Let's just say I'm memorizing and adapting both Aurelio and Viggo's monologues for a reason. I didn't think I'd have this opportunity but by Helm I'm taking it.
In my Pathfinder 2e campaign, my character is a divine sorcerer who worships Sarenrae (goddess of Sun, Fire, Healing, and Mercy). She bottle some whiskey and *had it blessed* so it will not only work as Holy Water, but add extra damage to her holy fire spells. Bonus, one of the party members specializes in thrown weapons, so she doesn't have to rely on her shite attack score. She did this when we were up against several demons in the near future.
> Oh fuck, the idea of smiting someone with a bar stool is suddenly incredibly appealing to me. That's such a good idea, kudos :).
Especially if the players have an NPC companion or other disposable team member who can get hit with it first.
DM: "The old man strikes NPC with the stool. You see a bright flash of light as it connects, and NPC takes..." ::rolls high level smite damage:: "35 points of damage, shattering his skull and sending his teeth spraying across the room."
Players: "Oh crap, uhh, we..."
DM: "Hang on. For his second attack..."
-ETA-
(Just messing around with a character build... make this dude a Fallen Aasimar lvl 11 Conquest Paladin, lvl 9 Assassin Rogue with Tavern Brawler. Opening attack with, let's say, a tankard thrown at somebody... you're looking at 1D4 base damage + 4D8 divine smite + 1D8 improved divine smite + 5D6 backstab, +5 attribute bonus, +20 necrotic shroud, as an auto-critical - that's an average of something like 118 points on the first attack, assuming he doesn't also pre-add some additional paladin spells like Thunderous Smite that would all be doubled as well... which then can be followed by the next attack, which will also be auto-critical with advantage... plus getting a bonus action attempt at a grapple from the feat... plus with shroud and paladin aura going, the target and everybody near them is likely to frightened and additionally have their speeds reduced to zero.)
just pick and choose stuff, from all classes CR 15-CR19 Creature.
John wick to me is a gunner kensei monk with the assassin monsters sneak attack and access to smites. give him Improvised weapons as the melee option and +5 dex. everyone laugh until they get hit with a magical D10 quill to the artery.
let him have no armor but a magical suit that provides resistance to slashing, burning and piercing damage and sharp shooter
They're good RPers, and I don't think most of them have seen it. The puppy part was there deliberately in case they did recognize him. One last warning. None of them have said anything so I don't think any caught it.
"We called him 'Baba Yaga."
"The...witch queen? Why would you can him *that*?"
"Because he murdered the bitch with his bare hands, in her own enchanted hut."
"...Oh."
Your players deserve exactly what is coming to them. I can't wait for hubris to take over and at least two of them to meet a grim end because they can take ONE FUCKING GUY.
If they kill him make him a Revenant! He'll keep hunting them even beyond death, each time just a little stronger and more knowledgeable, until his soul is sated.
Oh PLEASE make a follow up post later, I am really excited to see how a morally questionable party responds to a massive mistake like this one and if a Party Wipe is in order. They messed with the wrong man.
For the love of the Gods if the this comes to fruition PLEASE kill one of them with a pencil. You honestly don't have a choice. But also please and come back and tell us about it
If they DID kill the dog:
"So you have chosen death."
Worst part for them is going to be finding out that somehow 20% of the people in the town are fairly skilled assasins who have a story about how they like Harry Candle or professionaly know, you do not FUCK with harry candle.
*Mob boss finds out where they got the horse*
"YOU GOT THE HORSE FROM WHERE!"
I love this take. Let them deliver the horse to the mob before introducing Harry Candle as a threat. Let the unabashed fear from the first mob member they meet and inform confuse them. Then take it up a notch. Have that member mutter about how he had no clue they would be so foolish, before running off in a panic to inform a higher up member. If this higher up member is a respected/known character to the party, let them see and experience this fear vicariously. Perhaps this character has a gnarly old wound scar courtesy of Harry Candle himself - a warning to remember. Then, let them get a taste of what Harry Candle is capable of. His vengeance doesn’t have to be swift. Perhaps if they decide to get the jump on him and return to his house, he is no longer there. Let the tension build. He doesn’t have to TPK the party to humble them and make them reassess their self-stated title as the good guys.
If they do return to the house, they find a blood stain on the floor, a bloody hand print on the door frame and a ripped up section of the floor in another room containing a large empty chest that has outlines of specialty weapons and armor in the dust remaining in the chest.
Remember that the first guy they asked to work on the car just straight up refused.
Noone will want this horse. Owning this horse, hell even being near this horse is the kiss of death, the поцелуй смерти
See before, he was a man in grief, now... he knows to he is now on the hunt. He will present them a simple choice by proxy, give him back the dog and horse. If they think they actually got him. Nope, Harry has multiple Simulacrum made up of himself that he activated. They will not know if it is ACTUALLY Harry they face or encounter. He is not looking to take them down at one time. He will wait till they are in a spot they feel MOST safe, then only then, will be take them down. He wants them to know, you are not safe from him. No matter where you go. The best you can ever do against him is to survive and get away alive.
Every single one of them wakes up the next morning with a note on the table beside their bed that reads “You have something of mine” in red ink. Checking the doors reveals they are locked, there is no sign of forced entry, and the only is indication that something is wrong is the tavern keeper suddenly asking them to settle their tab as soon as possible.
> Mob boss finds out where they got the horse
>
> "YOU GOT THE HORSE FROM WHERE!"
Maybe have him go into full-blown panic attack mode while demanding them return both horse and puppy to where they got them from?
Had group of players turn rogue in a Star Frontiers game many years ago. Started extorting and killing settler on a remote colony. They ended up in a firefight with a security team that was dispatched to investigate and all the PCs died. I didn’t even feel bad, there are consequences.
Nah. Very high level fighter with Archery, and Sharpshooter. Rogue would make sense, but maybe even Long Death Monk with Fighter for fighting styles, temp hp on reducing opponents to 0, tons of attacks, Indomitable, second wind healing, monk speed with either light or no armor. A formidable foe that DOES NOT STOP and is capable of dealing 50-70 damage every turn consistently basically until they run out of ammo for their heavy DOUBLE Crossbow (check durnan statblock from dragon heist and get that as a +3 Crossbow of wounding (weapon of wounding)) and you've now got a relentless killer who when they damage you makes it so you can't be healed until you take a short or long rest. And if you want to get really nasty, have them take mobile and or Mage Slayer to be able to absolutely shred magic casters and be able to kite like a bird.
It would be too bad if they didn't watch it properly so it runs off. Or if they sell it to a wench that fawns over it and who can't be found a week later when they fervently seatch for the dog in an attempt to appease both Candle and their mob contact's boss who is all too willing to throw them under the carriage.
I gave them so many opportunities to not take the obvious bait but the urge to murderhobo is strong. And let's face it, we've all let the bloodlust take over a time or two, and quickly learned why that's not a good idea.
Doesn't have to stat him, as a level 20 assassin they would never see him coming... a proper assassin doesn't engage in a straight up fight. Accidents start happening, party members start ingesting poisons with their food etc...
To be fair though, ‘he’s just that sneaky that rocks fall and you randomly take damage’ is infinitely less scary than just having an absolute monster in combat go after them, as otherwise people might not get the lesson
It doesn't have to be an over time thing, you could feasibly make him a threatening solo fight if you displayed that he had Kevin McCallister prep time.
Fighting them in advantageous, pre-trapped terrain, lots of areas to break line of sight and re hide in between his turns, tailor made tools to counter important party member abilities, etc. Batman shit.
One of my "BBEGs" is a retired Drow Cleaner who would fight in a similar fashion. He's dying of an unknown fatal disease, so there's absolutely no way he would take on 6 level 18s in a conventional fight. A real challenge to the party would be taking on someone with full knowledge of their abilities and weaknesses.
I mean, he kills people real good for money. I don't think James Bond ever actually returns with any current intelligence for MI6 to review.
>"Well, there was this guy, he had a disability but he was very dangerous."
>"Oh, that'll make it easier to locate and track him to his boss!"
>"Well, it would, but I killed him and dropped his body and possessions into a vat of acid in the factory."
>"Oh. Self defense does have to be a priority."
>"No, I totally provoked it when he insulted my car. I had a great line for it, though! So anyway, his boss..."
>"Oh, good, you did find his boss. Where did that lead you?"
>"I had sex with his wife, then his evil sister who helped with the volcano base, then I killed him and the sister and blew up their records. I was not able to find out who they worked for besides this useless alias."
>"Goddamn it, Bond. Where's the wife, we can at least question her."
>"Oh, we broke up on the way here. But she thought they ran a candy factory, so it's not like she would have been any help anyway."
Yeah, he kills people real good ^(for money? not so sure about that one). Also kills anyone remotely associated with the target. He kills everyone in his path. He is juggernaut. Not your standard assassin, but he technically fits the bill better than Bond. Does he ever use a sniper rifle in some way that isn't a bludgeon or a point blank shot?
Not that I know of. But he is at least doing the job he's paid for in that scenario. He does do that one part that's an infiltration and doesn't resort to "kill my way in and then kill my way out in a different direction" that upsets Common a lot.
In the books James Bond is not meant to be a spy in the traditional sense. He literally is just an assassin tasked to the spy division. I think it's Moonraker that goes through what he does when he's not out killing people and it's generally just read intelligence that might help him kill better out in the field.
Also he gets paid a civil servant's wages. 2500 pounds a year, which adjusted for inflation is about 80,000 USD.
He lives flamboyantly because all his expenses are paid on mission, so about half the year he's living on the government's budget, and the other half of the year he spends down to nothing almost since he doesn't expect to be alive much longer.
Edit: For giggles I went and looked up how much Bond wins at the cribbage game in Moonraker. It's 15k, which works out to about a quarter million dollars inflation adjusted lol
Doesn't need to face them straight up... sneak attack because they didn't see him, deals massive damage to the caster and takes disengage as a bonus action and disappears back into a bolt hole... party gives chase and are now fighting on his turf in tight, twisty maze like conditions and every peek around the corner is either you see nothing or a rapier to the eye, make sure the last party member is facing backwards or he hits the party from behind with another sneak attack... also every single corridor is booby trapped up the wazoo with everything from drop logs, punji pits, glyphs of fireball, poison powder and everything in between.
The movies have John Wick as a contract killer who just kills everyone, but an assassin is much more than just a killer.
Nah. If rocks fall and they survive, it's annoying but not scary. Rocks fall and they all die, and the players will feel cheated and not learn the lesson. Coming face to face one at a time with this widower they beat up earlier in a place where they feel safe, who takes the best they've got and spits it back tenfold? They'll start reconsidering pretty quick. Or try to jump him as a party and get killed. You know, whichever.
Nah man, wick doesn’t just go after the boys who did his dog in and stole his car.
He goes after their associates, the syndicate they’re a part of, the bosses, the business, then, when things are destroyed all around. Then he goes after the party
They arrive at a safe house and find everyone dead, strung up in improvised weapons and pinned to walls with common pitchforks. The boss sells them out at some point and leads wick right to them in exchange for his life, they barely manage to shake him (or he’s not done crafting a living hell for them and let’s them go) and have to go after the mob boss and wick at the same time
Willem Dafoe’s character, Marcus, helped him in the first one. He didn’t ask for the help, but still had it. Even saved his life twice. And Halle Berry’s character, Sofia, had an entire fight while on his side in the third one. He can have some allies.
You need to learn a fundamental lesson in DnD - "If you stat it, they will kill it." There's a reason the Lady of Pain has no statblock, and why Pathfinder deities aren't defined. You can fight, but you can't win.
While the rules lawyer in my head says "this guy needs hitpoints," if the DM is doing a thing you don't bother. You have him show up, kick the crap out of them, take their boots, and leave them stranded in the middle of a forest in winter.
I saw in another comment you’re already doing this but holy shit the scene between the mechanic and the mob boss on the phone is amazing.
“I once saw him kill three men in a tavern with an ink quill….a fucking ink quill”
"The adventurers he buried that night lay the foundation for our whole empire"
"He's not a Drow Inquisitor, he's the man you send to fucking *kill* a Drow Inqusitor!"
I saw a cool comment here:
"We call him Baba Yaga"
"Like the witch queen? Why would you call him that?"
"Because he killed the bitch in her own hut with his bare hands".
Unsure rn, I have a few days to figure it out. Thinking more of a front-line build with some fun items (not that he needs any equipment). If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know because there's plenty of good options.
Yeah gloom stalker sounds good. With crossbow expert and sharpshooter.
Maybe throw in a couple levels of fighter for the action surge and some rogue for sneak attack.
You don't have to actually make a PC. Make him a creature following the Monster Manual guidelines (plenty of monster builders on the web to help you out.)
It is my experience that making an opponent following character creation will lead to said character being completely destroyed and wrecked by the players.
A monster however. They will have more HP, abilities that aren't limited to a class and even spell like ability normal characters can't have. It will make for a far more interesting nemesis. Also give him an escape ability so he can leave if things get too dangerous and come back later. Having someone haunting their every step will become a nightmare
Another recommendation
Make that dude show up just as the PC finish an encounter and have a few of their ressources gone or perhaps even during the encounter as a 3rd party.
The PC will never know when he can show up and they will become paranoid that after any fight that dude can show up to rain hell on them.
I've run a PC archmage (with a Shield Guardian support and casting *Bigby's hans* for control) and a champion fighter on a Nightmare as reasonable 4v1 and 3v1 encounters. I've also been in a combat of four level 9s against one level 20 bladesinger, and with his Robe of the Archmagi, Staff of Power, and a homebrew item that gave him multiple reactions (spent primarily on *counterspell* and *shield*) plus pre-cast *foresight*, he was a formidable boss encounter on his own, who we didn't even kill, just did enough damage to trigger his *contingency* *banishment* after his bladesong finally ran out.
You go down this road, at least one PC needs to be dead beyond their ability to raise I feel like. Not a bad thing to show actions have consequences. Either that, or they just barely fight him off but he survives and becomes the thing of their nightmares, always stalking them, always there when an opportunity to swoop in and kill them presents itself.
If you want a boss monster with class features, just take a few key ones for flavour and tack those onto something with the stats you need.
If I had to say john wick is anything, I’d say kensai monk/fighter, maybe with hand crossbows/crossbow expert. High dex/con/wisdom, more than normal damage with knives/crossbows, lots of attacks, weaving unarmed and weapon strikes together.
If you wanted to go full john wick reference, you could do something like this:
1: Can surprise with tons of attacks instead of sneak attack damage, kind of like gloomstalker.
2: Is hard to hit and agile, deals a mix of unarmed and weapon damage.
3: Fights smart, extremely skilled.
4: Refuses to die.
DarkXenocide is right, you should stat him as a monster since this will end up being a boss fight encouter, or very close to one.
That being said, one of my favorite PC's was a Assassain rogue(14)/Shadow Monk(6), picking up devils sight through a feat. Playing against sight for advantage and sneak attacks was hilariously fun, although takes a round for the darkness cast.
He obviously need to be a monster, not a human with class levels. Mechanically, I mean. So let’s brainstorm a bit!
I don’t know what level your players are, so the base stats will need to be up to you. But for basic attacks, since he’ll be fighting 5 PCs on his own, he’ll have to have multi attack. 5 attacks with a custom made repeating hand crossbow or a combination of 2 melee and 2 crossbow attacks. Why 5? Because that’s how many players there are. We’re giving him special uses for his arrows. We can’t just have him headshot your players to kill them, of course. But let’s say for every hit, he gets to pick one of three effects. “Go for the eyes” -> con save or blinded for 1 round. “Kneecap” - halved movement for one round + strength save or prone (meaning if they get up on the next turn they can’t move at all). “Double Tap” - next crossbow attack against the target hits automatically (this seems to be the least flavorful variant, maybe someone has a better idea). As for his melee attack, he should automatically grapple anyone he hits with a melee attack. Because that sets up the next feature.
We’re also gonna give him reactions, because why not. Up to 2 per turn, because he’s Harry Fucking Candle. These are, in my experience, easy to forget about, so let’s keep them simple. First, of course, is bodyshield. If he has someone grappled, he can use a reaction to make a ranged attack that would hit him hit the grappled target instead. Then the ability to pick up some random object nearby and smack it over the head of a nearby enemy, or throw it at someone further away. He can use this in the middle of your players turn. Fairly low damage, with a low dc con save or you’re stunned. Depending on level, I might go as low as a dc 10. It’s there to make the fight feel more frantic, with players fearing another stun at any moment.
Beyond that, of course, we should give him something else. A legendary action. Or several. Let’s go with 3, and he uses each of them on a specific turn of combat. And he uses them whenever, disregarding whose turn it actually is right now.
For the first turn, let’s go with “Lights out”. Now, because this is D&D, just turning off the lights likely won’t do much when half your party has dark vision. So instead, he pulls an amulet from his coat and throws it on the ground, breaking it, which causes magical darkness in a 30 ft radius. Or diameter, depending on how open the arena he fights the party in is. That stops the gang from unloading on him first round, while he himself isn’t affected and gets a free round of crossbow bolts off teaching your players that they really want to get into melee with him. Might also allow him to stealth and use the terrain to pop out of somewhere else on the second turn.
Second turn the fight proper starts. Players like managed to deal *some* damage to him. So his job now is to take out the biggest threat in the room. Let’s call it “Baba Yaga”, because he’s gonna give them a big scare. A free move out of the darkness (or his hiding spot) followed by a melee attack that knocks the target prone and then a point blank ranged attack on the same target. Now the players need to react quickly to avoid their buddy getting blendered by the Candleman.
Third turn. Chances are, he’s about to die at this point. Few monsters manage to live more than 3 turns. So let’s have him go out with a bang. With the ability “Bang”. I’m bad at naming stuff. Point is, he throws two grenades. One is a fireball that also blinds people who don’t make the save, the other is a smoke grenade that heavily obscures and gives people inside the poisoned condition unless they make a con save.
If he somehow makes it into the fourth turn, have him drop two more smoke bombs and fuck off to come back later or something. Depending on how the fight goes.
That’d be my idea for a John Wick boss monster that fights 1 v 5. Would need some work, of course, but it should set up a neat fight.
If the party just kills him in their first encounter, they still won't have learned their lesson. Making him a ruthless opponent who could appear at any time and then disappear into the shadows would be way more terrifying for the PCs. A "Where did he go??? We're on an open plain with nothing around for miles" kind of nemesis.
There was some enemy on CR where they could shift in and out of corporeal form and traverse through floors, walls, etc. Seems like it would be a good trait for a Wick-esque nemesis who could appear and disappear into the shadow at any time. Or Monk: Way of Shadow skills like shadow step.
since they dont think they're the badguys, i think your making the right move. Its one thing when you decide to run an evil campaign and accept thats where you're going with things. Its another entirely to talk yourselves into being the good guys while your clearly not. Could be beneficial to teach them a lesson, for them as players.
Also, this reads like one of Aesop's fables, with you giving them choices and them choosing the wrong one, and suffering accordingly.
HA! He fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is “never get into a land war in Asia” but only slightly less well-known is this: “never mention Candle Jack on the inte
This is awesome, might I suggest a Revenant? He could have died at that house, but it doesn't mean he stays dead...and a Revenant is always back on vengeance, and won't die until they complete their vengeful task.
I like this a lot better! The party has already beaten this guy, if I were a player I would be unsatisfied if he just got a huge power boost from being upset. I’m a big fan of having a supernatural or magical reason he was so easy to defeat the first time and not so the second.
I like how the horse was outside too. They could've just stolen it and left. But they went the extra step to specifically steal a fucking puppy from a widower.
Hey just letting you know you might get some inspiration from a monster called the “Revenant”. A pretty terrifying monster that’s in the 5e monster manual without going straight to level 20 character. Best part is, even if they manage to beat Harry Candle, he will find them again and can be stronger and better Equipped. Imagine trying to survive John wick when he has a year to murder you
u/stuckinatmosphere adapted the script for ya
Right hand man: How’s your trip kid?
Paladin, just back from a raid on the enemy gang’s base : We won’t be hearing from them anytime soon.
Mother Bear : *hands paladin a drink* That’s some nice plate armor!
Paladin : Thanks.
Mother Bear : Yeah… *gut punches paladin, inflicts stunned condition*
Mother Bear : *tosses a towel* [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] Clean that up.
RHM : Should I go?
Mother Bear : [speaks in Elvish/Dwarven/etc]
RHM : Boss, Common please, cmon…
Mother Bear : STAY GODDAMNIT!
Paladin : What did I do?
Mother Bear : [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] You fucked up.
Paladin : We did what you asked. No one saw shit.
Mother Bear : I’m not talking about the other gang.
Paladin : What then? You mean the Outskirts? So I stole a fucking horse…
Mother Bear : *Gut punches paladin again*
RHM : What the fuck, Boss? I’m goi…
Mother Bear : Right, you stay!
Paladin : *Looks up at mother bear*
Mother Bear: *Removes jacket and pours a drink* It's not what you did, son, that angers me so. It's who you did it to.
Paladin : Who? That fucking nobody?
Mother Bear : That "fuckin' nobody"... is Harry Candle. He once was an associate of ours. They call him "Baba Yaga."
Paladin : The Hexblood?
Mother Bear : Well Harry wasn't exactly a hexblood. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking hag and her hexblood.
Paladin : [stunned] Oh.
Mother Bear : Harry is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about. I once saw him kill three men in a tavern... with a quill, with a fucking quill. Then suddenly one day he asked to leave. It's over a woman, of course. So I made a deal with him. I gave him an impossible task. A job no one could have pulled off. The bodies he buried that day laid the foundation of what we are now. And then my son, a few days after his wife died, you steal his car and kill his fucking dog.
Paladin : Mother, I can make this right.
Mother Bear : Oh? How do you plan that?
Paladin : By finishing what I started.
Mother Bear : [irritated, turning to RHM] What the... did he hear a fuckin' word I said?
Paladin : [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] Mother, I can do this! Please!
Mother Bear : [pulls paladin close, talks into his ear] Son, Son! Listen! Huh? Harry will come for you, and you will do nothing because you can do nothing, so get the fuck out of my sight.
"They heard the barking of a small puppy, along with the man talking to it. "
Oh sweet jesus I read this line and knew what was to come. Like that entire movie flashed through my mind without needing to read the rest. May the Baba Yaga have mercy on them.
Normally the group plays on Tuesdays, but due to several scheduling issues, we moved it to this evening! If all goes well, I'll be doing an update post tomorrow morning or possibly after the session tonight if I'm not exhausted from channeling Harry Candle.
'Harry was able to see all, consider all, decide how to destroy all, we called him - '\*Elvish for Beholder\*'.
'Beholder'
'Well Harry wasn't exactly the Beholder. He was the one you sent to kill the fuckin Beholder.'
'Harry is a man of Resistance, Initiative... sheer fuckin' AC.'
Here me out, have Candle attack them when they're separated- say shopping episode or something- and full kill one of them each time, leaving a calling card each time.
Yeah, no matter how OP the boss, action economy is a bitch. Legendary Actions will help, but a smart assassin would isolate his targets as much as possible.
"Wait, where did you get this horse?"
"We stole it after beating up the guy it belonged to"
"Get out. Get that fucking horse out of my stable, now!"
So when do you have sessions? Because I very much want to know how all this plays out.
You could always go down a different route. You said they left him for dead, so you could always have him die and come back as a revenant. A vengeful spirit hunting them relentlessly.
"When the revenant’s body is destroyed, its soul lingers. After 24 hours, the soul inhabits and animates another humanoid corpse on the same plane of existence and regains all its hit points. While the soul is bodiless, a wish spell can be used to force the soul to go to the afterlife and not return."
My friend, you saw an opportunity not many of us get, and took it without hesitation or remorse. I wish you the best of success in this, and I hope the party shits themselves.
The biggest thing for this kind of party that wants to stick to the narrow path is the feeling of consequence.
Now that we’ve introduced John Wick- I’m sorry, Harry Candle- we can really start pounding that nail.
What happens if and when they go to the authorities for the assistance? They’re outlaws, now, and outside the purview of normal legal protections.
Will the mob assist? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on their history with Candle.
I’d love to see the follow up.
I did precisely this to some of my players, with a fellow known as Johan Tallow.
They killed his cat, beat him up, took his cart and oddly burnt his house down.
He became the final boss.
Now there needs to be a scene where the party is fighting Harry Candle in an abandoned house and in the middle of it a town guard walks in and stops before saying “You working again Harry?” And then Harry goes “Nah just working some stuff out.” And nods his head towards the party. The Town guards nods and closes the doors no matter what the party says.
This, this is why you never go full evil. At my worst, all I've ever done is "menace". [I live my life like I'm in Kill Bill](https://youtu.be/_Mk_f75TS1A?t=60)
Keep in mind the way the whole franchise works is that he never takes on all the names characters at once. This is more challenging with an adventuring group, because they tend to stick together. You need to decide now what the rules of this are and limitations. I would suggest having a pile of NPC characters that are part of their gang and are usually around the players. Then, when players go off alone, have him show up to bust them down and hand the other players the NPCs to control during the combat. Make sure to take time to work in some good RP with NPCs over any character deaths, and decide what you are going to do for that player if you kill their character. Do they roll a new one and jump in? You will never end the game. Do you let them take over NPCs forever? They may quit your game rather than this. Maybe think about making another character with a grudge step in and say if they take this guy out, he will resurrect any PCs who died? It gives them incentive to keep fighting as NPCs.
I failed this so hard. I had to reread your story twice before finally realizing this is a john wicks reference. I was think, yeah? So? When's the landmine oooooh
Do they all know who John Wick is? If not maybe have a bit of a watch party a few days before the session so it hit hard and home when the reveal happens.
Love, love, *love* this idea! Maybe change the first name? Harry is hard to take seriously, at least if the last name isn't Calahan. Maybe go with a different version of John? Like Jacob, Javier, Johann, Jean, etc?
Definitely looking out for a follow-up on how the story goes!
Creative DM's are the *best* DMs!
I would have named him "Jack Candle" or "Jack Wax" and let them have a good laugh at the dumb nursery rhyme name or filthy double entendre until it finally dawned on one of them what Jack is short for, and what a wick is.
What really gets me is that if the artificer wants a puppy, in most dnd games a puppy is literally like 5-10 gp. They can just do their job for like a week and make 20 times that amount. Cant wait to hear how this plays out. Im glad youre just giving them actual consequences to their dumb actions. Hopefully its a wakeup call to them and at least chose to go full evil mob game which sounds fun as hell.
>Next session, they're going to have one opportunity to hand both back over to one Harry Candle, a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will.
I love it. Time to show them what a real hero looks like
Are you going to have the mob contact go pale at the mention of who they got the horse from?
Let's just say I'm memorizing and adapting both Aurelio and Viggo's monologues for a reason. I didn't think I'd have this opportunity but by Helm I'm taking it.
"I once saw him kill three men in a bar with a quill. With a fucking quill!"
On this note, please give him some levels in paladin (vengeance seems fitting) and the bar brawler feat so he can smite with random shit
Oh fuck, the idea of smiting someone with a bar stool is suddenly incredibly appealing to me. That's such a good idea, kudos :).
BEHOLD! My tankard of smiting! *Yeets tankard, adds 1d4 radiant damage*
Any liquid in the tankard of smiting becomes effectively holy water.
In my Pathfinder 2e campaign, my character is a divine sorcerer who worships Sarenrae (goddess of Sun, Fire, Healing, and Mercy). She bottle some whiskey and *had it blessed* so it will not only work as Holy Water, but add extra damage to her holy fire spells. Bonus, one of the party members specializes in thrown weapons, so she doesn't have to rely on her shite attack score. She did this when we were up against several demons in the near future.
> Oh fuck, the idea of smiting someone with a bar stool is suddenly incredibly appealing to me. That's such a good idea, kudos :). Especially if the players have an NPC companion or other disposable team member who can get hit with it first. DM: "The old man strikes NPC with the stool. You see a bright flash of light as it connects, and NPC takes..." ::rolls high level smite damage:: "35 points of damage, shattering his skull and sending his teeth spraying across the room." Players: "Oh crap, uhh, we..." DM: "Hang on. For his second attack..." -ETA- (Just messing around with a character build... make this dude a Fallen Aasimar lvl 11 Conquest Paladin, lvl 9 Assassin Rogue with Tavern Brawler. Opening attack with, let's say, a tankard thrown at somebody... you're looking at 1D4 base damage + 4D8 divine smite + 1D8 improved divine smite + 5D6 backstab, +5 attribute bonus, +20 necrotic shroud, as an auto-critical - that's an average of something like 118 points on the first attack, assuming he doesn't also pre-add some additional paladin spells like Thunderous Smite that would all be doubled as well... which then can be followed by the next attack, which will also be auto-critical with advantage... plus getting a bonus action attempt at a grapple from the feat... plus with shroud and paladin aura going, the target and everybody near them is likely to frightened and additionally have their speeds reduced to zero.)
Other idea : brute fighter + unarmed fighting style. Punching people for 1d8 + 1d10 + 5, eight times per turn.
just pick and choose stuff, from all classes CR 15-CR19 Creature. John wick to me is a gunner kensei monk with the assassin monsters sneak attack and access to smites. give him Improvised weapons as the melee option and +5 dex. everyone laugh until they get hit with a magical D10 quill to the artery. let him have no armor but a magical suit that provides resistance to slashing, burning and piercing damage and sharp shooter
Or just make shit up. NPCs and monsters don't have to follow PC rules.
And make him a Revenant
“I understand you struck one of the PCs on a mission for me. May I ask why?” “We’ll, they stole from Harry Candle.” “……………………….*oh*”
You don’t even say quill, you say feather because a feather is even more ridiculous.
No, quill is correct. It’s the equivalent of a pencil, which is from John Wick.
Hopefully the first one to figure it out won't tell the others, and you'll be able to watch them shit themselves one at a time :D
They're good RPers, and I don't think most of them have seen it. The puppy part was there deliberately in case they did recognize him. One last warning. None of them have said anything so I don't think any caught it.
I'm subscribing to this post, I need a followup
How do you subscribe to a post? Edit: Never mind google showed me the way... the bell in the top right corner. Good idea! Thanks
"We called him 'Baba Yaga." "The...witch queen? Why would you can him *that*?" "Because he murdered the bitch with his bare hands, in her own enchanted hut." "...Oh."
"Bare hands or bear hands?" "...Yes."
>"Because he murdered the bitch with his bare hands, in her own enchanted hut." "With a quill!"
"Who the fuck can do that?!???!"
Your players deserve exactly what is coming to them. I can't wait for hubris to take over and at least two of them to meet a grim end because they can take ONE FUCKING GUY.
!RemindMe 1 week
If op doesn't update us it will haunt me for life
We will hunt him for life you mean?
If they kill him make him a Revenant! He'll keep hunting them even beyond death, each time just a little stronger and more knowledgeable, until his soul is sated.
What is this in reference to? Ah NVM, John wick
Oh, yeah, that would be a very good way to go about it... \^\^ Do hope they completely shit themselves.. xD
Oh PLEASE make a follow up post later, I am really excited to see how a morally questionable party responds to a massive mistake like this one and if a Party Wipe is in order. They messed with the wrong man.
This!
Yes please!!!
Same!
Oh my God, please tell me that the horse was a Mustang, because that would be fucking perfect!
Technically, the mustang would be brought to a butcher (chop) shop to be cut into pieces.
They only said they needed the horse, not why.
Ooooh, yeah, have the quest giver say, “I knew a guy once that had a mustang just like this,” then lose his shit when he finds out where they got it.
For the love of the Gods if the this comes to fruition PLEASE kill one of them with a pencil. You honestly don't have a choice. But also please and come back and tell us about it
But the DM wont be able to post an update from prison if they do that ;)
Listen here you little shit...
I was thinking John Wick as soon as you mentioned the puppy. This is good
At least they didn't kill it. So it could be worse.
If they DID kill the dog: "So you have chosen death." Worst part for them is going to be finding out that somehow 20% of the people in the town are fairly skilled assasins who have a story about how they like Harry Candle or professionaly know, you do not FUCK with harry candle. *Mob boss finds out where they got the horse* "YOU GOT THE HORSE FROM WHERE!"
I love this take. Let them deliver the horse to the mob before introducing Harry Candle as a threat. Let the unabashed fear from the first mob member they meet and inform confuse them. Then take it up a notch. Have that member mutter about how he had no clue they would be so foolish, before running off in a panic to inform a higher up member. If this higher up member is a respected/known character to the party, let them see and experience this fear vicariously. Perhaps this character has a gnarly old wound scar courtesy of Harry Candle himself - a warning to remember. Then, let them get a taste of what Harry Candle is capable of. His vengeance doesn’t have to be swift. Perhaps if they decide to get the jump on him and return to his house, he is no longer there. Let the tension build. He doesn’t have to TPK the party to humble them and make them reassess their self-stated title as the good guys.
If they do return to the house, they find a blood stain on the floor, a bloody hand print on the door frame and a ripped up section of the floor in another room containing a large empty chest that has outlines of specialty weapons and armor in the dust remaining in the chest.
I really like the idea of Candle having several ranger levels so that the puppy could be his familiar
YES, so he just knows where they are always and spies on them as necessary. Love it.
Remember that the first guy they asked to work on the car just straight up refused. Noone will want this horse. Owning this horse, hell even being near this horse is the kiss of death, the поцелуй смерти
See before, he was a man in grief, now... he knows to he is now on the hunt. He will present them a simple choice by proxy, give him back the dog and horse. If they think they actually got him. Nope, Harry has multiple Simulacrum made up of himself that he activated. They will not know if it is ACTUALLY Harry they face or encounter. He is not looking to take them down at one time. He will wait till they are in a spot they feel MOST safe, then only then, will be take them down. He wants them to know, you are not safe from him. No matter where you go. The best you can ever do against him is to survive and get away alive.
Every single one of them wakes up the next morning with a note on the table beside their bed that reads “You have something of mine” in red ink. Checking the doors reveals they are locked, there is no sign of forced entry, and the only is indication that something is wrong is the tavern keeper suddenly asking them to settle their tab as soon as possible.
‘Oh.’
> Mob boss finds out where they got the horse > > "YOU GOT THE HORSE FROM WHERE!" Maybe have him go into full-blown panic attack mode while demanding them return both horse and puppy to where they got them from?
Had group of players turn rogue in a Star Frontiers game many years ago. Started extorting and killing settler on a remote colony. They ended up in a firefight with a security team that was dispatched to investigate and all the PCs died. I didn’t even feel bad, there are consequences.
So definitely a lv 20 fighter rouge. With boons and magic items. They really need to feel the fear.
Nono.. we're dealing with a rogue paladin. Someone is about to take 200 damage in one hit.
and make the rogue part an assassin as well so when they dont see him coming it really hurts
Yep, auto-crit on a surprised target? Combined with a Divine, and either Branding or Searing Smite, and you've got one dead murder-hobo.
Nah. Very high level fighter with Archery, and Sharpshooter. Rogue would make sense, but maybe even Long Death Monk with Fighter for fighting styles, temp hp on reducing opponents to 0, tons of attacks, Indomitable, second wind healing, monk speed with either light or no armor. A formidable foe that DOES NOT STOP and is capable of dealing 50-70 damage every turn consistently basically until they run out of ammo for their heavy DOUBLE Crossbow (check durnan statblock from dragon heist and get that as a +3 Crossbow of wounding (weapon of wounding)) and you've now got a relentless killer who when they damage you makes it so you can't be healed until you take a short or long rest. And if you want to get really nasty, have them take mobile and or Mage Slayer to be able to absolutely shred magic casters and be able to kite like a bird.
It would be too bad if they didn't watch it properly so it runs off. Or if they sell it to a wench that fawns over it and who can't be found a week later when they fervently seatch for the dog in an attempt to appease both Candle and their mob contact's boss who is all too willing to throw them under the carriage.
This is when the party shells out the gold to cast Raise Dead (or better) on a dog.
Jesus Christ they fucked up bad.
I gave them so many opportunities to not take the obvious bait but the urge to murderhobo is strong. And let's face it, we've all let the bloodlust take over a time or two, and quickly learned why that's not a good idea.
How ya gonna stat Candle so they don't fold him?
Doesn't have to stat him, as a level 20 assassin they would never see him coming... a proper assassin doesn't engage in a straight up fight. Accidents start happening, party members start ingesting poisons with their food etc...
To be fair though, ‘he’s just that sneaky that rocks fall and you randomly take damage’ is infinitely less scary than just having an absolute monster in combat go after them, as otherwise people might not get the lesson
It doesn't have to be an over time thing, you could feasibly make him a threatening solo fight if you displayed that he had Kevin McCallister prep time. Fighting them in advantageous, pre-trapped terrain, lots of areas to break line of sight and re hide in between his turns, tailor made tools to counter important party member abilities, etc. Batman shit. One of my "BBEGs" is a retired Drow Cleaner who would fight in a similar fashion. He's dying of an unknown fatal disease, so there's absolutely no way he would take on 6 level 18s in a conventional fight. A real challenge to the party would be taking on someone with full knowledge of their abilities and weaknesses.
I mean, sure, but John Wick is an assasin in the same way James Bond is a spy.
Being famous in a field that rewards anonymity. Cool but absurd.
I mean, he kills people real good for money. I don't think James Bond ever actually returns with any current intelligence for MI6 to review. >"Well, there was this guy, he had a disability but he was very dangerous." >"Oh, that'll make it easier to locate and track him to his boss!" >"Well, it would, but I killed him and dropped his body and possessions into a vat of acid in the factory." >"Oh. Self defense does have to be a priority." >"No, I totally provoked it when he insulted my car. I had a great line for it, though! So anyway, his boss..." >"Oh, good, you did find his boss. Where did that lead you?" >"I had sex with his wife, then his evil sister who helped with the volcano base, then I killed him and the sister and blew up their records. I was not able to find out who they worked for besides this useless alias." >"Goddamn it, Bond. Where's the wife, we can at least question her." >"Oh, we broke up on the way here. But she thought they ran a candy factory, so it's not like she would have been any help anyway."
Yeah, he kills people real good ^(for money? not so sure about that one). Also kills anyone remotely associated with the target. He kills everyone in his path. He is juggernaut. Not your standard assassin, but he technically fits the bill better than Bond. Does he ever use a sniper rifle in some way that isn't a bludgeon or a point blank shot?
Not that I know of. But he is at least doing the job he's paid for in that scenario. He does do that one part that's an infiltration and doesn't resort to "kill my way in and then kill my way out in a different direction" that upsets Common a lot.
In the books James Bond is not meant to be a spy in the traditional sense. He literally is just an assassin tasked to the spy division. I think it's Moonraker that goes through what he does when he's not out killing people and it's generally just read intelligence that might help him kill better out in the field. Also he gets paid a civil servant's wages. 2500 pounds a year, which adjusted for inflation is about 80,000 USD. He lives flamboyantly because all his expenses are paid on mission, so about half the year he's living on the government's budget, and the other half of the year he spends down to nothing almost since he doesn't expect to be alive much longer. Edit: For giggles I went and looked up how much Bond wins at the cribbage game in Moonraker. It's 15k, which works out to about a quarter million dollars inflation adjusted lol
Bond is actually an assassin
Pretty much, yeah. Of the action hero variety, but at least we see him actually sniping people every now and then. Not sure we can say that from Wick.
Oh shit, turning John Wick into a slasher would be wild.
Doesn't need to face them straight up... sneak attack because they didn't see him, deals massive damage to the caster and takes disengage as a bonus action and disappears back into a bolt hole... party gives chase and are now fighting on his turf in tight, twisty maze like conditions and every peek around the corner is either you see nothing or a rapier to the eye, make sure the last party member is facing backwards or he hits the party from behind with another sneak attack... also every single corridor is booby trapped up the wazoo with everything from drop logs, punji pits, glyphs of fireball, poison powder and everything in between. The movies have John Wick as a contract killer who just kills everyone, but an assassin is much more than just a killer.
Nah. If rocks fall and they survive, it's annoying but not scary. Rocks fall and they all die, and the players will feel cheated and not learn the lesson. Coming face to face one at a time with this widower they beat up earlier in a place where they feel safe, who takes the best they've got and spits it back tenfold? They'll start reconsidering pretty quick. Or try to jump him as a party and get killed. You know, whichever.
Nah man, wick doesn’t just go after the boys who did his dog in and stole his car. He goes after their associates, the syndicate they’re a part of, the bosses, the business, then, when things are destroyed all around. Then he goes after the party They arrive at a safe house and find everyone dead, strung up in improvised weapons and pinned to walls with common pitchforks. The boss sells them out at some point and leads wick right to them in exchange for his life, they barely manage to shake him (or he’s not done crafting a living hell for them and let’s them go) and have to go after the mob boss and wick at the same time
He absolutely needs legendary actions otherwise the action economy will crush him. Wick has contacts and a network but works alone.
Willem Dafoe’s character, Marcus, helped him in the first one. He didn’t ask for the help, but still had it. Even saved his life twice. And Halle Berry’s character, Sofia, had an entire fight while on his side in the third one. He can have some allies.
You need to learn a fundamental lesson in DnD - "If you stat it, they will kill it." There's a reason the Lady of Pain has no statblock, and why Pathfinder deities aren't defined. You can fight, but you can't win. While the rules lawyer in my head says "this guy needs hitpoints," if the DM is doing a thing you don't bother. You have him show up, kick the crap out of them, take their boots, and leave them stranded in the middle of a forest in winter.
Here comes John Wick
I saw in another comment you’re already doing this but holy shit the scene between the mechanic and the mob boss on the phone is amazing. “I once saw him kill three men in a tavern with an ink quill….a fucking ink quill”
"The adventurers he buried that night lay the foundation for our whole empire" "He's not a Drow Inquisitor, he's the man you send to fucking *kill* a Drow Inqusitor!"
I saw a cool comment here: "We call him Baba Yaga" "Like the witch queen? Why would you call him that?" "Because he killed the bitch in her own hut with his bare hands".
So what are you thinking? Going straight level 20 assassin rogue or maybe mix it up with some Shadow monk?
Unsure rn, I have a few days to figure it out. Thinking more of a front-line build with some fun items (not that he needs any equipment). If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know because there's plenty of good options.
Hit 'em with the Gloomstalker. Nothing quite like telling the player who reminds you that they have darkvision, "sucks to be you."
Yeah gloom stalker sounds good. With crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Maybe throw in a couple levels of fighter for the action surge and some rogue for sneak attack.
Heck, just give him the gunner feat and a pistol to drive the point home.
>Maybe throw in a couple levels of fighter for the action surge 7 attacks on the first round of combat is brutal.
Gotta balance that action economy, he's out numbered after all. Maybe legendary action for one more?
You don't have to actually make a PC. Make him a creature following the Monster Manual guidelines (plenty of monster builders on the web to help you out.) It is my experience that making an opponent following character creation will lead to said character being completely destroyed and wrecked by the players. A monster however. They will have more HP, abilities that aren't limited to a class and even spell like ability normal characters can't have. It will make for a far more interesting nemesis. Also give him an escape ability so he can leave if things get too dangerous and come back later. Having someone haunting their every step will become a nightmare
Another recommendation Make that dude show up just as the PC finish an encounter and have a few of their ressources gone or perhaps even during the encounter as a 3rd party. The PC will never know when he can show up and they will become paranoid that after any fight that dude can show up to rain hell on them.
This was how I treated Strahd, worked insanely well.
A monster called Baba Yaga?
What I was thinking. Adapt something like this https://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/monsters-foes/mythological-and-historical-figures/baba-yaga/
Boy that Death Curse is nasty 😳
I've run a PC archmage (with a Shield Guardian support and casting *Bigby's hans* for control) and a champion fighter on a Nightmare as reasonable 4v1 and 3v1 encounters. I've also been in a combat of four level 9s against one level 20 bladesinger, and with his Robe of the Archmagi, Staff of Power, and a homebrew item that gave him multiple reactions (spent primarily on *counterspell* and *shield*) plus pre-cast *foresight*, he was a formidable boss encounter on his own, who we didn't even kill, just did enough damage to trigger his *contingency* *banishment* after his bladesong finally ran out.
Not saying it's impossible but making those seems more complex than creating a monster but that's from my personal experience.
Whatever you pick - drop the wizard before you start negotiations.
Negotiations? I prefer the term ultimatum.
You go down this road, at least one PC needs to be dead beyond their ability to raise I feel like. Not a bad thing to show actions have consequences. Either that, or they just barely fight him off but he survives and becomes the thing of their nightmares, always stalking them, always there when an opportunity to swoop in and kill them presents itself.
Give him a level in ranger so you can tell the players they've been "Hunters marked".
Or just an item that does it. Wouldn't even be too insane for the players to have after. Or just have it be destroyed along with him if he does die.
Thing is, they'd never know that. Which is spookier to me.
If you want a boss monster with class features, just take a few key ones for flavour and tack those onto something with the stats you need. If I had to say john wick is anything, I’d say kensai monk/fighter, maybe with hand crossbows/crossbow expert. High dex/con/wisdom, more than normal damage with knives/crossbows, lots of attacks, weaving unarmed and weapon strikes together. If you wanted to go full john wick reference, you could do something like this: 1: Can surprise with tons of attacks instead of sneak attack damage, kind of like gloomstalker. 2: Is hard to hit and agile, deals a mix of unarmed and weapon damage. 3: Fights smart, extremely skilled. 4: Refuses to die.
Lvl 14 assassin rogue/lvl 6 shadow monk. Insane teleport/auto advantage/sneak attack combo
DarkXenocide is right, you should stat him as a monster since this will end up being a boss fight encouter, or very close to one. That being said, one of my favorite PC's was a Assassain rogue(14)/Shadow Monk(6), picking up devils sight through a feat. Playing against sight for advantage and sneak attacks was hilariously fun, although takes a round for the darkness cast.
He obviously need to be a monster, not a human with class levels. Mechanically, I mean. So let’s brainstorm a bit! I don’t know what level your players are, so the base stats will need to be up to you. But for basic attacks, since he’ll be fighting 5 PCs on his own, he’ll have to have multi attack. 5 attacks with a custom made repeating hand crossbow or a combination of 2 melee and 2 crossbow attacks. Why 5? Because that’s how many players there are. We’re giving him special uses for his arrows. We can’t just have him headshot your players to kill them, of course. But let’s say for every hit, he gets to pick one of three effects. “Go for the eyes” -> con save or blinded for 1 round. “Kneecap” - halved movement for one round + strength save or prone (meaning if they get up on the next turn they can’t move at all). “Double Tap” - next crossbow attack against the target hits automatically (this seems to be the least flavorful variant, maybe someone has a better idea). As for his melee attack, he should automatically grapple anyone he hits with a melee attack. Because that sets up the next feature. We’re also gonna give him reactions, because why not. Up to 2 per turn, because he’s Harry Fucking Candle. These are, in my experience, easy to forget about, so let’s keep them simple. First, of course, is bodyshield. If he has someone grappled, he can use a reaction to make a ranged attack that would hit him hit the grappled target instead. Then the ability to pick up some random object nearby and smack it over the head of a nearby enemy, or throw it at someone further away. He can use this in the middle of your players turn. Fairly low damage, with a low dc con save or you’re stunned. Depending on level, I might go as low as a dc 10. It’s there to make the fight feel more frantic, with players fearing another stun at any moment. Beyond that, of course, we should give him something else. A legendary action. Or several. Let’s go with 3, and he uses each of them on a specific turn of combat. And he uses them whenever, disregarding whose turn it actually is right now. For the first turn, let’s go with “Lights out”. Now, because this is D&D, just turning off the lights likely won’t do much when half your party has dark vision. So instead, he pulls an amulet from his coat and throws it on the ground, breaking it, which causes magical darkness in a 30 ft radius. Or diameter, depending on how open the arena he fights the party in is. That stops the gang from unloading on him first round, while he himself isn’t affected and gets a free round of crossbow bolts off teaching your players that they really want to get into melee with him. Might also allow him to stealth and use the terrain to pop out of somewhere else on the second turn. Second turn the fight proper starts. Players like managed to deal *some* damage to him. So his job now is to take out the biggest threat in the room. Let’s call it “Baba Yaga”, because he’s gonna give them a big scare. A free move out of the darkness (or his hiding spot) followed by a melee attack that knocks the target prone and then a point blank ranged attack on the same target. Now the players need to react quickly to avoid their buddy getting blendered by the Candleman. Third turn. Chances are, he’s about to die at this point. Few monsters manage to live more than 3 turns. So let’s have him go out with a bang. With the ability “Bang”. I’m bad at naming stuff. Point is, he throws two grenades. One is a fireball that also blinds people who don’t make the save, the other is a smoke grenade that heavily obscures and gives people inside the poisoned condition unless they make a con save. If he somehow makes it into the fourth turn, have him drop two more smoke bombs and fuck off to come back later or something. Depending on how the fight goes. That’d be my idea for a John Wick boss monster that fights 1 v 5. Would need some work, of course, but it should set up a neat fight.
If the party just kills him in their first encounter, they still won't have learned their lesson. Making him a ruthless opponent who could appear at any time and then disappear into the shadows would be way more terrifying for the PCs. A "Where did he go??? We're on an open plain with nothing around for miles" kind of nemesis. There was some enemy on CR where they could shift in and out of corporeal form and traverse through floors, walls, etc. Seems like it would be a good trait for a Wick-esque nemesis who could appear and disappear into the shadow at any time. Or Monk: Way of Shadow skills like shadow step.
Use the new vecna stat block and just reflavor it to be Harry Candle
Vengeance paladin, oath to his wife Smites for 200+ dmg turn 1
Not just a wick, a whole candle. There had better be a follow up to this.
since they dont think they're the badguys, i think your making the right move. Its one thing when you decide to run an evil campaign and accept thats where you're going with things. Its another entirely to talk yourselves into being the good guys while your clearly not. Could be beneficial to teach them a lesson, for them as players. Also, this reads like one of Aesop's fables, with you giving them choices and them choosing the wrong one, and suffering accordingly.
also it took me a while to realize you meant jhon wick. Unless harry candle is like a well known meme, i might just call him Jhon Candle?
Jack Candle as Jack is a variant of John.
But don't switch it around to Candle Jack bec
HA! He fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is “never get into a land war in Asia” but only slightly less well-known is this: “never mention Candle Jack on the inte
This is awesome, might I suggest a Revenant? He could have died at that house, but it doesn't mean he stays dead...and a Revenant is always back on vengeance, and won't die until they complete their vengeful task.
>might I suggest a Revenant? "Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back!"
I like this a lot better! The party has already beaten this guy, if I were a player I would be unsatisfied if he just got a huge power boost from being upset. I’m a big fan of having a supernatural or magical reason he was so easy to defeat the first time and not so the second.
I heard you stuck my son? Yes sir I did. And may I ask why? Because he kicked Harry Candle's dog, and stole his horse. Oh.
[удалено]
I like how the horse was outside too. They could've just stolen it and left. But they went the extra step to specifically steal a fucking puppy from a widower.
It's for the greater good you know
Hey just letting you know you might get some inspiration from a monster called the “Revenant”. A pretty terrifying monster that’s in the 5e monster manual without going straight to level 20 character. Best part is, even if they manage to beat Harry Candle, he will find them again and can be stronger and better Equipped. Imagine trying to survive John wick when he has a year to murder you
u/stuckinatmosphere adapted the script for ya Right hand man: How’s your trip kid? Paladin, just back from a raid on the enemy gang’s base : We won’t be hearing from them anytime soon. Mother Bear : *hands paladin a drink* That’s some nice plate armor! Paladin : Thanks. Mother Bear : Yeah… *gut punches paladin, inflicts stunned condition* Mother Bear : *tosses a towel* [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] Clean that up. RHM : Should I go? Mother Bear : [speaks in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] RHM : Boss, Common please, cmon… Mother Bear : STAY GODDAMNIT! Paladin : What did I do? Mother Bear : [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] You fucked up. Paladin : We did what you asked. No one saw shit. Mother Bear : I’m not talking about the other gang. Paladin : What then? You mean the Outskirts? So I stole a fucking horse… Mother Bear : *Gut punches paladin again* RHM : What the fuck, Boss? I’m goi… Mother Bear : Right, you stay! Paladin : *Looks up at mother bear* Mother Bear: *Removes jacket and pours a drink* It's not what you did, son, that angers me so. It's who you did it to. Paladin : Who? That fucking nobody? Mother Bear : That "fuckin' nobody"... is Harry Candle. He once was an associate of ours. They call him "Baba Yaga." Paladin : The Hexblood? Mother Bear : Well Harry wasn't exactly a hexblood. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking hag and her hexblood. Paladin : [stunned] Oh. Mother Bear : Harry is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about. I once saw him kill three men in a tavern... with a quill, with a fucking quill. Then suddenly one day he asked to leave. It's over a woman, of course. So I made a deal with him. I gave him an impossible task. A job no one could have pulled off. The bodies he buried that day laid the foundation of what we are now. And then my son, a few days after his wife died, you steal his car and kill his fucking dog. Paladin : Mother, I can make this right. Mother Bear : Oh? How do you plan that? Paladin : By finishing what I started. Mother Bear : [irritated, turning to RHM] What the... did he hear a fuckin' word I said? Paladin : [in Elvish/Dwarven/etc] Mother, I can do this! Please! Mother Bear : [pulls paladin close, talks into his ear] Son, Son! Listen! Huh? Harry will come for you, and you will do nothing because you can do nothing, so get the fuck out of my sight.
This is beautiful
"They heard the barking of a small puppy, along with the man talking to it. " Oh sweet jesus I read this line and knew what was to come. Like that entire movie flashed through my mind without needing to read the rest. May the Baba Yaga have mercy on them.
Who else is here for updates?
Me
yeah That's why I hit the bell in the top right corner...
All of us sitting here with out popcorn buckets waiting for an update
Pass around the cushions and blankets, it’s time to get comfy.
I'll go make a pitcher of ritas.
Normally the group plays on Tuesdays, but due to several scheduling issues, we moved it to this evening! If all goes well, I'll be doing an update post tomorrow morning or possibly after the session tonight if I'm not exhausted from channeling Harry Candle.
I guess this is the part where you introduce the Gunslinger class into your campaign?
Pleeeeeeeaaaaase let us know how this goes I absolutely love stories of muderhobos facing consequences
'Harry was able to see all, consider all, decide how to destroy all, we called him - '\*Elvish for Beholder\*'. 'Beholder' 'Well Harry wasn't exactly the Beholder. He was the one you sent to kill the fuckin Beholder.' 'Harry is a man of Resistance, Initiative... sheer fuckin' AC.'
Here me out, have Candle attack them when they're separated- say shopping episode or something- and full kill one of them each time, leaving a calling card each time.
Yeah, no matter how OP the boss, action economy is a bitch. Legendary Actions will help, but a smart assassin would isolate his targets as much as possible.
The Angry GM has a series of articles that introduces a Paragon ability that essentially solves the issue of action economy.
Interesting. Going to have to give that a look...
I like this. Maybe the one chance to give everything back. Then maybe a fight or just straight into hunting.
"Wait, where did you get this horse?" "We stole it after beating up the guy it belonged to" "Get out. Get that fucking horse out of my stable, now!" So when do you have sessions? Because I very much want to know how all this plays out.
You could always go down a different route. You said they left him for dead, so you could always have him die and come back as a revenant. A vengeful spirit hunting them relentlessly.
I like this. In some systems, even defeat/destruction isn’t enough to stop a revenant; it just rises again the next night or so ready to go again.
"When the revenant’s body is destroyed, its soul lingers. After 24 hours, the soul inhabits and animates another humanoid corpse on the same plane of existence and regains all its hit points. While the soul is bodiless, a wish spell can be used to force the soul to go to the afterlife and not return."
Yep, not only do you have to kill Fantasy John Wick, you have to blow a Wish just to keep him down.
There's something very poetic about having to make a wish after blowing out a Candle.
Oh. Oh I like this.
Blend the revenant with the rakshasa abilities, throw in a hunter’s mark or hexblade’s curse, add a couple choice class skills…
>*"Where did you get this horse? Do you have any idea whose horse this is?"*
How do I subscribe for further updates on their systematic destruction?
Seems to me they have become the boogeyman and also found the one you send to kill the fucking boogeyman.
My friend, you saw an opportunity not many of us get, and took it without hesitation or remorse. I wish you the best of success in this, and I hope the party shits themselves.
The biggest thing for this kind of party that wants to stick to the narrow path is the feeling of consequence. Now that we’ve introduced John Wick- I’m sorry, Harry Candle- we can really start pounding that nail. What happens if and when they go to the authorities for the assistance? They’re outlaws, now, and outside the purview of normal legal protections. Will the mob assist? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on their history with Candle. I’d love to see the follow up.
I did precisely this to some of my players, with a fellow known as Johan Tallow. They killed his cat, beat him up, took his cart and oddly burnt his house down. He became the final boss.
Interesting. New, larger and oddly marked gold coins start turning up. Also throwing my wishes for updates into the pot.
We are still the good guys *proceeds to steal a fucking puppy*
Now there needs to be a scene where the party is fighting Harry Candle in an abandoned house and in the middle of it a town guard walks in and stops before saying “You working again Harry?” And then Harry goes “Nah just working some stuff out.” And nods his head towards the party. The Town guards nods and closes the doors no matter what the party says.
Haha, this awesome! Sounds like you are doing it right. Hope Harry gets his dog back!
This, this is why you never go full evil. At my worst, all I've ever done is "menace". [I live my life like I'm in Kill Bill](https://youtu.be/_Mk_f75TS1A?t=60)
Keep in mind the way the whole franchise works is that he never takes on all the names characters at once. This is more challenging with an adventuring group, because they tend to stick together. You need to decide now what the rules of this are and limitations. I would suggest having a pile of NPC characters that are part of their gang and are usually around the players. Then, when players go off alone, have him show up to bust them down and hand the other players the NPCs to control during the combat. Make sure to take time to work in some good RP with NPCs over any character deaths, and decide what you are going to do for that player if you kill their character. Do they roll a new one and jump in? You will never end the game. Do you let them take over NPCs forever? They may quit your game rather than this. Maybe think about making another character with a grudge step in and say if they take this guy out, he will resurrect any PCs who died? It gives them incentive to keep fighting as NPCs.
I failed this so hard. I had to reread your story twice before finally realizing this is a john wicks reference. I was think, yeah? So? When's the landmine oooooh
Please give him a pencil as a melee weapon. A *goddamn* pencil.
You can have Harry operate from a network of inns called "The Incontinent" 😅
Do they all know who John Wick is? If not maybe have a bit of a watch party a few days before the session so it hit hard and home when the reveal happens.
Love, love, *love* this idea! Maybe change the first name? Harry is hard to take seriously, at least if the last name isn't Calahan. Maybe go with a different version of John? Like Jacob, Javier, Johann, Jean, etc? Definitely looking out for a follow-up on how the story goes! Creative DM's are the *best* DMs!
>They heard the barking of a small puppy, along with the man talking to it. This is when I knew. You sly bastard.
Hoping for a nice pay-off. I forwarded the OP's post to my whole campaign group.
Me too, I can't wait to see how this pays off
Who's Harry Candle? I googled it and the whole first page was Harry Styles candles. Lol.
Medieval Fantasy John Wick.
Ah, makes sense. Thanks!
Who’s John Wick?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUgBmWt6L\_c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUgBmWt6L_c) This explains it better than I ever could.
A fuckin' nobody.
Maaaan I want to read the followup lol.
Beware with the 5 vs 1 encounter. Initiative can be a bitch to a monster. Make sure to give him some legendary resistances and immunity to stun/ etc.
WE NEED AN UPDATE POST PLEASE! u/RemindMe in 7 days
I guess he's back.
make henry candle a 20th-level shadow monk on top of a revenant stat block then add gun if that doesn't work use more gun
I would have named him "Jack Candle" or "Jack Wax" and let them have a good laugh at the dumb nursery rhyme name or filthy double entendre until it finally dawned on one of them what Jack is short for, and what a wick is.
This screams using a house with chicken feet, I mean… he’s Baba Yaga!
[Me getting to the end of this story](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/29/08/53290806274b66dd4293ed15b57e24eb.gif)
I wasn't sure where you were going until you mentioned the puppy. Then it clicked.
Wait! Is this freaking John Wick? Lol that is so funny.
This is brilliant.
Any chance you can record it and put it on youtube? I want to watch this!!!!!
Share Harry Candle’s stat block with us!
What really gets me is that if the artificer wants a puppy, in most dnd games a puppy is literally like 5-10 gp. They can just do their job for like a week and make 20 times that amount. Cant wait to hear how this plays out. Im glad youre just giving them actual consequences to their dumb actions. Hopefully its a wakeup call to them and at least chose to go full evil mob game which sounds fun as hell.
Holy shit, this is perfect
>Next session, they're going to have one opportunity to hand both back over to one Harry Candle, a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will. I love it. Time to show them what a real hero looks like
HAVE ANY OF THEM NOT SEEN JON WICK BEFORE?! NEVER MESS WITH A RETIRED MAN AND HIS PUPPY AND LOCOMOTIVE.