[Pimp My BBEG] Zargon from B4: The Lost City

[bento]

I've been running a 3.5 conversion of the classic 1st Ed module, B4: The Lost City, for a couple of months now and the players are nearing the final showdown with the big, bad, evil guy Zargon. While the module is aimed at 1st level, I've improved a few things to provide an adequate challenge for my 4th level players. They are now 5th level and the party consists of:

* Human Ranger with Wild Shaping feat
* Half-Ogre Ranger/Fighter (2nd level)
* Elf Rogue/Cleric
* Human Fighter
and soon to join us Human Wizard​

In the original module Zargon is this evil demon-like being some of the humans have taken to worship as a dark god. He's known for slime, tentacles, eating people alive and an ability to slowly regenerate. Here's the description and stats from the module:

...a huge humanoid figure rises from the slime, standing 15' tall. Its head is that of a giant lizard. A black 2' long horn curves upward above its single red eye, and sharp teeth fill its mouth. Instead of arms, the creature has six tentacles, three on each side of its body. These end in razor-sharp talons. Instead of legs, the creature slithers toward you on six more powerful tentacles.

Zargon (AC0, HD12; hp 80; MV 30'; #AT 7; D 6 x 1-8/3d8; Save F12; ML12; AL C) It will try to attack and slay any party member it can catch, striking with its claws and biting.​

Pretty neat, but the problem I have is translating this into 3.5 lingo, and what CR is he? I tracked down a 3.5 version that appeared in a January 2004 Dragon by Mike Mearls. In it he's made Zargon gargantuan size, 275 hp, AC 26, +29 Tentacle attacking CR 16 badass. I don't think I really want to use this version as a cap for my level 5 party.

I've made another attempt, this time using the Thrall of Demogorgon template from Dragon 357. Below is what I came up with. I'm a bit unsatisfied because my Zargon doesn't have the multiple tentacles and no slime, just extra-scaly skin. He's also medium-sized and no horn, but tales are often much larger than real life.

Zargon
Male Troglodyte
Bbn1/Clr4/Mon2/Thrall of Demogorgon4; CR 10;
Medium Humanoid (Reptilian);
HD 6d8+1d12+14+4d8; hp 72;
Init -1; Spd 40 ft/x4;
AC 17 (-1 dex, +6 natural, +2 Scaly flesh), touch 9, flat-footed 17;

Base Atk/Grapple +9/+11;
Full Atk +11 One-handed (1d6+2;20/x2, Club), +2 Secondary Natural (1d4+1;20/x2, Bite);
SA&SQ Fast Movement(Ex), Rage, Spontaneous Casting, Restricted Spells, Rebuke Undead(Su); Scaly Flesh, Hypnosis, Touch of Fear, Reaching Touch, Dual Actions

AL CE; SV Fort +15, Ref +1, Will +10;
Str 14(+2), Dex 9(-1), Con 15(+2), Int 12(+1), Wis 15(+2), Cha 10(+0);

Skills: Climb¹ +3, Concentration +6, Hide¹ +12, Intimidate¹ +9, Jump¹ +7, Knowledge (nature) +2, Knowledge (religion) +8, Knowledge (the planes) +9, Listen¹ +12, Survival¹ +4, Swim¹ +4.
Feats: Alertness (PH 89), Thrall To Demon (BV 50), Willing Deformity (BV 50).
Spellcaster – 6th Level

• Fast Movement(Ex): +10 to speed when in medium armor or lighter and not carrying a heavy load.
• Rage: You can fly into a screaming frenzy once per encounter, up to 1 time per day. This gives +4 to STR and CON, +14 hit points, and a +2 morale bonus to Will saves, but gives a -2 penalty to AC. Cannot use any skills that require patience or concentration while enraged. Your rage lasts up to 7 rounds.
• Rebuke Undead(Su): Can rebuke undead 2 times per day. A rebuking check is made on 1d20-1; rebuking damage is equal to 2d6+3 on a successful check.
• Scaly Flesh (Ex): Gains increase to natural armor by +2 bonus
• Hypnosis (Su): Once per day produces an effect identical to that of the hypnosis spell, except it functions as a gaze attack with a range of 30 feet. Will save to resist the effect is 10 + class level + Cha modifier. (DC14)
• Touch of Fear (Su): Three times a day a thrall can cause a creature he strikes with a touch attack to become frightened for 1d4 rounds. A successful Will save negates the fear, but the creature is shaken for 1 round; the Will save to resist this effect is 10 + class level + Cha modifier (DC14)
• Reaching Touch (Su): Three times a day a thrall can cause his arms to stretch unnaturally like tentacles, providing him an extra 5 feet of reach for three rounds.
• Dual Action (Su): Twice per day a thrall can take two full rounds worth of actions in the same round.​

So my questions for you, Pimp My BBEG crew, is:
1) My players have a tendancy to bring down foes in about four rounds, max. Would my Zargon be worthy of a BBEG showdown for my level 5 players?
2) Is this Zargon the kind of BBEG that would have kept a city's population in fear for centuries to the point of being thought of as a god?
3) Should I give my Zargon more levels of ToD, which would give him the feats (5th) Summon Minor Demon, (6th) Rotting Touch, (7th) Scaly Flesh +3 and (8th) two personals, death touch?

If none of these are satifying enough, how do I go about building Zargon from scratch? Pointing me to a resource would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Ibn Khaldun]

Downgrade Dragon Zargon?

Have you thought about downgrading the Zargon from Dragon until it's suitably challenging (but not impossible) for your PCs to handle?

 

[bento]

Have you thought about downgrading the Zargon from Dragon until it's suitably challenging (but not impossible) for your PCs to handle?

That's sort of what I'm asking about with my last question. If I wanted to "disassemble" the 3.5 version, what resource would I look into doing this? Zargon is a wholely unique creature by Moldvay and re-imaged by Mearls, so it wouldn't be like statting up a troglodyte in HeroForge, which is what I've done.

I guess I could just Zargon together by feel, but it's hard for me to figure what I have will work. I want something that will have my players first reaction be "oh crap."

 

[Ibn Khaldun]

I don't know if this is obvious or not but I would look at some different monsters that are at the challenge level you're looking for and then strip down Zargon until he becomes roughly an equal challenge to those (ie. similar HP, number of attacks, damage, magic, etc.). Or you could simply choose not to use some of Zargon's abilities, powers, etc.

 

[bento]

I just spent the past thirty minutes or flipping through the SRD, looking at similar monsters (Titan, rashaksa) and filling out a character sheet trying to make this work. I'm using Mearl's CR 16 monster as a basis, but knocking off the spell-like abilities (cloudkill anyone?) and focusing on his physical prowess. So far here's what I've got:

Zargon
Huge Outsider (Evil, ?)
HD 10d8 + 60, 100 hp; CR 11
Initiative +1
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
AC 20 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +11 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple +10/+26
Attack: Tentacle +16 melee (2d6+8)
Full Attack: 6 tentacles +16 melee (2d6+8) and bite ? melee (?) and gore ? melee (?)
Space / Reach 15 ft. /15 ft.
Special Attacks: Constrict ?, Herald of slime (acts as grease spell, Zargon immune to effect), improved grab (no AoO on tentacle attack)
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to ?, rejuvenation (body reforms in 1d4 days), spell resistance ?,
Saves: Fort 14, Ref 9, Will 11
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 18
Skills: haven't allocated yet
Feats: Improved natural attack (gore), improved sunder, multiattack, ???​

Once I nail down some of the basics I'll go back and add skills and feats for flavor. What do you think?

 

[WesternWolf]

How about these stats, they're basically the Tentacled Horror from Tome of Horrors 2 just dumbed down a little

Zargon
Always CE Huge Aberration CR 8ish?
Init +0 Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 30 ft.; Listen +10, Spot +10
Aura Insanity DC 20
Languages I dunno, whatever
--------------------------------------------
AC 20, touch 8, flat-footed 20
(-2 size, +12 natural)
HP 100 (10d8+50); regeneration 5; SR 19
Resist Acid 10
Fort +8 Ref +5 Will +12
--------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee 4 Tentacles +10 (1d8+3) and bite +8 (3d6+1)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15ft.
Base Atk +7; Grp +18 (includes +8 racial bonus I made up)
Atk Options Cleave, Power Attack, Improved Grab
Special Actions
-------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 16, Dex 10, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 20
SA Constrict 1d8+3, improved grab
SQ Aura of insanity, horn
Feats Cleave, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Bluff + 12, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Listen +13, Sense Motive +13, Spot +13
------------------------------------------
Aura of Insanity (Su): Creatures with less than 6 HD who view a tentacled horror must make a Will save DC 20 or be affected as if by a confusion spell (caster level 10). Creatures of 2 HD or less are permanently affected and are compelled to worship the tentacled horror as a god. The save DC is charisma based, blah blah
Horn (Su): The source of a tentacled horror's power is its horn. If the horn is removed it suffers -6 str and con until it's reattached. The horn has an AC 20, hardness 10, and 20 hit points. 10 points of damage removes the horn. It can be reattached by holding it to the stump.

The math isn't perfectly legal, especially on the skills. But I think it should serve your purposes... Feel free to change his Str score if he still seems to weak/strong. Enjoy!

 

[bento]

WesternWolf,

This is pretty close to what I'm looking for.

Thanks!