Is this monster broken?

[Shazman]

I'm running a group of players through the Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali in a Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign. It's 3.5 so I'm converting as I go. One of the unique creatures in the module is a type of death knight. It's not a template, just a nasty undead creature. It's got 16 hit dice and spell resistance. It's pretty decent at melee, but it's spell-like abilties are what have me worried. It's got a 20d6 abyssal blast, wall of ice, and all three power words as once a day spell-like abilities as an 18th level caster. Is this too powerful for a CR 12 creature? If so, what should I do to tone it down?

 

[Thanee]

Is this too powerful for a CR 12 creature?

CR 12 !?

I'd at least remove Power Word Kill and tone down those 20d6 some.

Bye
Thanee

 

[shilsen]

CR 12 !?

I'd at least remove Power Word Kill and tone down those 20d6 some.

Bye
Thanee

Hey, at least it's better than MMII's adamantine horror, which was CR 9 and could use disintegrate, implosion and Mordenkainen's disjunction at will !

 

[Shin Okada]

Usual 16th-level Death Knight has CR of 19. If the thing is stronger than usual Death Knight, why should it have lower CR?

If I were you, I will just re-create a 16th-level Death Knight by using 3.5e rule. Or, if you are intended to create a CR 12 monster, a 9th-level Death Knight.

By the way, If that is happen to be Lord Soth, he got official 3.5e stats in D&D Miniature card. He may also be in Dragonlance Campaign Setting but I don't have the book. He is a 17th-Level Death Knight with a lot of additional spell-like abilities including 3 Power Words. He is CR 22.

 

[Thanee]

Hmm... 12 ~ 22 - now that could be just a typing error then...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Cayle]

Hmm... 12 ~ 22 - now that could be just a typing error then...

Bye
Thanee

Not likely a typo, since it's very likely that the pcs run into this encounter (and it's not the only creature in the room), and the module is for players of levels 8-14th.

sincerely,
Cayle

 

[Shin Okada]

It seems to be absolutely broken as a CR 12 monster.

Are there any feature which particularly weak comparing to usual Death Knight? Maybe that creature has really low hp or could be instantly slain in certain condition?

Even if so, a 20d6 Abyssal Blast and CL 18 Power Words are something a CR 12 monster should not have

 

[Shazman]

Thanks for your input, everyone. I think I'll just make a CR 13 Death Knight from the template and use that instead of this "Kenzer Crack Beast." That's what me and my friends call overpowered Kenzer and Company monsters.