CR of this encounter? (Players stay out (that means you nepstad!))

[Moe Ronalds]

What would be the CR of an encounter with a 2nd level expert possessing a ring of invisibility, boots of flying, bracers of armor +8, wand of magic missile first level with 10 charges, a helm of teleportation and a wand of charge? (has use magic device as one of his class skills) (No, I don't plan for these to get into the hands of the PCs.) who is being fought on a living machine that could, if they take a wrong step, send them flying into vats of acid or crush them with large gears? This is going to be the final encounter of an adventure with the PCs trekking through a large factory that has been producing magic items at low cost around the same time that several spellcasters have gone missing.

 

[Darkness]

Let's see...

An Exp2 is CR1 and should have 2,000 gp of stuff.
His equipment is worth 20,000 + 12,000 (I assume you meant winged boots) + 64,000 + 150 + 48,600 + the wand of charge (whatever that is). I.e., 112,750 gp (+ the wand of charge's value).
That's about the middle between the gear of a CR 17 and a CR 18 character - and a wand probably won't change too much about that. So let's say it's the gear for CR 17 (you always round down in D&D, after all ).

Personally, I'd award xp for him as if he was CR 6 (or thereabouts); while he has a lot of stuff, his hp, saves, skills, etc. are lacking.
Still, if his only means of ranged attack is the wand of magic missiles, I'd lower that by 1; 10 attacks (at a rate of 1 per round) isn't very much, after all. And shield will stop them easily enough, too...

And then, there's the dangerous environment... *shrug* I dunno; maybe raise his CR by a further 1-2 for xp purposes, considering that the hostile environment will hamper the PCs severely but play right into his hand (with the ring and boots and all).

Just my 2 euro-cents...

(Note to rules-lawyers: Yeah, I know: Raising CR isn't the way to handle this; ad hoc xp are.
But guess what - I'm not raising his CR; I only use CRs as rough examples for how many xp he should be worth IMO.)

 

[Moe Ronalds]

d'oh, I also forgot to mention that he has a pistol and an unholy dagger. (He's the owner of a corrupt factory that makes magic weapons at low cost by stealing power from spell casters and using it to power the items, that's why he has so much loot)(and yes, pistols are appropriate to my campaign world. Though they'll probably scare the **** out of the prehistoric druid)

 

[Kaji]

Moe,

IMHO, I would think that this 2nd level Expert, even with Use Magic Device, would have great difficulty using the wands, which is most likely a DC 20. So these won't really add so much as I see it. Also, even with all the gear the guy has all of what?, 20 hp max? Unless he's got lot's of friends, all by himself he'll go down pretty quick, and most likely not have a chance to use most of this gear.
The dangerous environment helps, but even so I would not put much higher than a ECL 5 tops.

 

[Alcamtar]

I'd give it EL 3. CR1 for Exp2, +2 for special abilities and challenging environment.

Let's face it, an Exp2 is going to go down pretty easily if you manage to hit him. He has a lot of magic items but can only use one in any given round, so that means he'll get one free attack, then the players will be returning fire. Remember, when he attacks he'll remain visible until the next round, when he'll have the opportunity to activate his ring again. Basically, everyone in the party gets a shot. Even at AC20 someone will hit before long. And with only 7 hp average, or 12 hp max, it'll only take a couple shots.

Give him a potion of Haste, so he can attack and then immediately activate his ring or teleport, and it'll be much more challenging.

Alcamtar

 

[Moe Ronalds]

Thanks everyone! I think going by what you've all said I'll go with EL 4.

Next question, would there be any odd side effects of falling into a vat of raw magical energy? I'm thinking it would give potential to take levels in sorcerer as a given, but any... odd side effects?

 

[Greybar]

Hmm.. if EL4, and this is the challenging climax, then I'd guess that you're dealing with something in the range of four characters of level 3.

That may make the living machine environment very dangerous. Reflex saves for much of that party will be low, so even a Balance check at DC10 or a DC 15 Reflex save will cause players to get thrown. If the damage from the gears/acid/magic-waste is even at the 3d6 level, that a recipe for player death.

I'd suggest having a narrow catwalk or somesuch that the PCs can stick to that will make it hard for them to get where they want to go, but will keep them from constantly make saves versus game over.

I agree that the flying badguy is likely to very quickly go down from arrows, magic missiles, and a spiritual hammer or somesuch. My guess is that you plan for him to take a dying header into a vat of bad stuff that will destroy the valuables before the low-level PCs can grab them. I'd caution that you have a backup plan against the PCs succeeding in getting ahold of the items somehow. There could be a fine line between "Aww. We won the treasure and you took it away" and "Got 'em!".

Nice image in my head for that scenario. Sounds like fun. Good luck!

John