Need some advice for tonight's villain...

[crazy_monkey1956]

I need some help "tweaking" a bad guy for tonight's session. A little background...

The villain in question has been pestering, annoying and tormenting the PC (just one, my wife's character) and her NPC friends and allies for quite some time. The PC has a strong urge to see this guy dead as he killed her mentor (mentor was later raised, but it's the principle of the thing)...

The villain is a gnome bard 5/assassin 3 with a very Joker (ala Batman) esque schtick. Maniacal, twisted humor, and takes gnomish "pranks" in the totally demented direction.

The gnome has been trailing the PC's NPC half-gold dragon paladin friend for a transmuter ally who is interested in disecting the half-dragon (half-dragons are exceedingly rare and this transmuter has the whole scientific curiosity/detachment down to creepy psychotic level). The half-dragon recently took it upon himself to "cleanse" the abandonded tower of an evil sorcerer.

So, my conundrum: I want the PC and her allies to have a final confrontation with this guy, but I want to slap a template on him as a result of his visit to the tower. Something to increase his creepy factor just that much more. I don't necessarily want to increase his CR by much as I want him to be defeated, I just want it to be tough. His main tactic in the past has been illusions meant to "mess" with people, like seeing their loved ones massacred and such.

The PC and her allies are a half-elf rogue 3/cleric 3/sorcerer 2 (the PC), a human druid 6, a human rogue 3/fighter 4/shadowdancer 1, a human fighter 7/duelist 1, and a human (half gold dragon) paladin 5. The duelist and the druid are expendable, the shadowdancer and the half-dragon are not quite so for plot purposes.

I have access to the core books, plus Monster Manual II, Savage Species, Unearthed Arcana, and Dragon Mag 335-353. This is for tonight's session (2/14).

Quentin

 

[Piratecat]

The creepiest bad guy I ever ran was a were-roach -- a normal NPC who could plop out into a swarm of roaches. It completely ooked out the party, although it didn't make him that much tougher.

 

[Crothian]

The creepiest bad guy I ever ran was a were-roach -- a normal NPC who could plop out into a swarm of roaches. It completely ooked out the party, although it didn't make him that much tougher.

I did something like that with bugs. I had it though as long as one bug was able to get away he could eventually reform with new types of bus making him very difficult to permanently kill.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Now there's an idea. My wife (the player) is arachnophobic and thus most of her characters (including this one) are as well. Anybody have a good were-spider template handy or know where to find one?

Quentin

 

[Herobizkit]

If your wife is terrified of spiders, she will hate you for putting spiders in your adventures. She'll take it personally. Beware.

 

[Deekin]

One Were-spider coming up

Wizards has the template Here

Good Luck.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Thank you. I remember seeing that one some time ago, but lost track of it.

As for my wife being afraid of spiders, she doesn't mind if I use them in the game sparingly and to proper dramatic effect. I think this qualifies.

Quentin

 

[roguerouge]

The creepiest bad guy I ever ran was a were-roach -- a normal NPC who could plop out into a swarm of roaches. It completely ooked out the party, although it didn't make him that much tougher.

Piratecat: Are you sure that Joss Whedon's not in your campaign? Take a look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode 10 of season two. "What's with you and bug people, Xander?"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Now there's an idea. My wife (the player) is arachnophobic and thus most of her characters (including this one) are as well. Anybody have a good were-spider template handy or know where to find one?

Quentin

Libris Mortis has one for the undead, but you could just choose to apply it to whatever you wanted. A swarm of bugs seems likely to gross out almost anyone.

 

[Kafkonia]

You might also want to look at using a modified Aranea as a basis for the transformed gnome. Change some of the spells known and give them new flavour -- for instance, give him ray of enfeeblement but describe it as him spitting a viscous slime on the target. Let him change into this new creature slowly enough for the PCs to notice it as they're fighting him.