Converting the Dukes of Hell

[Kain Darkwind]

Hmm, something we’re missing from the original description: “Malphas can also apply this to blades wielded by himself or others”. Thus, maybe it’s good to just stick with a duration and leave out the ending on separation aspect.


We could give him the epic version as a standard action, or the regular on a swift action; either sounds fine to me. Regular flaming burst on a swift action sounds a bit accessible though.

As a start:

Flaming Weapons (Su): As a swift action, Malphas can bestow the flaming burst quality on any weapon he touches. This effect lasts for (three rounds).

Since the flaming burst property already states that the effect is imbued on ammunition, we can keep it simple like that.

A few things. If you want to make him use epic material, it doesn't matter. But some people seem to shun epic like it was the plague. In which case, you can spell out exactly what Malphas does, without relying on 'design shortcuts' that refer to specific magical enhancement. In which case you could have him imbue a weapon with anything from 1d6 to 15d12 fire damage. If you consider fire resistance and its relative cost, resistance 30 is rather simple for epic parties to procur. You have to decide whether the flavor of this ability is important, or if you want it to actually impact his CR. At what I estimate to be a CR of 23ish, 3d6 to 4d6 is a minor power. 1d6/1d10 is not even worth factoring in...for CR purposes, anyways. The ability to bless weapons with fiery properties might still be an important flavor aspect. Now...if this damage was hellfire, and thus not subject to resistance/immunity, you could dip lower, to 2d6 I think. Again, compare the average melee damage output between these higher level creatures, like wyrm dragons and pit fiends. The average pit fiend has a full attack that deals an average of 105 points of damage, threatens a Con/death poison and disease. That's HUGE. CR 20 though.



Two. A duration of 10 rounds or 1 minute seems to be more fitting and easier to run in combat, than 3 rounds. This is more of a streamlined issue than a power level issue though.


So....in conclusion, I'd suggest the epic enchantment, or just say 'deals 4d6 points of additional (hell)fire damage' I would suggest a swift action, and I would suggest a duration of 10 rounds.

 

[Shade]

1 hour sounds fine. since we're going with a different material, do we want to change the hardness and hit points?

Probably so. Baatorian Green Steel is 30/12, whereas adamantine is 40/20. Since the Fortress is normally 100/20, we could change it to 75/12, or we could just make it thicker, and go with 100/12.


Regarding the flaming weapons:

Any epic material in the SRD (including the blast properties) should be fair game.

Since all the original flavor says is that Malphas "fights with weapons" and his damage is "weapon +5", we've got a lot of wiggle room. I'd suggest we go with the standard flaming blast for this ability, and we can modify his weapon properties to get the desired damage output. Since he's only Medium, he'll probably need the extra damage to keep up.

In other words, I agree with the epic property as a swift action, and I too prefer 10 rounds/1 minute.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

Baatorian Green Steel is 30/12, whereas adamantine is 40/20. Since the Fortress is normally 100/20, we could change it to 75/12, or we could just make it thicker, and go with 100/12.

100/12 sounds good for the infernal fortress – it will be thicker than a typical Daern’s – but we should have the hardness as appropriate for the material.

***

Ok, I thought about what Kain and Shade said. Giving him 3d6 fire damage, even activating it as a swift action, should be no problem. Sure, 3d6 may seem puny to someone with resistance 30, but don’t forget how sick the damage gets when a flaming burst weapon gets a crit – should be enough to overcome a 30 easily.

Here’s how I see it working: Mal is holding any weapon – whatever the weapon is, it doesn’t matter, maybe he picked it up off the ground after killing its previous owner. Simply because he wills it to, the weapon becomes sheathed in flame that lasts for one minute. The next round, his buddy Amduscias says “Hey, power me up!” so Mal sets his sword alight as well. The next round, maybe Malphas is dual-wielding and wants to do more damage, so he sets his other weapon on fire. Get it? That’s how I’m reading it, flavor-wise, from the original description. What I want is an ability that replicates those capabilities. Like Kain said, we can even spell it out rather than have people look it up (I know Shade is usually also in favor of that sort of thing). So, let me give that another try:

Flaming Weapons (Su): As a swift action, Malphas can cause a weapon he touches to become sheathed in fire; this fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains for 10 rounds. The weapon deals an extra 3d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit. The weapon also explodes with flame upon striking a successful critical hit, dealing an extra 3d6 points of fire damage. If the weapon’s critical multiplier is x3, add an extra 6d6 points of fire damage instead, and if the multiplier is x4, add an extra 12d6 points of fire damage. Bows, crossbows, and slings with this effect bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

 

[Kain Darkwind]

Here’s how I see it working: Mal is holding any weapon – whatever the weapon is, it doesn’t matter, maybe he picked it up off the ground after killing its previous owner. Simply because he wills it to, the weapon becomes sheathed in flame that lasts for one minute. The next round, his buddy Amduscias says “Hey, power me up!” so Mal sets his sword alight as well. The next round, maybe Malphas is dual-wielding and wants to do more damage, so he sets his other weapon on fire. Get it? That’s how I’m reading it, flavor-wise, from the original description. What I want is an ability that replicates those capabilities. Like Kain said, we can even spell it out rather than have people look it up (I know Shade is usually also in favor of that sort of thing). So, let me give that another try:

This is exactly how I see it working myself.

Flaming Weapons (Su): As a swift action, Malphas can cause a weapon he touches to become sheathed in fire; this fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains for 10 rounds. The weapon deals an extra 3d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit. The weapon also explodes with flame upon striking a successful critical hit, dealing an extra 3d6 points of fire damage. If the weapon’s critical multiplier is x3, add an extra 6d6 points of fire damage instead, and if the multiplier is x4, add an extra 12d6 points of fire damage. Bows, crossbows, and slings with this effect bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

Ok, a few things. You can simplify the critical talk by saying "this extra damage is multiplied on a successful critical hit as normal for the weapon type" However, if you wanted to spell it out, it is actually 6d6 extra damage on a x2 multiplier, 9d6 extra on a x3 mulitplier and 12d6 extra on a x4 multiplier. All of which are instead of the original 3d6 of course, not on top of it.


Oh and 6d6 fire damage (the typical extra damage on a critical hit) is an average of 21 points of damage. Max of 36 points. Fire resistance 30 is pretty much going to laugh at that. I'm not suggesting we make it more powerful though. I'm just pointing it out so we are clear on the power level of the ability. Namely that it is completely appropriate for CR 18-25 creatures and not some crazy uber epic godslaying power.

 

[Shade]

That works for me, adding the text for damage based on crit multipliers as Kain suggested.

 

[BOZ]

I’d prefer to keep it spelled out as-is, since I modeled that on the writeups in the DMG primarily, and ELH secondarily. How’s that now?

Flaming Weapons (Su): As a swift action, Malphas can cause a weapon he touches to become sheathed in fire; this fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains for 10 rounds. The weapon deals an extra 3d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit. The weapon also explodes with flame upon striking a successful critical hit, dealing an extra 6d6 points of fire damage instead of the normal fire damage. If the weapon’s critical multiplier is x3, add an extra 9d6 points of fire damage instead, and if the multiplier is x4, add an extra 12d6 points of fire damage instead. Bows, crossbows, and slings with this effect bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

 

[Shade]

Looks good.

 

[Kain Darkwind]

So let it be written, so let it be done.

 

[Aspect of BOZ]

I’m Creeping Death!

Malphas appears as a powerful, dark-complexioned man … or as a large, black, crow-like bird.

Alternate form it is! let’s give that a start. I’m thinking he could be just a Medium sized-creature. Do we need to state anything more than what attacks he can use and the ability to fly? I would think that all powers he has should be useable in both forms.

Alternate Form (Su): Malphas can shift between his humanoid and bird forms as a standard action. In bird form, he gains a fly speed of 80 feet per round (good/average?) and gains (claw and bite attacks), but cannot (use weapons).

Malphas remains in one form until he chooses to assume a new one. A change in form cannot be dispelled, nor does Malphas revert to any particular form when killed. A true seeing spell reveals both forms simultaneously.

Malphas shuns armor, and fights with all weapons (and his spell-like powers) when in human form.

So, good point, what sort of weapon shall we give him? The text gives no indication that I can see as to what type of weapon he would wield. We could go with the trusty sword option, or get more creative like with an axe, hammer, or anything. Ah, total freedom!

The text said damage “by weapon +5” so he’s definitely an ass-kicker.

Once per round, at will, Malphas can use one of his spell-like powers: tongues or ESP (as noted above), pyrotechnics, produce flame, … detect invisibility, read magic, dispel magic, flame arrow (Malphas can also apply this to blades wielded by himself or others; these become flame tongue swords - fiery damage, but no “to hit” bonuses - for 3 rounds), and remove (or bestow) curse. Once per day Malphas can use a symbol of pain…

One thing I noted. Check out where it says flame arrow, and that Malphas “can also apply this to blades”. I think that means he could use flame arrow as an SLA at will, plus the Su ability we wrote up. Agree, disagree?

We had agreed before (look back to slightly less than a month ago) that he would only have the tongues SLA and not the Su ability.

This is what we have so far:

Spell-Like Abilities: (Caster level 20th?)
At will - bestow curse (DC X), detect thoughts (DC X), dispel magic, greater teleport, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, remove curse, see invisibility, tongues:
(charm monster (DC 27), discern lies, dispel magic, faerie fire, fire shield (either version), greater teleport, locate object, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, see invisibility, suggestion (DC 26), telekinesis (DC 28)
1/day - symbol of pain (DC X).
(dominate monster (DC 32), symbol of stunning (DC 30).)
locate creature?

He can summon 1-2 abishai, with a 55% chance of success, at will.

This is what we have:

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day, Malphas can attempt to summon 1d2 abishai (of any color) with a 55% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a Xth-level spell (CL Xth).

Note that for Amduscias, we set the spell level at 8th and the caster level at 20th.

 

[Shade]

Alternate form it is! let’s give that a start. I’m thinking he could be just a Medium sized-creature. Do we need to state anything more than what attacks he can use and the ability to fly? I would think that all powers he has should be useable in both forms.

It think that would suffice.

Alternate Form (Su): Malphas can shift between his humanoid and bird forms as a standard action. In bird form, he gains a fly speed of 80 feet per round (good/average?) and gains (claw and bite attacks), but cannot (use weapons).

Malphas remains in one form until he chooses to assume a new one. A change in form cannot be dispelled, nor does Malphas revert to any particular form when killed. A true seeing spell reveals both forms simultaneously.

A giant raven (Silver Marches) has poor maneuverability, while a giant eagle and owl are average. So I think average should be good enough.

Giant eagle and owl do 1d6 with claws and 1d8 with bite. Giant raven does 1d4 with claws and 1d8 with bite. All are Large. Obviously, he's not limited to being the same as a mundane animal, but that's a place to start.

So, good point, what sort of weapon shall we give him? The text gives no indication that I can see as to what type of weapon he would wield. We could go with the trusty sword option, or get more creative like with an axe, hammer, or anything. Ah, total freedom!

I'd go with something that resembles a bird's beak...maybe a heavy pick?

One thing I noted. Check out where it says flame arrow, and that Malphas “can also apply this to blades”. I think that means he could use flame arrow as an SLA at will, plus the Su ability we wrote up. Agree, disagree?

Didn't we decide that he could impart the flaming ability onto projectile weapons, and that the projectiles would thus carry the property?

We had agreed before (look back to slightly less than a month ago) that he would only have the tongues SLA and not the Su ability.

This is what we have so far:

Spell-Like Abilities: (Caster level 20th?)
At will - bestow curse (DC X), detect thoughts (DC X), dispel magic, greater teleport, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, remove curse, see invisibility, tongues:
(charm monster (DC 27), discern lies, dispel magic, faerie fire, fire shield (either version), greater teleport, locate object, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, see invisibility, suggestion (DC 26), telekinesis (DC 28)
1/day - symbol of pain (DC X).
(dominate monster (DC 32), symbol of stunning (DC 30).)
locate creature?

Just a thought...if we want to take his crow-like image a bit further, we could give him some omen-like SLAs as well.

This is what we have:

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day, Malphas can attempt to summon 1d2 abishai (of any color) with a 55% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a Xth-level spell (CL Xth).

Note that for Amduscias, we set the spell level at 8th and the caster level at 20th.

Once more, I think it might be fun to run with his raven aspect and allow him to summon fiendish ravens as well.