NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6476851" data-attributes="member: 20323">[MENTION=63619]CarlosDosBrickos[/MENTION]Well, you've got some D&D homework to do over the holidays <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I second what's been said about making the villain a REAL threat stats-wise. Using PC classes to make NPCs usually creates monsters with low defense and high offense which will get pounded into the ground by the PCs. So you'll want to come up with a reason to bolster the villain's defense when using PC rules to create him/her. Remember, in the DMG you calculate CR by taking the average of a Defense CR and Offense CR... but if a villain is intended to be encountered solo you need them to have a minimum number of HP to survive 1-2 alpha strike rounds by the PCs.Regardless of whether your villain is a CR 23 Lich or a CR 1/8 Noble, there are ways you can do the "recurring villain" trope successfully. You'll want to pay attention to 2 things: Opportunities to Interact Without Violence & Keeping the Villain Alive.Copy/pasting from my 4e DM cheat sheet...Opportunities to Interact Without Violence<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Comm. device (e.g. letters, sending stone) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Social function (e.g. funeral, court)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Proxy (e.g. henchmen, familiar, hostage) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Greater threat (e.g. disaster, nastier villain) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Duty/loved one (e.g. oath, sibling)</li> </ul>Keeping the Villain Alive<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A fate worse than death Ambiguous villain</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It was a decoy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dire repercussions to killing villain </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Foolproof escape foreshadowed </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Indirect confrontation</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Special condition required to kill </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">There was no body... </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Transformation upon death</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unknown villain</li> </ul>Assuming you're using the PC creation rules to make this villain (which it sounds like is how you want to do it)...For your mystical elven sniper I would recommend giving him benefit of the feats (if you haven't already done so) Sharpshooter and Skulker.I would also give him Expertise in Stealth (several monsters have this).I'd double his range with bows (justify it as a unique feat, a rare elven subspecies, a magic bow, or boon from his warlock patron).I'd also do whatever you can to justify bumping up his damage with a bow. High Dex, bracers of archery, an oathbow, etc.Do your CR calculations, but make his HP higher than normal. If you're one of those 3e players who insists that NPCs and PCs have to follow the same rules and have all the same options available to each other, then figure out some way you can justify this (e.g. Amulet of health, an epic boon granted earlier than 20th level, etc).Keep those utility/defense spells that you selected, and consider turning one of them into a reaction. Yes, that break the "normal" PC creation rules. Be creative and justify it however you see fit.What this will do is give you a really scary sniper. Since his alpha strike is so good, he should mostly be gunning for NPC targets and only turn his ire toward the PCs when they interfere. A big part of fighting him should be having to move from cover to cover, crossing a significant distance and dealing with hazards in between. These could be minions, but it would be even more interested if they were hazards (e.g. mobs, traps, poisonous geysers) that he exploits. I'd also have his sniper perch hard to reach, and there you could have a lieutenant monster lurking in wait in the lower levels of the bellowed (or whatever).Good luck!</blockquote>

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