Lord_Gareth
2009-06-25, 04:20 PM
Children of the Mausoleum
"You will not harm this man, who has sinned only in being true to his nature. Would you have others sin against you for the same reason?"
- Mark Thorne, a Child of the Mausoleum, during the trial of Lord Garren of Narran.
Heretics. Desecrators. Defilers of the vilest sort who slink behind gravestones and rouse the dead from their rightful rest, the group known as the Children of the Mausoleum (or else the Tomb Orphans) are universally hunted and hated.
Or so their enemies would have people believe.
The truth is, the Children of the Mausoleum are a group of druids and nature-worshippers who have come to a very unpopular conclusion: that undeath is a natural part of the multiverse. Forced into hiding by propoganda both from so-called "good" religions and other orders of druids who refuse to understand or accept, the Tomb Orphans stick together in the shadows, coming out into the light only to defend one of their undead wards when it is necessary.
The Children walk a hard path, but it is one they embrace gladly - to follow one's heart, they say, is the most natural and most noble thing that one can do in life or death.
Becoming a Child of the Mausoleum
The Children of the Mausoleum recruit exclusively from the ranks of druids. While others claim membership in their organization, the formal rank and power that comes with the title of Child belongs only to those who embrace the power of nature in all its facets.
Most Children of the Mausoleum are approached by the organization first, not vice-versa. The Children have an extensive information network supported by necromantic and divination magic, and it's often very easy to tell when a potential new recruit is ready; the mobs with torches and pitchforks make it easy enough. Occasionally, a potential member will find the hidden group first, and they will be rigorously tested. Should they fail, or prove to be treacherous, they are slain to preserve the secrecy of the organization. Those that pass are embraced as brothers and sisters with open arms.
Entry Requirements
In order for a character to qualify as a Child of the Mausoleum, they must meet the following requirements:
Alignment: Any Neutral
Feats: Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 4 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 4 ranks, Speak Language (Druidic)
Special: The character must have been cast out from the ranks of normal druids because of a voiced belief supporting the undead.
Special: If the character is undead, the above requirement may be waived.
Class Skills
The Child of the Mausoleum's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence Modifier
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Rite of Passage (First and Second), Touched by Death, Animal Companion
2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Walk Unseen, Last Words
3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Rite of Passage (Third and Fourth), Resist Death's Hunger
4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Bone-Vine Embrace, Call the Grave-Born (Animate Dead)
5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Rite of Passage (Fifth and Sixth), Charnal Touch
6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Create Haunting, Call to the Void
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5|Rite of Passage (Seventh and Eighth), Wake the Slumbering Mind
8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Rite of the Bone Orchard, Destruction to Rebirth
9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6|Rite of Passage (Ninth), Call to the Grave-Born (Create Undead), Presence of Death
10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+7|Life and Death, Summon the Netherworld[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: Children of the Mausoleum gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies. As with a druid, a Child of the Mausoleum who wears metal armor or uses a metal shield forfeits all supernatural and spell-like class features for 24 hours.
Animal Companion (Ex): A Child of the Mausoleum's class levels stack with any druid and/or ranger levels he may possess in order to determine the benefits of his animal companion class feature.
Rite of Passage (Ex): Children of the Mausoleum are gradually taught the lore of their organization, the secrets of death, and the ability to call upon the Negative Energy Plane as time progresses. At first level, a Child of the Mausoleum enjoys a +2 competence bonus to Knowledge (Religion) and Knowledge (The Planes) checks, and adds all first and second level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known. Additionally, they add summon undead I and summon undead II to their spells known list. They may cast summon undead spells spontaenously, in the same manner that a druid spontaenously casts summon nature's ally.
At third level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all third and fourth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spells lists, as well as summon undead III and summon undead IV, to their spells known.
At fifth level, the Child of the Mausoluem adds all fifth and sixth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists, as well as summon undead V, to their spells known.
At seventh level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all seventh and eighth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known.
At ninth level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all ninth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known.
For the purposes of casting Necromancy spells, the Child of the Mausoleum adds his class levels to this Druid levels to determine spells per day. His divine caster level for Necromancy spells is equal to his class level plus any other divine casting classes he may possess.
Note: The Child of the Mausoleum's druid casting progression does not continue; only the druid's spells-per-day chart is used to determine how often they may use the spells gained through this class.
Touched by Death (Su): The first brushes a Child of the Mausoleum has with death are fleeting and confusing, but through the trials he gains enlightenment; the Child of the Mausoleum gains a +2 insight bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidation checks made against a creature with the undead subtype.
Walk Unseen (Su): Starting at second level, whenever the Child of Death is in a natural or death-suffused environment (such as woods, a graveyard, or a crypt), he may move at his full speed while hiding and/or moving silently without penalty. Furthermore, he may not be tracked in any natural or death-suffused environment (as the Trackless Step class feature).
Last Words (Sp): Dead men tell tales to those willing to listen. Starting at second level, the Child of the Mausoleum may use speak with dead as a cleric of his class level at will. However, any given corpse may only be questioned once using this ability; further questioning will require application of the actual speak with dead spell or other magics.
Resist Death's Hunger (Ex): Starting at third level, the Child of the Mausoleum enjoys a +4 bonus to saving throws against the spell-like and supernatural abilities of undead beings.
Bone-Vine Embrace (Su): As a Tomb Orphan's connections to both death and nature grow deeper, he gains the ability to blur the lines between communing with one and the other. At fourth level he may reach simultaenously into the natural world and the Negative Energy Plane and call forth bone-vines to attack his foes. Once per encounter, as a standard action, he may cause a five foot per class level square to erupt in bone-white, grasping vines. These vines grapple the Child's foes as though they had the Improved Grapple feat, 16 strength, and the Child's base attack bonus. A foe successfully grappled by these bone-vines takes 3d4 points of damage per round, half of which is piercing and half of which stems directly from negative energy. These vines persist for a number of rounds equal to the Child's class level plus his druid level., and vanish back into the soil at the end of that duration.
Call the Grave-Born (Sp): Starting at fourth level, a Child of the Mausoleum may use animate dead at will, paying all costs as normal. Most Children of the Mausoleum question the corpse with their Last Words class feature first, in order to gain permission to use the body in this manner, but this is not a strict requiremen. Abuse of this ability is, however, highly frowned upon, and may be met with extreme measures if discovered.
Starting at ninth level, a Tomb Orphan's control over the power of the negative energy plane is almost absolute. They may use create undead as a spell-like ability at will, paying all normal costs. Furthermore, any undead they create using their animate dead spell-like ability benefits from the Evolved Undead template.
The Child of the Mausoleum is treated as a cleric of his class level plus his druid level to determine how many undead he may control at any given time.
Charnal Touch (Sp): Starting at fifth level, the Child of the Mausoleum may inflict pain and injury with a touch. Three times per encounter, he may inflict light wounds as a spell-like ability. Twice per encounter, he may inflict moderate wounds as a spell-like ability, and once per encounter he may inflict serious wounds as a spell-like ability.
Create Haunting (Su): One of the most feared - and commonly used - of the Children's abilities, a Child of sixth level or higher may infuse an area with negative energy, making it suitable for hauntings (see The Grave-Woods, below). An "area" is a defined structure or place, such as a building, wood, or graveyard, or else a 10 foot per class level cube of space, and causing the haunting takes ten minutes of ritual work and raw materials worth approximately three hundred gold pieces. A haunting is permanent, barring an extreme application of positive energy to the location in question (examples include transferring the energy from several rods of ressurection, or multiple high-level clerics consecrating the location)
Call to the Void (Su): Using techniques similar to those needed to haunt a location, a Child of the Mausoleum may infuse himself and his animal companions with the powers of the Negative Energy Plane. Once per day, as a swift action, he and his animal companion gain the undead type, as well as a +4 enhancement bonus to strength and a +2 enhancement bonus to dexterity. While he is undead, the Child's necromancy spells and all supernatural abilities from this class have their damage die (if any) increased by one step and their save DCs (if any) increased by two. The Child's animal companion gains the energy drain special attack, inflicting one negative level with each successful strike. The Child and his animal companion remain undead for one round per class level or until the Child dismisses the effect, whatever comes first.
Wake the Slumbering Mind (Su): The Child of the Mausoleum can grant even the most wretched, mindless undead what has been denied to it - choice. Starting at seventh level, once per day, the Child of the Mausoleum may touch a mindless undead, permanently granting it an additional 3d6 points to Intelligence and Charisma and an additional 1d6 points to Wisdom. Additionally, any otherwise mindless undead created by a Child of the Mausoleum now comes into being with 3d6 points of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Rite of the Bone Orchard (Su): At eigth level, the Child of the Mausoleum learns one of the most powerful magics that straddles the line between the natural world and the negative energy plane. As a swift action once per day, he may call up a bone orchard - a ring of white, skeletal trees that forms a forty foot diameter circle, centered on him. Within the Bone Orchard, he and his animal companion enjoy a twenty foot enhancement bonus to move speed, as well as a +4 enhancement bonus to constitution. Undead within the Bone Orchard cannot be turned or rebuked, nor can beings with the elemental or animal types.
Animals within the Bone Orchard act as though the Child of the Mausoleum had charmed them, and obey his commands as best they can. They may understand simple, one-word concepts, such as "Flee", "Kill", or "Hide", with no check involved. A Handle Animal check is required to deliver more complex commands ("Protect the large one!" "Take him alive!").
Undead within the Bone Orchard may not attack the Child of the Mausoleum as though he enjoys a sanctuary effect (except that they may not make a Will save to attack him anyway). If the Child chooses, he may, once per round, infuse an undead being within the radius of the Bone Orchard with 4d10 points of negative energy as a swift action.
The Bone Orchard persists one minute per class level, or until it is destroyed, whatever comes first.
Destruction to Rebirth (Su): Also starting at eighth level, any being slain by the Child's necromancy spells or supernatural class features may choose to come back to life as a ghoul 24 hours after their death. Ghouls created this way may not take hostile action against the Child for 24 hours after their creation.
Presence of Death (Su): Starting at ninth level, the Child of the Mausoleum's authority and enlightenment becomes manifest. Any intelligent undead automatically starts at no worse than indifferent when dealing with the Child of the Mausoleum, who now radiates twin auras of natural might and chilling undeath. Undead within thirty feet of the Child of the Mausoleum enjoy a +4 bonus to their turn resistance, while animals and elementals enjoy a +4 bonus to their Will saves.
Life and Death (Sp): At tenth level, the Child of the Mausoleum has tuned into perfect harmony with life and death, capable of influencing both to his will. Once per week, he may cast ressurection as a spell-like ability, without paying the material cost. However, a living being raised this way gains the undead type in place of its normal type and may not be raised again this way.
Furthermore, the Child of the Mausoleum may cast finger of death once per encounter as a spell-like ability (as a cleric of their class level plus their druid level).
Lastly, they may, as a standard action once per week, restore a destroyed undead being to its previous state with full hit points and all powers and abilities refreshed. Any given undead being may only be restored once in this fashion; more than that, and the Negative Energy simply swallows its essence and refuses to let it go once more.
Summon the Netherworld (Su): The most terrifying of the Children's powers, a master of the Tomb Orphan's philosiphy can drag forth a piece of the Negative Energy plane and impose it on the world around him. Once per day, as a standard action, they may replace a sixty-foot diameter sphere, centered on them, with a chunk of the Negative Energy plane, with all the traits thereof. Any creature caught within this sphere cannot leave it while it lasts, nor can any creature who enters after it has been cast. The sphere lasts a number of rounds equal to the Child's class level plus his druid level, or until the Child dismisses it, whatever comes first. A potent burst of positive energy - such as snapping a rod of ressurection in half, or a mass heal spell - has a chance of dispelling the sphere as though it were a ninth level spell cast by a twentieth level druid.
Once a Child gains this ability, they are healed by negative energy as well as positive energy.
The Grave-Woods
Some places - many of them occuring naturally, but some of them crafted by the Children of the Mausoleum - have a thin border between the Material Plane and the Negative Energy. These places are often seen as haunted, and often seem to have a sickly pallor that is broken up by vibrant life. The trunks of trees seem dead and skeletal - but the green leaves are bright and healthy as the day they sprouted. A wolf is missing an eye from rot, but is still a fierce and savage predator. These places are often quite disturbing to those not used to them.
These haunted locations enjoy a few benefits:
- Undead within the location enjoy a +4 bonus to their turn resistance and a +2 increase to the save DCs of the supernatural and spell-like abilities. Animals also enjoy a +2 increase to the save DCs of their extraordinary abilities.
- Spells from the Animal, Plant, or Death domains are treated as Extended.
- Animals, undead, or druids within the area enjoy a +3 circumstance bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. They may hide even if there is nothing to hide behind, though they still cannot hide while being observed.
- Any being slain in the haunted location has a 40% chance of reanimating as an intelligent, free-willed undead. It retains any alignment it had in life.
Sidebar: Necromancy and Evil
Many of the effects - such as animate dead - that the Children use have the [Evil] descriptor. Under the rules as written, that makes the Children an invariably evil organization, every bit as vile as their detractors would have people believe.
However, the Children were intended to be morally ambiguous, and DMs are highly encouraged to remove these descriptors from certain necromancy effects that they feel are morally gray (such as animate dead). DMs may, of course, choose to use the Children as villains, but it is the designer's feeling that their greatest potential lies in their ambiguity.
Playing a Child of the Mausoleum
Being a Child of the Mausoleum can get very lonely, very quickly; society hates you, your former druidic allies shun you, and it's quite likely that even your party members sternly dissapprove of your path. Trust no one completely, and remember your duties both as a Druid and a Child - after all, no one else is going to look out for the undead if you don't. Don't feel automatically guilty for destroying an undead being either; just as some animals must be put down, some members of the unliving will, inevitably, need to be destroyed.
Sidebar: The Children's Philosiphies
The Children of the Mausoleum, like any other organization, are home to many and varied beliefs on their core theme of undeath as part of nature. However, the most common viewpoint is as follows:
The Negative Energy Plane is a natural part of the multiverse, and many forms of undeath occur spontaenously. Wraiths, wights, ghouls, and many other forms of undead arise without any aid from spells, and the Children point to this as evidence of undeath being a natural phenomenon. By a similar token, such beings' ability to produce spawn is as natural as a disease spreading or a fox littering.
With regards to creating the undead with spells, their ground becomes shakier. Like a druid attempting to condemn the working of metal, the Children see reanimation as natural only so long as the corpse is untouched. Thus, a zombie is natural, but a zombie with an enhanced skeletal structure is not. Still, the basic idea remains that entropic animacy is an acceptable and natural part of the universe, and the Children see no problems with bringing the undead into the world provided that their creator teaches them what their existence means.
The Children pay special respect to undead being such as Shadows and Nightstalkers; these direct manifestations of negative energy are seen in much the same way as elementals are, and are accorded the same respect and dignity.
Combat: Tomb Orphan's are stealthy and possessed of ruthlessly effective necromantic spells and effects. In his home turf (a graveyard, or a location affected by his Create Haunting ability), a Child will use his Walk Unseen ability to observe any potential foes to determine the best plan of attack, then strike as swiftly and brutally as possible, aiming to end the battle as quickly as possible. Most Children ambush potential foes with their Bone-Vine class feature before siccing undead minions upon them, saving their Bone Orchard and Summon the Netherworld class features for the truly dangerous or for large, heavily armed groups. If the fight turns against you, retreat - you can always return later when the enemy is weak and distracted. Take advantage of your spontaenous summon class features and strike with overwhelming numbers.
More powerful druids who have become Children may choose to wade into melee, using their animal companions and Wild Shape class features. These are encouraged to take full advantage of their Call to the Void class feature and their Bone Orchard's ability to make them immune to turning.
Advancement: Most Children of the Mausoleum - an overwhelming percentage, in fact - continue to advance as druids after mastering their chosen path. A rare few take up levels in ranger or rogue to augment their personal power, but these are rare. Some of the more darkly inclined will take up levels in wizard or sorcerer, and at the highest (read: epic) levels they will invest in prestige classes such as mystic theurge.
Resources: Almost all Children have a few undead companions with them at all times, and any Child can expect aid and refuge from another, regardless of philisophical or alignment differences. An established Child with a haunted lair or a graveyard on tap will almost always have access to many more items - magical or otherwise - than might be normally expected; the dead, after all, have no use for gold or trinkets if they choose to remain dead.
Children of the Mausoleum in the World
"Children dance and Children play
Children crawl in the open graves
Children sneak and Children hide
'Cause the Children don't know that the Children all died."
- Nursery rhyme
The Children are feared and hated in normal society, seen as grave-robbers and desecrators of the dead. But, for all the propaganda spread against them, the main emotion associated with them is mystery; no one knows what the enigmatic Tomb Orphans are up to, and tales of them are filled with moonlit meetings and mysterious dealings. Many don't even realize that the Children are druids.
In druidic circles, the Children are seen as an abomination, a sick perversion of nature that is growing like a cancer. Almost all druids outside of the Children themselves attack on sight, letting loose with their deadliest spells and transformations. There is rarely any mercy. Ironically enough, most Children refuse help from necromancers, death priests, and similar individuals and organizations, seeing them as perverting undeath into something it is not.
Daily Life: Most Children stake out a lair they feel is worth protecting and proceed to do exactly that; they tend to their dwelling-place, protect it, and keep intruders and desecrators from violating it. An adventuring Child is likely seeking out further knowledge of life and death, and any given Child is more or less as likely to adventure as any given druid. Regardless, Children try to avoid making waves in public, and a few go to great lengths to seem utterly ordinary in order to avoid detection and, subsequently, destruction.
Notables: Generally speaking, notability is a death sentence for a Tomb Orphan. However, a few of them have managed to gain fame and retain their lives thanks to either powerful allies, an incredibly good personal reputation, or overwhelming personal power.
Mark Thorne, in particular, stands out. Sometimes referred to as the Marsh Lord or the Ghast King, Mark Thorne watches over a large stretch of haunted marshland on the border between two kingdoms. Several small towns exist in the marsh, and all of them rely on Mark for protection; predators, bandits, and monsters breed in the stagnant waters at a prodigious rate. Several small packs of ghouls and ghasts have sworn allegience to the Child, and he has, recently, been named a Protector of the Realm by a local monarch for successfully repelling an invasion by giants.
More mysterious is the being known as Mother Mercy, who may or may not actually exist. In the cities, young children say she haunts the graveyards, carrying an old mirror on a chain and an oak staff. Legend has it that looking into the mirror will show you your death. Legend also has it that getting close enough to see will let Mother Mercy take your soul.
Organizations: The Children of the Mausoleum are a formal organization, a druidic circle dedicated to the protection and preservation of their beliefs. The Children usually protect border areas, between civilizations or terrain types - such as marshes, or the border between jungle and savannah, or the riverland between two kingdoms - as well as taking residences in places where death and nature meet, such as large graveyards and the sites of ancient and recent battles. The organization has no dues and no real formal leader, but a ladder of seniority does exist, and all members are expected to come to the aid of all others when called, regardless of personal vendettas or alignment differences; after all, the only thing they really have is each other.
Once a year, the Children gather for the Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is part rememberance, part holy day, and part anniversary; it celebrates everything from one's own ancestors to those who died nobly to those who have chosen undeath to preserve their knowledge. Children from far and wide come to attend the week-long celebration, which is always held in a graveyard and usually shielded by powerful magics. Traditionally, every Child brings an unliving guest to the Day of the Dead, and more than a few such gatherings have been broken up by outside hostilities.
NPC Reaction
Upon hearing the name "Children of the Mausoleum", most NPCs will either look confused or spit in disgust. Those who are more informed may have moderate reactions (if they've dealt with a Child personally) or very extreme ones (most druids or "good"-aligned clerics).
To an NPC who sees a Child's class abilities at work, there is usually little doubt that he is dealing with a powerful necromancer. Such encounters usually end in hostility.
Children of the Mausoleum in the Game
The Children are very similar to many other summoners and necromancers in that they bring a lot of weaker monsters to the encounter on either the players' side or the monsters'. However, they augment this power with the ability to enhance both themselves and their minions, as well as packing the spellcasting punch of a necromancer. It can - and likely will - be challanging for a DM to either run a Child NPC or have a player Child in the party.
Adaptation: The easiest adaptation is to remove the moral ambiguity of the Children and make them an evil cult dedicated to the undead. Another option is to change the entry requirements to make them a class for nature clerics or pure necromancers.
Encounters: A player encounter with the Children need not be hostile, but it certainly will be tense; the party is only likely to encounter Children if intruding on their domains, being hired to hunt one or more down, or by pure accident. A Child will usually try to end conflicts without bloodshed first, but once the blows start they cannot afford to let their opponents live - not when discovery means almost certain death.
"You will not harm this man, who has sinned only in being true to his nature. Would you have others sin against you for the same reason?"
- Mark Thorne, a Child of the Mausoleum, during the trial of Lord Garren of Narran.
Heretics. Desecrators. Defilers of the vilest sort who slink behind gravestones and rouse the dead from their rightful rest, the group known as the Children of the Mausoleum (or else the Tomb Orphans) are universally hunted and hated.
Or so their enemies would have people believe.
The truth is, the Children of the Mausoleum are a group of druids and nature-worshippers who have come to a very unpopular conclusion: that undeath is a natural part of the multiverse. Forced into hiding by propoganda both from so-called "good" religions and other orders of druids who refuse to understand or accept, the Tomb Orphans stick together in the shadows, coming out into the light only to defend one of their undead wards when it is necessary.
The Children walk a hard path, but it is one they embrace gladly - to follow one's heart, they say, is the most natural and most noble thing that one can do in life or death.
Becoming a Child of the Mausoleum
The Children of the Mausoleum recruit exclusively from the ranks of druids. While others claim membership in their organization, the formal rank and power that comes with the title of Child belongs only to those who embrace the power of nature in all its facets.
Most Children of the Mausoleum are approached by the organization first, not vice-versa. The Children have an extensive information network supported by necromantic and divination magic, and it's often very easy to tell when a potential new recruit is ready; the mobs with torches and pitchforks make it easy enough. Occasionally, a potential member will find the hidden group first, and they will be rigorously tested. Should they fail, or prove to be treacherous, they are slain to preserve the secrecy of the organization. Those that pass are embraced as brothers and sisters with open arms.
Entry Requirements
In order for a character to qualify as a Child of the Mausoleum, they must meet the following requirements:
Alignment: Any Neutral
Feats: Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 4 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 4 ranks, Speak Language (Druidic)
Special: The character must have been cast out from the ranks of normal druids because of a voiced belief supporting the undead.
Special: If the character is undead, the above requirement may be waived.
Class Skills
The Child of the Mausoleum's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence Modifier
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Rite of Passage (First and Second), Touched by Death, Animal Companion
2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Walk Unseen, Last Words
3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Rite of Passage (Third and Fourth), Resist Death's Hunger
4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Bone-Vine Embrace, Call the Grave-Born (Animate Dead)
5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Rite of Passage (Fifth and Sixth), Charnal Touch
6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Create Haunting, Call to the Void
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5|Rite of Passage (Seventh and Eighth), Wake the Slumbering Mind
8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Rite of the Bone Orchard, Destruction to Rebirth
9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6|Rite of Passage (Ninth), Call to the Grave-Born (Create Undead), Presence of Death
10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+7|Life and Death, Summon the Netherworld[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: Children of the Mausoleum gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies. As with a druid, a Child of the Mausoleum who wears metal armor or uses a metal shield forfeits all supernatural and spell-like class features for 24 hours.
Animal Companion (Ex): A Child of the Mausoleum's class levels stack with any druid and/or ranger levels he may possess in order to determine the benefits of his animal companion class feature.
Rite of Passage (Ex): Children of the Mausoleum are gradually taught the lore of their organization, the secrets of death, and the ability to call upon the Negative Energy Plane as time progresses. At first level, a Child of the Mausoleum enjoys a +2 competence bonus to Knowledge (Religion) and Knowledge (The Planes) checks, and adds all first and second level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known. Additionally, they add summon undead I and summon undead II to their spells known list. They may cast summon undead spells spontaenously, in the same manner that a druid spontaenously casts summon nature's ally.
At third level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all third and fourth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spells lists, as well as summon undead III and summon undead IV, to their spells known.
At fifth level, the Child of the Mausoluem adds all fifth and sixth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists, as well as summon undead V, to their spells known.
At seventh level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all seventh and eighth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known.
At ninth level, the Child of the Mausoleum adds all ninth level Necromancy spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists to their spells known.
For the purposes of casting Necromancy spells, the Child of the Mausoleum adds his class levels to this Druid levels to determine spells per day. His divine caster level for Necromancy spells is equal to his class level plus any other divine casting classes he may possess.
Note: The Child of the Mausoleum's druid casting progression does not continue; only the druid's spells-per-day chart is used to determine how often they may use the spells gained through this class.
Touched by Death (Su): The first brushes a Child of the Mausoleum has with death are fleeting and confusing, but through the trials he gains enlightenment; the Child of the Mausoleum gains a +2 insight bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidation checks made against a creature with the undead subtype.
Walk Unseen (Su): Starting at second level, whenever the Child of Death is in a natural or death-suffused environment (such as woods, a graveyard, or a crypt), he may move at his full speed while hiding and/or moving silently without penalty. Furthermore, he may not be tracked in any natural or death-suffused environment (as the Trackless Step class feature).
Last Words (Sp): Dead men tell tales to those willing to listen. Starting at second level, the Child of the Mausoleum may use speak with dead as a cleric of his class level at will. However, any given corpse may only be questioned once using this ability; further questioning will require application of the actual speak with dead spell or other magics.
Resist Death's Hunger (Ex): Starting at third level, the Child of the Mausoleum enjoys a +4 bonus to saving throws against the spell-like and supernatural abilities of undead beings.
Bone-Vine Embrace (Su): As a Tomb Orphan's connections to both death and nature grow deeper, he gains the ability to blur the lines between communing with one and the other. At fourth level he may reach simultaenously into the natural world and the Negative Energy Plane and call forth bone-vines to attack his foes. Once per encounter, as a standard action, he may cause a five foot per class level square to erupt in bone-white, grasping vines. These vines grapple the Child's foes as though they had the Improved Grapple feat, 16 strength, and the Child's base attack bonus. A foe successfully grappled by these bone-vines takes 3d4 points of damage per round, half of which is piercing and half of which stems directly from negative energy. These vines persist for a number of rounds equal to the Child's class level plus his druid level., and vanish back into the soil at the end of that duration.
Call the Grave-Born (Sp): Starting at fourth level, a Child of the Mausoleum may use animate dead at will, paying all costs as normal. Most Children of the Mausoleum question the corpse with their Last Words class feature first, in order to gain permission to use the body in this manner, but this is not a strict requiremen. Abuse of this ability is, however, highly frowned upon, and may be met with extreme measures if discovered.
Starting at ninth level, a Tomb Orphan's control over the power of the negative energy plane is almost absolute. They may use create undead as a spell-like ability at will, paying all normal costs. Furthermore, any undead they create using their animate dead spell-like ability benefits from the Evolved Undead template.
The Child of the Mausoleum is treated as a cleric of his class level plus his druid level to determine how many undead he may control at any given time.
Charnal Touch (Sp): Starting at fifth level, the Child of the Mausoleum may inflict pain and injury with a touch. Three times per encounter, he may inflict light wounds as a spell-like ability. Twice per encounter, he may inflict moderate wounds as a spell-like ability, and once per encounter he may inflict serious wounds as a spell-like ability.
Create Haunting (Su): One of the most feared - and commonly used - of the Children's abilities, a Child of sixth level or higher may infuse an area with negative energy, making it suitable for hauntings (see The Grave-Woods, below). An "area" is a defined structure or place, such as a building, wood, or graveyard, or else a 10 foot per class level cube of space, and causing the haunting takes ten minutes of ritual work and raw materials worth approximately three hundred gold pieces. A haunting is permanent, barring an extreme application of positive energy to the location in question (examples include transferring the energy from several rods of ressurection, or multiple high-level clerics consecrating the location)
Call to the Void (Su): Using techniques similar to those needed to haunt a location, a Child of the Mausoleum may infuse himself and his animal companions with the powers of the Negative Energy Plane. Once per day, as a swift action, he and his animal companion gain the undead type, as well as a +4 enhancement bonus to strength and a +2 enhancement bonus to dexterity. While he is undead, the Child's necromancy spells and all supernatural abilities from this class have their damage die (if any) increased by one step and their save DCs (if any) increased by two. The Child's animal companion gains the energy drain special attack, inflicting one negative level with each successful strike. The Child and his animal companion remain undead for one round per class level or until the Child dismisses the effect, whatever comes first.
Wake the Slumbering Mind (Su): The Child of the Mausoleum can grant even the most wretched, mindless undead what has been denied to it - choice. Starting at seventh level, once per day, the Child of the Mausoleum may touch a mindless undead, permanently granting it an additional 3d6 points to Intelligence and Charisma and an additional 1d6 points to Wisdom. Additionally, any otherwise mindless undead created by a Child of the Mausoleum now comes into being with 3d6 points of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Rite of the Bone Orchard (Su): At eigth level, the Child of the Mausoleum learns one of the most powerful magics that straddles the line between the natural world and the negative energy plane. As a swift action once per day, he may call up a bone orchard - a ring of white, skeletal trees that forms a forty foot diameter circle, centered on him. Within the Bone Orchard, he and his animal companion enjoy a twenty foot enhancement bonus to move speed, as well as a +4 enhancement bonus to constitution. Undead within the Bone Orchard cannot be turned or rebuked, nor can beings with the elemental or animal types.
Animals within the Bone Orchard act as though the Child of the Mausoleum had charmed them, and obey his commands as best they can. They may understand simple, one-word concepts, such as "Flee", "Kill", or "Hide", with no check involved. A Handle Animal check is required to deliver more complex commands ("Protect the large one!" "Take him alive!").
Undead within the Bone Orchard may not attack the Child of the Mausoleum as though he enjoys a sanctuary effect (except that they may not make a Will save to attack him anyway). If the Child chooses, he may, once per round, infuse an undead being within the radius of the Bone Orchard with 4d10 points of negative energy as a swift action.
The Bone Orchard persists one minute per class level, or until it is destroyed, whatever comes first.
Destruction to Rebirth (Su): Also starting at eighth level, any being slain by the Child's necromancy spells or supernatural class features may choose to come back to life as a ghoul 24 hours after their death. Ghouls created this way may not take hostile action against the Child for 24 hours after their creation.
Presence of Death (Su): Starting at ninth level, the Child of the Mausoleum's authority and enlightenment becomes manifest. Any intelligent undead automatically starts at no worse than indifferent when dealing with the Child of the Mausoleum, who now radiates twin auras of natural might and chilling undeath. Undead within thirty feet of the Child of the Mausoleum enjoy a +4 bonus to their turn resistance, while animals and elementals enjoy a +4 bonus to their Will saves.
Life and Death (Sp): At tenth level, the Child of the Mausoleum has tuned into perfect harmony with life and death, capable of influencing both to his will. Once per week, he may cast ressurection as a spell-like ability, without paying the material cost. However, a living being raised this way gains the undead type in place of its normal type and may not be raised again this way.
Furthermore, the Child of the Mausoleum may cast finger of death once per encounter as a spell-like ability (as a cleric of their class level plus their druid level).
Lastly, they may, as a standard action once per week, restore a destroyed undead being to its previous state with full hit points and all powers and abilities refreshed. Any given undead being may only be restored once in this fashion; more than that, and the Negative Energy simply swallows its essence and refuses to let it go once more.
Summon the Netherworld (Su): The most terrifying of the Children's powers, a master of the Tomb Orphan's philosiphy can drag forth a piece of the Negative Energy plane and impose it on the world around him. Once per day, as a standard action, they may replace a sixty-foot diameter sphere, centered on them, with a chunk of the Negative Energy plane, with all the traits thereof. Any creature caught within this sphere cannot leave it while it lasts, nor can any creature who enters after it has been cast. The sphere lasts a number of rounds equal to the Child's class level plus his druid level, or until the Child dismisses it, whatever comes first. A potent burst of positive energy - such as snapping a rod of ressurection in half, or a mass heal spell - has a chance of dispelling the sphere as though it were a ninth level spell cast by a twentieth level druid.
Once a Child gains this ability, they are healed by negative energy as well as positive energy.
The Grave-Woods
Some places - many of them occuring naturally, but some of them crafted by the Children of the Mausoleum - have a thin border between the Material Plane and the Negative Energy. These places are often seen as haunted, and often seem to have a sickly pallor that is broken up by vibrant life. The trunks of trees seem dead and skeletal - but the green leaves are bright and healthy as the day they sprouted. A wolf is missing an eye from rot, but is still a fierce and savage predator. These places are often quite disturbing to those not used to them.
These haunted locations enjoy a few benefits:
- Undead within the location enjoy a +4 bonus to their turn resistance and a +2 increase to the save DCs of the supernatural and spell-like abilities. Animals also enjoy a +2 increase to the save DCs of their extraordinary abilities.
- Spells from the Animal, Plant, or Death domains are treated as Extended.
- Animals, undead, or druids within the area enjoy a +3 circumstance bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. They may hide even if there is nothing to hide behind, though they still cannot hide while being observed.
- Any being slain in the haunted location has a 40% chance of reanimating as an intelligent, free-willed undead. It retains any alignment it had in life.
Sidebar: Necromancy and Evil
Many of the effects - such as animate dead - that the Children use have the [Evil] descriptor. Under the rules as written, that makes the Children an invariably evil organization, every bit as vile as their detractors would have people believe.
However, the Children were intended to be morally ambiguous, and DMs are highly encouraged to remove these descriptors from certain necromancy effects that they feel are morally gray (such as animate dead). DMs may, of course, choose to use the Children as villains, but it is the designer's feeling that their greatest potential lies in their ambiguity.
Playing a Child of the Mausoleum
Being a Child of the Mausoleum can get very lonely, very quickly; society hates you, your former druidic allies shun you, and it's quite likely that even your party members sternly dissapprove of your path. Trust no one completely, and remember your duties both as a Druid and a Child - after all, no one else is going to look out for the undead if you don't. Don't feel automatically guilty for destroying an undead being either; just as some animals must be put down, some members of the unliving will, inevitably, need to be destroyed.
Sidebar: The Children's Philosiphies
The Children of the Mausoleum, like any other organization, are home to many and varied beliefs on their core theme of undeath as part of nature. However, the most common viewpoint is as follows:
The Negative Energy Plane is a natural part of the multiverse, and many forms of undeath occur spontaenously. Wraiths, wights, ghouls, and many other forms of undead arise without any aid from spells, and the Children point to this as evidence of undeath being a natural phenomenon. By a similar token, such beings' ability to produce spawn is as natural as a disease spreading or a fox littering.
With regards to creating the undead with spells, their ground becomes shakier. Like a druid attempting to condemn the working of metal, the Children see reanimation as natural only so long as the corpse is untouched. Thus, a zombie is natural, but a zombie with an enhanced skeletal structure is not. Still, the basic idea remains that entropic animacy is an acceptable and natural part of the universe, and the Children see no problems with bringing the undead into the world provided that their creator teaches them what their existence means.
The Children pay special respect to undead being such as Shadows and Nightstalkers; these direct manifestations of negative energy are seen in much the same way as elementals are, and are accorded the same respect and dignity.
Combat: Tomb Orphan's are stealthy and possessed of ruthlessly effective necromantic spells and effects. In his home turf (a graveyard, or a location affected by his Create Haunting ability), a Child will use his Walk Unseen ability to observe any potential foes to determine the best plan of attack, then strike as swiftly and brutally as possible, aiming to end the battle as quickly as possible. Most Children ambush potential foes with their Bone-Vine class feature before siccing undead minions upon them, saving their Bone Orchard and Summon the Netherworld class features for the truly dangerous or for large, heavily armed groups. If the fight turns against you, retreat - you can always return later when the enemy is weak and distracted. Take advantage of your spontaenous summon class features and strike with overwhelming numbers.
More powerful druids who have become Children may choose to wade into melee, using their animal companions and Wild Shape class features. These are encouraged to take full advantage of their Call to the Void class feature and their Bone Orchard's ability to make them immune to turning.
Advancement: Most Children of the Mausoleum - an overwhelming percentage, in fact - continue to advance as druids after mastering their chosen path. A rare few take up levels in ranger or rogue to augment their personal power, but these are rare. Some of the more darkly inclined will take up levels in wizard or sorcerer, and at the highest (read: epic) levels they will invest in prestige classes such as mystic theurge.
Resources: Almost all Children have a few undead companions with them at all times, and any Child can expect aid and refuge from another, regardless of philisophical or alignment differences. An established Child with a haunted lair or a graveyard on tap will almost always have access to many more items - magical or otherwise - than might be normally expected; the dead, after all, have no use for gold or trinkets if they choose to remain dead.
Children of the Mausoleum in the World
"Children dance and Children play
Children crawl in the open graves
Children sneak and Children hide
'Cause the Children don't know that the Children all died."
- Nursery rhyme
The Children are feared and hated in normal society, seen as grave-robbers and desecrators of the dead. But, for all the propaganda spread against them, the main emotion associated with them is mystery; no one knows what the enigmatic Tomb Orphans are up to, and tales of them are filled with moonlit meetings and mysterious dealings. Many don't even realize that the Children are druids.
In druidic circles, the Children are seen as an abomination, a sick perversion of nature that is growing like a cancer. Almost all druids outside of the Children themselves attack on sight, letting loose with their deadliest spells and transformations. There is rarely any mercy. Ironically enough, most Children refuse help from necromancers, death priests, and similar individuals and organizations, seeing them as perverting undeath into something it is not.
Daily Life: Most Children stake out a lair they feel is worth protecting and proceed to do exactly that; they tend to their dwelling-place, protect it, and keep intruders and desecrators from violating it. An adventuring Child is likely seeking out further knowledge of life and death, and any given Child is more or less as likely to adventure as any given druid. Regardless, Children try to avoid making waves in public, and a few go to great lengths to seem utterly ordinary in order to avoid detection and, subsequently, destruction.
Notables: Generally speaking, notability is a death sentence for a Tomb Orphan. However, a few of them have managed to gain fame and retain their lives thanks to either powerful allies, an incredibly good personal reputation, or overwhelming personal power.
Mark Thorne, in particular, stands out. Sometimes referred to as the Marsh Lord or the Ghast King, Mark Thorne watches over a large stretch of haunted marshland on the border between two kingdoms. Several small towns exist in the marsh, and all of them rely on Mark for protection; predators, bandits, and monsters breed in the stagnant waters at a prodigious rate. Several small packs of ghouls and ghasts have sworn allegience to the Child, and he has, recently, been named a Protector of the Realm by a local monarch for successfully repelling an invasion by giants.
More mysterious is the being known as Mother Mercy, who may or may not actually exist. In the cities, young children say she haunts the graveyards, carrying an old mirror on a chain and an oak staff. Legend has it that looking into the mirror will show you your death. Legend also has it that getting close enough to see will let Mother Mercy take your soul.
Organizations: The Children of the Mausoleum are a formal organization, a druidic circle dedicated to the protection and preservation of their beliefs. The Children usually protect border areas, between civilizations or terrain types - such as marshes, or the border between jungle and savannah, or the riverland between two kingdoms - as well as taking residences in places where death and nature meet, such as large graveyards and the sites of ancient and recent battles. The organization has no dues and no real formal leader, but a ladder of seniority does exist, and all members are expected to come to the aid of all others when called, regardless of personal vendettas or alignment differences; after all, the only thing they really have is each other.
Once a year, the Children gather for the Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is part rememberance, part holy day, and part anniversary; it celebrates everything from one's own ancestors to those who died nobly to those who have chosen undeath to preserve their knowledge. Children from far and wide come to attend the week-long celebration, which is always held in a graveyard and usually shielded by powerful magics. Traditionally, every Child brings an unliving guest to the Day of the Dead, and more than a few such gatherings have been broken up by outside hostilities.
NPC Reaction
Upon hearing the name "Children of the Mausoleum", most NPCs will either look confused or spit in disgust. Those who are more informed may have moderate reactions (if they've dealt with a Child personally) or very extreme ones (most druids or "good"-aligned clerics).
To an NPC who sees a Child's class abilities at work, there is usually little doubt that he is dealing with a powerful necromancer. Such encounters usually end in hostility.
Children of the Mausoleum in the Game
The Children are very similar to many other summoners and necromancers in that they bring a lot of weaker monsters to the encounter on either the players' side or the monsters'. However, they augment this power with the ability to enhance both themselves and their minions, as well as packing the spellcasting punch of a necromancer. It can - and likely will - be challanging for a DM to either run a Child NPC or have a player Child in the party.
Adaptation: The easiest adaptation is to remove the moral ambiguity of the Children and make them an evil cult dedicated to the undead. Another option is to change the entry requirements to make them a class for nature clerics or pure necromancers.
Encounters: A player encounter with the Children need not be hostile, but it certainly will be tense; the party is only likely to encounter Children if intruding on their domains, being hired to hunt one or more down, or by pure accident. A Child will usually try to end conflicts without bloodshed first, but once the blows start they cannot afford to let their opponents live - not when discovery means almost certain death.