Little help with a kick-butt gnome

[Palskane]

I had originally posted this in the Rogue's Gallery, but think it will get seen more here.


Ok, I have a gnome fighter who is supposed to be a real terror. Here is what my players know about him, and they have encountered him but once.

Tilcho is Sura's lieutenant, a gnome of unmitigated cruelty and guile. Still, he shows some of his gnomish heritage by having constructed his own armor. You have never seen him out of this armor. He is rumored to have a misshapen and deformed body, which is why he has encased himself in this metal suit. In hand-to-hand he is formidable. With his sword in hand he is nigh-unstoppable. Sura is rumored to be the only being ever to have beaten him in one-on-one combat. Tilcho has been his right hand man ever since.

You have never heard Tilcho pay homage to any god.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a72/Aurken/Tilcho.jpg

He's in the level 12-15 ranges, and I'm wanting to know what everyone here thinks would make this gnome an absolutely horrific encounter for the PC's.

 

[Quickleaf]

I just love evil gnomes!

Judging by the picture, I'm guessing you intend for him to be a combat encounter. I had this image of his armor sucking the souls of his enemies into it. The little lantern on the back might actually be a lantern of revealing. When a soul is sucked into the armor, the lantern might change color and give the wearer a bonus to Strength (+1 per 5 levels absorbed?). Of course, the trap the soul enchanting didn't go as planned, and the armor can only absorb half a soul, thereby cursing the target as half-living.

Curse of the Half-living
This curse the character with the Half-Living creature template. Half-Living creatures have -2 Constitution and Charisma. Healing magic is ineffective on them, and they cannot be resurrected in the traditional manner; rather, when they die, they find their sentience trapped inside the gnome's armor. Only by destroying the gnome's armor can they regain the other half of their soul. They are only half effected by energy drain and death magic, and completely immune to effects that trap the soul. Using his Hide skill, the character can pass himself off as dead/undead, and such beings will ignore him as if he was one of their own, provided he does not attack. Using his Bluff skill, the character can attempt to fool undead into believing he is dead; only a successful Sense Motive check reveals the truth. Undead thus fooled don’t waste their time attacking Half-Living characters.

 

[Ferrix]

Awesome picture.

Some ideas to make him more powerful without giving a lot of benefits to the players when they defeat him.

Undead Grafts:
Enervating Arm (+4 inherent bonus to Str, 2/day make an enervating touch bestows 1 negative level) 40k

Bonemail (+2 natural armor bonus to AC) 16k

Undead Skin (25% fortification) 16k

Weapon of Necrotic Focus (allows you to use the enervating touch through your weapon)

Aberrant Feats
- Aberration Blood (flexible limbs, +2 bonus on grapple checks)
- Inhuman Reach (grants 5 ft. additional reach, -1 to attacks)

PsyWar 2/Fighter 4/Warmind 8
Feats: Aberration Blood, Inhuman Reach, Combat Reflexes, Combat Brute, Large and in Charge
Psionic Feats: Psionic Weapon, Deflective Armor (provides armor's AC against touch attacks, races of stone)
Fighter Bonus Feats: Power Attack, Improved Sunder, heavy armor optimization (AC +1 in heavy armor, reduce armor check penalty by 1, races of stone)

Powers: Expansion, Vigor, Claws of the Beast, Thicken Skin, Dissolving Weapon, Hustle, Vampiric Blade, Dimension Slide, Energy Adaptation

Abilities: Chain of Personal Superiority +4 insight bonus to Str & Con 3/day, Chain of defensive Posture +4 insight bonus to Ac 3/day, enduring body (DR 2/-), sweeping strike (can hit two adjacent opponents with a single attack)

Tactics: Employ expansion for impressive reach (15 ft. when you get to large size and lots of AoO), use vigor to buff up HP and thicken skin to buff up AC, dissolving weapon + psionic weapon to land incredibly damaging blow, vampiric blade to get back some HP (combined with sweeping strike, not a bad idea) Play the gnome very wise in combat, using terrain to his advantage, and studying his enemies before engaging. Use their common tactics against them.

 

[GreatLemur]

Hey, where'd that art come from? It looks kind of like the work of a guy who calls himself Chirurgeon. Nice stuff.

 

[Palskane]

Wow! Thanks guys! You came up with a lot more interesting concepts than I would have. Very cool ideas!

I like using gnomes as some of the evil guys too. For some reason the PC's don't seem to take them seriously... until they start getting whupped.

Hey, where'd that art come from? It looks kind of like the work of a guy who calls himself Chirurgeon. Nice stuff.

It is from Rackham's site for Confrontation miniatures. If you ask nicely they'll sometimes let you use artwork for your own personal use so long as you don't make money from it or anything. I have no idea if the artist you spoke of might have done this. It is a cool picture though, and whenever I can I request to use some of their character sketches. Their artists rock!

 

[GreatLemur]

Aw, okay. Yeah, Confrontation has some truly beautiful art associated with it. Good idea for a source, there.

 

[gamecat]

Perhaps one could postulate that Tilcho's deformities include less-than-functional lungs. As such, he breathes an alchemical gas that is wildly rich in oxygen, allowing him to aspirate normally, and his air filters on his suit exhale purple fumes constantly. While Tilcho can breathe this normally, all those with normal lungs must make a fortitude save (DC 20) or take 1 points of constitution damage from pulmonary oxygen toxicity. If they make the save, they are immune to the effects for 3 rounds.

Seems powerful, but here is a link to an article on pulmonary oxygen toxicity.
http://lungdiseases.about.com/od/termsdefinitions/f/excess_oxygen.htm

 

[Palskane]

Huh. That is very interesting, and could bump up his CR a couple levels I would think.

How long would one have to be in his presence before having to make this save, do you think? About 2-3 rounds, or right away?

 

[gamecat]

2-3 rounds sounds right, but perhaps being in enclosed spaces could cut this time down. I like this villan hee hee.

 

[Sravoff]

Very nice gnomish concept. While I do not have anythin to add to this, most everything has been covered already, I woul dlike to say very good job on the gnome, and good ideas for the abilities. Good job every one!

-Sravoff