Nonstandard templates for divine/celestial humans?

[Piedmon_Sama]

Fairly shortly in my current campaign, the party is bound to meet two of the more politically important NPCs in the world. One is the Hand of Talos, basically the biggest hero in the Empire, the other is the Pharaoh of Hyksete, which is a friendly kingdom to the Empire. Both these NPCs are good-guys and I don't see any reason why the PCs would fight them, but I've learned to never take that for granted. XD

Anyway, I want the Hand of Talos to be a little... more than human. Not explicitly a celestial of some kind, but have him be obviously different: seven feet tall, eyes with no pupils, maybe spectral blue-tinged wings that phase through everything he passes by.

The Pharaoh should likewise have some kind of paragon or divine-blood related template, as he's supposed to be a living god (who, unlike the Emperor in this setting, can actually back up his claims).

Both of these characters are 10th level Clerics; the Hand has 5 levels in Warpriest (he does a lot of rallying the troops) and the Pharaoh eight levels in Fighter (he's an asskicker, his right hand man will be a Cleric/Wizard/Hierophaunt). As the Pharaoh is an 18th level character, I'd like whatever he is to boost him up to about CR 20, which will pretty much make him the toughest mortal in the setting, as he should be.

Half-Celestial seems like the obvious choice for these guys, but.... well, neither of them is a Half-Celestial. I don't really know what the Hand's deal is, and I'd prefer to leave it a mystery anyway as it makes him seem like even more of a cut above the other Imperial heroes. The Pharaoh's powers should really just make him some kind of ubermensche, without too many explicit signs of being metahuman ideally.

Does anyone have suggestions to point me towards, or should I just homebrew something here?

[Master_Rahl22]

My first recommendation would be to drop the Pharaoh's fighter levels either completely, or to a maximum of 4 for the best feat/level ratio and go with something better for the rest of those levels.

You could consider levels in Human Paragon from UE. 3 levels will get him Cleric BAB and HD, 2/3 spellcasting, a bonus feat, a +2 to any stat, and a skill that will be a class skill forever. That sounds like what you wanted, making him human, just better than other humans.

[LibraryOgre]

You might go with simply Celestial, which is, oddly enough, a lesser version of Half-Celestial. It gives them some nice perks (some SLAs, some DR, a couple energy resistances), but doesn't have them sprouting wings or anything. It also gives you carte blanche to have them look like near anything. For the rationale, simply say that being direct conduits for deific power has made them pretty stout. Or you could make them the statistical equivalent of various types of Good Extraplanar creatures, plus class levels... so the hand might be a Hound Archon in stats, but looks human because he is human... just his stats happen to match a Hound Archon.

In the case of the Pharaoh, you may go with simply a Divine Rank 0.

[Kylarra]

Also the fun/weird bloodlines

[Piedmon_Sama]

You might go with simply Celestial, which is, oddly enough, a lesser version of Half-Celestial. It gives them some nice perks (some SLAs, some DR, a couple energy resistances), but doesn't have them sprouting wings or anything. It also gives you carte blanche to have them look like near anything. For the rationale, simply say that being direct conduits for deific power has made them pretty stout. Or you could make them the statistical equivalent of various types of Good Extraplanar creatures, plus class levels... so the hand might be a Hound Archon in stats, but looks human because he is human... just his stats happen to match a Hound Archon.

In the case of the Pharaoh, you may go with simply a Divine Rank 0.

D'oh! I completely forgot there was a plain old "Celestial" Template in the core to begin with! Yes, that's actually perfect–good resistances, DR and SR, without anything as big and flashy as wings. Putting Human Paragon on top of a Celestial Template seems perfect for the Pharaoh as well; he's meant to be ridiculously studly and all.

[Piedmon_Sama]

So, if anyone wants to share thoughts, I have the Hand's stats worked out, I think.

Spoiler

Show

The Hand of Talos

Male Celestial Human Cleric 10/Divine Crusader 5, CR 17; Medium-Sized Humanoid; HD: 15d8+60 (133 HP); Init: +0; Spd: 20 ft. in full plate, 30 nat or fly 60 ft (fair); AC: 29 (+0 Dex, +4 Shield, +4 Breastplate, +11 Class) Touch 25, FF 18; BaB/Grp: +10/+2, +15; Attacks: Sword of Virtue Beyond Reproach +19 melee (1d8+10 19-20/x2 slash); Full Attack: Sword of Virtue Beyond Reproach +19/+11 melee (1d8+10 19-20/x2 slash); S/R: 5 ft/5 ft; SA: Turn Undead 5/day, Smite +15+1d6 dmg 3/day; SQ: DR 4/- from armor + DR 10/magic (15), SR 20, Moderate Aura of Good, Resistance to Electricity 15, Acid 10, Cold 10; Saves: Fort +15 Ref +4 Will +14; Abilities: Str 16 (20), Dex 10, Con 18, Int 08, Wis 18 (24), Cha 14
Skills & Feats: MWP Longsword [Domain], Extra Smiting, Weapon Focus [Longsword], Improved Smiting, Divine Metamagic, Domain Focus [Domination], Weapon Specialization [Longsword]
P.T [Con] 8 ranks, Knowledge [Religion] +4, Concentration +14, Diplomacy +11, Knowledge [Nobility] +4, Intimidate +7
Spell DC Mod: +6
Domains: War, Domination, Strength [DC] -
Spells/Day - Cleric---------------------Spells/Day (Domination) - Divine Crusader
0-Level: 6-------------------------------------------------0-Level (DC 16)
1st-Level: 6+1-------------------------------------------1st-Level: 5 (DC 17)
2nd-Level: 6+1------------------------------------------2nd-Level: 4 (DC 18)
3rd-Level: 5+1------------------------------------------3rd-Level: 4 (DC 19)
4th-Level: 4+1-----------------------------------------4th-Level: 2 (DC 20)
5th-Level: 3+1-----------------------------------------5th-Level: 1 (DC 21)
Languages: Imperial
Gear: Sword of Virtue Beyond Reproach, Lion’s Shield, Adamantine Breastplate of Command, Circlet of Wisdom +6, Girdle of Strength +4, Spectral Wings

Sword of Virtue Beyond Reproach: +3 Holy Longsword; Delays all Charm, Compulsion spells by 1d4 rounds if save is failed.
Lion’s Shield: +2 Heavy Steel Shield; 3/day, Shield attacks @user’s BaB (include multiple attacks) Bite 2d6
Adamantine Breastplate of Command: +2 Breastplate (+4 AC, 4/- DR); +2 competence on all Charisma, Skill & Turning checks

Note: Character uses Class Bonus to AC and Armor as DR variants.

Ultimately I decided not to go with Warpriest because, uh... having a bunch of NPC Warrior mooks running around with him would be useless and just bog combat down needlessly.

Also, since he's the ultimate hero of the Empire, his three companions are... well, "P.R Friendly" is a concise way to put it. I'm thinking an Ogre Ranger 2/Barbarian 6/Tempest 4, since Ogres are a put-upon minority in the Empire and it behooves the rich and privileged to show their boundless kindness by putting up with them. Orcs are much the same way, so a 13th-level Orc Rogue, and a Dwarf Wizard 5/Fighter 4/Runecaster 5 to show how widely renowned and beloved the Hand is (since Dwarves are usually isolationist and trust nobody) makes a good team. I'll be working on each of them later.