Explain the Fiend of Possession's Weaknesses

[moritheil]

The prerequisite for Fiend of Possession is "Evil outsider". Which kaorti are.

Demiurge out.

Yup, I had the same reservations, looked at it, and concluded that it was RAW legal. YMMV.

Slight update: the FoP and Co. have gone up against The Kobold That Walks (Kobold Sorcerer worm that walks) who is prepared for them and has a very good idea of what they are. I ruled that as soon as he got inside a Magic Circle radius while inside a borrowed body (animated object made of a section of rock) he became inert. I think that makes the "endless tide of animated objects" attack strategy somewhat less insane, though I'm aware that not every enemy will have Magic Circle.

Or maybe someone they are fighting has a (custom?) magic sword (or dagger if you want to keep actual damage low given his low hp) that can damage him with force damage (making a guess since you said magic missle above).

I find custom magic items tailored against PCs very inelegant, as that is essentially metagaming. I do have some ghostly enemies lined up at some point; they will be able to hurt him while he's incorporeal . . . but again, I can't have ALL fights include incorporeal enemies, as that would just get silly.

All the things I have included so far that do hurt him or affect him are incidental. For example, magic circle is a good idea when fighting demons that might summon other demons to attack you - it has nothing to do with the specific player character being there and everything to do with the fact that the enemy knows he is fighting against demons. The aforementioned ghosts were written in in the last campaign in this setting.

I do want to challenge his PC, but I want it to be natural and not blatantly just there to challenge the PCs.


EDIT: I just realized something. If he's incorporeal he isn't wearing his gear . . . and thus his brooch of shielding doesn't help him. Sheesh.

 

[moritheil]

Disregard that, FoE allows the gear to become ethereal as well. It's got an answer for virtually every traditional weakness, it seems.

 

[freyar]

Is it Complete Warrior that has the Hurking Hurler PrC for giants?

Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness have PrCs for monsters. LM has several for advancing incorporeal undead, vampire lords, etc.

Draconomicon also has a number for dragons.

 

[moritheil]

So, no suggestions on how to regularly challenge a FoP with an assortment of different scenarios that do not seem overly contrived?

One of the things I was thinking about is the time-sensitivity of missions. Sure, the FoP might be effectively unkillable by most mortals, but that doesn't obviate the need to accomplish tasks within a certain time frame to be successful.

 

[Piratecat]

The trick to challenging a player can be to make him feel paranoid, even if it means that his life isn't immediately put in danger. I think I'd introduce a group of NPCs whose dedicated mission, and whose specially tailored prestige class, focused on wiping out Far Realm abominations. You know, like kaorti. For bonus points, you could also have anti-psi hunters, but you don't want to overdue it. This power group can have spells and class abilities that (a) the player doesn't know about, and (b) that are specially suited to challenging far realm spirits.

When in doubt, if you plan to rake 'em over the coals, make it exciting and fun for everyone.

 

[Voadam]

This is totally tangential to the actual discussion- I apologize for going off topic without even contributing- but does anyone know of any other "monstrous" prestige classes, other than the ones in Savage Species and the "fiend of..." prcs in FF?

Thanks, and back to your regularly-schedeuled discussion...

Ghast 5 level prestige class for ghouls in the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I think I'd introduce a group of NPCs whose dedicated mission, and whose specially tailored prestige class, focused on wiping out Far Realm abominations. You know, like kaorti.

Lords of Madness might have some anti-far realms PrC's that might work well for this - I don't have my books handy, but it worth a look if you have it.

 

[moritheil]

The trick to challenging a player can be to make him feel paranoid, even if it means that his life isn't immediately put in danger. I think I'd introduce a group of NPCs whose dedicated mission, and whose specially tailored prestige class, focused on wiping out Far Realm abominations. You know, like kaorti. For bonus points, you could also have anti-psi hunters, but you don't want to overdue it. This power group can have spells and class abilities that (a) the player doesn't know about, and (b) that are specially suited to challenging far realm spirits.

When in doubt, if you plan to rake 'em over the coals, make it exciting and fun for everyone.

Lords of Madness might have some anti-far realms PrC's that might work well for this - I don't have my books handy, but it worth a look if you have it.

Yes, I was starting to lean in that direction with my thoughts about imperiling the mission rather than imperiling the fiend itself.

In my NPC gallery I actually already do have a Topaz Knight written up. I suppose this is a great campaign to use it in. I'll flip through LoM again when I have the chance.

Thanks for the tips (and feel free to leave more!)

 

[Rvdvelden]

Don't know what all the immunities are, but if you're looking for force damage: try Magic of Incarnum. There is a class that can use a soulmeld which makes all attacks deal force damage. If you can get the Incarnum NPC to see incorporeal creatures (true seeing), he can then try to hit the PC with 'normal' attacks that will hurt him.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

The shaman class from Oriental Adventures has abilities that target "spirits", turning/rebuking, and the ability to see ethereal.