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View Full Version : The Soul Reaver [DnD 3.5 Dread Necro/Soulknife PrC][PEACH]



Hyooz
2010-11-16, 02:50 PM
Soul Reaver

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/3364/raziel.jpg

”Your soul is dull and brittle. Mine has been tempered by the blackness of death. Be warned – when they clash, yours will be ripped apart.” – Ct’thurga, Necropolitan Soul Reaver of the Mausoleum

A mind blade is a manifestation of a person’s very soul in the form of coherent energy, brought forth by the Soulknife’s will. The Charnel Touch of a dread necromancer is a manifestation of the negative energies her soul has touched. Those who master the ways of both find that the power they have embraced has made their soul uniquely different from those of their contemporaries. Where others’ mind blades might vary in size or shape, the blades of a Soul Reaver have been reforged – fiercer, meaner, and coursing with the negative energies they embraced.

BECOMING A SOUL REAVER
Soul Reavers are not altogether common, but their ranks are not difficult to join. Dread Necromancers who seek to use their minds and souls as unique weapons, or Soulknives who follow the charnel path of the necromancer find themselves with access with new and unique power.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Class Feature: Charnel Touch, Mind Blade
Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (Psionics) 5 ranks
Special: Undead type OR Tomb-Tainted Soul feat

Class Skills
The Soul Reaver's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Disguise, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (psionics), Move Silently, Profession, Spot, Spellcraft, and Tumble.
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Int

Hit Dice: d8

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+2|Dreadsoul Edge

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+3|Scourge Soul

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+3| Soulful Combatant

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+4|Necrotic Manipulation (Defensive), Destruction Attribution (Corporeal)

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+4|Improved Force of Personality, Subtle Scourge

6th|
+6|
+2|
+5|
+5|Necrotic Manipulation (Offensive)

7th|
+7|
+2|
+5|
+5|Destruction Attribution (Incorporeal)

8th|
+8|
+2|
+6|
+6|Vicious Soul

9th|
+9|
+3|
+6|
+6|Ranged Subtlety

10th|
+10|
+3|
+7|
+7|Final Upwelling[/table]

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At every level but 2nd and 8th, the Soul Reaver gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If he had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a Soul Reaver, he must choose one to advance at each level.

Rebuke Undead: Levels of Soul Reaver stack with Dread Necromancer levels for the purposes of his Rebuke Undead ability.

Dreadsoul Edge (Su): The Soul Reaver still relies on his Mind Blade, though his path is very different from their counterparts. Levels of Soul Reaver stack with levels of Soulknife for the purposes of the Mind Blade class feature. Additionally, the Soul Reaver far from forsakes his necromantic training – levels of Soul Reaver also stack with levels of Dread Necromancer for the purposes of his Charnel Touch and Rebuke Undead class features.

The newly formed weapon becomes a channel for his negative energy abilities. When attacking with his Dreadsoul Edge, he can add his Charnel Touch damage to each attack. Additionally, he can deliver touch spells through his Dreadsoul Edge.

Scourge Soul (Su): The Dreadsoul Edge is a very unique weapon; as sharp and unyielding as any steel blade, but simultaneously ethereal and ghostly, comprised of little more than psionic and arcane energy, bringing the wielder’s soul to semi-physical form. Certainly, the Soul Reaver can cut his opponent with his blade, but the charnel energies suffusing his blade give him the capacity for another, more sinister method of attack.

As a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity make a melee touch attack with your Dreadsoul Edge. If successful, make an opposed Will save against your target. If you win the opposed roll, you can apply any Scourge you know to the foe.

A Scourge is a unique magical ailment, similar to a disease, but instead of afflicting the body, it afflicts the spirit. A Scourge will remain until their duration ends, until dispelled by the Soul Reaver, or when removed by either a Remove Curse spell followed by an effect that will cure diseases, or by effects like Lesser Wish and above. Willingly dispelling a Scourge is a free action.

There are two primary kinds of Scourges – Malignant and Benign. Malignant Scourges are actively and obviously harming a creature – they know there is an adverse magic of some kind affecting them. Benign Scourges may go completely unnoticed after their implantation, unless otherwise noted. Detect Magic spells will reveal a faint necromantic aura around the creature, and a Knowledge (arcana) check DC 20 will reveal the nature of the affliction, but another Knowledge (arcana) check, DC 25, is necessary to know how to remove the effect. The infecting Soul Reaver knows immediately when one of his Scourges ends or is dispelled.

At second level, the Soul Reaver gains knowledge of 2 malignant and 2 benign Scourges. At fifth and eighth level, he learns another malignant and another benign scourge.

Scourges


Malignant Scourges

Scourge of Misfortune: A creature suffering this scourge always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Spells miscast right at him. Arrows are swept away by the wind and catch him square in the chest. Swords bounce off an ogre’s armor and bite into his flesh. If the scourged is in range of any effect requiring an attack roll not targeting him that misses, that attack is rerolled against his AC. If successful, he suffers as if he was the original target of the effect. This Scourge lasts 1d6 days.

Scourge of Searing: One of the more overt of the curses available, this scourge leaves a minute portion of the Soul Reaver’s edge inside the victim’s, flaring up alongside its father blade. Whenever the Soul Reaver attacks with his Dreadsoul Edge, a creature afflicted by this Scourge takes damage as if he was the target of the attack (this works even if he WAS the target of the attack.) This scourge lasts for 1d6 + Charisma modifier rounds. The cursed creature appears to be burning from within, flames appearing from its orifices and flickering behind its eyes.

Scourge of Spilling: Negative Energy is anathema to life. For good or for evil, negative energy destroys, and within it, life cannot exist – it has two options; flee, or be destroyed. Planting a seed of negative energy within a creature’s soul, this Scourge causes the cursed’s life to flee from within it to the closest possible receptacle. Every round a creature suffering this Scourge begins its turn within 5ft of a creature that is not at full HP, it loses 2 HP/Soul Reaver level + Charisma modifier – the other creature is then healed by that amount. This scourge lasts 1d6+ Cha mod hours.

Scourge of Crushing: This affliction attacks the muscles, inflicting a great burden on the body. The victim’s land speed is reduced to 5ft, and he loses any dexterity bonus he would have to AC (this does not mean he is always vulnerable to sneak attacks and other similar effects – the same conditions for such must still be met.) This Scourge lasts 1d6 + Cha rounds.

Scourge of Feasting: The Scourged becomes a beacon of negative energy, drawing to him the undead of the land. One undead creature is summoned immediately on a random square within 20ft of the victim when the Scourge is applied, and another appears every 1d6 hours. This creature is drawn to the Scourge within the victim, and wants nothing more than to get it out and claim it for its own, so it will attack the victim to the best of its ability for as long as it is physically able. This Scourge lasts 1d6 + Cha mod days. The summoned creature can be any one creature the Soul Reaver is able to summon via a Summon Undead spell.

Scourge of Engulfing: A unique Scourge, in that instead of remaining, festering within the victim, it attempts to immediately overwhelm the soul, temporarily wresting control of the body from its owner and allowing the Soul Reaver dominance for a period of time. A creature that falls victim to this Scourge is affected as if by a Dominate Monster spell for 1d6+Cha mod rounds. A creature whose soul successfully repels the Scourge is immune to all of the Soul Reaver’s Scourges for 24 hours.

Scourge of Fading: The ethereal tugs at the cursed, fighting with the physical body for dominance and control, leaving the scourged in a bizarre state, trapped oscillating between the material and the ethereal. During combat, every round, at the beginning of his turn, flip a coin. If the result is heads, for that round, the creature is corporeal for that round. If the result is tails, it behaves as if under the effect of an Ethereal Jaunt spell (Wizard CL 17). Outside of the rigors and excitement of combat, the Scourge seems to slow, but still lingers. Outside of combat, flip the coin only every hour. This Scourge lasts 1d6 + Cha mod days.


Benign Scourges


Scourge of Keening: Depression overwhelms the scourged’s soul. Every action becomes more difficult. Why bother? It’s just not worth it. The scourged suffers a penalty to all d20 rolls equal to ½ the Soul Reaver’s class level. The curse is not immediately obvious to the scourged, but the sudden personality shift may alert anyone who knows him. This Scourge ends after 1d6 days.

Scourge of Scrying: A tiny fragment of the Soul Reaver’s soul is left deep within the victim’s, connecting them in an intimate way. By opening his mind and spirit to the call from his far away shard, the Soul Reaver can peer through the eyes of the cursed. At will, but no more than 3 times/day, he can see what the victim sees, as a Scrying spell. This Scourge lasts until dispelled.

Scourge of Scorning: Negative energies course through the scourged’s soul, leaking into the world around him, creating an invisible aura that makes creatures uneasy or violent, and prevents aid from coming to him. While under the effect of this scourge, creatures (excepting the source Soul Reaver) passing within 10ft of the afflicted must make a Will save (DC 15 + ½ Soul Reaver level + Cha modifier) or be forced to roll a d6, and perform the corresponding action on the table below. This is a mind-affecting effect. Note this only effects creatures who are friendly or neutral toward the scourged creature. This Scourge lasts 1d6 + Cha modifier days.

{table=head]d6 Roll Result|Action


1-2|The creature flees in terror and disgust to the best of its ability for 1d4 rounds


3-4|The creature immediately attacks the scourged, for 1d4 rounds, to the best of its ability


5-6|The creature’s disposition toward the scourged becomes Hostile
[/table]

Scourge of Whispering: Subterfuge is often preferable to outright hostility, and the Soul Reaver has an insidious Scourge at his disposal to accomplish that end. A creature cursed with this Scourge can be targeted by the Soul Reaver at his will with a Suggestion effect no more than 3 times/day. The DC to save against this effect is (15 + ½ Soul Reaver level + Cha modifier). This Scourge lasts until dispelled.

Scourge of Crumbling: Even mundane objects suffer in the presence of negative energy. With a bit of adeptness, the Soul Reaver can plant a seed that will leak energies subtly into a creature’s equipment, making it vulnerable to physical blows, even dealt by the host. So Scourged, whenever the victim makes an attack with a weapon or shield, the weapon or shield suffers the same damage it deals (this damage does NOT ignore hardness.)

Scourge of Festering: An almost petty curse, this Scourge subtly manipulates the body from deep within the soul, making the creature incredibly vulnerable to disease. Upon suffering this Scourge, the creature must immediately make a fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Soul Reaver level + Cha Modifier) or suffer a random mundane disease (see DMG). Additionally, while suffering the Scourge, the creature must make an additional save every 24 hours or suffer another random disease. (If the random choice calls for a disease the creature is already suffering, the creature suffers as if he had had the disease an additional day.) The diseases inflicted by this Scourged can be cured by normal means. This Scourge lasts 1d6+Cha mod weeks.



Shape Dread Edge (Su): When manifesting your Dreadsoul Edge, you can choose to manifest it as weapons other than a shortsword, chosen from the list below. The weapon is always appropriate to your size. You can choose to manifest your Dreadsoul Edge as a: longbow (no ammo is required), a great axe, two shortswords, a longsword, or a longspear. You are always proficient with your Dreadsoul Edge, no matter what form it takes.

Necrotic Manipulation (Su): Everyone wishes sometimes that they could be somehow different, if only for a moment. The Soul Reaver’s unique combination of psionic clarity of mind and necromantic magics allow him some power over his own body. Never for very long, but sometimes, a moment is all you need.

By expending his Psionic focus as an immediate action, the Soul Reaver can fundamentally alter his body to prevent great harm from befalling him. Until the end of the round, he gains one of the following: A Feather Fall effect (Wizard CL equal to his character level), SR equal to (10 + Character level), or DR equal to (Character level - 3).

At sixth level, you learn several ways to use this ability to press your advantage, instead of simply reacting to outside stimuli. When using this ability, you can also choose to do one of the following: double your base move speed, double your reach, gain the Whirlwind Attack feat (even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.)

Destruction Attribution (Su): Undead are very useful creatures in a number of ways. They perform tasks, act as bodyguards, and a dedicated necromancer can turn them into a functioning army. Typically, however, they must remain as a cohesive unit, as the negative energy animating them loses a great deal of potency as they are dismantled. An arm or a wing, ripped from its body cannot be animated – it lacks the capacity for the requisite energies. The Soul Reaver, however, is a wellspring of negative energy, forced to the surface, and with a little doing, can become host to undead appendages to augment his own abilities.

By sacrificing several HD worth of undead under his control, the Soul Reaver can create a sort of graft to affix to himself. At 4th level, he is able to create corporeal grafts using corporeal undead, and at 7th, he learns to use incorporeal undead to craft incorporeal grafts. He can only have one graft of each type active at a time, and must re-craft a graft (paying the time and undead cost) to affix a new one. Creating and activating a graft takes 1 hour/HD required.

Corporeal Grafts
{table=head]Graft|HD Cost|Effect

Wings|10|You create wings from the bones of your undead, and gain a fly speed of 60ft (average)

Reinforcement|5|Using some clever placements and creative reshaping, you bolster your physical capabilities. Gain a +2 graft bonus to Str, Dex, or Con

Grip|5|Bony protrusions over and around your hands and fingers make climbing a breeze. You gain a climb speed of 30ft

Mole Mitts|10|A few adjustments and soon you have arms perfect for digging. You gain a burrow speed of 30ft
[/table]

Incorporeal Grafts
{table=head]Graft|HD Cost|Effect
Blinking|15|Once every 1d4 rounds, you can teleport up to 30ft as an immediate action

Bolster|5|Gain a +2 bonus to Int, Wis, or Cha

Eyes|20|Gain Lifesense (Libris Mortis)
[/table]

Soulful Combatant (Su): Using the power of your mind to manifest your soul as a weapon opens up your basest intuitions to martial applications. Suddenly, lunging for the opening in their form is as natural as blinking your eye or pulling away from pain. You can apply your Charisma modifier to attack rolls.

Improved Force of Personality: You can apply your Charisma modifier instead of your Wisdom modifier to all Will saves.

Subtle Scourge (Su): The ability to pry into a being’s soul is all well and good, but it is not always enough to be able to do so only with a glowing sword in hand. Thus, the Soul Reaver learns to apply a Scourge more subtly.

At melee range, as a standard action, he can apply a scourge with a touch. The opposed will save is still necessary, but the touch attack is subtle, possible to use even in a crowded market without revealing what you are doing. The victim might still feel the touch, but it is not immediately obvious that any magic or similar effect has been used. Additionally, when applying a Scourge with this method, can choose to delay the Scourge taking effect by a number of rounds equal to his Charisma modifier.

When manifesting his Dreadsoul Edge as a longbow, he can use the weapon to apply Scourges at range. This is still an obviously offensive action.

Vicious Soul (Ex): You can add your Charisma modifier to the damage of attacks made by your Dreadsoul Edge.

Ranged Subtlety (Su): You can use your Subtle Scourge ability up to 60ft away – the necessary touch attack becomes a ranged touch attack.

Final Upwelling For some time, the Soul Reaver has been transforming into a better vessel and channel for the negative energies he uses so frequently. Finally, this transformation comes to fruition, and he changes fundamentally into something better and more deadly. He gains the Evolved Undead template twice.

PLAYING A SOUL REAVER
Your Dreadsoul Edge has become your most potent weapon - certainly your spells are still powerful, but you cannot rely on them the way other necromancers do. Your place is on the front lines, alongside your animated and created undead. Use your Scourges and spells to make yourself even more fearsome.
Combat: Depending on his Scourge selection, a Soul Reaver might focus on cursing as many foes as possible before participating in more classic combat, or jump right in, slinging spells and blades from the get-go. Don't forget your undead, and the grafts you can forge for yourself to prepare for the day ahead. Your psionic focus will be tricky to decide when to expend it: Do you use it as soon as possible to better strike your foes? Or save it for when the need is dire?
Advancement: Choose your Scourges wisely. They all have their place - but what will be most useful to you? A subtle, conniving Soul Reaver will have a different repertoire than an armored division leader. If you choose not to go all the way through the class, initiator classes would help further augment your martial abilities, but more necromancy would keep your spellcasting strong and make your undead legion one to be feared.
Resources: Your spells and undead will be your greatest resources. There are no organizations for your kind, and many (assuming a typical DnD morality world) won't support you if they know where your power comes from.

SOUL REAVERS IN THE WORLD
Don't go down there. He doesn't like it when you go down there.

Soul Reavers are rare types - there aren't that many who follow both the paths of the necromancer and the soulknife. Their weapons are considered fearsome, and their Scourges like the plague. Even in a world where necromancy is generally not frowned upon, the Soul Reaver's direct attacks and interactions with the souls of other beings causes great contention.
Daily Life: Most Soul Reavers will spend some time out of their day investigating and meditating on their Dreadsoul Edge. As a manifestation of their own soul, its every intricacy in every shape it takes reveals an aspect of their core being. Beyond that, their lives are not terrifically altered by taking this path - they will lead their undead and parties to whatever means they seek.
Notables: Cyrus was the first Soul Reaver to come to the world's attention. Far from the first ever, but he led his undead armies against the armies of Nekron, an invading necromancer. His abilities were incredible to the people at the time, and his eventual defeat at the hands of the legendary lich Nekron came as a devastating blow, before he was able to pass on the source and nature of his abilities... and his own undead nature was never revealed.
Organizations: The Knights of the Tempered Spirit are a group dedicated to knowledge of self becoming great power on the battlefield. They are not entirely Soul Reavers, but their unique abilities are welcome within the Knights. Some have hoped to duplicate the Dreadsoul Edge in different forms - a manifestation of one's soul is invaluable to the Knights, as it is a literal presentation of the deepest parts of one's self.

NPC Reaction
People tend to mistrust undead to begin with, but when you begin swinging your soul as a sword and inflicting the souls of others with terrible affects, you might eternally lose the trust of normal folk. Better to hide the true nature of your abilities if at all possible.

SOUL REAVERS IN THE GAME
Many Scourges offer some unique opportunities to Soul Reavers. Especially when they can be applied from far away, and secretly, it could lead to some very unique applications that might cause a great deal of unrest in the world - a world leader infested with the Scourge of Whispering can be a very powerful boon to the party.
Adaptation: It is entirely possible to remove the undead requirement, but an additional requirement might be necessary to maintain balance.

BelGareth
2010-11-17, 01:51 PM
I love what you have done here, it is well written and oozes great story writing and fluff.
It seems like a very cool Prc for PC's and would love to see this adapted to a neutral PC Prc class with let's say the grafting modded.
One thing on the class, you would have to restrict it to sentient undead, as mindless undead would not be able to go into either required classes.
And on that note, you might want to add fluff on the fact that these undead are able to utilize their undead souls(or called something else) as undead don't have their souls, they're animated with negative energy....
Unless I'm wrong...which I could be....
Other than that I love your work.
Like I said would be a great PC PrC for neutral/evil PC's

AugustNights
2010-11-17, 02:41 PM
It seems many of these Scourges last less than days. If so, why is it so hard to remove them? It seems to me that simple Curse Dispelling should suffice, maybe the Scourges are stronger than normal curses and require a caster check, but both Disease treatment and remove curse? If I were fighting one of these guys I'd feel as if these negative effects are unbreakable for the short periods of time, rather than 'more difficult' to break. Because the cost of removing it is a lot more than the cost of living with it, by far.

Also, I don't think Benign is the best choice of words for Scourges one doesn't notice, Benign makes me think of either benefits or moles. Not Creeping Curses.

gkathellar
2010-11-17, 02:47 PM
I notice it's impossible to get ninth-level spells. It's not really a problem, but out of curiosity, is that by design?

NineThePuma
2010-11-17, 09:45 PM
Swap Undead Type for Tomb Tainted Soul feat. Turning undead is hard, and has a huge LA. Unless you're using it with a homebrew race...

al'raith
2010-11-28, 06:59 AM
so where exactly is Charnel Touch from?
Edit: never mind I'm an idiot and didn't bother reading like my mama told me I should.... I'm allowed to bash myself right?

Benly
2010-11-28, 10:02 AM
As I said before in the contest chat thread, you have a problem with the prerequisites. Force of Personality's only effect is a bonus to saves vs. mind-affecting effects, and the undead type grants a blanket immunity to mind-affecting effects. Requiring both means that you have a mandatory dead feat for your prerequisites. I personally lean towards changing the undead requirement to "Tomb-Tainted Soul or creature type undead".

Also, if entered at level 6 as the requirements seem to imply is intended, this class will not have undead-creation abilities when Destruction Attribution is acquired - even going Dread Necro 4/Soulknife 1/Soul Reaver 4, the character will only cast as a level 7 DN, which means only access to level 3 spells, which means no Animate Dead, which means no controlled undead to sacrifice for Destruction Attribution, which means the ability does nothing when you get it. Either reducing the CL loss or adding a scourge which causes a target slain by the attack to rise as controlled undead would solve this problem; the latter seems more in keeping with the tone of the class.

Tanuki Tales
2010-11-28, 11:25 AM
Swap Undead Type for Tomb Tainted Soul feat. Turning undead is hard, and has a huge LA. Unless you're using it with a homebrew race...

*cough*Necropolitan*cough*

lightningcat
2010-11-28, 05:56 PM
Also, if entered at level 6 as the requirements seem to imply is intended, this class will not have undead-creation abilities when Destruction Attribution is acquired - even going Dread Necro 4/Soulknife 1/Soul Reaver 4, the character will only cast as a level 7 DN, which means only access to level 3 spells, which means no Animate Dead, which means no controlled undead to sacrifice for Destruction Attribution, which means the ability does nothing when you get it. Either reducing the CL loss or adding a scourge which causes a target slain by the attack to rise as controlled undead would solve this problem; the latter seems more in keeping with the tone of the class.

You are partly correct, but while you don't have animate dead you do still have your rebuke undead ability which allows you to command undead, so you could have undead under your control. Although I do like the scourge idea.

Which brings me to my question, you do not continue to improve your ability to rebuke undead, was this intentional or an oversight? I could see it going either way, but if it was intentional, then you could never have more then 4 HD of undead under your command which brings us back to benly's point.

EDIT: I guess the use of command undead spell might count for the purposes of the Destruction Attribution ability, so you could get enough undead that way. Although that might trigger the following clause "Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the commanded undead (regardless of its Intelligence) breaks the spell."

Hyooz
2010-11-28, 06:06 PM
You are partly correct, but while you don't have animate dead you do still have your rebuke undead ability which allows you to command undead, so you could have undead under your control. Although I do like the scourge idea.

Which brings me to my question, you do not continue to improve your ability to rebuke undead, was this intentional or an oversight? I could see it going either way, but if it was intentional, then you could never have more then 4 HD of undead under your command which brings us back to benly's point.

Thanks for the catch on Rebuke Undead. That was a huge oversight on my part.

As for the issue with actually having any undead under your control for Destruction Attribution... I'll have to mull that over. A new Scourge might be in order, as recommended, or I might just collapse the ability into one instead of spreading it over two levels. Definitely something I'll have to consider.