Leo Dilisnya revisited

[Rock of the Fraternity]

All in all, one brief passage about Leo Dilisnya in the first Ravenloft Gazetteer didn't really satisfy me. I spent a bit of time puzzling out what Leo might be, and this is what I came up with:

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.p ... tid=122515

All in all, I like how he turned out. I like it a lot; this way, if he ever does bust out of that tomb (or is released), I think he'd stand a reasonable chance of being an actual threat to Strahd - or at least a nuisance.

Leo's total character level is the same as in Gazetteer I: level 19.
His spellcasting ability is lower than Strahd's, but then he's been stuck in the tomb for a long time. I pegged him for being strong in Enchantment, both because he's a manipulative little s.o.b., and because in I, Strahd he boasted of being a better wizard than his great enemy; I figure he'd want to excel in an area where Strahd is completely deficient due to his specialization.

The Gazetteer's idea of making him Aristocrat/Wizard/Cleric didn't sit entirely right with me. For one thing, it makes his spellcasting abilities much less powerful, and for another it goes against a very nice comment Strahd makes about Leo. It adds up to Leo having had to trick holy men into providing him with a consecrated circle in which to bind Strahd, since Leo has no faith in anyone but himself. It suits the kind of man capable of waiting and scheming for years and then unleashing slaughter on even his own relatives for the sake of power.
I left him a level of Aristocrat to reflect his upbringing, and gave him two Dilisnya family feats from Legacy of the Blood (he is recognized as the family patriarch these days ...), but after that I went the Rogue/Assassin path in honour of his Ba'al Verzi standing (and, again, sneaky, manipulative little s.o.b.).

No Knowledge (Ravenloft) for Leo: after reading I, Strahd, I figured Leo was as mazed by the Mists as the other residents of Barovia. He certainly didn't seem to believe that the Darklord is the heart of the land, or even to be aware of what a Darklord is. I did beef up his ranks in Knowledge (undead lore) to reflect his preparations to defeat Strahd once and for all. Knowledge (religion) adds to that, and was also meant to reflect the role he played at the monastery, enabling him to fit in. Knowledge (arcana) is his best in honour to that whole rant about how he had become a better wizard than Strahd.

All of the Bluff, Gather information, Intimidate, Search, Listen, Spot et cetera again in honour of his role as an assassin. Leo's way was to work on the inside, until the time had come to make a decisive attack.

Oh -- special qualities and attacks are written down lower on the page, in the 'character traits' box. I ran out of room in the 'feats & special abilities'-area ... And these special qualities & attacks are completely legit! ^^; The one special quality I didn't add yet is the one Leo is entitled to due to being an 'Old'-category vampire in Ravenloft. I thought 'Bloodlust' might be appropriate after his long imprisonment. How say ye, Ravenloft community?

I'd love to hear your opinions ... ^^; If it meets with approval, I'd like to offer it to the next QtR, if the Fraternity is interested.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

All in all, I like how he turned out. I like it a lot; this way, if he ever does bust out of that tomb (or is released), I think he'd stand a reasonable chance of being an actual threat to Strahd - or at least a nuisance.

Not bad. Certainly he could cause some mischief in Barovia; for that matter, he could probably usurp control of Borca without breaking a sweat, if he wanted to re-establish himself as the Dilisnyan top dog.

Leo's total character level is the same as in Gazetteer I: level 19.
His spellcasting ability is lower than Strahd's, but then he's been stuck in the tomb for a long time. I pegged him for being strong in Enchantment, both because he's a manipulative little s.o.b., and because in I, Strahd he boasted of being a better wizard than his great enemy; I figure he'd want to excel in an area where Strahd is completely deficient due to his specialization.

I'm not sure that Leo in I, Strahd would've known Strahd is a specialist, or all that powerful a spellcaster by any standard, given how the Count was a 5th level generalist wizard prior to his fall from grace. Leo's cautious investigation into Strahd's new abilities would surely have focused on the nature of vampirism (which was not well known in their homeland, before the Mists came calling), rather than on the way the darklord's wizardry had changed and improved.

Also, note that much of Strahd's mastery of magic wasn't attained until after he cut his deal with Azalin, which happened years after he'd locked Leo in a box. Up to then, Leo's being a better wizard than his enemy wouldn't have been as difficult.

Enchantment is a good spin for Leo's spell selection, even so. I also like the inclusion of a few illusion spells.

The Gazetteer's idea of making him Aristocrat/Wizard/Cleric didn't sit entirely right with me. For one thing, it makes his spellcasting abilities much less powerful, and for another it goes against a very nice comment Strahd makes about Leo. It adds up to Leo having had to trick holy men into providing him with a consecrated circle in which to bind Strahd, since Leo has no faith in anyone but himself.

As we don't know anything about Leo's god, religions having been left frustratingly undefined in nearly all TSR Ravenloft products, it's hard to say whether the sort of deity who would accept Leo as a cleric would have a problem with the man's attitude. If he and his deity have a relationship based on a cynical exchange of favors -- the sort of thing some evil gods or arch-fiends might actually prefer -- rather than devotion, then it's not a problem for Leo to be both a cynic and a cleric.

As for needing those holy men to lay down a consecrated circle, a clerical Leo's deity would presumably be too evil to grant him effects that impede the undead rather than enhance them. Leo as cleric can still work, but we'd probably have to come up with a proper description of his deity (Ehrlin, perhaps?) to make it convincing.

Oh -- special qualities and attacks are written down lower on the page, in the 'character traits' box. I ran out of room in the 'feats & special abilities'-area ... And these special qualities & attacks are completely legit! ^^; The one special quality I didn't add yet is the one Leo is entitled to due to being an 'Old'-category vampire in Ravenloft. I thought 'Bloodlust' might be appropriate after his long imprisonment. How say ye, Ravenloft community

?

Bloodlust certainly sounds good! Personally, I'm not sure Leo would have grounds to claim a beneficial salient ability anyway, Old or not: according to VRGtV, vampiric salient abilities come about, at least in part, due to centuries of practice at using the various powers of vampirism. Leo's been aestivating for so long that he hasn't had much chance to excercise his powers and learn about them, let alone improve upon what he's got.

Listing his assassin's bonus against poison seems unnecessary, BTW, as he's already immune to poison due to his undead status. Other than that, it looks good.

I'd love to hear your opinions ... ^^; If it meets with approval, I'd like to offer it to the next QtR, if the Fraternity is interested.

Sure! Even if it doesn't match what Gaz I says about the guy's class levels, that's never stopped us from running alternate stats for NPCs before.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

I'm not sure that Leo in I, Strahd would've known Strahd is a specialist, or all that powerful a spellcaster by any standard, given how the Count was a 5th level generalist wizard prior to his fall from grace. Also, note that much of Strahd's mastery of magic wasn't attained until after he cut his deal with Azalin. Up to then, Leo's being a better wizard than his enemy wouldn't have been as difficult.

All true, of course. Still, Leo was nothing if not thorough when preparing to kill people. Not really an issue, though. ^^

Enchantment is a good spin for Leo's spell selection, even so. I also like the inclusion of a few illusion spells.

Thanks. ^^ I figured old habits die hard, and Leo started out as a sneak and an assassin. The Illusion spells help him to hide his true nature and his business - and quite a few of them would have been useful for his ambush of Strahd.

As we don't know anything about Leo's god, religions having been left frustratingly undefined in nearly all TSR Ravenloft products, it's hard to say whether the sort of deity who would accept Leo as a cleric would have a problem with the man's attitude.

To me, it is also narratively attractive to have had Leo focus on arcane magic, rather than hedge his bets by also going the cleric's route. In a way, the whole exchange of unpleasantries, murder and torment between Strahd and Leo was a contest of egos and wills. From some of the things I remember Leo saying, he was quite keen on proving his superiority to everyone he considered an enemy. I'm not sure he'd have been willing to humble himself to anyone in truth. Granted this is just my opinion, but I got the feeling he wanted to prove himself; his organisational skills, his cunning, his intellect, not the strength of any allies he could bring to bear. If he'd been wise enough to go for efficiency, rather than ego, he might have arranged for someone else to be in position to stake Strahd, rather than do it himself.

Listing his assassin's bonus against poison seems unnecessary, BTW, as he's already immune to poison due to his undead status. Other than that, it looks good.

Heh ... Yeah, well. ^^ Part of listing it was just me being nitpicky about details, and another was the existence of positoxins. I'm not sure how they work, but if a resistance to poison applies, why waste it?

And if you're willing to put this bad boy in the next QtR, would you like me to set him up with some equipment? Call it a cache he hid before ambushing Strahd, just as (presumably) he hid his main spellbooks.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

True, positoxins might be an issue. I suppose the bonus might come up if he used Magic Jar to temporarily occupy a living person's body, too. So, I guess it's worth mentioning after all.

I'm not sure if a cache hidden by Leo would've remained undiscovered up to now, considering how long Strahd's been combing Barovia for anything of value to him (magic, secure daytime refuges, potential escape routes, clues about Tatyana, etc). Perhaps if it doesn't contain any magic items, and/or they're shielded from Detect Magic with lead, the Count could have overlooked his old enemy's hidden stockpile of supplies.

Keep in mind that the Von Zarovich homeworld was on the low-magic side of the scale, compared to most campaign settings. One or two items can be justified as "family heirlooms" or items stolen from his victims, and he could've scribed a few scrolls for emergencies, but Leo really shouldn't be decked out in piles of enchanted bling. Mundane equipment such as vials of poison, he'd have plenty of, within the limits of Old Borjian technology; that's probably CL 8 like Borca, CL 7 Barovia having been something of a backwater on their native world.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

It makes me wonder how up-to-date Leo is on what's going on with the Land of the Mists. Does he know who the current memeber of his bloodline are or the other Domians?

It could make for an interesting adventure if Leo were to trick the PCs to gather information on his descendants (via a middle man). And with the good chance he'd not be happy with either Ivan and Ivana (with both refusing to bow down to the man), the PCs would be the pawns in freeing him and\or setting the building blocks to create a rebellion to destroy them both. Maybe play the "innocent victim" who wishes to redeem his family name only to show his true colors when the PCs least suspect it. Worse yet, this might lead to the most frightening thing of all, forcing the twin Darklords to work together to stop their ancestor.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Certainly, Leo would have a huge amount of catching up to do. Heck, it's questionable whether he could even make himself understood to the average Borcan noble these days: he doesn't speak Mordentish, and his Balok will seem even more antiquated and "rustic" (i.e. not blended with Mordentish loan-words) than contemporary Borcan peasants' dialect. Imagine a modern bilingual Hispanic-American trying to converse with an Englishman from Shakespeare's day.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Hum. I did actually give him Mordentish as one of his bonus languages, for lack of a better idea ... Balok is a natural choice, Luktar because I assumed it resembles the language of the Tergs, Draconic for a wizard ... What should the fourth be if not Mordentish?

[NeoTiamat]

Probably something that doesn't exist in modern Ravenloft, since prior to his imprisonment, the only domain was Barovia.

Alternatively, he's a Baal Ver'zi, so they may have some kind of secret language, a thieve's cant or series of handsigns.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Works for me!

[The Giamarga]

What languages do they speak in Borca? Those are the ones he could have learned. Also i can't see his class build on the charsheet, it is probably too long. I'm guessing Ari1/Rog5/Asn3/Wiz10 from the spells available. It looks like a very careful and thourough build, i like it very much. Also the Enchanter angle is very fitting.

Statting Dilisnya is very hard. Sure the build from Gaz1 could represent a cleric of evil and not of a god per se, he could even have gained those levels while imprisoned and making dark pacts with the DPs, though i think he'd have escaped then sometime. But all of that doesn't quite fit the description in the books. And then there's the general problem of the 3E assassin class. You don't have to take levels in that class to call yourself an assassin. Also most assassins in the fiction and esp. the Baal' Verzi do not cast any spells. I've been thinking about creating an assassin variant PrC which instead of casting spells gains weapons of legacy like powers with their baal verzi knives. This also would make it possible for anyone to tap into the knives powers even without taking any levels in the PrC and it would handily explain how the knives seem to get supernatural powers even though each assassin normally has to craft it himself.

I researched the references to Leo in I Strahd in Rafee's Barovia Campaign: Tomb of Leo Dilisnaya and onwards thread.

Some excerpts:

The sidebar also speaks of Leo "magically slowing his aging". It would be interesting how he achieved that, considering his rather mediocre necromantic skills. I also seem to remember Leo having a magical staff carved with crawling words of power with a sharpened end, which burns Strahd as he touches it. It hinders Strahd's concentration in summoning when he is poked with it as "the destructive spell latent in the wood was too disruptive to his thoughts".

As for stats Leo seems to be only a mage and not a cleric at the time of I Strahd. Strahd remarks that Leo could not have placed the holy symbols in the trap room as "his faith was in himself; he had none to spare for the gods. However he was an expert in lies and must have spun a pretty tale to the many obliging holy people who had done the work."

And Leo does seem to wield more powerful spells than a Nec5/Cle4 could. He does hold the paralyzed/pained Strahd fast with invisible bands of force for example. (Grasping hand? Telekinesis? or perhaps another lower level spell that i can't think of? Perhaps the spell used to create Iron Bands of Bilarro?) [Edit: It's the 3rd level spell Bands of Steel (Conjuration[creation]) from Spell Compendium, but the bands are not invisible, so probably Telekinesis is best, or it's a variant.]

[...]

I would definately give Leo the Persuasive feat and perhaps also Find Weakness (from LotB), and perhaps also the Dilisnya traits (Family Bond), which would allow him to easily and quickly track down his remaining heirs. Though he is not a true Dilisnya afaik. He should have failed at least 1 Power Check imo and have some sort of madness and most probably the Blood Lust salient ability - at least when he is set free...

BTW he was age 70+ btw. so apply those age modifiers before the vampire ones.

Leo did wield a powerful magical staff in the book, so maybe you want to stat up that item. The sharpened end does seem to point at some anti-vampire powers. And he somehow magically slowed his aging.

More interesting sources:
-In the Known Vampires thread i give a synopsis of Leo's history extracted from Mangrum's timeline here and posit the following

Probable SLAs: Blood Lust, Gluttony?
Notes: Dilisnya bloodline, probably insane.

-A lot of info on the Baal Verzi can be found in Rafael's Teufeldorf thread.
-Also of interest might be the Monastery of Silver Threads thread

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Also i can't see his class build on the charsheet, it is probably too long. I'm guessing Ari1/Rog5/Asn3/Wiz10 from the spells available. It looks like a very careful and thourough build, i like it very much. Also the Enchanter angle is very fitting.

Odd that you can't see it ... Maybe try clicking on it and scrolling to the right? Anyway, I'm glad you liked it, and you got the rank numbers right. ^^

Statting Dilisnya is very hard. Sure the build from Gaz1 could represent a cleric of evil and not of a god per se, he could even have gained those levels while imprisoned and making dark pacts with the DPs, though i think he'd have escaped then sometime.

Yeah, this occurred to me as well, yesterday. A Wizard, you can lock up once he's exhausted his spells. If a Cleric can hide any kind of holy symbol on himself, he only needs to pray. Imagine if Leo had been a Cleric, he'd only have needed to Bluff well enough for Strahd to think he was good and stuck -- and next sundown, Leo could have ripped his way through the tomb's walls as if they were made of wet clay ...

But all of that doesn't quite fit the description in the books.

What did I miss?

You don't have to take levels in that class to call yourself an assassin. Also most assassins in the fiction and esp. the Baal' Verzi do not cast any spells.

Well ... they did somehow create magical weapons for their members, and these were weapons which required rather impressive magic. And it wouldn't be wise for a guild of assassins to advertise their exact abilities to the world. The Ba'al Verzi were known for doing their work with great skill, and of even treating it like something of an art, from what I remember. A little surreptitious spellcasting would probably have added considerably to their mystique -- as well as their effectiveness. And if they kept it a secret, so much the better for them. As for giving Leo Assassin PrC levels ... The Ba'al Verzi were a secretive, elite organization. That just screamed 'prestige class!' at me. ^^ Also, Leo having Death Attack seems very much up his alley. He didn't survive his involvement in the war with the Tergs just by being charming.

This also would make it possible for anyone to tap into the knives powers even without taking any levels in the PrC and it would handily explain how the knives seem to get supernatural powers even though each assassin normally has to craft it himself.

I thought they had to craft the sheath, and this out of the skin of their first victim, who had to be a relative? (Hmmm ... maybe I should move one of Leo's skill ranks to Craft (leatherworking)?)

I researched the references to Leo in I Strahd in Rafee's Barovia Campaign: Tomb of Leo Dilisnaya and onwards thread.

I'll take a look at these later. Thanks!

The sidebar also speaks of Leo "magically slowing his aging". It would be interesting how he achieved that, considering his rather mediocre necromantic skills.

Got no clue. Perhaps he, through some quirk of the Mists, managed to score a few scrolls of Steal Vitality, or whatever that spell is called; Azalin created it to drain the youth of others to stretch his own life before he became a lich, and later to youthen his chosen favourites.

I also seem to remember Leo having a magical staff carved with crawling words of power with a sharpened end, which burns Strahd as he touches it. It hinders Strahd's concentration in summoning when he is poked with it.[/i]

I figure this must have been an Undead Bane weapon. Sadly, it is clearly stated that the staff was left behind in the monastery when Strahd abducted Leo from his hidey-hole. I figure the monks and clerics found and identified the thing, and it's since passed on into other hands, possibly even out of Barovia.

I would definately give Leo the Persuasive feat and perhaps also Find Weakness (from LotB), and perhaps also the Dilisnya traits (Family Bond), which would allow him to easily and quickly track down his remaining heirs.

Woops, I missed the Family Bond characteristic, I'll add that one in. I originally gave Leo Persuasive, but have switched it for Stealthy Blade. Currently, he doesn't really need the +2 modifier, and I thought it was appropriate for him to have all the Dilisnya family feats - and add to his Sneak attack power to deal damage.

Though he is not a true Dilisnya afaik.

Doesn't really matter. He was raised by Dilisnyas as a Dilisnya, and probably sired a few people who bore the name Dilisnya. Nobles being as they are, there was no doubt some crossing of bloodlines when cousins married to 'keep the blood pure'. There is a very high likelihood that Leo's 'input' is an indelible part of the Dilisnya bloodline now.

He should have failed at least 1 Power Check imo and have some sort of madness and most probably the Blood Lust salient ability - at least when he is set free...

( ! ) Possibly a result of those failed Powers Checks (I'm assuming plural) was his ability to necromantically extend his own youth as the expense of others. This ability would have been superseded by his new vampiric abilities. Madness ... That, I would like to assume is implicit in the Bloodlust. 'Poor' Leo; the great manipulator, doomed to turn into a slobbering, rampaging beast whenever he smells blood. How it must frustrate him ...

BTW he was age 70+ btw. so apply those age modifiers before the vampire ones.

I'll add that to his age score. Thanks! ^^

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Probably something that doesn't exist in modern Ravenloft, since prior to his imprisonment, the only domain was Barovia.

Most of Leo's available slots for languages would be taken up by tongues that aren't spoken in the Land of Mists. (The Dilisnyas were a family with mercantile ties to foreign lands, IIRC.) Depending on when you assume the Vistani departed Barovia for a time -- before or after Strahd's fall and the descent of the Mists -- I suppose Leo could've learned Patterna at some point.

[The Giamarga]

Leo's magical staff could very well have been an undead bane weapon, but i think there was more to it. Perhaps the Heartseeker property from VRA might fit it. It would explain the sharpened end after all and also it would make the weapon more evil, which in turn could lead to the Guardian Seekers hiding the weapon. And perhaps Leo after escaping remembers this weapon and somehow tries to hunt it down, he would after all be one of the few persons to still remember it after this long time.

As for the Ba'al Verzi and how their daggers are created I always found it very ungothic to have them built by guild-member wizards in the basement. Now having a certain Ravenloft fiend who once was noted to stay in Teufeldorf once involved in the creation of these things and then having the evil, cursed daggers aquire more dark powers as they are used for dark deeds, this is much more gothic imho. Maybe this is even tied to the rumors that a tower in Teufeldorf once housed a cabal of black magicians. Add to that that Nicu Moldonesti, the current head of the Order is based in Teufeldorf.