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View Full Version : What a Fine Night For a Curse! (3.5 PrC, PEACH)



NeoSeraphi
2012-04-25, 10:47 PM
The Dumuzid

http://images.wikia.com/catherinethegame/images/2/2f/Mutton_1.png


A Dumuzid is a master of nightmares, and a shepherd of sinners. The Dumuzid fights by incapacitating his foes and luring them into the world of dreams, which he presides over as a god. Once a creature is trapped in the world of dreams, it succumbs to the Dumuzid's Curse, and its fate is practically sealed.

Role: The role of a dumuzid is generally single-target removal. The dumuzid often does not need to use all of his class features to finish a foe off if he is in a party, but they make him a deadly threat to anyone even if he is alone.

Weaknesses: A "weakness" of the dumuzid class is that creatures that do not sleep or are immune to mind-affecting abilities, such as undead, elves, and dragons, are pretty much immune to all his class features. That does not stop the dumuzid from owning them with magic, though.

Abilities: A dumuzid is a spellcaster, and the dumuzid's primary casting score is used to determine all of his abilities.

Classes: The class most likely to become a dumuzid is a wizard, as they tend to fancy themselves gods who can warp reality with but a thought. Sorcerers may also become dumuzid, though they will most likely be less-inclined as it is a heavy investment on the sorcerer's part and mind-affecting is a common immunity. Bards and clerics are also capable of becoming dumuzids, but rarely do.


Prerequisites: In order to become a dumuzid, you must meet the following prerequisites:

Spellcasting: Able to cast deep slumber as a spell, with a caster level of at least 5.
Feat: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Special: A Dumuzid is a Shepherd of Sin, and in order to command his power, the character must truly fancy himself as a god of the realm of dreams. A character who worships a deity is prohibited from entering this class (Clerics with the right domain who follow a cause rather than a deity are fine).

HD: d6
Class Skills: The dumuzid's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Forgery, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (All Skills, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points: 4+Int per level


Yeah, it's a little weird to have Listen as a class skill without Spot, but in this case I think it makes sense. The only reason the Dumuzid is trained to Listen is because Listen helps you wake up from sleep on your own, so naturally the Dumuzid would be more skilled at that than a normal wizard.



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

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Stray Sheep, Curse of the Shepherd|

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Dream Walker|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Curse of the Shepherd|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Lord of the Dream World|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Curse of the Shepherd|

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Nightmare|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Curse of the Shepherd|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Dream Casting|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Curse of the Shepherd|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|The Morning Star|
[/table]

Class Features: The following are the class features of the Dumuzid.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A dumuzid is proficient with the quarterstaff. Additionally, any quarterstaff held by the dumuzid magically alters itself as soon as he grasps it (with no action or intent on the dumuzid's part). The head of the quarterstaff molds itself to shape like a sheep's head. This is a transmutation effect, not an illusion, and cannot be dispelled or suppressed, though the staff returns to normal as soon as it leaves the dumuzid's hands. When wielding a transformed staff, the dumuzid deals damage as if the weapon were one Size category larger, and ignores all penalties for fighting with two weapons.

Stray Sheep (Su): A dumuzid is able to herd mortals into the world of dreams, where he has total control. As long as the dumuzid has an enchantment spell of 3rd level or higher available to cast, he may, as a standard action, force one creature within 100 feet of him to make a Will save (DC 10+spell level of the highest level enchantment spell available to cast+the dumuzid's primary casting modifier) or fall asleep. The creature remains asleep until it would otherwise wake up (from being attacked or from an ally shaking it, etc), or for 1 round per level of the highest level enchantment spell the dumuzid has available to cast. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.

Curse of the Shepherd (Su): A Dumuzid is the Lord of Dreams. Any creature who is lulled into world is forced to join his flock, and obey his rules. Or else they suffer his wrath...All sleeping creatures (allies, enemies, or otherwise) within 100 feet of the dumuzid are affected by the Dumuzid's curse. The Dumuzid is immune to his own curse. A creature affected by the Dumuzid's curse takes a penalty to its saving throws equal to the Dumuzid's class level. There is no saving throw to resist the curse, but it may be removed with a remove curse, break enchantment or miracle spell. The wish spell has no direct effect on the curse, though it may work if it is used to replicate a break enchantment spell.

Beginning at 3rd level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse also has its damage reduction, energy resistances, energy immunities, regeneration, and deflection bonuses to AC suppressed as long as it is asleep.

Beginning at 5th level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse cannot be healed by positive energy, negative energy, or fast healing as long as it is asleep. Additionally, if the creature has the ability to automatically regenerate its limbs, that ability is suppressed as long as it is asleep.

Beginning at 7th level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse gains spell resistance equal to 15+the dumuzid's caster level, however, that spell resistance only applies to spells that have a Saving Throw: Harmless descriptor.

Beginning at 9th level, any time a creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse would wake up, that creature must make a Will save (DC equal to the dumuzid's caster level) or remain asleep. The creature must make this save even if it would wake up due to the duration of a sleep effect expiring. If it fails its save, it must continue to attempt to save each round until it wakes up. If the duration of the sleep effect expires, the creature immediately wakes up if it would no longer be cursed (either through a spell or through the dumuzid moving more than 100 feet away from it).

Dream Walker (Su): As a full-round action, a dumuzid may enter a sleeping creature's dreams. The creature must be within 100 feet of the dumuzid, and the dumuzid must have line of sight and line of effect to that creature.

A creature's dream is treated as its own plane. The sleeping creature is free to move about and act normally inside the dream, but is unable to escape unless it wakes up, even with magic like plane shift. If the creature encounters the dumuzid, it may attempt to attack him, or vice versa.

A creature takes damage differently in the dream world. Because the damage is purely mental, a creature is able to make a Will save (DC 10+damage dealt) to halve the damage taken (rounded down) whenever he would receive damage while in a dream world (this can stack with the damage's actual saving throw. For example, a dumuzid who was attacked by the dreamer's fireball succeeds his Reflex save. He would have taken 30 damage, but that damage was halved thanks to his save. Now, he may make a DC 25 Will save, and if he succeeds that save, he only takes 7 fire damage from the spell).

A creature's physical defenses, such as regeneration, damage reduction, armor or natural armor, do not protect it from mental damage at all.

If a creature's hit points reach 0 from mental damage, the creature becomes comatose and may only reawaken with a wish or miracle spell.

While the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dream, his body lies prone and helpless in whatever square he was in. The dumuzid is unaware of his surroundings in the real world while he is dream walking, but if his body takes any damage, he immediately realizes it and may act accordingly.

The dumuzid may leave a dream at any time, as a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

Lord of the Dream World (Su): Starting at 4th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, he gains a Divine Rank 1 and all the abilities associated with it. Additionally, he gains a supernatural fly speed of 200 feet with perfect maneuverability. The dumuzid does not gain the Grant Spells, Domain Powers, or Spell-Like Abilities features, and he may only choose the Lay Curse divine salient power. The dumuzid treats the entire dreamscape that he is in as his Godly Realm.

Nightmare (Su): Starting at 6th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, that creature takes 2d10 points of mental damage each round. The dumuzid may suppress or resume this ability as a move action.

Dream Casting (Su): Beginning at 8th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, his caster level for all spells he casts becomes equal to his character level, unless it would be higher.

The Morning Star (Su): At 10th level, the dumuzid becomes a true god while within his domain, and grants himself his own spellcasting as if he were his own follower. If the dumuzid prepares spells, he may prepare any spell on the cleric spell list and up to 3 domains of his choice (he may not choose a domain associated with an alignment that opposes his own). The dumuzid need not know these spells, nor transcribe them in his spellbook if he has one, but he may only cast them while in someone's dreams. If the dumuzid is a spontaneous caster, then while he is in the dream world, he may treat all spells on the cleric spell list and on 3 domains of his choice as if they were spells he knew.

If the dumuzid is already an actual cleric, he gains access to 3 additional domains, and 3 additional domain slots per spell level, but he may only prepare spells from those 3 extra domains in those extra slots, and may only cast spells from those extra slots while in the dream world.

The dumuzid selects 3 domains when he gains this class feature. He may not change them later.

The dumuzid must choose the Dream Domain (unless he already has access to it, in which case he may select a third domain from the following list) and then two other domains from the following list: Alteration, the Alignment domains, Charm, Corruption, Creation, Darkness, Domination, Illusion, Liberation, Meditation, Mentalism, Mind, Portal, Shadow, and Trickery.

Doorhandle
2012-04-26, 02:01 AM
OH GOD! COLONEL SANDERS IS THREATING ME WITH A PHALLIC REVOLVER!
Jokes aside, fluff is badass, as is the crunch, although it is odd in a few areas.

it might warrent a partial ability to induce sleep in resistant creatures, or at least to make them “sleepwalk” and thus be vulnerable to “curse of the Sheppard” or part of it. On the other hand, it seems to be an important part of it’s balance.

I was worried that the Dumuzid and the party around it would just use curse of the shepard in order to brutalise a sleeping enemy through coup-de-grace and so the dumazid would never get any use out of Dream Walker, but then I realised the target would just wake up.

Lord of the dreamworld is both useful and flavourful, but I’m, assuming you can’t grant yourself spells or know thing related to your domain. A summary of the abilities gained through 1 divine rank would also be nice, if only for ease of use.

Despite it’s coolness, there’s a lot of wasted potential. I would like if it eventually got the ability to take physical objects and people into the dream, (not just astral duplications like in dream walk) perhaps including the Dumuzid, and then using it’s other powers to make it a personal demiplane at it’s disposal. Being able to fire spells to outside targets while within it’s head would be interesting, as well as being able to use dominate person and have the target still be asleep, allowing the Dumizid to ride them around like a snoring mecha. Doing inception-style mind altering would also be cool, but again, perhaps too powerful for the dumazid’s intended role: but possibly not outside the scope of crazier arcane casting…

edit: If you're going to implement the above, or point me to a soruce that will LET the Dumazid do that, make sure there is errata allowing the man to turn nightmare off.

Also, the character seems to be ripped from something... what's it source? Looks like killer 7 to me but then again, I have never played the game.

Milo v3
2012-04-26, 07:21 AM
I really like this class. Awesome work as usual. I especially like Morning Star and its name is very cool.

One thing though, can Nightmare be suppressed?

I'm sure the God of Dreams wouldn't want to make all his followers comatose.

NeoSeraphi
2012-04-26, 09:43 AM
OH GOD! COLONEL SANDERS IS THREATING ME WITH A PHALLIC REVOLVER!
Jokes aside, fluff is badass, as is the crunch, although it is odd in a few areas.

it might warrent a partial ability to induce sleep in resistant creatures, or at least to make them “sleepwalk” and thus be vulnerable to “curse of the Sheppard” or part of it. On the other hand, it seems to be an important part of it’s balance.

That would be part of the balance yes. But more than that, creatures without minds arguably cannot commit sins, since often times they are unable to determine their own actions. (Also, creatures without minds probably don't even dream). Therefore, there is no reason for the dumuzid to bother with them.

As for creatures that are just immune to sleep, again, they don't dream. Therefore, they are not part of the God of Dreams' domain, and it is not his place to punish them.

(At the end of the day, you still have spellcasting, and spellcasting can often deal with whatever problem you're facing, so I don't think it's that big of a deal).



I was worried that the Dumuzid and the party around it would just use curse of the shepard in order to brutalise a sleeping enemy through coup-de-grace and so the dumazid would never get any use out of Dream Walker, but then I realised the target would just wake up.


You are correct, sir! At least until level 9. Then the creature has to make a saving throw in order to wake up when you coup'de'grace it.



Lord of the dreamworld is both useful and flavourful, but I’m, assuming you can’t grant yourself spells or know thing related to your domain. A summary of the abilities gained through 1 divine rank would also be nice, if only for ease of use.


Edited the ability to be more clear about it.



Despite it’s coolness, there’s a lot of wasted potential. I would like if it eventually got the ability to take physical objects and people into the dream, (not just astral duplications like in dream walk) perhaps including the Dumuzid, and then using it’s other powers to make it a personal demiplane at it’s disposal. Being able to fire spells to outside targets while within it’s head would be interesting, as well as being able to use dominate person and have the target still be asleep, allowing the Dumizid to ride them around like a snoring mecha. Doing inception-style mind altering would also be cool, but again, perhaps too powerful for the dumazid’s intended role: but possibly not outside the scope of crazier arcane casting…


The ability to fire spells into the real world would be unbelievably overpowered. The dumuzid is getting a divine rank from this class, and the only possible way I can balance it is to do so he has to fall unconscious and lie prone and helpless while he fights with a single person in their dreams. No, I will not be letting him affect the real world while he is in God Mode.

As for the demiplane and the domination, I think you're really missing the point of the class. The dumuzid is a shepherd, he leads sinful sheep into his world and then shows them the error of their ways, often resulting in their deaths. His role is to correct and to lead, not to flaunt his powers or rule over the dream world as his own plane for eternity.



edit: If you're going to implement the above, or point me to a soruce that will LET the Dumazid do that, make sure there is errata allowing the man to turn nightmare off.


I did that, yes.



Also, the character seems to be ripped from something... what's it source? Looks like killer 7 to me but then again, I have never played the game.

The character is Thomas Mutton from the game Catherine, as is the inspiration for the class.

DracoDei
2012-04-28, 12:40 AM
I was worried that the Dumuzid and the party around it would just use curse of the shepard in order to brutalise a sleeping enemy through coup-de-grace and so the dumazid would never get any use out of Dream Walker, but then I realised the target would just wake up.
Except that the coup-de-grace resolves BEFORE they wake up, and if coup-de-grace is usually lethal if you are doing it right(which involves, among other things, getting the guy with the 20+ strength to do it for you, rather than doing it yourself). Even then they are still prone. Sleep is a save-or-lose.

Not that save-or-lose is a new thing, and at least it is probably harder to pump the DC here, so I am not complaining about the PrC being overpowered, just saying that all those nifty dream-power might be every bit as pointless as you thought they were.

NeoSeraphi
2012-04-28, 01:42 PM
Except that the coup-de-grace resolves BEFORE they wake up, and if coup-de-grace is usually lethal if you are doing it right(which involves, among other things, getting the guy with the 20+ strength to do it for you, rather than doing it yourself). Even then they are still prone. Sleep is a save-or-lose.

Not that save-or-lose is a new thing, and at least it is probably harder to pump the DC here, so I am not complaining about the PrC being overpowered, just saying that all those nifty dream-power might be every bit as pointless as you thought they were.

Not every creature who is vulnerable to mind-affecting is vulnerable to critical hits (though I admit, those two immunities coincide rather often).

The dumuzid is meant to be able to fight on his own, which a wizard can certainly do already, but the dumuzid has a bit more flare and power than a wizard when fighting one-on-one.

Plus, of course, there are still certain defenses that the curse doesn't remove that would make it hard for melee characters to coup'de'grace the creature (incorporeality springs to mind immediately, as well as fortified armor).

Finally, the dumuzid is pretty good for dealing with a lieutenant or BBEG while the melee characters have to fight off the mooks. Someone who won't go down without a fight and has a lot of defenses and HP (but not mindblank).

Wyntonian
2012-04-28, 02:17 PM
Have you read The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, or was this inspired by anime? Either way, this is pretty awesome.

NeoSeraphi
2012-04-28, 02:31 PM
Have you read The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, or was this inspired by anime? Either way, this is pretty awesome.

It was inspired by the Atlus video game Catherine, for the PS3. And thank you. :smallbiggrin:

Doorhandle
2012-04-29, 02:36 AM
That would be part of the balance yes. But more than that, creatures without minds arguably cannot commit sins, since often times they are unable to determine their own actions. (Also, creatures without minds probably don't even dream). Therefore, there is no reason for the dumuzid to bother with them.

As for creatures that are just immune to sleep, again, they don't dream. Therefore, they are not part of the God of Dreams' domain, and it is not his place to punish them.

(At the end of the day, you still have spellcasting, and spellcasting can often deal with whatever problem you're facing, so I don't think it's that big of a deal).



You are correct, sir! At least until level 9. Then the creature has to make a saving throw in order to wake up when you coup'de'grace it.



Edited the ability to be more clear about it.



The ability to fire spells into the real world would be unbelievably overpowered. The dumuzid is getting a divine rank from this class, and the only possible way I can balance it is to do so he has to fall unconscious and lie prone and helpless while he fights with a single person in their dreams. No, I will not be letting him affect the real world while he is in God Mode.

As for the demiplane and the domination, I think you're really missing the point of the class. The dumuzid is a shepherd, he leads sinful sheep into his world and then shows them the error of their ways, often resulting in their deaths. His role is to correct and to lead, not to flaunt his powers or rule over the dream world as his own plane for eternity.



I did that, yes.



The character is Thomas Mutton from the game Catherine, as is the inspiration for the class.

I conceed all your points seeing as they have good fluff justifiations. Well done. :smallsmile:

TravelLog
2012-04-30, 10:17 PM
A Dumuzid is a master of nightmares, and a shepherd of sinners. The Dumuzid fights by incapacitating his foes and luring them into the world of dreams, which he presides over as a god. Once a creature is trapped in the world of dreams, it succumbs to the Dumuzid's Curse, and its fate is practically sealed.
The one thing I don't see this guy as is a "shepherd of sinners". If anything, I'd imagine he sows within his prey's mind the inkling and intention to sin, corrupting them from within farther than without. I get your intention, but the wording is significant.


Weaknesses: A "weakness" of the dumuzid class is that creatures that do not sleep or are immune to mind-affecting abilities, such as undead, elves, and dragons, are pretty much immune to all his class features. That does not stop the dumuzid from owning them with magic, though.
This is huge. Beyond huge. He needs away around this type of thing, not only immunity in general, but particularly to creatures like undead, elves and dragons, as well as the many, many, many other D&D creatures that don't sleep. Maybe at high levels he can access the subconscious in general rather than just the sleeping mind. Needs to be addressed.



Prerequisites: In order to become a dumuzid, you must meet the following prerequisites:

Spellcasting: Able to cast deep slumber as a spell, with a caster level of at least 5.
Feat: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Special: A Dumuzid is a Shepherd of Sin, and in order to command his power, the character must truly fancy himself as a god of the realm of dreams. A character who worships a deity is prohibited from entering this class (Clerics with the right domain who follow a cause rather than a deity are fine). What about a character that worships a god with "dreams" as part of their portfolio?



HD: d6
Class Skills: The dumuzid's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Forgery, Intimidate, Knowledge (All Skills, taken individually), Listen, Profession, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points: 2+Int per level
For such a trickster type class, I'm surprised Hide/Move Silently aren't on the skill list, particularly as this class is useless if you accidentally wake up your target because you couldn't keep quiet. I'd also consider bumping skill/level up to 4+Int for half-caster entry somehow (I'm looking at Beguilers here in particular, though Rogue/Wizards also come to mind).



Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A dumuzid is proficient with the quarterstaff. Additionally, any quarterstaff held by the dumuzid magically alters itself as soon as he grasps it (with no action or intent on the dumuzid's part). The head of the quarterstaff molds itself to shape like a sheep's head. This is a transmutation effect, not an illusion, and cannot be dispelled or suppressed, though the staff returns to normal as soon as it leaves the dumuzid's hands. When wielding a transformed staff, the dumuzid deals damage as if the weapon were one Size category larger, and ignores all penalties for fighting with two weapons.
Interesting flavor ability. How can he fight with two weapons while wielding a quarterstaff though? It's a two-handed weapon...



Stray Sheep (Su): A dumuzid is able to herd mortals into the world of dreams, where he has total control. As long as the dumuzid has an enchantment spell of 3rd level or higher available to cast, he may, as a standard action, force one creature within 100 feet of him to make a Will save (DC 10+spell level of the highest level enchantment spell available to cast+the dumuzid's primary casting modifier) or fall asleep. The creature remains asleep until it would otherwise wake up (from being attacked or from an ally shaking it, etc), or for 1 round per level of the highest level enchantment spell the dumuzid has available to cast. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.
Nice, and useful to boot.



Curse of the Shepherd (Su): A Dumuzid is the Lord of Dreams. Any creature who is lulled into world is forced to join his flock, and obey his rules. Or else they suffer his wrath...All sleeping creatures (allies, enemies, or otherwise) within 100 feet of the dumuzid are affected by the Dumuzid's curse. A creature affected by the Dumuzid's curse takes a penalty to its saving throws equal to the Dumuzid's class level. There is no saving throw to resist the curse, but it may be removed with a remove curse, break enchantment or miracle spell. The wish spell has no direct effect on the curse, though it may work if it is used to replicate a break enchantment spell.

Beginning at 3rd level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse also has its damage reduction, energy resistances, energy immunities, regeneration, and deflection bonuses to AC suppressed as long as it is asleep.

Beginning at 5th level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse cannot be healed by positive energy, negative energy, or fast healing as long as it is asleep. Additionally, if the creature has the ability to automatically regenerate its limbs, that ability is suppressed as long as it is asleep.

Beginning at 7th level, any creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse gains spell resistance equal to 15+the dumuzid's caster level, however, that spell resistance only applies to spells that have a Saving Throw: Harmless descriptor.

Beginning at 9th level, any time a creature who is affected by the dumuzid's curse would wake up, that creature must make a Will save (DC equal to the dumuzid's caster level) or remain asleep. The creature must make this save even if it would wake up due to the duration of a sleep effect expiring. If it fails its save, it must continue to attempt to save each round until it wakes up. If the duration of the sleep effect expires, the creature immediately wakes up if it would no longer be cursed (either through a spell or through the dumuzid moving more than 100 feet away from it). I have a couple issues with this ability. First, it's basically a no button if the enemy is asleep, and more or less translates to game over, insert coin. No enemy is going to be able to survive against a party when they attack it all at once with literally none of its defensive abilities or qualities active.

Second, the 7th level ability doesn't work, as sleeping creatures are considered willing and therefore forgo many saving throws anyway. You also never say directly if waking up breaks the curse or merely renders it inapplicable until the next time the creature goes to sleep.



Dream Walker (Su): As a full-round action, a dumuzid may enter a sleeping creature's dreams. The creature must be within 100 feet of the dumuzid, and the dumuzid must have line of sight and line of effect to that creature.

A creature's dream is treated as its own plane. The sleeping creature is free to move about and act normally inside the dream, but is unable to escape unless it wakes up, even with magic like plane shift. If the creature encounters the dumuzid, it may attempt to attack him, or vice versa.

A creature takes damage differently in the dream world. Because the damage is purely mental, a creature is able to make a Will save (DC 10+damage dealt) to halve the damage taken whenever he would receive damage while in a dream world (this can stack with the damage's actual saving throw. For example, a dumuzid who was attacked by the dreamer's fireball succeeds his Reflex save. He would have taken 30 damage, but that damage was halved thanks to his save. Now, he may make a DC 25 Will save, and if he succeeds that save, he only takes 7 fire damage from the spell).

A creature's physical defenses, such as regeneration, damage reduction, armor or natural armor, do not protect it from mental damage at all.

If a creature's hit points reach 0 from mental damage, the creature becomes comatose and may only reawaken with a wish or miracle spell.

While the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dream, his body lies prone and helpless in whatever square he was in. The dumuzid is unaware of his surroundings in the real world while he is dream walking, but if his body takes any damage, he immediately realizes it and may act accordingly.

The dumuzid may leave a dream at any time, as a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Need to say if you round up or down, though your example suggests down. Is the Dumuzid also unable to be protected by his regen, DR, AC, or NA?



Lord of the Dream World (Su): Starting at 4th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, he gains a Divine Rank 1 and all the abilities associated with it. Additionally, he gains a supernatural fly speed of 200 feet with perfect maneuverability. The dumuzid does not gain the Grant Spells, Domain Powers, or Spell-Like Abilities features, and he may only choose the Lay Curse divine salient power. The dumuzid treats the entire dreamscape that he is in as his Godly Realm.

And here is where I worry. This is absurdly power for a 14th level character, much less 9th (the earliest to my knowledge that it can be gained without TO). I would leave this as Divine Rank 0, and even that is really really powerful, and should be more like the capstone ability.



Nightmare (Su): Starting at 6th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, that creature takes 2d10 points of mental damage each round. The dumuzid may suppress or resume this ability as a move action. Pretty damn strong, but nothing in comparison to the other abilities.



Dream Casting (Su): Beginning at 8th level, while the dumuzid is inside of a creature's dreams, his caster level for all spells he casts becomes equal to his character level, unless it would be higher. A sweet sweet boon to all those who give up caster levels, but I'll also note it does very much weaken the impact of this class's OWN lost caster levels, as you'll still manage 9ths and this ability makes you cast at 20th level anyway... You either need to nix this ability and add a new one, or add another lost CL.



The Morning Star (Su): At 10th level, the dumuzid becomes a true god while within his domain, and grants himself his own spellcasting as if he were his own follower. If the dumuzid prepares spells, he may prepare any spell on the cleric spell list and up to 3 domains of his choice (he may not choose a domain associated with an alignment that opposes his own). The dumuzid need not know these spells, nor transcribe them in his spellbook if he has one, but he may only cast them while in someone's dreams. If the dumuzid is a spontaneous caster, then while he is in the dream world, he may treat all spells on the cleric spell list and on 3 domains of his choice as if they were spells he knew.

If the dumuzid is already an actual cleric, he gains access to 3 additional domains, and 3 additional domain slots per spell level, but he may only prepare spells from those 3 extra domains in those extra slots, and may only cast spells from those extra slots while in the dream world.

The dumuzid selects 3 domains when he gains this class feature. He may not change them later.
Holy crap this is powerful, but since it only works in the Dream World, it's a lot more reasonable. A solid capstone. I would however, force one of the domains to be the Dream domain. I might even go so far as to offer the following list.

Dream and two of: Alteration, the Alignment domains, Charm, Corruption, Creation, Darkness, Domination, Illusion, Liberation, Meditation, Mentalism, Mind, Portal, Shadow, and Trickery.

NeoSeraphi
2012-04-30, 10:47 PM
The one thing I don't see this guy as is a "shepherd of sinners". If anything, I'd imagine he sows within his prey's mind the inkling and intention to sin, corrupting them from within farther than without. I get your intention, but the wording is significant.


Hmm...I understand that Thomas Mutton did that with Catherine, but I don't think that part of the game necessarily applies here...



This is huge. Beyond huge. He needs away around this type of thing, not only immunity in general, but particularly to creatures like undead, elves and dragons, as well as the many, many, many other D&D creatures that don't sleep. Maybe at high levels he can access the subconscious in general rather than just the sleeping mind. Needs to be addressed.


Why? The class is, as you said below, incredibly powerful. The mindbender class doesn't let you get around immunity to charm or compulsion (or mind-affecting), and the elemental savant class doesn't let you get around resistance or immunity to your chosen energy type, despite forcing all of your damage spells to deal that energy type. Narrow classes are powerful and easily countered, that's their very nature.



What about a character that worships a god with "dreams" as part of their portfolio?


Doesn't work. The dumuzid believes himself to be a god, that's necessary for his class features. The extent of this belief would be incredibly blasphemous to any deity, to the point that it would make a cleric fall.



For such a trickster type class, I'm surprised Hide/Move Silently aren't on the skill list, particularly as this class is useless if you accidentally wake up your target because you couldn't keep quiet. I'd also consider bumping skill/level up to 4+Int for half-caster entry somehow (I'm looking at Beguilers here in particular, though Rogue/Wizards also come to mind).


Solid advice. Adding that now.



Interesting flavor ability. How can he fight with two weapons while wielding a quarterstaff though? It's a two-handed weapon...


The rules for using a double weapon (which a quarterstaff is) follow the same rules as TWF.



Nice, and useful to boot.


Thank you.



I have a couple issues with this ability. First, it's basically a no button if the enemy is asleep, and more or less translates to game over, insert coin. No enemy is going to be able to survive against a party when they attack it all at once with literally none of its defensive abilities or qualities active.


Yes, but...shouldn't a master of sleep be more effective at killing creatures who are asleep than, say, a wizard who can cast deep slumber? :smallconfused:



Second, the 7th level ability doesn't work, as sleeping creatures are considered willing and therefore forgo many saving throws anyway. You also never say directly if waking up breaks the curse or merely renders it inapplicable until the next time the creature goes to sleep.


I said spell resistance. The creature may forgo its saving throws, but SR always applies unless a creature spends an action to lower it, and you can't do that while you're unconscious. It also says "As long as he/she is asleep". The curse only applies while the creature is asleep, and only if the creature is within 100 feet of the dumuzid, so why does it matter if it is broken or not?



Need to say if you round up or down, though your example suggests down. Is the Dumuzid also unable to be protected by his regen, DR, AC, or NA?


The Dumuzid is not considered asleep while he is inside of a Dream World, but good point. I will note that he is immune to his own curse.



And here is where I worry. This is absurdly power for a 14th level character, much less 9th (the earliest to my knowledge that it can be gained without TO). I would leave this as Divine Rank 0, and even that is really really powerful, and should be more like the capstone ability.


Really? I mean, I know it's strong, but you only get it while you're inside a character's dreams. It basically just opens your playing field up so much more when your opponent is asleep, which actually gives you an incentive to put him to sleep rather than tossing around SoDs like you can start doing at that level. Shouldn't the plethora of options come around the middle of the class, rather than the end? You know, so you can actually enjoy using them pre-epic?



Pretty damn strong, but nothing in comparison to the other abilities.


2d10 damage is an average of 11 damage per round. Not really that powerful when you consider a full caster is wielding it.



A sweet sweet boon to all those who give up caster levels, but I'll also note it does very much weaken the impact of this class's OWN lost caster levels, as you'll still manage 9ths and this ability makes you cast at 20th level anyway... You either need to nix this ability and add a new one, or add another lost CL.


It only applies while you're in someone else's dreams. So, only in combat or when you're attacking someone (unless you want to curse an ally while he's asleep), and only when that creature fails its save against your mind-affecting compulsion ability with a capped saving throw of 18+mod (unless you actually get 9ths, which don't come until 20th level, and then you have to spend one of your prepared spells on an enchantment spell).

I mean, if I dropped it, every dumuzid would just pick up Practical Spellcaster. (Probably will anyway, since as I mentioned, it only applies in certain situations). Why not just give the boon, since you are a demigod while in Dream World?



Holy crap this is powerful, but since it only works in the Dream World, it's a lot more reasonable. A solid capstone. I would however, force one of the domains to be the Dream domain. I might even go so far as to offer the following list.


IIRC, the Dream Domain is the only cleric domain that actually offers Deep Slumber, so the dumuzid cleric couldn't get in the class without it, meaning that requiring it as one of the bonus domains could potentially screw the dumuzid cleric over.



Dream and two of: Alteration, the Alignment domains, Charm, Corruption, Creation, Darkness, Domination, Illusion, Liberation, Meditation, Mentalism, Mind, Portal, Shadow, and Trickery.

A solid list. Using. Thanks.