Need help building a villain

[Albonor]

I need to stat out one of the big guys that my player will eventually face.

He is an elven Colonel in the army (formely an elven suppremacist nation but the Revolution came so...), who has been working for the Devil's arm on the Prime, a secret cult named The Dagger.

He was at the head of a cavalry unit an is now more of a bookworm. He currently is the most influential member of The Dagger in the army and the Security Council of the country. But the PCs can find that out anytime now so I better stat him out now.

The question I ask myself is: do I need this guy to be a Cavalier to fit with his background or do you have a better idea?

So, can you stat out that guy? I imagine a powerful meler, credible as an officer an con artist. The guy is smart but I don't imagine him with any powerful spells.

I'd like a level 12 build with suggestions up to 16 please? Core only except for PrC and WBL on the conservative side if possible?

Thanks in advance!

[Albonor]

Correction, half-elf.

[BRC]

Which edition? What game?

[Stupendous_Man]

Hm. A gish, perhaps?

[Albonor]

Good point. DnD 3.5, let's go with 40 point buy because he's tough aaaand....that's it!

[Albonor]

Hm. A gish, perhaps?

Maybe but more on the meles side, His subordinate already is a spellsword (the PCs discovered HIM!)

[Celeres]

ok, 12th level. melee fighter... is he gonna be a super tough villian, or just kind of tough?

[Albonor]

5 character party, currently level 11 and on at 12. So I need him at level 12 if they face him with back up (other Dagger members) or at level 16 if he's kinda alone.

Powerful enough to mop the floor in a duel with the Hellreaver who considers him a friend

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Can you get PHBII? If you can, go Knight with him, take Stone Power(ToB, allows you to take -5 to AB for +10 HP) and Combat Expertise. Make sure the PCs attack when he's got allies ready to show up and tear through their backs. Fluff it as him taunting them and refusing to die. Toss in a level of Bard to help his allies by shouting orders and you've got a long battle.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I'd probably go Human, Paladin of Tyranny 4/ Fighter 2/ Sorcerer 1/ Abjurant Champion 5; Variants: Metamagic Specialist: Sorcerer (PH2), Armored Mage: Fighter (CM), Paladin of Tyranny (UA/SRD)
Feats: Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Divine Might (CW), Leap Attack (CV), Frightful Presence (DCN), Arcane Strike (CW)
Sorcerer spells: 0- Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Prestidigitation, Arcane Mark, Message, Mage Hand; 1st- Shield*, Charm Person, Alarm, Protection from Good*; 2nd- Wraithstrike*, Glitterdust; 3rd- Tenacious Dispelling* (CM); Paladin spells: Rhino's Rush* (SC) * indicates a spell with a Swift Action casting time.
Gear should include (magical) Mithral Breastplate, a Lesser Rod of Extend for Wraithstrike, and a decent two-handed weapon.

Prior to combat during dialogue: Detect Good, Detect Magic, cast Shield, size up the opponents
Round 1: cast Rhino's Rush and activate Divine Might, Charge/Leap Attack/Smite Good.
Round 2: cast targeted Tenacious Dispelling on whomever has the most magic auras, cast Glitterdust on as many opponents as possible
Round 3+: activate Arcane Strike and Divine Might and full attack with Combat Expertise, casting either Extended Wraithstrike, Tenacious Dispelling, or if they use Summon Monster spells Protection from Good.

I'd give him some debuffer/healer minions, possibly a Cleric with the Trickery and Travel domains who says Invisible/flying the whole fight. Give him a Lesser Rod of Silence to buff and Cure the boss so they don't notice he's there. Buffs like Magic Vestment and Bull's Strength, and some nice big Cures, Faith Healing (SC), and Vigor (SC). If they realize he's there he can throw a Confusion on them and drop a Silence centered on a point in space on the back-row PCs. He could even put Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon on the boss's gear ahead of time. They'll be getting a -2 to saves from the boss's Aura of Despair, and if they're lower level than he is they could get another -2 from being Shaken from his Frightful Presence. A Halfling or Gnome Warlock lackey who flies around spamming Eldritch Chain Blinding Blasts would also be good, give him Ability Focus: Eldritch Blast and Fey Heritage/Power (CM) for a +3 to his DCs.

[CthulhuM]

He's a general in a devil-serving army, eh? Why not go with a simple Fighter 6/Disciple of Dispater (from BoVD) 6 or 10 build. Make him, big, tough and smashy, and put some nasty crit-related effect on his weapon (enervating is a particularly nice one). Give him a falchion and improved critical, and with his iron power ability he'll threaten a crit on a 9-20.

He can proceed to act as smart as you like, but mechanically he'll be a nice tough melee combatant for the party to butt heads with. I think this build would work particularly well as a level 16 opponent, since then he'd just have gotten the disciple's iron body (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/ironBody.htm) once per day ability, making him especially tough, and actually able to stand up to the efforts of 5 PCs beating on him (something very few characters other than batman wizards can hope to do).

As for the actual build, something like...
Stats: 18-10-16-14-10-12
Feats: Disciple of Darkness (required for disciple of Dispater, pointless otherwise), combat expertise(required), power attack(required), improved critical(falchion), weapon focus(falchion), weapon specialization(falchion), melee weapon mastery(slashing), improved trip, improved disarm, quick draw(honestly, you could do something much more inspired with most of these feats, but it's really not necessary).

Equipment: Various stat-boosting items, decent armor (mechanus gear from planar handbook, perhaps?), an animated extreme shield, and a +1 (or more) cold iron enervating falchion. And be sure to throw in some useful potions in case the party is being tricky (fly is a must, haste could be handy, and wraithstrike is very nice - draw it as a free action with quick draw and then drink it as a swift).

Alternatively, you could switch the fighter levels for warblade if you were up for a slightly more complicated build and wanted to give him some more options, but I don't think it's strictly necessary. Disciple of Dispater is ridiculous enough by itself.