Beholderkin Dungeon Lord?

[RUMBLETiGER]

Beholderkin Spectator

Quite some time ago I asked questions In This Thread Regarding A Factotum Fortress. Since then I've made considerable progress, having researched a version of the Polymorph spell adapted by knowledge of the Primal Form spell to Polymorph into a Thoqqua. This PC exists in my primary campaign that I'm involved in, not as a DM.

Later, In This Thread About Monster Buddies I discussed with you all & eventually concluded that I wanted a Spectator Beholderkin as a steward/butler/roomate. An Alfred to my Batman, if you will. It'd been arranged in came that since my Factotum is affiliated with Mathghamhna and the Mages Of The Arcane Order (as part of his RP development) and taught a class for one semester in "Aberration Handling" to the Apprentices and Initiates Based Upon His Knowledge Of Raising Rust Monsters, that when Mathghamhna's resident Spectator Beholderkin that serves in the Cavern of Guard in The Deeps (we added one, it seemed fitting) gave birth, my Factotum got to take a Spectator baby home.

And so, according to Lords of Madness, it should take about 2 years for this little guy to grow to maturity. Spending his entire life within the fortress, I want this Spectator to become an NPC tending to daily life keeping the home. He'll be given a Hand of the Mage so as to take care of basic upkeep.

And so, I come to the Dungeon Lord PrC from Dungeonscape p.108. This seems perfect for an Alfred-type steward of a fortress, the keeper of the home while my PC is away.

The Spectator can meet all of the Prereqs of the Dungeon Lord except for a +5 BAB. Being a 4HD Aberration, it's BAB is +3, based off the 3/4 progression.

My Questions:
1) What class levels should I consider training this monster for another +2 BAB (either another 3/4 progression class since we use the fraction system or a full BAB class)

2) Is there something better than the Dungeon Lord PrC to make a home defender/caretaker NPC?

3) The fluff of the Dungeon Lord PrC seems to assume the individual taking the PrC is THE leader. Would it be remiss to use the PrC on what is effectively a cohort, that is subordinate to another as the leader of the home?

4) What other useful magical items might I consider equipping this critter with? I don't need to completely trick him out, but I'm considering what sorts of things would be useful for fulfilling his role. LoM p. 45 indicates Beholderkin can wear:
• One headband, hat, or phylactery on the body. A beholder can only wear a helmet specially designed to fit over the creature’s entire body.
• Three pairs of eye lenses or goggles over the central eye and up to two eyestalks (one pair per eye or eyestalk).
• Three amulets, brooches, medallions, necklaces, periapts, or scarabs on up to three eyestalks (one item per eyestalk).
• One belt worn about an eyestalk.
• One pair of bracers or bracelets on a pair of eyestalks.
• Up to three rings on up to three eyestalks (one ring per eyestalk).

 

[Samloyal23]

What other useful magical items might I consider equipping this critter with? I don't need to completely trick him out, but I'm considering what sorts of things would be useful for fulfilling his role. LoM p. 45 indicates Beholderkin can wear:
• One headband, hat, or phylactery on the body. A beholder can only wear a helmet specially designed to fit over the creature’s entire body.
• Three pairs of eye lenses or goggles over the central eye and up to two eyestalks (one pair per eye or eyestalk).
• Three amulets, brooches, medallions, necklaces, periapts, or scarabs on up to three eyestalks (one item per eyestalk).
• One belt worn about an eyestalk.
• One pair of bracers or bracelets on a pair of eyestalks.
• Up to three rings on up to three eyestalks (one ring per eyestalk).

I am thinking a belt has to encircle the body, so, no wearing it on an eyestalk. That said, I am thinking an armour shell could be custom made that has the power of a belt or ring built into it. Maybe enchant it as Breastplate of Command and Headband of Intellect to be an emblem of the creature's authority and boost his Int score.

Full telekinesis is a must, you need to be able wield weapons and shields. A shield of blinding would take the whole eyeball theme to another level.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I am thinking a belt has to encircle the body, so, no wearing it on an eyestalk. That said, I am thinking an armour shell could be custom made that has the power of a belt or ring built into it. Maybe enchant it as Breastplate of Command and Headband of Intellect to be an emblem of the creature's authority and boost his Int score.

Full telekinesis is a must, you need to be able wield weapons and shields. A shield of blinding would take the whole eyeball theme to another level.

The book says an eyestalk will do, so there's RAW verses reason for ya.

Keep in mind, I'm trying to design a keeper of the home, his primary role is Butlering. While there may be occasion for defending the place, he doesn't really need to be decked out for combat. I'm thinking more utility items.

Full Telekinesis sounds like a great idea, But the Ring of Telekinesis at 75,000gp is out of my price range right now. At this stage of the game my Factotum is level 10, he's still kinda strapped for cash so it'll be a process of saving up to buy gear for the NPC that doesn't go adventuring with him.

I was considering the Spare Hand (MIC p.137) so he can actually pick things up, but it costs 12,000gp. Hand of the Mage can only lift 5lbs, but at 900gp, it's a steal.

A Collar Of Perpetual Attendance for 2000gp would rock, take that April Fools!

A Headband Of Intellect could be mildly useful. The Spectator has an INT of 14, and with no spellcasting or abilities based off of INT, I'm not too worried about it, but it would be nice for the skill boosts.

What's great about this guy is the Create Food and Water 3/dayspell-like ability. He can "cook" for 9 people, I'm tricking him out to clean, he has social skills. He'll like to read. He'll be content to remain at home, entertain guests, repel intruders, take inventory of stock, order more supplies, recieve packages at the door, that sort of thing. I'm trying to find more ways to promote this sort of NPC character in build and gear.

I might just give him 2 levels of Expert if I can't think of anything else solid. Giving him Lucid Dreaming as a class skill would give him the ability to communicate with my Factotum at a distance when he's away from home.

 

[Samloyal23]

Think Sir Kay, castellan to King Arthur, and Joseph, Pharaoh's vizier. This is a basher with serious political power and clout. People obey it. Skills should include Diplomacy, Knowledge (bureaucracy, numeracy, nobility & royalty), Intimidate, and Profession (bookkeeper, scribe). Definitely needs the Leadership feat. Anything that boosts any mental attribute is Good...

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Think Sir Kay, castellan to King Arthur, and Joseph, Pharaoh's vizier. This is a basher with serious political power and clout. People obey it. Skills should include Diplomacy, Knowledge (bureaucracy, numeracy, nobility & royalty), Intimidate, and Profession (bookkeeper, scribe). Definitely needs the Leadership feat. Anything that boosts any mental attribute is Good...

I really like your skills suggestions. The Dungeon Lord PrC grants the Leadership feat at level 5 as a capstone class ability. as a 4HD creature, plus 2 levels of Expert (or whatever) and no level adjustment, he'll have Leadership by level 11. I'm not sure how my Butler will gain levels while keeping the home, but I'll worry about that later.

Going back to my Monster Buddies thread, I'm pondering what other critters would be keeping the house. My Factotum is a bit eccentric, his home (obviously) won't be staffed by human commoner servants. If you had the ability to stock a fortress with a small handful of non-evil creatures to help with day to day affairs, what sort of creatures might you choose? A Pet Large Sized Rust Monster is a given. I think I'm looking for non-evil, moderate INT score, at least understands language if not speaks one, sized medium or smaller, mostly content to remain in one place and somehow useful to have around.

At higher levels I'm intending to take 2 levels of Chameleon, I'll use the rotating bonus feat for craft a Homunculus.

 

[Binho]

Artificer's Monocle (MIC, pg 72, 1500gp): Use artificer knowledges to read magical item auras, but the real bargain is if you can cast detect magic and have 5 ranks of Knowledge: Arcana, you can spend one minute to study an item and get the description as if you cast Identify, unlimited uses.

If the beholderkin likes to read, make it read magic auras and identify things for you hehe.

Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
The definitive "whatever you can possibly imagine" item. Not only can you create mundane equipment, but any non-magical alchemical item is only 10 minutes away. Don't like how the dungeon is laid out? Paint some doors, walls, tunnels, or a few lava pits. A judicious painter knows how to conserve paint, however. Need to get through a wall? Instead of painting an entire door or tunnel, paint cracks in the wall so it's easier to break down. Or paint a hole and go through with a potion of gaseous form. When you add non-magical items such as Ectoplasm Equipment/Stabilizer (Ghostwalk, non-magical ghost touch weapons) and Chaos Flasks (Planar Handbook, create poisons or diamonds) on top of that, the possibilities are staggering. The only real drawback with the pigments is it's not entirely clear from the description how you track the amount of material you can create. There are two different limitations: by surface area (up to 100' square feet), or by GP cost (up to 2000 GP). However, it's not clear if the 2000 GP limit is per item created or a total per pot of pigments. For example, if the owner paints a 10' x 10' x 10' room, can he fill the entire volume with suits of full plate and vials of poison, or does everything in the room have to total up to 2000 GP or less? If you go by surface area, this works for simple features such as doors, pits, and pools of lava, but not so well for smaller objects with complex shapes, such as weapons/alchemical items/trombones/etc. If you go by GP cost, this works well for smaller items but you may be stuck digging through obscure sourcebooks to find a price for a 5' cube of ice/lava/mozzarella/etc. Work with your DM to determine which method works best.

With it your Alfred could reform your entire house in minutes.


As for the class, it would be good to make it use prestidigitation, unseen servant and other little things. Maybe you could use two level of wizard and one abjurant champion to get +2 to BAB. That would be far from your type of character, but it can handle the prerequisites.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Ohh... I like the item suggestions. Definitely the Monocle, I'll see if I can get away with the pigments.

Can't meet the prereqs for Abjurant Champion, since one prereq. is +5 BAB, which is what I'm aiming for. Also can't use martial weapons.

Hm... 2 levels of Artificer could be cool though.

 

[Samloyal23]

An awakended amorph of some type would be able to consume organic waste and debris, sweeping down hallways and eliminating leftovers from meals quickly and neatly. With a level in Psionicist it can gain some minor telekinetic abilities to help around the castle in other ways...

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

...amorph...

I do not know what this is, and my Google-Fu has failed me.

 

[kitcik]

I think Ioun stones would look fantastic on a beholder...