I have a rough idea of what I want my bbeg to be. He's gonna be an ancient wizard who had a bunch of followers. He was sealed away by a group of powerful mages, and his followers were scattered. My idea is to take some inspiration from Imhotep from The Mummy movies. Basically, there's a modern day cult that is descended from his followers that survived and they're goal is to restore him to his former self. When he first gets restored he'll appear lich-like, but as he gets stronger, his form becomes what he looked like when he was sealed.
So, one of the things that was thinking was this: Because of what he does in order to gain strength (he absorbs sources of magic, effectively weakening the Weave or destroying completely in that area), I was thinking, during the fight, spells can't be upcasted, but they can be cast at-level.
Instead of weakening all spells, I'd give him several uses of counterspell, giving him a sort of "rage" effect whenever he successfully counterspells, boosting him a ton for a round or two. I'd also make spells have less effect on him, and whenever a spell is cast on him, he gets that rage thing.
Instead of weakening all spells, I'd give him several uses of counterspell, giving him a sort of "rage" effect whenever he successfully counterspells, boosting him a ton. I'd also make spells have less effect on him, and whenever a spell is cast on him, he gets that rage thing.
For this OP could take a look at the mechanics of the Warmage subclass. Power Surges are a thing.
Spells just failing seems a bit harsh, what if upcasting can be done but has no effect.
level 20 wizard on their first turn casts a 6th level fireball and....it only does 8d6 damage.
so they can still use higher slots for spells but they don’t get any bonus.
personally I think this is better than forcing players to have to use the next spell slots up and nerfing any top level spells to auto fail or forcing players to only use the exact level.
it gives them a combat economy choice, do I use this 3rd level counterspell in the 7th slot losing any bonus it gets for being 7th level and making it a risk it will even work or save that slot for delayed blast fireball
I would angle the question from the story perspective but I feel I don't have the whole story yet.
How was he sealed away? What did they do to him to put him in the state he was in upon release? And what was that state?
I reckon if he was mortal they would have simply killed him, so what made him immortal? And what was keeping his energy/life down before his release? Where there magical means in place to do so?
I don't want to overcomplicate your rough idea, but I think I would work out these details before determining non-standard abilities.
Have you looked at a limited magic immunity trait like what the rakshasa has? That’s a tested mechanic that gives you a similar effect and can be role played in the way you are describing
One of the cult members is a hobgoblin War magic Wizard. My players actually just met him last session, but they don’t anything about him, other than his name and that he has a connection to Nezznar, the Black Spider.
Instead of weakening all spells, I'd give him several uses of counterspell, giving him a sort of "rage" effect whenever he successfully counterspells, boosting him a ton. I'd also make spells have less effect on him, and whenever a spell is cast on him, he gets that rage thing.
For this OP could take a look at the mechanics of the Warmage subclass. Power Surges are a thing.
One of the cult members is a War Magic Wizard. My players actually just met him last session, but they only know his name and that he is somehow connected to Nezznar, the Black Spider.
I would angle the question from the story perspective but I feel I don't have the whole story yet.
How was he sealed away? What did they do to him to put him in the state he was in upon release? And what was that state?
I reckon if he was mortal they would have simply killed him, so what made him immortal? And what was keeping his energy/life down before his release? Where there magical means in place to do so?
I don't want to overcomplicate your rough idea, but I think I would work out these details before determining non-standard abilities.
So my campaign takes place in The Forgotten Realms. I started with LMoP, threw in some stuff from Icespire, Acq Inc, and some homebrew.
The villain’s name is Vorkan Jadim, and elf wizard who, in the past, attempted to achieve some form of god-like power by binding the Weave.
The archmagesof Neverwinter obviously didn’t like that, so before Vorkan could finish the necessary ritual, they attacked. He proved too powerful for them, and so they decided to bind him. (In my campaign, the Spellplague wasn’t really a thing, and the Mt. Hotenow wasn’t as terrible. So the Chasm in Neverwinter is the result of a cataclysm that occurred centuries before, which in reality was the battle of the archmages and Vorkan.) They sealed him within the Chasm in Neverwinter, and separated him from the Weave. He was cursed with eternal torment, and when his followers release him, his form is lich-like. (Think Imhotep from The Mummy franchise.)
Seems like you have a lot of stuff worked out! And more experience than me with customizing the game. However it never hurts to put my line of thinking on paper for this character.
Storywise, following that he was seeking for divination and was locked away with eternal torment I would explore the idea of him now touched by divinity by an evil god that hungers to devour any sort of weave it can get its hands on. Very much like Imhotep. Him consuming people who are weave practitioners sounds great.
During the fight I think I would some way to make him less likely to be struck down by magic, but not impossible. I mean, he was sealed as well, so the players should be able to contain him. I think I would make this dice related, maybe disadvantage on magic attack rolls made directly against him, resistance against magical attacks or a 'magical parry' once per round he can consume a magic attack made against him, making him stronger. This could build up to a certain level before he starts draining the weave around him - creating that deadzone you mentioned.
Seems like you have a lot of stuff worked out! And more experience than me with customizing the game. However it never hurts to put my line of thinking on paper for this character.
Storywise, following that he was seeking for divination and was locked away with eternal torment I would explore the idea of him now touched by divinity by an evil god that hungers to devour any sort of weave it can get its hands on. Very much like Imhotep. Him consuming people who are weave practitioners sounds great.
During the fight I think I would some way to make him less likely to be struck down by magic, but not impossible. I mean, he was sealed as well, so the players should be able to contain him. I think I would make this dice related, maybe disadvantage on magic attack rolls made directly against him, resistance against magical attacks or a 'magical parry' once per round he can consume a magic attack made against him, making him stronger. This could build up to a certain level before he starts draining the weave around him - creating that deadzone you mentioned.
Sounds like a really fun BBEG :)
I'm also kinda playing around with the idea with a resistance to magic, and him being healed by magic as well. So he would take the half damage from the resistance, and he absorbs the spell's remaining magic, and heals for maybe 1d10 plus the spell's level.
Sounds good! I think it depends on how powerful you want him to be and what level the party is. When I adapted monster stats before I noticed it's really important how often they can use it. What you're describing sounds pretty powerful but not to much if the can output at lealst 20ish damage on a spell, or are smart enough to go into melee.
I think I would explore that part of the combat as well, what is his strategy once they realize he absorbs magic? The risk is overthinking the magic part and then they will just beat him down with their cudgels ;-)
Sounds good! I think it depends on how powerful you want him to be and what level the party is. When I adapted monster stats before I noticed it's really important how often they can use it. What you're describing sounds pretty powerful but not to much if the can output at lealst 20ish damage on a spell, or are smart enough to go into melee.
I think I would explore that part of the combat as well, what is his strategy once they realize he absorbs magic? The risk is overthinking the magic part and then they will just beat him down with their cudgels ;-)
My plan is to have him be really powerful — near god-like. I’m planning to take my campaign to level 20 (if everything works out), so my players would be strong in their own right too. (I came up with this idea for the BBEG from watching C1 of Critical Role. So, it’s a little bit Imhotep and a little bit Vecna inspired haha)
I like this BBEG concept. Maybe have the players fall into a trap into a tomb if sorts build by the BBEG when he was imprisoned underground and the PCs need to escape. That would make an interesting beginning or endgame quest.
Also maybe he could “corrupt” magic wherever he goes and not just feast of the weave which would make for some interesting things where rising from corrupt magic is minions or something like that. Also what’s his plan exactly other than getting more powerful? Does he want revenge, chaos, domination, power, etc?
I like this BBEG concept. Maybe have the players fall into a trap into a tomb if sorts build by the BBEG when he was imprisoned underground and the PCs need to escape. That would make an interesting beginning or endgame quest.
Also maybe he could “corrupt” magic wherever he goes and not just feast of the weave which would make for some interesting things where rising from corrupt magic is minions or something like that. Also what’s his plan exactly other than getting more powerful? Does he want revenge, chaos, domination, power, etc?
He definitely wants revenge. A large portion of my campaign is taking place in Neverwinter, so I was thinking that’s where he was sealed originally and is why the Chasm is off limits to everyone. I think I’m gonna have him kill Dagult Neverember, and seize control of the castle and set it up as his lair.
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I have a rough idea of what I want my bbeg to be. He's gonna be an ancient wizard who had a bunch of followers. He was sealed away by a group of powerful mages, and his followers were scattered. My idea is to take some inspiration from Imhotep from The Mummy movies. Basically, there's a modern day cult that is descended from his followers that survived and they're goal is to restore him to his former self. When he first gets restored he'll appear lich-like, but as he gets stronger, his form becomes what he looked like when he was sealed.
So, one of the things that was thinking was this: Because of what he does in order to gain strength (he absorbs sources of magic, effectively weakening the Weave or destroying completely in that area), I was thinking, during the fight, spells can't be upcasted, but they can be cast at-level.
What do y'all think of this?
I'd be tempted by the reverse: spells are always down-casted by one; if this reduces the spell below the normal level of that spell it just fails.
Instead of weakening all spells, I'd give him several uses of counterspell, giving him a sort of "rage" effect whenever he successfully counterspells, boosting him a ton for a round or two. I'd also make spells have less effect on him, and whenever a spell is cast on him, he gets that rage thing.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
For this OP could take a look at the mechanics of the Warmage subclass. Power Surges are a thing.
Spells just failing seems a bit harsh, what if upcasting can be done but has no effect.
level 20 wizard on their first turn casts a 6th level fireball and....it only does 8d6 damage.
so they can still use higher slots for spells but they don’t get any bonus.
personally I think this is better than forcing players to have to use the next spell slots up and nerfing any top level spells to auto fail or forcing players to only use the exact level.
it gives them a combat economy choice, do I use this 3rd level counterspell in the 7th slot losing any bonus it gets for being 7th level and making it a risk it will even work or save that slot for delayed blast fireball
I would angle the question from the story perspective but I feel I don't have the whole story yet.
How was he sealed away? What did they do to him to put him in the state he was in upon release? And what was that state?
I reckon if he was mortal they would have simply killed him, so what made him immortal? And what was keeping his energy/life down before his release? Where there magical means in place to do so?
I don't want to overcomplicate your rough idea, but I think I would work out these details before determining non-standard abilities.
Then PCs won't even notice that anything is going on. Upcasting is pretty much worthless.
Have you looked at a limited magic immunity trait like what the rakshasa has? That’s a tested mechanic that gives you a similar effect and can be role played in the way you are describing
One of the cult members is a hobgoblin War magic Wizard. My players actually just met him last session, but they don’t anything about him, other than his name and that he has a connection to Nezznar, the Black Spider.
One of the cult members is a War Magic Wizard. My players actually just met him last session, but they only know his name and that he is somehow connected to Nezznar, the Black Spider.
So my campaign takes place in The Forgotten Realms. I started with LMoP, threw in some stuff from Icespire, Acq Inc, and some homebrew.
The villain’s name is Vorkan Jadim, and elf wizard who, in the past, attempted to achieve some form of god-like power by binding the Weave.
The archmagesof Neverwinter obviously didn’t like that, so before Vorkan could finish the necessary ritual, they attacked. He proved too powerful for them, and so they decided to bind him. (In my campaign, the Spellplague wasn’t really a thing, and the Mt. Hotenow wasn’t as terrible. So the Chasm in Neverwinter is the result of a cataclysm that occurred centuries before, which in reality was the battle of the archmages and Vorkan.) They sealed him within the Chasm in Neverwinter, and separated him from the Weave. He was cursed with eternal torment, and when his followers release him, his form is lich-like. (Think Imhotep from The Mummy franchise.)
Seems like you have a lot of stuff worked out! And more experience than me with customizing the game. However it never hurts to put my line of thinking on paper for this character.
Storywise, following that he was seeking for divination and was locked away with eternal torment I would explore the idea of him now touched by divinity by an evil god that hungers to devour any sort of weave it can get its hands on. Very much like Imhotep. Him consuming people who are weave practitioners sounds great.
During the fight I think I would some way to make him less likely to be struck down by magic, but not impossible. I mean, he was sealed as well, so the players should be able to contain him. I think I would make this dice related, maybe disadvantage on magic attack rolls made directly against him, resistance against magical attacks or a 'magical parry' once per round he can consume a magic attack made against him, making him stronger. This could build up to a certain level before he starts draining the weave around him - creating that deadzone you mentioned.
Sounds like a really fun BBEG :)
I'm also kinda playing around with the idea with a resistance to magic, and him being healed by magic as well. So he would take the half damage from the resistance, and he absorbs the spell's remaining magic, and heals for maybe 1d10 plus the spell's level.
Sounds good! I think it depends on how powerful you want him to be and what level the party is. When I adapted monster stats before I noticed it's really important how often they can use it. What you're describing sounds pretty powerful but not to much if the can output at lealst 20ish damage on a spell, or are smart enough to go into melee.
I think I would explore that part of the combat as well, what is his strategy once they realize he absorbs magic? The risk is overthinking the magic part and then they will just beat him down with their cudgels ;-)
My plan is to have him be really powerful — near god-like. I’m planning to take my campaign to level 20 (if everything works out), so my players would be strong in their own right too. (I came up with this idea for the BBEG from watching C1 of Critical Role. So, it’s a little bit Imhotep and a little bit Vecna inspired haha)
I like this BBEG concept. Maybe have the players fall into a trap into a tomb if sorts build by the BBEG when he was imprisoned underground and the PCs need to escape. That would make an interesting beginning or endgame quest.
Also maybe he could “corrupt” magic wherever he goes and not just feast of the weave which would make for some interesting things where rising from corrupt magic is minions or something like that. Also what’s his plan exactly other than getting more powerful? Does he want revenge, chaos, domination, power, etc?
He definitely wants revenge. A large portion of my campaign is taking place in Neverwinter, so I was thinking that’s where he was sealed originally and is why the Chasm is off limits to everyone. I think I’m gonna have him kill Dagult Neverember, and seize control of the castle and set it up as his lair.