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Amechra
2011-10-11, 09:02 PM
http://th05.deviantart.net/fs38/PRE/i/2008/319/e/3/Dance_of_the_Necromancer_by_TehArtMonkey.png (http://th05.deviantart.net/fs38/PRE/i/2008/319/e/3/Dance_of_the_Necromancer_by_TehArtMonkey.png)
The Totentanzer
And the strict lord Death bids them to dance.
-Jof, a Totentanzer

Your sword won’t help you out
Sceptre and crown are worthless here
I’ve taken you by the hand
For you must come to my dance
-Author unknown

Ingenting undgår mig. Ingen undgår mig


SKILLS COMING SOON!
Alignment: Any
HD: d8
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Necrurgies Known|Necrurgies Manifest
1|+0|+0|+2|+2|Totentanz (Apprentice), Necrotic Surge, Necrurgy (Basic)|1|1
2|+1|+0|+3|+3|Lead the Dance (Dead Aura)|2|2
3|+2|+1|+3|+3|Fundamental of Death|3|2
4|+3|+1|+4|+4|Seed of the Final Death 1/Day|4|3
5|+3|+1|+4|+4|Totentanz (Initiate)|4|3
6|+4|+2|+5|+5|Fundamental of Death|5|4
7|+5|+2|+5|+5|Lead the Dance (Direct the Steps)|6|4
8|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Seed of the Final Death 2/Day|7|5
9|+6/+1|+3|+6|+6|Totentanz (Journeyman), Fundamental of Death, Necrurgy (Specialized)|8|5
10|+7/+2|+3|+7|+7|Lifeless Form|9|6
11|+8/+3|+3|+7|+7|Seed of the Final Death 3/Day|10|7
12|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Lead the Dance (Waltz with Me), Fundamental of Death|11|8
13|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Totentanz (Master)|12|8
14|+10/+5|+4|+9|+9|Seed of the Final Death 4/Day|13|9
15|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+9|Fundamental of Death|13|9
16|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Seed of the Final Death 5/Day|14|10
17|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Totentanz (Maven), Lead the Dance (Danse Macabre), Necrurgy (Master)|15|10
18|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11|Fundamental of Death|16|11
19|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11|Seed of the Final Death 6/Day|17|11
20|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+12|Master of the Final Waltz|18|12[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Totentanzer is proficient in all simple and melee weapons, along with whips; you are also proficient in all light weapons and bucklers.

Necrotic Surge: A Totentanzer dances with death; the dying screams of those around them are the music around which they base their steps.

You gain the ability to gain Necrotic Surge points, to a limit of your class level; you gain a single Necrotic Surge point whenever a creature of at least Fine size dies within 5ft/class level of you; for this purpose, a swarm counts as one creature.

You begin each and every encounter with a number of Necrotic Surge points equal to half your class level, thanks to the ever-present pall of death over the world.

You may spend a number of Necrotic Surge points to get a bonus to your Totentanz check equal to the amount spent; additionally, you may spend them to gain a bonus on your Concentration check to prevent the loss of your Totentanz at a 1-to-1 exchange rate.

Totentanz (Su): What fun would it be if the screams of those who died stopped, removing the beautiful music guiding the dancer's steps? Why, then they would need to supply their own... accompaniment.

As a standard action, you may begin a dance known as the Totentanz; each round that you dance, as a swift action, you may raise a single corpse within 10ft/class level as either a zombie or a skeleton. These undead are not under your control; however, they treat you as if you were an unintelligent undead of the same type, and thus do not attack you unless you were to attack them.

When you raise these undead, make a Totentanz check (1d20+Class level+Charisma Modifier+1/2 your ranks in Perform (Dance)); you may then use the result to "train" the undead; use the DCs and rules for the Handle Animal skill as a guide (treating the undead as if they were Animals with an Intelligence of 1).

You may "push" the undead raised by this ability as a move action, and may "push" more than one of these undead at the same time.

The undead raised by this ability are maintained for the duration of the dance, which may be maintained indefinitely, but once it has finished, the undead must make a Will Save against 15; if they fail, they are automatically destroyed.

The Totentanz is complicated to maintain; as such, you may not cast spells, manifest powers, or use any other such sub-system that requires concentration. You also may not normally sustain the dance while raging, as the anger breaks your focus on the extraordinarily complicated dance-steps; in addition, your focus can break at the most inordinate times (see the spoiler labeled "Preventing the loss of the Totentanz" for more information."

At 1st level, you may only have a number of HD of undead raised in this manner equal to twice your class level-1; any time an undead is raised beyond that point, one undead raised by this ability simply disintegrates and is completely destroyed.

At 5th level, the number of HD of undead you may have raised in this manner is increased to thrice your class level -2; in addition, you may lower this amount by 1 HD to grant one of the undead raised by this ability the Basic version of any one of your Necrurgies. You may only use a number of HD on this ability equal to twice the amount of Necrurgies you may have manifest -1. A granted Necrurgy grants a benefit based of your level and Charisma modifier.

At 9th level, the number of HD of undead you may have raised in this manner is increased to four times your class level -3; in addition, the number of HD you may use to grant Necrurgies increases to thrice the number of Necrurgies you may manifest -2.

At 13th level, the number of HD of undead you may have raised in this manner is increased to five times your class level -4; in addition, the number of HD you may use to grant Necrurgies increases to four times the number of Necrurgies you may manifest -3. You also gain the ability to apply the Specialized versions of any of the Necrurgies you know; however, this also costs 1 HD towards the amount used for Basic Necrurgies and you may only apply the Specialized version of a Necrurgy to an undead that already has the Basic version of that Necrurgy.

At 17th level, the number of HD of undead you may have raised in this manner is increased to six times your class level -5; in addition, the number of HD you may use to grant Necrurgies increases to five times the number of Necrurgies you may manifest -4.

This ability counts as Bardic Music for the purpose of prerequisites and abilities that modify Bardic Music. You need to be able to move for this class feature to work.

Necrurgy (Su): The flow of death, the rising crescendo of souls leaving their bodies... is there anything more beautiful? It makes one want to change their steps to match the wonderful dips and rises in the chorus of quietus.

You gain the ability to use Necrurgies, abilities that channel the very power of death through your body, warping you temporarily; you learn a new Necrurgy at every level except 5th and 15th.

However, your body cannot take the shear amount of death energy it would take to form every single Necrurgy pattern you may know; as such, you are limited in the number of Necrurgies you may have manifested, or active, at one time. At 1st and 2nd level, you may have every Necrurgy you know manifest simultaneously; but after that point, the number of Necrurgies you may have manifested at any one time is limited to the amount shown above.

You may change which Necrurgies you have manifest in a 15-minute long ritual, in which you attempt to listen to the music of death; you may perform this ritual as many times in a day as you wish.

When you first start out, you may only learn the Basic version of a Necrurgy; however, once you have reached 9th level, you may learn the Specialized versions as well. Specialized Necrurgies are more powerful than Basic Necrurgies, but require that you already know the Basic version of that Necrurgy before you may learn them. In addition, you may not manifest a Specialized Necrurgy unless you also are manifesting the Basic version of that Necrurgy.

At 17th level, you gain the ability to master a Necrurgy; to do so, you must already know the Specialized version of that Necrurgy. To master a Necrurgy, you must learn it a 3rd time; this uses up a single Necrurgy Known. However, if you've done so, the Basic version of that Necrurgy becomes an Ex ability for you, and doesn't count towards the limit on how many Necrurgies you may have manifest at the same time.

The save DC for any Necrurgy that requires one is (10+1/2 your Totentanzer level+your Charisma modifier).

Lead the Dance (Su): They dance well; however, no-one else can here the music of Death's dance. And this is a sad thing; time to remedy that problem...

At 2nd level, any Divination spell registers you as either undead or your original type, whichever would be more beneficial. In addition, you are invisible to Lifesense.

At 7th level, you gain the ability to spend a number of Necrotic Surge points to Rebuke Undead as an Evil Cleric of a level equal to 1-1/2 the number of Necrotic Surge points you spent. This counts as having Rebuke Undead for the purpose of prerequisites; any ability that requires the expenditure may be used by spending a number of Necrotic Surge points equal to 1/4 of your class level.

At 12th level, you gain the ability to lend your power to those around you; all allies within 5ft/class level gain the benefit of your Dead Aura and a single Basic Necrurgy of your choice for as long as they stay within range and you are using your Totentanz. You chose which Necrurgy your allies receive on a case-by-case basis. You do not count as an ally for the purpose of this ability.

At 17th level, you gain a final, horrible ability; a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1), you may use Otto's Irresistible Dance as a Supernatural ability, with a DC of 10+1/2 your class level+your Charisma modifier; each round that a creature is affected by this ability, they receive a Negative level.

Fundamental of Death (Sp): Death flows... Through you, over you, breaking you, loving you. Sometimes, the simplest dance steps are those that you already were performing.

At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, you learn a single spell-like ability from the Fundamental of Death list; unlike normal spell-like abilities, these require a somatic component, and incur Arcane Spell Failure chance from any armor heavier than Light. If the Fundamental of Death requires a saving throw, the DC is (10+1/2 class level+your Charisma modifier).

You may learn a Fundamental of Death a second time; if you do so, it counts as a Supernatural ability and thus no longer requires a Somatic Component.

Seed of the Final Death (Su): It requires a certain amount of... tact to change the course of a creature's death. Of course, what good is a dancer if they can't critique the musician?

At 4th level, you gain the ability to fill someone with the seeds of undeath; you may only use this ability on a willing or helpless living creature. To perform this ability, you must touch the creature; when that creature dies, they rise within 1d4 rounds as a Necropolitan, even if that template normally could not be applied to that creature type.

They still lose the level and experience as if they had gained the template normally.

This ability does not function on Outsiders or Elementals, as their souls and bodies are of the same material, and that fusion interferes with this ability.

You gain an additional daily use of this ability at 8th, 11th, 14th, 16th, and 19th levels.

Lifeless Form (Ex): They have danced to Death's tune for so long, it has started to suit them so well...

At 10th level, you gain the Necropolitan Template, regardless of whether or not you qualify for it. You do not lose a level or any experience due to this ability, as you more slid into this death, rather than having it forced onto you.

You still count as being your original type for the purpose of Dead Aura.

In addition, undead you create through Totentanz are treated as if they have Int 2 for the purpose of how many "tricks" they may learn.

Master of the Final Waltz (Ex): Who truly leads the dance; who guides the steps, plays the song, or dresses the dancers? Our harsh lord death, of course.

Upon reaching 20th level, you die a second time; normally, this would be final (barring a few spells), but not for you. You have achieved an apothesis of power only normally held by Lord Death.

You gain the following benefits:
-Your type changes to Outsider, with the [Void], [Augmented (Undead)], and [Augmented (Your original type)]. You are treated as an Outsider, Undead, or your Orginal type for the purpose of spells or effects targeting you, whichever would be best.
-Your Totentanz may not be disrupted by any means, and the undead created have maximum hit-points per HD.
-Your Totentanz and Necrurgies work inside Anti-Magic Fields and Dead Magic Zones.
-You gain a single Necrotic Surge Point every round.
---
Fundamentals of Death List
Question Corpse- Ask a corpse a single Yes or No question.
Draw towards Death-Make it harder to stop bleeding.
The Bell Tolls-Hear the deaths of those marked.
Sleep as Death-Hide life signs on a sleeping creature.
Disrupt Flow-Deal 1 Negative Energy damage, may remove 1 point of essentia.
Familiarity of Death-You know a little bit about everything.
Understand Death-Receive hints as to what killed someone.
---
Necrurgy List
Vampire Smile-Grow fangs; later, gain a life-draining attack.
Join the Dance-Gain Charisma to armor class; later, those you slay are raised as zombies.
Eyes of a Ghost-Able to see with the eyes of death; later, see the death of others.
Beckoning Necrosis-Your weapons are sheathed in filth; later, a pool of rot appears below you.
Hunger as a Ghoul-Consume flesh to heal; later, your filthy diet sustains your strength.
Body of Rotten Sinew-Gain a bonus to your physical ability scores; later, your body becomes far more flexible.
Wings of Cobwebs-Almost gain the ability to fly; later, those you fly over are slowed.
Undead Vigor-Become extremely tough; later, scorn even death.
Not Yet Your Time-Those around you reject death; later, you can even bring them back.
Tear Back the Veil-Those who see you are afraid of what you bring; later, your visage may even kill.
Death of Time-Move faster than others believe possible; later, reject the restraints of mortal time.
Divine from Death-Speak with the Dead though they were living; later, speak with Death himself.
Whispers from those Departed-Those around you believe you speak like their dead loved ones; later, a word from you can make a heart stop.
Funeral Dirge- Undead are reminded of their graves; later, so are the living.
There is no Heaven-Your attacks deal more damage to those blinded by dogma; later, you make sure this statement is true.
Cloak of Souls Trapped-You are surrounded by servile souls; later, you may add the souls of enemies to this number.
Dance for Death- Undead nearby remember humanity; later, they could seem almost alive.
Even Stones Die- Become able to partially critical everything; later, your very presence ruins the world.
Imprison the Unruly- Become able to imprison the dead; later, this spreads to the living too.
Step Outside Mortality- Travel between one place and another; later, even time is not beyond your reach.

Amechra
2011-10-11, 09:03 PM
*Note*: If you Master a Necrurgy that may be Manifest multiple times, the free manifestation only applies once.

Necrurgies
Wings of Cobwebs
The must and rot that will affect the corpses around you is drawn towards you, creating a pair of rotten, lacy wings that look as if they would be destroyed with a whisper.
Basic: You gain a pair of wings; originally, you may use your wings to glide, negating damage from a fall of any height and allowing 20 feet of forward travel for every 5 feet of descent. You may only move 40 ft in a round while gliding; treat this ability as if you had average maneuvarability for the purpose of maneuvering.

Once you have reached 5th level, you may fly at 40ft with Average maneuverability; you may only stay in flight for a number of rounds at a time equal to 3+your Charisma modifier, after which you are Fatigued, even if you would normally be immune. You may not use this ability to fly while you are Fatigued or Exhausted

Once you have reached 10th level, you may fly for any length of time, with no risk of Fatigue from your flight. You may fly even while fatigued, and may Run in midair.

Specialized: Particles of rot fall from you while flying, slowing down your foes. Any creature in a square under where you fly is Slowed for 1d4 rounds; a Fortitude save negates this ability. Any creature that succeeds on the save instead takes an amount of damage equal to your level, as their skin sloughs off. Any creature that is affected by this ability is immune to the effect of your manifestation of this Necrurgy for the next 24 hours.

There is No Heaven
Your ears have heard the whispered secrets of death... And nowhere in there do the gods truly care.
Basic: You gain the ability to smite a creature once every 1d4 rounds; when you smite a creature through a use of this ability, you gain a bonus to hit equal to your Charisma modifier, and deal extra damage based off the struck creature's alignment.
{table=head]Alignment|Extra Damage
TN|+0 Damage
NG, CN, LN, NE|+1/2 your class level
CG, CE, LE, LG|+ your class level[/table]

This damage bypasses any alignment based Damage Reduction, and until the damage is healed, Conjuration (Healing) spells cast on the damaged creature receive a penalty to CL equal to the extra damage dealt. A spell cast at a caster level lower than 0 automatically fail to be cast. This effect only lasts until the damaged creature is able to rest for at least 4 hours.

This ability is an attack action.
Specialized: Your weapons are treated as Thinaun in addition to any other material they might be made of; however, the souls are trapped in your body, rather than in the weapon itself. This affects natural weapons as well.

You may have a number of stored souls at one time equal to your Charisma modifier (min. 1).

Body of Rotten Sinew
The deaths all around infuse you a sort of wretched, awful, strength, as your very sinews tighten and warp.
Basic: You gain an Enhancement bonus to one physical ability score equal to +2, +2 for every 6 class levels.

You may Manifest this Necrurgy multiple times; if you do so, you may select an additional physical score to receive the above bonus.
Specialized: You gain both the Powerful Build and Slight Build special abilities.

Beckoning Necrosis
Your hands begin to rot, a viscous slime flowing down and coating your weapons; despite this, your grip on your weapon doesn't change.
Basic: Once every 1d4 rounds, as a swift action, you may coat your weapon with a layer of rotten slime; if you do so, the next creature struck by that weapon must make a Fortitude save or contract a non-magical disease of your choice (chosen when you Manifest this Necrurgy).

You may Manifest this Necrurgy multiple times; if you do so, you may select an additional disease to choose from when you use a swift action to coat your weapon in filth.

At 5th level, this Necrurgy affects creatures immune to diseases, as the death-bound energies in the slime are the cause, not some mundane diseased tissue; however, they do gain a +4 to the save.

At 10th level, you may select supernatural diseases for this ability; if you do, double the amount of time before you can use this Necrurgy again.

Specialized: As long as you have this Necrurgy Manifested, any enemy that comes within 10ft of you must make a Fortitude save or contract one of the diseases you chose for the Basic version of this ability.

Eyes of a Ghost
The dead see things the living could only barely imagine; with death rotting your own eyes, it makes sense that you would gain such perspicacity.
Basic: You gain a bonus to Spot checks equal to 1/2 your class level.

In addition, you may Detect Life constantly within 10 ft/class level; this functions as Detect Evil, only it detects living creatures and creatures with the Healing or Life domains instead. This ability is only ever treated as if you had focused on the area around you for 1 round/6 class levels.

At 10th level, this ability ignores any intervening barriers that would normally impede your vision.

Specialized: You gain the ability to perform a Death Attack; this ability requires you to study your target for a number of rounds equal to (3-the amount of effective rounds you have focused on using the Basic version of this ability). Once you have finished your study, make a single attack as a standard action; the creature struck must make either a Will Save or a Fortitude save or die; the type of save is chosen when this Necrurgy is Manifested. If a Will save is required by this Necrurgy, treat the Death Attack as a Death Effect.


Vampire Smile
The muscles around your mouth atrophy and dry, pulling back your lips to reveal a pair of vicious looking fangs.
Basic: You gain a bite attack that deals damage as a creature of your size.

At 6th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, your effective size for the purpose of calculating this Necrurgy's damage increases by 1.
Specialized: Every time you attack a creature with this Necrurgy, you also deal 1d6 Con damage; you gain 5 Temporary HP for every point of Constitution damage you dealt. Alternatively, you may gain either 1 point of Temporary Essentia or 1 Necrotic Surge Point for ever point o Constitution damage you inflict.

Amechra
2011-10-11, 09:08 PM
What am I trying to do with this?

I'm trying to make a decent little necrurgist, based around gaining power from the deaths caused in a battlefield.

I would like ideas for more Necrurgies once I have them written up; basically, they should give a normalish "Basic" effect and then they should give a cool Specialized effect.

For example, Eyes of a Ghost will give you Deathwatch (plus a little bonus to hit against Incorporeals, but that is incidental), but the Specialized version will give you what basically amount to a DnD version of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Yes, you read that right.

HDs Raised due to Totentanz
{table=head]Level|HD Raisable|Maximum HD[br]usable to grant[br]Necrurgies
1|1|-
2|3|-
3|5|-
4|7|-
5|13|5
6|16|7
7|19|7
8|22|9
9|33|13
10|37|16
11|41|19
12|45|22
13|61|29
14|66|33
15|71|33
16|76|37
17|97|46
18|103|51
19|109|51
20|115|56[/table]

YouLostMe
2011-10-11, 09:53 PM
An interesting idea. Necrurgies, as a word, doesn't quite flow off of the tongue as well as "spell", "power" or "maneuver", etc. That won't stop me from keeping my eye on this. I look forward to its completion!

Lateral
2011-10-11, 09:55 PM
I'm fairly sure that 'necrurgy' isn't a real word.

Amechra
2011-10-11, 10:31 PM
Necrurgy is the proper term for death magic; Necro (Death)+Urge(Work)

Conversely, Necromancy is the process of divining stuff from the dead; in recent times, it has co-opted necrurgy's meaning.

Besides, making up words is half the fun of this kind of thing.

Pyromancer999
2011-10-11, 10:49 PM
So it makes death magic through the power of dance?.....Suspicious.:smallbiggrin:

Still, class features look good so far.

Garryl
2011-10-11, 11:46 PM
Bold words from a bold 'brewer. Let's see if you can back them up.

Dealing with death through dance? If there's any classical necromancy involved (ie: reanimating the dead instead of just making them), please let it be compatible with a little thriller of mine (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=12823).

Amechra
2011-10-12, 09:54 AM
There will be reanimating, and I will of course make Thriller Zombies fit.

Though I am using dance more as a metaphor here...

And how am I bold? I've never thought that I've been bold while brewing...

Are you crazy?

Mulletmanalive
2011-10-12, 10:44 AM
Necrurgy is the proper term for death magic; Necro (Death)+Urge(Work)

"Urge" is work in context of completing or building. I'd have to look up what "powered by" is, but the word you're using means "working to bring about/ascend to death" in the same way that Theurgy is "working to bring about/affect/create divinity"

While i looked up what the equivalent of "death providing power like a millpond," necyokrounas (avec awful conjugation), i can't really begin to look up a suitable word without class features to tell me if these are powered by dead spirits or powered by dying, which would boil out as something like thanaprotia or thanoprotia...Greek is so much harder than Latin (weep).

Garryl
2011-10-12, 05:49 PM
And how am I bold? I've never thought that I've been bold while brewing...

You've gone for some interesting and extensive ideas before, even if they didn't always pan out. Plus, I wanted to alliterate. Can't go wrong with alliteration.


Are you crazy?

Yes, but don't let me know that.

Amechra
2011-10-15, 05:02 PM
Class features are written out. Yes, the capstone is meant to be that crazy.

Why only Zombies/Skeletons for Totentanz? Because there will be feats that will allow different types of undead, of course, which will also modify Seed of the Final Death (want to be a Vampire? Step right up, lose a couple levels, and suck blood Today!)

I'll need suggestions for skills, and the Necrurgies should be written out in the next couple of days.

BillyBobJoe
2011-10-15, 05:18 PM
... I love you. I have no idea how you made the perfect class for what I've been looking for, but I love you for it. I'll have to look more closely at it later. I may finally have my Michael Jackson character.

Amechra
2011-10-16, 10:44 AM
The first 5 Necrurgies are UP!

Once I add skills, this class could technically be played until 6th level. At which point you see living people, fly for a short amount of time, infect people THROUGH disease immunity, gain a +4 to 1-2 ability scores, and can SMITE those damn sanctimonious religious jerks.

And you can give your raised undead some of the above.

Amechra
2011-10-20, 03:24 PM
Another Necrurgy up.


Please, can someone at least run a critique on this? I have no idea if this is a good or bad silence.

TravelLog
2011-10-20, 03:49 PM
I'll field a full critique of this once I get back home and have some time to go over it on the computer rather than my phone. For now however, I recommend a name alteration for the capstone: "Danse Macabre".

Because, I mean, it doesn't get apter than that.

Amechra
2011-10-20, 04:53 PM
That will require an alteration to the name of a different ability... but alright, it will be taken into consideration.

Lagren
2011-10-20, 10:17 PM
One thing I can add;

You've forgotten to add the standard "only enemies of your own level count for deaths" line here to prevent people from hauling around bags of live rats to kill at will.

Then again, the mental image is amusing.

"I will dance with death to the sound of death squeaks!"

Otherwise, very flavorful brewing, will be saving this thread.

Amechra
2011-10-20, 10:45 PM
That's why I set a minimum size for Necrotic Surge; I mostly wanted to stop people from stomping ants.

I, however, see no problem with dragging around rats and using them as fuel; otherwise, you only get enough Necrotic Surge points by either being in combat with a ton of mooks, or if you have Specialized Vampire Smile manifest.