The Deathlord [3.5e PrC, PEACH]

[Athaniar]

The Deathlord

The Deathlord is my first attempt to create a prestige class. As you can see, it is based around necromancy and reanimation in particular. What you probably can't see is that it is meant to be included into a campaign setting that I'm working on. Anyway, PEACH. Too overpowered? Too underpowered? Too dull? Too exciting? Any comment is appreciated, after all, I want this to be such a good class as possible.

You may also notice that I have removed the alignment prerequisite. That is because I do not believe in alignment, and even if I did, this class isn't made to be evil anyway.

Also, where do you people find these cool images to illustrate your classes?

Requirements
Feat: Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 2 ranks
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 7th-level Necromancy spells
Other: Must be a citizen or close associate of Aun-Warek.

Class Skills (2+Int Modifier): Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Religion), Profession, Spellcraft

Hit Die: d4

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

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|Secret of Sentience (8)|+1 level of spellcasting class

2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+3

|Secret of Sentience (10)|+1 level of spellcasting class

3rd|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|

+3

|Secret of Sentience (12), Secret of Might|+1 level of spellcasting class

4th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Secret of Sentience (14), Deathmend|+1 level of spellcasting class

5th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Secret of Sentience (16), Secret of Mastery|+1 level of spellcasting class[/table]

Class Features

Weapon/Armor Proficiencies: No new ones.

Secret of Sentience (Su): Upon entering this class, you learn the Secret of Sentience, meaning that any undead you create have at least 8 in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, unless this makes any of these attributes higher than in life +2, and retain memories of its former life. This bonus increases to 10 at second level, 12 at third, 14 at fourth, and 16 at fifth. You still have control of the undead according to the spell. Undead you choose to release from your control may or may not be friendly to you, mostly depending on its former life. The Deathlord may choose whether to apply Secret of Sentience or not when animating.

Secret of Might (Su): At 3rd level, you learn the Secret of Might, making all undead creatures you create gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and Dexterity, and four additional hit points per Hit Die (This ability does not affect the number or Hit Dice of animated creatures that the Deathlord can create or control).

Deathmend (Su): At 4th level, you can heal the wounds of undead by touch. Each day you can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to your deathlord level × your Knowledge (Religion) score. You may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and you don’t have to use it all at once. Using deathmend is a standard action.

Secret of Mastery (Su): At 5th level, you learn the Secret of Mastery, making all undead creatures you create gain a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (in addition to the bonuses gained by the other Secrets), and an additional four extra hit points per Hit Die (same restrictions as Secret of Might applies).

[insecure]

Great, we could always use some more homebrewers.

For your class, it seems a bit dull. Gonna break it up in parts:

• Your undead gets an intelligence score, which won't affect the game mechanics except for in a few cases, so it's mostly fluff. Don't misunderstand me, fluffy abilities are good, but how often do that come up in your games?
  
• They also get a strength, con, and hp bonus, which is pretty useful. Seems fine to me, and understandable as well.
  
• Deathmend is practically Lay on Hands using negative energy and your wis score. Fits the concept well.

I think it's somewhat balanced, considering you don't losee anything by taking levels in this instead of your base class. Granted, there are heaps of other PrCs worth of taking for casters which all grant full spellcasting and nifty abilities, but that's something completely else. Also, the requirements are a bit high. Perhaps lower them and call it a day?

Another thing is, it's a good idea to give them a theme beyond "Necromancy". Everyone could play a necromancer, but why should they play yours? If your class fills a niche, you've achieved something.

Also, where do you people find these cool images to illustrate your classes?

Personally, I spend a lot of time searching DeviantArt, adding whatever looks cool to my favourites. This results in me having a folder for character/class/NPC pictures, one for landscapes and sites, and so on. When I need something, I look 'em through, and if I don't have anything suiting, I spend some more time searching.


Also, your table seems a bit stretched. Perhaps change the code a bit so it looks like this, if you want? (Yes, I know it also looks stretched, but that's because it's inside a spoiler.)

Spoiler

Show

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

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|Secret of the Mind (8)|+1 level of spellcasting class

2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+3

|Secret of the Mind (10)|+1 level of spellcasting class

3rd|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|

+3

|Secret of the Mind (12), Secret of the Body (Lesser)|+1 level of spellcasting class

4th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Secret of the Mind (14), Deathmend|+1 level of spellcasting class

5th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Secret of the Mind (16), Secret of the Body (Greater)|+1 level of spellcasting class[/table]


Just copy/pasta the following:

Spoiler

Show

[b]The Deathlord[/b]
{table=head][b]Level[/b]|[b]Base Attack Bonus[/b]|[b]Fort Save[/b]|[b]Ref Save[/b]|[b]Will Save[/b]|[b]Special[/b]|[b]Spells[/b]

1st|[center]+0[/center]|[center]+0[/center]|[center]+0[/center]|[center]+2[/center]|Secret of the Mind (8)|+1 level of spellcasting class

2nd|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+0[/center]|[center]+0[/center]|[center]+3[/center]|Secret of the Mind (10)|+1 level of spellcasting class

3rd|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+3[/center]|Secret of the Mind (12), Secret of the Body (Lesser)|+1 level of spellcasting class

4th|[center]+2[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+4[/center]|Secret of the Mind (14), Deathmend|+1 level of spellcasting class

5th|[center]+2[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+1[/center]|[center]+4[/center]|Secret of the Mind (16), Secret of the Body (Greater)|+1 level of spellcasting class[/table]

[Athaniar]

OK, new table added, and Knowledge (Arcana) needed reduced to 2. The niche it fills is (much) more apparent in the context of the setting, and the Secret of the Mind fits there as well. Basically, a nation was ravaged by an affliction that killed more than half it's population, and the secrets of the Deathlord were retrieved in order to return the dead as intelligent undead.

Also, what about changing Deathmend so it depends on your Knowledge (Religion) score (divided by half) instead of Wisdom modifier?

And concerning DeviantArt, can you just take anything you want and use it as an illustration?

[Xefas]

Alright, so there are three class features...

Strength of the Mind should have a few modifications. For one, I don't think this should be able to raise an undead's Int, Wis, and Cha to a score higher than it was in life. Why would killing an Ogre raise it's Int by 10 points? That's like performing a lobotomy on a mentally handicapped person and winding up with a theoretical physicist. Second, I think the Deathlord should have the choice of whether or not to apply Strength of the Mind to an undead he raises. Sometimes you want cunning specialist undead capable of acting on your will autonomously. Sometimes you want cheap, shambling sacks of meat to dull the spears of your foes before you enter the fray.

Strength of the Body does not need to be in two parts. Its full power is (pretty much) the same as the Corpsecrafter feat, which has no prerequisites, and doesn't even stack, considering that both are an enhancement bonus (not to mention one of the Dread Necromancer's class features, which emulates the Corpsecrafter feat too). My suggestion, just give a Bonus Feat at 3rd and 5th level with a choice of "Corpsecrafter or any feat with Corpsecrafter as a prerequisite".

Deathmend is bad. An 18th level character minimum is going to have a healing pool of 0-10 if they're a non-wisdom based spellcaster, and maybe 40ish if they're a wisdom-based spellcaster. Just give them the touch of a Lich (that is, 1d8+5 negative energy damage) at will. Considering it would be a pittance for an 18th level character to just buy a Dongle of Infinite Inflict Light Wounds, I don't think this would be particularly overpowered.

[Athaniar]

Strength of the Mind should have a few modifications. For one, I don't think this should be able to raise an undead's Int, Wis, and Cha to a score higher than it was in life. Why would killing an Ogre raise it's Int by 10 points? That's like performing a lobotomy on a mentally handicapped person and winding up with a theoretical physicist.

Reasonable enough.

Second, I think the Deathlord should have the choice of whether or not to apply Strength of the Mind to an undead he raises. Sometimes you want cunning specialist undead capable of acting on your will autonomously. Sometimes you want cheap, shambling sacks of meat to dull the spears of your foes before you enter the fray.

Sounds good too.

Strength of the Body does not need to be in two parts. Its full power is (pretty much) the same as the Corpsecrafter feat, which has no prerequisites, and doesn't even stack, considering that both are an enhancement bonus (not to mention one of the Dread Necromancer's class features, which emulates the Corpsecrafter feat too). My suggestion, just give a Bonus Feat at 3rd and 5th level with a choice of "Corpsecrafter or any feat with Corpsecrafter as a prerequisite".

But Corpsecrafter feats aren't OGL, are they? And that is what this is supposed to be. Anyway, full Secret of the Body at 3rd level then, and a more powerful ability at 5th.

Deathmend is bad. An 18th level character minimum is going to have a healing pool of 0-10 if they're a non-wisdom based spellcaster, and maybe 40ish if they're a wisdom-based spellcaster. Just give them the touch of a Lich (that is, 1d8+5 negative energy damage) at will. Considering it would be a pittance for an 18th level character to just buy a Dongle of Infinite Inflict Light Wounds, I don't think this would be particularly overpowered.

Hm, the lich's touch is not quite what I want, since I only want it to heal undead, not to hurt the living. Anyway, I replaced Wisdom with Knowledge (Religion).

[insecure]

On the requirements: You might want to lower the spellcasting to fifth level spells instead.

Also, another tip: Use synonyms! Don't use "mind", use "conception" or something. Don't use difficult words just because you can, but to avoid overusing a common word.

[Xefas]

But Corpsecrafter feats aren't OGL, are they? And that is what this is supposed to be. Anyway, full Secret of the Body at 3rd level then, and a more powerful ability at 5th.

Alright, I suppose I can understand that.

Hm, the lich's touch is not quite what I want, since I only want it to heal undead, not to hurt the living. Anyway, I replaced Wisdom with Knowledge (Religion).

That works, I suppose. When you get the ability, you'd be looking at 100+ points of healing. That has the downside of not being infinite (well, actually in a range of 86400-187200 maximum), but the upside of allowing a very large burst of healing in a single round if the need arose.

[Evil DM Mark3]

When you say that the additional hd granted "don't affect the hd of undead that the Death Lord can control" do you mean that a normaly 6hd creature counts as 6 or 10 hd?

[Athaniar]

When you say that the additional hd granted "don't affect the hd of undead that the Death Lord can control" do you mean that a normaly 6hd creature counts as 6 or 10 hd?

Not sure, that part is taken from an ability from the SRD on which Secret of the Body is based (look under Variant Classes).

[Xefas]

That's a part of the Enhanced Undead Necromancy Variant from Unearthed Arcana. It's basically just saying that adding more hit points per hit die does not effect the number of hit dice the Necromancer can control.

[Athaniar]

Am I to assume the class is good as it is now?

[SurlySeraph]

Looks good to me.

Also, here is always a good source of images.

[Lorien077]

Random note when it comes to using pictures (especially from DA)
Please please please ask the artist! Most of them don't mind, especially if you credit them and set up a link.

And balance wise it looks nice: special abilities not too powerful, still full casting, and very nice fluff. Handy class for a DM to have around too: now you can have smart undead enemies running about other than you know, lichs, vampires, etc.