[3.5] Help Statting BBEG / Leader

[Dralnu]

This forum has been a wonderful source of advice for my still-running campaign, so I'll bring up another head-scratcher:

In this evil campaign, the party's leader is a medusa (blindfolded) that goes by the name of Chandra. She is a brilliant tactician, which has earned her the title of Head Commander of an entire army after working her way up from a low-ranking position in only a couple years.

Chandra is incredibly smart, well-informed, and an expert diplomat. She's also a rather powerful combatant in her own right, mostly through magic / psionics / UMD, whichever fits best. I really like the idea of powerful telepathy.

What the party doesn't know is that Chandra is actually a powerful servant of Orcus and is using her authority to help her secretly procure a relic that will bring Tenebrous back from nothingness so Orcus can merge with it and claim godhood. If at all possible, I'd like her to also be a Black Dragon, which would be a nice plot twist in my setting. She would have to be able to disguise her true identity very well though. Being a black dragon isn't necessary however, just a perk.

The group is currently level 7 (unoptimized group of scout, warblade, assassin, and favored soul) but by the time they will potentially confront Chandra to stop her scheme, they'll likely be around level 12.

What type of build would fit this NPCs attributes and be a suitable challenge for a level 12 unoptimized group? I have all WOTC books but not Dragon Magazine.

[Thurbane]

If She is a servant of Orcus, perhaps a (Cloistered) Cleric/Binder/Tenebrous Apostate build?

[Dralnu]

... Wow. I never looked at ToM's PrCs before and there's the perfect fit. Thanks!

I guess Cloistered Cleric 1 / Binder 7 / Tenebrous Apostate 5 would be a great start. 3rd level divine spellcasting (enough for animate dead), knowledge / evil / death domains, 5th level vestiges (one tenebrous, one flexible), can go incorporeal... Yum.

ECL 13 so far. I think I could tack on a couple extra levels. Is there an easy method for gaining cool telepathy and mind tricks?

[KillianHawkeye]

You know the standard medusa can deactivate and reactivate its gaze attack at will, right? So, it doesn't actually need to be blindfolded....



Also, the standard dip to get telepathy is Mindbender PrC, but I'm pretty sure it requires arcane casting. I'm not sure of an easy way like that if you're a Cleric, though.

[The Rabbler]

Also, the standard dip to get telepathy is Mindbender PrC, but I'm pretty sure it requires arcane casting. I'm not sure of an easy way like that if you're a Cleric, though.

isn't binder considered arcane? if so, you could have mindbender advance your binding more.

[Thurbane]

Another way to take advantage of the Medusa's gaze is to give her a couple of Grimlock gaurds/minions. While the party is avoiding her gaze, these guys (with levels in some kind of melee class) can be attacking the party with impunity.

...another couple of Orcus related goodies spring to mind - the Hooded Pupil template in Libris Mortis, and the Thrall of Orcus PrC in BoVD.

isn't binder considered arcane? if so, you could have mindbender advance your binding more.

Unfortunately not, unless you houserule it. Soul Binding levels do not count as any type of casting levels, and PrCs that advance casting levels do not advance Soul Binding. You could always house rule it, though...

[KillianHawkeye]

Well, if you have a means to cast charm person via a spell or SLA, then you can dip a level of any arcane spellcasting class, take Practiced Spellcaster to increase your arcane caster level to 5, and thus meet the RAW requirements for Mindbender (assuming the skill prereqs won't be a problem). That only takes 2 level dips and a feat, but the feat does have to come on the same level as your arcane caster dip.

I was about to suggest dipping a level of Warlock for this purpose, but then I realized that charm was a lesser invocation, not a least invocation, so it won't work.

EDIT: Come to think of it, charm person is a 1st level spell! Duh!

(You can get it with your arcane caster dip!) /facepalm

[Thurbane]

If you don't want to dip arcane, you can get Cham Person as a domain spell via the Charm, Lust or Renewal domains. Mindbender 1 only advances arcane casting, though, so it will be a bit of a "dead level" other than granting telepathy.

...also, I think one of the heritage feats in CM (Fey, Fiendish?) gives Charm Person as a 1/day SLA.

[Dralnu]

Great advice. I'll check out Libris Mortis and BOVD right now.

I initially intended the medusa appearance to be a disguise (to fit in better racially within the evil nation's hierarchy), but she could very well be one.

Mindbender sounds like what I want then. I don't mind it being a dead level outside of telepathy since it's just for cool points.

So far she's looking like:

Chandra (CR 13)
Human cloistered cleric 1 / binder 7 / tenebrous apostate 5
Alignment: Neutral evil
Deity: Tenebrous (Death / Evil)
Hit Dice: 1d6 + 7d8 + 5d8 (57hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: X (+1 Dodge), Touch: X, Flat-footed: X
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+8
Attack:
Full Attack:
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5ft.
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +3, Will +15
Abilities: (32pb) Str 8, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18
Skills:
Feats: Tomb-tainted Soul (LB), X, X, X, X, X
Special Actions: Turn Undead 7/day, spontaneous casting (inflict spells), deeper darkness, touch of the void (2d8), vessel of emptiness (11rounds 25ft.), Tenebrous' rebuke, umbral body (10 rounds), blast of the void (12d8)
Cleric Spells Prepared:
3- dispel magic, clutch of orcus (DC 17), animate dead, *X
2- X, X, X, *X
1- bless, blessed aim, conviction, resurgence, *X
0- cure minor wounds, create water (2), light, detect magic
*Domain spell
Special Qualities: pact augmentation (2 abilities), suppress sign, soul guardian (immune to fear), see in darkness, eternal bondage, visage of the dead, empower undead
Combat Gear: Stuff
Possessions: Stuff
Effective Binder Level: 11
Effective Turning Level: 12

EDIT: Already turning quite deadly. Chandra will be moving with an entourage of undead minions and if engaged she can quickly become incorporeal, begin teleporting all over the place to dodge attacks and keep herself behind her minions. If the party gets too close, she can turn the tables by dealing massive damage with blast of the void.

She needs a quick n' easy way to be undead. It helps the PrC too much not to be.

[KillianHawkeye]

If you don't want to dip arcane, you can get Cham Person as a domain spell via the Charm, Lust or Renewal domains. Mindbender 1 only advances arcane casting, though, so it will be a bit of a "dead level" other than granting telepathy.

...also, I think one of the heritage feats in CM (Fey, Fiendish?) gives Charm Person as a 1/day SLA.

The arcane dip (with the Practiced Spellcaster feat) was to satisfy the Mindbender's entry prerequisite of arcane caster level 5+. It's true, however, that you don't need to actually cast charm person as an arcane spell. But assuming the OP doesn't want to take one of those domains, charm person is easily gained with a dip into bard or sorcerer.

She needs a quick n' easy way to be undead. It helps the PrC too much not to be.

You can use the Necropolitan template from Libris Mortis. It's a low-powered template that makes the creature "itself, but undead" basically. Meaning that there's not a lot of other side benefits besides what is gained from the Undead type.

[Starbuck_II]

In this evil campaign, the party's leader is a medusa (blindfolded) that goes by the name of Chandra. She is a brilliant tactician, which has earned her the title of Head Commander of an entire army after working her way up from a low-ranking position in only a couple years.

I'd like her to also be a Black Dragon, which would be a nice plot twist in my setting. She would have to be able to disguise her true identity very well though. Being a black dragon isn't necessary however, just a perk.

The group is currently level 7 (unoptimized group of scout, warblade, assassin, and favored soul) but by the time they will potentially confront Chandra to stop her scheme, they'll likely be around level 12.

How do you be a Black dragon medusa? Since polymorph removes gaze attack (if she was really a black dragon).

[Thurbane]

The arcane dip (with the Practiced Spellcaster feat) was to satisfy the Mindbender's entry prerequisite of arcane caster level 5+. It's true, however, that you don't need to actually cast charm person as an arcane spell. But assuming the OP doesn't want to take one of those domains, charm person is easily gained with a dip into bard or sorcerer.

Ah, I was away from books at the time - Crystalkeep didn't list that as a req (or I missed it).

[Runestar]

How do you be a Black dragon medusa? Since polymorph removes gaze attack (if she was really a black dragon).

Perhaps he means a medusa with the half-dragon template?

I don't think medusa really advance that well, since their DC won't scale with cr (as they can't advance by HD, barring templates like multi-headed) and taking feats like ability focus.

Tauric template (savage species) could be fun, you retain the upper half of the medusa (and its gaze), plus all the racial HD is added together, so its gaze DC continues to improve. The cr guideline is borked though, since if you use a low-cr monster for the lower half, its cr actually decreases!