One of my players is a bounty hunter and i want her to have very limited information on a target. When they come to this city (where the campaign is based) they will likely meet a number of characters who fit a somewhat vague details she has. The villain is thought responsible for a number of murders of political persons and its thought they might disrupt this citys politicians in the same way.
He will turn out to be the bodyguard of one of the politicians and although he does his bidding (see previous cities) he is actually working for our campaign big bad.
The second problem is the stat block. He is a goliath and i like the idea he is a rune knight and or uses tattoos. Perhaps he has some minions as tattoos or something that lets him get away with several political assassinations in the past. I expect the party to face him around level 6 so he can be a decent CR. Anything you might reccomend to model off?
A lot depends on your setting. One of the first things it says about the Goliath race is "Few folk can claim to have seen a Goliath, and fewer still can claim friendship with them."
How common are they to your setting?
Tattoos of any kind are a distinguishing mark.
The Goliath has been successful enough to be infamous. There are rumors about him.
If he doesn't have tattoos, what kind of minions does he have, and how many?
A Goliath with tattoos isn't something all that vague unless there are a lot of them around.
As for creating him, use the Character Builder tool, make him up just like a player character, and adjust things up or down. I strongly advise you not to use random rolls for his scores. He will either end up too weak, or way too strong, there is rarely a middle ground with random rolling, and that's by design. Players characters are supposed to have better scores all around in general than other people. I would say Point Buy is the best way, or the per-generated array if you must. Be prepared to nerf what you generate. As for the CR? It's roughly the same as the average level of the party. Make him a little lower, and you should be fine with one of the lieutenants of the Big Bad.
A tall person with cold blue eyes and tattoes is wandering around the city and murder people
his victims are all politicians
A devil in person, he tears appart his prey with bare hands
One of the tattoos should be the one of Tasha, that lets the Goliath change his Appearance at will, so that he can hide his tattos and other Goliath features from others. The party should meet more then just ONE tall humonoid in the setting. I suggest 3. All of theses tall humanoids should in some way fit on the description. And maybe one of the 3 has tattoos and one has blue eyes, but the goliath has none of the features, except beeing tall. It's a diffcult task, to mislead your party, but don't worry, they will have fun on the investigation, no matter how quick they find a solution.
Suggestions for the CR as a mini-Boss:
He should have enough HP to stay alive for one Round of concentrate fire of your party (Maybe adjust on the fly)
At level 6 the average attack modifier of your group is about 6 - 7, so i would set the armor class to 18 (average +6) or 19 (average +7).
The DC of your players is about 14 - 15. As described i would make the Goliath proficient in Str, Wis and Int (~+5) Saving throws and give him a reasonable Con modifier (+3).
Add minions. Don't let any boss-fight be 1 vs. your party. The will steamrole your Goliath. You need to even out the action economy, which is usually in the favor of the players.
Your Goliath should be smart! He has literally managed to stay hidden for months while assassinating politicians. He should have a plan that allows him to escape. And of course, the party must manage to foil this plan.
Maybe he hase some powerful one-time Use tattoos for this case, so that he can't use this trick again, when the party catch him again later in the game
or he has something to offer, when he realizes that things go south
My goliaths are common, more a human variant in my setting.
But the pc doesn't know that they are a goliath, I don't know what they could know beyond what they have allegedly done and that they are here.
As to the goliath/assassin. Certainly minions are needed when confronted but I wonder if I can't draw them from his body aka via tattoos. Perhaps those creatures are who do the killing normally.
Leaning into the tattoos maybe he gets dimension door tattooed or evards black tentacles.
By the rules, a Rune Knight cannot apply their runes on anyone other than themselves. Use any of the magical tattoos from Tasha's and you're doing fine. Thanks for answering my questions.
Since he’s an NPC, you don’t have to worry about his stat block being built like a PC would. You want him to have a couple rune knight abilities, then he does, but that doesn’t mean he has to be a rune knight, per se.
I’d suggest giving him something that lets him go invisible, maybe flying also. Common race or not, the dude is big and will stand out if he’s seen. He’s going to need some way of slipping away unnoticed after he finishes a job.
Since he’s an NPC, you don’t have to worry about his stat block being built like a PC would. You want him to have a couple rune knight abilities, then he does, but that doesn’t mean he has to be a rune knight, per se.
I’d suggest giving him something that lets him go invisible, maybe flying also. Common race or not, the dude is big and will stand out if he’s seen. He’s going to need some way of slipping away unnoticed after he finishes a job.
Very true. Perhaps I'll reconsider the goliath and just make him a stacked dude.
So any thoughts on how to hint his identity, or even what the pc would even know. How would he have been connected with the murders I wonder?
Could be he’s gotten a little cocky/sloppy and left behind some evidence — a bit of fabric, a footprint. A honking big footprint will help them narrow down the suspects. He may have a “calling card” like he always strangled his victims, or kills them with the same weapon, so the PCs know a damage type to look for. And, to take a step back (because that usually helps) why does the BBEG want these people dead? He’s not just some serial killer by proxy. He (or she) has a plan, and the killings should all be part of a way to advance that plan. So they players should be able to piece together that all the victims are (for example) from the western part of the country, so either the suspect is from the East and trying to destabilize the west, or from the west and trying to consolidate power, or from a country further west and softening up the area for an invasion, or whatever.
I often find, when you get the BBEG’s motivation and master plan sorted, the rest falls into place. And that motivation should never be “to gain power.” For one, that’s boring because everyone does it. For two, they shouldn’t, it’s not a good motivation. They want to gain power so they can do something with it. Figure out what it is they want to do, and that’s the actual motivation.
In this case he is less a big bad than muscle for another politician (who isn't a fight encounter character). He really serves the actually bbeg and is positioning the politician for the bbeg.
So I'm not sure on his motivation beyond serve. But he will serve as a focus to incorporate the bounty hunters background.
In this case he is less a big bad than muscle for another politician (who isn't a fight encounter character). He really serves the actually bbeg and is positioning the politician for the bbeg.
So I'm not sure on his motivation beyond serve. But he will serve as a focus to incorporate the bounty hunters background.
I get it. I meant be sure you understand why the bbeg is targeting specific figures and then sending this guy to do the dirty work. But if I'm understanding this, the bbeg, for whatever reason, wants Lord Whoever to advance, so he loaned out his enforcer (the assassin). Maybe Lord Whoever doesn't know that the assassin is actually working for the bbeg, maybe he does. Either way, the theme of the attacks is going to point the PCs in a certain direction. In this case, they'll notice at some point that Lord Whoever seems to profit from all of these killings. I'd probably make him a member of some political faction, and have that whole faction profit, so its not obvious exactly who is responsible. Then you can decide how deep you want it to go, as far as does anyone else in the faction actually know what's going on, or if they are just feeling lucky that someone is taking out their enemies. Hopefully, the PCs are clever enough to put that together that one person or group is benefitting from this string of murders, so they can narrow down the suspects.
Also Id think with these assassinations that sometimes they'd be more effective if they don't always look like murders. Sometimes they might make it obvious that its a murder, but in a case like this, where there's an overarching plan, those are going to be a deliberate attempt to send a message. Lots of times, they might look accidental or natural, (because if its obvious they're murders, then potential targets will increase their security, and it might generate sympathy for their side) It might not even be obvious that they are murders until someone -- the PCs -- starts piecing it together.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
This is a two part problem...
One of my players is a bounty hunter and i want her to have very limited information on a target. When they come to this city (where the campaign is based) they will likely meet a number of characters who fit a somewhat vague details she has.
The villain is thought responsible for a number of murders of political persons and its thought they might disrupt this citys politicians in the same way.
He will turn out to be the bodyguard of one of the politicians and although he does his bidding (see previous cities) he is actually working for our campaign big bad.
The second problem is the stat block. He is a goliath and i like the idea he is a rune knight and or uses tattoos. Perhaps he has some minions as tattoos or something that lets him get away with several political assassinations in the past. I expect the party to face him around level 6 so he can be a decent CR. Anything you might reccomend to model off?
Got any suggestions on either problem?
A lot depends on your setting. One of the first things it says about the Goliath race is "Few folk can claim to have seen a Goliath, and fewer still can claim friendship with them."
As for creating him, use the Character Builder tool, make him up just like a player character, and adjust things up or down. I strongly advise you not to use random rolls for his scores. He will either end up too weak, or way too strong, there is rarely a middle ground with random rolling, and that's by design. Players characters are supposed to have better scores all around in general than other people. I would say Point Buy is the best way, or the per-generated array if you must. Be prepared to nerf what you generate. As for the CR? It's roughly the same as the average level of the party. Make him a little lower, and you should be fine with one of the lieutenants of the Big Bad.
<Insert clever signature here>
Suggestions on the rumors:
One of the tattoos should be the one of Tasha, that lets the Goliath change his Appearance at will, so that he can hide his tattos and other Goliath features from others.
The party should meet more then just ONE tall humonoid in the setting. I suggest 3. All of theses tall humanoids should in some way fit on the description. And maybe one of the 3 has tattoos and one has blue eyes, but the goliath has none of the features, except beeing tall. It's a diffcult task, to mislead your party, but don't worry, they will have fun on the investigation, no matter how quick they find a solution.
Suggestions for the CR as a mini-Boss:
My goliaths are common, more a human variant in my setting.
But the pc doesn't know that they are a goliath, I don't know what they could know beyond what they have allegedly done and that they are here.
As to the goliath/assassin. Certainly minions are needed when confronted but I wonder if I can't draw them from his body aka via tattoos. Perhaps those creatures are who do the killing normally.
Leaning into the tattoos maybe he gets dimension door tattooed or evards black tentacles.
By the rules, a Rune Knight cannot apply their runes on anyone other than themselves. Use any of the magical tattoos from Tasha's and you're doing fine. Thanks for answering my questions.
<Insert clever signature here>
Since he’s an NPC, you don’t have to worry about his stat block being built like a PC would. You want him to have a couple rune knight abilities, then he does, but that doesn’t mean he has to be a rune knight, per se.
I’d suggest giving him something that lets him go invisible, maybe flying also. Common race or not, the dude is big and will stand out if he’s seen. He’s going to need some way of slipping away unnoticed after he finishes a job.
Very true. Perhaps I'll reconsider the goliath and just make him a stacked dude.
So any thoughts on how to hint his identity, or even what the pc would even know. How would he have been connected with the murders I wonder?
Could be he’s gotten a little cocky/sloppy and left behind some evidence — a bit of fabric, a footprint. A honking big footprint will help them narrow down the suspects.
He may have a “calling card” like he always strangled his victims, or kills them with the same weapon, so the PCs know a damage type to look for.
And, to take a step back (because that usually helps) why does the BBEG want these people dead? He’s not just some serial killer by proxy. He (or she) has a plan, and the killings should all be part of a way to advance that plan. So they players should be able to piece together that all the victims are (for example) from the western part of the country, so either the suspect is from the East and trying to destabilize the west, or from the west and trying to consolidate power, or from a country further west and softening up the area for an invasion, or whatever.
I often find, when you get the BBEG’s motivation and master plan sorted, the rest falls into place. And that motivation should never be “to gain power.” For one, that’s boring because everyone does it. For two, they shouldn’t, it’s not a good motivation. They want to gain power so they can do something with it. Figure out what it is they want to do, and that’s the actual motivation.
In this case he is less a big bad than muscle for another politician (who isn't a fight encounter character). He really serves the actually bbeg and is positioning the politician for the bbeg.
So I'm not sure on his motivation beyond serve. But he will serve as a focus to incorporate the bounty hunters background.
I get it. I meant be sure you understand why the bbeg is targeting specific figures and then sending this guy to do the dirty work. But if I'm understanding this, the bbeg, for whatever reason, wants Lord Whoever to advance, so he loaned out his enforcer (the assassin). Maybe Lord Whoever doesn't know that the assassin is actually working for the bbeg, maybe he does. Either way, the theme of the attacks is going to point the PCs in a certain direction. In this case, they'll notice at some point that Lord Whoever seems to profit from all of these killings. I'd probably make him a member of some political faction, and have that whole faction profit, so its not obvious exactly who is responsible. Then you can decide how deep you want it to go, as far as does anyone else in the faction actually know what's going on, or if they are just feeling lucky that someone is taking out their enemies. Hopefully, the PCs are clever enough to put that together that one person or group is benefitting from this string of murders, so they can narrow down the suspects.
Also Id think with these assassinations that sometimes they'd be more effective if they don't always look like murders. Sometimes they might make it obvious that its a murder, but in a case like this, where there's an overarching plan, those are going to be a deliberate attempt to send a message. Lots of times, they might look accidental or natural, (because if its obvious they're murders, then potential targets will increase their security, and it might generate sympathy for their side) It might not even be obvious that they are murders until someone -- the PCs -- starts piecing it together.