Captain of the Damned, 10 level PrC

[dyslexicfaser]

Just messing around with upgrading a PrC I made a few years ago into a 10-level version. I worked in a few cool ideas DracoDei offered, as well, and I'm planning an epic progression into a sort of Admiral of the Damned. Still worried about the power level, since I stuffed it with every ability that seemed thematically appropriate. Any opinions and suggestions would be appreciated.


Captain of the Damned
“Do you fear… death?”

Prerequisites:
BAB: 5
Skills: Knowledge (geography) 5 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks, Survival 5 ranks
Alignment: Any neutral or evil
Special: Must own, steal or commandeer a ship.
Special: Must have made contact with a sea god or goddess in the past.


Hit Die: d6
Skills: 4 + Int modifier

Captain of the Damned
{table=head]Level|Base AttackBonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Crew of the Damned

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3| Rise And Serve A New Master +2, Spellcasting level +1

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Unholy Bond, Support of the Crew, Spellcasting level +1

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Swift as Death, Summon the Kraken, Spellcasting level +1

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Rise and Serve A New Master +4, Immortal Flesh, Immortal Voyage

6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Chosen of the Damned, Spellcasting level +1

7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5|Summon the Kraken II, Spellcasting level +1

8th|
+6|
+6|
+2|
+6|Rise and Serve A New Master +6, Eternal Servitors, Spellcasting level +1

9th|
+6|
+6|
+3|
+6|Command the Winds, On the Wings of the Storm, Spellcasting level +1

10th|
+7|
+7|
+3|
+7|Summon the Kraken III, Immortal Terror[/table]


Spellcasting: At all levels but 1st, 5th and 10th, the Captain of the Damned gains new spells as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he had previous to gaining that level.
Crew of the Damned (Su): A sailor on his deathbed may enter into a contract with the Captain of the Damned of his own free will before they cross the final threshold. They then die as the contract is signed, only to rise 1d4 hours later as either an Allip, a Zombie, or a Skeleton with HD equal to his level. This undead retains the intelligence, skills and feats he possessed prior to his transformation, but find their fates inextricably bound to their ship. If they leave the ship for any reason, they are given one day before they begin to take 3d6 damage each day they do not return to the ship, as per the Geas/Quest spell. In addition, if either their ship or Captain is destroyed, each crewmember with fewer than 10 HD receives 5d6 damage and becomes stunned for one round.
Rise and Serve A New Master (Ex): Undead formed by the contract of a 2nd level Captain of the Damned instinctively know their new duties; Allips gain a +2 bonus to all Profession (Sailor) and spot checks, while zombies and skeletons gain a +2 bonus to Profession (Sailor) and balance checks. This increases to +4 at 5th level and +6 at 8th.
Unholy Bond (Su): Any ship captained by a Captain of the Damned of 3rd level is considered under a permanent Desecrate, with the added caveat that any crew of the dead who are slain aboard the ship are held from true death for a number of days equal to twice the Captain of the Damned’s character level, enabling him to revive them at his leisure. If his ship should be destroyed, the Captain may commandeer a new ship, which will gain the effects of Unholy Bond in 1d4 days.
Support of the Crew (Su): The contract which binds the Crew may be used to empower the Captain. A Captain of the Damned of 3rd level may gain +1 to their choice of Fortitude, Reflex, or Will saves, or gain +2 hit points for every two undead crewmembers he commands, up to a maximum of crewmembers equal to double his class level.
Swift as Death (Ex): A ship captained by a Captain of the Damned of 4th level may increase it’s speed to 150% of normal when in pursuit of its prey. He may use this ability 1/day.
Summon the Kraken(Su):A Captain of the Damned may beckon a creature from the briny deep to aid him in battle. A Captain of 4th level may summon a swarm of jellyfish (see Stormwrack) as a full round action 1/day. At 7th, a Captain of the Damned may instead summon a Giant Octopus or 1d2 jellyfish swarms. A Captain of 10th level may instead summon a Kraken, 1d2 Giant Octopi, or 1d4 jellyfish swarms.
Immortal Flesh (Su): When a Captain of the Damned reaches 5th level, he is struck down by the gods and spends 1d10 days in a death-like state. On the final day, he arises as a necropolitan.
Immortal Voyage (Su): The Captain of the Damned may no longer leave his ship for more than 3 hours at a time, or else he will suffer excruciating pain, become staggered, and gain one point of ability damage for every hour beyond this time limit that he remains on land. This ability damage will be instantly healed upon the Captain’s return to his ship. In addition, a slain Captain of 5th level will rise again in 1d4 days unless his body is damaged beyond repair, his ship is destroyed, his crew slain, and his Unholy Bond nullified by means Consecrate or similar.
Chosen of the Damned: A Captain of the Damned of 6th level may elevate one of his crew to the position of first mate, and gifting the chosen crewmate with a fraction of his power. The empowered crewmate gains two bonus d12 HD, the appropriate amounts of hit points, a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 morale bonus on Fortitude saving throws, as well as gaining fast healing 5 when within 30ft of its Captain. However, if the Captain is slain, the first mate immediately follows him into death, and similarly revives with him in 1d4 days.
Eternal Servitors: The dead that crew under a find no escape, even in death. As long as he possesses their remains, a Captain of the Damned of 8th level may reanimate them to serve once more (as per the Revive Undead spell) as a standard action. He may use this ability 1/day.
Command the Winds: 1/day, a Captain of the Damned of 9th level may command the very winds themselves. This works as a Control Weather spell.
On the Wings of the Storm: 1/week, a ship commanded by a Captain of the Damned may teleport - ship and all - between storms, emerging up to 100 miles away per class level.
Immortal Terror: A Captain of the Damned of 10th level gains the 1d8+5 negative energy touch attack, Paralyzing Touch and Fear Aura of a lich, the latter of which encompasses his ship and 60ft in any direction.

[AstralFire]

Swift as Death (Ex): A ship captained by a Captain of the Damned of 4th level may increase it’s speed by 1.5 when in pursuit of its prey. He may use this ability 1/day.

Is that x150%, or +150%?

You have a few other unclear typoes.

Why the spellcasting advancement? I'd think if anything it'd have a unique list or be a progression from a ranger if it had to have casting. This doesn't scream Wizard or Druid to me.

Good flavor abilities, though I am always poor on assessment of power from monsters (frex, I don't know what an allip is.) Inspired by PotC?

[Draken]

Allips are core monsters. They are incorporeal undead that induce madness through moaning and dealing wis damage (or drain, don't recall) with their touch.

That said the summoning is quite a bit too strong. The Kraken is a Cr 12. One CR above the Elder elementals which are summoned by summon monster IX. And it is being given at level 15 in the earliest.

I would reccomend exchanging the overall summon the kraken ability for an animal companion-ish giant octopus or giant squid, advancing it, making it grow in size eventually, buffing strength, dexterity and natural armor. The usual.

The 7/10 casting also strikes me odd. I would recommend reducing it to 5/10 casting. This does look like a ranger PrC.

The undead... The undead... The undead are quite useful as a free crew. But there should both be a limit to how many you can keep at once (absolute number as opposed to HD limit I suggest [two crewmembers per captain level maybe?], also limit it only to humanoids. And probaly limit the number of HD kept by the captain's power [class level] as well). And there is also the matter of the feats and skills of those turned undead.

Last but not least. Swift as Death and Command the Winds could be Wis or Cha mod per day instead of 1/day. I don't know why but I hate fixed 1/day abilities.

[dyslexicfaser]

Is that x150%, or +150%?

You have a few other unclear typoes.
What I meant to say there was to increase it by 150% of its typical speed, so a 50% increase. I'll fix that. Any others you noticed off the top of your head?



Why the spellcasting advancement? I'd think if anything it'd have a unique list or be a progression from a ranger if it had to have casting. This doesn't scream Wizard or Druid to me.
Well, I basically wanted a PrC that might appeal to all classes. I figure wizards, particularly of the necromantic variety, would be able to captain a skeleton ship as well as any ranger.


Inspired by PotC?
Inspired by PotC and a villain of Fax's, yes.


Also, thank you for the ideas and for pointing out the kraken's overpowered-ness, Draken. I'll have to think of some way to fix that.

[AstralFire]

On the Wings of the Storm: 1/week, a ship commanded by a Captain of the Damned may teleport - ship and all - between storms, emerging up to 100 miles per class level.

Should be


On the Wings of the Storm: 1/week, a ship commanded by a Captain of the Damned may teleport - ship and all - between storms, emerging up to 100 miles away per class level.

Though that doesn't cause rule unclarity, it's just grammar. I don't recall anything else at the time and I have to run.

I would give up the thought of making a class that is 'universally appealing' however. D&D is all about geometric power increases, and that kind of multiclassing is not what the system can handle well, even though it is what the system was built for. Focus on one or two archetypes of character class - caster, gish, warrior, skill monkey - that you would like to enter this class and tweak it from there. If the others can enter and do well, that is just gravy.

[Calmar]

What do you think about adding the wight to the options of the Crew of the Damned ability? :smallsmile:

They do not necessarily need to be Celtic in flavour, are quite human-like in appearance, and are not mindless.