Next BigBadEvilGuy Plot Getting things rolling question - My players stay out!

[pogre]

Yes, Hairy Minotaur, you are now one of my players now – so go away!

Hi Gang,

I was torn on where to put this thread as I believe it to be properly placed in the old plot area, which is now rolled into general. However, the august PC has a similar thread in Rogues’ Gallery. Therefore, my friendly mods, if you feel it more properly belongs there – transfer away.

As some of you know my last campaign ended and I am working on a new start. One of the goals I have for this time around is some great recurring villains that can plague the PCs for a long, long time. As I am a miniature freak – I tend to paint first and design later.

Below are some pics of one of the BBEG I would like to use in my campaign. I envision him being around CR 12-15 and a lieutenant of something far more sinister. I am completely open to suggestions though – show do not feel confined. To give you a hint on the size of this miniature – the human-like torso is a bit larger than Reaper’s heroic scale figures (28-30 mm). Yep, it’s big.

I anxiously await all of your RBDM suggestions!

The pics below are all thumbnails that lead to larger pictures.

 

[alsih2o]

Bothriechis Din Woad (he is named for an eyelash viper) is the slaver responsible for supplying the manpower for the new head of the 9 nomadic tribes. for the first time the tribes have been united by one charismatic and powerful leader, mostly through the underhanded influence of Bothriecis.

shamed by her brief affair with a yuan-ti Bothriecchis' mother swore that his unusual appearance was caused by her sighting a blue dragon when she was preganant. she begged the vilage elders of her small town for mercy but they insisted that the abomination of a child be dealt with the traditional way. when sent out to abandon her child on the sands of the desert his mother was assaulted by a nomadic raiding party who initially saought to rape and slaughter her. when they saw what she had given birth to they chose instead to keep her and her heathen child.

Bothriechis grew quickly and by the age of 9 he could best any of the riders in camp in grappling, and was showing early signs of a sorcerous nature.

Bothriecis carries 2 wooden swords, using them (without penalty) to subdue whoever he attacks so that they may be enslaved. he has been turning all of this slave labor over to the new nomad leader who uses the slaves to continue work on his 400 ft long statue of a man lying in the open desert. the slaves who work on the shell die frequently from the heat, work and cruelty of their masters, but a worse fate is to be taken inside the giant prone statue, for no slave has ever been seen to emerge alive.

bothriecis is a ftr6/sorc7/rogue2. his sorcerous spells are focused around charms and compulsions and his rogue skills around stealth. Bothriecis is a patient man and a plotter, he firmly believes a recurring dream where a giant blue dragon tells him he will live 1000 years. in all actuallity many of B's powers come form his yuan-ti heritage, and his lifespan should only be about 50 years.

B has a ring of mind shielding and a amulet of proof against detection and location, he values both nearly as much as his life as he fears that the dragon of his mothers story will come looking for him someday. he also has a small jar of Keoghtoms ointment hidden in his topknot hairstyle.

B is slightly exothermic so he sleeps during the day ina well hidden underground bunker in a custom niche, coiled around the cremated remains of his mother.

 

[BSF]

Well, my first thought is a Yuan-Ti Halfblood. Not a big surprise there I am sure. I would definitely go with the favored-class of Ranger. I would probably pick out Favored Enemy Strike and Favored Enemy Critical from Monte Cook's stuff for two of the feats.

I have some half-baked ideas forming here. I think I might want to let them cook a bit and post something up for you.

 

[Rel]

This was a no brainer for me: Yuan-Ti/Half Ogre Mage

He's got the look. He's got the swords. And if you want a recurring villian, there is no substitute for Gaseous Form and Regeneration. I've recently used a female Ogre Mage in my own campaign and she's been able to come back from near certain death twice thanks to those abilities.

 

[Piratecat]

I really like the ogre mage aspect; those guys are badass, and can be extremely creepy. I'd use the tauric template to add the snake bits.

 

[BSF]

Ooh! Great ideas there! I was starting to think a half-genasi, but I was still stuck on the larger torso. Ogre-mage takes care of that nicely. I also like Piratecat's tauric idea. I need to shift my thinking a bit...

 

[pogre]

First, Bothriechis is in for the name - very cool. What does Din Woad mean, if anything. Isn't woad a dye source or something? I also am using the background ideas of uniting wild tribes as it dovetails nicely with my new campaign world.

Ogre Magi is in as well - the other half I don't know. Yuan Ti certainly offers a lot of possibilities and I am not even sure what a Tauric template is - sad I know. Further direction on this would be appreciated. The Yuan Ti offers the possibilities for some very cool alliances, cults, and so on.

I really would like to keep this guy under CR 15 for the campaign. I have a much cooler BBEG I will post later for the CR 20 - 24 range.

To continue the inspiration here is the Campaign World Map I have so far. You can see I have quite a bit of room for expansion. The PCs will be based out of Zandyrium - very similar to historical Byzantium.

I really appreciate your help on this - thanks again!

 

[BSF]

'Tauric' is a template from the Monster Manual II. Technically, you are supposed to use a medium-sized humanoid (or smaller) with a large animal/vermin/beast with at least 4 legs.

To hack the template, I would use the Ogre Mage torso with the body of a Giant Constrictor snake (Huge). You generally combine the HD to figure out HP, Feats etc. The snake part would be considered the "Base Creature" and the CR for a tauric creature is Base Creature +1. In this case, I would modify that because an Ogre Mage is not the same as Hobgoblin or something.

Piratecat can probably do a better template application, but I will give it a shot and see what changes are suggested.

Tauric Ogre Mage/Giant Constrictor Snake
Huge Monstrous Humanoid
HD: 16d8 + 16 (88 HP)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft, climb 20 ft, swim, 20 ft, fly 40 ft (good)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 size, +5 Natural, +3 Dex) touch 11, falt-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+31
Attack: Depends on Feats & Weapons BAB + Str = +23
Full Attack: See above
Space/Reach: 15ft/10ft
Special Attacks: Constrict 1d8+10, Improved Grab, Spell-like abilities (See Ogre Mage)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 90ft, Low-light vision, regeneration 5, spell resistance 19
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +7
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 17
Skills: 2 + Int mod/HD (76 skill points base)
Feats: 6 Feats

That is pretty close for the base "creature". You should favor the skills and feats for an Ogre Mage and a Constrictor Snake, but this will be a recurring NPC so you should tailor to how it will fit best into your game. As for CR, I don't know. Base Creature + 1 would be a 6, which is too low. Perhaps a little closer would be Ogre Mage +1 for a 9. More HD, a slightly better Str, better Dex, increased size, reduced Con. Hmm, 9 is probably too low. Maybe call it 11 as a starting point? Note that Favored Enemy: Giants won't work here, by the book. You still have a little leeway to apply some character levels as well.

 

[BSF]

Ooh, for RBDM moves, might I suggest 4 levels of Sorceror. 2nd level spell choice should be Resist Energy. 1st level Shield, Mage Armor and True Strike could be fun. Innate magic for the Ogre Mage will be sufficient to hit from afar. Sorceror spells will buff AC. Choose Power Attack for a feat and you can lay some serious damage down with a True Strike. Improved Disarm or Improved Sunder will ruin the day of the party fighter, but there might be better feats to take.

Let's see, for Feats you probably need Martial Weapon Proficiency, Two-weapon fighting and Improved Two-Weapon fighting. There might be some Savage Species feats to toss on there as well.

 

[alsih2o]

First, Bothriechis is in for the name - very cool. What does Din Woad mean, if anything. Isn't woad a dye source or something? I also am using the background ideas of uniting wild tribes as it dovetails nicely with my new campaign world.

nice to know i could contribute

din woad is just me fantasy-ing up de woad, woad connected to the color blue, i think it is the plant the dye comes from?

here is a link to a good pic of bothriechis schleglii, in case you need a symbol for him or somehting- http://www.msu.edu/~urquhar5/tour/bothri.html

ogre mage rocks, i must agree.