Realms of Chaos
2010-04-13, 03:23 AM
NECROTIC MASTER
While most necromancers have similar goals in mind, their precise methods vary to a high degree. Of the various obscure paths to necromancy, almost none holds the horror of the mother cyst. This cyst of undead flesh, held within the necromancer’s body, allows him to place similar, baleful cysts within others.
The necromancer’s target is doomed from the moment that the cyst appears in their body. The target becomes far more pliable to the necromancer’s magic and more vulnerable to the undead. Even worst, the necromancer has near total control over his victim. The necromancer can use the cyst to scry or sense his victim, to dominate the target’s mind, or to torture and slay the victim in the worst manner possible. It is even said that one such spell can utterly destroy a victim’s soul. The only true hope for the victim lies in a bloody and risky surgery, a surgery as likely to end in death as salvation.
Some necromancers apparently decided that this wasn’t enough. Putting their full faith in their mother cyst, they have expanded the use of necrotized flesh into a horrible, bloody form of art. As the mother cyst grows steadily inside their bodies, the necromancer can make their more baneful cysts far more deadly and tenacious.
Even though more powerful necromancers exist, few are more feared than the horrid Necrotic Master.
Prerequisites:
Feats: Mother Cyst
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd level spells
Game Rule Information
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int)
Skill Points At Each Level: 2 + Int Modifier
Necrotic Master
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Necrotic Mastery, Stubborn Cyst|
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Bloating Plague, Encysted Horde|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|Necrotic Might, Stubborn Cyst|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Bloating Plague, Necrotic Dominion|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Necrotic Might, Stubborn Cyst|[/table]
Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You gain proficiency with light armor. They gain no proficiency with any weapons or shields
Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level except 1st and 5th, you gain new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Necrotic Master, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Necrotic Mastery: You a master of implanting necrotic flesh in foes. When you cast the necrotic cyst spell, it’s range is increased to close and its save DC is increased by your class level. Furthermore, a creature can be filled with a number of your necrotic cysts up to your class level +1, all of which stack with each other.
Lastly, you gain a single spell slot each day of a spell level up to the level of the highest spell you have access to +1 (maximum 9th). This spell slot can only be used to prepare or cast a spell granted to you by the mother cyst feat.
Stubborn Cyst: The necrotic flesh that you place in others integrates itself into the target’s body, making it harder for other creatures to remove. At the same time, it leaks out fluids with small amounts of negative energy, preventing most forms of healing. Whenever you cast the necrotic cyst spell, you may choose to have any or all targets suffer the effects below in addition to the spell's normal effects.
Starting at 1st level, all Heal checks made on a creature with at least one of your necrotic cysts take a penalty equal to twice your class level. When removing a necrotic cyst, a chirurgeon can’t take 10 on his or her Heal check.
Starting at 3rd level, creatures affected by protection from evil and similar effects aren’t protected against necrotic cysts (although they receive the normal bonus to the saving throw). Furthermore, all spells of the healing subschool fail to affect them unless the caster makes a caster level check (DC 10 + class level x 2).
Starting at 5th level, creatures with at least one of your necrotic cysts stop healing naturally. Furthermore, any necrotic cysts removed from a creature reform 1d4 weeks later so long as you remain alive, undead, or otherwise animate. Any cysts removed while you are dead do not return if you subsequently return to life.
Bloating Plague: Staring at 2nd level, your necrotic cysts start consuming targets from the inside out. The disease causes rapid and uneven swelling of the body, a wracking cough, and often a trickle of blood from at least one orifice. In advanced stages, the target’s skin begins ripping as they move, revealing muscle and bone beneath.
After an incubation period of 1d6 days, the target must start making a DC 15 Fortitude save each day or take 1d4 points of Constitution damage. If a target succeeds on three consecutive saves or receives the benefit of a remove disease spell or similar effect, the disease returns 1d4 weeks later if the target has any necrotic cysts. Any creature killed by this disease becomes a free-willed undead known as a skulking cyst (libris mortis, p 120) 1d4 hours later.
Starting at 4th level, the disease grows into a far more deadly strain. The Fortitude DC increases to 20 and the Constitution damage increases to 1d6. The disease returns only 1d4 days after fighting it off if the target has any necrotic cysts. Any creature that breathes within 5 feet of an infected target must make a DC 10 Fortitude save or catch the disease, gaining a small and temporary cyst that likely does not return. Lastly, any creature with this disease who dies becomes a free-willed undead known as a skulking cyst (libris mortis, p 120) 1d4 minutes later.
At any given time, you may suppress or reactivate the infection in any creature you have implanted a necrotic cyst within. Doing so is a swift action.
Encysted Horde: Starting at 2nd level, your talents for necrotic flesh find their way into your other necromantic talents. Your fleshier undead always seem to have a couple specialized cysts and your more skeletal works have unnatural bulges where flesh was crammed into their bone marrow.
All undead that you create though necromancy spells gain +2 natural armor and can sense creatures with necrotic cysts as if they had blindsight out to 120 feet. Furthermore, their extra damage against creatures with necrotic cysts is treated as vile damage. Only corporeal undead benefit from this ability.
Necrotic Might (Ex): The mother cyst that you hold within your body expands rapidly in both size and power as you advance, moving a few of your vital organs aside but preserving your life through its dark power. You likely appear to be quite plump, although a look at your bare skin would reveal the lopsided nature of the added mass.
Starting at 3rd level, your natural armor increases by +2 and you no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep. Furthermore, you gain immunity to nonlethal damage and you gain temporary hit points equal to your class level x 5 at the start of each day. Lastly, the range of your Necrotic Cyst spell increases to medium and you may target a second creature with the same casting.
Starting at 5th level, the extra mass increases you by one size category. You gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 Size penalty to Dexterity. Furthermore, you gain Damage Reduction 5/piercing. Lastly, when you are slain, you erupt in a show of necrotized gore, forcing all creatures within 10 feet to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + class level + Wisdom modifier) or take 2d6 vile damage and gain a necrotic cyst. Lastly, the range of your Necrotic Cyst spell increases to long and you may target a third creature with the same casting.
Necrotic Dominion: At a certain point, you learn how to gain precise control over the flesh you necrotize. Even if it should awaken to sentience, you can keep it well under your control. Soon, an army of the damned shall await you.
Starting at 4th level, whenever a skulking cyst is created by one of your spells or as a result of your Bloating Plague class feature, the undead falls under your control. The undead counts towards your normal limit of undead controlled but only counts as having half as many hit dice for this purpose.
Notes
Well, there it is. I was just thinking to myself how the necrotic spells from Libris Mortis, which see like an obvious treasure trove of horror, are so often overlooked. The next thing I know, I'm staring down at the rough outline for a PrC based on that concept and I figure that I wrote it. :smalltongue:
So, yeah. This is a pretty horrific PrC, made for early BBEGs and for DMs who want their horror campaigns still a bit low-power (aka gritty) when the campaign (or first major campaign arc) ends (which should be quite common in horror campaigns).
I took special time to make sure that this guy can fight lower-level PCs in a variety of less direct ways (placing a cyst in them from a distance, using the disease, sending out enhanced skeletons/zombies or skulking cysts) before you fight the guy himself.
The amount of though that I put into balance, however, is best expressed as a negative number so I'd appreciate anyone looking over it. :smallbiggrin:
PS. I realize that I'm not using the word "encysted" properly. Let's see who points that out first.
While most necromancers have similar goals in mind, their precise methods vary to a high degree. Of the various obscure paths to necromancy, almost none holds the horror of the mother cyst. This cyst of undead flesh, held within the necromancer’s body, allows him to place similar, baleful cysts within others.
The necromancer’s target is doomed from the moment that the cyst appears in their body. The target becomes far more pliable to the necromancer’s magic and more vulnerable to the undead. Even worst, the necromancer has near total control over his victim. The necromancer can use the cyst to scry or sense his victim, to dominate the target’s mind, or to torture and slay the victim in the worst manner possible. It is even said that one such spell can utterly destroy a victim’s soul. The only true hope for the victim lies in a bloody and risky surgery, a surgery as likely to end in death as salvation.
Some necromancers apparently decided that this wasn’t enough. Putting their full faith in their mother cyst, they have expanded the use of necrotized flesh into a horrible, bloody form of art. As the mother cyst grows steadily inside their bodies, the necromancer can make their more baneful cysts far more deadly and tenacious.
Even though more powerful necromancers exist, few are more feared than the horrid Necrotic Master.
Prerequisites:
Feats: Mother Cyst
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd level spells
Game Rule Information
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int)
Skill Points At Each Level: 2 + Int Modifier
Necrotic Master
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Necrotic Mastery, Stubborn Cyst|
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Bloating Plague, Encysted Horde|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|Necrotic Might, Stubborn Cyst|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Bloating Plague, Necrotic Dominion|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Necrotic Might, Stubborn Cyst|[/table]
Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You gain proficiency with light armor. They gain no proficiency with any weapons or shields
Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level except 1st and 5th, you gain new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Necrotic Master, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Necrotic Mastery: You a master of implanting necrotic flesh in foes. When you cast the necrotic cyst spell, it’s range is increased to close and its save DC is increased by your class level. Furthermore, a creature can be filled with a number of your necrotic cysts up to your class level +1, all of which stack with each other.
Lastly, you gain a single spell slot each day of a spell level up to the level of the highest spell you have access to +1 (maximum 9th). This spell slot can only be used to prepare or cast a spell granted to you by the mother cyst feat.
Stubborn Cyst: The necrotic flesh that you place in others integrates itself into the target’s body, making it harder for other creatures to remove. At the same time, it leaks out fluids with small amounts of negative energy, preventing most forms of healing. Whenever you cast the necrotic cyst spell, you may choose to have any or all targets suffer the effects below in addition to the spell's normal effects.
Starting at 1st level, all Heal checks made on a creature with at least one of your necrotic cysts take a penalty equal to twice your class level. When removing a necrotic cyst, a chirurgeon can’t take 10 on his or her Heal check.
Starting at 3rd level, creatures affected by protection from evil and similar effects aren’t protected against necrotic cysts (although they receive the normal bonus to the saving throw). Furthermore, all spells of the healing subschool fail to affect them unless the caster makes a caster level check (DC 10 + class level x 2).
Starting at 5th level, creatures with at least one of your necrotic cysts stop healing naturally. Furthermore, any necrotic cysts removed from a creature reform 1d4 weeks later so long as you remain alive, undead, or otherwise animate. Any cysts removed while you are dead do not return if you subsequently return to life.
Bloating Plague: Staring at 2nd level, your necrotic cysts start consuming targets from the inside out. The disease causes rapid and uneven swelling of the body, a wracking cough, and often a trickle of blood from at least one orifice. In advanced stages, the target’s skin begins ripping as they move, revealing muscle and bone beneath.
After an incubation period of 1d6 days, the target must start making a DC 15 Fortitude save each day or take 1d4 points of Constitution damage. If a target succeeds on three consecutive saves or receives the benefit of a remove disease spell or similar effect, the disease returns 1d4 weeks later if the target has any necrotic cysts. Any creature killed by this disease becomes a free-willed undead known as a skulking cyst (libris mortis, p 120) 1d4 hours later.
Starting at 4th level, the disease grows into a far more deadly strain. The Fortitude DC increases to 20 and the Constitution damage increases to 1d6. The disease returns only 1d4 days after fighting it off if the target has any necrotic cysts. Any creature that breathes within 5 feet of an infected target must make a DC 10 Fortitude save or catch the disease, gaining a small and temporary cyst that likely does not return. Lastly, any creature with this disease who dies becomes a free-willed undead known as a skulking cyst (libris mortis, p 120) 1d4 minutes later.
At any given time, you may suppress or reactivate the infection in any creature you have implanted a necrotic cyst within. Doing so is a swift action.
Encysted Horde: Starting at 2nd level, your talents for necrotic flesh find their way into your other necromantic talents. Your fleshier undead always seem to have a couple specialized cysts and your more skeletal works have unnatural bulges where flesh was crammed into their bone marrow.
All undead that you create though necromancy spells gain +2 natural armor and can sense creatures with necrotic cysts as if they had blindsight out to 120 feet. Furthermore, their extra damage against creatures with necrotic cysts is treated as vile damage. Only corporeal undead benefit from this ability.
Necrotic Might (Ex): The mother cyst that you hold within your body expands rapidly in both size and power as you advance, moving a few of your vital organs aside but preserving your life through its dark power. You likely appear to be quite plump, although a look at your bare skin would reveal the lopsided nature of the added mass.
Starting at 3rd level, your natural armor increases by +2 and you no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep. Furthermore, you gain immunity to nonlethal damage and you gain temporary hit points equal to your class level x 5 at the start of each day. Lastly, the range of your Necrotic Cyst spell increases to medium and you may target a second creature with the same casting.
Starting at 5th level, the extra mass increases you by one size category. You gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 Size penalty to Dexterity. Furthermore, you gain Damage Reduction 5/piercing. Lastly, when you are slain, you erupt in a show of necrotized gore, forcing all creatures within 10 feet to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + class level + Wisdom modifier) or take 2d6 vile damage and gain a necrotic cyst. Lastly, the range of your Necrotic Cyst spell increases to long and you may target a third creature with the same casting.
Necrotic Dominion: At a certain point, you learn how to gain precise control over the flesh you necrotize. Even if it should awaken to sentience, you can keep it well under your control. Soon, an army of the damned shall await you.
Starting at 4th level, whenever a skulking cyst is created by one of your spells or as a result of your Bloating Plague class feature, the undead falls under your control. The undead counts towards your normal limit of undead controlled but only counts as having half as many hit dice for this purpose.
Notes
Well, there it is. I was just thinking to myself how the necrotic spells from Libris Mortis, which see like an obvious treasure trove of horror, are so often overlooked. The next thing I know, I'm staring down at the rough outline for a PrC based on that concept and I figure that I wrote it. :smalltongue:
So, yeah. This is a pretty horrific PrC, made for early BBEGs and for DMs who want their horror campaigns still a bit low-power (aka gritty) when the campaign (or first major campaign arc) ends (which should be quite common in horror campaigns).
I took special time to make sure that this guy can fight lower-level PCs in a variety of less direct ways (placing a cyst in them from a distance, using the disease, sending out enhanced skeletons/zombies or skulking cysts) before you fight the guy himself.
The amount of though that I put into balance, however, is best expressed as a negative number so I'd appreciate anyone looking over it. :smallbiggrin:
PS. I realize that I'm not using the word "encysted" properly. Let's see who points that out first.