Help with a Halfling Wizard...

[eXodus]

in the game i am running the party is taking on a former associate who has stolen a powerful artifact from them. though he has appeared in many game sessions i have never actually worked his abilities out. the battle need be very intense and climactic so i need the help of the enworld hordes to make sure that the players are on the edge of their seats throughout the the battle!

Yellow Thistle 14th level Halfling Wizard

Abilities: STR10 DEX20 CON15 INT21 WIS12 CHR11 (mind you these are all without magical aids, only with level adjustments)

he will have the standard 45,000GP to arm him, plus an additional 25,000GP as he runs a trading emporium and should be able to pilfer from the store for more help. one of my major concerns is how to allow him to survive one of the party evokers empowered fireballs or lightning bolts that do tons of damage usually.

Spell, Feat, Gear and Tactics suggestions would be a gigantic help.

Thanks a lot, folks!

 

[Hardhead]

Well, you should definitly give him at least one minion of ~9th level or so depending on the size of your group, and how optimized they are. If your wizard is throwing around Empowered Fireballs and Lightening Bolts, then the group is at least 9th level, and one 11th level guy might have some trouble.

There's an easy fix for that, though. Make sure Yellow has a Minor Globe of Invulnerability preped. Even Empowered Fireballs are still considered 3rd level. If he has anywarning at all (like, an associate sees them entering the city), he should buff with Protection from Energy (gives resist of 30 at his level) *and* Resist Energy for both the elements, assuming he knows the group well enough to know what to expect. That alone should keep him alive.

If you feel you can pretty much negate the spellcasters' tricks from anti-buffs, and the group has a Rogue, go with a Cloak of Displacement, even if it's just minor. Remember, concealment (in any amount) negates sneak attacks. You may consider creating a "ring of blur" or something, and giving him a Cloak of Resistence instead, though.

Make sure he has Dimension Door or Teleport prepared, and also has a hidy-hole to go and "regroup" if he needs to. They only have V components, so they can be cast while grappled. Make sure he has a wide range of spells for everyone. Hit the Wizard with a Baleful Polymorph or a Disintegrate to start the show. He doesn't have a very good Fort save if he's like most wizards, and you don't want him dispelling your other spells. Hit the Rogue with another will or fort save, and use your own empowered fireballs to hit the heroes (with both pro and resist energy, you should be more or less unaffected, even if you're in the AoE).

The Sudden metamagic feats from the Minis Handbook are your friends for a one-shot badguy.

Anyway, those are my suggestions. Remember that this guy knows your group, and knows they're going to be mad at him, and should have planned accordingly. It would help, in fact, if you'd list your group out real quick.

 

[shilsen]

Considering the 75,000 gp to spend, I'd strongly suggest getting him a scarab of protection. It's costly (38,000 gp), but will give him SR 20 and absorb energy-draining attacks, death effects and negative energy effects. One enervation can ruin a spellcaster's day.

If he's facing the PCs alone (which he shouldn't be - any decent BBEG needs minions), he needs spells which can keep at least some of them occupied for a period. Spells like Evard's Black Tentacles or Solid/Acid Fog should definitely be on his list. Prismatic Spray is another great one if he gets a couple of good rolls.

 

[Eraslin]

Hi there,
I don't really have any suggestions for spending his cash, other than maybe a metamagic rod of energy substitution (if the party wiz throws up a protection from fire, just start lobbing acid balls...). Or perhaps a metamagic rod of silent spell (to make the flying-invisible-silent assailant). As for spell tactics, feel free to use any of the following:

a) The minor globe of invulnerability is a must. It'll totally shut down a lot of the offensive cababilities of the party spell caster. But, be careful -- using the minor globe means no mage armor, shield, cat's grace, invisibility, haste, fly, etc; unless they're heightened.

b) Have him hire an L5 or so wizard solely for counterspelling. Give the wizard a wand of dispel magic, an improved invisibility scroll, and a scroll of fly. Any attempt to dispel the minor globe should be countered; and he can attempt to counter anything else the party wiz tries. An L5 dispel magic has a range of 150'.

c) Wall of force, in dome form, to partition off the party as desired; wall of force can't be dispelled via a dispell magic, and spells can't be cast through it. Cast an acid fog or cloudkill prior to the wall of force for some real nastiness. Alternately, pick a fun summonable from the summon monster spells and trap a party member (possibly their cleric) alone in a domed wall of force with the critter.

d) Shatter spells on the party fighters' weapons and armors (will save, or the item blows up). Blindness/deafness on the party spell casters (fort save, or can't target ranged spells anymore). AE shatter spells to blow up all their potions.

e) For some real fun, combine blindness with the spell from Magic of Faerun that swaps your location with a target's location, and makes you look like each other; swap spots with the party's blind wizard. I don't have the book, so I don't remember what the spell's called.

f) Energy buffer from T&B is _very_ useful for countering that surprise fireball/lightning bolt/etc, and allowing you to get a minor globe up.

g) Doing all that while under the effects of an improved invisibility.

Have fun.

-Eraslin

 

[Tatsukun]

I agree with most of what’s been said here, but I do think this guy will have a lot of trouble with this partry. CR 11 is not that bad for a level 9 party. Maybe the lich template? (it’s only CR +2 and it’s neat-o). <Cue evil DM laugh: Heh heh heh heh>

I would add two low level mooks over one high level one. All you want are their actions / round. Give him a 5th level sorcerer who does the fly / improved invis / silenced spell thing, and maybe a cleric or bard (1st level is fine) very far (500’ is fine) from the battle with a wand of silence (he just readies the action “he the mage casts a spell, I cast silence at his feet) every round.

After that, look for fun synergies, one of my favorites is put a web or Evard’s in the area to hold them there, add Cloudkill, then add Summon Monster 5 ( Barbazu, the Bearded Devil). The barbazu is immune to poison (and thus the cloudkill) and fire, so feel free to lob fireballs in there for fun (or have your mooks with wands do it too). Should be fun!

Finally, I recommend using what your good at. This guy has a mad Dex, so those ranged touch attacks are no problem. Since most spells with a touch attack don’t also have a save, they are very good for this guy.

Of course, if you do all these things, we're talking about a huge EL, so they will probably all die. But, pick and choose what you like...

-Tatsu

 

[Tatsukun]

Oops, I should read before I type. 14th level, not 11th. So, no mooks. Too bad, they are fun !

-Tatsu, the foolish

 

[eXodus]

the party is as such:

elven 12th level evoker. because of feats and a high intelligence his spell DCs are very high.

human 10th level rogue/2nd level guild thief. he is a beast with his finessed sneak attacking rapier and his ability to use scrolls very very well. his low wisdom screws him a whole lot.

halfling 3rd level rogue/9th level cleric. his saves are very good and makes great use of the luck and travel domain.

dwarven 6th level fighter/4th level devoted defender. he has 136 hit points and his prestige abilities enable him to keep the rogue out of harm's way a lot.

human 3rd level barbarian/3rd level fighter/6th level longblade. this guy lays down a lot of attacks and his highly mobile because of his prestige class. similarly his own low wisdom shafts him on ill saves.

i am going to give him a few hired thugs around 8th or 9th level to keep the heroes busy for a little while as well. he will not have to take them on alone.

 

[Darklone]

Tough encounter. Depending on your groups average level (which would be nice to know), he might easily annihilate them or die in one charge attack by the barbarian.

Ways around this: Using spells like Baleful Polymorph and Flesh to Stone which will take a PC out of the combat without really killing him... If you don't mind to kill them: Minions (two low level wizards with two fighter bodyguards) with a wand of enervation each always proved to be nice against nearly anything.

If you don't want to give him too many minions and your party is only level 9, think about Arcane Trickster with Mislead and many other trickster spells for major fun and less slaughtering PCs.

Or add the half-dragon template and give him a Hat of Disguise.

 

[shilsen]

You probably want to get him a Ring of Counterspells with a dispel magic within. Otherwise a targeted dispel can seriously mess him up.

Spells which'll buy you more time and keep the party occupied are always a good idea. Something like confusion can work great to that end.

For making the PC spellcasters much less dangerous, either use Darklone's suggestion for a pair of minions with wands of enervation or make sure to have the BBEG with a couple prepped himself.

 

[Darklone]

Quicken is a must. Especially for caster level 11, a quickened Scorching ray may be handy

Given he's a halfling, I suggest teams of halfling fighter/rogues with tumble and flank fun. Give them halfling greatswords.