PDA

View Full Version : The Bloody Reaper (D&D 3.5 Prc)



Forever Curious
2010-06-24, 04:11 PM
Well, this was my submission for the last Prc Challenge, and I placed 2nd...so it's not horrible. Let's see what the Playground has to say.

Bloody Reaper


http://th09.deviantart.net/fs7/300W/i/2005/249/5/4/necromancer_by_thetoothless1.jpg

"Are life and sanity worth it when they can be lost so easily?" -Gaven Rixx, a Bloody Reaper

Whether arcane or divine, necromancers ultimately search for a greater connection to death. Some find this through the creation of undead minions to serve them. Others, however, find this through insanity and rampant destruction, sowing anarchy and ruin in their wake.

The latter often become Bloody Reapers: reckless warriors of undeath. They feel that they can more fully embrace the powers of death by experiencing it first hand...or, more accurately, watching others experience it. The orgin of this philosphy is unknown, though several undead bloody reapers claim to be the first to practice their craft. There is no official formal organization of these berserk necromancers, but many newer ones join with the more experience and establish raid parties, learning from their superiors firsthand.

BECOMING A BLOODY REAPER
All bloody reapers begin their career as some form of necromancer, either as a cleric to a god of death or as a dread necromancer. Some even come from sorcerous lineages. Very few wizard bloody reapers exist, as physical force is not their forte. Although it's possible to become a bloody reaper by traveling a solely magical path, many have a level or two in a martial class, most often barbarian.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Alignment: Any non-lawful
Spells: Must be able to cast at least one necromancy spell of 2nd level or higher
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 4 ranks
Feats: Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Any)
Base Attack Bonus: +4

Class Skills
The Bloody Reaper's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentrate (Con) Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int) Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d10

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

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Deathform Frenzy 1/day (undeath), Somatic Weaponry, Rebuke Undead|-

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Frenzied Casting, Imbue Weapon|+1 existing class level

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Deathform Frenzy 2/day (weakening)|+1 existing class level

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Entropic Power Attack|-

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Deathform Frenzy 3/day (reaping)|+1 existing class level

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5|Frightful Presence|+1 existing class level

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|Deathform Frenzy 4/day (enervating)|-

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6|Soulless Retribution|+1 existing class level

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|Deathform Frenzy 5/day (terminating) |+1 existing class level

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7|Consume the Meek|-[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: Bloody reapers are proficient with all martial weapons.

Deathform Frenzy (Ex): A bloody reapers can enter a deranged frenzied state, channeling the power of the undead he strives to become. While doing so, he gains a +4 bonus to Strength and, if he makes a full attack action, gain an additional attack at his highest base attack bonus (this does not stack with any other effect that grants additional attacks). However, he takes a -4 penalty to AC and takes 1 point of lethal damage per round. This frenzy last a number of rounds equal to 3 + Constitution modifier. This effect cannot be ended early by any means. The bonuses (but not penalties) of the deathform frenzy stack with those of any rage ability the character has.

While in a deathform frenzy, the bloody reaper cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Intimidate), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats.

During a deathform frenzy, the bloody reaper must attack any creature he perceives as an enemy to the best of his ability with disregard for danger (attacks of opportunity, hazards, etc.). If there are no enemies left by the time the deathform frenzy ends, the bloody reaper must continue to attack the nearest creature (regardless of circumstance). When the frenzy ends, the bloody reaper is fatigued for one minute.

At first level a bloody reaper can enter a deathform frenzy once per day as a swift action. He gains an additional use per day at every other level (but only once per encounter). Whenever a bloody reaper takes damage from any source (attack, spell, trap, etc.), he automatically enters a deathform frenzy if he has any daily uses left unless he succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + points of damage taken since last action).

At first level, whenever a bloody reaper enters a deathform frenzy, he gains the traits of the "undead" type until the end of the frenzy (excluding HD), but retains his Constitution score and is not immune to effects involving Fortitude saves.

At third level, whenever a bloody reaper succeeds on an attack against a creature during a deathform frenzy, that creatures is fatigued for 1d4 rounds (no save) This ability does not stack with itself. However, if the opponent was already fatigued from another ability, they become exhausted for 1d4 rounds.

At fifth level, whenever a bloody reaper slays a creature during a deathform frenzy, that creature rises one minute later as a zombie or skeleton (bloody reaper's choice) under the bloody reaper's control. The total Hit Die of undead controlled this way can not exceed twice the bloody reaper's class level. This ability is independent of Rebuke Undead.

At seventh level, once per round when a bloody reaper succeeds on an attack against a creature during a deathform frenzy, the attacked creature must make a Will save (DC 10 + bloody reaper's Charisma modifier + bloody reaper's class level) or take 1 negative level.

At ninth level, once per round when a bloody reaper succeeds on an attack against a creature during a deathform frenzy, the attacked creature must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + bloody reaper's class levels + bloody reaper's Charisma modifier) or be slain instantly. Activating this ability ends the frenzy immediately.

The abilities granted during a Deathform Frenzy are triggered using a free action.

Somatic Weaponry (Ex): A bloody reaper can effortlessly combine his magical prowess with martial fighting. He can cast spells with somatic components even when wielding a weapon (including a two-handed weapon).

Rebuke Undead (Su): A bloody reaper retains his ability to control undead if he could already. Bloody reaper class levels stack with any other class levels to determine his ability to rebuke undead.

Frenzied Casting (Ex): At second level, a bloody reaper can cast spells during a Deathbound Frenzy.

Imbue Weapon (Ex): A bloody reaper develops a closer bound to his instrument of death. He can channel a touch spell through any weapon he's currently wielding (this includes melee, ranged, natural, and improvised weapons). This follows the rules for holding a charge for a touch spell.

Entropic Power Attack (Su): A bloody reaper gains the ability to further fuel his destructive urges through magic. At fourth level, a bloody reaper can sacrifice a spell slot during a power attack as a free action. If he does so, he adds thrice the spell level (minimal 3) to the damage of the power attack, or adds four times the spell level (minimum 4) if wielding a two-handed weapon.

Frightful Presence (Ex): At sixth level, a bloody reaper can unsettle foes with its mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the bloody reaper attacks or charges. Creatures within a radius of 30 feet are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the bloody reaper. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + the bloody reaper's class level + Charisma modifier) remains immune to this ability for 24 hours. Creatures who fail this save are shaken for one minute. This ability stacks with other fear effects, but not with itself.

Soulless Retribution (Su): The bloody reaper can harness the necrotic energy that flows through him, allowing for a vicious surprise should he be slain. When a bloody reaper is slain, it's body emits a pulse of necrotic energy in a 20 foot burst, dealing 15d6 negative energy damage to all creatures in range (no save).

Consume the Meek (Su): At tenth level, a bloody reaper can attempt to devour the life force of his foes. A number of times per day equal to his Constitution modifier, a bloody reaper can project a burst with a 60 foot radius as a full-round action. Creatures with less hit die than the bloody reaper must make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + bloody reaper's Charisma) or instantly be slain. A bloody reaper gains temporary hit points for each hit die of creatures slain this way, as well as a +2 bonus to Strength and Constitution for every 3 creatures slain this way, all of which lasts for 1 hour afterwards and stack with multiple uses of this ability. Creatures that have 1/2 the bloody reaper's Hit Die or less automatically fail their save.

zenanarchist
2010-06-24, 05:19 PM
GNYAH! Sexyness. Just....sexyness.

Deathly goodness in a raged barbarian killer psychotic undead package.

Skeletal rage FTW!

Fable Wright
2010-06-24, 06:32 PM
:xykon:+:belkar: = The Bloody Reaper. I like this class.

Drogorn
2010-06-24, 08:08 PM
The hit die cap on the capstone ability kindof makes it useless in many situations. Can't use it any time you're facing a single opponent, since that single opponent will almost certainly have more hit dice than you.

Now, if you could harvest that bonus and use it like a potion later, that might be something.

Or it could last longer. It just seems like it's not a particularly great capstone due to the hit die limit and duration.

cooperflood
2010-06-24, 08:20 PM
My only thoughts were that the hit die cap on the Deathform Frenzy (reaping) was too low. It's so low that often times your not going to be able to control any skeleton/ghouls from this ability, because all your foes are going to have hit points similar to yours, not level -5. In comparison Animate Dead allows you to control up to 4 times your caster level.

Fable Wright
2010-06-24, 09:53 PM
Possibly change it to 'you may control HD of undead this way up to twice your class level'.

Forever Curious
2010-06-24, 11:08 PM
The hit die cap on the capstone ability kindof makes it useless in many situations. Can't use it any time you're facing a single opponent, since that single opponent will almost certainly have more hit dice than you.

Now, if you could harvest that bonus and use it like a potion later, that might be something.

Or it could last longer. It just seems like it's not a particularly great capstone due to the hit die limit and duration.

In that case, you just frenzy and terminate/enervate/weaken him.

The capstone is designed for situations where there are a lot of mooks involved, not a single enemy. You have other class features for "mano y mano".

And changed reaping to 2x HD.

By the way, thanks for all the positive feedback.

DragoonWraith
2010-06-25, 02:34 PM
Ultimately, Consume the Meek is best against a single powerful entity with a fairly large number of mooks - you enter the rage, use it, and gain your own army of mooks plus a substantial bonus - a huge table-turner. The imagery there is awesome, and it's quite effective in that situation, which isn't exactly unusual. I say between how cool it is and how very effective it is in that situation, Consume the Meek is a good capstone even if it is somewhat limited in applicability.

Milskidasith
2010-06-25, 02:47 PM
Comments: Frenzied Casting and Somatic Weaponry seem fairly useless... you can just take one hand off a weapon as a free action to cast while wielding a two handed weapon, IIRC, and it never states you can't cast in your frenzy to begin with.

You aren't going to control much with Reaping, and since they are basic undead, they aren't going to be powerful anyway.

Entropic Power Attack is very nice.

Soulless retribution is a bit odd; normally, I would prefer easier resurrection to quite probably blasting my allies and enemies both to death. I can see it being useful, but I can also see it wiping the party and/or making it harder to raise you.

Consume the Meek has a few wording issues. First off, since it's a capstone, it should just be DC 20, since you get it at tenth level no matter what. Second, the DC should say charisma mod, not charisma, unless you really want everybody to fail. Third, it never states how many temporary hit points you get.

This thing loses a lot of caster levels. I mean, the abilities it gets are nice-ish, especially for actually fighting, but if it's intended to be entered by casters, it's going to be a straight drop in power, and even gishes need their buffs to be up to par. It's also odd it doesn't actually require proficiency in any martial weapons and has a somewhat low BAB requirement for a gish PrC (most usually require +5 or higher).

Question: Can you activate multiple Deathform Frenzy abilities on one attack?

DragoonWraith
2010-06-25, 02:53 PM
Soulless retribution is a bit odd; normally, I would prefer easier resurrection to quite probably blasting my allies and enemies both to death. I can see it being useful, but I can also see it wiping the party and/or making it harder to raise you.
I questioned this during the contest; apparently it's not supposed to make you any harder to resurrect, so I guess it doesn't actually destroy your body.


This thing loses a lot of caster levels. I mean, the abilities it gets are nice-ish, especially for actually fighting, but if it's intended to be entered by casters, it's going to be a straight drop in power, and even gishes need their buffs to be up to par.
Mm, if the undead are useless (which it seems they are), then this might be very true. I'm not familiar enough with undead, but I thought they were a fairly meaningful feature here...


It's also odd it doesn't actually require proficiency in any martial weapons and has a somewhat low BAB requirement for a gish PrC (most usually require +5 or higher).
I asked about that - and the lack of a Rage pre-req - and Forever commented that he really didn't like dipping so he didn't want his PrC to require it. *shrug*

EdroGrimshell
2010-06-25, 02:58 PM
This thing loses a lot of caster levels. I mean, the abilities it gets are nice-ish, especially for actually fighting, but if it's intended to be entered by casters, it's going to be a straight drop in power, and even gishes need their buffs to be up to par. It's also odd it doesn't actually require proficiency in any martial weapons and has a somewhat low BAB requirement for a gish PrC (most usually require +5 or higher).

The spellsword has a BAB requirement of +4 and loses a caster level on every even level, while the eldritch knight has a +3 BAB requirement. The ones that require a +5 or greater usually don't lose as many CLs because they are generally meant to have fewer caster levels to get into the class.

Prime example being the abjurant champion which requires only 1st level spells and a +5 BAB requirement.

Eldritch Knight on the other hand has 3rd level spells and a +3 BAB requirement leaning it more towards the spellcaster side.

Milskidasith
2010-06-25, 02:59 PM
I questioned this during the contest; apparently it's not supposed to make you any harder to resurrect, so I guess it doesn't actually destroy your body.

Your body explodes, but stays intact? That might need a change of flavor then.



Mm, if the undead are useless (which it seems they are), then this might be very true. I'm not familiar enough with undead, but I thought they were a fairly meaningful feature here...

Look at the skeleton and zombie template and come back.

Yeah, they're pretty terrible. Intelligent undead are cool and can be useful, but basic zombies are pretty much cannon fodder, to the point that, IIRC, their CR can essentially be 1/4th their hit die, and even that's probably asking too much.


I asked about that - and the lack of a Rage pre-req - and Forever commented that he really didn't like dipping so he didn't want his PrC to require it. *shrug*

But it's a gish... gishes are all about dipping, unless you were to enter as a Duskblade, but then the lost caster levels would hurt both duskblade arcane channeling and this classes arcane power attacking.


The spellsword has a BAB requirement of +4 and loses a caster level on every even level, while the eldritch knight has a +3 BAB requirement. The ones that require a +5 or greater usually don't lose as many CLs because they are generally meant to have fewer caster levels to get into the class.

The spellsword is a -1 or 2 tier PrC unless you dip it for one level... it grants near useless class features in exchange for being a terrible spellcaster. The Eldritch Knight was made for core, back when gishes were assumed to be really powerful.


Prime example being the abjurant champion which requires only 1st level spells and a +5 BAB requirement.

The abjurant champion is good for gishes and spellcasters alike, though. Losing caster levels is bad news no matter what, and it doesn't matter what caster level you are when you enter, if you lose a lot of caster levels, you'll have a lower caster level overall at level 20.

Forever Curious
2010-06-25, 08:23 PM
Comments: Frenzied Casting and Somatic Weaponry seem fairly useless... you can just take one hand off a weapon as a free action to cast while wielding a two handed weapon, IIRC, and it never states you can't cast in your frenzy to begin with.
Actually, it specifically states that he can't cast spells or use magic items. As for Somatic Casting, I thought that was what made a Duskblade a viable class. If it's standard rules, then I guess I'll change it.

You aren't going to control much with Reaping, and since they are basic undead, they aren't going to be powerful anyway.
Meatshields and cannonfodder. It's flavorful and isn't too strong. It has it's uses...I'll see what i can do to make it viable.

Entropic Power Attack is very nice.
Thanks!

Soulless retribution is a bit odd; normally, I would prefer easier resurrection to quite probably blasting my allies and enemies both to death. I can see it being useful, but I can also see it wiping the party and/or making it harder to raise you.
Changed the flavor a bit: your body just emits a strong wave of energy rather then exploding, so you remain intact and thus ressurectable.

Consume the Meek has a few wording issues. First off, since it's a capstone, it should just be DC 20, since you get it at tenth level no matter what. Second, the DC should say charisma mod, not charisma, unless you really want everybody to fail. Third, it never states how many temporary hit points you get.
one hit point per hit die of creature...I'll fix the wording.

This thing loses a lot of caster levels. I mean, the abilities it gets are nice-ish, especially for actually fighting, but if it's intended to be entered by casters, it's going to be a straight drop in power, and even gishes need their buffs to be up to par. It's also odd it doesn't actually require proficiency in any martial weapons and has a somewhat low BAB requirement for a gish PrC (most usually require +5 or higher).
Meh...should it not lose any then? I was shooting for something playable but not crazy powerful.

Question: Can you activate multiple Deathform Frenzy abilities on one attack?
Well, the actual abilities are static: they occur once a round on a hit during a Deathform Frenzy. So yes, all abilities you have would trigger on every hit.


Hope that covers everything.

Giegue
2012-04-12, 11:01 AM
This class is very, very nice, though I echo the sentiments that it loses far too many caster levels. Zombies and Skeletons are quite weak, as mentioned before, so I'd probally have this lose 1, maybe 2 caster levels. 2 caster levels is about all a caster will want to lose. Not sure how balanced losing only 1 or 2 caster levels would be, but I am sure somebody else can help you with deciding exactly how many CLs this class should lose.

Veklim
2012-04-12, 11:51 AM
Wow, many people all saying the same thing. 'You lose too many caster levels!!' Well...no you don't, not really. A cleric 3/barbarian 2/bloody reaper 10 would be happy at 15th level when they had +14 BAB, super-undead rage, caster level 9th, FREE UNDEAD*, 2 good saves, a frightful presence, etc...

*Who cares if they're weak, they're free, gratis, nothing to pay, they don't even count for your rebuking control for pity's sake! Take the nice free undead you gained as a bonus for already dropping an enemy, then send it straight back at the enemy. For every hit a 'useless' undead creature takes, it's one less hit on you or a party member, and even a bunch of 1HD human zombies can hurt if there's enough of them. At the VERY LEAST they can be used to get in the way of charges and stuff.

Honestly, you'll only ever NOT take this if your necromancer build is staying pure caster, and we all know pure casters are OP to the nine hells and back, therefore they can't be the best yardstick by which to judge an effort at balance, certainly not a balancing act with a Gish.

Personally, I think it's super sweet, and interestingly/randomly enough makes for an interesting counterpart to my Sacred Scourge PrC (shameless plug :smallwink:) Good job dude! :smallbiggrin:

eftexar
2012-04-12, 03:12 PM
I'm going to have to agree that the caster levels are fine as they are. This is a cool class and I don't see any problems.
But what are your thoughts on opening this up to martial initiators? I think that would be rather interesting.

Forever Curious
2012-04-14, 08:27 AM
I'm going to have to agree that the caster levels are fine as they are. This is a cool class and I don't see any problems.
But what are your thoughts on opening this up to martial initiators? I think that would be rather interesting.

Well, it IS designed to be a necromancy meets melee class, plus I have very little experience with Bo9S material. But if you want to take the idea and tweak it yourself by all means. :smallsmile:

Hazzardevil
2012-04-14, 11:23 AM
There's some epic threadcromancy going on here.

http://api.ning.com/files/G51I7ZLRvQ7-xdj4*kIlVXPK1xOTlHIx7okF9cU8HJEtOsNFn51qajNM5LTonE %20MSqQRH7-a-stngZ1y8SP0I81Xe1g7sm0q8/Thread_Necromancy_3038.jpg

Forever Curious
2012-04-14, 11:25 AM
There's some epic threadcromancy going on here.

http://api.ning.com/files/G51I7ZLRvQ7-xdj4*kIlVXPK1xOTlHIx7okF9cU8HJEtOsNFn51qajNM5LTonE MSqQRH7-a-stngZ1y8SP0I81Xe1g7sm0q8/Thread_Necromancy_3038.jpg

Fitting, no? :smallamused:

But yeah, feel free to PM me with comments about the class to avoid more necromancy.