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<blockquote data-quote="bento" data-source="post: 3618708" data-attributes="member: 36597">I'd like some input on a villain I'm going to pit against my players in a few weeks!(NOTE: If you're a player in our Fort Worth D&amp;Ders group - keep out!)My players are about to reach 5th level and have been doing quite well in combat.&nbsp; I typically throw EL4 or EL5 so I've decided to give them a real challenge at the end of this current adventure.&nbsp; The party consists of a human fighter, elven rogue/cleric, human sorcerer, human ranger, and half-ogre ranger, all Level 4 or equivelent in the case of the half-ogre.I'm using &quot;The Masque of Dreams&quot; adventure from Dungeon 142, and possibly going into the classic 1E module &quot;The Lost City.&quot;&nbsp; At the end of the last game the players snuck into the lost city by climbing up the backside of the great pyramid.&nbsp; As the players were getting towards the top, one &quot;Zargon's&quot; priestess and her guards came out of the door of the pyramid and found them.&nbsp; So at the start of the next game, they'll be fighting the priestess and the guards on top of the pyramid [massive coolness!!!].The guards will be CR1 mooks, and so I'm building a higher level priestess.&nbsp; I'm using a racial templace from Goodman Game's Dungeon Crawl Classics #35 setting (Nalvor) which give them more STR and CON, and less INT and CHA.&nbsp; The race has a Level Adj +2.&nbsp; I'm statting the priestess 6th level cleric with the Evil and Destruction domains.&nbsp; I see her as a &quot;hands-on&quot; cleric who's not afraid to go toe-to-toe in melee.The question I have is her gear.&nbsp; I've been kinda skimpy in the treasure department so I want to make it up by giving her a cool weapon and armor.&nbsp; I'm cautious though of not &quot;breaking the game&quot; by giving her an item that in my players hands will make it much tougher to keep them challenged.&nbsp; I'm giving her +2 armor breastplate, to boost her AC, and a Rod of Withering, which deals 1d4 STR + 1d4 CON damage rather than HP damage.&nbsp; I'm concerned that this rod will be too powerful in the hands of 5th level characters.&nbsp; According to the DMG, the rod is a major magical item with a GP value of 25,000 and is a CL13.&nbsp; I'm also coupling this with the Ring of the Ram (8,600 GP; CL9) to make it interesting!So what's the guidelines on CL items and players?&nbsp; When is a potential item too powerful for a charater to posses?&nbsp; Is this a good challenge or am I setting myself up for trouble?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bento, post: 3618708, member: 36597"] I'd like some input on a villain I'm going to pit against my players in a few weeks! [B](NOTE: If you're a player in our Fort Worth D&Ders group - keep out!)[/B] My players are about to reach 5th level and have been doing quite well in combat. I typically throw EL4 or EL5 so I've decided to give them a real challenge at the end of this current adventure. The party consists of a human fighter, elven rogue/cleric, human sorcerer, human ranger, and half-ogre ranger, all Level 4 or equivelent in the case of the half-ogre. I'm using "The Masque of Dreams" adventure from Dungeon 142, and possibly going into the classic 1E module "The Lost City." At the end of the last game the players snuck into the lost city by climbing up the backside of the great pyramid. As the players were getting towards the top, one "Zargon's" priestess and her guards came out of the door of the pyramid and found them. So at the start of the next game, they'll be fighting the priestess and the guards on top of the pyramid [massive coolness!!!]. The guards will be CR1 mooks, and so I'm building a higher level priestess. I'm using a racial templace from Goodman Game's Dungeon Crawl Classics #35 setting (Nalvor) which give them more STR and CON, and less INT and CHA. The race has a Level Adj +2. I'm statting the priestess 6th level cleric with the Evil and Destruction domains. I see her as a "hands-on" cleric who's not afraid to go toe-to-toe in melee. The question I have is her gear. I've been kinda skimpy in the treasure department so I want to make it up by giving her a cool weapon and armor. I'm cautious though of not "breaking the game" by giving her an item that in my players hands will make it much tougher to keep them challenged. I'm giving her +2 armor breastplate, to boost her AC, and a Rod of Withering, which deals 1d4 STR + 1d4 CON damage rather than HP damage. I'm concerned that this rod will be too powerful in the hands of 5th level characters. According to the DMG, the rod is a major magical item with a GP value of 25,000 and is a CL13. I'm also coupling this with the Ring of the Ram (8,600 GP; CL9) to make it interesting! So what's the guidelines on CL items and players? When is a potential item too powerful for a charater to posses? Is this a good challenge or am I setting myself up for trouble? [/QUOTE]

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