed enemy with you, and that there's no clear RAI on the subject – mostly seems like oversight. I also do not think there's a strong case that the opponent wouldn't make saving throws: the ability isn't called "disgorge", but "spewed", which means "disgorged" is used in the sense of natural language and not rules language; I'm not a native English speaker, but I think there's certainly a natural language case to be made that an enemy was "disgorged" from your stomach when you disappeared and it dropped to the floor. So, it's good that you didn't assume the cheesy reading, as I don't think it's supported enough.

So far, so good – but there's bas stuff, too.

You've miscalculated your CR, my friend. Unless I'm mistaken, 8 Outsider HD + your size category increase is a total of a 5 CR increase, according to the rules. A 14 HD gulthir is CR 11. That's a very hefty penalty from me.

Additionally, the strong cohesion of your core tactic is contrasted by what feels sometimes like a grab-bag of classes. It's not terrible by any means – you utilize your type, your high Cha, and you do try to push the main idea further at 20 with blink shirt – but Steel doesn't feel like he truly has a cohesive and holistic identity, where every aspect of the build is truly necessary.

Overall, this build has a lot of mechanical cleverness and beauty on display, but suffers from a lack of identity during the later CR points, and from a major issue in CR calculation.

Score: 3 points.


Memorable Villainy:

Steel definitely has some strengths in this category, first among which is working well with the theme. He's definitely focused first and foremost on controlling others, even if he mainly just has one way to do so. He can do it powerfully, and often. He's also very slippery, which helps keep the theme of "not interested in fighting you".

Lack of access to a (well, non-[mind-affecting] and) non-grapple option is a downside here. I'm not going to take the approach that "it's useless late levels". But still, it would've been much better if you had invested in more means of control. Diversity is always a +, and that's especially true when your main approach is so negatable.

Other strengths: Steel as an anti-demon crusader first and foremost gives a lot of nuance and interest to his evil, offering a lot of morally questionable roleplay opportunities. A villain like this is certainly more memorable than "that **** that gets away every time because DM decided they're a recurring villain."

However, he certainly has some weaknesses. Not showing up before CR 10 (11, technically) is not too bad, but not great either. That is compounded by the issue that Steel is pretty much all there once he gets his first monk level. That's when his tactics almost fully turn on, and his DC is at its peak compared to the party's saves. Anything happening at the next 9 CR points is just mechanical tweaking, trying to keep up with the party. It's fine to not keep up with them (well, in this category) but you still need to change. They've been fighting him for half the campaign, a white mask is pretty irrelevant at that point. His saves become significantly better, he's somewhat better at troubling mages. He doesn't grow, he doesn't change, he doesn't use any tactics or pose any threats he didn't pose when the party was early level. The closest thing to a meaningful tactical change is Blink Shirt. He really has to solely rely on mooks and equipment to play as a truly different encounter – otherwise, he's mainly just on repeat. You really want your party to say "oh ****, that's new" whenever they encounter your bad guy, and that doesn't really happen here.

Overall, both commitment to the theme and general memorability could've been improved, but they're both pretty strong nonetheless, and you make a STRONG first impression.

Score: 4.25 points.


Total Score: 15 points. Steel is an excellent villain, hindered more than anything by mechanical stagnation.
Originality:

I have a soft spot for doppelgangers. In fact, my only entry into this competition was a doppelganger utilizing deep cover. Still, it's hardly a surprise given this theme, and I did assume we might see some coming. The chameleon pick is cute and makes good use of that racial choice, but chameleons always make me yawn. Zhentarim spy is cute.

However, I don't see anything really all that unique or interesting in your tactics (auto-extending, sudden still and sudden silence are cute, though) and the way you actually approach the round's theme and limitations is mostly being able to cast enchantment spells, which isn't very original to me.

Overall, despite making a very fun entry, this is a weak category for you.

Score: 2.5 points.


Power:

I should note that I'm ignoring items and inherent bonuses here. "We're the DM" is true for everyone, and how much wealth the villain have / the way it's allocated is up to the specific DM. Also, it's easier not to muck about with equipment and treasure, and simply assume "equal and helpful for everyone". Recommending specific equipment is one thing; assuming it (and not even differentiating between crucial and barely-necessary) is another.

You make for a very good social encounter, and that does factor here. You also have the means of being a new and interesting social encounter at different points in time. Otherwise, however, I think you know you're unimpressive for a lot of your career. You can't really do much, as far as an encounter goes. The middle of the CR range is far better, but the end is not as great for you again.

I find the choice not to take epic skill focus: disguise slightly odd, given your emphasis on it. Same for picking motivate dex and not cha. Both come very late in the build, so it's not as crucial as it could've been, but still.

Overall, you make for a challenging social encounter and have a lot of flexibility and some spellpower by the later levels, but otherwise you're somewhat meh. I think you know this; this is the price we pay for such a concept-heavy build.

Score: 2.75 points.


Elegance:

You're "fiating" quite a lot here. I feel the need to remind you that rules decisions are up to the DM in an actual game, but here, they're up to… well, the judge. Me. You could make the case that multiple castings of heroics stack, but given that this comes down to "nothing says I can't" as your best argument for extreme, boring, nearly unnecessary cheese… I think you'd rather just not make that case.

Cross setting material is something I'm not a fan of, generally speaking.

"I have such and such effect on while leveling" is normally pretty sketchy to me, but I'd definitely say just having your floating feat set to skill focus isn't a stretch. That being said – this is brilliant. I don't think I've seen it done before, and it's very clever. Unlike qualifying for something with a floating feat, which compels you to say "well, actually, Dragon Disciple". Well done.

Otherwise: everything seems legal, and the mesh between race, spy and chameleon clicks very well. You don't pull any really clever stunts aside from the aforementioned marshal trick, but the overall synergy is good, and serves a purpose that defines the build.

Overall, well done.

Score: 4.1 points.


Memorable Villainy:

The idea of a "handler" that works with the PCs under different identities is fun, and is certain to make a great impact once they figure it out, or a reveal happens. Between chameleon and Zhentarim spy, your ability to pretend to be different adventurers is truly great. Those choices haven't paid off well in other categories, but they do here: you truly have the mechanical flexibility to back up your concept. This is the strongest point of the build, IMO.

Being present from CR 3 is great, and always a boon here – but "being present" does not necessarily mean "doing something". You're not very impressive during your early CR range, though you do make for an interesting social encounter.

Dominate only comes on at CR 10, and as a spell, and only 1/day at this level before items. Your DCs aren't above the curve at any point in the build, and you don't feature many ways to overcome other forms of resistance. You do have some extra stank on your spells thanks to your feats, and you do have access to enchantment spells from CR 6 forwards, which isn't too bad. That is, as long as your aptitude focus isn't required elsewhere. This unfortunately stays true throughout the build: when you do the thing that actually makes you memorable (pretending to be different adventurers with different classes), you're often completely unable to at all comply with the demands of the competition. Having a strong emphasis on bluff helps, but not enough.

Overall, this ranges between fairly good and very good on multiple fronts, but an inherent tension between the different aspects making up this category holds Angus back from doing very well here.

Score: 2.75 points.


Total Score: 12.1 points. Like the concept a lot, but I feel like you would've done significantly better in an "infiltrator" rather than "controller" round.
Originality:

Love half-fey, one of my favorite templates – but also one that loses you points here. Other than that though – you've got a very strong mechanical base going here. Can't say I had nagas in mind, and 19/20 CR here is naga stuff. "Wizard spells FTW" is always bad here, of course, but it's certainly more interesting than doing it with conventional class levels.

Finding a semi-direct way to utilize diplomacy against PCs… very cool, and very hard to resist. However, I don't really see when a Chaotic Evil naga and a bunch of adventurers are meant to sit around drinking tea and making snide remarks at each other. Still – pretty awesome for this category.

Once the chassis has been established, everything else flows forth pretty expectedly, but the chassis is still relatively fresh.

Overall, pretty good.

Score: 3.5 points.


Power:

You start out not much more than decent at CR 9, but you quickly get over that hurdle. By CR 20 you're a real beast, but even beforehand, you manage to pick up some nastiness pretty quickly. I honestly don't have that much to say here – you're not really a physical threat, which is a great shame. Like a lot of Serpent Kingdoms material, Banelar nagas are broken as ****, and they can cast a spell as a free action while attacking. Would've been great if you had a reason to attack every once in a while. Your hugeness is mostly wasted. Oh well, can't have everything.

Overall, this is a powerful and versatile caster/leader, and not as vulnerable as a lot of our competitors during early levels.

Score: 4.65 points.


Elegance:

Nice and straightforward. Simplicity does have a sort of elegance, I guess. Practiced spellcaster doesn't work; you need to choose a spellcasting class you possess, and you don't possess any spellcasting class. I think you've let Naga Lord make you complacent.

Speaking of: I'd say the unique language of Naga Lord is very clear and certainly works here. Nice catch! However, I feel like the unique language of the class also ****s you over. It asks you to be able to cast Dominate Person as a spell, specifically – and you qualify with an SLA. I don't feel confident enough to say this is enough to disqualify you in a build that doesn't live by the RAW, but it's still rough, and makes for a hefty penalty. You're welcome to dispute if I'm forgetting some general rule that addresses this clearly enough. Still think there's a case to be made here, but see dispute.

Cross setting material is something I'm not a fan of, generally speaking. Yes, it’s not a severe case, but still.

Overall, a somewhat problematic category but not a disaster.

Score: 2.75 3.25points.


Memorable Villainy:

CR 9 is a little bit late for a first encounter, but not terrible. I don’t feel that I've gotten a really meaty motivation, tactic, or nature here – the BBEG is some ****ed up naga, but not much more than that. It's a proper villain, and meaningfully changes with the campaign, but it doesn't feel as memorable to me as some of the other entries on the board.

As far as being a controller goes: sometimes quantity does mean quality. Spells, SLAs and Su abilities galore! You also have a very high DC on two of those, and your spell DC is also alright. Getting mad DCs oor ways to overcome immunities would've helped. It's also hard not to overshadow yourself with high level casting, but that really couldn't be helped.

Overall, good controller, pretty good villain.

Score: 4 points.


Total Score: 14.9 15.4 points.Naga overlord was a cool idea that didn't leave you a lot of space to explore, but you did well with what you have.
Originality:

Our second chameleon doppelganger this round gets the same treatment here as the first regarding these elements.

Blood Magus! One of my favorite PRCs since time immemorial, and not something I expected at all with this ingredient. The associated trick is certainly creative – but I'm sorry to say we'll also discuss it later in elegance, as well.

Mother cyst is a cool way to go with the ingredient (though again, I'll have some thoughts in the coming categories).

Jester + warlock is thematically nice for your character, and fell conspiracy and combat charm should both be acknowledged here.

Overall, a good category for you.

Score: 3.85 points.


Power:

I have to give an unfortunate disclaimer here: this category is going to make a lot more sense once you read elegance.

Not a great start, as you've acknowledged. You're a decent social encounter, and remain so for your entire career. Other abilities grow slowly and steadily through the build, but I feel that you're still constantly behind – your damage, your DCs, your actual abilities – all of it mostly feels like it's a few levels too late. This problem worsens during late levels.

Your last two feats honestly disgust me here. You don't mention them in your tactics section, and for good reason. Fell conspiracy, as noted, is a good and creative pick on your villain, and one ceremony or another should be "always on", as you've said. Which means Blessing of the Godless is a virtually dead feat. You can't have 2 ceremonies active at the same time, the benefits suck… Why this feat?

And why oh why scribe scroll? Like, what the hell? You have scribe scroll for your skin, and you have a floating feat for more. Is it in case you want more than 6 scrolls from bloodline feats at the same time? Is that really necessary? Is this worth your last (and epic) feat?

Generally, you don't mention a lot of what Blood Magus gives you, and the things you do mention don't get enough support from other sources within the build. Like, yeah, you can jump through someone at CR 20. When I got my hands on Complete Arcane as a kid, I thought that was the coolest thing freaking ever. I still kind of do, but you don't really… do anything with it. It's 35 damage. Kay.

Overall, I'm sorry to say I see this build as way too limited and stagnant to be an impactful villain for most parties.

Score: 1.5 points.


Elegance:

Your leveling is a bit chaotic, and not fully justified IMO. You stick with Blood Magus to the end, which is nice, but it's hardly the center of what you do. Most of the benefit you get from it comes at level 2, and could be replicated with a feat that you end up taking. Generally, the build feels confused and aimless, aside from its main core trick. Also, Acerath suffers from multiclass penalties from as early as possible. It's just a slap on the wrist in a villain competition though, not a real penalty. Also, this isn't a penalty, but try to point out which invocation comes from which book in the future. Looking through 3 books is a bit of a hassle.

Also, 2 entries ****ing up with practiced spellcaster in a row. Warlock isn't a spellcasting class you possess, so you cqan't take practiced spellcaster for it. This is much more severe in your case, since you don't qualify for Blood Magus without it. It's a real shame, because if it worked, you could've gone Blood Magus at CR 6, but you still chose to take a bunch of warlock levels – and they weren't enough. The way to fix the build would be taking the feat for jester, not for warlock – but if I have to change your feats for you, it's always a serious penalty here. By the way, even if it had worked, I wouldn't buy the increased damage from EB: it normally increases when you progress the class through spellcasting advancement. Caster level doesn't bring new spell levels, and it doesn't bring better EB damage. You'd have to have ardent-like language to convince me otherwise. This isn't a penalty, just a note.

Let's talk about your scroll trick. First, I'd like to acknowledge your comment about using level appropriate spells, which is obviously meant to be a nod towards common sense, even if not RAI. Still, while not trying to necessarily break anything, this is still obviously meant as cool RAW abuse – getting to scribe scrolls of spells you have no way of casting. I'm generally very in favor of that: most builds I've made which I really like are based on RAW abuse. However, I do have a rule for these scenarios: live by the RAW, die by the RAW. So, how does your trick do?

Blood Magus doesn't really pull any weight here: scarification is explicitly just a different medium of scribe scroll, and is subject to "all rules" that apply to scribe scroll. The interaction we're interested in, therefore, is the interaction between mother cyst and scribe scroll. And, well…

known[/b], no ifs ands or buts]

Show me the line.

Like yeah, obviously. Obviously you know these spells. But the feat doesn't say that does it? It says it "grants access" to these spells, and that "You cast these spells like any other spell you can cast". If we're doing dumb blind RAW, than you don't know these spells, and cannot scribe them, end of story. If we're going RAI, than obviously you only know the spells when you can cast them. I'd say this is also a very reasonable interpretation of the RAW of bloodline feats (emphasis on the word "bonus" and on the special section) which at the very least means you don't have an ironclad RAW case for them either.

Furthermore, even if we were to ignore this very harsh reading, scarification is still subject to all rules guiding scribing scrolls and those say: [quote] The act of writing triggers the prepared spell, making it unavailable for casting until the character has rested and regained spells. (That is, that spell slot is expended from her currently prepared spells, just as if it had been cast.)

Which, yeah.

And also
A creator can create an item at a lower caster level than her own, but never lower than the minimum level needed to cast the needed spell.

So even if we were to ignore everything else, you still need your caster level – which is stagnated from the start, and never passes 12 (16, according to your flawed approach).

To sum up, I think your trick fails on multiple critical junctures, and cannot be accepted. Very clever though. As a note, I think that if it would've worked, you shouldn't have shied away from 9ths. If you're pulling TO nonsense, do it to the fullest!

So far, this has been very harsh. Furthermore, a flaw is an automatic loss of a point here, as per the Secret Laboratory rules :( Not telling me which flaw it is is a further slap on the wrist from me.

Overall, this isn't enough to make me take you down to 0, but with everything going on here… Sorry.

Score: 1 point.


Memorable Villainy:

I find the whole "resurrected by the god of undeath" thing kind of shaky, but Blood Magus is just an invitation to bring back an opponent which the PCs have already killed, which is great in this category. It can become frustrating incredibly quickly, but once is nice. Other than that, you stick around from CR 3 and meaningfully change and evolve throughout, and the evil doppelganger warlock with blood magic is very flavorful and sticks well to the mind.

Unfortunately, due to mother cyst inscribing not working, you fail to be a real controller until you get devil's whispers, and you never fully flesh out. You get valiant attempt credit here, but this is a hard blow.

Score: 2.75 points.


Total Score: 9.1 points. OOF, I like this build a lot more than the score betrays. Acerath was an ambitious project, for sure, but it ended up being a mess. Better luck next time! Keep up the good work.
Originality:

Aboleth! Awesome. Not super surprising, in a round like this, but still awesome. Love me an Aboleth. Psion is very much expected though, and a lot of what you do comes down to psionic dominate, which IMHO is a pretty obvious route to take this ingredient in. It makes sense, but it still means that out of the "free" 8 CR points this build had, you'd chosen perhaps the most expected.

Powers are mostly standard telepath stuff, with a couple of exceptions. I'll also give you a boost for the soulmeld stuff.

You do use some very well-known cheese that gets an eye roll from me with feat leech abuse. It has a good justification given your slaves – but still.

Overall, pretty standard stuff, but a nice approach nonetheless.

Score: 2.25 points.


Power:

Easy category for you. You start well, and you keep doing well, and you have plenty of cheese accessible. You have some potent combinations, high DCs, good survivability – what's not to like? Honestly, I don't have much to say here. You don't pull off anything new or crazy, but it's clearly a very strong build.

Score: 4.75 points.


Elegance:

Using your bonus feats to get the prereqs the exact moment you need them, while opening up slots for soulmeld shenanigans. Tight. The shenanigans themselves really aren't tight at all though. Instead of taking psycarnum infusion, expanded capacity, and psionic meditation, you could've just taken bonus essentia twice. 1 less feat, a DC lower by 1 but permanent. Way better. IMO, you should've either stuck to psycarnum infusion only or gone that route. Feels kind of wasteful as is. I was wrong, see dispute.

You messed up the psicraft ranks, taking 3 instead of 4 at the level you take practiced manifester. Easy, obvious fix, but still a rookie mistake and a penalty you could've avoided by being more careful.

Not much to say here, otherwise. Everything is legal, sources are well sourced, tactics are a bit lean for my taste but not too bad – you cover the big stuff.

Overall, a clean, focused and purposefully built villain.

Score: 4 4.35 points.


Memorable Villainy:

First showing up at CR 7 is fine. Great old one fluff is nice, aboleths are easy to do that way. You're pretty much given decent memorability on a plate, if you don't **** them up. You also have the means to back it up – telepaths with your range of powers can easily create interesting interactions. Some of the mid levels are slightly stagnant, but other than that, you change and grow well as the campaign progresses.

As far as being a proper controller go: Shatter mindblank is very good here. Mind Blank is one of the most common ways for high level characters to get [mind-affecting] immunity, and you have a way to overcome it. A problematic way, granted – takes a standard action, and your ML is behind CR – but still good.

I 100% get why you didn't take psionic dominate as a power, but I still feel that you maybe should have as far as this category is concerned. Still, between your telepath powers and your Aboleth Savantism, you're doing great. Pushing DCs higher than they should be is another definite +.

Overall, you're definitely living up to the theme of the round, and make for a good BBEG.

Score: 4.25 points.


Total Score: 15.25 15.6 points. I'll be honest – it's not my favorite build for this round. I usually like it way more when there's a weird trick or some unforeseen synergy. But it got a high score fair and square. It's competent, clear, and fits the theme. Well done.

[loky1109]

H_H_F_F, thank you!

I need to make some research and maybe will send dispute.

[loky1109]

Venger, you need to clear some space in your mailbox.


UPD: In the meantime, I brought you the table!

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef H_H_F_F Total Place
Steel, the Conscript Lord (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604680&postcount=37) LE Advanced Prodigy Gulthir Monk 1/Fiend of Possession 2/Paladin of Tyranny 2/Tattooed Monk 3/Totemist 2 15.00 15.00 3rd
Angus McQuestGyver (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604683&postcount=38) NE Doppelganger Chameleon 10/Expert 2/Marshal 1/Zhentarim spy 5 12.10 12.10 4th
Ddernyn Siotta (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604686&postcount=39) CE Advanced Half-Fey Balenar Naga Naga Overlord 10 15.40 15.40 2nd
Acerath, Hand of Orcus (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604689&postcount=40) LE Doppelganger Jester 1/Warlock 4/Blood Magus 10/Chameleon 2 9.10 9.10 5th
IllIIlIl (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604692&postcount=41) LE Psionic Aboleth Telepath 8/Psionic Savant Aboleth 5 15.60 15.60 1st

Table is updated.

[Venger]

There's space now.

Dispute:


First of all, thanks a bunch for judging!

I have a few remarks that are minor.



Firstly, I think there is a great flavorful identity at later levels, which is 'being a better devil'. Monk and Paladin are two classes with strong Lawful flavor, Paladin of Tyranny adds Evil to that, and totemist is all about manipulating souls: that's all devil stuff!

Like, imagine: you waltz into Steel's base, and this armor-clad giant slowly turns to face you, the pure energy of Evil and Law coalescing into a protective veil, while the damned souls flitting around him snap together into a loose flickering garment. Even the 'oh, he's a monk' moment that'll accompany the first unarmed strike will probably be followed by 'well i guess he is lawful and had that weird asceticism thing going on...'

----

Lastly, a bit about the supposed stagnation of Steel, which I acknowledge but think can be subverted with resources present in the build.

Steel is a villain, but he's a villain who can make his presence be felt indirectly. The PCs might fight him only a few times during the game, and terrain differences (greater teleport, baby!) and dominated minions provide enough versatility to make those different fights feel memorable.

As a villain, he has a bit less need for flexibility than a PC. The build as-presented loses to FoM. The build as-presented can also pull that dominated caster trick and win, or get support to dispel, or even just show up, make everyone think he is gonna fight, and then teleport away and leave the rogues he served as a distraction for sneak attack from ambush. Encounters with Steel draw memorability from his minions, yes, but those minions are still internal to the build, because they are drawn from a trick that the build invests a lot into: the permanent domination.

I can't stress enough how convenient Steel is as a villain. A 15th-level cleric would logically have other plans, other attachments, agendas of his own, self-preservation: but sometimes you just want to throw one into an encounter and not worry about all that: Steel lets you!

Again, thank you.

EDIT: additional disputes:



Instead of taking psycarnum infusion, expanded capacity, and psionic meditation, you could've just taken bonus essentia twice.
It was my first idea, but... I actually couldn't. Bonus essentia feat has no permission to take it more than once.


You do use some very well-known cheese that gets an eye roll from me with feat leech abuse.
Well, it sounds fair, but I should say, I only mentioned this cheesy trick and didn't rely on it at all.



Thanks, H_H_F_F!


Like a lot of Serpent Kingdoms material, Banelar nagas are broken as ****, and they can cast a spell as a free action while attacking.
Actually, Banelar originates in Monsters of Faerûn and was even more broken there - it has CR 5 and was Magical Beast. )))


I feel like the unique language of the class also ****s you over. It asks you to be able to cast Dominate Person as a spell, specifically – and you qualify with an SLA.
You're welcome to dispute if I'm forgetting some general rule that addresses this clearly enough.
I think you are.


A requirement based on a specific spell measures whether the character or creature in question is capable of producing the necessary effect, and as such, invocations and spell-like abilities that generate the relevant effect meet the requirements for specific spell knowledge. For example, a prestige class with a spellcasting requirement of “Must know (or be able to cast) darkness” is met by a warlock who chooses darkness as one of her invocations, or by any creature with darkness as a spell-like ability.
About part "be able to cast as a spell". "As a spell" part is meaningless here.
"Be able to cast as a spell" is a full equivalent of "be able to cast". Because there are no other things, but spells which anybody could "cast" in the 3.5. For example, you can't "cast" SLA, you only can "use" SLA.

[H_H_F_F]

Dispute Responses:


Lawful Flavor: Not significant enough to impact the score here, IMO. Maybe if you would've taken ascetic knight or something. No change in score.

Change through minions: I agree that various different minions change encounters with steel. I even noted so in my judgement: "He really has to solely rely on mooks and equipment to play as a truly different encounter – otherwise, he's mainly just on repeat." I acknowledge that, but you have to acknowledge that this is true for everyone in this field, and other villains change more significantly. Again, No change in score.

Sorry to disappoint!


Bonus Essentia: Well, I’ll be damned. You're right. My "fixing the Tarrasque with feats" thread just took a huge blow. Well, your shenanigans are tight after all, and a slight punishment for inefficiency just became a boost for cleverness. +0.35 points in Elegance.

Cheese: You would have done a lot worse in originality if you entirely relied on feat leech. You got some credit in power, and a mild penalty in originality. Compare and contrast with taking more surprising and weird powers and making good use of them. Score stands.


As a spell: I had CAr in mind, I even thought I mentioned it (I didn't). To me, it seemed not articulated enough, and I had "specific trumps general" in mind here – unless a more explicit general ruling could be found.
However, I have to acknowledge that "cast" is also spell-specific language that's being overcome by the general rule. I'm not 100% convinced here, but you've made a good case. +0.5 Elegance.

I'll update the original judgement momentarily.

[H_H_F_F]

Hey Venger, any further news from our contestants?

[Venger]

I have not heard anything and there's room in my inbox if there's anything further. If that's the case, reveal tonight or tomorrow morning sound good?

[Venger]

Reveal!

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef H_H_F_F Total Place
Steel, the Conscript Lord (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604680&postcount=37) LE Advanced Prodigy Gulthir Monk 1/Fiend of Possession 2/Paladin of Tyranny 2/Tattooed Monk 3/Totemist 2 Inevitability 15.00 15.00 3rd
Angus McQuestGyver (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604683&postcount=38) NE Doppelganger Chameleon 10/Expert 2/Marshal 1/Zhentarim spy 5 ciopo 12.10 12.10 4th
Ddernyn Siotta (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604686&postcount=39) CE Advanced Half-Fey Balenar Naga Naga Overlord 10 loky1109 15.40 15.40 2nd
Acerath, Hand of Orcus (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604689&postcount=40) LE Doppelganger Jester 1/Warlock 4/Blood Magus 10/Chameleon 2 RaiKirah 9.10 9.10 5th
IllIIlIl (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25604692&postcount=41) LE Psionic Aboleth Telepath 8/Psionic Savant Aboleth 5 loky1109 15.60 15.60 1st

Congratulations all around.

[Inevitability]

Grats to loky for not one but two medals! I'm glad Steel could still eke out a podium spot, but I'd be lying if I wasn't hoping for a higher rank: the core trick felt really cool to me when I submitted it all those months ago.

edit: Also, with Chainsaw Man growing so big in the past half-year, I'm unreasonably amused to realize that I entered a Devil into the Controller round. I wasn't really aware of the show when building Steel, but it's really funny in hindsight.

[H_H_F_F]

COngratulations to all! I wasn't the hugest fan of my judgements this round, but I hope they got the job done - and after much waiting, round 50 is coming to you soon! Hooray!

[Thurbane]

Congrats to all the entrants, and great job Loky!

VC is probably my fave GitP comp, so I'm really looking forward to number 50 :smallsmile:

[ciopo]

Thank you for judging H_H_F_F

My reasoning for motivate dexterity and epic skill focus sleight of hand was to pump up that skill trick for making a spell seem to be another spell. Which is to say it's a "soft" bypass of saving throws, but of course I couldn't write something along the lines of "they willfully fail their save because they think you're casting heroism on them". Since there is a bit of meta-deception going there, and telling your player "the NPC is casting heroism on you, do you want to resist?" Is suspicious, very suspicious. Gotta coach it somehow!

[H_H_F_F]

Thank you for judging H_H_F_F

My reasoning for motivate dexterity and epic skill focus sleight of hand was to pump up that skill trick for making a spell seem to be another spell. Which is to say it's a "soft" bypass of saving throws, but of course I couldn't write something along the lines of "they willfully fail their save because they think you're casting heroism on them". Since there is a bit of meta-deception going there, and telling your player "the NPC is casting heroism on you, do you want to resist?" Is suspicious, very suspicious. Gotta coach it somehow!

Good point.

[loky1109]

VC is my favorite competition and I so glad to obtain double medals! Thanks H_H_F_F for judging and Venger for holding the event!
Congratulations for Inevitability with Bronze!

[H_H_F_F]

New round is up! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?655994-Villainous-Competition-L-L-O-V-E!)

Due to the special nature of this round, and the convergence with other comps, you have just about a full month to submit entries - and I'd be willing to extend it past that, too.