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View Full Version : Introducing Curtis Blackburn To My Players: BBEG: "Who Hired This Creep!?"



Leliel
2008-09-18, 03:36 PM
For those of you that haven't played Killer 7, Curtis Blackburn is what could be termed an Evil Counterpart to the playable characters-While they are selfish, amoral assasins, Curtis is an manical, sociopathic assasin. In a single chapter, he (A), kills a prostitute after using her "services", (B) kidnaps a child so he can harvest her organs, (C) rapes an assosiate's wife before killing her, and (D), rubs said assosiate's face in it just before killing him. Needless to say, you're not exactly ruminating on the ethics of being a hired gun by the time you kill him.

Needless to say, I think he would make a great villain for a story arc, a mediveal version of him having been hired by the BBEG (who is likely having second thoughts after getting to know him).

So, how do you think I should stat him in 4E rules?

Me, I was thinking a Warlock-to go with the whole "gunslinger" image-with an ability similar to the Paladin's Divine Challenge, to represent his affinity for dueling. He should definitely be Chaotic Evil.

Leliel
2008-09-21, 11:26 AM
108 veiws, and no replies?

Asbestos
2008-09-21, 11:39 AM
Well, what level are you aiming for here?
Is he meant to be a solo encounter or say... an elite with some hired goons?

Flickerdart
2008-09-21, 11:49 AM
Well, first of all, this guy doesn't seem the type for subtlety. I'm not familiar with Warlock powers, but all of his will focus on damage. Infernal pact, definitely, and Tiefling for the flavour.

Leliel
2008-09-21, 12:12 PM
I want him to be a boss-type baddie, so probably a solo.

EDIT: At mid-epic tier.

Asbestos
2008-09-21, 03:48 PM
Well, we can do this the 'hard' way or the easy way.
Easy would be to just find a monster of the appropriate level, reskin it as you feel fit, and add two templates.
Here I started with a rakshasa dread knight (level 24 soldier):
The monster has two basic melee attacks, a longsword attack and a claw attack, and is listed as having a heavy shield, scale, and a longsword as equipment. Now, let's change that longsword and claw to two rapiers and in doing so get rid of the heavy shield but keep the AC. By chance making them rapiers doesn't change the to-hit of damage value, but I wouldn't have changed them even if changing the name of the weapon did. Getting rid of the shield should be mechanically fine unless by some chance you have a fighter that has some ability that specifically effects opponents with shields. Everything else in the rakshasa's stat block looks acceptable. Disguise? Sure, why not, this guy is a psycho, maybe he takes on the form of his victim's naked grandmother while he murders them *shudder* The fly thing? Sure, he's epic afterall, his flight may be from an item or an unknown spell. Now, let's make this guy a solo monster. For that we'll want to apply two templates. I'm going to use Savage Berserker and Warlock (Dark Pact). Used Savage Berserker because it adds abilities that a solo monster should have, like immediate attacks when hit, and increases survivability by adding regeneration. Went with Dark Pact warlock because of the flavor, making pacts with the unseen entities that dwell in the darkness beneath the world seems kind of nuts, likewise a Star Pact warlock could work just as well. After that, we need to give it a quick look and see how it compares to similarly leveled solo monsters.
Here's what I ended up with.

Curtis Blackburn Level 24 Solo Psychopath
Medium natural humanoid XP 30,250
Initiative +18 Senses Perception +22; low-light vision
Aura of Doom aura 5; enemies in the aura regain half the normal
amount of hit points when they spend a healing surge.
HP 960; Bloodied 480
AC 40; Fortitude 44, Reflex 37, Will 38
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6
Action Points 2
Regeneration 15
M (basic) Rapier (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Curtis Blackburn makes two attack rolls and keeps
the better result; +29 vs. AC; 1d8 + 7 damage, and the target is
marked until the end of the Curtis Blackburn's next turn.
M (Basic) Rapier (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+29 vs. AC; 1d8 + 7 damage.
R (Basic) Eldritch Blast (standard; at-will) ✦ Implement
Ranged 10; +27 vs Reflex; 2d10+5 damage
R Spiteful Glamor (standard; at-will) ✦ Implement
Ranged 10; +27 vs Will; 2d8+5 psychic damage or 2d12+5 psychic damage to a target at maximum hit points.
M Triple Attack (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Curtis Blackburn makes three melee basic attacks. If
two or more attacks hit the same target, the target is dazed (save
ends).
Deceptive Veil (minor; at-will) ✦ Illusion
Curtis Blackburn can disguise himself to appear as any
Medium humanoid. A successful Insight check (opposed by Curtis' Bluff check) pierces the disguise.
Knight’s Move (move; recharge 5,6 )
Curtis Blackburn can fly up to 6 squares. He must land at
the end of this move or else he crashes.
Warlock's Curse (minor; at-will)
Nearest enemy; deal +3d6 damage to target once per round, curse remains until end of encounter or target drops to 0hp.
Murderous Frenzy
Curtis Blackburn gains 1 action point the first time it
reduces a foe to 0 hit points in an encounter.
Savage Rebuke (immediate reaction, when hit by a melee
attack; at will)
Curtis Blackburn makes a basic melee attack.

For the Warlock powers:
Warlock Encounter Powers (2, one level 23, one level 17)

Blades of Vanquished Armies; Warlock (Dark) Attack 23
Foully animated darkness swirls around you, becoming a bodyguard
of shadowy blades crafted in ancient styles long vanished.
Encounter ✦ Arcane, Implement, Necrotic
Standard Action Close burst 1
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: +27 vs. Will
Hit: 2d6 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened
until the end of your next turn. In addition, until the end
of your next turn, all creatures that hit you with a melee
attack take necrotic damage equal to your intelligence modifier (+4)
Dark Pact: If you hit with this power, until the end of
your next turn creatures you hit with a ranged attack take
necrotic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (+4)

Unholy Glee; Warlock (Dark) Attack 17
Your mystic gesture pushes your foe into inflicting murderous
pain on itself.
Encounter ✦ Arcane, Implement, Poison
Standard Action Ranged 20
Target: One creature
Attack: +27 vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + 5 damage, and ongoing 10
poison damage (save ends). The target can end the
ongoing poison damage by using a free action on its turn
to deal 4d6 damage to itself.
Dark Pact: You can choose to attack the target’s Fortitude
defense instead of its Will defense.

Daily Powers (2, 1 level 19, 1 level 15)

Passionate Betrayal; Warlock (Dark) 19
Dark promises overwhelm your enemy’s sense of self. Those who
were your foe’s friends are now threats.
Daily ✦ Arcane, Charm, Implement
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One bloodied enemy
Attack: +27 vs. Will
Hit: The target is dominated (save ends). The target’s saving
throw takes a –2 penalty for each unbloodied enemy
(in other words, its allies) in the encounter, not counting
minions. The target immediately makes a saving throw
against being dominated if it is the target of an attack by
you or your allies.
Dark Pact: All of the target’s basic attacks while
dominated add your Intelligence modifier (+4) as a power
bonus to attack rolls.
Miss: The target is dazed (save ends).

Dark Lady’s Gift; Warlock (Dark) Attack 15
With an evil word, you bless your foe with an ancient shadow’s
kiss. Your foe looks on in horror as its nearby allies succumb as
well.
Daily ✦ Arcane, Implement, Psychic
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: +27 vs. Will
Hit: 2d10 + 5 psychic damage.
Effect: The target takes ongoing 5 psychic damage (save
ends). Whenever the target fails a saving throw against
this ongoing damage, each enemy within 3 squares of the
target takes 5 psychic damage.
Dark Pact: Enemies within 5, instead of 3, squares take
the psychic damage.

Utility Powers (3, 1 level 22, 1 level 16, 1 level 10)
For these I went with non-Dark Pact.

Entropic Ward; Warlock (Star) Utility 22
Fortune favors you; stars portending uncertainty lean in your
favor and frown upon your foes.
Encounter ✦ Arcane
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Until the end of your next turn, anyone who attacks
you must roll two dice and take the lower result. Each
time an attack misses due to this effect, you gain a
cumulative +1 power bonus to your next attack roll.

Infuriating Elusiveness; Warlock (Fey) Utility 16
You will yourself across the boundary between worlds, teleporting
a short distance. When you appear from the Feywild, you are
surrounded by a glamor of invisibility.
Encounter ✦ Arcane, Illusion, Teleportation
Move Action Personal
Effect: You become invisible and then teleport 4 squares.
The invisibility lasts until the start of your next turn.

Shielding Shades; Warlock (Star) Utility 10
You call up a swirling shield of darkness from some far domain,
interposing it between yourself and dire peril.
Daily ✦ Arcane
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You are hit by an attack
Effect: Reduce the attack’s damage to 0. If the attack targets
other creatures, they take damage as normal.

Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages Common
Skills Athletics +22, Bluff +22, Insight +19, Intimidate +21, Thievery +21, Arcana +21
Str 25 (+19) Dex 19 (+16) Wis 15 (+14)
Con 20 (+17) Int 18 (+16) Cha 21 (+17)
Equipment scale armor, two rapiers




Had to rearrange a few of the ability scores so they more properly reflected what he could do. Went with rapiers so that one of them at least can be a pact blade so that he can cast his Warlock spells through it. When comparing him with similarly leveled Solo monsters he definitely has fewer hit points, about 200 less. However he also has Regeneration 15 and a number of powers that allow him to either attack/auto damage anyone that hits him or to just get hit less often. I'd probably round his hp up to an even 1000 and call it done. Race is up to you, again, just a reskin. Can make a full on Warlock NPC if you like, but I think this should work well. As a full warlock however, he'd certainly have less melee capability than he does here.
If you have a party of more than four or at level 24 or higher, then I suggest attaching some 'allies' to Curtis. Things that could work are Voidsoul Specters (level 23 lurkers, pg244 of the MM) or Sworrowsworn Soulrippers (level 25 skirmishers, pg242 of the MM) if they're just following him around, knowing that he's an engine of pain and death. Fell Wyverns (level 24 skirmishers, pg268 of the MM) could work as well, perhaps Curtis uses one as a mount or keeps them as pets, feeding his victims to them.

Hope that helps! Btw, this should probably be in the 'request for a homebrew' thread I imagine.