lmaher@uokvax.UUCP (09/07/84)
#N:uokvax:2400063:000:11287
uokvax!lmaher Sep 7 07:44:00 1984
This is the first of two articles describing a powerful evil
character for AD&D. This article gives the AD&D stats, and the
next one gives the character's history and followers.
I was going to post The Avatar With No Name, but after checking I
saw she had far more than 3 Mep, and I didn't want to convert her
from my streamlined D&D variant into AD&D. So I just created an
evil character from scratch. If you play rigid AD&D you might
question the alignment, but the justification is in the
background. I'm assuming every alignment extreme has Paladins
otherwise why haven't the LGs conquered the world? If you can't
handle that idea, just delete the offending classes, and add the
extra experience to Illusionist. I also switched a point of
Constitution to Strength. If it bothers you, tear out my heart
and feed it to a demon. Taira would.
TAIRA OF THE THOUSAND NAMES
Lawful Evil
Human Female 14th Level Illusionist, formerly
13th Level Thief
12th Level Druid
11th Level Mage
9th Level Monk
8th Level Anti-Paladin
(Exp in order is 1100K, 660K, 300K, 375K, 350K, 175K = 2960K)
Hit Points = 8d10 + 1d8 + 3d4 + 5 = 72
Needs a 14 to hit AC 0 not including bonuses.
3 strikes/2 rounds with weapons.
Armor Class -10 (3 for Monk, -2 for Dex, -6 for Ring, -5 for Cloak).
Strength 15
Intelligence 18
Wisdom 15
Constitution 12
Dexterity 16
Charisma 17
Knows 9-18 spells at each level, 85% of knowing each.
(with Ioun Sphere, knows 10-All spells at each level, 95%)
+1 on Reaction/Attacking Rolls, -2 Defensive
Max 10 Henchmen, +30% on Loyalty/Reaction Rolls
SAVING THROWS
Needed Vs.
4 Paralysis, Poison, Death
7 Petrify, Polymorph, *Non-magical Missiles*
5 Rod, Staff, or Wand
9 Breath Weapon
6 Spell
Her +2 for being a paladin is already added in, but the +6 for her
Ring and Cloak are not. She takes no damage if she makes her ST,
and takes only half damage even if she misses it. As a monk, she
can dodge or deflect non-magical missiles with a ST vs. Petrification.
As a Druid she gets +2 ST vs. Fire and Lightning, and her Wisdom
gives her a +1 ST vs. Magical attacks affecting the mind or will.
She knows the following languages: Common, LE, Thieves Cant,
Druidic, Centaur, Dryad, Elvish, Fire Giant, Gnome, Green Dragon,
Hill Giant, Lizardman, Manticore, Mindflayer, Orcish, Sprite,
Treantish, Auld Wyrmish (Dragon High Speech), the language of the
current major civilization, the sign language of the nomadic
barbarians, and the dead language of the empire she was born in.
She can speak to Animals and Plants.
ABILITIES (to save you the trouble of looking them up):
Druid: Identify Plant, Animal, Pure Water. Pass through
undergrowth without trace. Immune to charm from woodlands
beings. Change form 3x/day to any animal.
Monk: +4.5 damage with weapons. Armor Class 3. Open hand damage
is 2 strikes/round for 1d10+2 each (with Ioun Prism active,
damage is 2d6+1), Move 23" (24" with prism). If her open hand to
hit roll exceeds the number needed by 5 or more, the target is
stunned for 1-6 rounds, and has a (AC+2)% chance of being killed
outright (with Prism, add 3 instead of 2). Note that Strength
bonuses do not add to openhanded damage.
Chance of being surprised is only 18% (17% with prism). Fall up
to 30' without damage if wall within 4'. ESP only has a 20%
chance to affect her. Beguiling, Charm, Hypnosis, and Suggestion
have only a 50% chance to affect her. Unaffected by Haste or
Slow. Can feign Death for up to 3 hours. Can heal 1d4+3 on self
per day.
Paladin:
(Note: I'm assuming Evil Paladins get everything Good Paladins
do, but reversed. Some GMs allow them both regular abilities or
reversed, the same advantage Anti-clerics get. Some give Evil
Paladins the same abilities as Good Paladins. Adjust
accordingly. If you can't handle the idea of a Champion of Evil,
why are you reading this? :-) )
Detect Good 60' range. Lay hands to inflict 16 points/damage
1x/day, and 2 diseases/week. Immune to Disease. Continual
Protection from Good 1" radius. Affects undead as a 6th Level
Evil Cleric.
Paladin's mount and ability with (un)Holy Sword covered below.
Thief: +4 to hit and Quintuple damage on a backstab.
The following skills already include Dexterity bonuses:
Pickpocket 105% Hide in Shadows 85%
Open Locks 87% Hear 40%
Find/Rem Traps 80% Climb 99.3%
Move Silently 99% Read Languages 65%
SPELLS:
Spells Level Uses Conditions
Druid 12 5-5-4-4-3-2-1
13 6-5-5-5-4-3-2 with Ioun Prism
Illus. 14 5-5-4-3-2-2-1
15 5-5-4-4-2-2-2 with Ioun Prism
Mage 10 4-4-3-2-2 w/o Imp or Prism
11 4-4-4-3-3 w/o Imp but w/ Prism
12 4-4-4-4-4-1 w/ Imp but w/o Prism
13 5-5-5-4-4-2 w/ Imp and Prism
Her Raven (Imp) familiar is usually with her, but she only uses
the Ioun stones when absolutely necessary.
SPELLS KNOWN:
She knows all 1st-5th Level Magic spells except as noted.
If she is not using the Ioun Sphere to boost her Intelligence,
only 18 spells from each level are available.
Level 1: requires Sphere: Burning Hands, Mending, Magic Aura
unknowable: Charm Person, Ventriloquism
Level 3: requires Sphere: Dispell Magic
unknowable: Protection from Evil 10'r
Level 4: requires Sphere: Dig, Fear, Monster Summon II
Level 5: requires Sphere: Animate Dead, Teleport, Rock to Mud,
Wall of Stone
She knows all 6th Level Magic spells except as noted, but
requires either her familiar or the Ioun Prism to use them.
Level 6: requires Sphere: Freezing Sphere
unknowable: Glassee
She knows all 1st-7th Level Illusionist Spells except as noted:
Level 1: unknowable: Change Self
Level 4: unknowable: Massmorph
Level 7: requires Sphere: Vision
She is capable of using any druidic spell of the 1st-7th level.
Her actual choice will depend on who she's working for (see
background). Note that she can always get 1st-2nd, and can
usually renew 3rd-5th, but is generally only granted 6th-7th
when actually working or as payment for same.
PSIONICS
Psionic Attack and Defense Strength is 125. Psionic Ability
is 250. Has all attacks except Ego Whip. Has all 5 Defenses.
Has 4 Minor Disciplines: Object Reading, Precognition, Hypnosis
(to 105 levels/hit dice), Invisibility (to 105 levels/hit dice).
has 2 Major Disciplines: Shape Alteration and Dimension Walk.
Note that the table given in the PHB for DW only goes to 10th
level of mastery, Taira has hundreds of levels. Her level of
mastery for the other 5 disciplines is 14th.
Note that she can take her mount and familiar with her when she
dimension walks, but will sometimes go without them. Since a
dimension walker can travel 1000 leagues in 24 hours, she can
appear anywhere. And with her Shape alteration, she can take on
any form. These combined with her Precognition make her
immensely useful to the deities she serves.
=== POSSESSIONS ===
I mean belongings. For demons, see background.
Magical belongings: First and foremost
"Kesteilian Demonbane," Sword +5 Holy Avenger
Lawful alignment, Intelligence 17, Ego 22. Speaks Common,
Elvish, and the two languages most widely used for demonaic
writings (to destroy the enemy you must know them). Reads
languages and magic, and is telepathic. Was given the purpose to
Destroy Demons, and in this pursuit can Disentegrate opponents
(upon any hit, ST allowed, for purposes of Magic Resistance
consider Kes to be the same level as his wielder - 14th in
Taira's case).
Primary Abilities: Detect Magic in a 1" radius, allows wielder to
see Invisible, and will teleport to the hand of the user (and
back into sheath).
Extraordinary Ability: Heal 1x/day.
In the hands of a Lawful Paladin, Kes provides 50% Magic
Resistance in a 5' radius, Dispells Magic at the Paladin's level
in a 5' radius, and scores +10 Damage vs. CE opponents.
For the relationship between Kes and Taira, see below.
"Gialnar," Ring of Spell Storing
Stores five spells: C4: Exorcise, C5: Raise Dead, C7: Cacodemon,
C8: Trap the Soul, C9: Maze. Note that Taira will use this ring
only as a last resort because of the difficulty in replacing its
spells. It's most useful when dealing with Demons.
Alchemy Jug
Cap of Teleportation (as Helm)
Cloak of Protection +5
Dust of Choking
Dust of Disappearance
Figurines of Wondrous Power: Ebony Fly, Obsidian Steed, Serpentine Owl
Gauntlets of Ogre Power (give 18/00 Strength, +3 hit/ +6 damage)
Girdle of Storm Giant Strength (Str 24, +6 hit/ +12 damage)
Ioun Stones (2): a pale green prism (+1 level), and a red and
blue sphere (+1 Intelligence - power has been enhanced
to allow it to raise 18 Int to 19)
Necklace of Strangulation
Ring of Protection +6 on AC, +1 on ST
Ring of Vampiric Regeneration
Ring of Warmth
Scarab of Death (kept in a small bone box)
Talisman of the Sphere
Taira usually wears the Cloak of Protection and Cap of
Teleportation. She wears the Holy Avenger on her back under the
cape, and has a belt with several compartments to keep her small
magics - rings, the Talisman, figurines, the scarab in its
airtight box, a few packets of each dust (carefully kept
separate), and various spell components, including at least one
gem worth 11,000 gold pieces that can be enchanted into a soul
prison. She has a money pouch attached to the belt.
She wears a belt knife for general utility purposes, and has a
hidden dagger, balanced for throwing in her boot. If she's
expecting trouble she will have at least one knife up her sleeve,
and may have other weapons and useful items hidden about her.
She wears the Ring of Protection on her left hand. On the other
she wears the Ring of Warmth if it's cold and she's not expecting
trouble, otherwise the Ring of Regeneration. She only wears the
Ring Gialnar while using it. Her gauntlets are usually tucked in
her belt, and the Girdle of Giant Strength is generally packed in
the saddlebag unless it's needed. Remember that she has
Precognition so if trouble's coming she'll prepare for it well
ahead of time. She just doesn't believe in swaggering around
with a packful of magic.
Her Paladin's Mount is jet black, including the eyes. It has
dark leather tack, well made but not fancy. One of the
saddlebags has been sealed with various protective spells, and
contains her bulkier items when she doesn't have imminent use for
them. This includes the Jug, all but a few packets of the Dust,
the Ioun Stones, spare or bulky magical components (including
mistletoe), and the special ink and vellum sheets required for
Spiritwrack. The other bag contains rations, a change of
clothes, and minor camping gear and utensils. She generally
creates whatever she needs with magic, but if she is expecting
trouble she will carry rations and other gear in order to save
her magic for more important matters.
COST OF ITEMS
4000 Sword +5 Holy Avenger
1000 Gauntlets of Ogre Power
200 Girdle of Storm Giant Strength!
600 2 Ioun Stones
100 Talisman of the Sphere
4000 Ring of Protection +6/+1
5000 Ring of Vampiric Regeneration
2500 Ring of Spell Storing
1000 Ring of Warmth
3000 Alchemy Jug
5000 Cloak of Protection
100 Serpentine Owl
400 Ebony Fly
600 Obsidian Steed
2500 Cap of Teleportation
- Dust of Disappearance
- Dust of Choking
- Necklace of Strangulation
- Scarab of Death
------
30,000 TOTAL