Dark M's Resurrection - A high-powered D&D 3.5 game (NC-Exotic)(Closed)

[Kunoichi]

Once upon a time, an eclectic group of grand villains from many different worlds and planes of existence gathered together and, united under one banner, threatened the very balance of the planes themselves.  Opposed by a gathering of noble heroes of equal power to their own, this alliance of villains plotted and schemed, and fought with all their might... and were ultimately defeated, and either scattered to the winds or destroyed outright by their foes.  Worshiping no gods but themselves, the unclaimed souls of these once-great villains eventually made their way to the lower planes, where they began to go through the long cycle of the soul that all evil men and women must face.

Reborn as pale, writhing maggots, crawling about on the infinite planes of the Abyss, the Nine Hells, or the Grey Wastes of Hades, the souls of these once-great villains forgot almost every detail of their once-mortal lives, their friends and enemies, their loves and losses.  They struggled in their new lives, suffered at the very bottom of the fiendish food chain, and were eventually transformed into proper fiendish forms themselves, becoming Demons, Devils, Yugoloths.

But every great villain always has a backup plan, and as these once-great villains clawed their way up the fiendish hierarchies of their respective afterlives, they began to feel a calling, something beckoning to some long-lost part of themselves, some secret buried deep within.  The strength of the calling grew as their own strength increased, spurring them on to achieve even greater heights of power, until eventually, as they transcended normal fiendish forms and became unique fiends, Altraloths, minor Demon Lords and Dukes or Duchesses of Hell, the calling itself became almost irresistible.  One by one, they made their way to a half-ruined castle in the fog-shrouded forests of Niflheim, the second layer of Hades.  One by one, they were greeted by the master of the castle, a wizened old fiend who treated them like long-lost friends.

And a thousand years after these once-great villains were defeated and destroyed, their memories of their former lives began to reawaken...



Hello, and welcome to the recruitment thread for Dark M's Resurrection.  What does the M stand for, you ask?  Memory, perhaps.  Or Master or Mistress.  Either way, it's a game that originally sprang from the discovery of a template in one of the last issues of Dragon Magazine printed for D&D 3.5 edition, a template designed to be applied to any ordinary monster in order to transform said monster into a Demon Lord.  It was a template that looked like it would be incredibly fun to play around with when creating characters, and that would allow for a type of game that the D&D 3.5 rules would play a key part in, but that would be far removed from the typical D&D experience.

The GM for this game will be Zaer Darkwail, one of Elliquiy's GMs who's had a great deal of experience running D&D 3.5 games.  The basic premise is that the players themselves will be a group of young upstarts on the lower planes, or at least young upstarts by fiendish standards, who have come together and begun cooperating with one another when they would normally be at one another's throats due to discovering that they all possess a shared history that they were unaware of.

Rules for character creation are as follows:

• The characters in this game are not the usual adventurers of a typical D&D campaign.  Instead, they are monsters, unique evil outsiders, Archfiends who live in the infinite layers of the Lower Planes.  To better reflect that fact, characters will be built along CR guidelines rather than ECL guidelines, which should allow for a large variety of different monster characters to be brought to the table, should a player wish to go looking through the various Monster Manuals for character ideas.
• The game will make use of the Archfiend template provided below, and starting characters will be required to be CR 14 and have 16 HD before applying that template (which, as a CR +2 template on its own, will then bring the characters up to CR 16).  Due to the way the template works, both class levels and bonus HD added on to advance the base creature will wind up counting as Outsider hit dice in the end, so every two class levels or HD of advancement added onto the base creature chosen will be worth a +1 CR increase.  Additionally, if the base creature you choose has an odd number of racial hit dice, you can add 1 bonus racial HD without increasing your CR, though taking one extra class level instead will be enough to count for a +1 CR increase.  If you get up to 16 HD and still have extra points of CR left over, you can make up the difference with templates.
• Speaking of templates, you can add on any templates that you have room for in your build without having to worry about whether you would normally be able to qualify for them.  Want to be an evil character with the half-celestial template?  No problem!  An aberration with the lycanthrope template?  Go for it!  The Lower Planes are filled with all sorts of strange, improbable, and downright horrific creatures that have never seen the light of day before, and this rule is intended to help reflect that fact.
• At CR 16, the characters in this game will still fall well short of the power of even the weakest of published Demon Lords or Archdevils, who all have challenge ratings that start in the mid-20s and only go up from there.  This is intentional.  The PCs in this game are intended to be characters who were raised to a unique fiendish form through luck, accident, or the plotting of rivals, and who are now finding themselves in the unenviable position of having a title that many around them covet, and that they don't have the personal power to hold onto for long.  When the upper echelons of the normal fiendish hierarchy are still capable of posing a threat to you, your only chance for survival is working together with other weak Archfiends in similar positions to yourself.
• Characters will be made with Pathfinder-style feat progression (one feat every odd-numbered level), and will be making use of Zaer Darkwail's preferred houserules for empowering some of the game's weaker classes, which can be found here.
• For the other small details of character creation, attributes are to be generated using the Elite Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) and starting wealth is 130,000 gp.  The characters are powerful and exceptional monsters, to be sure, but they're neither the heroes destined to save the world, nor the big villains threatening to destroy it (or at least, not yet).  That said, given the grand history of such items as the Wand of Orcus, Charon's Claw, or the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus, players are allowed (and indeed, heavily encouraged) to spend up to 100,000 gp of their starting wealth on an 'item of power' for themselves, a magic item that doesn't quite measure up to the mighty artifacts held by other Archfiends, but that are nonetheless powerful items in their own right, and that might grow to become proper artifacts with time.
• On a final note, rules are also given below for generating Fiendish Aspects for Archfiend characters.  While aspects are too weak to be of any use in combat, they can often serve well when used for utility purposes, and Archfiends who have had bad experiences being bound and imprisoned on the material plane have learned the hard way that it's usually better to send an aspect when faced with a situation that requires their personal presence in some way.

The Archfiend template

CREATING A LORD OF THE LOWER PLANES
"Archfiend" is an acquired template that may be added to any creature that has taken the Dark Speech feat.  Archfiends are those rare and powerful fiends, be they Dukes and Duchesses of the Nine Hells, Demon Lords of the Abyss, or even the rare Yugoloth who makes a deal with the Night Hags of Hades to be transformed into a uniquely powerful Altraloth, who possess both greater power than the normal rank and file of their kind, and a unique form and set of abilities all their own.
   Upon becoming an Archfiend, the creature's type changes to Outsider and it gains the Evil subtype.  All Archfiends are either Demons, Devils or Yugoloths, and so gain either the Baatezu, Loumara, Obyrith, Tanar'ri or Yugoloth subtype, as appropriate.  Additionally, Archfiends of demonic origin gain the Chaotic subtype (and lose the Lawful subtype, if they previously possessed it), and those of devilish origin gain the Lawful subtype (and lose any Chaotic subtype they once possessed).
   Creatures that possess the Good subtype lose that subtype upon becoming an Archfiend, though they still retain any other subtypes they may possess.
   Hit Dice: The creature's Hit Dice from race and any class levels become d8.  The Archfiend retains all special abilities granted by any former class levels (including spellcasting), but calculates its base attack and base saving throws using its new Hit Dice totals as an outsider.
   Armor Class: An Archfiend's Armor Class can vary, but in order to remain a challenge for a creature of its CR score, you should add natural armor bonuses to the base creature's AC so that its final Armor Class is close (within a few points) to its CR + 20.
   Base Attack: An Archfiend's base attack bonus equals its number of Hit Dice.
   Special Attacks: Feel free to give your new Archfiend a unique and powerful special attack (or just steal a good one from an existing monster, class or prestige class).  Additionally, the archfiend will gain the form of madness special attack if an obyrith, or the ability to summon more of its kind if any other subtype.
   Form of Madness (Su): Use the forms of madness of existing obyriths and obyrith demon lords as a guide for making your own.
   Possession (Su): Use the possession abilities of existing loumaras and other possession-based monsters as a guide for making your own, and feel free to ask if you need examples.
   Summon (type) (Sp): Once per day, an Archfiend of any type other than obyrith or loumara may summon other creatures that share a type or subtype with them.  They may choose up to two of the following options for their summon ability: 1 creature of CR 13-14, 1d3 creatures of CR 11-12, 1d4+1 creatures of CR 9-10, or 1d6+2 creatures of CR8 or below.  This ability functions as a 9th-level spell.
   Spell-Like Abilities: All Archfiends have the following spell-like abilities in addition to any the base creature possesses:
   At-will - blasphemy (or word of chaos for obyriths), desecrate, detect good, detect law (or detect chaos for devils, or detect magic for yugoloths), greater dispel magic, greater teleport, plane shift, telekinesis (or flame strike for devils), unhallow, unholy aura (or cloak of chaos for obyriths), unholy blight (or chaos hammer for obyriths).
   3/day - any one symbol.
   Each Archfiend also possesses two additional at-will spell-like abilities of no higher than 3rd level, two additional 3/day abilities of no higher than 5th level, and two additional 1/day abilities of no higher than 7th level.  These additional spell-like abilities should be chosen to match the Archfiend's "theme."
   An Archfiend has a base caster level for all spell-like abilities equal to their hit dice (to a maximum of 20th level).
   Special Qualities: An Archfiend gains all the special qualities granted by her fiendish race subtype.  In addition, all Archfiends possess the following special qualities in addition to any the base creature possesses:
   Astral Projection (Su): Any Archfiend may use astral projection as the spell, at a caster level equal to their Hit Dice, when within the astral projection room of an iron fortress or a similar locale built into their own personal domains.
   Damage Reduction: All Archfiends possess DR 20/magic and good (and cold iron for demons or silver for devils).
   Spell Resistance: An Archfiend's spell resistance is equal to its CR +13.
   Telepathy: All Archfiends possess telepathy to range of 300 feet (or 100 feet for obyrith lords).
   Additional Qualities: Most Archfiends possess two additional unique special qualities as well.
   Special Weaknesses: While the basic concept behind flaws is solid, the majority of listed flaws are too weak and ineffectual to be dramatically appropriate for player character Archfiends.  Instead, the Archfiends may take up to two thematically-appropriate special weaknesses in exchange for the same number of bonus feats.  These special weaknesses are typically things like having one's special defenses bypassed by attacks with certain properties or items made of a certain material, or taking double damage from certain energy types, or perhaps being treated as a certain creature type for the purposes of harmful spells, supernatural effects, and/or class features (such as a fallen angel turned demon lady who is still treated as having the good subtype whenever it would be harmful to her to do so, even though she no longer has that subtype).
   Saves: All of an Archfiend's saving throws are good saves, based on its total Hit Dice.
   Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +6, Dex +4, Con +6, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +6.
   Skills: Archfiends gain skill points according to their Hit Dice as if they were outsiders.  Their class skills are those the base creature possessed from its race and any class levels it has, but the actual number of skill ranks should be recalculated using the dark lord's outsider Hit Dice.
   Feats: Archfiends gain Dark Speech as a bonus feat.  Upon becoming an Archfiend, the creature may retrain any feats that it finds itself no longer needing (such as if the creature's new class skill list and recalculated skill ranks make qualifying for a prestige class easier, for example).  The newly-chosen feats must be ones the Archfiend would have qualified for at the time that it originally selected the feat, as normal for retraining.
   Challenge Rating: +2

Guidelines for creating Archfiend Aspects

NOTES ON CREATING ASPECTS
For aspects for player character Archfiends styled after those in the Fiendish Codex web enhancements, a few simple rules seem to hold true.  The aspects are to be CR 7 creatures with 8 HD, of the same size, type, and subtypes as the Archfiends from whom they are generated.  An Archfiend can create an aspect as a full-round action, and can have a total of 4 aspects active at any one time.
   Aspects are facets of an Archfiend's existence given some semblance of independent life, and so count as separate creatures from the Archfiend that created them.  While they're separate creatures, however, they're still connected to the being that they're a part of, and this connection manifests in a few specific ways.
   First, the base Archfiend is aware of the relative position and general condition of any aspects it creates, as a status spell, except that this connection extends across planar boundaries.  Second, at any time that it wishes to, an Archfiend can spend a full-round action to scry on its aspect, as the spell scrying (the aspect always counts as a willing creature for the purposes of this effect).  While scrying on one of its aspects, the Archfiend can initiate telepathic contact with it, and this contact allows the Archfiend to use the aspect as a relay for the use of its own social skills.  A Fiendish Aspect being used in this way can make social skill checks using the base Archfiend's ranks in the relevant skills, but otherwise uses its own statistics to determine the final modifier for the skill check.  Finally, the Aspect itself can attempt to contact its base Archfiend as a standard action, essentially sending a signal back along the connection to the Archfiend in an attempt to gain its attention.
   While Fiendish Aspects are artificially-created beings, they are fully viable creatures, not magical effects, and so can survive events such as passing into an Antimagic Field or the death of their base Archfiend.  When such events occur, the connection between Archfiend and Fiendish Aspect is either suppressed or severed, as appropriate for the situation, causing the Archfiend to lose access to the status- and scrying-based effects and the Fiendish Aspect to lose its Fast Healing ability (unless it has the Obyrith subtype) and ability to contact the Archfiend until the connection can be resumed.  Narratively-speaking, if an Archfiend permanently perishes but at least one of its Aspects survives, its fellow Archfiends should probably be able to go on a quest of some sort in order to boost up the Aspect's power and essentially grow it into a full version of the Archfiend it was based on.  If the Archfiend perishes and all four of its Aspects survive, the Aspects should have a Highlander-style battle to the death, with the winner absorbing all the power from the losing Aspects and, again, growing into a full version of the Archfiend it was based on.
   Much like dismissing an active spell effect, an Archfiend that wishes to end the existence of one of its Aspects can do so at any time as a standard action.
   Armor Class: Between dexterity, bonuses from items, and other enhancements, the aspect's AC should be equal to its CR+17.
   Special Abilities: Aspects should have all the special abilities granted by their various subtypes (but with their innate summon or form of madness special attacks weakened accordingly to fit the aspect's CR), and should have an additional one or two special abilities to reflect the specific aspect of their base Archfiend that they represent, be they special attacks, special qualities, spell-like abilities, or even bonus feats.
   Aspects should also have DR 10/Good (and Cold Iron for demons or Silver for devils), and Fast Healing 5 (aspects are the result of conscious effort on the part of their base Archfiends, and receive a steady stream of sustaining power from them).
   If the base Archfiend has taken on any special weaknesses in exchange for bonus feats, the aspect can take on those same weaknesses in exchange for the same number of bonus feats.
   Ability Scores: The aspect's ability scores should be 3/4ths the base ability scores of the base Archfiend (round up if the result is a fraction).
   Skills: The aspect's racial skills are any that the base Archfiend has ranks in.  The aspect may not have more ranks in a skill than its base Archfiend has.
   Feats: The aspect is not required to take the exact same feats in the exact same order as the base Archfiend, but feats should be selected carefully in order to give the aspect similar, but weaker abilities to its base Archfiend.
   Treasure: The aspect is brought into being possessing equipment of up to 9,400 gp in value (equivalent to the starting wealth of an 8th-level NPC).

Edit: Oh, and here's some useful templates for character creation, if needed.

Code (Character Templates and Special Abilities) Select Expand

[b]Name here[/b]
Base creature, templates, and class levels here (fiendish subtype here)
[b]Additional Spell-Like Abilities[/b]
At-will - [i]two spell-like abilities of third level or below[/i]
3/day - [i]two spell-like abilities of fifth level or below, one symbol spell[/i]
1/day - [i]two spell-like abilities of seventh level or below[/i]
[b]Additional Weaknesses[/b]
[i]Additional weakness name (Ex)[/i] Description of additional weakness
[b]Special ability name[/b] List two special qualities and one special attack gained from archfiend template, as well as additional special attack specific to fiendish subtype (Summon for Baatezu, Tanar'ri and Yugoloth, Form of Madness for Obyrith, Possession for Loumara).

Code (Character Sheet) Select Expand

[b]Name here[/b]
Build here
[b]Size/Type:[/b]
[b]Hit Dice:[/b] 16d8+0 (0 hp)
[b]Initiative:[/b] +0
[b]Speed:[/b] 0 ft. (0 squares)
[b]Armor Class:[/b] 10 (+0 Dex), touch 10, flat-footed 10
[b]Base Attack/Grapple:[/b] +0/+0
[b]Attack:[/b]
[b]Full Attack:[/b]
[b]Space/Reach:[/b] 0 ft./0 ft.
[b]Special Attacks:[/b]
[b]Special Qualities:[/b]
[b]Saves:[/b] Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0
[b]Abilities:[/b] Str 0, Dex 0, Con 0, Int 0, Wis 0, Cha 0
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Feats:[/b]
[b]Environment:[/b] An evil-aligned plane
[b]Organization:[/b] Solitary
[b]Challenge Rating:[/b] 16
[b]Alignment:[/b]
[b]Treasure:[/b]

Description here

[b]Combat[/b]
Combat tactics and abilities here.


And that's it for now.  Extra guidelines and restrictions might be added in as needed, but for now, this recruitment thread is officially open.

Edit: And speaking of extra guidelines and restrictions...

• Even if a given race or template would grant your character spellcasting ability in excess of their HD, caster level and spellcasting is capped at an amount equal to HD.  For most spellcasting classes, this will mean starting out with access to 8th-level spells, but not 9th-level spells.
• When determining the racial stat bonuses of a given monster, subtract 11 from odd-numbered attributes or 10 from even-numbered attributes to figure out the monster's stat bonuses.
• The hard cap on an Archfiend's innate, un-buffed AC is 36-40, though buff spells or powers then pumping AC up beyond that range is fine.  If your combination of templates and race and/or class abilities would increase your character's innate AC beyond that range, you can take a constant AC penalty as a special weakness to bring it down and instead gain a bonus feat.
• Archfiends can choose to use their template-granted special attack to gain spellcasting ability.  On its own, this grants spellcasting equal to a 12th-level member of a full-casting base class (wizard, sorcerer, cleric, etc.).  Alternately, they can improve any innate spellcasting they have from racial, template, or class choices to that of a 16th-level caster.
• For determining the save DCs of abilities with saves based on your racial HD, you get to treat your class levels as racial HD, thanks to the Archfiend template.  The reverse isn't true for save DCs from class features, however.
• As is normal for high-level player characters, PCs in this game get four +1 stat increases for being level 16.
• Much like PCs, cohorts (as from the Leadership feat or the Thrallherd prestige class) will be built via CR and will use the elite array.  In order to allow the cohorts to have a meaningful impact on the game without things getting too out of hand, standard cohorts as granted by the Leadership feat (character level -2) are to be built as up to CR 12 individuals with up to 14 HD, and those granted by the Thrallherd prestige class and/or boosted by the Improved Cohort feat (character level -1) are to be built as up to CR 13 individuals with up to 15 HD.  Unlike PC Archfiends, cohorts must follow the standard rules for applying templates and for advancing monsters, though they do get to count all class levels as non-associated class levels (1 class level = 1/2 CR, in other words).
• Followers are built as normal, being effectively a mortal cult devoted to the worship of your character.
• If you wish, your 100,000 gp item of power may be a set of linked magic items, such as a pair of swords or other weapons that your Archfiend dual-wields.  Such items must be paid for as normal, with their combined cost adding up to no more than 100,000 gp.  However, players may add a single special ability that is not equivalent to a +X enhancement bonus in cost to all items in the set, while only paying for it once.  This ability functions as a special set bonus that only functions when all items in the set are equipped, worn or wielded.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Nice work Kunoichi, for folks in advice and GM approval for builds and such Kunoichi functions as co-GM but in actual story leading/writing I work as GM. Also I will have GM-PC which will be part of the party but acts/serves largerly in supporting role. Below is my char which was made in earlier incarnation of the game (need edit stuff on it and re-write background anew to present villainous life before becoming fiendish entity). Anyways I recommend check my house ruled core classes, as they push some 'dead classes' up a tier or two or be more useful and competitive regarding later published classes (example hexblade updated so it's competitive choice for gish or gish like core class along side of duskblade with own flavor with adding soulknife class features on hexblade).

Vholdran, the seer of Abyss

Size/Type: Large outsider (extraplanar, chaotic, evil, obyrith)
Hit Dice: 16d8+176 (304 hp); Regeneration 15
Resist: 10 Cold and Fire, SR 29
Immunity: Acid, Electricity, Poison, Mind-Affecting
Languages: Common, Giant, Abyssal, Infernal, Goblin, Orc, Elven, Draconic, Celestial, Ignan, Auran, Terran, Aqua, Undercommon, Dwarven, Slaadi
Initiative: +10
Speed: 40 ft, 40'ft flight (good)
Armor Class: 33 (+6 Dex, -1 size, +10 natural armor, +2 Insight, +6 armor), touch 17, flat-footed 33
Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+40
Attack: +37 Fel Fire Staff (1d8+24+2d6 unholy+3d6 surge+brutal surge) or +37 Gauntlets of Destruction (1d6+24 20/x2) or +22 ranged touch spell
Full Attack: +37/+32/+27/+22 fel fire staff or gauntlets of destruction (+4 hit&dmg if have cast magic weapon, greater on either one)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-Alike Abilities, Divine spellcasting, Hidden Spell, Seer's Sight
Special Qualities: DR 20/Magic, Good and Cold Iron, Telepathy 100'ft, True Seeing (constant), Gaze of Madness, Change Shape, Darkvision 60'ft, Low-Light Vision, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Scry Bonus, Prescient Sense, Trap Sense+2, Divination Enchantment, Knowledge is Power, Lore, Enhanced Attributes, Prodigy (Int), Enigma Aura, Cloak of Mystery, Abyssal Prophet, Weakness to Magical Fire
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th, DC 23+spell level, +3 w/divinations)
   At will--astral projection, darkness, word of chaos, desecrate, detect good, detect law, greater dispel magic, greater teleport, plane shift,
   telekinesis, unhallow, cloak of chaos, chaos hammer, invisibility, mage armor (greater), alter fortune
   3/day--symbol of insanity, contact other plane, commune with planes (same as commune with nature but works only in planar environment)
   1/day--charm person, cone of cold, gaseous form, sleep, vision, arcane sight (greater)
   1/week--divination
Spellcasting (divine) (CL 16th, DC 23+spell level, +3 w/divinations)
   8--(3 prepared)
   7--(4 prepared)
   6--(6 prepared)
   5--(6 prepared)
   4--(6 prepared)
   3--(7 prepared)
   2--(8 prepared)
   1--(8 prepared)
   0--(6 prepared)
Saves: Fort +24, Ref +21, Will +22 (10 base, +3 MoL, stats, +2 insight to reflex from foresight)
Abilities: Str 36, Dex 22, Con 32, Int 26, Wis 28, Cha 28
Skills: Appraise +18, Bluff +30, Diplomacy +25, Concentration +30, Decipher Script +18, Disguise +18, Gather Information +25, Heal +15, Intimidate +25, Knowledge [Arcana] +31, Knowledge [Architecture] +20, Knowledge [History] +20, Knowledge [Geography] +20, Knowledge [Local] +20, Knowledge [Planes] +34, Knowledge [Religion] +20, Knowledge [Nobility] +20, Knowledge [Dungeoneering] +20, Knowledge [Nature] +20, Listen +21, Sense Motive +26, Search +21, Speak Language (8 ranks), Spellcraft +31, Sleight of Hand +15, Spot +21, Survival +10
Skill Tricks: Never Outnumbered, Collector of Stories, Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal, Spot the Weak Point, Swift Concentration, Social Recovery
Feats (8): Improved Initiative (b), Mindsight (retrained from Multiattack) (b), Dark Speech (b), Skill Focus [Knowledge: Planes], Spell Focus [Divination], Greater Spell Focus [Divination], Insightful Divination, Arcane Mastery, Summon Elemental [reserve], Leadership, Improved Cohort
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 16
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Treasure:

Staff of Fel Fire (86,380gp)

Staff of Fel Fire is unique domain staff which embraces fire domain spells but corrupts them all to evil aligned (automatically apply corrupt spell metamagic feat for them). The staff also counts as +1 Brutal Unholy Surge large darkwood staff when used in combat. Staff also holds three charges (+4 one charge, +6 two charges) which allow increase caster level to overcome spell resistance on foes and also allows three times per day extend spells of 6th level or lower.

Spells in staff;

1: Nothing
2: Corrupt Burning Hands
3: Corrupt Produce Flame
4: Corrupt Resist Energy (cold or fire)
5: Corrupt Firewall
6: Corrupt Fireshield
7: Corrupt Fire Seeds
8: Corrupt Firestorm
9: Corrupt Incendiary Cloud
10: Corrupt Elemental Swarm

(item math; 50,380gp for a +5 weapon, 27,000 (36,000gp) fire domain staff properties (with slight change), 3,500gp (7,000gp) tomebound eye of boccob, 5,500gp (11,000gp) metamagic rod; extend

, Robe of Mysterious Conjuration (10,000gp), Prayer Bead (bless, healing, karma) (9,600gp), Gauntlets of Destruction (14,610gp, +1 cold iron gauntlets), Hood of Persuasion (4,500gp), Ring of Counterspells (4,000gp), wand of true casting 50/50 (750gp), 160gp

Before you stands a 8'ft tall green skinned ogre with milky white eyes and wearing dark purple robes and wearing necklace of skulls made from medium humanoids (elves, humans, dwarves, orcs etc). He carries a fel wood carved burning staff in one hand besides him.

Regeneration: Vholdran restores 15 non-lethal damage per round and all damage he receives is non-lethal. Even if limbs are severed they can be attached back if place bloodied stump back in place or they regrow back. In case of loss of major part (like head) it needs connect to body in 1 minute or else Vholdran dies. Only fire overcomes this regeneration and does lethal damage.

Divine Spellcasting: Vholdran has divine spellcasting like a cleric equal to his HD and he has access to Oracle Domain power (+2 CL to divinations) and domain spell list. In addition he has three other domain spell access but not powers of the domains; Destiny, Dream and Mind.

Gaze of Madness (Sp): Anyone who fall under Vholdran's gaze in 30'ft are targeted by madness which lurks inside his pervasive corrupted mind (this replaces normal form of madness). Diverting your gaze away from his eyes is no defense against his gaze and target must roll a will save DC 31 or be affected by the gaze. Anyone who succeeds on the will save are unaffected by it and cannot be affected again in 24 hours. Those who fail, are struck with a vision of their own demise and are so convinced on the truth of the vision (even if it's false) that they loose all hope and suffer -5 to all rolls and with 10% chance per day their madness makes them perform suicide as means to escape the horrible fate which awaits them. However this madness provides twisted hope as well; as if they perform a unquestionably chaotic evil deed, their demise does not come to pass. So person can remove their own madness in doing such deed and they receive +5 bonus to all rolls while performing the deed itself. Once done, their alignment shifts to chaotic evil and madness no longer lurks in them. Chaotic evil outsiders are immune to the gaze's effect.

Change Shape (Su): Vholdran can take shape of any small, medium or large humanoid or giant.

Uncanny Dodge+Improved Uncanny Dodge: Vholdran cannot loose dexterity bonus to his AC nor he cannot be flanked unless by 10th level rogues.

Scry Bonus: Gain +1 to save DC with divinations, stacks with spell focus.

Prescient Sense: Whenever faced with reflex save where you would get half of dmg or reduced effect, instead suffer no damage nor effect at all. Works like evasion expect can be done with any armor.

Trap Sense+2: Gain +2 bonus to AC and reflex saves against traps.

Divination Enchantment: Can re-roll with divination spell results with spells like augury and divination.

Knowledge is Power: Thanks stealing secrets from Paragnostic Assembly society and digging into deeper abyssal secrets he has gained handful useful secrets.

• Call of Worlds: Creatures called with summoning (conjuration) gain fast healing 5 for duration of the summoning.
• Discern Weakness [Evil Outsiders, Good Outsiders]: Thanks studies to weaknesses of outsiders of evil and good Vholdran gains +1 spell save DC added to all spells which target such creatures.
• Manifest Ethos [Evil]: When Vholdran cast offensive spells against good creatures, half of the damage dealt is from a divine source and cannot be resisted normally.
• Penetrating Insight: Vholdran gains +1 to CL to overcome spell resistance or dispel other creatures spells.

Lore (Ex): Vholdran can roll a lore check (+23 modifier) and get knowledge as if using bardic knowledge about any subject (or even very obscure ones).

Enhanced Attributes: All spells, spell-alike or supernatural abilities get +4 to their save DC.

Prodigy: Vholdran is natural prodigy in intelligence, so he gets +2 bonus to Int and also +4 to any checks (including skills) with intelligence.

Enigma Aura (Su): Vholdran is capable shrouding his presence from minds of others, so with free action (once per day) he activates a aura which lasts one minute. During it creatures in 120'ft have 50% chance to be unable to attack Vholdran because they do not notice he is there at all.

Hidden Spell (Su): Once per day as swift action when Vholdran casts a spell against a flat-footed foe, the foe receives -4 penalty to all saves against all spells and spell-alike abilities he casts during that turn.

Cloak of Mystery (Su): Vholdran's true name, deeds and origins have been erased entirely from the cosmos, expect from Dagon who is only one who knows his true identity. All divinations cast against Vholdran or gain information about him fail automatically. Vholdran becomes aware of this attempt and he gets name, appearance and location of the caster who tried gain information from him.

Abyssal Prophet (Sp): Thanks countless vision trips to Abyss and it's secrets and opening his mind even further in his ascension, he has gained prophetic powers. His eyes are milky white (appears blind) but he can see just fine. He gets often augury spell effect in regards decisions (decided by GM where it applies) along with small vision regarding decision or task what he is going to take. Also if he needs divine on specific matter he can once per week do meditation which works like divination spell. Also he is under constant foresight spell.

In addition his divination spells and spell-alike abilities are more potent; he can target divinations on foes who either naturally or by spell/item are immune to divinations (or immune mind-affecting as some divinations are). Abyss itself help on his divinations and so only spell resistance and save against spell (or interference of a god) hinder his divinations. However abyss holds no influence to forces which are direct opposite to it, so lawful good outsiders/gods or people are immune to this power (but can be targeted with divinations normally none the less).

Abyssal Gaze of the Seer (Su): Vholdran's can conjure three burning green fire eye spheres, conjuring each sphere is a full round action but once created he can move each eye 40'ft as free action before he takes his own turns (each eye has 40'ft good flight speed). He can see, commune (telepathically) and attack through these eyes (both with spells and physical attacks), however the eyes do not block line of effect, sight and foes can stand even same squares as eyes do (but it renders them vulnerable for his melee attacks). If he moves further than 1 mile away from these eyes, the eyes disappear and they reform back to besides him. Foes cannot destroy eyes (as they are not physical) and they cannot harm Vholdran through them but they can be dispelled (as a 8th level spell with CL of Vholdran's HD), however doing so results the eye returning besides Vholdran himself. Also foes can ready action to attack when Vholdran makes his attack through a eye (he needs place hand/weapon through the eye to able physically attack a foe).

Weakness to Magical Fire: Besides only means to overcome Vholdran's regeneration 15, magical fire spell damage is considered to be vile damage to him, meaning even if he receives lethal damage from the fire he cannot heal it away with any magic nor fast healing or other method at all. He must remain 1 day in unhallowed ground before he can heal the fire damage away. Natural hazard or alchemy created fire damage is not considered vile damage but it overcomes his regeneration.

True Seeing (Su): Vholdran is under constant true seeing effect, this effect cannot be dispelled.

Demon Prince Upgrades

Vholdran
Legendary Monster (+2 CR) Vecna-Blooded (+1 CR) Ogre Magi (+5 CR) Prodigy (+0 CR) Divine Oracle 6/Paragnostic Apostle 5 (+6 CR) Demon Prince (+2 CR) = 16 CR/16 HD
Additional Spell-Like Abilities
   At-will - Mage Armor (greater), Alter Fortune
   3/day - Symbol of Pain, Contact Other Plane, commune with planes (same as commune with nature but works only in planar environment)
   1/day - Vision, Arcane Sight
Additional Weaknesses
Weakness to Magical Fires (Ex) Besides only means to overcome Vholdran's regeneration 15, magical fire spell damage is considered to be vile damage to him, meaning even if he receives lethal damage from the fire he cannot heal it away with any magic nor fast healing or other method at all. He must remain 1 day in unhallowed ground before he can heal the fire damage away. Natural hazard or alchemy created fire damage is not considered vile damage but it overcomes his regeneration.

Abyssal Gaze of the Seer (Su): Vholdran's can conjure three burning green fire eye spheres, conjuring each sphere is a full round action but once created he can move each eye 40'ft as free action before he takes his own turns (each eye has 40'ft good flight speed). He can see, commune (telepathically) and attack through these eyes (both with spells and physical attacks), however the eyes do not block line of effect, sight and foes can stand even same squares as eyes do (but it renders them vulnerable for his melee attacks). If he moves further than 1 mile away from these eyes, the eyes disappear and they reform back to besides him. Foes cannot destroy eyes (as they are not physical) and they cannot harm Vholdran through them but they can be dispelled (CL is Vholdran's HD), however doing so results the eye returning besides Vholdran himself. Also foes can ready action to attack when Vholdran makes his attack through a eye (he needs place hand/weapon through the eye to able physically attack a foe). The eyes cannot enter anti-magic field nor exists in there (anti-magic field removes them for good and need conjured again).
Source: This is based on Hex Windows ability by Sharns from Forgotten Realms (found in monsters of faerun). The change is mostly the appearance, movement speed (20'ft increased to 40'ft which is same as Vholdran's natural flight speed) and distance from 100'ft to 1 mile (so eyes can function as 'watch posts' and fit for demon prince than rare aberration species ability). But all other details are the same as Sharn Hex Windows (added the dispel details as Sharn one lacked as dispel magic needs roll CL check vs mine so I mentioned how it's calculated).

Abyssal Prophet (Sp): Thanks countless vision trips to Abyss and it's secrets and opening his mind even further in his ascension, he has gained prophetic powers. His eyes are milky white (appears blind) but he can see just fine. He gets often augury spell effect in regards decisions (decided by GM where it applies) along with small vision regarding decision or task what he is going to take. Also if he needs divine on specific matter he can once per week do meditation which works like divination spell. Also he is under constant foresight spell.

In addition his divination spells and spell-alike abilities are more potent; he can target divinations on foes who either naturally or by spell/item are immune to divinations (or immune mind-affecting as some divinations are). In short his divinations can be only foiled by spell resistance, successful saving throw (or by divine powers of a god), nothing else.
Source: Simply the prophet special quality in DMG II, originally part my template setup but seer's sight was moved to special attack I used the freed special ability slot to get prophet qualities I wanted (but basically Vholdran had such abilities even before becoming demon prince in background wise). The piercing of divinations/immunities is similar what some other demon prince/archdevils have, so I took it as part of this ability and so this ability counts as two special abilities than just one.

Gaze of Madness (Sp): Anyone who fall under Vholdran's gaze in 30'ft are targeted by mad visions which lurks inside his pervasive corrupted mind (this replaces normal form of madness). Diverting your gaze (or being blind) away from his eyes is no defense against his gaze and target must roll a will save DC 31 or be affected by the gaze. Anyone who succeeds on the will save are shaken permanently until they spend a single day away from abyss (immunity to fear applies here). Those who fail, are struck with a vision of their own demise/dark fate and are so convinced on the truth of the vision that they loose all hope and suffer -5 to all rolls and with 10% chance per day their madness makes them perform suicide as means to escape the horrible fate which awaits them. However this madness provides hope; as if they perform a unredeemable chaotic evil deed, their demise does not come to pass. So person can remove their own madness in doing such deed and they receive +5 bonus to all rolls while performing the deed. Once done, their alignment shifts to chaotic evil and madness no longer lurks in them. Chaotic evil outsiders are immune to the gaze's effect.
Source: None specific, albeit Dagon's ability inflicted almost to his charisma modifier amount penalties and considering I have destiny domain as one sources of divine spell, in there is bestow curse (greater) so I sort created similar serious debuf but based on roughly half (rounded up) charisma modifier total for all rolls along with small chance how it can be fatal (drive folks to suicide). Break condition from this curse/madness is doing a deed which changes your alignment to chaotic evil. The truth of the vision Vholdran gaze gives is up to GM but my own suggestion would be it should be 'self manifesting' prophecy (meaning knowledge of existence of the vision drives to make it to become true where ignorance would had led it not be happening).

True Seeing(Su): Vholdran is under constant true seeing effect, this effect cannot be dispelled.

Vholdran's Background

Time as villain

In mortal life Vholdran was born as human man named as Alexander Brightrune, a academic scholar from long forgotten mortal plane where gods were highest authority and power which was respected as was the clergy. He was man of logic, science and one who attempted prove that not all were god's creation (which was true) despite the heavily religious society frowned upon his research and went uproar when he proved the existence of demons which had no origin in gods anyway and that gods originated from plane of chaos (abyss) before they reformed and identified themselves as lawful divine entities and thus explains why demons hate so much gods who wrecked their homeplane! Albeit it was truth with not taking sides with anyone, the idea that gods are less than abyss (or born from it) was viewed unfavorably. Only reason why he was not burned on as heretic was because he was close to largest kingdom king, since kids, as his father and king's father were comrades in arms and they had played together as kids. Albeit king cringed on discoveries, he understood his friend intended only research the truth but he warned truth is not what people want to hear in their country.

Alexander would had remained unremarkable in cosmic scale if not for one incident; where his only child, a son, was killed in mysterious circumstances. His wife had passed away in illness several years ago and he was still wrecked by it and so his son was all what he had left from her. But he now was dead as well, so far cause was indicated to be accident by falling from a bridge into river. However Alexander knew his son was strong swimmer and so all did not add up to him, so he studied and performed autopsy on his son's corpse (doing autopsy on corpse is heretical deed and taboo but he had done so in secret for years). He found out his son had been poisoned and there was fine injection point at son's chest where poison entered and stopped his heart! He was murdered!

Alexander carried out secretly investigation with aid of some king's knights he figured out the truth; mastermind behind the deed was none other than high priest of the church! A blessed seer who spoke to population about visions of god and about future! Motive; simply high priest hated Alexander so much he killed his son, source of last of his joy and pride, as self-declared divine punishment for his crime seeking the truth and he had got 'vision' from god as approval for said deed....the evidence for high priest involvement was thin and considering him being beloved figure he could not be put on court for murder. Alexander's soul then turned to darkness, cursing gods and divinity for taking his beloved son (and now blaming loosing his wife who died on illness yet priests declared her to be 'incurable'!). He started practice dark magics, tracking forbidden knowledge with scholar's keen mind and resources of academy and king behind him (albeit he did not inform king what for he needed his resources besides on note of 'research'). Becoming obsessed for knowledge, magic and power for revenge! He became ur-priest, a false priest who stole from divinity their magic! Thanks his new powers he became highly respected man and he started become a prophet who told prophecies of glory and fame for nobles who then happily gave him coin, more so when his visions came true despite high priest denying him having visionary powers!

But the fact was that he created prophecies, created event with mastermind manner and create image he had predicted events when in truth he had orchestrated them! Even bad events! Eventually he saw vision of great disaster coming to kingdom and high priest denied it, in end those who followed his vision advice for survival (including the king) survived the disaster (in form of undead plaque which he unleashed with dark divine power) which he orchestrated while his enemies perished. King trusting him elected him as high priest (high priest had perished during the plaque), unawares he had become false prophet serving only his own needs.

He continued years manipulating and scheming, increasing his political influence and soon he replaced monarchy with himself as ruling figure in his plane, leading his people on planes beyond as relentless fanatic zealot army (following false ideals and false god visions) which he wielded to gain more and more personal power! He teamed up with some fellow villains which his own information network and divinations had foretold they either would be his greatest allies or foes, preferring first option over the other. Overtime his divine magic, especially divination, became key for the council of overlords plan their operations and conquests and they one by one took demiplanes and some key planar locations under their united control and started be cosmic threat to all good and just across the planes. His own goal remaining in do deificide, erase existence of gods from universe and sense of true divinity while wielding army of divine inspired zealots.

But then he got a genuine vision (instead one which he made up), a vision from darkness and evil (abyss) showing downfall of the overlords....he warned them but they all were confident them able change their destinies. He was hopeful but not fool, so he secured a special artifact called a soul casket, a device which stores part of the soul of the donor and overtime imbuing said soul will grant original owner of the soul piece great powers, however it was long process and needed secure a planar plane on specific magical line (to said spot he build greatest fort overlords had and placed soul casket in there). But most importantly it allows store piece of soul when it would otherwise be vaporized, undone or otherwise erased. Allowing restore what was removed. As Alexander was confronted and then defeated, he faced his defeat in the way how high priest would had wanted see him to die; on flames. He was burned alive by a divine magic wielder, death not coming slowly as priestess who did it wanted make him suffer all sins he had done! Branding on his flesh over and over again with flames before in great inferno burn the body! Because of his defiance on gods, destiny and not having gods, his soul descended to chaotic plans of abyss, world which he had studied much and led his life by selfish desire since his revenge when he lost all faith for good and just and in humanity itself. His soul was absorbed in oldest corners of abyss, reformed anew as monstrous brute with odd insights.....

Vholdran was born from ooze of abyss, like most demons (tana'ri). He evolved from a nameless predatory worm into a hulking green malicious brute with keen intellect and mind, full of vigor and energy! Taking everything he wanted with brute force and brutish magic powers as well, albeit for brute he had unusual keen mind. But one day he started plagued by visions of abyss, which seemed guide and advice him and alert from danger. rapidly his vigorous body withered and crumbled, in appearance alone but none the less unsettling manner. Then realize he had ceased to be tana'ri and transformed into obyrith?! He started deceive demons with his frail appearance which disguised his brutish might which he still had and worked as seer, but thanks his vision he learned that source of these visionary powers (and source of transformation) come from Dagon, one obyriths of the abyss and one ancient beings. He was driven to confront Dagon, whom he felt odd connection towards somehow. As he confronted him, demanding what their odd connection was Dagon revealed that connection existed because of a pact (a bargain struck) which was forged before Vholdran ever even emerged from abyssal slimes. A pact which secures Vholdran with protection against anyone finding out who he truly is, expect by Dagon who is aware of who and what Vholdran is but was not anyway bound nor obligated to tell. This intrigued Vholdran but Dagon refused reveal further details. With this Vholdran started seriously study, research and seek discover who he was before he became creature known as Vholdran? It meant studying history and needed resources to do so.

As part of his journey he joined Paragnostic Assembly, under alias as elf scholar with handsome visage called Rey'tharun Windwalker. He befriend many people in the assembly and was renowned as scholar, educator and then part of deepest ranks in organization. But despite he learned much, he learned nothing about his origin which eluded himself. But then he got tempting over by cell led by Vecna priestess, Morgana; she told she can reveal a clue how Vholdran can discover who he was if he betrays assembly by allowing Vecna's cultists plunder and rob their vaults of knowledge from tomes and various artifacts. Vholdran did not hesitate, he betrayed his friends and associates and let cultists in and they plundered the vaults thoroughly. The priestess told she sensed a 'echo' of Vholdran's soul in a layer in Hades, a part of him which hides in there in ancient castle somehow. That much her god of secrets had told and shown.

Vholdran pessimistic on entire thing (he did not trust gods despite he used divine magic), he traveled to Hades and found the castle the woman spoke. He entered the castle and it felt oddly familiar to him....then he found a round table, made from unknown black material which felt and appeared made from mixture of stone and metal. A carved symbols in dark speech in table's edges and symbol in table's surface and there were chairs evenly around the table, chairs which were majestic like thrones and had unique carvings and symbols in them. One chair called for him....as he moved take seat the chair expanded to his new natural bulk and once he did he felt surge of power radiate from the table upon him and then.....he learned of everything! Who he was, him being one famous villains which deeds even today several centuries since defeat are spread across the cosmos! With his visionary powers he learned fast the others, other overlords, had reincarnated as well as fiends. Cackling darkly he started channel his powers on table, use it call, lure, the other overlords towards the castle in form of visions and dreams or overall instinct. Time for rebirth of overlords is at hand.....as ambitions which he had as mortal man, he held them still even as fiendish entity as innate desire than something he learned to crave in mortal life.

Vholdran's enemies and allies

Vholdran has Paragnostic Assembly (detailed in Complete Champion) which considers him top wanted targets to be captured alive/killed off if possible. They hunted actively but Vholdran hid to heat calm down but his active nemesis is his former close (read; intimate) friend; Archmage Alactra. Besides this he had made and broke alliances as tana'ri/obyrith over the long centuries but overall since becoming overfiend since becoming obyrith only few fiends are worth to mentioned as enemies. Dagon himself is only one who knew about Alexander/Vholdran's masterplan and knows who he (and other) Archfiends are. He has no binding oath to refuse sharing information, but problem overall is nobody else knows about it besides Vholdran and Dagon. More so Dagon needs bribed to tell any information at all even if he happens to know about it and price of obyrith services can be heavy indeed.

Vholdran's Fiendish Aspects (Prophet, Mystic, Messenger and Insidious Adviser)

Aspect of Vholdran
Size/Type:  Large outsider (extraplanar, chaotic, evil, obyrith)
Hit Dice: 8d8+56 (120 hp); Fast Healing 5
Resist: 10 Acid, Cold, Electricity and Fire, SR 20
Immunity: Poison, Mind-Affecting
Languages: Common, Giant, Abyssal, Infernal, Goblin, Orc, Elven, Draconic, Celestial, Ignan, Auran, Terran, Aqua, Undercommon, Dwarven, Slaadi
Initiative: +5
Speed: 40 ft, 40'ft flight (good)
Armor Class: 24 (+3 Dex, -1 size, +10 natural armor, +2 armor), touch 13, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+20
Attack: +17 Fel Fire Staff (1d8+9 + 2d6 unholy) or +17 masterwork cold iron gauntlet or +11 ranged touch spell
Full Attack: +17/+12 fel Fire Staff or +17/+12 masterwork cold iron gauntlet
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Varies (see in below)
Special Qualities: Varies (see in below), DR 10/cold iron&good, Telepathy 100'ft, True Seeing (constant), Gaze of Madness, Darkvision 60'ft, Low-Light Vision
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +11
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 17, Con 24, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 21
Skills: Appraise +10, Bluff +16, Diplomacy +16, Concentration +12, Decipher Script +6, Disguise +10, Gather Information +10, Heal +10, Intimidate +16, Knowledge [Arcana] +15, Knowledge [architecture] +10, Knowledge [History] +10, Knowledge [Geography] +10, Knowledge [Local] +10, Knowledge [Planes] +15, Knowledge [Religion] +10, Knowledge [Nobility] +10, Knowledge [Dungeoneering] +10, Knowledge [Nature] +10, Listen +10, Sense Motive +10, Search +10, Speak Language (8 ranks), Spellcraft +15, Sleight of Hand +13, Spot +10
Skill Tricks: Collector of Stories, Social Recovery, Never Outnumbered
Feats: Dark Speech, Mindsight, Varies (see in below)
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Treasure: +1 darkwood unholy large staff (8,380gp), masterwork cold iron gauntlets 320gp, leather robes (masterwork leather armor) (310gp), 390gp in gems

Before you stands a 8'ft tall green skinned ogre with milky white eyes and wearing dark purple robes and wearing necklace of skulls made from medium humanoids (elves, humans, dwarves, orcs etc). He carries a fel wood carved burning staff in one hand besides him.

Gaze of Madness(Sp): When foes reach 30'ft from aspect of Vholdran, they need roll will save DC 19 or else affected by Vision of Entropy spell. Every round foe remains in 30'ft from aspect must repeat the save and once they leave the 30'ft radius the aura's effect lingers 8 rounds as echo from the effect.

True Seeing (Su): Vholdran is under constant true seeing effect, this effect cannot be dispelled.

There are four aspects of Vholdran and they each embrace a part of him and thus they have different set of abilities or special attacks with each. Details for each one is listed in below;

Prophet

Prophet embraces Vholdran's prowess as a seer, so 'Prophet' holds following special qualities; Abyssal Prophet and Spell-Alike Abilities. Feats of choice are Spell Focus (Divination) and Insightful Divination (because later feat and his at-will ability he has +3 insight bonus to initiative and can anytime spend it to get +3 insight bonus to any save).

Abyssal Prophet (Sp): Thanks countless vision trips to Abyss and it's secrets and opening his mind even further in his ascension, aspect of Vholdran has gained prophetic powers. His eyes are milky white (appears blind) but he can see just fine. He gets often augury spell effect in regards decisions (decided by GM where it applies) along with small vision regarding decision or task what he is going to take. Also if he needs divine on specific matter he can once per week do meditation which works like divination spell. Also he is under constant foresight spell. (because foresight he has +2 insight bonus to reflex saves and AC)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th, DC 15+spell level, +1 w/divinations)
   At will--Divine Insight
   3/day--Contact Other Plane
   1/week--Divination

Mystic

Mystic embraces Vholdran's offensive prowess with magic and is sort of enforcer type aspect. Mystic has following special qualities; Abyssal Gaze of the Seer and spell-alike abilities. Feats of choice are improved initiative and arcane mastery.

Abyssal Gaze of the Seer (Su): Aspect of Vholdran can conjure one burning green fire eye sphere, conjuring sphere is a full round action but once created he can move eye 40'ft as free action before he takes his own turn actions (eye has 40'ft good flight speed). He can see, commune (telepathically) and attack through this eyes (both with spells, spell-alike and physical attacks), however the eyes do not block line of effect nor sight and foes can stand even same squares as eye do (but it renders them vulnerable for his melee attacks). If he moves further than 1 mile away from this eye, the eye disappear and it reforms back to besides him. Foes cannot destroy eye (as it's not physical) and they cannot harm Aspect through them but it can be dispelled (with CL of Aspect's HD), however doing so results the eye returning besides Aspect himself. Also foes can ready action to attack when Aspect makes his attack through a eye (he needs place hand/weapon through the eye to able physically attack a foe or cast somatic spell).

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th, DC 15+spell level)
   At will--Corrupt Produce Flame
   3/day--Corrupt Firewall

Messenger

Messenger embraces Vholdran's aspect as cunning speaker and skills in social interaction and also deception. Messenger has following special qualities; Change Shape, Cloak of Mystery. Feats of choice are communicator and persuasive.

Change Shape (Su): Aspect of Vholdran can take shape of any small, medium or large humanoid or giant, limited to 8 HD or less.

Cloak of Mystery (Su): Aspect's true name, deeds and origins have been erased entirely from the cosmos, expect from Dagon (and true Vholdran) who is only one who knows his true identity. All divinations cast against Vholdran or gain information about him fail automatically. Vholdran becomes aware of this attempt and he gets name, appearance and location of the caster who tried gain information from him.

Insidious Adviser

Adviser aspect presents Vholdran's nature as scholarly adviser and mentor to those who seek knowledge but as saying goes; knowledge is power and power corrupts and thus knowledge corrupts. Adviser has following special qualities; Lore and Prodigy. Feats of choice are knowledge devotion and skill focus (knowledge:planes).

Lore(Ex): Aspect can roll a special knowledge check with +12 bonus which functions like bardic knowledge.

Prodigy(Ex): Aspect is prodigy in intelligence and so gets +4 to all intelligence checks, including skills (all int related skills get +4 bonus).

Combat
Aspects of Vholdran combat tactics wary depending on which aspect your fighting;

Prophet: Prophet is never caught off guard and so he prepares his minions and tactics according what his visions reveal to him. But if he's alone he would avoid conflict than actively seek it but if cornered he uses his fel fire staff to beat his enemies into submission and let his gaze of madness do work for him. If pressured he will fly away from his foes to recover and dig information from his foes to better prepare and even contact enemies if any of those foes and use enemies against them.

Mystic: Mystic would seek control his enemies with using corrupt firewall to separate close combatants from casters and then fly over to attack casters with his staff or fire from above with his corrupt produce flame. He uses abyssal gaze of the seer to spy mostly but he can use the eye as proxy to attack foes who are unfamiliar with powers of his eye or place it center of corrupt firewalls as he can attack through eye and eye is not harmed by the flames. Or use eye as means get close or expand radius of his gaze of madness.

Messenger: If messenger ends up into a fight, it means something has gone wrong badly. But if cornered he fights with fel fire staff and flies away if situation turns bad like prophet would. Messenger amongst the other Vholdran's aspects makes frequent use of dark speech (even if all are capable of it).

Insidious Adviser: Adviser would use knowledge devotion to get insight bonus on his foes and then engage them if cornered, but overall same as messenger something has gone wrong if adviser is fighting.

[Kunoichi]

And speaking of my role as co-GM, there are a couple of small changes made to the template since the previous game that mean Vholdran's character sheet will need to be changed slightly, as well.  The DR for Archfiend characters was changed from DR20/Epic and Good to DR 20/Magic and Good (and Cold Iron, in Vholdran's case) and I removed Polymorph (self only) from the list of spell-like abilities that the template grants.

The former was done because DR/Epic seems a bit overkill in a game like this one where our characters won't be epic level themselves, and the latter was done because there are a number of published demon lords and other archfiends that don't have any sort of polymorphing or shapechanging abilities, and because I figured that anyone who actually wanted to base a character around polymorphing or otherwise transforming themselves would be able to pick up that ability rather easily, even without getting it at-will for free.

[Sain]

The premise sounds really cool and framework for character building very exciting!

Can't wait to get a chance to start looking at templates and base creature options ;D

[Zaer Darkwail]

*edits above sheet*

Done, anything else?

[Kunoichi]

Can't wait to get a chance to start looking at templates and base creature options ;D

I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. ^^

*edits above sheet*

Done, anything else?

The only other thing I can see that needs adjusting is his Gaze of Madness ability, which is just a bit too strong.  Remove the part where it leaves opponents shaken even if they successfully save against it and it will be perfect, however. ^^

[Zaer Darkwail]

*edit*

Done. Also changed some wording (unredeemable changed to unquestionable as Atonement spell can still forgive the deed done).

[Muse]

  Oooh oooh  oooh!  :)  I'd love to play! 

  So, when building these base creactuers... 

  To use the example, Zaer should have 4 hit dice from ogre, and a bunch of cleric class levels?  and then the basic hit dice mechancis for all of these became evil outsider levels when you took the template? 

  What's the mechancis there?  Creature challenge rating + 1/2 CR per level or extra hit dice? 

  that is interesting.  :)  Have I got it right? 

[Zaer Darkwail]

Actually I took the monster of legend template the ability that I had divine casting levels like a 5th level cleric and from three domains (I just replaced the three listed domains to more fitting for my char). So no cleric levels and then levels with various PrC's to progress it.

[Sain]

Ohh, Monster of Legend does look like a really nice option to add. Lots of small fun abilities and qualities.

[avorae]

I am so in. will try and get a character up in the next few days

[Zaer Darkwail]

Yeah, but with reflective hide remember it recharges only once per round (start of monster's turn). So per turn you can turn back spells up to max value of spell turning (so it's not unlimited turning). Anyways think both the end result and also what kind of 'villain' you were before death and reincarnation as a fiend.

[Sain]

Was the villain a mortal as in some mortal race like elf, human, etc.?

Yeah, but with reflective hide remember it recharges only once per round (start of monster's turn). So per turn you can turn back spells up to max value of spell turning (so it's not unlimited turning). Anyways think both the end result and also what kind of 'villain' you were before death and reincarnation as a fiend.

Yeah that flexibility to pick 1 Special attack and 2 special qualities make the Monster of Legend really nice and flexible template in that regard also.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Yes, some mortal race which was not a outsider (native outsiders like aasimar or tiefling fine but otherwise no creature which permanently perishes upon death and has a soul and likely can wound up into lower planes being evil guy who worships no specific god). Elves, fey'ri, half-fiend humans, undead like liches which phylactery got shattered (but were born as human example). Outsiders when slain they just discorporate for good when slain home plane.

Overall think villains who can die and have souls somewhere in deep their dark hearts which may then wound up into lower planes. Which evolved fiendish forms they have now which may be based closely or loosely on who they were in life. Also important factor is that despite wide alignment differences (Lawful Evil vs Chaotic Evil and Neutral Evil), they worked together and wanted to work together because together they were mighty enough challenge the cosmos itself (we speak of cosmic scale epic villains who needed similar scaled foes in greater number beat them down). Basically speak of entire reality (demiplane in size roughly) ruling evil overlords banded together in a council/organization. Who were slain, but now they are called together once more and reclaim pieces of their memory to their new fiendish selves.

[Lockepick]

Posting my interest. I may tweak Methu, or I might try something new.

Can we get some links to Zaer's standard house rules in this thread? As well as any other overtly banned material? I know Legendary Monsters and the last Demon Lords game each had their own banned material.

[LizzieV]

I'm interested and trying to follow along with how characters are created with all the stuff partially by looking at the character build listed above. I'm trying to figure out the prodigy template though. The only one I can find is this one

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Prodigy_(3.5e_Template)

Which is a under the homebrew list, not that there is anything wrong with that, but the CR adjustment listed in Zaer's calculation is 0 where the template page lists the CR adjustment for a 16 HD as +3. Where is the template located?

Also yes, I would want to know what stuff is the 'standard house rules' and anything explicitly banned. Is the Book of Vile Darkness up for use?

[Sain]

Okay, options. I'm thinking either:

Echinoloth

Or.

Root Of All Evil

Kind of wanted something underwater first, then stumbled upon UW version of Root of All Evil, but sadly the character would have to move on land using burrow which might not work on all terrain types :/

[Lockepick]

@LivvieV: Prodigy, in this case, is referring to the  'Unique Abilities' from DMG2. Prodigy gives +0CR, and +2 LA -- but this game didn't factor LA into the formula. You can see details on pg160 of the DMG2.

@Sain: Could always make an entirely aquatic type character -- then have your Quality/Attacks offer land-based options! A quality that lets you 'swim' through air, for example; or even use water specific abilities (like vortex) with air (though I don't know how broken or mechanically sound that truly is).

[Kimera]

Also very interested in this one.

[Sain]

@LivvieV: Prodigy, in this case, is referring to the  'Unique Abilities' from DMG2. Prodigy gives +0CR, and +2 LA -- but this game didn't factor LA into the formula. You can see details on pg160 of the DMG2.

@Sain: Could always make an entirely aquatic type character -- then have your Quality/Attacks offer land-based options! A quality that lets you 'swim' through air, for example; or even use water specific abilities (like vortex) with air (though I don't know how broken or mechanically sound that truly is).

Haha! I didn't consider this possibility. The vortex sounds too silly to work, but swimming through air should be fine since flight is so easy to get anyway. This will open some other aquatic types to me that I did not consider before...  (Just really want a demon that comes from the deepest depths).

[TheGlyphstone]

As predicted, it's all the old faces again.

I think I'll go back to an old favorite and build around a theme of stealth+darkness, maybe with a fear/nightmare sideline. So I'll need coverage from as many exotic senses as possible. Incorporeality can cover Touchsight and Tremorsense, an Invisible Blacklight aura will cover Truesight, Con - will cover Lifesight, and a Mind Blank effect should cover Mindsight. Natural Invisibility for mundane vision...anything I'm neglecting?

[Kunoichi]

  What's the mechancis there?  Creature challenge rating + 1/2 CR per level or extra hit dice? 

  that is interesting.  :)  Have I got it right?

Yes, that's correct.  And if you pick a monster with an odd number of racial HD, you can add on one more hit to even it out without getting a CR increase.

Was the villain a mortal as in some mortal race like elf, human, etc.?

Going strictly by D&D lore, Obyriths and Loumara are both spat out fully-formed by the Abyss itself, and while Tanar'ri demons, Devils and Yugoloths are commonly created from mortal souls and put through this entire promotional process, they can also breed in the traditional way, as well (or at least semi-traditional, as Yugoloths are hermaphroditic).

This is actually why I noted in the intro that some of the former villains were 'scattered to the winds' rather than being destroyed.  Though even in that case, I imagine that any characters who started out as fiends originally wound up having their main bodies destroyed, and managed to grow back to their current level of power out of a much weaker Fiendish Aspect that they had stashed away somewhere.

Can we get some links to Zaer's standard house rules in this thread? As well as any other overtly banned material? I know Legendary Monsters and the last Demon Lords game each had their own banned material.

Also yes, I would want to know what stuff is the 'standard house rules' and anything explicitly banned. Is the Book of Vile Darkness up for use?

I'll have to leave it up to Zaer to link to any house rules he's using, but so far as I know, Book of Vile Darkness is up for use, at least.

I'm interested and trying to follow along with how characters are created with all the stuff partially by looking at the character build listed above. I'm trying to figure out the prodigy template though. The only one I can find is this one

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Prodigy_(3.5e_Template)

Which is a under the homebrew list, not that there is anything wrong with that, but the CR adjustment listed in Zaer's calculation is 0 where the template page lists the CR adjustment for a 16 HD as +3. Where is the template located?

As Lockepick said, the Prodigy template referenced in Zaer's character is in the DMGII, under the unique special abilities for NPCs listed on page 157.  It's an (Ex) ability that's worth +0 CR or +2 LA, and gives the character that has it +2 to a single stat and +4 to any skill checks or ability checks involving that stat.

Kind of wanted something underwater first, then stumbled upon UW version of Root of All Evil, but sadly the character would have to move on land using burrow which might not work on all terrain types :/

Did you want to use a Piscoloth as your base creature, or would you prefer to pick something else with a swim speed and alter it as needed?  For example, the Sirine from MMII is a medium-sized aquatic fey with some nice singing-related abilities, and at CR5 and 4 HD would give you a little room to work with it in terms of adding on class abilities and templates.

I think I'll go back to an old favorite and build around a theme of stealth+darkness, maybe with a fear/nightmare sideline. So I'll need coverage from as many exotic senses as possible. Incorporeality can cover Touchsight and Tremorsense, an Invisible Blacklight aura will cover Truesight, Con - will cover Lifesight, and a Mind Blank effect should cover Mindsight. Natural Invisibility for mundane vision...anything I'm neglecting?

And by Con - I take it you're planning to become undead after gaining the Archfiend template in some manner?  Or are you planning to acquire it via one of your special qualities?

[TheGlyphstone]

I was thinking of the Lichfiend template from Libris mortis, letting Outsiders become Liches. Though burning a Special Quality on it is probably a better idea, since without that or a houserule I don't benefit from Cha-to-HP that Pathfinder made standard.

[Sain]

I think Blood Scent (Su) and Touchsight remain still Glyph.

@Kunoichi. I kind of wanted something big and grapply with tendrils. Piscoloth and Sirine are too puny.

[Zaer Darkwail]

I think I'll go back to an old favorite and build around a theme of stealth+darkness, maybe with a fear/nightmare sideline. So I'll need coverage from as many exotic senses as possible. Incorporeality can cover Touchsight and Tremorsense, an Invisible Blacklight aura will cover Truesight, Con - will cover Lifesight, and a Mind Blank effect should cover Mindsight. Natural Invisibility for mundane vision...anything I'm neglecting?

Divinations, I can simply use locate creature to locate you (or even know you exist). Vecna blooded gives absolutely immunity vs divinations (with that only one entity knows you exist and also gives cool ability to be 50% chance not detected at all as if your not present).