Trying to build a villian

[Eldritch Knight]

Okay, so for the campaign I'm trying to create I've come up with a reasonably challenging villian idea. What I'm trying to build is an Eldritch Knight Lich. I've already determined some of the essentials. Arcane strike is a Central Feat. But what I can't decide is if I should go Fighter or Ranger. I was thinking Ranger might be good for the TWF route, but as I've yet to establish the personality of these villian it is too soon to decide..


Some background on his tactics - He posesses an artifact, (as of yet, uncreated) that allows him to command a massive army of duplicates. (Now, I must emphasis that these are LIVING duplicates, not liches, so they are all human.) These duplicates would be roughly 3rd lvl charcters to start, increasing in power. What the kicker of this army is, is that they posess a hive mind that links back to the artifact. Destroy the artifact and you destroy the army..

Catch to the artifact - destroying it will cause the dark side of the characters responsible to manifest themselves... These must be defeated within a month, or the characters, (and the duplicates) will die due to the weakened life force..


So, advice on how I'd do this?

EDIT: Ummm.. this should probably be moved to homebrew, unless it's fine where it is....

[Dhavaer]

Arcane Strike affects only one weapon IIRC; you'd need to burn a spell for each attack if you go TWF unless you use a double weapon.

[Ranis]

I'd like to direct you to the wonders of Rich Berlew's Villain Workshop:

http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTK...Zrh94H1Sn.html

[Eldritch Knight]

Thanks Ranis, but not exactly what I was meaning.. I was looking for effective Game Mechanics strategies...

And Dhaver, I was already aware of that and was pondering the pros and cons of that approach. I had already determined it was going to be a sorcerer build, so the spells aren't an issue.

[Innis Cabal]

use my villian PrC? i know its a shameless plug but i think it makes a great addition to any villian

[Tharivol123]

Dhavaer brings up a good point about the ability of the spell. Ranis is also correct in pointing out the link, as I found it very helpful when I was trying to create a villain for my campaign.
A possibility for the villain and this artifact could be the possibility of "absorbing" one of his duplicates and learning from their experiences (with limitations of course) or some aspect of their personality. For example, absorbing one that became a ranger at some point, would allow him to learn two-weapon fighting or even take that duplicates favored enemy. The draw back being that the more he does it, the more control he loses over his mind.

Double ninja'd...nice.

[Jasdoif]

The bonus from the Arcane Strike feat (assuming we're talking about the one in Complete Warrior) applies to all your attack rolls for one round, so it would work fine with TWF.

That said, I advise against TWF. You need a hand free for somatic components, so at best you could sheath one weapon as a move action, cast the spell, and then Quick Draw the weapon. Unless you're planning to use Still Spell on everything. And if for some reason you aren't planning on doing any actual spellcasting...why are you making a lich?

Take a level or two of fighter to meet the "proficient with all martial weapons" requirement on eldritch knight. Come up with something to do with those bonus feats.

And don't forget about a lich's paralyzing touch attack; you can use it alongside a standard full attack (albeit at a -5 penalty), and your hand is still free for casting.


EDIT: I just realized, you could use a double weapon if you still want to go the TWF route. Taking a hand off a weapon is a free action, and putting a hand back on is a free action as well.

[Takamari]

Hm, You want a real challenge. DuskBlade 3/Wizard 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldrich Knight X.

The spell casting is hampered a bit, but that keeps the party alive a little longer. Your lich casts in light armor and can channel any of his touch spells. He has great saves and his shield/mage armor(greater) give a +9/+11 respectivily.

My BBEG is a Cleric 3/Wizard 3/Mystic Theurge 5/True Necromance 14. He is horrible, lol, for being so versitile.

[Eldritch Knight]

The concept that spawned this idea was: What if there was a lich who was bloodthirsty enough to Love melee combat? After that, I determined that the Eldritch Knight PrC was probably ideal..

[Tweekinator]

For the TWF feats and proficiencies, go fighter. It'll get you there much quicker than ranger.

And if you want to use any spellcasting with TWF, a double weapon is probably your best choice.

[Eldritch Knight]

Hmmm. Probably right about the double weapon.... I imagine it would be pretty intimidating to face a Lich wielding an Orc Double Axe....

[Matthew]

Probably more intimidating if he kicks your ass with a Staff, given the amount of magical power he could otherwise have used.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

My suggestion:

Why EK? Why not Monk/Wiz/Enlightened Fist with Carmidine Monk feat? Since the Litch already has obnoxious things that happens when he hits you, let's let him hit you a LOT, channel spells through touch attacks, and in general, be onboxiously nasty.

Not as obnoxious as something like a straight Wiz/Iot7v/AM or Wiz/Incantatrix/AM... but then again, we're not wanting a TPK.

[Eldritch Knight]

Look, the basic idea of this villian is that he is trying world domination. He was a socerer originally, and as per usual, developed power lust. He's a sorcerer because the large number of spells per day allows him to fuel a LOT of arcane strikes.