I need an NPC who can serve as low-level or mid-level villain in a homebrew campaign. He's a mid-level member of an order of Paladins whose purpose is to stamp out all forms of magic not related to their deity, especially any non-divine magic. Their deity might be good (haven't decided), but they're not. These Paladins act like inquisitors or witch hunters, much like the Oath of Zeal Paladin but maybe a bit more focused on fighting magic.
There's a good chance the party will fight the villain at some point. Not sure when -- it would really depend on how the PCs want to take things. I think this guy probably isn't the BBEG of the whole campaign.. more of a middle-tier boss.
I'm not really sure where to start creating such an NPC. I've seen advice to not create it as a PC because the action economy won't work out right. I've seen the advice to start with a monster from the Monster Manual and modify it for your purposes, but none seem quite right (maybe I'm not searching well). I'm not even really sure of appropriate CR level, since I don't know when the party is going to fight this guy.
You could use the Drow Inquisitor from Mordenkainens Tome of Foes, it is a CR14 creature and has the spell casting of a 12th level cleric so you would need to switch the spells to the paladin but it would probably work for what you need, maybe lose the drow racial spell casting in favour of Channel Divinity"x" times per day which functions as either a counterspell or dispel magic. You can tweak the spell casting and Hit Points up or down depending on when/if the party encounter them to keep it just ahead of the party. Maybe add in some Chuul as magical sniffer hounds and some Helmed Horrors as bodyguards too.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
Take a reasonable CR NPC monster for level 8 NPCs (depends how many adds he'll have, but probably CR12 or so if they're alone) and give them some abilities from an Oath of Zeal paladin. A blackguard is a good place to start, as is a champion, war priest or a warlord for more bite. They are all in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
If they are alone, give them legendary actions equal to the number of characters in the party minus one, each one being an attack or a movement without taking attacks of opportunity. If you are going for a level 8 party, up their hit points to 300 to make them a reasonable challenge.
How about a Dark Paladin that has two magic items at his disposal. The first item allows him to cast Counterspell. The second item allows him to cast Dispel Magic. You could limit the number of times the item works between rests as you wish. With that as a start, and the paladin ability for Zone of Truth, he should be a pretty effective inquisitor. His fearsome reputation allows him to draft help from temples and paladin orders as he travels. He also travels with a small band of retainers. And even better, for some reason ladies make better villains in many situations.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Use Blackguard and change the lore. It already has dispel magic so it’s a good fit for an anti magic paladin. Blackguard is from Volos Guide to Monsters. It is a CR8 creature and it can have Knight minions (monster manual) or maybe the actual BBEG could trick the paladins into joining his/her/it’s side. The paladins could realise its a trick right before the BBEG battle. BBEG could kill the paladins. Then the players will see what they thought was the BBEG get destroyed by the actual BBEG.
I need an NPC who can serve as low-level or mid-level villain in a homebrew campaign. He's a mid-level member of an order of Paladins whose purpose is to stamp out all forms of magic not related to their deity, especially any non-divine magic. Their deity might be good (haven't decided), but they're not. These Paladins act like inquisitors or witch hunters, much like the Oath of Zeal Paladin but maybe a bit more focused on fighting magic.
There's a good chance the party will fight the villain at some point. Not sure when -- it would really depend on how the PCs want to take things. I think this guy probably isn't the BBEG of the whole campaign.. more of a middle-tier boss.
I'm not really sure where to start creating such an NPC. I've seen advice to not create it as a PC because the action economy won't work out right. I've seen the advice to start with a monster from the Monster Manual and modify it for your purposes, but none seem quite right (maybe I'm not searching well). I'm not even really sure of appropriate CR level, since I don't know when the party is going to fight this guy.
How would you approach this kind of thing?
You could use the Drow Inquisitor from Mordenkainens Tome of Foes, it is a CR14 creature and has the spell casting of a 12th level cleric so you would need to switch the spells to the paladin but it would probably work for what you need, maybe lose the drow racial spell casting in favour of Channel Divinity"x" times per day which functions as either a counterspell or dispel magic. You can tweak the spell casting and Hit Points up or down depending on when/if the party encounter them to keep it just ahead of the party. Maybe add in some Chuul as magical sniffer hounds and some Helmed Horrors as bodyguards too.
What do you classify as low level or mid level?
A boss for level 8 PCs maybe?
Take a reasonable CR NPC monster for level 8 NPCs (depends how many adds he'll have, but probably CR12 or so if they're alone) and give them some abilities from an Oath of Zeal paladin. A blackguard is a good place to start, as is a champion, war priest or a warlord for more bite. They are all in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
If they are alone, give them legendary actions equal to the number of characters in the party minus one, each one being an attack or a movement without taking attacks of opportunity. If you are going for a level 8 party, up their hit points to 300 to make them a reasonable challenge.
How about a Dark Paladin that has two magic items at his disposal. The first item allows him to cast Counterspell. The second item allows him to cast Dispel Magic. You could limit the number of times the item works between rests as you wish. With that as a start, and the paladin ability for Zone of Truth, he should be a pretty effective inquisitor. His fearsome reputation allows him to draft help from temples and paladin orders as he travels. He also travels with a small band of retainers. And even better, for some reason ladies make better villains in many situations.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Use Blackguard and change the lore. It already has dispel magic so it’s a good fit for an anti magic paladin. Blackguard is from Volos Guide to Monsters. It is a CR8 creature and it can have Knight minions (monster manual) or maybe the actual BBEG could trick the paladins into joining his/her/it’s side. The paladins could realise its a trick right before the BBEG battle. BBEG could kill the paladins. Then the players will see what they thought was the BBEG get destroyed by the actual BBEG.
Wow lots of cool ideas, thanks. Blackguard looks close to what i need!