Villain

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Villain

This monster causes terrible things to happen. It is deadly on its own, but it also has an army of dedicated followers.
  • Villains count as 4 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.
  • Villains have four times as many hit points as monsters with the same CR.
  • Villains get a +1 adjustment to their initiative.
  • Villains inflict triple damage with their attacks, by way of increased damage and more attacks each round.
  • Villains get 5 action point(s).
  • (Villain Role) Immunity (partial 7): Villains are immune to the first seven conditions applied to them during an encounter. If an eighth condition is applied to a villain, it is resolved normally. A 'condition' is defined as any non-instantaneous harmful effect applied to the monster, other than damage, but is most commonly one of the defined Status Conditions (but it doesn't have to be). Statuses related to damage (such as injured, bloodied, staggered, dying, or dead) are not 'conditions', and cannot be negated or avoided with this ability.
  • Villains have the following special abilities:

Two Steps Ahead (Ex; Villain Role) Auto Upon Death
The first time in an encounter that a Villain is reduced to zero or fewer hit points, three things immediately happen, granting a rare glimpse at this foe's true cunning:
  • Instead of dying, the villain is revealed to have been one of its minions in disguise THE ENTIRE TIME! To make things even worse, this minion dies in a massive explosion, dealing 1d6 points of fire (energy, common) to all enemy creatures within a 4 square radius (20 feet) of the villain's space. Affected creatures may make a Reflex save vs. a DC of 14 for half damage. (GMs may change this damage type to any other common Energy or Physical damage type, if it would be more thematically appropriate for the Villain in question.)
  • Immediately after the explosion is resolved, four minions are spawned, or enough to bring the total up to eight, whichever is less (as per the rules of Surrounded By Idiots).
  • The villain is removed from the encounter until the start of its next turn, immune to all damage and effects, and it cannot be targeted by any skills, talents, or abilities until then.

At the start of the Villain's next turn, the villain can appear either in any space that has at least partial cover from all enemy creatures (e.g., around a nearby corner), or in a space where one of its minions currently stands. If the latter option is chosen, the minion is killed to make room for its master. At that time, any conditions the Villain was suffering under are immediately cleared, all accumulated efforts to pierce its condition immunity are removed, and its hit points are set to half its normal maximum ( hit points). Once this has occurred, the Villain's immunity to damage expires, and it may perform its turn as normal.

The Villain is killed for good the second time its hit points are reduced to zero or less.

Surrounded By Idiots (Ex; Villain Role) Free Action 1/Rnd
Up to once per round as a free action during their turn, a Villain may summon four minions, placing them in any unblocked space the Villain can perceive, as long as the space is large enough for the minion to occupy without squeezing. Any time this special ability is used and the total number of summoned minions present would exceed eight, it only summons enough minions to bring the total to eight. Of course, any minion that is killed reduces the number of minions present...

Keep Your Friends Close (Ex; Villain Role) Immediate Action
Once per round as an immediate action, the Villain may apply all of the damage of a single attack just made against them to a single ally within 30 feet of their space, instead. The Villain takes no damage from the attack, and any secondary effects of the attack (such as status conditions) are resolved against the allied creature instead. This ability may never be used more than once per round. If the Villain has no allies within 30 feet, they cannot use this ability.

Alpha Assault (Ex; Villain Role) Always On
A Villain may expend up to two action points in the same round.