I personally am an undead Fanatic. Nothing says true fear and no hope its the undead. That is why I almost screamed when my uncle preordered it for me for Christmas. I simply can't wait to see all the goodies and I am pleased that undead grafts are back and the baby steps towards necromancy are being made... With a new ritual!
Undead Servitor
The corpse shudders, then clambers to its feet. At your direction, it shoulders your gear and lumbers after you.
Level: 6
Category: Creation
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 150 gp
Market Price: 360 gp
Key Skill: Arcana (no check)
You imbue a humanoid corpse of natural origin and Medium or smaller size with the ability to move under its own power and an understanding of one language of your choice. It has speed 6 and Strength 16, never tires, and obeys you at all times.
The undead servitor is a noncombatant. When forced onto an active battlefield, treat the servitor as an allied minion (1 hit point, never damaged on a missed attack) with all defenses of 11. It acts just after you do and never makes attacks.
You cannot have more than one undead servitor at a time from different performances of this ritual. If you attempt to create a second servitor, that ritual fails without component expenditure.
so thats about it for me... so how about you?
NOTE: THE RITUAL IS A PREVIEW! IT IS LEGIT!
All the other rituals and anything else PC-oriented will also be quite helpful.
I only have two things to say to this thread. Brain in a Jar and Kyuss. Open Grave could just be those two monster entries and I would still buy it. Vecna is just the icing on top(I couldn't care less about the rest of the stuff)
I can't wait to see what other rituals they have going in there! and Vecna is definitely the cake icing!
This:
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/61/the-empire-of-the-necromancers
is how a fantasy game should be able to be.
I don't need a game that seems like it was designed by accountants. Give me weird, whacky, wild and crazy. I want my players to surprise me... and not because someone on CharOp told them how to do 400 damage in one round.
I'm sorry but it doesn't do it for me. You can have at most 1 zombie ever? I don't mind them not attacking... but not being able to have more than one is boring. Booooooriiiiiing. Boring.
I think its preferable to letting a PC bring 100 speedbump minions to every fight. One player taking dozens of actions per round is booooooriiiiiiiiing.
Now, if they let necromancers use attack powers to create temporary zone-like areas of undead as sustainable summons that act in unison , that is whole other issue and is something different from ritual abuse entirely.
. *Goes to create a zombie to carry his stuff around and preserve his consciousness for all eternity as a BRAIN-IN-A-JAR!:D :evillaugh 
*I think its preferable to letting a PC bring 100 speedbump minions to every fight. One player taking dozens of actions per round is booooooriiiiiiiiing.
Never been a problem before.
Besides, D&D isn't all about fighting. Not even mostly.
Never been a problem before.
.
you have never had a PC necrmancer/Cleric/Mystic theurge/True necromacer take Undead leadership in a 3.5 game have you...
you have never had a PC necrmancer/Cleric/Mystic theurge/True necromacer take Undead leadership in a 3.5 game have you...
I did that once :D
Never been a problem before.
Besides, D&D isn't all about fighting. Not even mostly.
So players had the option...but just never used it to its logical conclusion in your games? That is very fortunate for you.
And DnD not mostly about fighting? Thats like saying DnD book arent mostly text. Sure you can choose to run a game with a lot of non-combat, but most of the actual rules of the game have always been about combat resolution.
I think I'll like it. I really want to see what they do with Strahd.
And I see a slogan for the Undead Servitor:
Undead Servitor! Because the fighter has more important things to do than carry your s*** for you!
a slogan for the Undead Servitor:
Undead Servitor! Because the fighter has more important things to do than carry your s*** for you!
that will go in ymgreat book of mage thoughts right after "fighters can't have nice things"
I wonder if this shows a different take on the undead for 4e.
I'm sorry but it doesn't do it for me. You can have at most 1 zombie ever? I don't mind them not attacking... but not being able to have more than one is boring. Booooooriiiiiing. Boring.
This:
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/61/the-empire-of-the-necromancers
is how a fantasy game should be able to be.
I don't need a game that seems like it was designed by accountants. Give me weird, whacky, wild and crazy. I want my players to surprise me... and not because someone on CharOp told them how to do 400 damage in one round.
Its a level 6 ritual.
I don't know if there will be a more advanced version, but it seems pretty obvious that complaining about it now is premature. Its like claiming that the Invoker only has three levels, thereby screwing over people who want to play higher level games.
Its a level 6 ritual.
I don't know if there will be a more advanced version, but it seems pretty obvious that complaining about it now is premature. Its like claiming that the Invoker only has three levels, thereby screwing over people who want to play higher level games.
Our dm will be happy to see this book he has already made a house ruled level 9 ritual to create some kinda zombie.
As for zombie making: Ive mentioned it before but i think that eventually, creating groups of undead for combat will be possible and will function very similarly to the cleric conjurations we've seen so far. I could easily imagine mobs of undead functioning very similarly to zone powers which will last only for an encounter or as long as the power can be sustained. Of course, none of this will be in Open Grave but i guarantee you we will see plenty of reflavored Invoker -> Necromancers come march.
So the idea behind new 4th ed books is to give us npc's from 3rd and before simply reprinted to 4th ed stats? I mean Strahd without Ravenloft? Spelljammer ships without the campaign setting? I don't get it. Next we will get mul gladiators running around the Realms.
Strahd is likely to still hold onto Ravenloft as an isolated Realm somewhere in the Shadowlands, considering the mentions that have already been made of Domains of Dread in various publications.
Abomination: Deathvine Defiler.
I swear, if that's a giant undead pumpkin, I don't know whether to be honored or enraged. That was a creature I created way back in the day for 3e! Just wish I could find it in the archives here to prove it. Public domain on the boards and all, but dangit, give some credit here!
Looking over the ToC, I noticed something:
Abomination: Deathvine Defiler.
I swear, if that's a giant undead pumpkin, I don't know whether to be honored or enraged. That was a creature I created way back in the day for 3e! Just wish I could find it in the archives here to prove it. Public domain on the boards and all, but dangit, give some credit here!
The Simpsons stole it too.
The Simpsons stole it too.
Pft. There you go being all logical. On a forum. Stop that!
This thread will be devoted to Open Grave... Specifically whether or not you all will like or not...
I personally am an undead Fanatic. Nothing says true fear and no hope its the undead. That is why I almost screamed when my uncle preordered it for me for Christmas. I simply can't wait to see all the goodies and I am pleased that undead grafts are back and the baby steps towards necromancy are being made... With a new ritual!
Undead Servitor
The corpse shudders, then clambers to its feet. At your direction, it shoulders your gear and lumbers after you.
Level: 6
Category: Creation
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 150 gp
Market Price: 360 gp
Key Skill: Arcana (no check)
You imbue a humanoid corpse of natural origin and Medium or smaller size with the ability to move under its own power and an understanding of one language of your choice. It has speed 6 and Strength 16, never tires, and obeys you at all times.
The undead servitor is a noncombatant. When forced onto an active battlefield, treat the servitor as an allied minion (1 hit point, never damaged on a missed attack) with all defenses of 11. It acts just after you do and never makes attacks.
You cannot have more than one undead servitor at a time from different performances of this ritual. If you attempt to create a second servitor, that ritual fails without component expenditure.
so thats about it for me... so how about you?
NOTE: THE RITUAL IS A PREVIEW! IT IS LEGIT!
6th level? Bah, screw that. Give me the Diablo II necromancer whose got undead fighting for him at 1st level.
6th level? Bah, screw that. Give me the Diablo II necromancer whose got undead fighting for him at 1st level.
Okay, go play Diablo 2..?
And yeah, fully keen (almost Vorpally so) to see 4e Strahd. Been a Ravenloft fan since I read...some book ages upon ages ago.
My only problem with Open Grave: No frikin Stephenie Meyer, she was my absolute favorite god back in 3.5.
Fixed.
6th level? Bah, screw that. Give me the Diablo II necromancer whose got undead fighting for him at 1st level.
Um these are the rituals everybody can use. I'm pretty sure a necromancer class is in the works and will be a pet class. So hold onto your britches, personally I don't want everyone to be able to do a true necromancers shtick as well as he does.
You want real necromancy, be a necromancer, you want to dabble, buy a cheap half-assed ritual.
At least they didn't include any Player info (making it a good solid DM sourcebook), and best of all no undead classes, paths, or races. I like my D&D undead to be NPC bad guys, not WoD-style PCs (if I did I would play that).
So I have to say OG is starting to look awsome-ish, we will see when it is released if they cover the subjects well.
Fixed.
LOL.
I looked at the Table of Contents, and I like what I see so far but I would have liked to see more MM undead templates (ie. ghost, wraith, zombie, etc.), that could be applied to NPCs, or other monsters, making semi-unique versions of them.
At least they didn't include any Player info (making it a good solid DM sourcebook), and best of all no undead classes, paths, or races. I like my D&D undead to be NPC bad guys, not WoD-style PCs (if I did I would play that).
So I have to say OG is starting to look awsome-ish, we will see when it is released if they cover the subjects well.
I don't think a zombie template would work, unless your PCs enjoy fighting elite and solo zombies all the time. Templates in 4E make monsters a lot tougher.
I don't think a zombie template would work, unless your PCs enjoy fighting elite and solo zombies all the time. Templates in 4E make monsters a lot tougher.
Not all the time, but on occasion they enjoy fighting the tougher more unique version of a standard "group" monster. And undead are some of the best for making customized versions of, so while I wouldn't want every fight to be with a template formed undead I would love the ability to do it sometimes. But even if they don't offer an "official" way of doing this I guess I can always whip them up myself.
I don't think a zombie template would work, unless your PCs enjoy fighting elite and solo zombies all the time. Templates in 4E make monsters a lot tougher.
Dont forget that the zombie of traditional voodoo lore was much more of a solo/elite than the cannon fodder Romero version we usually see. A beefed up elite zombie would be nice.
Dan... Wants... Open Grave... NOW
Yes, Im looking forward to have a clacking bone mule with great enthusiasm myself. :D
you have never had a PC necrmancer/Cleric/Mystic theurge/True necromacer take Undead leadership in a 3.5 game have you...
LOL :D