Help me with an evil cleric!

[taliesin15]

And let's not forget that this Evil Cleric could have some fanatic followers...

 

[Dross]

I would actually equip him pretty close to his level. For one thing, the PCs are going to loot his corpse, and for another, just because he is king does not mean the treasury has unlimited funds for him to carry around a rating +10 weapon for jollies. Rather, his wealth and power should be reflected in his followers.

Which is why I said the best things he CAN have, not that he WOULD have the best things.

I'm also know for being very wary of what PCs can loot (my assumption is that the PCs would win the fight and get the gear) so I wouldn't deck him out with everything either. But that is a conscious choice and play style.

Wealth for level is a game balance issue, but a despote/king/leader/etc in real life would have the best that he can get/steal/kill for. You just need to balance these out to suit your tastes. And not everything that the BBEG has should be readily grabable anyway (how many PC groups can take a 2000 tonne statue of collossal size that animates with them, for instance?).

 

[moritheil]

Which is why I said the best things he CAN have, not that he WOULD have the best things.

I'm also know for being very wary of what PCs can loot (my assumption is that the PCs would win the fight and get the gear) so I wouldn't deck him out with everything either. But that is a conscious choice and play style.

Wealth for level is a game balance issue, but a despote/king/leader/etc in real life would have the best that he can get/steal/kill for. You just need to balance these out to suit your tastes. And not everything that the BBEG has should be readily grabable anyway (how many PC groups can take a 2000 tonne statue of collossal size that animates with them, for instance?).

If some of his gear is too good for the party to have, just make it alignment restricted. It won't stop artificer cannibalization, but it will prevent sudden and dramatic gear upgrades.

 

[mvincent]

The standard, vanilla 9th lvl cleric NPC from the DMG should suffice. Then all you need is spell selection.

Recommended:
- Daily Magic vestment (+2) on armor and shield (buy a metamagic rod of extend if need be)
- Daily Greater Magic Weapon (+2) on his weapon
- Several mooks (skeletons) previously created with Animate Dead
- If he has prep time, buff with: Divine power, Protection from Good, Aid, Death Knell (on nearby critter) and Bear's Endurance (add Air Walk if desired)

During combat:
Round 1: Cast greater command
Round 2: Cast flame strike
Round 3+: Attack with weapon

 

[moritheil]

Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten - I had an 8th level BBEG evil cleric priest and used this trick:

Have a bunch of undead rush the party, surrounding them and forcing them to fight in a knot. Cast silence in the center of that knot. When the party hacks apart the undead to clear a path out, they will discover that the BBEG has Corpsecrafter and Destruction Retribution.

It's tons of fun!