So, this is my first thread ever on DnD Beyond, and I figured, "Why not make it about who I want to fight my party?" Now, I want to make it clear that I am NOT doing this out of spite or hatred to anyone in my group, nor am I doing it because I'm playing a Chaotic Stupid character. I cleared this with my DM, and I'm only doing this because I have a penchant for playing the villain in plays and RPs that I have been in in the past.
Disclaimer before I begin: My group uses some UA and hombrewed mechanics. Rules lawyering will not work.
First, some backstory. My DM told my group that after our current campaign we will be playing an epic level campaign (lvl 20 PCs right out the gate and some starting epic boons). Everyone is excited, eager to play some high level characters (of the four of us players, only myself and one other player has ever played past lvl 15, and that campaign was amazing). I origionally wanted to use the UA Pyromancy Sorcerous Origin and basically play my interpretation of A pastor from Hazbin Hotel, but my mind began to wander off and begin to build a barbarian/monk that was basically my best mimicry of the shugoki from For Honor. This was because of my usual habit of playing the tank for our group (presently a warforged fighter, AC 25 because we fight demigod at lvl 12), but I changed my mind when I heard that a fifth player, who has played with us in the past and also partook in the lvl 20 shenanigans with myself, would be joining us as a paladin. This then lead me back to the pyromancer, but I decided on a different spellcaster...
The Lore Mastery Wizard.
Before anyone freaks out over this, my DM has approved of it and has actually had a player use this subclass before, so they're prepared for whatever I try to pull on them. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, lore mastery wizards, or savants, can manipulate their spells in many unique ways, changing the type of damage they deal, changing what type of save a spell uses, or even casting a spell from a different class. They're debatably one of the most powerful schools of wizardry in DnD, which is probably why they aren't an official subclas yet.
I digress. So, I shall now introduce this character concept: Sygg Mah, the variant human savant wizard. He's loosely based on the Overwatch character Sigma, so keep that in mind (I haven't actually named him yet, but I am keen on the name Alastor). In concept, Sygg has a deep fascination with the Weave, the essence of magic itself, and thus became a savant to practice a greater control over it. He is lawful evil, but in more of a "nothing will stop my experiments; no cost is too great, no method too dark, and nothing is more important than my research" way instead of the usual "I stab him because I'm EEEEEVVVIIIIILLL!" BS. His backstory isn't important to this post, so I'll leave that out.
Mechanically speaking, Sygg uses spells that mix pure damage with manipulation (I'll list the spells by level at the end of this post), and he uses his environment to his advantage. His Signature Spells are Shield and Mirror Image, and his Spell Mastery spells are Dispell Magic and Counter Spell. His stats are: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 10. Using ASIs and his racial feature, he has the War Caster, Observant, Alert, and Resilient (choosing Con) feats. My group uses the epic boons from Obsidian Portal, and each of our characters will start with two boons of our choice, so I chose the Boon of Spell Mastery (choosing the spell Magic Missle) and the Boon of the Wizard (choosing the arcane tradition of War Magic). As the campaign goes on, I will continue taking epic boons that effect spells, such as the Boon of High Magic and Boon of Quick Casting, and other utility boons that work well with my other boons and abilities, such as Boon of the Proficient and Boon of Percieved Time.
My end goal isn't to kill the party, but to give them a truly challenging fight and a send off to my first true wizard that they will talk about for years to come. In short, I've asked my DM to, at some point in the campaign, tempt my character with something he would want, like lost arcane lore or a magic item that furthers his studies, at the expense of the party, hopefully creating that rift I would need to start the road to PVP. One confrontation later, and Sygg teleports away, seeming to abandon the party. Then, the bait: Sygg does something inhumanely bad, like cast Psychic Scream (a 9th level spell from XGtE that is an insanely powerful war gamer spell) while burning a 2nd level spell slot to make its range 1 mile (because savant) to basically destroy a city for the sake of experimentation (as I said, I play a good villain), in an attempt to draw the party out. Then, leaving a trail for the players to follow, draw them into my own territory to do battle (Mirage Arcane is more useful than I thought). Once they arrive, begin evil monologue of doom and fight begins.In the end, either Sygg shall die after giving one final speech, or the guy some how survives and teleports away once more, proclaiming that his studies have just begun and that he will continue them elsewhere, whether the party pursues him or not.
That's what I've got. I'll list the spells last here, and I look forward to whatever questions, comments, criticisms or concerns anyone brings to me. Have a nice day.
Spells by Level
Cantrips - Mage Hand, Message, Fire Bolt, Chill Touch, Minor Illusion.
First, I'd recommend limiting how many 9th level spell slots you have Sygg prepare, as he only holds one slot at a time. Invulnerability is pretty broken if the rest if the group can't dispel it. Time Stop is pretty lackluster without spells that don't (immediately) target other creatures, such as Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Fire Shield or Melf's Minute Meteors. Otherwise, not bad.
I noticed you have Whirlwind prepped. I'd likely start with that, casting it with a bonus action (I ran a storm sorcerer for that) and spend the action to run over a lot of people. With Resilient and Warcaster, breaking concentration will be hard for anyone who can't nova well.
Synaptic Static is a great 5th level spell to slap a clustered group with (such as those being sucked into Whirlwind). Fireball damage with a d6 attack+ability roll penalty on a failed Int save is pretty busted. What's more, the rider effect can't be dispelled once it hits.
I like Magic Missile on an Evoker, but not really on anything else. The damage is just too low at that high of a level.
If Sygg is the kind of person to plan ahead, he should have Contingency set up. I like being attacked triggering Mirror Image, but he'll probably want something else.
He may want some mooks to balance out the action economy. Talk with the DM about what to bring.
Finally, if you really want him to be scary, but only want it to be a mini-boss, have the party fight a Simulacrum. High level wizards can put out really scary numbers quickly between spells like Psychic Scream/Meteor Swarm and Chain Lightning. Spashing in extra damage/utility with bonus action Arcane Hand and you have a high-priority target. A Simulacrum will enable the group to drop it quickly before they're seriously depleted or outright killed. Magic item loot drops may be necessary for this to work without the party being too disappointed with not killing the real guy.
So, this is my first thread ever on DnD Beyond, and I figured, "Why not make it about who I want to fight my party?" Now, I want to make it clear that I am NOT doing this out of spite or hatred to anyone in my group, nor am I doing it because I'm playing a Chaotic Stupid character. I cleared this with my DM, and I'm only doing this because I have a penchant for playing the villain in plays and RPs that I have been in in the past.
Disclaimer before I begin: My group uses some UA and hombrewed mechanics. Rules lawyering will not work.
First, some backstory. My DM told my group that after our current campaign we will be playing an epic level campaign (lvl 20 PCs right out the gate and some starting epic boons). Everyone is excited, eager to play some high level characters (of the four of us players, only myself and one other player has ever played past lvl 15, and that campaign was amazing). I origionally wanted to use the UA Pyromancy Sorcerous Origin and basically play my interpretation of A pastor from Hazbin Hotel, but my mind began to wander off and begin to build a barbarian/monk that was basically my best mimicry of the shugoki from For Honor. This was because of my usual habit of playing the tank for our group (presently a warforged fighter, AC 25 because we fight demigod at lvl 12), but I changed my mind when I heard that a fifth player, who has played with us in the past and also partook in the lvl 20 shenanigans with myself, would be joining us as a paladin. This then lead me back to the pyromancer, but I decided on a different spellcaster...
The Lore Mastery Wizard.
Before anyone freaks out over this, my DM has approved of it and has actually had a player use this subclass before, so they're prepared for whatever I try to pull on them. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, lore mastery wizards, or savants, can manipulate their spells in many unique ways, changing the type of damage they deal, changing what type of save a spell uses, or even casting a spell from a different class. They're debatably one of the most powerful schools of wizardry in DnD, which is probably why they aren't an official subclas yet.
I digress. So, I shall now introduce this character concept: Sygg Mah, the variant human savant wizard. He's loosely based on the Overwatch character Sigma, so keep that in mind (I haven't actually named him yet, but I am keen on the name Alastor). In concept, Sygg has a deep fascination with the Weave, the essence of magic itself, and thus became a savant to practice a greater control over it. He is lawful evil, but in more of a "nothing will stop my experiments; no cost is too great, no method too dark, and nothing is more important than my research" way instead of the usual "I stab him because I'm EEEEEVVVIIIIILLL!" BS. His backstory isn't important to this post, so I'll leave that out.
Mechanically speaking, Sygg uses spells that mix pure damage with manipulation (I'll list the spells by level at the end of this post), and he uses his environment to his advantage. His Signature Spells are Shield and Mirror Image, and his Spell Mastery spells are Dispell Magic and Counter Spell. His stats are: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 10. Using ASIs and his racial feature, he has the War Caster, Observant, Alert, and Resilient (choosing Con) feats. My group uses the epic boons from Obsidian Portal, and each of our characters will start with two boons of our choice, so I chose the Boon of Spell Mastery (choosing the spell Magic Missle) and the Boon of the Wizard (choosing the arcane tradition of War Magic). As the campaign goes on, I will continue taking epic boons that effect spells, such as the Boon of High Magic and Boon of Quick Casting, and other utility boons that work well with my other boons and abilities, such as Boon of the Proficient and Boon of Percieved Time.
My end goal isn't to kill the party, but to give them a truly challenging fight and a send off to my first true wizard that they will talk about for years to come. In short, I've asked my DM to, at some point in the campaign, tempt my character with something he would want, like lost arcane lore or a magic item that furthers his studies, at the expense of the party, hopefully creating that rift I would need to start the road to PVP. One confrontation later, and Sygg teleports away, seeming to abandon the party. Then, the bait: Sygg does something inhumanely bad, like cast Psychic Scream (a 9th level spell from XGtE that is an insanely powerful war gamer spell) while burning a 2nd level spell slot to make its range 1 mile (because savant) to basically destroy a city for the sake of experimentation (as I said, I play a good villain), in an attempt to draw the party out. Then, leaving a trail for the players to follow, draw them into my own territory to do battle (Mirage Arcane is more useful than I thought). Once they arrive, begin evil monologue of doom and fight begins.In the end, either Sygg shall die after giving one final speech, or the guy some how survives and teleports away once more, proclaiming that his studies have just begun and that he will continue them elsewhere, whether the party pursues him or not.
That's what I've got. I'll list the spells last here, and I look forward to whatever questions, comments, criticisms or concerns anyone brings to me. Have a nice day.
Spells by Level
Cantrips - Mage Hand, Message, Fire Bolt, Chill Touch, Minor Illusion.
1st - Detect Magic, Feather Fall, Shield, Magic Missile, Identify, Catapult, Absorb Elements, Comprehend Languages
2nd - Acid Arrow, Shatter, Detect Thoughts, Mirror Image, Skywrite, Earthbind
3rd - Dispell Magic, Counterspell, Erupting Earth, Lightning Bolt, Fly, Sending
4th - Vitriolic Sphere, Resilient Sphere, Storm Sphere, Blight, Fabricate, Wall of Fire
5th - Bigby's Hand, Cone of Cold, Immolation, Telekinesis
6th - Globe of Invulnerability, Disintegrate, Move Earth, Mental Prison
7th - Reverse Gravity, Whirlwind, Teleport, Mirage Arcane
8th - Horrid Wilting, Mind Blank, Illusory Dragon, Antimagic Field
9th - Foresight, Psychic Scream, Invulnerability, Time Stop
First, I'd recommend limiting how many 9th level spell slots you have Sygg prepare, as he only holds one slot at a time. Invulnerability is pretty broken if the rest if the group can't dispel it. Time Stop is pretty lackluster without spells that don't (immediately) target other creatures, such as Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Fire Shield or Melf's Minute Meteors. Otherwise, not bad.
I noticed you have Whirlwind prepped. I'd likely start with that, casting it with a bonus action (I ran a storm sorcerer for that) and spend the action to run over a lot of people. With Resilient and Warcaster, breaking concentration will be hard for anyone who can't nova well.
Synaptic Static is a great 5th level spell to slap a clustered group with (such as those being sucked into Whirlwind). Fireball damage with a d6 attack+ability roll penalty on a failed Int save is pretty busted. What's more, the rider effect can't be dispelled once it hits.
I like Magic Missile on an Evoker, but not really on anything else. The damage is just too low at that high of a level.
If Sygg is the kind of person to plan ahead, he should have Contingency set up. I like being attacked triggering Mirror Image, but he'll probably want something else.
He may want some mooks to balance out the action economy. Talk with the DM about what to bring.
Finally, if you really want him to be scary, but only want it to be a mini-boss, have the party fight a Simulacrum. High level wizards can put out really scary numbers quickly between spells like Psychic Scream/Meteor Swarm and Chain Lightning. Spashing in extra damage/utility with bonus action Arcane Hand and you have a high-priority target. A Simulacrum will enable the group to drop it quickly before they're seriously depleted or outright killed. Magic item loot drops may be necessary for this to work without the party being too disappointed with not killing the real guy.