KidCthulhu's Scarred Lands Needs YOU! (Unless you're in the group. You stay out!)

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Something else that can amuse with an evil diplomat... espcially a guy like 'Spider' - with his convincing ways. He could 'demagogue it up' to various neutral groups - simply convince them that the PCs are the most evil guys in creation.

A Lawful Neutral church is one good candidate - don't know the Scarred Lands pantheon - but retribution/justice would be the ideal portfolio. Church inquisitors, hired adventurers and zealot worshipers hunting them down. Hidebound, vicious but effective - with all the scrying magic you'd never want to know about.

The PCs could return the 'Holy McGuffin' the church think they've stolen, but they've never heard of it! Of course, killing any of them would be a really bad idea!

A village full of 1st level commoners can be just as awkward... Perhaps they're generally law abiding 'nice guys' - but somehow got the idea the PCs are Demon worshiping monsters? Now they want to lynch them? What group of high level PC's is going to want to massacre those guys? Especially if they know them already... Could take them ages to defuse a situation like that!

I ran a Wotc adventure The Standing Stone:
*Spoiler
They had a big mob of villagers: then added Bardic music, a couple of spellcasters and a shadowdancer/rogue to the above lynch mob - which can turn them into a very dangerous combat encounter... Hiding in the shadows of the villagers indeed. /*Spoiled

Lots of fun.

 

[monboesen]

Just as some of the other repliers I saw him as a infiltrator and negotiator more that a fighting type. As such my build does not really offer much in combat ability, but is focused on social skills. His spell selection makes him even better at social interaction and insures that he will be able to get out of most situations alive.

As an enemy I would second the suggestions of him setting other forces against the players, which should be easy with those kinds of skill modifiers and spells. Especially the Modify memory spell could be handy here. Planting false memories of crimes perpetrated by the players and such. Also the idea of hiring the players to do his dirty work is nice. He could even infiltrate the party in disguise and win their friendship and trust.

As for items its pretty basic. The hat is to be able to assume different personalities and even impersonating others (another way of incriminating players by doing foul deeds disguised as one of them) and most importantly to hide the rather obvious tatoo crawling all over his face.

The harp lets him plant suggestions in a large number of people, that could lead to nasty surprises for the players as well.

If he should ever attempt a fight he will need to bring many allies, be it summoned or real ones. He stands no chance in a physical fight.

The build is (almost) 25 point, with the 16000 gp of items for an 10 level npc. It dont really change a lot to make him 11 or 12th level. A few more hp. skills a little better and some more magic items is about it. If the build was 32 point it would be possible to increase str, dex and con to around 14 each, perhaps better representing the tought guy image. It would make him a decent fighter when buffed by songs and magic.

Spider, human bard 10: CR 10; Size M; HD 10d6+10; hp 48; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (+1 dex, +3 armor); BAB/Grapple +7/+7 Melee +7/+2 (1d8 19-20*2), Ranged +8/+3 (1d6 20*3); SV Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +7; AL ?; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 18(16).

Languages: 6

Skills: Balance +3 (0 ranks, +2 synergy), Bluff +21 (13 ranks, +4 competence), Concentration +9 (8 ranks), Diplomacy +25 (13 ranks, +4 synergy, +4 competence), Disguise +19 (5 ranks, +10 disguise self), Escape artist +14 (13 ranks), Gather information +11 (7 ranks), Hide +6 (5 ranks), Jump +7 (5 ranks, +2 synergy), Listen (5 ranks), Move silently +6 (5 ranks), Perform +17 (13 ranks), Sense motive +11 (11 ranks), Sleight of hand +9 (6 ranks, +2 synergy), Speak language (3 ranks), Tumble +8 (5 ranks, +2 synergy), Use magic device +17 (13 ranks).

Feats: Human bonus feat/Poison use, 1 level/Improved initiative, 3 level/Spell focus (enchantment), 6 level/Dark speech, 9 level/Greater spell focus (enchantment).

Spells per day 0/3, 1/4, 2/4, 3/3, 4/1. DC 14+spell level (16+spell level for enchantments)

0/Daze, Detect magic, Ghost sound, Light, Message, Read magic
1/Charm person, Expeditious retreat, Hideous laughter, Undetectable alignment
2/Alter self, Cure moderate wounds, Detect thoughts, Mirror image
3/Charm monster, Dispel magic, Gaseous form, Major image
4/Dominate person, Modify memory

Class abilities
Simple weapon and longsword, rapier, sap, short composite bow, short sword, shortbow, whip proficiency
Light armor and shield profiency
Bardic Knowledge +12, Bardic song 10/day (Inspire courage +2, fascinate, inspire competence, suggestion
Inspire greatness)

Equipment: Longsword, Shortbow, Cloak of charisma +2, Hat of disguise, Harp of charming, various poisons and scrolls of 2700 gp value.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

One thing I did to the PCs in my campaign that they just HATED.

I had an enemy bard write a song about them (they had some noteriety already) -- one that was unflattering, but funny -- and he taught it to bards all over the area. A good sing-along wave-your-mug-of-beer-with-the-beat sort of song. The commoners loved it, because it was catchy and fun, and within a few weeks they couldn't walk into a pub without hearing the unflattering song about themselves.

-rg

 

[KidCthulhu]

OOOH. [squeals like a school girl at all the rat bastardy-ness]

Thanks guys. These are some really good ideas. I like the idea of turning the party against each other, but the villain currently wants them together.

Let me be more forthcoming about my villain. My party is a Mission Impossible squad for the Vigils of Vesh. Their handler/boss is a Lord Beltray, who they frequently refer to as Giles (out of character). He's bookish, curious, kindly and inoffensive.

He's also the campaign's big bad guy. He's using them to go and gather parts of eight titans, which he will gather together to transform himself into a new titan, more powerful than those that decimated Scarn in ages past.

To that aim, he's created a secret network of bad guys, lead by Mr. Spider Bard. He sends the PCs out after this network. Either they beat the bad guys in a particular encounter, in which case they bring the titan McGuffin home to him to "dispose of", or the bad guys win, in which case they bring him the McGuffin.

The party know there is a network of folks trying to gather and join eight titan pieces. They know Spider works for this group. But they think the group is lead by an old villain introduced to them when this was PirateCat's campaign. This makes me giggle every time they talk about it.

Spider's job, then is to work with & betray other titan cults, as I've said, but also to keep the party focused on him, and away from looking too close to home.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Only a couple of tiny thoughts at the moment.

1) Unless you simply must have the cloak of arachnida I think the cloak of the mountebank is a perfect "get out of jail free" item for this chap - swirls the cape around and is gone in a puff of smoke. Even better if it is a customised ones and he disappears in a puff of cobwebs.

2) Modify memory has to be one of his best friends. Along with suggestion it can mean that people make agreements with him to work with his boss but never remember that it was actually him that they had dealings with. Plus, if he ever does get a party member under his control he can get them to write a confession to a heinous crime (or dominate them to perform the dirty deed if it is short enough in duration) then modify their memory so that they don't remember they did it... An adventure starts with police arriving "yes, that's the murderer" and it turns out that it *isn't* a case of mistaken identity. How will the PC's work out what happened and escape justice?

Cheers

 

[carpedavid]

To that aim, he's created a secret network of bad guys, lead by Mr. Spider Bard. He sends the PCs out after this network. Either they beat the bad guys in a particular encounter, in which case they bring the titan McGuffin home to him to "dispose of", or the bad guys win, in which case they bring him the McGuffin.

Oh, that's good. That's *really* good.

Spider's job, then is to work with & betray other titan cults, as I've said, but also to keep the party focused on him, and away from looking too close to home.

To that end, I think that Plane Sailing's Cape of the Mountebank is a great suggestion. Sure, he can always dimension door away with a scroll, but swishing his cape and disappearing in a puff of smoke is exactly the kind of little touch that will elevate him from an annoying bad guy to the number one guy they want to kill. The only problem I can see is that it's expensive. Do you have a gp limit on this guy's equipment? That would provide some guidance as to what he should be carrying.

 

[monboesen]

Well the first thing you have to decide is if Mr. Spiderbard knows that his employee is playing with both hands.

If not one of his primary goals should to find out why these idiots keep crossing his path and plans. Who send them, why do they oppose him. Know thy enemy. Using detect thoughts, charms and gather information he should be able to piece together an idea of who they are.

He might even turn on Lord Beltryn if it is a surprise to him that he is being taken advantage of.

On the other hand if he knows that they essentially serve the same master could he really resist taunting them a bit about it. Off course it would have to be done in a roundabout way. He might reveal small hints about knowing Lord Beltryn, like " Adieu for this time, give the kind Lord Beltryn my best regards" as he disappears in a wisp of smoke from his dimension door.

Any way here is a somewhat more buff 32 point buy, 12 level variation.

Spiderman, human bard 12: CR 12; Size M; HD 12d6+36; hp 81; Init +6; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18 (+2 dex, +6 armor); BAB/Grapple: +9/+11; Longsword +12/+7 (1d8+3 19-20*2), Mighty [+2] composite shortbow +12/+7 (1d6+2 20*3); SV Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +8; AL ?; Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 18(16).

Languages: 6

Skills: Balance +4 (0 ranks, +2 synergy), Bluff +23 (15 ranks, +4 competence), Concentration +12 (10 ranks), Diplomacy +27 (15 ranks, +4 synergy, +4 competence), Disguise +19 (5 ranks, +10 disguise self), Escape artist +17 (15 ranks), Gather information +13 (9 ranks), Hide +7 (5 ranks), Jump +9 (5 ranks, +2 synergy), Listen +5 (5 ranks), Move silently +7 (5 ranks), Perform +19 (15 ranks), Sense motive +13 (13 ranks), Sleight of hand +14 (10 ranks, +2 synergy), Speak language (3 ranks), Tumble +9 (5 ranks, +2 synergy), Use magic device +19 (15 ranks).

Feats: Human bonus feat/Endurance, 1 level/Improved initiative, 3 level/Diehard, 6 level/Dark speech, 9 level/Great fortitude, 12 level/Improved toughness

Spells/day: 0/3, 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/3. (DC 14+spell level)
0/Daze, Detect magic, Ghost sound, Light, Message, Read magic
1/Charm person, Expeditious retreat, Hideous laughter, Undetectable alignment
2/Alter self, Cure moderate wounds, Detect thoughts, Mirror image
3/Charm monster, Dispel magic, Gaseous form, Major image
4/Dimension door, Dominate person, Modify memory

Class abilities
Simple weapon and longsword, rapier, sap, short composite bow, short sword, shortbow, whip proficiency
Light armor and shield profiency
Bardic Knowledge +14, Bardic song 12/day (inspire courage +2, fascinate, inspire competence, suggestion, inspire greatness, song of freedom)

Equipment: Longsword +1, Mighty [+2] composite shortbow, Chain shirt +2, Cloak of charisma +2, Hat of disguise, Harp of charming, various poisons and scrolls of 3700 gp value.