Duke Gundar

[tomokaicho]

If you are interested I did make his Pathfinder Statblock in QtR 29.

Barbarian is an interesting choice. I would probably go with thug variant fighter, with the zhentarim solider ACF ("Gundaraki soldier") to simulate Gundar's martial style.

[tomokaicho]

Belated, but Duke Gundar was given stats for 3.5e in A Calling from Verbrek, which is available in the FoS library.

Nharov Gundar Ftr13: CR 17; Eminent vampire

Medium undead
HD: 13d12
hp: 103
Init: +11 (+7 Dex, Improved Initiative)
Spd: 50ft.
AC: 25 (+7 Dex, +8 Natural), touch 18, flat-footed 18
Base Atk: +13
Grp: +22
Atk: +22 melee (1d6+9, and energy drain, slam), or +22 melee (1d6+9, saber)
Full Atk: +22/+17/+12 melee (1d6+9, energy drain, slam), +22/+17/+12 melee (1d6+8, saber)
SA: Blood drain, children of the night, create spawn, domination, energy drain
SQ: Undead, alternate form, cold and electricity resistance 20, darkvision 60ft., damage reduction 25/silver and magic, fast heal 8, gaseous form, light sleep, spider climb, turn resistance +7, vampire weaknesses
AL: CE
SV: Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +8
Str 29, Dex 25, Con -, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 17

Skills:
Bluff +16, Climb +25, Hide +15, Diplomacy +5, Disguise +5, Intimidate +21, Listen +14, Move Silently +17, Ride +17, Search +10, Sense Motive +12, Spot +20

Feats:
Alertness, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Light Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Spring Attack, Toughness

Languages: Luktar, Balok

Possessions: Rusty ceremonial saber

This could be a starting point to creating your own statblock for Gundar. Also, can someone explain why this character (and the 3E official Strahd also) has "cold and electricity resistance 20" when 3.5e vampires only have 10 of each? Is this from 3.0E?

Bugger. I've been trying to rework Gundar's statblock. Initially I went with Gundar specializing in his saber. Then I checked the only canon appearance of Gundar in the RL novels, and discovered that Lord Soth, an excellent judge of martial prowess, realised that Gundar had his saber for show only. And indeed, Gundar savagely attacked Soth with his hands.

The statblock in A Calling from Verbrek correctly reflects this, giving Gundar the Improved Unarmed Strike feat and a "ceremonial" saber. However, his ability to punch his enemies is quite poor. So I was thinking - Monk 4/Fighter (Thug, Zhentarim Soldier) 7/Shou Disciple 5. Monk might be a hard sell, but really, we don't know much about Gundar's background. What we have is netcanon. It wouldn't be hard to make Gundar a defrocked monk, thrown out of the order for impregnating servant women. His history continues from that point, just adding something, not taking anything away.

With monk and shou disciple, we boost his unarmed damage output. Thug and zhentarim soldier gives him some abilities relating to intimidation, which is perfectly in-line with his savage portrayal. I think the key is to alter the fluff - Shou Disciple becomes Gundaraki Boxer, for example. And if I recall correctly, there were some netbooks which converted various PrCs to RL.

EDIT: I found this feat, which could obviate the need for monk levels.

Superior Unarmed Strike
( Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords, p. 33)

[General]

Your unarmed strikes have become increasingly deadly, enabling you to strike your foes in their most vulnerable areas.

Prerequisite
Improved Unarmed Strike (PH) , Base attack bonus +3,

Benefit
You deal more damage with your unarmed strikes, as shown on the table below.

Special
If you are a monk, you instead deal unarmed damage as a monk four levels higher.

Character Level	Unarmed Damage
3rd	1d4
4th–7th	1d6
8th–11th	1d8
12th–15th	1d10
16th–20th	2d6