[3.5] The Warrior That Won't Stay Dead

[Dralnu]

I want to make a new adversary for my players in my evil campaign. The idea is based off the Undead Hero from the game Guardian Heroes.

Basically, I want this NPC to be a good-aligned undead warrior that is magically bound to a powerful relic that the party has gotten hold of. Its sole purpose is to make sure the relic is saved from evil hands. It always knows where the relic is. It tirelessly chases after it and fights any evil wielder of the relic. It's very straightforward in its method, no trickery, just good ol' bashing. It can take a beating, going into rages would be a plus, and if it's defeated it will revive after a day. "Mindless" in the sense that it doesn't talk and has a single purpose.

As the DM, I can just snap my fingers and "make it happen" so to speak, but I'd rather build it by the books as much as possible.

The party is currently level7: rogue/assassin, barbarian/warblade, favored soul, and scout. None of them are particularly optimized. I'd like the NPC to be tough but not a TPK, and as they level up he'll obviously get easier until they figure a way to get rid of him for good.

Can anyone suggest a build that can do what I want?

[Boci]

There is a "templare" in HoH called soul shackeled which does just that: creature killed comes back to life in 1d10 days, unless killed in a special fashion (the example was a ghost who was burnt by the tear of a child). The book recomends giving the PCs +25% XP when they kill it for good. Beyond that, you seem to want a straight forwards smasher. You could go sword and board with the shield charge feats from Complete Warrior.

[lyko555]

Im not so good at builds but for your undead you can go the route of a (cursed-curst)? its an undead template with out the mindless draw back i believe its in the ( monsters of fearun book) The only way to kill one is to cast remove curse, otherwise they just heal. ergo a rind of spellimmunity (remove curse) = unkillable

[Boci]

ergo a rind of spellimmunity (remove curse) = unkillable

Not quite. You just need to dispel magic first.

[Abaddon87]

Perhaps some kind of awakened undead Ranger/Barbarian/Frenzied Berserker? I lean towards Ranger for tracking and stealthy ambushing. I would use a variant rage that gives DEX instead of CON (I think its in Cityscape or something, google magic should find that no problem) and focus on TWF.

[Urpriest]

If you want it to be positive-energy powered to go with it's good alignment then your options are somewhat more limited, but Book of Exalted Deeds does have a few deathless that might be appropriate.

[DanReiv]

Party seems heavy on physical, I bet they'd dislike a Sacred Watcher, from BoED.

The "good" undead making for "good" ghost.

Just slap a few class level as you feel fit. It's LA+5 so you probably want a few of them. Classes that like CHA would be nice, you could go with a classic <insert humanoid> Sacred Watcher Paladin X.

edit: half-swordsaged :smallsigh:

[claricorp]

You could try an undead frost rager, they are a great relentless enemy class.

frost rager is a prestige from the frostburn book, they have quite a few interesting abilities that activate when they rage.

[Thurbane]

If you don't mind it being incpororeal, the Sacred Watcher (Deathless) template (BoED) is a fairly close match.

[Starbuck_II]

Does it have to be undead?

Scar, The unbreakable, Multi-headed (2 heads, Lernean) Lumi
minimum HD 4, 6 LA

You can fluff one of the heads away, but it makes you unbeatable (barring disintegrate failing save and being killed by the damage). Otherwise you just keep getting back up.

[TheStranger]

Homebrew some type of ritual/epic spell that would let a powerful spellcaster make a willing hero into a lich? Then refluff the "unspeakably evil" portion of the process, give class levels as needed (I suggest Paladin/Kensai - no rage, but the Kensai's power surge is pretty close, and the fluff is perfect), and you're good to go. Also, make the relic the phylactery, unless there's some reason that its destruction is even worse than it being in the hands of evil characters.

Really, the phylactery mechanic is perfect for what you're trying to do, if you can find some way to use it with a non-spellcaster.

[Dralnu]

Is HoH Heroes of Horror? I looked through the book but couldn't find the template.

The awakened ranger sounds cool, but not what I had in mind. A ranger-type could be leading a party of good guys trying to stop the evil group's nefarious schemes, however. I'll probably use that there.

Frost rager isn't what I'm going for, though it's a cool class and the party will end up in a frosty mountain range eventually to fight a silver dragon.

Where can I find this "Scar, the Unbreakable"? It doesn't have to be an undead fighter, I just thought it'd be cool if it was. Undead Hero was so badass. I wish I could find a video to show you his raw awesomeness, but people who played the game would know.

The deathless template would perfectly fit the "good undead" theme that I wanted. I wish they had "deathless" as a standalone template though, not with other things tacked on to it. It wouldn't solve the reviving problem, but I'll keep this as an option.

Good-aligned lich... That'd probably do the trick. I could've sworn good liches were even in a book somewhere. Good lich kensai/paladin sounds badass.

[Benejeseret]

+1 for the lich.

The item and undying/return mechanics sound exactly what you want and there is nothing that directly makes a lich NEED to be a caster other then the requirements for becoming a lich (not being one). So you can either wave those someway or mindrape (or amnesia or false memory what have you) and reprogram the lich afterward to be a more hack-and-slash class after the fact.

Then add Nether Hound template (ignoring alignment requrements) from DR322 p89 (also Crystal Keep Templates). This adds all the 'hunter' abilities like scent/climb/track/faster/stronger

All in all +3 CR

That leaves you completely open to add class or race features in at your leisure to get what you want.

I like Gnoll for a desert relic
Warforged for the 'advanced' ancient feel (basically a necron)
Sahuagin for an ancient Lovecraftian feel (undead=no water dependence)

[SethFahad]

No,no,no! You are looking for the Curst template.

The Monsters of Faerun book has the 3.0 edition of Curst.
The Lost Empires of Faerun book has the updated 3.5 edition of Curst.

Some info to rise your appetite:

Undead traits.
Fast healing
Immunity to cold and fire
Spell Resistance 12+ECL
Turning Immunity
Unkillable (chop it to pieces, and it still rises up.

Disintegrate spell is one of the only two ways of destroying it permanently.


PS. there is a +3 LA for this template....

[DaragosKitsune]

+1 for Lich, with the caveat that it doesn't spawn from the artifact (if using the artifact=phylactery route) but from a small shard of the artifact in a hidden location. This not only removes the issue of an Undead Hero spawning in the middle of your camp, it also means that your players have another reason to track it down and kill it for good (well, evil, but that's semantics).

The Curst template sounds deliciously evil, but can be permanently slain without any major hardship on the part of the group. It isn't a bad idea, but I'm not sure it's ideal here.

[SethFahad]

Its not THAT easy to destroy a Curst...

Disintegrate spell: is subject of SR and Fortitude save. Curst already has high SR, all you have to do is boost your saves.

Total immersion to acid: get acid immunity or high resistance to acid.

Remove curse: is a 3rd level divine spell. A simple spell immunity item or contigent spell suffices.

Undeath to death: no undead of more than 9HD can be destroyed by this spell, so,... make him 10 or more HD :smalltongue:

[DaragosKitsune]

Okay, I will admit that the permanent destruction of a Curst isn't easy. Rather, it is comparatively easy. One lucky spell is all it takes. A lich can have a phylactery so layered with protections that it is nigh impossible to find with magic. Without magic to solve the problem, the issue of the Guardian becomes major, because the group has to either find the phylactery, or do something to prevent it from mattering to beat it.

[2xMachina]

Standard ghost would work. Keeps rising till it finds its peace.

[JackQ]

I have an alternative you might consider.

The powerful item is intelligent and can cast Lesser / Planer Ally 1xday or 1xweek.

Every time the guardian gets killed a replacement is brought in.