Funny Villain Help (Spoilers for players)

[Dairun Cates]

I'm preparing for a game Saturday in Slayers d20. Been a bit busy and I have an evil party like scenario coming up. I have no doubt I'll get this done, but I thought I'd check at Giantitp in case someone had a nifty idea. I think this will be a pretty fun fight for them, and I want to make it as good as possible. Interested? Read the spoilers below.

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So, in a shallow tribute to Flogging Molly, they're going to be facing a group of pirate called the Seven Deadly Sins... in the middle of the woods (long backstory there). The idea is to have one themed after each of the 7 deadly sins. So:
*1 Lust
*2 Gluttony
*3 Greed
*4 Sloth
*5 Wrath
*6 Envy
*7 Pride

They're all level 9. For those of you that don't know Slayers d20, it's essentially 3.5 D&D with slightly altered core classes, some really powerful racial templates, and a massively revamped casting system that actually balances casters to fighters by making spell-casting cost HP rather than spell-slots.

If you're not familiar with slayers d20, you can be fairly specific for melee and skill monkey classes (as there's usually an analogue), but you'll have to be a bit more general for casters (ie. Healer, blaster mage, etc).

Anyway, I was thinking the following:
*1 Lust- Party face. High charisma, inflicts embarassment damage. So, typical barbed tongue/glib build. Probably will make male just for the sake of forsaking expectations.

*2 Gluttony- High fort save, toughness feat taken 3 times (this version give 1 hp a level), 22ish con, half-troll template. Go mostly with Warrior levels.

*3 Greed- Sleight of hand checks, improved disarm, and quick draw. Unarmed melee character. Probably rogue with some warrior levels.

*4 Sloth- Party healer and white mage. Yeah... That's really the best I can come up with.

*5 Wrath- Blaster mage that shoots empowered fireballs and forked flare arrows at the closest thing in range, even if it hits him or his party members. Will likely go beserk on the first person that attacks him.

*6 Envy- No freaking clue other that they're second in command.

*7 Pride- No freaking clue other than typical team leader with either pure levels in rogue or bandit.

So yeah. As you can see, I'm have a little trouble with some of them, and I'm completely open to suggestion on the others. Party balance is not too big of an issue. My players have a decently balanced team of 7 level 9 characters themselves, and they're equipped better and have an ally. I'll inevitably come up with something, but I always enjoy some of the things the people at giantitp come up with. So, I thought I'd come to you and see what you guys can come up with.

[MickJay]

Few loose ideas. Sloth uses only ranged spells (no touch spells at all - since he'd have to move often to cast them). Plan buffs and combat casting accordingly.

Pride looks like a good material for "knight in shining armor" figure, rather than bandit, to me. Everything's shiny, he's arrogant, got best equipment (value-wise) and so on.

Envy - trashy stuff, relies on innate abilities to compensate? Caster with curses, everything to lower abilities of others or make them useless. That, or he may be Sundering everything left and right, but that could end badly for the good guys.

[Dairun Cates]

That, or he may be Sundering everything left and right, but that could end badly for the good guys.

Trust me, with a cart filled with 90% of the world's powerful cursed items and an unknowing avatar of bad luck temporarily in their party, it's already going to end badly for everyone.

Also, Bandit is just a class. One of the most chivalrous people in the party is a Bandit. They're basically rogues with lower sneak attack, a bit of ranger abilities, and use gang up tactics to excellent effect (double flanking bonus). They also gain leadership as a class ability.

Point still stands on the pride and fancy equipment thing though. Maybe make him slightly lower level, but better equipped, and make envy slightly higher level, but abysmally equipped (not even a masterwork weapon).

As for Sloth, buffs are nigh nonexistent in Slayers d20 (think blasting, healing, summoning, and EXTREME and LITERAL field control), but the point stands on the range touch attacks.

[hewhosaysfish]

For Envy, is there anyway to mimic or (better) steal the abilities of you opponents?

For Pride, I was imagining some chiselled Adonis of superhuman stature who strides boldly into battle, to fight toe-to-toe (if not hand-to-hand), confident in his ability to cruch any challenger. Of course, if Gluttony is going to be be huge great half-troll then there is the risk of both fights following the same pattern, just with opponents whose looks are on different end of the scale.

[negativity 101]

For envy you could maybe make him/her a spellthief (CA) allowing her to steal others abilities (maybe make it a variant, where she can also temporarily steal the use of a feat or class ability?). Other than that, if all the other pirates are men, I would probably make her a woman (always coming in second, not being valued for anything except her "assets", something like that) or else let him miss an eye, leg or arm and being severely jalous of other people who isn't hurt in the same way as him/her.

Pride should resemble the typical scoundrel/pirate king. He should flaunt everything that he is (a crook) and take pride in himself and his wonderful pirate crew (If you ever read "Going postal" by Terry Prattchet, he should resemble the bad guy). He might also be a swashbuckler and a pirate minion might follow him around with an ornate full-sized silver mirror (decorated with gems and such, of course)

How about giving Sloth a carpet of flying to lounge around on, and so he is just the least bit mobile during the combat.

[Dairun Cates]

For envy you could maybe make him/her a spellthief (CA) allowing her to steal others abilities (maybe make it a variant, where she can also temporarily steal the use of a feat or class ability?). Other than that, if all the other pirates are men, I would probably make her a woman (always coming in second, not being valued for anything except her "assets", something like that) or else let him miss an eye, leg or arm and being severely jalous of other people who isn't hurt in the same way as him/her.

Pride should resemble the typical scoundrel/pirate king. He should flaunt everything that he is (a crook) and take pride in himself and his wonderful pirate crew (If you ever read "Going postal" by Terry Prattchet, he should resemble the bad guy). He might also be a swashbuckler and a pirate minion might follow him around with an ornate full-sized silver mirror (decorated with gems and such, of course)

How about giving Sloth a carpet of flying to lounge around on, and so he is just the least bit mobile during the combat.

Not really an equivalent to spellthief, but that did give me an idea that allows envy to cross-class into 8 classes at level 12, 3 of which are prestige classes, split between fighting and spell-casting. I slap on fast learner and a few feats the rest of the team has, give her a crappy non-masterwork shortsword that can be sundered with 1 damage, and DONE.

So, Envy's got ridiculous saves and does just about everything else class ability wise... to minor effect. So, despite the 12th level. Slayers d20 actually encourages cross-classing to horrendous degree, but I assure you that this is a LOT.

Point noted on Pride too, I HAVE read Going Postal and loved it. I mostly figured that Pride's problems are almost entirely personality and not class. So, yeah. He'll probably fill party rogue since it thematically fits a pirate and is the one class role that's not filled in.

As for the magic carpet, the fact that levitation is effectively a level 1 spell in this universe makes that even funnier (before you cry foul, it's also concentration length. One shot of damage or a failed concentration check, and your wizard plummets). I'll do it!

[Athaniar]

I don't know anything of the system, but Sloth should induce despair and other negative debuffs. Mind-affecting thingies if possible. Psion? Enchanter? And gluttony should eat people. Yum, humans...