The Gaming Den

So ive heard theyre fantastically powerful PC characters, but how are they on the other side of the screen?

Have you had entertaining/frustrating fights against tome fighter villains?

I imagine so!

I once wrote up a BBEG. Fighter 4 / Bone Rider / Death Knight/ Swordwraith Paragon.

At level 16, it added up to a huge amount of tricks. The feats meant he could fit his fluff--been in in the Fiend planes for a couple-hundred years. He had a saddlebag full of minor magical stuff, and pretty much a golf bag of stuff--a bow and a spear for fighting from atop his mount, and sword and board for groundwork.

Now I know that's not pure fighter, but it got a lot of Combat Feats. Point Blank Shot, Phalanx Fighter...I forget what else.

No, they would make terrible main villains. They might make a decent Dragon, depending, but the Main Villain is supposed to be advancing some plot in some way.

And advancing plots is still the opposite of what fighters do, even and especially the Tome fighter.

Foil Action and layered defensive feats really add to survivability. If you want a BBEG that can escape to fight another day, you could do worse.

Like Kaelik said, their OOC abilities are lacking (outside of being able to forge crap), but they're great opponents in combat because of their annoying capability to just shut off attacks.

Maxus: I read your sig, thinking that was you describing all the tricks that your Fighter/Death Knight/whatever character could do. I was feeling awfully impressed.

...Then I remembered that I read your sig before and the facepalm that followed could be heard for miles.

Miles!

Ow. Go get some advil.
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I actually found the sheets for the BBEG. I have a couple of versions on the computer.

Here's one of the feat progressions, I can't remember whether it was the final, because it's been a couple of years and the memory is the first thing to go.

x's indicate normal feats. o's indicate bonus feats. Him being human accounts for the two feats at level 1

Fighter, Bone Rider, Death Knight, Swordwraith Paragon
1 x Mounted Combat x Dreadful Demeanor
2 o Great Fortitude
3 x Master of Terror
4 o Lightning Reflexes
5
6 x Whispers of the Otherworld
7
8
9 x Ghost Cut Technique
10 o Elemental Aura (Fire)
11
12 x Phalanx Fighter o Point Blank Shot
13
14 o Blitz
15 x Danger Sense oAlertness
16 o Iron Will

The only bit of hinkiness I did was swapping up the Fire and Bone spheres from Death Knight--letting players pick which one they want first. It came up during a quick little game before this one.

This has the upside of letting the Death Knight maybe get a Fire Elemental Aura if he wants to take Fire first and then take the feat. So I did it here, too, after said player gave me a bit of the idea.

I'd have to go around more to find the final statline and skills and HP, but I remember he had +13 Initiative, because I kept having to double-check it thanks to feats and bonuses and stuff. I can also tell you Intimidate was maxed, or close to.

Maxus wrote:Ow. Go get some advil.
-----

I actually found the sheets for the BBEG. I have a couple of versions on the computer.

Here's one of the feat progressions, I can't remember whether it was the final, because it's been a couple of years and the memory is the first thing to go.

x's indicate normal feats. o's indicate bonus feats. Him being human accounts for the two feats at level 1

Fighter, Bone Rider, Death Knight, Swordwraith Paragon
1 x Mounted Combat x Dreadful Demeanor
2 o Great Fortitude
3 x Master of Terror
4 o Lightning Reflexes
5
6 x Whispers of the Otherworld
7
8
9 x Ghost Cut Technique
10 o Elemental Aura (Fire)
11
12 x Phalanx Fighter o Point Blank Shot
13
14 o Blitz
15 x Danger Sense oAlertness
16 o Iron Will

The only bit of hinkiness I did was swapping up the Fire and Bone spheres from Death Knight--letting players pick which one they want first. It came up during a quick little game before this one.

This has the upside of letting the Death Knight maybe get a Fire Elemental Aura if he wants to take Fire first and then take the feat. So I did it here, too, after said player gave me a bit of the idea.

I'd have to go around more to find the final statline and skills and HP, but I remember he had +13 Initiative, because I kept having to double-check it thanks to feats and bonuses and stuff. I can also tell you Intimidate was maxed, or close to.

Well, thanks for posting. Let's see...

Full attacks on a standard action from Blitz...AND may attack multiple targets within first range increment with that same full attack action? And you can AoO charges against him? And an aura of flame on top of that?

This guy is a ranged beast.

...You Lost Me wrote:Like Kaelik said, their OOC abilities are lacking (outside of being able to forge crap), but they're great opponents in combat because of their annoying capability to just shut off attacks.

I wouldn't even be bothered by that in a BBEG.

Plenty of evil masterminds perform their machinations without having to be *the* guy who is waving his hands going bippity bobbity boo.

The biggest problem with Fighter BBEGs is that they are pathetic in a fight, solve that and they make decent BBEGs. Ability to have lackeys and macguffins is not restricted from them, so go wild.

Hell, I'd enjoy a Fighter who acted as though he were a Wizard BBEG. Wearing a wizardish looking getup, staff for his weapon of choice. Mocking the players by telling them they are not worthy of facing his magic and beating their face in with a stick or just draw a sword out of his pointy wizard hat of holding.

So long as he can make a memorable and satisfying opponent, it's a win.