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View Full Version : [3.5e] The Necrolitic, yummy undead incarnum goodness [PEACH]



Sir Shadow
2009-03-28, 08:19 PM
Introduction

Hey ya’ll. I love Magic of Incarnum. It is arguably my favorite DnD book out there. I was looking at the Totemist class in particular when I thought of the Necrolitic. If there can be a class with soulmelds that represent magical animals, why not one that creates soulmelds with Undead?

Blah Blah; whatever. You can say that most if not all undead technically don’t have souls and that stuff, but I will just point out the feat Undead Meldshaper. Leave me to my fantasies. This is what DnD is about isn’t it?
The Necrolitic
“Oh Grave, where is thy venom? Death, where is thy sting? Both are at my mercy, and they will offer up the departed to be the tools of my revenge!” – Magnamos Vreeth, late Commander of the Dread Legion.

. . . Skeleton, zombies, vampires—each are iconic undead to which the masses are most familiar. Yet, there are those that would seek a much more intimate knowledge of the departed and damned. These are the Necrolitics, wielders of incarnum who shape soulmelds representing various avatars of death to either emulate its qualities or gain dominance over it.

Making a Necrolitic
. . . As a Necrolitic, you will (usually) either have a strange and unnatural fascination with death or be a corrupt power-hungry individual seeking to master the undead. There’s not much variation. The soulmelds you will shape will increase your skills and give you new and subversive means of damaging your foes. Depending on what soulmelds you shape, you could be a frontlines combatant or a taskmaster.
Abilities
. . . Like all Meldshapers, constitution will determine how many soulmelds you can shape… at least for a while until it becomes Wisdom. Charisma is also important because is will affect the DC and workings of some of the special abilities gained from soulmelds. Strength is somewhat important for combat purposes. If you want skill points invest in intelligence. Dexterity is not very important to you at all, considering some of the soulmelds you can shape.
Races
. . . Most any race could become a Necrolitic, but those that are more closely aligned with evil have a greater tendency. Races that are shortlived or live amongst a lot of death also have a certain disposition to seek this class.
Alignment
. . . Necrolitics can be of any alignment, although understandably most gravitate toward evil. Very few remain in the good axis, while almost all tend to have some form of neutrality in their alignment. The only alignment extreme seen with any sort of consistency is Lawful Evil.

Table 1-1: The Necrolitic
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |
Soulmelds|
Essentia|
Chakra Binds

1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Corpse Empathy|
2|
1|
0

2st|+1|+0|+0|+3|Chakra Bind (Spirit), Spirit Chakra Bind (+1 Meldshaper Level)|
3|
2|
1

3st|+2|+1|+1|+3|Guard Spirit|
3|
2|
1

4st|+3|+1|+1|+4| |
4|
3|
1

5st|+3|+1|+1|+4|Chakra Bind (Crown, Hands, Feet)|
4|
3|
1

6st|+4|+2|+2|+5| |
4|
4|
2

7st|+5|+2|+2|+5|Spirit Chakra Bind (Double Bind)|
5|
5|
2

8st|+6/+1|+3|+3|+6|Rebind Spirit Soulmeld 1/day|
5|
5|
2

9st| +6/+1|+3|+3|+6|Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulders)|
5|
6|
2

10st| +7/+2|+3|+3|+7| |
6|
7|
3

11st| +8/+3|+4|+4|+7| Spirit Chakra Bind (+1 Meldshaper Level)|
6|
8|
3

12st| +9/+4|+4|+4|+8|Rebind Spirit Soulmeld 2/day|
6|
9|
3

13st| +9/+4|+4|+4|+8| |
7|
10|
3

14st| +10/+5|+5|+5|+9|Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)|
7|
11|
4

15st| +11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+9|Undead Meldshaper, Honorary Necropolitan, Lifetime of Experience|
7|
12|
4

16st| +12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|Rebind Spirit Soulmeld 3/day|
8|
13|
4

17st| +12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|Chakra Bind (Heart)|
8|
14|
4

18st| +13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+11| Spirit Chakra Bind (Double Chakra) |
8|
16|
5

19st| +14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+11| |
9|
18|
5

20st| +15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Rebind Spirit Soulmeld 4/day, Undeath's Embrace|
9|
20|
5
[/table]

Class Features
Like most classes that manipulate incarnum, your primary class ability is meldshaping. You have your own unique soulmeld list as well as the ability to shape all necrocarnum soulmelds. Another unique feature is your spirit chakra, something akin to a Totemist’s totem chakra.
Hit Die d8
Class Skills (2 + Int Modifer per level, x4 at 1st level): Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (the Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis)
. . . Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and medium armor.
. . . Meldshaping: A Necrolitic's primary ability is shaping incarnum soulmelds, which are drawn from the Necrolitic soulmeld list (see post below) as well as all soulmelds with the necrocarnum descriptor. You know all soulmelds on this list and can shape any of them. Unlike the alignment-focused Incarnate and the magic beast-focused Totemist, you channel the awesome power of the undead.
. . . The Difficulty Class for a saving through against your soulmeld is 10+number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + your Charisma modifier. Your meldshaper level is equal to your necrolitic level in addition to any levels you have in other meldshaping classes.
. . . A Necrolitict can shape only a certain number of soulmelds per day. Your base daily allotment is given on table 1-1: The Necrolitic. The maximum number of soulmelds that you can have shaped simultaneously is equal to your Constitution score minus 10 or the number of soulmelds on the table, whichever is lower.
. . . At 1st level, you gain access to your personal pool of essentia, which can be invested into your soulmelds to increase their power. Your essentia pool's size is shown on Table 1-1: The Necrolic. Your character level (as noted on page 19 of Magic of Incarnum, Table 2-1: Essentia Capacity) determines the maximum quantity of essentia that you can invest in any single soulmeld. As a swift action, you can reallocate your essentia investments in your soulmelds every round (see Essentia, Magic of Incarnum page 50).
. . . A Necrolitic does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape his soulmelds for the day (see Shaping Soulmelds, Magic of Incarnum page 49).
. . . Chakra Binds: Beginning at 2nd level, you can bind your soulmelds to your chakras, granting you new powers based on the soulmeld and the chakra chosen.Binding a soulmeld to a chakra closes the body slot associated with that chakra (see Chakras, page 50), so that you cannot also benefi t from a magic item worn on the body slot associated with that chakra.
. . . The number of chakra binds that you can have active at any one time depends on your level (see the Chakra Binds column on Table 1–1: The Necrolitic). At 2nd level, you can bind a soulmeld to your spirit chakra (see below). Beginning at 5th level, you can bind soulmelds to your crown, feet, or hands chakras. At 9th level, you can bind soulmelds to your arms, brow, or shoulders chakras. At 14th level, you can bind soulmelds to your throat or waist chakras. At 17th level, you can bind a soulmeld to your heart chakra. Though you do not gain the ability to bind soulmelds to your Soul chakra as you level up, you may take the epic feat to acquire the ability.
. . . For more information on chakra binds, see page 51 of Magic of Incarnum.
. . . Corpse Empathy: Due to your... unhealthy obsession with the dead, you have taken on some of their characteristics. Mindless undead view you as a fellow undead, which means they are indifferent to you, but not necessarily any living allies you may have around. You also receive a +4 bonus to Cha-based checks against intelligent undead.
. . . Spirit Chakra Bind: At 2nd level, you gain access to a unique chakra: the spirit chakra. This chakra is not associated with any location on the body, but rather represents your connection to the undead energy of those long departed, embodied by the various undead of the darker places in the world. When you bind a soulmeld to your spirit chakra, you take on characteristics of the creature represented by the meld--usually involving a small physical transformation. Since the spirit chakra doesn't match a body location, binding a soulmeld to this chakra doesn't restrict your use of magic items that take up a body location.
. . . At 2nd level, the effective meldshaper level of a soulmeld you have bound to your spirit chakra is equal to your actual meldshaper level +1. The primary effect of this benefit is ot make that soulmeld harder to unshape. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level.
. . . At 7th level, you gain the ability to bind a single soulmeld to your spirit chakra and to another chakra at the same time. You gain the special benefits of both chakra binds.
. . . At 18th level, your spirit has become strong enough to bear the weight of two soulmends bound to it. You gain the ability to bind two soulmelds to your spirit chakra at the same time and gain the benefits of both.
. . . Guard Spirit (Ex): You learn to guard your spirit from the hungry clutches of the undead masses. This would make dating one a whole lot easier. At 3rd level, you gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against the supernatural abilties of undead.
. . . Rebind Spirit Soulmeld (Su): As you begin to understand spirit chakra further, you learn that by asserting your will over it, you are capable of tearing away a soulmeld already bound to it and replacing it with anothe. Starting at 8th level, once per day you can unbind a soulmeld from your spirit chakra and bind a different meld to that chakra, as long as the new meld is one you already have shaped. This requires a full-round action and provokes attacks of opportunity.
. . . You can use this ability one additional time for every four Necrolitic levels gained above 8th (2/day at 12th, 3/day at 16th, and 4/day at 20th, etc).
. . . Honorary Necropolitan: After so much time channeling the power of the undead, you are pulled into the fold of undeath with much joy and celebration. At level 15, the Necrolitic recieves the Necropolitan template for free (unless you are already undead or you are unable to recieve the template).
. . . Lifetime of Experience (Ex): Due to your untimely undeath (see Honorary Necropolitan), you lose your Constitution score. However, due to years of experience, you gain a new outlook on life and a certain amount of insight into the workings of the universe and the grand scheme of things.
. . . Take one fourth of your Constitution score (from before you recieved the template) rounded down and add it to your Wis score. This is a permanent bonus.
. . . Note: If for some reason you did not loose your Consitution score due to the effects of Honorary Necropolitan, you do not recieve this class feature. If you had become a necropolitan before attaining level 15, you can still use this class feature.
. . . Undead Meldshaper: You recieve the feat Undead Meldshaper from Magic of Incarnum (page 41) for free.
. . . Undeath’s Embrace: At 20th level, you gain the ability to temporarily link your body, soul, and spirit together with the essence of an undead creature. This ability enhances the power of the essentia invested in the soulmelds bound to your spirit chakra. For the duration of this ability, every point of essentia invested in a soulmeld bound to your spirit chakra counts as 2 points of essentia. You also recieve temporary hitpoints equal to four times your Charisma bonus until the duration of the ability ends.
. . . Activating this ability is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can be used once per day and lasts for a number of minutes equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum of 1).



I'm still tweaking things here and there, but this is pretty much the basic gist of the class.

Sir Shadow
2009-03-28, 08:20 PM
Necrolitic Soulmelds


Avatar of Decay
Descriptors: Evil
Classes: Necrolitic
Chakra: Heart, Shoulder, Soul
Saving Throws: None
Your skin appears to peel and dry like leather with open sores appearing across your body. From the sores, a hazy brown mist seeps into the air and hangs around you.

. . .Summoning the essence of the Angel of Decay, you tap into it’s unholy power. Utilizing the rotting energy that is its trademark, you create an aura that weakens the constitution of your enemy’s equipment.
. . .When this soulmeld is shaped, you gain a +2 bonus to your sundering attempts.
. . .Essentia: For every point of essential invested in this soulmeld, the bonus to your sundering attempts increases by an additional +1.
Chakra Bind (Heart)The power of the Angel of Decay wraps around your heart, corrupting your entire body. Your skin cracks, releasing fetid gasses from within your body. Ooze drips from the sores, creating a sticky pool of bile around your body which evaporates within seconds.

When you are not flying, streams of corruption run down your body and constantly create a pool of rot. The pool of rot around your body is a 15-foot-radius spread.
Any corporeal creature standing on the ground within that area must make a Reflex save each round or take 1d6 points of damage per point of essentia invested in this soulmend (half on a successive saving throw). The creature must also succeed on a subsequent Will saving throw (regardless of whether it succeeds on the first save) or be nauseated for 1 round.

The DCs are 10+1/2 your meldshaper level+your Charisma modifier. You may activate and deactivate this ability as a free action.
Chakra Bind (Shoulder)Thin, brown, flaking wings sprout from your shoulders. Their great wingspan is a great and terrible sight to behold.

These wings give you the ability to Fly at twice your normal movespeed with poor manueverability. During flight, your wings decay and break apart making your Fly speed drops by five feet for each round you remain airborne. When you land you must wait 1d4 rounds before you can fly again as your wings reform.

Chakra Bind (Soul)The faint image of an Angel of Decay surrounds you, it’s wings drape over your shoulders and it’s dreadful face hangs menacingly over your head.

The unholy power of the Angel of Decay fills your entire being. You add your Charisma modifier as a bonus on all your saving throws and as a deflection bonus to your Armor Class.

Choker of Screams
Descriptors: Evil
Classes: Necrolitic
Chakra: Brow, Hands, Throat
Saving Throws: See Text
A small tight choker of obsidian appears around your throat. At the front below your chin etched into the stone is the image of a screaming woman.

. . .As the power of the infamous Banshee fills you, a deep pit of unfocused jealousy forms within your heart. You become increasingly envious of other’s wealth and stingy with your own. When this soulmeld is shaped you gain a +1 bonus to your Base Attack Bonus to hit Humanoid creatures.
. . .Essentia: For every point of essential invested in this soulmeld, the bonus to your BAB to hit Humanoid creatures increases by an additional +1.

Chakra Bind (Brow)The skin of your face becomes a pale blue, and your eyes sink back into your skull, giving you a gaunt appearance. Your hair becomes tangled and unkempt.

The features of your face become more like that of the terrifying banshee. Those viewing you within 30’ must make a successful Fortitude save or lose 1d4 points of Strength, 1d4 points of Dexterity, and 1d4 points of Constitution. A creature that is affected by this effect or successfully saves against it cannot be affected again by this same Necrolitic’s ability for 24 hours.

The save DC is 10+1/2 your meldshaper level+your Charisma modifier. You may activate and deactivate this ability as a free action.
Chakra Bind (Hands) Fine ivory gloves form over your hands. Their elegance belies the malevolent aura they emit.

You may make a touch attack to deal 1d4 Cha damage. You may not make any other attack actions for that round. Each time you successfully damage a creature’s ability with this soulmeld, you gain an equal amount of temporary hitpoints for one hour.
Chakra Bind (Throat) The width of the choker increases to cover your entire throat. The eyes of the woman embossed on the front burn with blue flames.

As a full-round action you can let loose a deadly wail. This attack may slay X (your meldshaper level times the essential invested in this soulmeld) HD of living creatures in a 20-foot circled centered on your or within a 40-foot cone extending from you.

A successful Fortitude save (DC = 10+1/2 your meldshaper level+your Charisma modifier) negates this effect.

Once you use this ability you must wait 1d4 rounds before you may do so again, but it may only be used a maximum of five times per day.

Mantle of Madness
Descriptors: Chaotic
Classes: Necrolitic
Chakra: Hands, Shoulder, Spirit
Saving Throws: See text
A frayed black mantle curls around your shoulders with a high collar casting a shadow across the features of your face.

. . .Channeling the power of an Allip, you seek to emulate their chaotic madness to protect you from those that would trespass the sanctity of your mind.
. . .While the Mantle of Madness is shaped, you receive a +2 bonus to resist mind-affecting effects.
. . .Essentia: Every point of essentia invested in this soulmeld increases the bonus to resist mind-affecting effects by an additional +1.

Chakra Bind (Shoulder) The collar of your mantle grows upward until it joins above your head to create a hood, while it's length extends until its tattered edges hang around your ankles.

While bound to your shoulder chakra, anyone targeting you with mind control, thought detection, or telepathic abilities receives 1d4 Wisdom damage as the maddening whispers of the Allip shield your thoughts.
Chakra Bind (Hands)The mantle around your shoulders remains unchanged, but matching tattered gloves appear on your hands. Their frayed edges seem to reach for the flesh of your enemies.

When you make contact with your opponent their mind is filled with indiscernible babble. You may make a touch attack to deal 1d4 Wis damage. You may not make any other attack actions for that round. You may also use this ability when you are grappling with an opponent in the place of regular damage.
Chakra Bind (Spirit)The mantle disappears but the transparent visage of an Allip surrounds your body as you fuse its essence to your Spirit. A low whining fills the air around you.

The maddening muttering of an Allip fills the air around you, creating a hypnotic effect. All sane creatures within 20 feet (+5' per point of essentia invested) of you must succeed on a Will save (DC = 10+1/2 of your Meldshaper level+your Charisma modifier) or be affected as though by a hypnotism spell for 2d4 rounds. This is a sonic mind-affecting compulsion effect.

Creatures that successfully save cannot be affected again by this ability for 24 hours. You are immune to the effects of this ability. You may activate and deactivate this ability as a free action.

Mask of the Blasphemer
Descriptors: None
Classes: Necrolitic
Chakra: Brow, Feet
Saving Throws: None
A fearsome corpse-like mask hovers in the air inches in front of your face; the flesh of it feels like tanned leather. Its toothy jaw hangs agape, exposing the lower half of your face. Whenever you speak, the lower jaw twitches slightly, as if waiting for the opportune moment.

. . .When this soulmeld is shaped, you gain the unholy jaws of the Blaspheme. You gain a Bite attack as a secondary natural attack, or you may make an extra attack with your Bite natural attack if you already had it.
. . .Essentia: For each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld, add a cumulative +1 bonus to your bite attack damage.

Chakra Bind (Brow)The mask sinks into your face becoming part of you. You skin is rough and dry like old leather, and your jaws grow thick with hardened muscles and elongated teeth.

As the power of the Blaspheme fuses with your body, you gain it’s unholy power to drain the strength of its opponents. Each time you deal damage with one of your natural attack, you deal an additional 1d6 points of damage to your target’s Strength.
Chakra Bind (feet)You legs fill with tight corded muscle. Your ability to walk is unchanged, but you can’t help feeling as though your legs have a mind of their own.

You gain the Blaspheme’s Erratic Charge ability. When charging, you may make one turn of up to 90 degrees during your movement. All other restrictions on charges still apply. For instance, you may not pass through a square that blocks or slows movement, or one that contains a creature. You must have line of sight to a targeted opponent at the start of your turn.

Sir Shadow
2009-03-28, 08:22 PM
Reserved just in case/sample encounter

Tatsel_Ganav
2009-09-26, 12:31 AM
wow. Seriously? Awesome. I have NO IDEA if this is balanced, but the flavor behind necromancy fascinates me, so here's my stab at it...

Undead do not have souls. This is a true statement. When I cast animate dead I am simply charging a corpse with enough negative energy to give it a semblance of life, nothing more. But there are many undead the occur naturally, they spontaneously rise - they come as all types of undead, as well. I almost fear for these beings. They always seem to be tortured entities, perhaps because they hold such unrest that their basic essence is shattered. An undead body cannot hold a soul, so you are left with a free-roaming, dead soul. Not necrocarnum, no - that is the result of tortured, half-dead animus energy infused with dark magic. Rather, you have a special form of free-floating animus energy, useless to most of these incarnum users, bound as they are to the outer planes of moral and ethical alignment, or their obsession with Gaea's magic. But perhaps one with a similar obsession with the qualities of the factured souls of these undead could harness the latent animus energy they leave behind to emulate them? More research on this subject will be required...

Sir Shadow
2009-09-26, 09:03 AM
:) Well I'm glad somebody took the time to comment on it. I really do need to finish the undead soulmelds. I have 46 planned, but only 4 posted... XD

Just gotta say though, that text fits the flavor of this class perfectly.

TabletopNuke
2009-10-26, 03:25 PM
This looks fun.



. . . Take one fourth of your Constitution score (from before you recieved the template) rounded down and add it to your Wis score. This is a permanent bonus.


This seems like a too much of a wild card. I'd recommend using a fixed Wisdom increase (most similar classes use +2). Why don't you take a look at some other classes that turn the character into an Undead? Heroes of Horror has the Dread Necromancer, Sandstorm has the Walker in the Waste...

I'm making a new incarnum-based class too. I'm planning on refluffing the totemist class into a character who has learned to alter their physiology (I have no idea what to replace wild empathy with).

Sir Shadow
2009-10-26, 11:49 PM
This seems like a too much of a wild card. I'd recommend using a fixed Wisdom increase (most similar classes use +2). Why don't you take a look at some other classes that turn the character into an Undead? Heroes of Horror has the Dread Necromancer, Sandstorm has the Walker in the Waste...Yes, but those classes don't rely on Constitution like Meldshapers do. They're just magic users that find being undead more appealing, whereas this class it totally based on constitution for 15 levels before it becomes based on Wisdom. I do not expect someone to put points into wisdom when Constitution would be a MUCH MUCH smarter choice before that point.

So let's assume our Necrolitic starts out at level 1 with a 17 Con and 13 Wis, because really, there's no other reason to get wis and I don't want to make this a class where you have to have high stats in 3 abilities to be effective. Also, I don't want the meld's abilities to be based of Wis. It just makes too much sense for it to be Cha based. Anyways. Let's say you put all your +1 abilities into Con so that by level 12 you have 20 Con. At level 15 you become undead and you take your 20 Con, divide by four and increase you 13 Wis by 5. Now your Wis is 18, which is still far worse off than what your Con was. It's not really a "wild card" it just varies from character to character, which I think is completely acceptable.

As for replacing Wild Empathy, why replace it at all? If your changing yourself physically to be more like a magical beast, you should get MORE wild empathy toward that particular magical beast.

Tatsel_Ganav
2009-10-27, 07:51 AM
You might also consider, as a special class feature, keeping Constitution around and letting them retain the benefits of it through their link with incarnum. Reason being, I would be loathe to become undead after this, because my hp might actually get lower, my meldshaping would get worse, and my fort save is going to suck even worse. Fort part is ok, as I'd be immune to everything basically, but the other 2... especially the meldshaping bit, I'd probably just go take a prestige class and stop with Necrolitic. It's just, tricky. Remember that many early Necrolitics would likely want Cha as a dump stat. Changing your casting stat is tricky, tricky business. I'm not sure what the right answer is.

DracoDei
2009-10-27, 09:32 AM
Brute force solution:
"You may exchange your Constitution and wisdom scores, including only additions for level-ups and inherent bonuses just prior to this transformation if you so choose."

Tatsel_Ganav
2009-10-27, 10:18 AM
As long as you don't mind encouraging players to make their Wisdom as low as possible, that might actually work.

TabletopNuke
2009-10-27, 10:59 AM
Yes, but those classes don't rely on Constitution like Meldshapers do. They're just magic users that find being undead more appealing, whereas this class it totally based on constitution for 15 levels before it becomes based on Wisdom. I do not expect someone to put points into wisdom when Constitution would be a MUCH MUCH smarter choice before that point.

I didn't mean that you should use those classes. I meant you might want to look at them to get an idea of how to make an undead progression.


As for replacing Wild Empathy, why replace it at all? If your changing yourself physically to be more like a magical beast, you should get MORE wild empathy toward that particular magical beast.

My refluffed class will really only use the totemist for mechanics. According to the fluff, this class (it still needs a name) uses cybernetic enhancements (or something similar, like nanites) to alter their physiology (nails extending in claws, growing chitinous armor, caustic saliva, ect). Essentia will be something along the lines of "vitality points" or "stamina points".