Maho-Tsukai
2011-06-01, 04:14 PM
My ill-fated attempt to make the True Necromancer a playable PrC. Most likely this is way to overpowered, hence why I labeled it a WIP. I will eventually re-post it with fluff once I feel happy with it but for now I am omitting all fluff because I want to get the mechanics strait. So if anybody can help me make it less broken, please, lend a hand.
True Necromancer
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/AkatsukiEmperor/TrueNecropic-1.png
Art by Genzoman of Deviantart.com
-fluff goes here-
Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Any non-good
Skills: Knowledge(Arcana) 8 Ranks, Knowledge(Religion) 8 Ranks
Feats: Corpsecrafter, Spell Focus: Necromancy
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 2nd level arcane spells and 1st level divine spells. Must be able to cast Command Undead as an arcane spell and Summon Undead I as a divine spell.
Special: Must have at least one of the following: Access to the Death, Necromancy or Deathbound Domain. Specialization in the School of Necromancy. Charnel Touch class feature. Dark Knowledge class feature.
Hit Dice: d4
Skill Points per level: 2+ Int modifier
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Heal(Wis), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(Arcana)(Int), Knowledge(History)(Int), Knowledge(Religion)(Int), Knowledge(The Planes)(Int) Profession(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
The True Necromancer
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Rebuke Undead, Necromantic Spell Power|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Secrets of Undeath |+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Enthrall Undead|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4||+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Zone of Desecration |+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|General of the Dead|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Undead Conduit|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6||+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Vampiric Enervation|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Sovereign of the Grave|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class[/table]
Rebuke Undead: At 1st level, the True Necromancer, if he dose not already possess the ability to rebuke undead, gains the ability to rebuke undead as an evil cleric of his character level. If he already has the ability to rebuke undead he uses his character level rather then his rebuking class level to calculate the power of his rebuking, as well as any and all other features of that ability.
Necromantic Spell Power: The True Necromancer, being a master of the dark arts learns to keep his necromantic spells even in power with those of his wizardly brethren despite devoting more time to the study of his divine magics. At 1st level and every level after the True Necromancer treats the caster level of all necromancy spells he casts, both arcane and divine, as being equal to the caster level of a spellcaster of his character level or the higher caster level among his two spellcasting classes, whichever is higher. If a spell's CL would be altered by a metamagic feat or other ability then you add that CL increase to this one rather then not applying it at all.
Secrets of Undeath : As the True Necromancer advances in power his study of necromancy reveals to him the fell magics associated with the divine domain of undeath. At 2nd level the True Necromancer adds to the spellbook or spells known of his arcane spellcasting class all undeath domain spells of all spell levels he can cast. In addition, whenever he gains access to a new arcane spell level he adds the undeath domain spell of that spell level to his spellbook or spells known. These spells are treated in the exact same manner as all other arcane spells he can cast.
Enthrall Undead: The True Necromancer being a master of both arcane and divine magics eventually learns how to twist the will of undead with spells usually unable to target them. At 3rd level and every level after the True Necromancer's mind-effecting spells and spell-like abilities all treat undead creatures as their original type.(So A True Necromancer could use charm person against a humanoid zombie, for example.)
Zone of Desecration: At level 5 and every level after the True Necromancer emits a foul aura that acts as the spell Desecrate. This ability creates a zone of negative energy centered on the True Necromancer that replicates all effects of the Desecrate spell. This spell has the same range of the Desecrate spell, using the True Necromancer’s character level in place of caster level. The True Necromancer can suppress the visual effects of this zone to make it invisible to the naked eye. However, even if suppressing it’s visual effects the zone still is visible to a person using true seeing or any similar spell, and it can also be detected by detect magic and similar spells.
General of the Dead: As a True Necromancer advances in his craft he gains the power to raise more undead they any other caster can at once. At level 6 and every level after the True Necromancer’s base amount of HD of undead that he can animate with the Animate Dead spell is 5 times his caster level instead of the standard 2 times his caster level. This amount is doubled by the desecrate spell and True Necromancer’s Zone of Desecration. If the true Necromancer possesses the deathbound domain when he gains this ability he loses that domain’s granted power.
Undead Conduit: As the True Necromancer advances in power he learns how to channel not only negative energy through the corpses of the dead, but also his own fell magics. At 7th level the True Necromancer gains the ability to cast necromancy spells with a range of touch through his undead minions. The spell is cast exactly as normal, except that it is cast through the undead's touch instead of the True Necromancer's and requires the undead creature delievering the touch spell to make an attack action. Spells cast this way are still treated as being cast by the True Necromancer and are still used up as normal.
Vampiric Enervation: While the True Necromancer is highly adapt at animating undead minions he knows that Necromancy offers far more then the ability to raise the dead from their graves. At 9th evel the True Necromancer gains the ability to drain life from foes he inflicts negative levels or ability drain upon. For every negative level bestowed or point of ability damage dealt, the True Necromancer may choose to gain 5 temporary hit points. However, these temporary hit points only last for one hour and the True Necromancer can never gain more temporary hit points with this ability than 2 times his full HP.
Sovereign of the Grave: At the height of his craft the True Necromancer becomes a master animator. At level 10 and every level after the True Necromancer may add half the caster level of one of his two spellcasting classes, rounded down, to the caster level of his other spellcasting class for the purpose of calculating how many undead he may animate with the animate dead spell.(So a Wizard 3/Cleric 2/True Necromancer 10 would be able to animate 105 HD worth Undead with a single casting of Animate Dead.)
__________________________________________________ _
So as you can see, the class borrows somewhat from the original True Necromancer class while taking a slightly different spin with it. This version of the true necro still blends divine and arcane casting but allows more entry freedom then the original class. You can now be a enter True Necro with a Wizard/Archivist build(which suffers less MAD) if you wish, as well as a Dread Necromancer/Favored Soul or countless other entries not possible with the original requirements. Also, this version requires less of a divine commitment then the first, and there IS a reason for that. Since Clerics are already good at all of necromancy while arcane casters(sans DNs) are good at all of necromancy except minionmancy I felt that the True Necromancer should be heavier in arcane casting then divine casting due to both mechanics and fluff. Mechanically, this allows the TN to be a class that shores up the weaknesses of arcane necromancy with some divine power while providing class features useful to both sides. Fluff wise this fits well as I can easily see some wizards becoming jealous of the necromantic powers of clerics and thus studying both the divine and arcane in an attempt to become a necromancer that surpasses both clerics and his own class. the same can be said for sorcerers and other arcane casters, including DNs. It just seemed like more of a fluff and mechanical fit to have the class have a heavier arcane requirement then divine.
The one ability I worry about though is their amount of undead animated. They can animate a LOT of undead. While their control pool dose not increase, the fact that they can animate so many undead with one use of animate dead means they can easily have lolundead to rival and perhaps even surpass the Dread Necro due to the excess undead rule of Animate Dead..and that is a bit worrisome. I am not sure, however, how overpowered this is, and thus I want your help balancing this aspect of the class.
So, if anybody has any ideas on how to help this class, please, lend a hand.
True Necromancer
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/AkatsukiEmperor/TrueNecropic-1.png
Art by Genzoman of Deviantart.com
-fluff goes here-
Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Any non-good
Skills: Knowledge(Arcana) 8 Ranks, Knowledge(Religion) 8 Ranks
Feats: Corpsecrafter, Spell Focus: Necromancy
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 2nd level arcane spells and 1st level divine spells. Must be able to cast Command Undead as an arcane spell and Summon Undead I as a divine spell.
Special: Must have at least one of the following: Access to the Death, Necromancy or Deathbound Domain. Specialization in the School of Necromancy. Charnel Touch class feature. Dark Knowledge class feature.
Hit Dice: d4
Skill Points per level: 2+ Int modifier
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Heal(Wis), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(Arcana)(Int), Knowledge(History)(Int), Knowledge(Religion)(Int), Knowledge(The Planes)(Int) Profession(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
The True Necromancer
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Rebuke Undead, Necromantic Spell Power|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Secrets of Undeath |+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Enthrall Undead|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4||+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Zone of Desecration |+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|General of the Dead|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Undead Conduit|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6||+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Vampiric Enervation|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class
10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Sovereign of the Grave|+1 arcane spellcasting class/+1 divine spellcasting class[/table]
Rebuke Undead: At 1st level, the True Necromancer, if he dose not already possess the ability to rebuke undead, gains the ability to rebuke undead as an evil cleric of his character level. If he already has the ability to rebuke undead he uses his character level rather then his rebuking class level to calculate the power of his rebuking, as well as any and all other features of that ability.
Necromantic Spell Power: The True Necromancer, being a master of the dark arts learns to keep his necromantic spells even in power with those of his wizardly brethren despite devoting more time to the study of his divine magics. At 1st level and every level after the True Necromancer treats the caster level of all necromancy spells he casts, both arcane and divine, as being equal to the caster level of a spellcaster of his character level or the higher caster level among his two spellcasting classes, whichever is higher. If a spell's CL would be altered by a metamagic feat or other ability then you add that CL increase to this one rather then not applying it at all.
Secrets of Undeath : As the True Necromancer advances in power his study of necromancy reveals to him the fell magics associated with the divine domain of undeath. At 2nd level the True Necromancer adds to the spellbook or spells known of his arcane spellcasting class all undeath domain spells of all spell levels he can cast. In addition, whenever he gains access to a new arcane spell level he adds the undeath domain spell of that spell level to his spellbook or spells known. These spells are treated in the exact same manner as all other arcane spells he can cast.
Enthrall Undead: The True Necromancer being a master of both arcane and divine magics eventually learns how to twist the will of undead with spells usually unable to target them. At 3rd level and every level after the True Necromancer's mind-effecting spells and spell-like abilities all treat undead creatures as their original type.(So A True Necromancer could use charm person against a humanoid zombie, for example.)
Zone of Desecration: At level 5 and every level after the True Necromancer emits a foul aura that acts as the spell Desecrate. This ability creates a zone of negative energy centered on the True Necromancer that replicates all effects of the Desecrate spell. This spell has the same range of the Desecrate spell, using the True Necromancer’s character level in place of caster level. The True Necromancer can suppress the visual effects of this zone to make it invisible to the naked eye. However, even if suppressing it’s visual effects the zone still is visible to a person using true seeing or any similar spell, and it can also be detected by detect magic and similar spells.
General of the Dead: As a True Necromancer advances in his craft he gains the power to raise more undead they any other caster can at once. At level 6 and every level after the True Necromancer’s base amount of HD of undead that he can animate with the Animate Dead spell is 5 times his caster level instead of the standard 2 times his caster level. This amount is doubled by the desecrate spell and True Necromancer’s Zone of Desecration. If the true Necromancer possesses the deathbound domain when he gains this ability he loses that domain’s granted power.
Undead Conduit: As the True Necromancer advances in power he learns how to channel not only negative energy through the corpses of the dead, but also his own fell magics. At 7th level the True Necromancer gains the ability to cast necromancy spells with a range of touch through his undead minions. The spell is cast exactly as normal, except that it is cast through the undead's touch instead of the True Necromancer's and requires the undead creature delievering the touch spell to make an attack action. Spells cast this way are still treated as being cast by the True Necromancer and are still used up as normal.
Vampiric Enervation: While the True Necromancer is highly adapt at animating undead minions he knows that Necromancy offers far more then the ability to raise the dead from their graves. At 9th evel the True Necromancer gains the ability to drain life from foes he inflicts negative levels or ability drain upon. For every negative level bestowed or point of ability damage dealt, the True Necromancer may choose to gain 5 temporary hit points. However, these temporary hit points only last for one hour and the True Necromancer can never gain more temporary hit points with this ability than 2 times his full HP.
Sovereign of the Grave: At the height of his craft the True Necromancer becomes a master animator. At level 10 and every level after the True Necromancer may add half the caster level of one of his two spellcasting classes, rounded down, to the caster level of his other spellcasting class for the purpose of calculating how many undead he may animate with the animate dead spell.(So a Wizard 3/Cleric 2/True Necromancer 10 would be able to animate 105 HD worth Undead with a single casting of Animate Dead.)
__________________________________________________ _
So as you can see, the class borrows somewhat from the original True Necromancer class while taking a slightly different spin with it. This version of the true necro still blends divine and arcane casting but allows more entry freedom then the original class. You can now be a enter True Necro with a Wizard/Archivist build(which suffers less MAD) if you wish, as well as a Dread Necromancer/Favored Soul or countless other entries not possible with the original requirements. Also, this version requires less of a divine commitment then the first, and there IS a reason for that. Since Clerics are already good at all of necromancy while arcane casters(sans DNs) are good at all of necromancy except minionmancy I felt that the True Necromancer should be heavier in arcane casting then divine casting due to both mechanics and fluff. Mechanically, this allows the TN to be a class that shores up the weaknesses of arcane necromancy with some divine power while providing class features useful to both sides. Fluff wise this fits well as I can easily see some wizards becoming jealous of the necromantic powers of clerics and thus studying both the divine and arcane in an attempt to become a necromancer that surpasses both clerics and his own class. the same can be said for sorcerers and other arcane casters, including DNs. It just seemed like more of a fluff and mechanical fit to have the class have a heavier arcane requirement then divine.
The one ability I worry about though is their amount of undead animated. They can animate a LOT of undead. While their control pool dose not increase, the fact that they can animate so many undead with one use of animate dead means they can easily have lolundead to rival and perhaps even surpass the Dread Necro due to the excess undead rule of Animate Dead..and that is a bit worrisome. I am not sure, however, how overpowered this is, and thus I want your help balancing this aspect of the class.
So, if anybody has any ideas on how to help this class, please, lend a hand.