Post/Author/DateTime	Post
thegraveyard 06-01-05, 06:40 PM	Master of the Dead “Even the dead fear my power” Master of the Dead Masters of the dead are masters of both living and the dead, turning or commanding either one with but a whim. His abilities are vast, but the field they cover is narrow in what he does. With varied skills that favor the charismatic, he would make a respected and feared party leader. He can summon forth the undead to do his bidding or destroy them if they are in his way. The weak souls of the living can be destroyed as he grows in power and negative energy consumes him. The living and the dead cannot hide from him as his sight encircles them with a hellish white glow. When his power grows, he becomes the undead the balance between life and death, growing even more powerful in the eyes of both friends and foes. But even the master of the dead has to fear or accept the final death that will come eventually, then he offers his soul to the dark gods for their assistance in his living and undead lives. Adventures: Masters of the dead adventure to gain more knowledge of the dead and to search for powerful arcane and divine artifacts that will further his own power and maybe the cause of his chosen deity. If his search is not for knowledge or artifacts, then it is to avenge the wrongs that have been committed against him because of what he was aspiring to be. Though there are a few that adventure for many different reasons, or to prove that they are the true masters of the undead and to crush necromancers in their practice so that they alone can hold the power over the living, the dead, and the undead. Characteristics: Masters of the dead are adept at being a scout and being inconspicuous in large or small crowds with its decent skill selection. He is very good at intimidating people into talking or being a diplomat between two parties, but he is a good “jack-of-all-trades” with the numerous skills at his disposal and bonuses to certain ones make him perfect for some party roles or on his own when an adventuring party or society shuts him out of their lives. His combat abilities make him a fearsome opponent with an assortment of supernatural, natural, and extraordinary abilities to inflict massive damage or instant death upon his opponents, or with his slam attack that increases in power over time or with the newest weapon, the spine blade can make a master of the dead even more surprising when his opponents think little of him. His assortment of spells is also handy, although limited, he gets to cast them many times per day and with an assortment of undead followers at his disposal he is almost always eager to fight. Though his most remarkable ability comes much later in the game, it makes him nearly invincible in almost every aspect if he has the right equipment and the correct traits, his power with even rival that of spell casters or with the fighters who stay at the front lines and brunt the attacks of the opponents. Alignment: Although the masters of the dead are deeply involved with the dark arts, he has to be very disciplined in nature or lose control of his undead minions and suffer the consequences for playing with the dangerous negative energy that can suck the very life out of his body or be the source of food for a few undead creatures he might have nearby. The masters of the dead follow their own code and follow the code of their deity, though they can be nearly every alignment, they must keep an ordered mind or a neutral one, if he ever became chaotic, he would be consumed by negative energy and go mad. Religion: Masters of the dead can follow any deity they wish, but favor those with a lawful descriptor and more often then not, they will most likely follow an evil god as well since they won’t look down upon his work as much as a Neutral or Good deity might. They will follow the deity’s order and pay tribute at their temples or shrines. Background: Masters of the undead come from swamps or long from long forgotten parts of the world with their strange abilities at the ready for anything they might encounter. They spend years in deep study and training their body and minds for their course through life and the hardships they might face, they spend equal amounts of time training with weapons as they do training their mind. They have been nearly forgotten by all but the oldest sages, even then, they are a faint memory to them even to the books of old when it talks about powerful necromancers. Only the most ambitious of this calling can ever expect to leave the confines of their dwellings and permission of their masters, even then the journey alone tests the drive of the ambitious to see if they are truly ready to head out into the world or die trying to get their. Races: Only humans and the half-breeds of humans, half-elves and half-orcs, are found dabbling in the dark arts of this class, even then they are all social outcasts and almost all of society would rather do away with masters of the dead than do any other kind of interaction with them, but they fear the consequence of failure so they choose to either ignore them completely or begrudgingly do business with them, if they know the true nature of the class, so almost always the races keep a low profile and never show themselves unless they deem it the correct time to do so. Humans have the better part of the deal since they are not social outcasts to begin with like the half-elf and half-orcs are, so they have a better time at not being suspicious. Other Classes: Masters of the dead work best with clerics because of their inflict spells and their ability to turn or rebuke undead. They also appreciate the clerics front-line abilities and more powerful spellcasting abilities, but the master of the dead can back them up with their varied spellcasting ability. The master of the dead also enjoys the company of the other classes, especially when it comes to keeping a low profile, the more flashy the other companions are the better, since most of the attention will be upon them and not him. They like to work subtly and so work well with rogues since they favor the darker areas of combat to unleash their attacks and the master of the dead also likes it when its quiet so he can do some of his other tasks. He absolutely hates paladins, but won’t make them angry enough to kill him, or try to anyways, out right. Role: Depending on the master of the dead’s skill selection and the other members of the party, his role can vary quite a bit. He can be a scout, a party leader, the intimidator, a thief, a tracker, or the merchant of the party. He can stay close to the front lines with his moderate hit points and with his average attack bonus and armor and weapon selection comes in handy when fighting a mixed group of opponents. His spells and supernatural abilities can make quick work of otherwise hard foes in a matter of moments rather than a matter of hours. He can be the party’s scout with a few of his spells and his minions can be a great addition to any party. He could be the backup spellcaster if theirs already one in the group or he could be the parties bait when trying to get those intelligent opponents off guard and in for an easy kill on the parties part. The master of the dead could do well when it comes to taking the enemies off of the front line companions and distract the opponents long enough for the rogue to sneak around to deliver a flanking sneak attack or turn living opponents or controlling undead ones with his more powerful abilities. Game Rule Information Master’s of the Dead have the following game statistics Abilities: Charisma is the main ability for this class, it will make the abilities harder to resist and fight off any lasting effects. A high charisma also helps with the rebuke undead and turn living class features and it also helps with the casting of the spell-like abilities and with the necromatic blasts. A high dexterity helps offset the poor reflex save and increases your armor class, it will also play a part in the ranged touch attacks. A high wisdom will increase your Will save and help you recover from some after effects of a few of the abilities, it will also increase your chance of controlling the undead servant. Strength and Intelligence are the next important ability scores. Strength will help with damaging your foes while a high Intelligence will allow you to speak more languages and to have more skill points. Constitution is the least important ability score for this class. Alignment: Any nonchaotic Race: Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc Gender: Male Charisma: 15 Hit Dice: d6 Class Skills Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disguise (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana, nature, religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha) Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4 Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier Class Features All the following are class features of the Master of the Dead Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Master’s of the Dead are proficient with all simple weapons and the long sword, whip, scythe, and the spine blade. They are proficient with light and medium armor but not with shields. Any medium armor the Master of the Dead wears must be made from bone. Also, if he takes any spell casting class, he takes only have the spell failure chance for medium armor and no penalty for light armor. Damage Increase I (Ex): At 1st level and higher, a Master of the Dead gains a slam attack that deals 1d6 points of damage and if the Master of the Dead should use a spine blade, the damage for the weapon is treated as being one size category larger than normal. Summon Servant (Su): At 1st level and higher, a Master of the Dead has a permanent unseen servant to do his bidding. The caster level is equal to the master of the dead’s class levels. Rebuke Undead (Su): At 1st level and higher, a Master of the Dead has the power to affect undead creatures by channeling negative energy. He can rebuke or command undead as a cleric of equal level. A Master of the Dead can attempt to rebuke undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. A Master of the Dead with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion) gets a +2 bonus on rebuking checks against undead. Undead Trait: At 2nd level and every 4th level there after (6th, 10th, 14th and so on), a Master of the Dead chooses an undead trait from a list and must meet the prerequisites of the traits. Some traits can be taken multiple times and have their benefits stack or have the benefits change altogether. Any temporary hit points gained from any of these traits stack with each other and last for 10 minutes for every 2 traits. · Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures critically hit by a master of the dead’s’ slam attack gain one negative level. The negative level can be removed 24 hours late by a successful Fortitude save (DC = 10 + Cha modifier + ¼ Class level). For each such negative level bestowed, the master of the dead gains 5 temporary hit points. Prerequisites: Character level18th, Cha 22. · Vampires Bite: The master of the dead’s canine teeth extend to resemble those of a vampires and gains a bite attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. Prerequisites: Character 6th level, Cha 13. · Blood Drain (Su): On a successful bite attack and when pinning the opponent, a master of the dead can suck blood from an opponent dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round. On each successful drain attack, the master of the dead gains 5 temporary hit points. Prerequisites: Vampires Bite, Character 10th level, Cha 15. · Undead Perception (Ex): Gain a +4 profane bonus to spot, listen, search, and sense motive checks. · Weakening Touch (Su): The master of the dead gains a strength draining touch attack. Upon a successful touch attack, the living opponent must make a Fort save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) or have 1d6 points of Strength damage. This is a negative energy effect. The master of the dead can use this ability twice per week. · Fearful Gaze (Su): The mere look from a master of the dead can paralyze opponents. If an opponent fails a Will save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) they will be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 + Cha modifier rounds (minimum 1 round). The master of the dead can use ability once per day. · Stench (Ex): The stench of death and decay surrounding the master of the dead becomes overpowering to all within 10 feet. Living creatures (who can breath) must succeed on a Fort save (DC 8 + Cha modifier) or be sickened for 1d6+4 rounds. An opponent who successful saves cannot be affected by this ability again for 2 days. · Death Gaze (Su): When a master of the dead turns his gaze upon an opponent, they must make a successful Fort save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) or be killed instantly. This ability affects everyone within a 20-foot cone, but cannot affect more than twice the Hit Dice than the master of the dead has class levels. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Cha 16, Must be Lawful Evil (the moment you become a different alignment, you permanently lose this trait, you may not pick a different trait to replace it). · Unholy Soul (Su): A master of the dead now uses his Cha modifier instead of his Con modifier to determine bonus hit points per hit dice, Fortitude saves, and for Concentration checks. Prerequisites: Cha 18. · Madness (Su): Anyone who tries to contact a master of the dead’s mind (such as mind control, dominate, dominate monster, or telepathic ability, ect.) must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + Cha modifier + 1/5 Character level) or become permanently confused and take 1d4 points of permanent Wisdom damage. Prerequisites: Character level 18th, Cha 22, and must have been under affected by a confusion spell or have made direct contact with an Allip’s mind. · Improved Undead Perception (Ex): The master of the dead gains low-light vision and darkvision 60ft. Prerequisites: Undead Perception, Cha 18. · Fire Lover (Su): A magical based fire attack heals 1 point of damage for each 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise heal. The master of the dead makes no saving throw against magical fire effects. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Cha 16, Must have been damaged in a fire based attack from a Red Dragon. · Dark Will (Su): A master of the dead has disciplined his mind through rigorous training and deep meditation. He may now add ½ of his Wisdom modifier to the DC’s of his supernatural abilities and spells. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Unholy Soul, and must have made peaceful contact with an intelligent undead. · Bonus Feat: The master of the dead can choose any one metamagic feat, item creation feat, or choose a feat from the list provided: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Deft Hands, Deceitful, Diligent, Dodge, Mobility, Eschew Materials, Extra Turning*, Great Fortitude, Improved Counterspell, Improved Initiative, Improved Turning, Investigator, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Magical Aptitude, Persuasive, Run, Stealthy, Toughness*, Undead Empathy (ECS), Corpsecrafter (LM), Bolster Resistance (LM), Deadly Chill (LM), Destruction Retribution (LM), Hardened Flesh (LM), Nimble Bones (LM), Daunting Presence (LM), Ghost Scarred (LM), Graft Flesh (LM), Heighten Turning (LM), Improved Toughness (LM), Necromatic Presence (LM), Necromatic Might (LM), Quicken Turning (LM), Undead Leadership (LM), Profane Lifeleech (LM), Death Master (LM), Eviscerator (LM), Improved Turn Resistance (LM), Extraordinary Spell Concentration (CA), Extraordinary Spell Aim (CA), Mobile Spellcasting (CA), Quick Reconnoiter (CA). Prerequisites: You must meet all the prerequisites of the feats and must have two other undead traits before taking the bonus feats. Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level and higher, a Master of the Dead gains the ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a Master of the Dead already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge. Dancing Lights (Sp): At 3rd level and higher, a Master of the Dead gains the ability to cast dancing lights as the spell a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Charisma modifier. The dancing lights always give off the same amount of light that a lantern does and lasts up to 3 minutes per casting, but may be dismissed before the duration ends. Detect Undead (Sp): At will, a master of the dead can use detect undead as the spell, but with the range extending out to 120ft. Necromatic Knowledge I: At 4th level and higher, the master of the dead has learned how to conceal himself from view. He is considered invisible to all mindless undead, unless he attacks, then he is visible to them for 2d4+3 rounds. Also, he is no longer healed by positive energy and no longer damaged by negative energy. Instead he is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy. Ghost Sound (Sp): At will, a master of the dead can use ghost sound, as the spell. Ashes to Ashes (Su): Beginning at 5th level and higher, a master of the dead is covered in ash and soot with no ill effects to his health or to his allies, however anything else within a 5 foot radius of him must make a Fortitude save every round or take a –3 penalty to attack rolls and armor class. The effects persist for as long as the enemy stays within five feet of the master of the dead. If the enemy succeeds on the Fortitude save (DC 10 + Cha modifier), then they take no penalties. A master of the dead can suppress this ability or resume it as a full round action. Dark Apprentice: Beginning at 6th level and higher, a master of the dead begins to understand the finer workings of life and death. He gains the ability to cast spells as a sorcerer five levels lower than his master of the dead’s class level, even if his level allows it, he does not gain any spell slots or spells known past 5th level spells unless he takes feats. However, he may only choose necromancy, illusion, or divination spells to learn, the spells can be from any cleric spell list and from any sorcerer/wizard spell list. The master of the dead will not be allowed bonus spells per day even if he has a high enough Charisma modifier. Sorcerer levels do not stack with this ability and this ability cannot be used to enter into prestige classes. Damage Increase II (Ex): At 7th level and higher, a master of the dead adds his natural charisma bonus to both his attack and damage rolls when using a spine blade and his slam attack damage is increased by one size category. Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 7th level and higher, A Master of the Dead can no longer be flanked; he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the master of the dead by flanking him, unless the rogue has at least four more rogue levels than the target has master of the dead levels. If a character already has the uncanny dodge class feature (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character. Necromatic Knowledge II: At 8th level and higher, the master of the dead receives an insight to all of his charisma-based skills equal to his level when he interacts with the undead, and only half of the bonus when interacting with the living. Necromatic Blast (Su): Beginning at 9th level and higher, as a full round action, a master of the dead has the ability to release a powerful blast of negative energy in a 20ft. radius of himself, dealing 6d6 points of damage to living creatures or healing 6d6 points of damage to undead or himself. At 18th level, the damage is increased to 12d6 and every nine levels there after the damage is increased by an additional 4d6. This ability can be considered a natural attack for the purpose of feats, such as improved natural attack. Improved Dancing Lights (Su): Beginning at 9th level and higher, a master of the dead’s dancing lights are now permanent and considered to be a light spell of ¼ the master of the dead’s class level for the purpose of dispelling darkness or deeper darkness. Also, the dancing lights have a permanent range of 1 mile from the master of the dead and act like scrying devices when he concentrates for at least one minute and the connection lasts for five minutes. The scrying part of this ability can only be used once per day per dancing light. Ancient Lore (Su): Beginning at 10th level and higher, a master of the dead learns the ancient secrets of life and death and even undeath. He no longer loses a level when subject to the spells raise dead or resurrection. He can identify any spell being cast if it is of the necromancy, illusion, or divination schools and attempt to dispel them if he makes an intelligence check DC 20 and takes 1d6 points of damager per spell level, level 0 spells deal 1d6 points of damage. Turn Living (Su): Beginning at 10th level and higher, a master of the dead can turn living creatures as a cleric of four levels lower turns undead. Improved Servant: At 11th level and higher, the master of the dead gains two additional unseen servants, the servant’s strength scores improved to 14 (so they can lift 175 pounds or drag 875 pounds), their speed has also increased to 30ft with their range extended to 1 mile from the master of the dead. Necromatic Knowledge III: Beginning at 14th level and higher, a master of the dead gains the ability to revive undead (as the spell) four times per day. The master of the dead can control a number of undead equal to four times his Cha modifier and for every HD of undead he controls in this manner, he takes a penalty to all checks made to interact with the living. Grave-bound (Su): At 13th level and higher, the master of the dead can force his soul to leave his body and travel up to 30 minutes per day this way then be thrust back into his body, leaving him confused for one minute. If he is attacked while doing this his soul has only 3 minutes to get back to its body or be lost forever, instantly killing the master of the dead. If he dies in this way, only a wish or miracle spell can bring him back to life, or direct intervention by a deity. When the soul leaves his body, it can travel up to five miles every minute as his body rests, every ten minutes traveled in this way heals the body as if it had one day of complete rest. Improved Ashes to Ashes: Beginning at 13th level and higher, a master of the dead’s Ashes to Ashes ability grows out to envelope a 20-foot radius in ash, soot, and ciders granting concealment (20% miss chance). While the cinders burn all within (except the master of the dead) for 1d6 points of fire damage, a successful Reflex save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) will negate the fire damage. Everyone within must make a successful Fort save every round (DC 15 + Cha modifier) or take a –2 penalty to attack rolls and armor class on a failed save, the penalties are cumulative for every failed save and last until they leave the cloud. Damage Increase III (Ex): At 14th level and higher, a master of the dead gains a second slam attack at his highest base attack bonus and the damage for using a spine blade is treated as being one size category larger than it is, this ability stacks with Damage Increase I & II. Death Sight (Su): At 15th level and higher, a master of the dead has the ability to see invisible and ethereal creatures as easily as he sees material creatures and objects. And if he succeeds on a concentration check DC 25, he gains the ability to use deathwatch as the spell for 3 rounds. Necromatic Knowledge IV: Beginning at 16th level and higher, a master of the dead has been granted an insight bonus equal to his Cha modifier on attack and damage rolls against undead creatures. Also, undead are no longer immune to critical hits if they come from a master of the dead’s slam attack or spine blade. Undead Guardian: Beginning at 17th level and higher, a master of the dead can craft himself a Grave Dirt Golem (as posted on page 105 Libris Mortis) even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites for creating a golem. Every 3rd class level after 17th class level for the master of the dead (17th, 20th, 23rd, ect.), the golem gains two bonus HD and +2 to strength and +2 to dexterity. The bonus Hit Dice can be used as the golem’s advancement, but the bonus Hit Dice can never exceed the total hit dice of the master of the dead. The master of the dead can only have one guardian at a time and if any should die, he loses 250xp per Hit Dice of the Grave Dirt Golem and permanently loses 1d4 points of Charisma as well as a permanent loss of 3 hit points for every 10 Hit Dice the Grave Dirt Golem possessed. Lifesense: At 17th level and higher, a master of the dead gains Lifesense as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet any of the prerequisites. Unnatural Aura (Su): Beginning at 19th level and higher, animals, whether wild or domesticated, can sense the unnatural presence of the master of the dead at a distance of 30 feet. They do not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range. Dark Master: At 19th level and higher, The master of the dead has gained further knowledge of the dark arcane arts and by doing so has allowed himself to gain three bonus spells per day for all spell levels known and learn an additional two spells per spell level. All of his spells that allow saves gain a +3 profane bonus to their DC’s, he also gains a +3 inherent bonus to his saves when being subject to spells from the necromancy, illusion, and divination schools of magic. Necromatic Knowledge V: At 20th level and higher, a master of the dead has studied the dead so much that he has gained one of the following aspects of the undead. · Aspect of the Vampire: This aspect grants the master of the dead damage reduction 10/magic and silver as well as the vampire’s spider climb ability. · Aspect of the Mummy: This aspect grants the master of the dead damage reduction 5/- and the mummy’s despair ability. · Aspect of the Lich: This aspect grants the master of the dead damage reduction 15/bludgeoning and magic and a permanent increase of +2 to Charisma. · Aspect of the Ghost: This aspect grants the master of the dead a deflection bonus to his armor class equal to his Cha modifier (minimum +0) and the ghost’s corrupting gaze attack. · Aspect of the Nightwalker: This aspect grants the master of the dead telepathy (within 100ft.) and the Nightwalkers crush item ability. True Death (Ex): At 20th level and higher, the master of the dead has become the epitome of perfection from his standpoint by shedding his mortal coil and becoming one with the dead. Although he becomes undead, his soul does not leave his body, but fortifies it to be a stronger vessel. The master of the dead gains a permanent +2 profane bonus to his Strength and Dexterity and a permanent +4 profane bonus to Charisma. He gains a natural armor bonus of +3 and his insight bonus to skills when interacting with the living and the dead now increase to his level and gain a profane bonus equal to his Cha modifier. The master of the dead also receives 120 bonus Hit Points, as his Hit Dice becomes d12 from d6, do not recalculate base saves. He receives dark vision 60ft. or if he already has darkvision, extend it by an extra 30ft. Also, a master of the dead gains Turn Resistance equal to ½ of his Cha modifier. L B F R W S 1 0 2 0 2 Damage increase I, undead servant, rebuke undead 2 1 3 0 3 Undead trait, uncanny dodge 3 2 3 1 3 Dancing Lights, detect undead 4 3 4 1 4 Necromatic knowledge I 5 3 4 1 4 Ghost sound, Ashes to Ashes 6 4 5 2 5 Undead trait, dark apprentice 7 5 5 2 5 Damage increase II, improved uncanny dodge 8 6 6 2 6 Necromatic knowledge II 9 6 6 3 6 Necromatic blast, improved dancing lights 10 7 7 3 7 Undead trait, ancient lore, turn living 11 8 7 3 7 Improved undead servant 12 9 8 4 8 Necromatic knowledge III 13 9 8 4 8 Gravebound, improved ashes to ashes 14 10 9 4 9 Undead trait, damage increase III 15 11 9 5 9 Death sight 16 12 10 5 10 Necromatic knowledge IV 17 12 10 5 10 Undead guardian, lifesense 18 13 11 6 11 Undead trait, improved necromatic blast 19 14 11 6 11 Unnatural aura, dark master 20 15 12 6 12 Necromatic knowledge V, true death L = Level B = Base Attack Bonus F = Fortitude R = Reflex W = Will S = Special
DracoRuler 06-01-05, 07:17 PM	Ok, i cant speak for anyone else, but before you get any feedback from me, break up the text a bit. And for the love of god put in a table of abilities, my attention span isnt nearly this long, and the lack of spaces makes my eyes bleed.
tiluvias99 06-01-05, 08:34 PM	it looks like you spent a lot of time on this, good job with the flavor. but with that many abilities and that many abilities that are super strong, it looks overpowered.
theOne333 06-01-05, 09:03 PM	A base class doesn't normally have so many requirements. Especially not race and gender requirements. A PrC, but not a base class. Also, d6 seems a little high for a class that has so many strong abilities. Those abilities in and of themselves may be overpowered, too.
Manyfist 06-01-05, 09:50 PM	I think its Nice and all yet its over powering, by a Ton. If you could I would make it into a PrC instead of a Base Class, also why only half-orcs, and half-Elves? No Half-Ogres, or How about my Dhampir? :D lol. Uhh... I would power it down and make it into a PrC.
thegraveyard 06-01-05, 10:18 PM	Hmm. I am glad that I am getting feed back, and reading it over I do see why some of the abilities are overpowered. Any suggestions of what should be removed?
Sourcemaster2 06-01-05, 11:12 PM	Here’s my level-by-level analysis. 1: So far, so good. Nothing overpowering yet, though the summon servant needs some flavor text to give it justification. Called spirit or some such, I assume? 2: Some of these undead traits seem overpowered until you read the prerequisites. Even so, I’d lower the number of traits that can be taken, or at least weaken some of the easily acquired ones, which have lengthy durations for such a low level. Add that to Uncanny Dodge, and you’ve got some brokenosity. 3: Fairly weak abilities, a nice drop-off level in power. 4: The invisibility to undead is rather focused, making it allowable, and the negative/positive reversal isn’t too bad, though it might be a tad early. 5: Ghost sound is nothing, though a reasoning would be nice. Ashes to Ashes is blatantly abusable, though a 1/day limit might fix it. 6: Sorcerous spellcasting isn’t too bad, but remember that it is basically free multiclassing, so any benefits following it should be appropriately lessened. 7: An increase in slam attack (why does this exist anyway? A d6-which should be d4-isn’t going into heavy combat), any more dodging….maybe make this a nothing-special level, perhaps add mage hand usable at will, or perhaps disrupt undead? 8: Social skills, nothing broken. 9: Limit the necromantic blast!!! No way can it be usable at will! Unlimited damage/healing undead capacity?! No way, no how! As for the dancing lights bit: how do they function as scrying devices? Can they be used to scry through, of can the character scry on their location? Potentially broken… 10: Ancient lore provides a way to be resurrected without any real cost, so it’s unacceptable. Sorry. The dispelling might be better if it only applied to necromantic spells. The Turn Living is too broad, affecting potentially anything not undead. Tweaking is in order. 11: Fine, needs nothing. 12: Not sure what revive undead is exactly, so I can’t judge. 13: Grave bound needs further description. Can the soul be seen, for example, by see invisibility or similar powers? Can it be affected by magic? Can it be warded against by barrier magic? As it is, it seems too powerful, able to penetrate any defense to spy. Also, why does it provide healing, and you should consider eliminating that aspect. Adding Improved Ashes to Ashes is just plain cheesy, so don’t. 14: If you really have to continue the slam business, I suppose it’s not especially powerful… 15: Not overpowered, considering the level. 16: Ok, no comment. 17: Golem bit is balanced by the risks, as well as the high level. Lifesense is unfamiliar to me, but it doesn’t sound too bad… 18: See above comments. 19: Aura is fine; bonus to spellcasting is all right if you weaken some of the earlier abilities 20: At this level, the aspects are allowable. True death is permissible, but a tad on the strong side.
thegraveyard 06-03-05, 11:09 AM	Thankyou Sourcemaster2, your insight and suggestions were a welcomed sight and I have made the neccessary changes and for the others, I have cut down on the restrictions. As for making this A PrC, any suggestions or should I keep it as a "Core" class? And if anyone wishes to give me any ideas for abilities to replace others, I would be very appreciative.
Sourcemaster2 06-03-05, 09:47 PM	If you could post the revised class, preferably in a level-by-level format so we see which abilities are gained at new levels, reviewing would be easier.
thegraveyard 06-04-05, 09:15 AM	L B F R W S 1 0 2 0 2 Damage increase I, call spirit, rebuke undead 2 1 3 0 3 Undead trait, uncanny dodge 3 2 3 1 3 Dancing Lights, detect undead 4 3 4 1 4 Necromatic knowledge I 5 3 4 1 4 Ghost sound, Ashes to Ashes 6 4 5 2 5 Undead trait, dark apprentice 7 5 5 2 5 Damage increase II 8 6 6 2 6 Necromatic knowledge II 9 6 6 3 6 Necromatic blast, improved dancing lights 10 7 7 3 7 Undead trait, ancient lore, turn living 11 8 7 3 7 Improved call spirit 12 9 8 4 8 Necromatic knowledge III 13 9 8 4 8 Gravebound 14 10 9 4 9 Undead trait, damage increase III 15 11 9 5 9 Death sight 16 12 10 5 10 Necromatic knowledge IV 17 12 10 5 10 Undead guardian, lifesense 18 13 11 6 11 Undead trait, improved necromatic blast 19 14 11 6 11 Unnatural aura, dark master 20 15 12 6 12 Necromatic knowledge V, true death Game Rule Information Alignment: Any nonchaotic Hit Dice: d6 Class Features All the following are class features of the Master of the Dead Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Master’s of the Dead are proficient with all simple weapons and the long sword, whip, and the scythe. They are proficient with light and medium armor but not with shields. Any medium armor the Master of the Dead wears must be made from bone. Also, if he takes any spell casting class, he takes only have the spell failure chance for medium armor and no penalty for light armor. Damage Increase I (Ex): At 1st level and higher, a Master of the Dead gains a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage, this attack replaces its unarmed strike. Call Spirit (Su): At 1st level and higher, a Master of the Dead has a permanent unseen servant to do his bidding. The caster level is equal to the master of the dead’s class levels. The master of the dead must spend 48 hours in deep prayer to his god in order to gain the benefits of this ability or to gain a new unseen servant. Undead Trait: At 2nd level and every 4th level there after (6th, 10th, 14th and so on), a Master of the Dead chooses an undead trait from a list and must meet the prerequisites of the traits. Some traits can be taken multiple times and have their benefits stack or have the benefits change altogether. Any temporary hit points gained from any of these traits stack with each other and last for 10 minutes for every 2 traits. · Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures critically hit by a master of the dead’s’ slam attack gain one negative level. The negative level can be removed 24 hours late by a successful Fortitude save (DC = 12 + ½ Cha modifier). For each such negative level bestowed, the master of the dead gains 5 temporary hit points. Prerequisites: Character level18th, Cha 22. · Vampires Bite: The master of the dead’s canine teeth extend to resemble those of a vampires and gains a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage. Prerequisites: Character 6th level, Cha 13. · Blood Drain (Su): On a successful bite attack and when pinning the opponent, a master of the dead can suck blood from an opponent dealing 1d2 points of Constitution drain each round, in an opponent makes a successful Fort save (DC = 10 + ½ Cha modifier) the damage is halved. On each successful drain attack, the master of the dead gains 3 temporary hit points. Prerequisites: Vampires Bite, Character 10th level, Cha 16. · Undead Perception (Ex): Gain a +4 profane bonus to spot, listen, search, and sense motive checks. Prerequisites: 5 ranks in any of the two following skills (spot, listen, search, and sense motive), Wis 14. · Weakening Touch (Su): The master of the dead gains a strength draining touch attack. Upon a successful touch attack, the living opponent must make a Fort save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) or have 1d6 points of Strength damage. This is a negative energy effect. The master of the dead can use this ability twice per week. · Fearful Gaze (Su): The mere look from a master of the dead can paralyze opponents. If an opponent fails a Will save (DC 10 + Cha modifier) they will be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 + Cha modifier rounds (minimum 1 round). The master of the dead can use ability once every two days. · Stench (Ex): The stench of death and decay surrounding the master of the dead becomes overpowering to all within 5 feet. Living creatures (who can breath) must succeed on a Fort save (DC 8 + Cha modifier) or be sickened for 1d6+4 rounds. An opponent who successful saves cannot be affected by this ability again for 2 days. · Death Gaze (Su): When a master of the dead turns his gaze upon an opponent, they must make a successful Fort save (DC 8 + Cha modifier) or be killed instantly. This ability affects everyone within a 10-foot cone, but cannot affect more than twice the Hit Dice than the master of the dead has class levels. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Cha 16, Must be Lawful Evil (the moment you become a different alignment, you permanently lose this trait, you may not pick a different trait to replace it). · Unholy Soul (Su): A master of the dead now uses his Cha modifier instead of his Con modifier to determine bonus hit points per hit dice, Fortitude saves, and for Concentration checks. Prerequisites: Cha 18, Con 12 or lower. · Madness (Su): Anyone who tries to contact a master of the dead’s mind (such as mind control, dominate, dominate monster, or telepathic ability, ect.) must make a successful Will save (DC 10 + Cha modifier + 1/5 Character level) or become permanently confused and take 1d4 points of Wisdom damage. Prerequisites: Character level 18th, Cha 22, and must have been under affected by a confusion spell or have made direct contact with an Allip’s mind. · Improved Undead Perception (Ex): The master of the dead gains low-light vision and darkvision 60ft. Prerequisites: Undead Perception, Cha 18. · Fire Lover (Su): A magical based fire attack heals 1 point of damage for each 6 points of damage the attack would otherwise heal. The master of the dead makes no saving throw against magical fire effects. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Cha 16, Must have been damaged in a fire based attack from a Red Dragon. · Dark Will (Su): A master of the dead has disciplined his mind through rigorous training and deep meditation. He may now add ½ of his Wisdom modifier to the DC’s of his supernatural abilities and spells. Prerequisites: Character level 14th, Unholy Soul, and must have made peaceful contact with an intelligent undead and have completed a quest for the intelligent undead. · Bonus Feat: The master of the dead can choose one of the feats from the list provided: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Deft Hands, Deceitful, Diligent, Dodge, Mobility, Eschew Materials, Extra Turning*, Great Fortitude, Improved Counterspell, Improved Initiative, Improved Turning, Investigator, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Magical Aptitude, Persuasive, Run, Stealthy, Toughness*, Undead Empathy (ECS), Corpsecrafter (LM), Bolster Resistance (LM), Deadly Chill (LM), Destruction Retribution (LM), Hardened Flesh (LM), Nimble Bones (LM), Daunting Presence (LM), Ghost Scarred (LM), Graft Flesh (LM), Heighten Turning (LM), Improved Toughness (LM), Necromatic Presence (LM), Necromatic Might (LM), Quicken Turning (LM), Undead Leadership (LM), Profane Lifeleech (LM), Death Master (LM), Eviscerator (LM), Improved Turn Resistance (LM), Extraordinary Spell Concentration (CA), Extraordinary Spell Aim (CA), Mobile Spellcasting (CA), Quick Reconnoiter (CA). This trait can be multiple times, each time it is chosen the master of the dead picks a different feat, feats with a * by them can be taken more than once. Prerequisites: You must meet all the prerequisites of the feats and must have four other undead traits before taking the bonus feats, Cha 18. Dancing Lights (Sp): At 3rd level and higher, a Master of the Dead gains the ability to cast dancing lights as the spell a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Charisma modifier. The dancing lights always give off the same amount of light that a lantern does and lasts up to 1 minutes per casting, but may be dismissed before the duration ends. Ashes to Ashes (Su): Beginning at 5th level and higher, a master of the dead is covered in ash and soot with no ill effects to his health or to his allies, however anything else within a 5 foot radius of him must make a Fortitude save every round or take a –2 penalty to attack rolls and armor class. The effects persist for as long as the enemy stays within five feet of the master of the dead. If the enemy succeeds on the Fortitude save (DC 8 + Cha modifier), then they take no penalties. A master of the dead can use this ability twice per week. Dark Apprentice: Beginning at 6th level and higher, a master of the dead begins to understand the finer workings of life and death. He gains the ability to cast spells as a sorcerer five levels lower than his master of the dead’s class level, even if his level allows it, he does not gain any spell slots or spells known past 5th level spells unless he takes feats. However, he may only choose necromancy, illusion, or divination spells to learn, the spells can be from any cleric spell list and from any sorcerer/wizard spell list. The master of the dead will not be allowed bonus spells per day even if he has a high enough Charisma modifier. Sorcerer levels do not stack with this ability and this ability cannot be used to enter into prestige classes. If you take this class feature, you do not gain any further benefits of Necromatic Knowledge (II, III, IV, V). Damage Increase II (Ex): At 7th level and higher, a master of the dead adds his charisma bonus to both his attack and damage rolls when using his slam attack. Necromatic Blast (Su): Beginning at 9th level and higher, as a full round action, a master of the dead has the ability to release a powerful blast of negative energy in a 20ft. radius of himself, dealing 6d6 points of damage to living creatures or healing 6d6 points of damage to undead or himself. At 18th level, the damage is increased to 12d6 and every nine levels there after the damage is increased by an additional 4d6. The master of the dead can use this ability a number of times per week equal to his Cha modifier (minimum 1). Improved Dancing Lights (Su): Beginning at 9th level and higher, a master of the dead’s dancing lights are now permanent and considered to be a light spell of ¼ the master of the dead’s class level for the purpose of dispelling darkness or deeper darkness. Also, the dancing lights have a permanent range of 1 mile from the master of the dead and act like scrying devices when he concentrates for at least one minute and the connection lasts for five minutes. The scrying part of this ability can only be used once per day. To scry on the dancing lights, he must have at least one in his hands and look through it, like a crystal ball and can only be used to scry on the locations of the other dancing lights, the master of the dead can see everything within 120 feet of the dancing light he is scrying on. Ancient Lore (Su): Beginning at 10th level and higher, a master of the dead learns the ancient secrets of life and death and even undeath. He can identify any spell being cast if it is of the necromancy school and attempt to dispel them if he makes an intelligence check DC 20 and takes 1d6 points of damager per spell level, level 0 spells deal 1d6 points of damage. Turn Living (Su): Beginning at 10th level and higher, a master of the dead can turn some living creatures as a cleric of four levels lower turns undead. A master of the dead can only turn one type of living creature for every +3 of Charisma modifier he has: Humanoid (human), Humanoid (elf), Humanoid (dwarf), Humanoid (orcs), Humanoid (aquatic), Humanoid (goblinoid), Humanoid (gnoll), Humanoid (gnome), Humanoid (halfling), Humanoid (reptilian), Monstrous Humanoid, Giant, Animal, Vermin. Improved Call Spirit: At 11th level and higher, the master of the dead gains two additional unseen servants, the servant’s strength scores improved to 14 (so they can lift 175 pounds or drag 875 pounds), their speed has also increased to 30ft with their range extended to 1 mile from the master of the dead. Necromatic Knowledge III: Beginning at 14th level and higher, a master of the dead gains the ability to revive undead (as the spell) four times per day. The master of the dead can control a number of undead equal to four times his Cha modifier and for every HD of undead he controls in this manner, he takes a penalty to all checks made to interact with the living equal to the number of the undead HD he has under his control. Grave-bound (Su): At 13th level and higher, the master of the dead can force his soul to leave his body and travel up to 30 minutes per day this way then be thrust back into his body, leaving him confused for one minute. If he is attacked while doing this his soul has only 3 minutes to get back to its body or be lost forever, instantly killing the master of the dead. If he dies in this way, only a wish or miracle spell can bring him back to life, or direct intervention by a deity. When the soul leaves his body, it can travel up to five miles every minute as his body rests, every ten minutes traveled in this way heals the body as if it had one day of complete rest. Treat the master of the deads soul as being ethereal when it is outside of his body, the soul can be affected by objects that prevent movement on the ethereal plane and by spells if cast on the ethereal plane. The soul uses the characters touch AC for its AC when being attacked on the ethereal plane and its base saves, the soul has 1/3 the amount of hit points as the master of the dead has when traveling outside of its body. Damage Increase III (Ex): At 14th level and higher, a master of the dead gains a second slam attack at his highest base attack bonus. Undead Guardian: Beginning at 17th level and higher, a master of the dead can craft himself a Grave Dirt Golem (as posted on page 105 Libris Mortis) even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites for creating a golem. Every 3rd class level after 17th class level for the master of the dead (17th, 20th, 23rd, ect.), the golem gains two bonus HD and +2 to strength and +2 to dexterity. The bonus Hit Dice can be used as the golem’s advancement, but the bonus Hit Dice can never exceed the total hit dice of the master of the dead. The master of the dead can only have one guardian at a time and if any should die, he loses 350xp per Hit Dice of the Grave Dirt Golem and permanently loses 1d4 points of Charisma as well as a permanent loss of 3 hit points for every 10 Hit Dice the Grave Dirt Golem possessed. True Death (Ex): At 20th level and higher, the master of the dead has become the epitome of perfection from his standpoint by shedding his mortal coil and becoming one with the dead. Although he becomes undead, his soul does not leave his body, but fortifies it to be a stronger vessel. The master of the dead gains a permanent +2 profane bonus to his Strength and Dexterity and a permanent +4 profane bonus to Charisma. He gains a natural armor bonus of +1 and his insight bonus to skills when interacting with the living and the dead now increase to his level and gain a profane bonus equal to his Cha modifier. Do not recalculate base saves or Base Attack Bonus. He receives dark vision 60ft. or if he already has darkvision, extend it by an extra 30ft. Also, a master of the dead gains Turn Resistance equal to ½ of his Cha modifier. I think this pretty much covers everything that I changed, even if only a little.
Sourcemaster2 06-05-05, 01:14 AM	A big improvement; in fact, I'd say it's finished. Good work, a nice variation from the necromancer stereotype.