Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kersom 03-01-06, 01:08 AM	I haven't seen much of this class mentioned. But I have seen alot of comparing clerics and wizards. Is this a viable class? The wizard stops at Wiz3, giving its familiar the ability to deliver touch spells. The cleric stops at level 3 also, which is a bane to the rebuking undead ability. But seeing as it's an evil cleric (death domain required), and the necromancer levels stack for rebuking undead, you'll have +10 BAB (yea, it sucks, but you've got a TON of spells to cast), decent saves (8/6/16), d6 average HD. You count as a 17th level arcane caster with access to 1 level 9 spell. Also a 17th level divine caster, with more lvl 9 spells (standard and domain). And, you rebuke undead as a 17th level cleric. The required feat (spell focus: Necro) is far from wasted. Create Greater Undead as a lvl 18 caster. And 2x lvl9 plus 1x lvl8 spells as 1/day abilities. What exactly are the drawbacks of this class combo - other than losing 3 lvl 9 spell slots? Ok, and 2x 8th slots and 1x 7th slot. You can make up for a few of those slots with feats in the upper levels. With a well cast Divine Power, you'll have a +17 BAB to make up for the lack of standard BAB (my DM won't allow persistant Divine Power *sadface*). Am I missing something? Or is this a build worth pursuing? Currently I'm a lvl3 cleric with enough xp to level. I know how powerful a cleric gets at high level, but this build seems to gain alot in exchange for very little. Any input on this would be appreciated.
Shar_the_Black 03-01-06, 07:26 AM	IMO, it depends on the campaign. If you start out as say a 10th level + character, then yeah, sure go for it. But for some players, they only see immediate goals and needs, not always planning for the future. For example, in my experience, I wanted to make a charater who was a cleric/wizard whose ultimate goal was to become a Mystic Theurge. We started off at level 3, so my character was a level 1 cleric, level 2 wizard. And all was good for a time. However, our gaming group always had (and still does) an issue with playing on a regular basis, so we played off and on, not leveling up too much. We got to like, level six if my memory serves me correctly, before my DM did his recurring "I'm bored of this campaign, I want to start another... Make new characters!" So, long story short, I never got to be my master spellcaster :weep: Some players want to make characters for their immediate gains, not longterm ones. Some player would look at the set-up and go "Aww, I have to loose my progression in one class and work on another? No thanks." Other players are just too lazy and would gladly like to have a 10th level wizard or cleric. If you're playing in a campaign that could end at a moment's notice, like I did wouldn't you like to at least achieve the goal you set out to do? Also, I'd like to nominate another way to handle the necromancer, the Heros of Horror's dread necromancer class (yes, class, notprestige class) 20 levels of undead dominating fun. And it has its kicks too, as you progress, you gain undead like qualities until you essentially become a lich. It's a nice choice. (As a note, I do like the true necromancer prestige class, you gain spells from two different paths, becoming more useful with such an array of spells at your disposal.) :cool:
Kresalak 03-01-06, 07:53 AM	The drawbacks of the class is exactly as you said- losing ALL 9th level spells and a couple 8th and 7th. 9th level spells are worth far too much to give up for some ratehr poor abilities. However, you can "cheat" your way into True Necro, which will allow you to get 9th level cleric spells. Since it only requires the ability to cast certain spells, instead of actual level 2 spells, you can use Precocious Apprentice to qualify as a Wizard 1/Cleric 3, then take 4 levels of the class, which gives you wizard CL 4 and cleric CL 6, then take 10 levels of Mystic Theurge, which makes you a Wizard 1/Cleric 3/TN 4/MT 10, wizard CL 14, cleric CL 16. You have two levels left, so put one into wizard and one into cleric, giving you 8th level arcane spells and 9th level divine spells. That's the only way I know to get 9th level spells as a True Necro. An easy "fix" for the class would be to replace the 4 levels where it boosts only one casting class with boosting one of your choice. That way, you could choose which class to get yourself 9th level spells in and one to get 7th, or you could balance it out. The class would still be subpar, but that would make it better.
Esponer 03-01-06, 11:06 AM	The True Necromancer certainly looks more powerful when you misread the table. True Necromancers do not normally gain 9th level spells – their arcane and divine progressions are 12 in 14, not full.
Kersom 03-01-06, 01:00 PM	That's right.. it does look more powerful. With 28 lines of "+1 level of..." to read, it was easy to miss the few slashes.