Necrae: Born of Death [PEACH] [Archive] - Wizards Community

Necrae: Born of Death [PEACH] [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Velvet_and_Iron
04-08-08, 06:25 PM The Necrae
(Click to expand)

Necrae Creation Myth,
From the record kept of secret prophecies, compiled one hundred years ago.
" Deep within the chasm, the ancestors had disturbed something, something not meant for this world.

It had crashed long ago, a relic of a war between planes of existance older than our own, born of an aspect of the God of Death, severed, and bound into a device intended to turn a city into a hive, to kill and weaponize a population. A single glyph in the spell mispronounced, and it crashed here, before the races, before the current pantheon, before the world had fully formed. It should have ended there, it should have remained burried beneath layers and layers, farther than we could ever hope to dig in our age.

It did not. That thing, it thrummed, it moved. Ever so slightly, subtly, it moved. It was alive, yet it was death. It would not stay beneath the rock, would not stay hidden, could not abide eternity alone. It would wait for life, seperate from the forces of our world, unable to shape, or to corrept save for the physical plane, for a long time all it could to was to move subtly, ever resisting the efforts of the earth to seal it among the fossils and sediment layers.

Then, there was life. This was good, this was what it had been waiting for, and yet, still, it was not at the surface, and it sensed no souls within creation. No souls, no meaning for death. It was burried, for eons it slumbered till it could sense it. It could sense souls.

The gods had made their creation, breathed truelife upon a world barren of it, and this was good. The thing thrummed, resonated, called out to those had it within their hearts to hear it whispers. It promised power, it promised them its fell power, might beyond their dreams, weapons never before dreamed of on this world. It gave but one command, 'start digging.'

Dig they did, they dug and dug, but alas, their tools were not adequate for the excavation. The promise of power was so real, so tangible these beings could taste it in the air. They scraped stone with stone so desperate were they to posess such power. Some went mad and scraped at the stone with their bare hands, wearing their fingers to stumps. Some however saw their fellow beings with weakened minds, torn spirits, fractured wills, and in the clutch of despair and saw opportunity.

The excavation became a city ever burrowing downward, invading neighbors for slaves to labor, food to eat, and converts to their creed. Technology and innovation abounded, tools and techniques improved, and with every passing year they were closer and closer to their goal, this Empire.

When finally they had reached it, there was jubilation, a ritual celebration preformed in which they all joined in. Their chants and rythmic dancing could be felt and heard for miles, 'We've found it, we've found it, and now you all shall die.'

The thing had witnessed the birth of an empire, it had witnessed the triumphs of these lives as they grew, adapted, innovated, and created toward a single purpose. Now even as its goal was within reach, the corruption and reshaping of beings into undead weaponry to scour this world dry of life, it had...a change of heart, of sorts.

These souls, they would not rest while still they drew breath, till the thing did as it had promised, and then all would be lost. So it stopped their breathing. All the souls whom would use the power of this profane thing were drawn into it, their bodies falling to the floor of their city like so many snuffed out and discarded candles.

The soulstuff of this multitude taken in, it began the process of creation itself, preserving the corpses of the fallen, pallid and shiftless, yet not rotted. More than slumbering, less than dead it kept these vessels. For the thing saw a use for them.

None would enter the ruined city, not one sould dared, the reputation of the dwellers, and the story of their demise passed down from generation to generation. All the while the thing worked.

One day a man will brave the city, will venture deep within the pit, to the heart, and he shall meet the thing. The man shall feel its presence, and hail it. To this inquiry, the hearald shall rise, born of death, a soul crafted by that thing shall flow into a vessel host, bind to it, and twist the body, crafting it in its creator's image. The first of many. "
~Teilla Evervask, Prophet, Madwoman and Outcast

Overview

Personality: Necrae are currious about the world around them, with an itch to explore and grow as individuals instilled in them by their creator. They take well to crafts and work of any kind, taking note that each time one practices a task, the experience breeds personal growth. They endevor to learn from each experience, that the essence they contain within them fulfill a programed imperperitive to grow and develope.
Pysical Description: Necrae stand about as tall as the avarage human, with avarage builds. Their skin and flesh seems a sligtly off color, pallid and waxy with nubs or slight spurrs of bone protruding slightly through the skin. Their hair grows out devoid of coloration, and most Necrae keep their hair either close cropped or shaven completely.
Relations: Necrae tend to fit in best among humans, where their hardy bodies and good work ethic earn them praise. Elves and other races and communites closer to nature find Necrae abhorant, even going so far as to label tham as abominations, certain sects believing the Necrae are a perversion of nature.
Alignment: An attempt at creating free willed life from death, Necrae lean toward no particular alignment. Necrae adventurers run the gamut from evil necromancers, to noble paladins.
Necrae Lands: The city Necropolis is a veritable fortress city maintained by the Necrae in defense of their mysterious creator, though a Necrae's exploratory bent means they can be found in most lands, taking up the adventuring life or a trade to learn more about the world around them.
Religion: Necrae sometimes venerate the deities, as without them they would not have come into existance, but it is like as not that a Necrae cleric simply worships a concept. Many praise their creator, but this is a private and personal matter for them, and they do not evangelize for the thing that created them.
Language: Necrae speak common with an odd accent, as the ancient language that common has evolved from is still fresh in their minds. A Necrae also picks up languages eagerly as it encounters new cultures, in an effort to glean new knowledge and prespective.
Names: Necrae within the Necropolis are assigned a rank and a six digit number, either of which they identify with, although recently, seven digit necrae have begun to become known of, which troubles those for whom the Necrae are a source of concern.

Necrae Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid (Necrae): As Medium creatures, Necrae have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Necrae base land speed is 30 feet
Immunity to death effects and energy drain, +2 racial saving throw bonus against necromancy spells and effects -A Necrae's soul is so altered as to reject supernatural effects that would kill or drain of life energy other creatures, and resist harmful effects of necromany.
+3 racial saving throw bonus against disease and poison -A Necrae's necromantic origin fortifies its flesh, often preserving it against otherwise delibilitating effects.
-2 on saves vs fear effects -Crafted unwillingly from the stuff of maddened souls, the wills of Nacrae often betray them when confronted, giving them a reputation for craven behavior.
+1 racial natural bonus to AC. This stacks with natural bonuses to AC from other sources. Necrae's corrupted skelletal structure with its spurs protruding through the skin and thick, hardened scarlike tissue at points on their bodies contributes to their defense.
Undead Essence: For all spells and effects related to type, a Necrae is considered undead. -While humanoid in physiology, a Necae's origin tains its essence, causing it to react like an undead creature to spells and effects.
LA +0

Racial Paragon Class

yet to come

Racial Feats

yet to come

Design Notes

Well, recently I got the itch to start creating races again. I've always wanted a level adjustment +0 playable undead race, since the warforged was released and before that, so I think I'll set about crafting one. Got inspired by the idea of a race whose genesis lie in the advent of an engine of undeath, changing corpses into new beings complete with bodies and souls, with an unknown purpose driving them.

I thought about modifying the living construct subtype and making living undead, but that just didn't feel right, so I never bothered posting it. Now I'm going to have a look over undead traits and create a subtype that can be aplied to humanoids to make them deathcrafted, being created of undeath in the image of true beings. They wont be designed for war, but will carry with them positive traits from their undead origins.

Plot hooks

See creation myth
Velvet_and_Iron
04-08-08, 06:26 PM I think this race is balanced at LA +0 but I'm not certain. I came up with the creation myth first, the idea being that they were a race "born of death" being the initial concept and expanding around there.
Velvet_and_Iron
04-09-08, 05:31 PM I did a massive amount of editing today, adding in a full write up. Any constructive criticism or comments you might have to offer would be greatly appreciated.
ciaran
04-09-08, 06:26 PM Does the Undead Essense cause cure and inflict spells to function in reverse as they do on true undead?

Immunity to Death effects and drain is a huge deal. Personally I think its too much for LA +0. I'd cut that to a bonus on saves or change it to the ability to cast Death Ward X amount of times.

If their type is Humanoid then change their type to something in the core books. You'd be surprised what counts as a human. If not then Undead (human subtype perhaps )might also be appropriate, flavor-wise.

Very original concept.
Velvet_and_Iron
04-10-08, 01:56 AM Yes, the Undead essence feature causes them to react with the cure/inflict spells as undead. Spells that can only be cast on undead, or deal extra damage to undead likewise affect them as though they were undead. They can also be turned/rebuked by clerics, etc for other classes that interact with undead. That combined with the array of spells malicious to undead sort of work to balance out their immunity. If you look at necrae traits vs elf traits, they look fairly even.

I purposefully avoided giving them the undead type because it quite simply makes any character too good to be LA +0. Savages Species assigns the undead type a +2 contribution to level adjustment, and justly so given all the immunities that come with it. Every PHB race is humanoid with their own subtype that doesn't really do anything in the core rules except cause bane weapons and favored enemy features to work against them; Necrae are no different in this regard from the core races.

Thanks for the reply, hope my response answers your questions.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Velvet_and_Iron 04-08-08, 06:25 PM	The Necrae (Click to expand) Necrae Creation Myth, From the record kept of secret prophecies, compiled one hundred years ago. " Deep within the chasm, the ancestors had disturbed something, something not meant for this world. It had crashed long ago, a relic of a war between planes of existance older than our own, born of an aspect of the God of Death, severed, and bound into a device intended to turn a city into a hive, to kill and weaponize a population. A single glyph in the spell mispronounced, and it crashed here, before the races, before the current pantheon, before the world had fully formed. It should have ended there, it should have remained burried beneath layers and layers, farther than we could ever hope to dig in our age. It did not. That thing, it thrummed, it moved. Ever so slightly, subtly, it moved. It was alive, yet it was death. It would not stay beneath the rock, would not stay hidden, could not abide eternity alone. It would wait for life, seperate from the forces of our world, unable to shape, or to corrept save for the physical plane, for a long time all it could to was to move subtly, ever resisting the efforts of the earth to seal it among the fossils and sediment layers. Then, there was life. This was good, this was what it had been waiting for, and yet, still, it was not at the surface, and it sensed no souls within creation. No souls, no meaning for death. It was burried, for eons it slumbered till it could sense it. It could sense souls. The gods had made their creation, breathed truelife upon a world barren of it, and this was good. The thing thrummed, resonated, called out to those had it within their hearts to hear it whispers. It promised power, it promised them its fell power, might beyond their dreams, weapons never before dreamed of on this world. It gave but one command, 'start digging.' Dig they did, they dug and dug, but alas, their tools were not adequate for the excavation. The promise of power was so real, so tangible these beings could taste it in the air. They scraped stone with stone so desperate were they to posess such power. Some went mad and scraped at the stone with their bare hands, wearing their fingers to stumps. Some however saw their fellow beings with weakened minds, torn spirits, fractured wills, and in the clutch of despair and saw opportunity. The excavation became a city ever burrowing downward, invading neighbors for slaves to labor, food to eat, and converts to their creed. Technology and innovation abounded, tools and techniques improved, and with every passing year they were closer and closer to their goal, this Empire. When finally they had reached it, there was jubilation, a ritual celebration preformed in which they all joined in. Their chants and rythmic dancing could be felt and heard for miles, 'We've found it, we've found it, and now you all shall die.' The thing had witnessed the birth of an empire, it had witnessed the triumphs of these lives as they grew, adapted, innovated, and created toward a single purpose. Now even as its goal was within reach, the corruption and reshaping of beings into undead weaponry to scour this world dry of life, it had...a change of heart, of sorts. These souls, they would not rest while still they drew breath, till the thing did as it had promised, and then all would be lost. So it stopped their breathing. All the souls whom would use the power of this profane thing were drawn into it, their bodies falling to the floor of their city like so many snuffed out and discarded candles. The soulstuff of this multitude taken in, it began the process of creation itself, preserving the corpses of the fallen, pallid and shiftless, yet not rotted. More than slumbering, less than dead it kept these vessels. For the thing saw a use for them. None would enter the ruined city, not one sould dared, the reputation of the dwellers, and the story of their demise passed down from generation to generation. All the while the thing worked. One day a man will brave the city, will venture deep within the pit, to the heart, and he shall meet the thing. The man shall feel its presence, and hail it. To this inquiry, the hearald shall rise, born of death, a soul crafted by that thing shall flow into a vessel host, bind to it, and twist the body, crafting it in its creator's image. The first of many. " ~Teilla Evervask, Prophet, Madwoman and Outcast Overview Personality: Necrae are currious about the world around them, with an itch to explore and grow as individuals instilled in them by their creator. They take well to crafts and work of any kind, taking note that each time one practices a task, the experience breeds personal growth. They endevor to learn from each experience, that the essence they contain within them fulfill a programed imperperitive to grow and develope. Pysical Description: Necrae stand about as tall as the avarage human, with avarage builds. Their skin and flesh seems a sligtly off color, pallid and waxy with nubs or slight spurrs of bone protruding slightly through the skin. Their hair grows out devoid of coloration, and most Necrae keep their hair either close cropped or shaven completely. Relations: Necrae tend to fit in best among humans, where their hardy bodies and good work ethic earn them praise. Elves and other races and communites closer to nature find Necrae abhorant, even going so far as to label tham as abominations, certain sects believing the Necrae are a perversion of nature. Alignment: An attempt at creating free willed life from death, Necrae lean toward no particular alignment. Necrae adventurers run the gamut from evil necromancers, to noble paladins. Necrae Lands: The city Necropolis is a veritable fortress city maintained by the Necrae in defense of their mysterious creator, though a Necrae's exploratory bent means they can be found in most lands, taking up the adventuring life or a trade to learn more about the world around them. Religion: Necrae sometimes venerate the deities, as without them they would not have come into existance, but it is like as not that a Necrae cleric simply worships a concept. Many praise their creator, but this is a private and personal matter for them, and they do not evangelize for the thing that created them. Language: Necrae speak common with an odd accent, as the ancient language that common has evolved from is still fresh in their minds. A Necrae also picks up languages eagerly as it encounters new cultures, in an effort to glean new knowledge and prespective. Names: Necrae within the Necropolis are assigned a rank and a six digit number, either of which they identify with, although recently, seven digit necrae have begun to become known of, which troubles those for whom the Necrae are a source of concern. Necrae Racial Traits Medium Humanoid (Necrae): As Medium creatures, Necrae have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. Necrae base land speed is 30 feet Immunity to death effects and energy drain, +2 racial saving throw bonus against necromancy spells and effects -A Necrae's soul is so altered as to reject supernatural effects that would kill or drain of life energy other creatures, and resist harmful effects of necromany. +3 racial saving throw bonus against disease and poison -A Necrae's necromantic origin fortifies its flesh, often preserving it against otherwise delibilitating effects. -2 on saves vs fear effects -Crafted unwillingly from the stuff of maddened souls, the wills of Nacrae often betray them when confronted, giving them a reputation for craven behavior. +1 racial natural bonus to AC. This stacks with natural bonuses to AC from other sources. Necrae's corrupted skelletal structure with its spurs protruding through the skin and thick, hardened scarlike tissue at points on their bodies contributes to their defense. Undead Essence: For all spells and effects related to type, a Necrae is considered undead. -While humanoid in physiology, a Necae's origin tains its essence, causing it to react like an undead creature to spells and effects. LA +0 Racial Paragon Class yet to come Racial Feats yet to come Design Notes Well, recently I got the itch to start creating races again. I've always wanted a level adjustment +0 playable undead race, since the warforged was released and before that, so I think I'll set about crafting one. Got inspired by the idea of a race whose genesis lie in the advent of an engine of undeath, changing corpses into new beings complete with bodies and souls, with an unknown purpose driving them. I thought about modifying the living construct subtype and making living undead, but that just didn't feel right, so I never bothered posting it. Now I'm going to have a look over undead traits and create a subtype that can be aplied to humanoids to make them deathcrafted, being created of undeath in the image of true beings. They wont be designed for war, but will carry with them positive traits from their undead origins. Plot hooks See creation myth
Velvet_and_Iron 04-08-08, 06:26 PM	I think this race is balanced at LA +0 but I'm not certain. I came up with the creation myth first, the idea being that they were a race "born of death" being the initial concept and expanding around there.
Velvet_and_Iron 04-09-08, 05:31 PM	I did a massive amount of editing today, adding in a full write up. Any constructive criticism or comments you might have to offer would be greatly appreciated.
ciaran 04-09-08, 06:26 PM	Does the Undead Essense cause cure and inflict spells to function in reverse as they do on true undead? Immunity to Death effects and drain is a huge deal. Personally I think its too much for LA +0. I'd cut that to a bonus on saves or change it to the ability to cast Death Ward X amount of times. If their type is Humanoid then change their type to something in the core books. You'd be surprised what counts as a human. If not then Undead (human subtype perhaps )might also be appropriate, flavor-wise. Very original concept.
Velvet_and_Iron 04-10-08, 01:56 AM	Yes, the Undead essence feature causes them to react with the cure/inflict spells as undead. Spells that can only be cast on undead, or deal extra damage to undead likewise affect them as though they were undead. They can also be turned/rebuked by clerics, etc for other classes that interact with undead. That combined with the array of spells malicious to undead sort of work to balance out their immunity. If you look at necrae traits vs elf traits, they look fairly even. I purposefully avoided giving them the undead type because it quite simply makes any character too good to be LA +0. Savages Species assigns the undead type a +2 contribution to level adjustment, and justly so given all the immunities that come with it. Every PHB race is humanoid with their own subtype that doesn't really do anything in the core rules except cause bane weapons and favored enemy features to work against them; Necrae are no different in this regard from the core races. Thanks for the reply, hope my response answers your questions.