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#1 zombiegleemax Oct 15, 2003 4:36:14

Ok, I've already created three different threads asking for assistance in specific matters of my campaign (Rauxes, Ivid V in his present form, and 3e Xaene information?. To consolidate matters, I figured I'd mesh them all into one thread. Here's a summary of the current plot-line for context: The PCs are taking a break from their main characters in order to do a subplot with new characters. The subplot involves rescuing two important NPCs. The first NPC is a Rogue/Cleric of Phaulkon, named Demoyan, who has been kidnapped by Karoolck (Ivid's court wizard) under the guise of the mad Overking Ivid himself. IMC the area surrounding Rauxes has been tainted by the Plane of Shadow, causing a vortex between it and the Material Plane. This vortex was so mighty, and created by such potent evil, that the whole of Rauxes and a surrounding 1 mile radius surrounding the city was sucked into the Demi-plane of Dread. Rauxes is peculiar in that people can still travel into Rauxes from the Material Plane by entering the vortex to the Plane of Shadow, but not out, because Karoolck is the Domain Lord of Rauxes and doesn't allow anyone to get out. Another side effect of the strange nature of the creation of the domain of Rauxes is that Karoolck (and only Karoolck) can still maintain contact with Baalzephon, although this contact is intermittant. It is nonetheless sufficient enough for Karoolck to learn of matters on the Material Plane. Demoyan is a quasi-famous member of the original party of PCs who made a foolish mistake. The original party is in control of several powerful artifacts, though the powers of these artifacts have not been completely awakened yet. Karoolck believes that possession of one (or more) of these artifacts might grant him the power he needs to break free from the Demi-plane of Dread. Therefore, Karoolck persuaded Baalzephon to trick the Fists of Hextor into capturing one of the PCs and his artifact (the foolish mistake). When the Fists had completed their mission, Baalzephon sent a contingent of devils to the Material Plane to raid the Hextorian temple in Ahlissa where Demoyan was being held and steal him away. Then Demoyan and his artifact were taken to Rauxes by these same devils. The devils wound up trapped there, but it was a price Baalzephon was willing to pay to get his powerful lackey returned to Oerth. Unfortunately, as soon as word got out that such a great power was in Rauxes, the Baatezu seized upon it. In a daring raid into the palace, they managed to kidnap Demoyan's body, though not his artifact. Meanwhile in Rauxes, the atmosphere is quite grim. Karoolck himself controls little more than the palace grounds, including his tower. Renegade Baatezu, thinking contact with the outside world is lost forever, have formed into a new faction and taken control of vast portions of Rauxes, nearly 80% of the city in fact. Xaene continues to control the Undercity and is mostly in hiding, sending occassional undead scouts on raids or reconaissance missions. To make matters even more difficult, a large number of Shadar-Kai (or Shadow Fey) have also found themselves trapped in Rauxes due to the rift from the Plane of Shadow. They now hide on the outskirts of Rauxes, near the Mists, and are led by a mysterious entity known as Kael-Russo. A vast majority of the city population is either enslaved to the devils, undead servants of Karoolck or Xaene, or independent undead formed by the sheer power of evil in Rauxes. Most still believe Karoolck's ruse that Ivid is still in control of the city, despite being obviously severed from the rest of his former kingdom. Since hardly anyone ever sees him, this is a relatively easy ruse to maintain. Ivid finally succumbed to his crippling disease a year after falling into the Demi-plane of Dread, but Karoolck managed (barely) to find enough power and materials to raise him as an Animus. The current issue at hand: The PCs, trapped, and looking for allies anywhere they can get them, have made a deal with Xaene, who is desperate to get back at Karoolck in any way possible. Xaene is no fool and realizes Karoolck is the main power behind Ivid, but has persuaded the party that Ivid is the one who orchestrated Demoyan's capture and that he must be dealt with. The PCs negotiated an agreement with Kael-Russo for a temporary alliance between their forces and the forces of Xaene. The PCs and the Shadar-Kai have agreed to assault the palace, rescue Demoyan's artifact, recover the machine of Lum the mad for Xaene, dealing a great blow to the Overking, while Xaene has agreed to attack the Baatezu in force and free Demoyan. The PCs are to trade the machine for Demoyan, and hopefully, by that time, they will have his artifact as well and can concoct a way to get themselves back to the Material Plane. One thing Xaene fortunately does not know is that the artifact (and Demoyan) really is the only way to get out of Rauxes. Therefore he has no problem with allowing the PCs keep it. Ivid's animus form is currently in possession of the artifact. Karoolck feels it is safe enough with him since no one dares approach him any longer. So the PCs are going to have to face-off against him to get it, only to discover, once they defeat him, that he is not the true power behind the Malachite Throne. I have almost two weeks before the battle with Ivid. I need help on his stats and such. I want him to be a challenging encounter for 10th level characters, but defeatable. The only source I have that says anything definitive on him is Ivid the Undying. Typically, a 21st level NPC would slaughter such a party, but given his insane, debilitated state, I'm thinking his CR should be ratcheted down quite a bit. Any ideas on how to do this? My first thoughts have been to treat some or all of his levels as non-associated class levels since he doesn't benefit from their powers much. His cleric levels grant him no spells, and his wizard spells have a chance for failure. I've also considered that he might still be ravaged by disease, since Animuses continue to be affected by disease. That could lower his CR as well, or just modify the XP award for defeating him as an Ad Hoc measure. I don't have his ability scores (I don't even know if they've ever been published) but here is what I figured, based on 2nd edition sources: Str 3 (originally 18, modified to 7 because of Animus template), Dex 13, Con --, Int 18 (??? high level 2nd ed spell-casters usually had 18s), Wis 15 (possibly modified for madness?), Cha 14 (he may not be pretty, but he still has a lot of force to his words). I'm assuming that his extra ability score points for every fourth level are already factored in. Here is what I have equipment-wise: Staff of Naelax (rod of thunder and lightning), Orb of Rax (brooch of shielding, regenerates 20 pts/day), Crown of Aerdy (helm of brilliance, many gems already used), ring of spell-turning. I'm just going to assume Karoolck manufactured some magical spell that makes Ivid immune to the undead damaging effect of the helm of brilliance. All that said and done, any thoughts on how you would calculate his CR and Ad-Hoc XP award? I'm gonna run a mock-battle before then, just to see, but I'd appreciate feedback as well.