Lord Skye Ni'Tessine, Envoy of Celene
Very intelligent, smug (maybe a little cocky), and completely clueless.
Wizard extraordinaire, Lord Dire of Sterich, Honored Lord of Tenh, and an Envoy of Celene, Skye Ni'Tessine travels across the Flanaess and reports back to Celene everything that he learns.
Charged with the task of keeping the Elven Court appraised of current events outside of his homeland, Skye does his best to get involved in whatever trouble he can find, figuring that the best way to keep informed is by having a direct hand in foreign events.
Usage[]
Skye is best used as an NPC with similar goals to the PCs or alternatively as a foil to what the PCs hope to accomplish. He has many resources at his disposal (reflected in his wealth and his Leadership feat) and can be as influential as you wish. Due to his focus on Divination he can act as a very capable sage. On his own he is not a suitable combat foe for a group of PCs, but in a group when the focus is not on him his effect can be devastating.
Stats[]
Skye Ni'Tessine CR 16
Male Grey Elf Wizard 5/Divine Oracle 3(CD 35)/Fatespinner 4(CA 37)/Loremaster 3
CG Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Init +8, Senses Listen +3; Spot +3; see invisibility, low-light vision
Languages Common, Elven, Draconic, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Dwarven, Ancient Suloise, Giant
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+4 armor, +2 shield, +1 insight)
hp 81 (+22 w/empowered False Life) (15HD); DR 1/-
Fort +15, Ref +23, Will +21
Note: +1 Ref vs traps, Prescient Sense (Evasion), 2 rerolls per day
Spd 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee +1 spiked gauntlet +2 (1d4-1/20/x2)
Ranged touch +7 (spell)
Base Atk +7; Grp +5
Space 5. ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Combat Gear +1 death ward(MIC 10) thistle padded(RoW 168) armor with a least iron ward diamond(MIC 26), ring of freedom of movement, staff of fire (20 charges), lesser rod of quicken, lesser rod of empower, lesser rod of silence, lesser rod of extend, rod of extend, belt of battle(MIC 73), anklet of translocation(MIC 71)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 16)
8th — ghostform, maze, mind blank
7th — Bigby's grasping hand (+37 to hit, +42 grp), limited wish x2, prismatic spray (DC 29)
6th — flesh to stone x2 (DC 29), shadow walk, quickened glitterdust (DC 25)
5th — baleful polymorph x2 (DC 28), commune (Oracle domain), dominate person (DC 27), overland flight (extended with rod)
4th — assay spell resistance(SC 17), dimension door, Evard's black tentacles (+24 grp), Otiluke's resilient sphere x2 (DC 26), orb of force(SC 151) (+7 ranged touch), scrying (DC 27 base)
3rd — dispel magic, divination (Oracle domain), fireball x2 (DC 25), haste, Leomund's tiny hut, slow (DC 25)
2nd — augury (Oracle domain), detect thoughts (DC 24), false life (empowered with rod), glitterdust (DC 25), see invisibility (extended with rod), see invisibility x2
1st — friendly face(RoD 166), mage armor, magic missile x2, lesser orb of sound(SC 151) (+7 ranged touch), scholar's touch(RoD 167)
Cantrips — detect magic x3, message
Domains Oracle(CD 140)
Abilities Str 6 (-2), Dex 10 (+0), Con 14 (+2), Int 34 (+12), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 14 (+2)
SQ Elf traits, Ferret Familiar, Spin Fate/Destiny +4, Deny Fate, Divination Enhancement, Scry Bonus, Finger of Fate, Resist Fate, Lore, True Stamina
Feats Alertness (familiar), Insightful Reflexes(CV 110), Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Knowledge Religion), Craft Wondrous Item, Leadership, Spell Penetration, Quicken, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Spell Focus (Transmutation)
Skills Bluff +6, Concentration +21, Diplomacy +10, Knowledge (Arcana) +27, Knowledge (Architecture) +15, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +15, Knowledge (Geography) +15, Knowledge (History) +15, Knowledge (Local) +15, Knowledge (Nature) +15, Knowledge (Nobility) +15, Knowledge (Religion) +27, Knowledge (Planes) +23, Profession (Gambler) +6, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +31, Tumble +3, Use Magic Device +13
Possessions combat gear plus +1 eager(MIC 34) spiked gauntlet, luckblade, +1 mithral buckler, amulet of health +2, headband of intellect +6, cloak of resistance +5, ring of arcane might(MIC 121), everburning torch, luckstone, golden celestial tooth (like luckstone but Sacred bonus), Boccob's blessed book, nycoptic manuscripts(LM 79), bag of holding type I, Heward's handy haversack, dustry rose ioun stone (+1 AC), incadescent blue ioun stone (+2 Wis), Grimoire Arcanamacha(CA 63), tome of clear thoughts +5 (used), planar forks (ethereal, earth, water, astral, abyss, shadow)
Scry Bonus (Su): Skye adds +1 to the DC of his scrying spells.
Prescient Sense (Ex): If Skye makes a Reflex save, he takes no damage.
Trap Sense (Ex): Skye gains +1 bonus to Reflex saves vs traps.
Divination Enhancement (Ex): When Skye casts divination spells, he rolls twice and takes the better of the two rolls.
Spin Fate (Ex): Skye can boost the DC of his spells by up to a total of +4 per day.
Fickle Finger of Fate (Ex): As an immediate action, Skye can make anyone reroll a die roll.
Spin Destiny (Ex): In addition to spell DCs, Skye can also spin up skill checks, attack rolls, or saving throws.
Deny Fate (Ex): Once per day, if Skye is brought to negative hit points he automatically stabilizes.
Resist Fate (Ex): Once per day, Skye can reroll any die roll.
Lore (Ex): Similar to bardic knowledge. Lore check is +15 to die roll.
Applicable Knowledge (Ex): Skye's first Loremaster "Secret". Effect is a bonus feat.
True Stamina (Ex): Skye's second Loremaster "Secret". Effect is a +2 on Fort saves.
Combat[]
Skye typically travels with a group of other high-level elven adventurers as well as his cohort Kyla. As such, he usually has an extended heroes' feast cast on him (not included in the stats above). He starts off every morning by casting mage armor, empowered false life, extended overland flight, mind blank, and extended see invisibility. Twice more throughout the day he casts extended see invisibility (each one lasts 5hr 20min), meaning that for 16 hours each day he can see invisible and ethereal creatures.
When combat starts, Skye will tend to go first due to his high Init score. If appropriate, he will start out by casting haste (quickened with rod) on his fellow adventurers; otherwise he will start off with a quickened glitterdust and catch as many foes as possible, normally blinding one or two and preventing the others from hiding. In the same round he will usually then cast flesh to stone or primatic spray. If he's not feeling particularly threatened then he will tend to do a quickened spell and will begin to cast dominate person on of the foes (this has a 1-rd casting time).
His spell selection is quite varied and you should use what you feel is most appropriate. If he's facing one or two very powerful foes, he will cast limited wish first to reduce his opponent's saves by 7, then use his Belt of Battle to cast flesh to stone in the same round and spin the DC up by 4 (total DC is effectively 40).
Skye almost always uses his Fickle Finger of Fate ability to make his compatriots reroll any of their failed saving throws, and does not use it in an offensive manner unless he's alone.
Note that Skye's AC is quite low for his level. He is best placed in the middle or in the back of any group of NPCs, and as his Move action he will usually fly upwards out of reach of melee PCs. If necessary he will cast ghostform, but if he needs to do so then it may already be too late for him. He has enough hit points to survive a round or so from PCs who specialize in ranged attacks, and as necessary he will cast leomund's tiny hut (quickened with rod) to give himself full cover against them but still be able to see out.
Design Notes[]
Skye's CR is increased by 1 to account for his extra wealth. Despite this, he's essentially an alpha-strike tool and can die quite easily.
Skye’s ability scores were generated using the 28-point buy system: Str 8, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 14. The racial modifiers for being a grey elf were then applied (-2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int), and then 3 ability points from leveling up were added to Int.
To summarize the spells used here:
- Scholar's Touch(RoD 167): Read a whole book in one round with a touch.
- Friendly Face(RoD 166): +5 on Diplomacy and Gather Info for 10min/lvl.
- Assay Spell Resistance(SC 17): Add +10 to your SR check against one opponent. No Save/SR.
- Orb of Force(SC 151): Ranged touch to hit, does 1d6 dmg (max 10d6). No Save/SR.
- Lesser Orb of Sound(SC 151): Ranged touch to hit, does 1d6 dmg per 2 lvls (max 5d6). No Save/SR.
Items:
- Thistle Padded Armor(RoW 168): +1 AC, +9 max Dex, no Armor check penalty, 0% spell failure
- Ring of Arcane Might(MIC 121): +1 arcane caster level
- Nycoptic Manuscripts(LM 79): consult to get +5 competence on Knowledge (arcana) checks
- Eager weapon enhancement(MIC 34): +2 unnamed init bonus, and +2 dmg in surprise round and first round of combat.
- Death Ward armor enhancement(MIC 10): As an immediate action, once per day, ignore any death or negative energy effect.
- Anklet of Translocation(MIC 71): Twice per day, activate it as a Swift action to teleport up to 10 ft.
- Least Iron Ward Diamond(MIC 26): Attachs to armor to grant the wearer DR 1/-. Only prevents a max of 10 damage per day.
- Belt of Battle(MIC 73): Grants +2 competence init bonus. It has 3 charges, which renew every day. Activating it is a Swift action. 1 charge: gives a Move action. 2 charges: gives a Standard action. 3 charges: gives a full-round action.
Feat:
- Insightful Reflexes(CV 110): Add your Int modifier instead of your Dex to your Reflex save
Resources:
- CA - Complete Arcane
- CD - Complete Divine
- CV - Complete Adventurer
- LM - Libris Mortis
- RoD - Races of Destiny
- RoW - Races of the Wild
- SC - Spell Compendium