Lord of the Dead [Archive] - Wizards Community

Lord of the Dead [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mordin
09-09-07, 01:51 PM Lord of the Dead

Requirements:

Alignment: Any non-good

Skills: Knowledge (arcane) 8 ranks, Knowledge (religions) 11 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks.

Feats: Corpsecrafter, Necromantic Might, Necromantic Presence.

Spells: Able to cast summon undead III as an arcane spell and animate dead as a divine spell.

Special: Able to rebuke undead.

Special: Access to one of the fallowing domains; Death, Deathbound or Undeath.

Class Features:
BAB: Poor (as wizard)
Good Saves: Will Poor Saves: Fort and Reflex
Hit Dice: 1d6

Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2+ Int modifier.

LEVEL ABILITIES:
1. Rebuke undead, undead minion. -----------------------------------------------------------------
2. Animate dead +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
3. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
4. Dark legion, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
5. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
6. Aptitude, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
7. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
8. Animators prowess, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
9. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class
10. Plague of undead, dark blessing. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A lord of the dead gains no new armor or weapon proficiencies.

Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level accept for 1st and 10th level, a lord of the dead gains new spell per day (and spell known if applicable) as if he/she had also gained a level in one arcane spellcasting class and one divine spellcasting class he/she belonged to before adding this prestige class. If he/she had more than one arcane or divine spellcasting class before becoming a lord of the dead, he/she must decide to which class to add each lord of the dead level for the purpose of determining spells per day, spells known and overall caster level. He/she dose not, however, gain any other benefit(s) a character of the class would have gained (metamagic feats, item creation feats or the like).

Rebuke Undead (Su): A lord of the dead’s levels stack with his/her cleric (or other class that grants this ability) levels when rebuking undead.

Undead Minion: At 1st level, a lord of the dead may perform a ritual to animate a warrior skeleton of his/her size to serve as a cohort and personal guardian. The undead minion is the same as a normal skeleton animated by a lord of the dead accept where noted below.
A lord of the dead’s undead minion has an intelligence and charisma score equal to 10 + the lord of the dead’s intelligence or wisdom modifier (whichever is higher). An undead minion gains the normal amount of skill points for an intelligent undead as well as a base attack bonus equal to its HD. An undead minion has HD equal to the lord of the dead’s character level -4. An undead minion gains additional HD as the lord of the dead gains new levels.
An undead minions class skills are; Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Spot (Wis) and Ride (Dex). An undead minion gains special abilities determined by the lord of the dead’s class level (see below) as well as; alertness, empathic link and scry on minion these abilities function the same as those granted to a familiar (see page 53 of the Player’s Handbook).

1. Turn resistance, proficiencies, corpse crafted, speak.
2.
3. Summon undead 1/day.
4. Swarm from.
5. Rebuke undead.
6. Summon undead 2/day.
7. Undead lieutenant.
8.
9. Summon undead 3/day.
10. Evolved.

• Turn Resistance (Ex): An undead minion gains a bonus equal to ½ the lord of the dead’s class level (round down) to all turn/rebuke attempts. The skeleton also gains a +2 bonus on all Will saves against control undead and similar spells or effects. This ability stacks with any other similar ability (such as the Bolster Resistance feat).
• Proficiencies: Unlike ordinary skeletons an undead minion retains the weapon and armor proficiencies it had in life.
• Corpse Crafted: An undead minion gains the abilities granted by feats where Corpsecrafter is a prerequisite no matter when these feats are gained by the lord of the dead.
• Speak: An undead minion can speak any languages it could in life.
• Summon Undead (Sp): An undead minion can summon undead of its own as per the spell Summon Undead I (caster level equals ½ masters character level plus its Charisma modifier).
• Swarm Form: An undead minion gains the Swarm-Shifter template (see pages 124-127 of the Libras Mortis). The lord of the dead chooses which swarm-form his/her undead minion acquires.
• Rebuke Undead (Su): An undead minion can rebuke undead as a cleric equal to ½ its masters class level +1.
• Undead Lieutenant (Ex): An undead minion may issue commands to undead under its master’s control (as the spell undead lieutenant).
• Evolved: An undead minion gains the Evolved template (see pages 99-100 of the Libras Mortis). The lord of the dead chooses which spell-like ability his/her undead minion acquires.

If an undead minion is destroyed a lord of the dead must wait a year and a day before creating a new minion.

Animate Dead (Sp): At 2nd level, a lord of the dead can use animate dead once per day, without need of material components, with a caster level equal to his/her character level. Furthermore, when casting animate dead normally a lord of the dead uses his/her character level rather than his/her caster level to determine the spells effects.

Dark Legion (Ex): At 4th level, a lord of the dead can control 4 HD plus ½ his/her class level (round down) of undead per caster level (normal 4 HD per caster level).

Aptitude (Sp): At 6th level, a lord of the dead imbues undead with the intelligence they had in life when animating them. Treat undead that a lord of the dead animates using animate dead as if they have also had awaken undead (see page 62 of the Libras Mortis) cast on them. Furthermore, a lord of the dead’s undead are “undyingly” loyal and will perform any task set before them even if the task may destroy them.

Animators Prowess (Sp): At 8th level, a lord of the dead ads his/her class level to his/her caster level to determine what kind of undead he/she can create when casting create undead or create undead, greater.

Plague of Undead (Sp): At 10th level, a lord of the dead can use plague of undead once per day, without need of material components (see page 70 of the Libras Mortis), with a caster level equal to his/her character level.

Dark Blessing (Su): At 10th level, a lord of the dead doubles the amount of HD worth or undead he/she may control with his/her rebuke undead ability
katarl
09-09-07, 01:53 PM Ah, this PrC again. Made any changes to it?
Mordin
09-09-07, 01:56 PM Some, I'm actually just re-posting all my stuff so I can put it in the Peach Orchard.
hat
09-09-07, 09:23 PM Is this even remotely balanced?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about controlling great hordes of undead. It just seems that the minion and and some of the abilities granted to it and some of the abilities granted to the Lord of the Dead are a little good?

I like the idea so any input from other parties would be appreciated.
Rustmonster
09-09-07, 09:40 PM Have you concidered the minion that a specialist necromancer can chose, from UA? It works pretty well, and it makes little sense to just give the helper eveolved. You have to live centuries to get that.
hat
09-09-07, 10:23 PM I agree with the above poster and his suggestion re: the undead minion fom UA.
Mordin
09-09-07, 11:05 PM First thanks for the interest in the class now on to the grit.

My argument for this class being a bit on the power side are that the prerequisites for this class are pretty severe and very focused, not to mention you will never receive 9th level spells, as a mater of fact you cant even get 8th level spells without a 2 level dip in Mystic Theurge.
Yes I will admit that this class is a bit powerful but I don’t think overly. And anyways the UA minion is boring as hell not to mention horribly weak. Anyways I scored a 9/10 on balance in the UnCon PrC challenge last year with this class ;) .
I have been thinking of using rules similar to the Shield Guardian (MM pg. 223-224) as the “ritual” to create the minion any thoughts?
hat
09-09-07, 11:49 PM 9/10 is not bad.

Did they make any suggestions to make it 10/10?
Mordin
09-10-07, 08:40 PM Did they make any suggestions to make it 10/10?

I think the biggest draw back of this class is the absolutely no access to 9th level spell.
Really the only complaint I got from them was lack of back story and fluff and that a character with this many undead would take some time to roll initiative and all there combat rolls.
The thing is, is yes you have lots of undead but the majority of all of them are skeletons and zombies which make for cool fireball practice not to mention you have to hide them and so forth and so on. As far as the minion go’s it is similar to taking the Undead Leadership feat (Libris Mortis) which with the feat requirements of this class and needing a good Int and Wis having a high Cha to qualify for the feat is very difficult and that’s even if your DM allows it.
My total score for the UnCon was 43/50 out of 5 maybe 6 categories if you were interested.
the_unthinkable
09-19-07, 06:25 PM Cool class man. Didn't know fellow necromancers lived in Utah.
Mordin
09-19-07, 08:05 PM Thanks and as far as being a necromancer well here in Utah you just learn to hide it better than others :evillaugh

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mordin 09-09-07, 01:51 PM	Lord of the Dead Requirements: Alignment: Any non-good Skills: Knowledge (arcane) 8 ranks, Knowledge (religions) 11 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks. Feats: Corpsecrafter, Necromantic Might, Necromantic Presence. Spells: Able to cast summon undead III as an arcane spell and animate dead as a divine spell. Special: Able to rebuke undead. Special: Access to one of the fallowing domains; Death, Deathbound or Undeath. Class Features: BAB: Poor (as wizard) Good Saves: Will Poor Saves: Fort and Reflex Hit Dice: 1d6 Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points at Each Level: 2+ Int modifier. LEVEL ABILITIES: 1. Rebuke undead, undead minion. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Animate dead +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 3. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 4. Dark legion, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 5. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 6. Aptitude, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 7. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 8. Animators prowess, +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 9. +1 arcane spellcaster class/+1 divine spellcasting class 10. Plague of undead, dark blessing. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A lord of the dead gains no new armor or weapon proficiencies. Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level accept for 1st and 10th level, a lord of the dead gains new spell per day (and spell known if applicable) as if he/she had also gained a level in one arcane spellcasting class and one divine spellcasting class he/she belonged to before adding this prestige class. If he/she had more than one arcane or divine spellcasting class before becoming a lord of the dead, he/she must decide to which class to add each lord of the dead level for the purpose of determining spells per day, spells known and overall caster level. He/she dose not, however, gain any other benefit(s) a character of the class would have gained (metamagic feats, item creation feats or the like). Rebuke Undead (Su): A lord of the dead’s levels stack with his/her cleric (or other class that grants this ability) levels when rebuking undead. Undead Minion: At 1st level, a lord of the dead may perform a ritual to animate a warrior skeleton of his/her size to serve as a cohort and personal guardian. The undead minion is the same as a normal skeleton animated by a lord of the dead accept where noted below. A lord of the dead’s undead minion has an intelligence and charisma score equal to 10 + the lord of the dead’s intelligence or wisdom modifier (whichever is higher). An undead minion gains the normal amount of skill points for an intelligent undead as well as a base attack bonus equal to its HD. An undead minion has HD equal to the lord of the dead’s character level -4. An undead minion gains additional HD as the lord of the dead gains new levels. An undead minions class skills are; Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Spot (Wis) and Ride (Dex). An undead minion gains special abilities determined by the lord of the dead’s class level (see below) as well as; alertness, empathic link and scry on minion these abilities function the same as those granted to a familiar (see page 53 of the Player’s Handbook). 1. Turn resistance, proficiencies, corpse crafted, speak. 2. 3. Summon undead 1/day. 4. Swarm from. 5. Rebuke undead. 6. Summon undead 2/day. 7. Undead lieutenant. 8. 9. Summon undead 3/day. 10. Evolved. • Turn Resistance (Ex): An undead minion gains a bonus equal to ½ the lord of the dead’s class level (round down) to all turn/rebuke attempts. The skeleton also gains a +2 bonus on all Will saves against control undead and similar spells or effects. This ability stacks with any other similar ability (such as the Bolster Resistance feat). • Proficiencies: Unlike ordinary skeletons an undead minion retains the weapon and armor proficiencies it had in life. • Corpse Crafted: An undead minion gains the abilities granted by feats where Corpsecrafter is a prerequisite no matter when these feats are gained by the lord of the dead. • Speak: An undead minion can speak any languages it could in life. • Summon Undead (Sp): An undead minion can summon undead of its own as per the spell Summon Undead I (caster level equals ½ masters character level plus its Charisma modifier). • Swarm Form: An undead minion gains the Swarm-Shifter template (see pages 124-127 of the Libras Mortis). The lord of the dead chooses which swarm-form his/her undead minion acquires. • Rebuke Undead (Su): An undead minion can rebuke undead as a cleric equal to ½ its masters class level +1. • Undead Lieutenant (Ex): An undead minion may issue commands to undead under its master’s control (as the spell undead lieutenant). • Evolved: An undead minion gains the Evolved template (see pages 99-100 of the Libras Mortis). The lord of the dead chooses which spell-like ability his/her undead minion acquires. If an undead minion is destroyed a lord of the dead must wait a year and a day before creating a new minion. Animate Dead (Sp): At 2nd level, a lord of the dead can use animate dead once per day, without need of material components, with a caster level equal to his/her character level. Furthermore, when casting animate dead normally a lord of the dead uses his/her character level rather than his/her caster level to determine the spells effects. Dark Legion (Ex): At 4th level, a lord of the dead can control 4 HD plus ½ his/her class level (round down) of undead per caster level (normal 4 HD per caster level). Aptitude (Sp): At 6th level, a lord of the dead imbues undead with the intelligence they had in life when animating them. Treat undead that a lord of the dead animates using animate dead as if they have also had awaken undead (see page 62 of the Libras Mortis) cast on them. Furthermore, a lord of the dead’s undead are “undyingly” loyal and will perform any task set before them even if the task may destroy them. Animators Prowess (Sp): At 8th level, a lord of the dead ads his/her class level to his/her caster level to determine what kind of undead he/she can create when casting create undead or create undead, greater. Plague of Undead (Sp): At 10th level, a lord of the dead can use plague of undead once per day, without need of material components (see page 70 of the Libras Mortis), with a caster level equal to his/her character level. Dark Blessing (Su): At 10th level, a lord of the dead doubles the amount of HD worth or undead he/she may control with his/her rebuke undead ability
katarl 09-09-07, 01:53 PM	Ah, this PrC again. Made any changes to it?
Mordin 09-09-07, 01:56 PM	Some, I'm actually just re-posting all my stuff so I can put it in the Peach Orchard.
hat 09-09-07, 09:23 PM	Is this even remotely balanced? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about controlling great hordes of undead. It just seems that the minion and and some of the abilities granted to it and some of the abilities granted to the Lord of the Dead are a little good? I like the idea so any input from other parties would be appreciated.
Rustmonster 09-09-07, 09:40 PM	Have you concidered the minion that a specialist necromancer can chose, from UA? It works pretty well, and it makes little sense to just give the helper eveolved. You have to live centuries to get that.
hat 09-09-07, 10:23 PM	I agree with the above poster and his suggestion re: the undead minion fom UA.
Mordin 09-09-07, 11:05 PM	First thanks for the interest in the class now on to the grit. My argument for this class being a bit on the power side are that the prerequisites for this class are pretty severe and very focused, not to mention you will never receive 9th level spells, as a mater of fact you cant even get 8th level spells without a 2 level dip in Mystic Theurge. Yes I will admit that this class is a bit powerful but I don’t think overly. And anyways the UA minion is boring as hell not to mention horribly weak. Anyways I scored a 9/10 on balance in the UnCon PrC challenge last year with this class ;) . I have been thinking of using rules similar to the Shield Guardian (MM pg. 223-224) as the “ritual” to create the minion any thoughts?
hat 09-09-07, 11:49 PM	9/10 is not bad. Did they make any suggestions to make it 10/10?
Mordin 09-10-07, 08:40 PM	Did they make any suggestions to make it 10/10? I think the biggest draw back of this class is the absolutely no access to 9th level spell. Really the only complaint I got from them was lack of back story and fluff and that a character with this many undead would take some time to roll initiative and all there combat rolls. The thing is, is yes you have lots of undead but the majority of all of them are skeletons and zombies which make for cool fireball practice not to mention you have to hide them and so forth and so on. As far as the minion go’s it is similar to taking the Undead Leadership feat (Libris Mortis) which with the feat requirements of this class and needing a good Int and Wis having a high Cha to qualify for the feat is very difficult and that’s even if your DM allows it. My total score for the UnCon was 43/50 out of 5 maybe 6 categories if you were interested.
the_unthinkable 09-19-07, 06:25 PM	Cool class man. Didn't know fellow necromancers lived in Utah.
Mordin 09-19-07, 08:05 PM	Thanks and as far as being a necromancer well here in Utah you just learn to hide it better than others :evillaugh