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I need to make a special character to the value of 400pts for a mini campaign someone at my club is doing. My guy isn't very fluff orientated, and yes, he is overpowered, but seeming as I want him to be good and I make all the rules, he might as well be as everyone else's is.
Without further ado, here he is:

Dreadlord Arkal Man-Flayer, Lord of the Black Ark Citadel of Blighted Malice-400pts
M WS BS S T W I A LD
5 7 6 4 4 3 9 5 10
Equipment: Armour of the Serpent, The Helm of a Hundred Eyes, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Gildagresh, Blade of Khairith Irlean, Additional hand weapon (used in conjunction with the blade of Khairith Irlean, extra attack included in profile)

Special rules: Always strikes first, Eternal Hatred, Poisoned Attacks, Fear.

Armour of the Serpent: A suit of black armour forged from the Scales of Mak’Gra, the great sea serpent of the Sea of Malice, and bound to him by dark rituals by sorceresses of the dark convent, this armour grants him great resilience and agility.
Heavy Armour, Grants +1 T and +1I (Included in profile)

The Helm of a Hundred Eyes: This Helm was made from cursed dark stone from the Temple of the goddess of a Thousand Eyes, far to the east. Once Arkal had placed it upon his head, his soul was tormented by the daemons bound within it, but was blessed with unholy Vitality.
+1 to armour save, Regeneration (4+). At the beginning of every turn, roll a die then consult the table below:

1- The daemons within the helm drive him completely insane. He suffers Stupidity for the rest of the battle and suffers one automatic wound with no armour saves.
2-3- The daemons blur his senses, but guide his hand. He is at -1I and loses the always strikes first for that round of combat. He also gains +1 WS for that turn.
4-6 He resists the daemons, and fights on normally. Nothing Happens.

Pendant of Gildagresh: This powerful pendant is one of the most magically potent pendants in Naggaroth, and grants enormously powerful runes of warding. He defeated its last owner, Fortrax Poison Whisper, in unarmed combat.
4+ Ward in combat, 5+ ward in Shooting and 4+ Ward in Magic. Immune to Killing blow. Magic resistance (1)

Blade of Khairith Irlean
This blade was coated in blood from every citizen in the place of a thousand bloody delights (in the background in the DE codex), and their tormented souls lash out at those whom the blade touches.
Hand weapon, grants Heroic killing blow and +2 Strength. Armour Piercing.

Good/Bad/Awful?

Why does he ASF, have poison and cause fear?
None of those are abilities dark elves normally have, and need to be explained. Likewise, include a special rule that lets him use a normal weapon with his magical weapon for +1 attack; or just make his magical weapon be a set of 2 weapons.

WS7 T4 3+ armor, 4+ ward, 4+ regen (and he can't take both ward and regen).

ASF, S6 armor piercing and heroric killing blow is awesome, but all I see this guy doing is getting wrecked by rank and file.
Also, poison makes him worse, since the auto-wound prevents a chance at killing blow.


Due to his lack of survivability against rank and file, I'd put this guy at around 300 points. Also, a normal lord will out perform this guy, which doesn't make him seem all that special.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt wrote:Why does he ASF, have poison and cause fear?
None of those are abilities dark elves normally have, and need to be explained. Likewise, include a special rule that lets him use a normal weapon with his magical weapon for +1 attack; or just make his magical weapon be a set of 2 weapons.

WS7 T4 3+ armor, 4+ ward, 4+ regen (and he can't take both ward and regen).

ASF, S6 armor piercing and heroric killing blow is awesome, but all I see this guy doing is getting wrecked by rank and file.
Also, poison makes him worse, since the auto-wound prevents a chance at killing blow.


Due to his lack of survivability against rank and file, I'd put this guy at around 300 points. Also, a normal lord will out perform this guy, which doesn't make him seem all that special.

-Matt

Ok, with your comments, how about this:

Dreadlord Arkal Man-Flayer, Lord of the Black Ark Citadel of Blighted Malice-400pts
M WS BS S T W I A LD
5 7 6 5 4 3 9 5 10
Equipment: Armour of the Serpent, The Helm of a Hundred Eyes, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Gildagresh, Blade of Khairith Irlean, The Dagger of Hellfire
Special rules: Always strikes first, Eternal Hatred.

Armour of the Serpent: A suit of black armour forged from the Scales of Mak’Gra, the great sea serpent of the Sea of Malice, and bound to him by dark rituals by sorceresses of the dark convent, this armour grants him great resilience and agility.
Heavy Armour, Grants +1 T and +1I (Included in profile)

The Helm of a Hundred Eyes: This Helm was made from cursed dark stone from the Temple of the goddess of a Thousand Eyes, far to the east.
+2 to armour save. Automatically passes all characteristics tests.

Pendant of Gildagresh: This powerful pendant is one of the most magically potent pendants in Naggaroth, and grants enormously powerful runes of warding. He defeated its last owner, Fortrax Poison Whisper, in unarmed combat.
4+ Ward. Immune to Killing blow of all types. Magic resistance (2)

Blade of Khairith Irlean
This blade was coated in blood from every citizen in the place of a thousand bloody delights (in the background in the DE codex), and their tormented souls lash out at those whom the blade touches.
Hand weapon, grants Heroic killing blow and +2 Strength. Armour Piercing.

Dagger of Hellfire
Used as an additional hand weapon, but it grants him +2 attacks instead of the usual +1. and once a turn can be used to give Arkal a Strength 4 Breath weapon. The first time you use it, it is Strength 4, then you count down the strength every time you use it until it is zero, at which point it cannot be used (but it can still be used for add 2 attacks).
Better?

I don't understand the purpose of the Helm. +2 armor is nice, sure, but a 1/6 chance to cause permanent Stupidity and a 1/3 chance to lower initiative for a boost in WS seems like an odd rule to put in the mix. It's generally not beneficial to add superfluous die-rolling since it slows down the game not only to pause and do the roll, but to also remember and apply the outcome. Further, at Ld.10, WS7, I9, neither of the penalties really matter.

The pendant is neat, gives him a very solid 2+ ward against magic sniping.

Dagger is also neat, but wording could be better. You give a direct statement that once per turn it gives him a S4 breath weapon, but then you do a countdown on it.

Kirbinator wrote:I don't understand the purpose of the Helm. +2 armor is nice, sure, but a 1/6 chance to cause permanent Stupidity and a 1/3 chance to lower initiative for a boost in WS seems like an odd rule to put in the mix. It's generally not beneficial to add superfluous die-rolling since it slows down the game not only to pause and do the roll, but to also remember and apply the outcome. Further, at Ld.10, WS7, I9, neither of the penalties really matter.

The pendant is neat, gives him a very solid 2+ ward against magic sniping.

Dagger is also neat, but wording could be better. You give a direct statement that once per turn it gives him a S4 breath weapon, but then you do a countdown on it.

Edited the Dagger description, and changed the rules for the helm in post above.
Better? (again)

Breathe weapons are once per game.
Have it give +2 attacks, and once the breathe is used, +1 attack.
I'd also have the breath be resolved like a black dragon breathe.
Call it something like the Dragons Fang.

2+ armor (1+ vs shooting) with a 4+ ward (2+ vs magic), is pretty durable.
7 S6 killing blow attacks is solid.
This guy is now hitting like a blood thirster (only not as tough, and less wounds/no flying).

I think he's in the 400 point neighborhood now.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt wrote:Breathe weapons are once per game.
Have it give +2 attacks, and once the breathe is used, +1 attack.
I'd also have the breath be resolved like a black dragon breathe.
Call it something like the Dragons Fang.

2+ armor (1+ vs shooting) with a 4+ ward (2+ vs magic), is pretty durable.
7 S6 killing blow attacks is solid.
This guy is now hitting like a blood thirster (only not as tough, and less wounds/no flying).

I think he's in the 400 point neighborhood now.

-Matt

Damn all those new niggly 8th ed rules!
Ok, I'll make the dagger the Dragons fang, say you work it out like a black dragons breath attack, and add the +2 attacks then +1 once used thing. Will post the full one soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Dreadlord Arkal Man-Flayer, Lord of the Black Ark Citadel of Blighted Malice-400pts
M WS BS S T W I A LD
5 7 6 5 5 3 9 5 10
Equipment: Armour of the Serpent, The Helm of a Hundred Eyes, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Gildagresh, Blade of Khairith Irlean, The Dagger of Hellfire
Special rules: Always strikes first, Eternal Hatred.

Armour of the Serpent: A suit of black armour forged from the Scales of Mak’Gra, the great sea serpent of the Sea of Malice, and bound to him by dark rituals by sorceresses of the dark convent, this armour grants him great resilience and agility.
Heavy Armour, Grants +2 T and +1I (Included in profile)

The Helm of a Hundred Eyes: This Helm was made from cursed dark stone from the Temple of the goddess of a Thousand Eyes, far to the east.
+2 to armour save. Automatically passes all characteristics tests.

Pendant of Gildagresh: This powerful pendant is one of the most magically potent pendants in Naggaroth, and grants enormously powerful runes of warding. He defeated its last owner, Fortrax Poison Whisper, in unarmed combat.
4+ Ward. Immune to Killing blow of all types. Magic resistance (2)

Blade of Khairith Irlean
This blade was coated in blood from every citizen in the place of a thousand bloody delights (in the background in the DE codex), and their tormented souls lash out at those whom the blade touches.
Hand weapon, grants Heroic killing blow and +2 Strength. Armour Piercing.

The Dragon's Fang
Used as an additional hand weapon, but it grants him +2 attacks instead of the usual +1.Once a game can be used to give Arkal a Breath weapon, worked out in the same way as a Black Dragons Breath weapon. Once the Breath template has been used, it reverts to the normal rules for additional hand weapons (only +1 attack).
Done?

Again, on the breathe, it should be once a game, not once a turn.
Then, call it done.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt wrote:Again, on the breathe, it should be once a game, not once a turn.
Then, call it done.

-Matt

Sorry, I was meant to do that, but I forgot. I'll edit it.

Thanks for all the tips guys.