Hi peeps, I think im in the right forum (noob in regards to D&D forums, so bear with me), its about which template would you peeps think works best?
Firstly, campaign sounds mui nice (still to be started),: good has won over everything, we are evil and resurrected by a neutral god, which has deemed that a coming danger cannot be tackled only by good, and we need to balance the scales.
Secondly, party of three including myself, other two = a gnome or similar small druid and a catfolk ranger/tempest, while im an evil undead cleric.
Thirdly, we all start at lv 7, max template level adj +2.
Fourthly, both templates id like come from the Libris Mortis.
Fiftly, regardless id like the build to have the following: feats Mother Cyst, Improved Turn Resistance, Corpsecrafter and Destruction Retribution or a Divine feat; full plate & shield; stats rolled weak, between 10-13, except 17 for wisdom; personality its an enterpreneur, specialising in industrial production of undead, and creating living cults enforced with undead cysts within them.
So here i be: Necropolitan, no LA, just becomes undead, and fully lv 7 cleric.
Gravetouched, greatly offsets weak stats with +4 wis and dex, +2 str, int and cha, adds +2 to natural AC, paralysis with natural attacks, ghoul fever disease, gain Multiattack feat, downside its diet dependant (needs to feed every 3 days) and +2 LA, so would only be lv 5 cleric.
Both have +2 turn res.
So, peeps, which do you lot think is the best one? Or what are your opinions? Im thinking that gravetouched is good in the long run, but necropolitans extra couple lvs give it an undeniable edge (and advantage on turnings, which will be a major factor in this campaign).
Plus you don't have a con bonus, so I'd be worried about those extra 13 hp from two levels.
I'd be similarly worried about being turned.
Paralysis at will is nice, but not really better than 4th level cleric spells for all the use you'll get out of it. The real gains are the wisdom and charisma, but for the two levels of cleric, you lose turning ability for the trade off, you don't gain it. The +2 to wisdom is also pretty irrelevant, as it only gives you a +1 to save dc's when compared to the fact that you'll be casting 3rd level spells versus fourth (1 dc higher).
As for the diet dependency, your an adventurer, just stow away the last few guys you killed for late.
So really you just have to ask yourself if you will be playing him over level ten.
I'd personally go with necropolitan unless your dm allows buying off level adjustments over time.
Plus you don't have a con bonus, so I'd be worried about those extra 13 hp from two levels.
I'd be similarly worried about being turned.
Paralysis at will is nice, but not really better than 4th level cleric spells for all the use you'll get out of it. The real gains are the wisdom and charisma, but for the two levels of cleric, you lose turning ability for the trade off, you don't gain it. The +2 to wisdom is also pretty irrelevant, as it only gives you a +1 to save dc's when compared to the fact that you'll be casting 3rd level spells versus fourth (1 dc higher).
+4 wis is a pretty good boon. +2 DC, a bunch of extra spell slots, and the other stats are great. Cha for turning (which is only used for divine feats anyways :P), dex for AC/ranged attack, str for melee pokes, all great. I also don't see how he's gonna get 13hp from 2d8 without great rolls; average would be 9hp (not a big deal).
3rd vs. 4th level spells is the only really big contention point, imo. I'd rather get more 3rd level spells than a couple 4th level spells at that level.
Any Undead PC I would highly reccommend Turn Resistance (as you have listed). The Necropolitan shouldn't be as much of an issue, but some of the UNdead that don't get 1 HD/level (like the mummy) can fall behind enough where a NPC Cleric has the chance to destroy you on a successful Turn.
The other thing to keep in mind, is once you hit 0 HP, you die (barring House Rules), so you don't want to press your luck to often (thats what the living is for).
Nevertheless, thanks for all the advice peeps, it has helped clear some ideas, so thanks for the help!!
And yes, was thinking about the minions thing just last night: but in the end, lol it was the generic power behind D&D that told me which template to take. For necropolitan hp i rolled a nice 60 (keeping in mind 7hd), while gravetouched...well, 3 2s, 1 4, and 1 8, grand total 18, and that kinda says it all...the all-powerful die was telling me it was a bad idea, and i think its a bad idea to ignore the die lol!!
In the end its probably for the best: even if using minions, the round after they get destroyed (annoying, yet not irrepairable in itself), if the pal/cleric was not taken care of, i would of been running next. Pity though: by lv 11, i would of caught up with the other chars, and have the plus of my racial bonuses, sigh...
Thanks for all your input peeps, twas nonetheless very useful, take care all!!
That might take care of the minions problem for you.
The level loss system in lieu of a full-out level adjustment is a means of enforcing LA buyback, so it really won't matter for very long.
Especially with casting classes, you don't want much in the way of LA. The ghoul's stats etc. are tempting, but I don't think they make up for the lost HD etc. (HP is already an issue if you're undead, because you get 6.5 hp per hit die and die at 0) and the delay in spell progression.