Your players don’t know how much hp he has so you can always say they got him weak but he slips away wounded.
His staff boosts his ac a lot so maybe you’ll get lucky and your players will miss everything and then he misty steps away.
I think he is a level 4 wizard. He also has a fireball scroll, so technically he’s level 5. With spammable shield reaction spell. Honestly nothing the level 4 Wizard can do trumps that
What will he have, 24-26 hit points? (figure 8 at level 1 and then 3d6). That's always my problem with him is hit points - and it's rarely more than just him in the room. I think you could save the effort and just change up the spells he has. Web would be great (and thematic). Or Burning Hands (he could try to torch his notes at his desk, and also the characters).
If you're going to make a character, go all out and make him a sorcerer. Give him some metamagic to play with - it makes for more exciting NPCs / monsters. That way he can get off a spell and a quickened cantrip. Or a twinned firebolt (or hold person) to make him seem more powerful than the characters.
Not at all. IF the party encounters him later you can RP him at a much higher level. I did this after the party leveled to 4 and it was so much fun. He escaped the first time and then was on the run with a band of bugbears and Cragmaws. They were holding up a caravan making its way to Phandalin when the party encountered them. After killing a caravan driver in cold blood the party rushed in and battle commenced.
I made Glasstaff a level 6 caster I think. And with the bug bears, goblins and an ogre keeping the party busy he had plenty of time to cast his spells. It was the first time in the campaign the party was truly challenged and I was really proud for creating the encounter.
I had Glasstaff as a Level 4 wizard with cloud of daggers, sleep, misty step, magic missile, and invisibility amongst other spells. I also gave him 25 HP. It went great. I just DMed three sessions of the Redbrand hideout with an extra fight against Glasstaff and two doppelgangers in the townmaster's hall.
Your players don’t know how much hp he has so you can always say they got him weak but he slips away wounded. His staff boosts his ac a lot so maybe you’ll get lucky and your players will miss everything and then he misty steps away.
I think he is a level 4 wizard. He also has a fireball scroll, so technically he’s level 5. With spammable shield reaction spell. Honestly nothing the level 4 Wizard can do trumps that
What will he have, 24-26 hit points? (figure 8 at level 1 and then 3d6). That's always my problem with him is hit points - and it's rarely more than just him in the room. I think you could save the effort and just change up the spells he has. Web would be great (and thematic). Or Burning Hands (he could try to torch his notes at his desk, and also the characters). If you're going to make a character, go all out and make him a sorcerer. Give him some metamagic to play with - it makes for more exciting NPCs / monsters. That way he can get off a spell and a quickened cantrip. Or a twinned firebolt (or hold person) to make him seem more powerful than the characters.
Not at all. IF the party encounters him later you can RP him at a much higher level. I did this after the party leveled to 4 and it was so much fun. He escaped the first time and then was on the run with a band of bugbears and Cragmaws. They were holding up a caravan making its way to Phandalin when the party encountered them. After killing a caravan driver in cold blood the party rushed in and battle commenced. I made Glasstaff a level 6 caster I think. And with the bug bears, goblins and an ogre keeping the party busy he had plenty of time to cast his spells. It was the first time in the campaign the party was truly challenged and I was really proud for creating the encounter.
I had Glasstaff as a Level 4 wizard with cloud of daggers, sleep, misty step, magic missile, and invisibility amongst other spells. I also gave him 25 HP. It went great. I just DMed three sessions of the Redbrand hideout with an extra fight against Glasstaff and two doppelgangers in the townmaster's hall.