Need help with Inspired Society Mind BBEG

[Angellis_ater]

Hi everyone!

My Eberron-players are heading off to Sharn (to gather Byeshk to do battle with a disguised Mind Flayer in Wyn in Aundair) and will meet two villains - one will be an Inspired Society Mind of around level 7-9 and I need some help designing her and her retinue (4 Inspired, CR4-6) and tactics since I have never played a Society Mind myself.

The players are:

Khalashtar Psychic Warrior 6 (they're all level 5 right now but they WILL level before meeting the ISM) - extremely focused on doing damage (Deep Crystal Greatsword, Expansion, Psionic Weapon, Dissolving Weapon) to one target at a time.

Gnome Warlock 5/Acolyte of the Skin 1 - might take a 6th level of Warlock and will then be Flying for sure. Specialised on long range (250 feet) combat (Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Wild Talent, Psionic Shot)

Half-elf Bard 5/Dragonmark Heir 1 (Lyrandar) - super-supporter of the group, usually starts of a combat with Inspire Courage +3 (boosted by spell) and then proceeds to daze enemies (Bladeweave) or tactically heal.

Shifter Druid 4/Ranger 1/Weretouched Master 1 - tactical warfare in the form of Summon Nature's Ally, Healing spells, uses a Greatsword and will probably go for a secondary Bite attack or 2 claws as Weretouched Master. Close combat/support healer.

Overall they've taken down enemies at EL8 lately, albeit almost being TPK:d. They are well co-ordinated as a group but, as shown above, not "optimised" in the mechanical sense.

 

[Angellis_ater]

Doesn't anyone have any suggestions?

 

[GuardianLurker]

1) Give the boards more than an hour.

2) You might have better luck over at the DSP site.

3) I have no idea what an Inspired is, but a Society Mind BBEG should be a behind-the-scenes manipulator. Society Minds are big on the buffing; check out the Network powers and see if any synergies pop into your mind.

 

[Angellis_ater]

1) I did - look at the dates and times. I'm not that much of a moron. ;-)

2) I've tried there as well, but ENWorld is the largest community of DnD gamers on the Web - someone sure has an idea.

3) The Inspired are Quori-possessed badguys in Eberron (Quori = Dreamspirit) who have powerful psionic abilities.

Overall she is meant as a behind-the-scenes manipulator, she is (officially) a Riedran diplomat in Sharn, but she directs a cell of Dreaming Dark (terrorists) warriors. Overall she'll be a friendly face outwards while plotting the Khalashtars demise - she doesn't want the Khalashtar to become "heroes" in Khorvaire since she has been working on labeling them as rebels and terrorists who flee to Khorvaire to evade Riedran justice.

She will most probably load up on Battlesense, Sense as One and utilize her ability to buff over almost any range - perhaps she'll act as the group healer with Empathic Healing and Empathic Resistance.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Going off the assumption that 'Society Mind' is a title, not a PrC

Have you picked up Secrets of Sarlona yet?

I assume the PC's will encounter the Inspired in some dark corner away from prying eyes.. in which case I would have the Inspired suddenly shuck off the civilized shell and go full out to slay the Khalastar and his mininons.

A Monk/Soulknife/Fists of DalQuor build that uses Hazing Strike would work for the BBEG. Though in some Quori Dread to make it more memorable as an encounter. Her skills would focus on diplomancy/sense motive rather than being a fully optimized killing machine. This would allow you to have her at the top end of your level range without being too TPK'ish.

The retinue should be modeled after an adventuring party.. so one tank, one healer, one arcane caster{to dispell/ranged combat}, and a Bard {to countersong }


The tank should have at least one level of Rogue to allow coordinated tactics with BBEG in flanking manuevers.
At least one of the support should be able to summon Quori Spirits to fight {Summon Monster/Astral Construct}

The BBEG should choose where to fight, a location that limits ranged combat being preferable as her group does not really include that.

The BBEG's focus is twofold:
- Destroy the Khalastar
- Avoid losing her 'cover' as a diplomat

JMHO

 

[Angellis_ater]

Going off the assumption that 'Society Mind' is a title, not a PrC

Actually it is a psionic base class from Untapped Potential ( http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/download/DSP-UC-SM.zip ) - there is a download there for free with the entire class from the book. In short it is a psionic support class which connects people together through a mind-network giving her telepathy and a few other cool things she can do.

Have you picked up Secrets of Sarlona yet?

Unfortunately not - we only buy RPG books once or twice a year since we ship from Amazon, so it's on our "to get" list but not here yet.

I assume the PC's will encounter the Inspired in some dark corner away from prying eyes.. in which case I would have the Inspired suddenly shuck off the civilized shell and go full out to slay the Khalastar and his mininons.

Actually I am thinking of having them encounter her (the Inspired) at a gala or social event since she is a Riedran diplomat - somewhere where the PCs can't go all physical on her. As I noted above she's officially a Riedran diplomat but secretly (through her telepathic link) controls a cell of Dreaming Dark warriors - the warriors is what the PCs will primarily meet in a combat situation.

A Monk/Soulknife/Fists of DalQuor build that uses Hazing Strike would work for the BBEG. Though in some Quori Dread to make it more memorable as an encounter. Her skills would focus on diplomancy/sense motive rather than being a fully optimized killing machine. This would allow you to have her at the top end of your level range without being too TPK'ish.

Can you describe the Fist of Dal Quor and Hazing Strike/Quori Dread (are those feats?) a little for me? I know people generally won't write down the exact text, but a general idea should do.

The retinue should be modeled after an adventuring party.. so one tank, one healer, one arcane caster{to dispell/ranged combat}, and a Bard {to countersong }

The tank should have at least one level of Rogue to allow coordinated tactics with BBEG in flanking manuevers.

At least one of the support should be able to summon Quori Spirits to fight {Summon Monster/Astral Construct}

Overall I think this sounds pretty good - I'll most probably have a mindblade wielding Psychic Warrior for tank, the BBEG will act as the "bard/healer" since she can heal via her network which leaves me with a Psion of some sort (perhaps a Quori Nightmare?). The cell is 3 strong without the BBEG, so that Monk/Fist of Dal Quor might be a cool addition.

The BBEG should choose where to fight, a location that limits ranged combat being preferable as her group does not really include that.

Absolutely - the BBEG has the benefit of connections, telepathy, allies, better powers and so on. When the fight happens, it's gonna be where she's chosen it. What I am wondering is if I should have her cell ambush the party or if I should stage something more intricate and dangerous? One idea is for the BBEG to hire a few thugs to "rough them up" and once they've been into combat once, have them expend resources on healing and stuff like that and then hit them again with hired thugs. After these two encounters, she comes after them with her cell.

The BBEG's focus is twofold:
- Destroy the Khalastar
- Avoid losing her 'cover' as a diplomat

Absolutely - she might even go so far as to eliminate the entire group if possible since otherwise they might just be good enough/powerful enough to have the Khalashtar raised/resurrected.

She's not in any danger of loosing her "cover" as she will be overseeing the combat and communicating telepathically from the shadows, ready to either deliver the necessary final blow or to run away.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Interesting PrC

Hazing Strike is a feat that adds an effect to successful Stunning Fists attacks... the target loses concentration effects to include ongoing spells and psionic focus

Fists of Dal Quor combines Monk and Psionic, extending abilities into both realms. A Mnk/Soulknife/Fist can use his Mind-blade as a monk weapon and deliver Stunning Blows while dealing normal damage.

The Quori Dread feat allows the Inpired to, as a move action, shake a selected oppponent through a semi-real manifestation of thier Quori spirit.

Combined all this makes for a very nasty melee anti-psion character, which fits for a Dreaming Dark agent.

 

[Angellis_ater]

Still a Base Class (not a PrC) but yeah, it's a great support class and together with Harmonious Resonance they can use their Worldthought Network to copy their Wisdom modifier in psionic powers and treat these as if they were on their class power list. This means that I can utilize dorjes with these powers and more specifically, "borrow" these powers from other members of her cell and let her use them.

Hazing Strike seems to be a very cool idea, but don't you already loose concentration when you are stunned? Since concentration requires a standard action and you can't take any actions when you are stunned? I can understand loosing psionic focus...

Is the ability to use the mindblade as a monkweapon part of the Prestige Class?

The Quori Dread feat is really nice, I'll include atleast one of these. Does it offer any saving throws? Can they do this infinitely?

But I concur, together, once I clear up some part, it makes for a nice anti-manifester character.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I didn't have much time last night to read over the class or reply.. not much time tonight...and trying to not write the full text either

You cannot use your psionic focus while stunned, but you don't lose it. A successful Hazing Strike stops the non-magical mental state cold and it cannot be regained until after the Stun effect is gone. {also affects combat focus, rage, frenzy, and dreamtouched mental states}

The PrC grants a stunning strike ability that you can use through any weapon and is used interchangably with the Monk ability. To use the Mindblade as a Monk weapon you would need to take a feat to shape it the right way. Without the PrC there is a feat to be able to Stun through monk weapons, so at the cost of 3 feats you could do a Monk/Soulblade that can hand out Hazing Strikes through a manifested blade.

Of course, the Tahslarora Feat would be almost mandated for this build {psionic class levels stack with Monk when determining Monks level dependant abilitied like AC and unarmed damage}

As to the Quori Dread.. I will probably end up HR'ing this one... As it stands there is no save, but this is mitigated by the minor penalty only affecting one targets attacks against you. I think I will probably expand it to an effect similar to a Fear Aura usable x times per day with a save.


{dream-touched is a new state based on feats that grant effects similar to Psionic focus.. you can enjoy a minor boost or spend the focus to get a one-time boost. There is an entry feat, Dreamtouched Scion, that you need before building on the ability. I am using this abliity in my WoBS campaign to replace some of the Trillith inspired abilities. }

 

[Angellis_ater]

I didn't have much time last night to read over the class or reply.. not much time tonight...and trying to not write the full text either

You cannot use your psionic focus while stunned, but you don't lose it. A successful Hazing Strike stops the non-magical mental state cold and it cannot be regained until after the Stun effect is gone. {also affects combat focus, rage, frenzy, and dreamtouched mental states}

Ok, so it doesn't ADD any effect versus spellcasting/manifesting, but takes people out of combat focus, psionic focus, rages, frenzies and stuff which requires some form of "mental state of mind"?

The PrC grants a stunning strike ability that you can use through any weapon and is used interchangably with the Monk ability. To use the Mindblade as a Monk weapon you would need to take a feat to shape it the right way. Without the PrC there is a feat to be able to Stun through monk weapons, so at the cost of 3 feats you could do a Monk/Soulblade that can hand out Hazing Strikes through a manifested blade.

Well, not really worth it if you ask me. I use a personal variant on the mindblades, having them as a feat-tree instead.

Of course, the Tahslarora Feat would be almost mandated for this build {psionic class levels stack with Monk when determining Monks level dependant abilitied like AC and unarmed damage}

Yeah I heard that this feat redefines the "psionic monk" in alot of different ways.

As to the Quori Dread.. I will probably end up HR'ing this one... As it stands there is no save, but this is mitigated by the minor penalty only affecting one targets attacks against you. I think I will probably expand it to an effect similar to a Fear Aura usable x times per day with a save.

So, it's a psionic feat which allows you to (as a move action) cause someone who has attacked you (melee or generally) to become shaken?

{dream-touched is a new state based on feats that grant effects similar to Psionic focus.. you can enjoy a minor boost or spend the focus to get a one-time boost. There is an entry feat, Dreamtouched Scion, that you need before building on the ability. I am using this abliity in my WoBS campaign to replace some of the Trillith inspired abilities. }

Ohh, intriguinging, please tell me more!