Magister Acardolo is a ruthless and cunning villain, one who properly deserves the title. His schemes have brought trouble to the entire West Marches region, and his might is nothing short of astounding. He has fought for every ounce of power he possesses, and is not willing to fail now, making him very dangerous.
As a foe, Magister Acardolo is cautious and cruel, and will usually have prepared situations for any foe who he is likely to encounter. If he knows his challengers have a lot of magic at their disposal, he will surround himself with his household slaves. If they are likely to bring charges before him and have him arrested, he will let them, and simply have his servants ransom him by bribing individual guards to create weaknesses. He is also not above have his private school of mages assault a foe en masse, hurling a dozen fireballs at a time at a fortress or summoning demons to overwhelm defences. His fingers can be found in many pies, some merely causing trouble to overwhelm his opponents' ability to copy, some actually delving into his aims. In person, Magister Acardolo dresses in the customary spiky robes of his nation and rank, with a mesg mask covering his face. He is proud of his rank, and rises easily to being baited, but wil not endanger himself without having aid nearby. He prefers to flee combat if threatened, and might even Teleport away if he has to, abandoning whatever he has left in any given location. Statistics: Use the Archmage statistics from the Monster Manual for Magister Acardolo, with the following additions: Lawful Evil, Deception +9, and instead of attacking with a dagger, Acardolo uses his unique +2 spellblade Forsaker, which counts as an arcane focus for his spellcasting. Forsaker. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+2) slashing damage + 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. How you can use Archmage Acardolo in your game: - Acardolo is a Magister of a powerful magocracy, with quite a lot of political clout as well as personal power. He possesses over a hundred personal slaves, as well as scores of mages loyal to him. He makes an ideal "big bad guy" of a campaign leading up to mid- levels. - Don't be afraid to have Magister Acardolo just Time Stop, deliver a monologue, and Teleport away. He is meant to be a frustrating opponent, and anyone trying to bring him down will have to catch him truly by surprise, or while his attention is consumed with something else. - A Player Character's background might be tied to Magister Acardolo, giving them a personal reason to hate him. This might help to draw them into the campaign, and going on subplot adventures with that PC might help bring the PCs together... in hatred of this NPC. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 20 March 2020. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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