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View Full Version : Let's say I want to play a non-evil undead PC (3.5)



Jolly
2010-10-11, 06:49 PM
Prepping my next character as I'm expecting my poor rogue to bite the dust any session now. Been wanting to try out an arcance caster, although wizard/sorc/something from a splatbook remains to be seen.

The mission our group is on (retrieve McGuffin from lair of former high powered necro who helped stop an evil god then was betrayed by the paladin and cleric he fought alongside) lends itself well to doing it, I think. However, I need to be able to meet these requirements.

1: no or low LA.

2. Able to generally pass as non-undead. No funky odor, no light sensitivity, no insatiable hunger for human flesh etc. Hat of disguise, ranks in disguise etc are allowed.

3. Good casting stats (Int or Cha, either way).

4. No overpowered (Ex) or (Su) abilities.

5. A class that is effective without raising hordes of other undead to fight for me. I'm thinking of making him a True Neutral worshipper of either Wee Jas or a homebrew version of Morr from WFRP.

All books are open, recently acquired Libris Mortis and Heroes of Horror as well as the Tomes and Completes.

The-Mage-King
2010-10-11, 06:51 PM
Necropolitan, from Libris Mortis. +0 LA, undead, and all the rest. Pretty good for an arcane caster, I believe.

EDIT: For classes... Wizard. Yeah.

Jarian
2010-10-11, 06:52 PM
Necropolitan, Libris Mortis p. 114.

Edit: Swordsage'd.

BRC
2010-10-11, 06:56 PM
Necropolitan, from Libris Mortis. +0 LA, undead, and all the rest. Pretty good for an arcane caster, I believe.
I kind of wish WoTC hadn't attached the "Underwent an evil ritual" fluff to Necropolitans. Yes the fluff in question is easily discard able, but without it they make such perfect generic undead.

deuxhero
2010-10-11, 06:59 PM
True Necromancer (Heroes of Horror, rest of the book is full of cheese though) is good for the class. Pretty balanced and you can freely heal yourself if you are undead.


You can also pick up the Tomb Tainted Soul (get healed by neg energy, hurt by pos) feat from somewhere I forget, though you aren't really undead.

The-Mage-King
2010-10-11, 07:08 PM
Necropolitan, Libris Mortis p. 114.

Edit: Swordsage'd.

Of course. My appearance is high speed, after all.


I kind of wish WoTC hadn't attached the "Underwent an evil ritual" fluff to Necropolitans. Yes the fluff in question is easily discard able, but without it they make such perfect generic undead.

"Evil" ritual? Really?

Paying someone to kill you in a ritual manner that will raise you as an undead is Evil?

awa
2010-10-11, 07:30 PM
maybe some aspect of the ritual is evil. like maybe you need to kick a puppy right before you do it. the ritual could easily be evil just use your imagination.

Now im not saying a dm cant re fluff the ritual to not be evil.

Valameer
2010-10-11, 10:45 PM
The Deathless template from Eberron Campaign Setting are a kind of positive-energy powered undead variant. They are as good as undead are usually evil.

Glimbur
2010-10-11, 11:20 PM
True Necromancer (Heroes of Horror, rest of the book is full of cheese though) is good for the class. Pretty balanced and you can freely heal yourself if you are undead.


You can also pick up the Tomb Tainted Soul (get healed by neg energy, hurt by pos) feat from somewhere I forget, though you aren't really undead.

You want Dread Necromancer, from the book you cited. True Necromancer is a theurge type PrC without full casting... it's considered sub-par for that and other reasons.

Ravens_cry
2010-10-12, 12:07 AM
There is a Good Lich variant in the Forgotten Realms. The LA is the same as a Lich though I believe. The Walker of the Waste doesn't have to be evil if I recall right and you become a Dry Lich as a capstone. Whether LA applies is a matter of no little debate. Mummies and Mummy Lords are only usually evil. This leaves plenty of room for a good Mummy, but they aren't meant for player use with LA -. Your best bet is probably the Necropolitan template.

Coidzor
2010-10-12, 12:17 AM
Isn't there also some kind of mummified creature template that's basically an example of what mummies could have been?

And are awakened undead always evil?

Leon
2010-10-12, 12:21 AM
True Necromancer is a theurge type PrC.

and Found in Liber Mortis

Ravens_cry
2010-10-12, 12:32 AM
And are awakened undead always evil?
To the best of my knowledge technically yes, and technically they are still LA -. Talk to your DM though.

Coidzor
2010-10-12, 12:34 AM
To the best of my knowledge technically yes, and technically they are still LA -. Talk to your DM though.

It's always amusing the anthropocentrism of roleplaying games that have all of these fantastic creatures and yet are dead set on making you play as a human anyway.

Ravens_cry
2010-10-12, 12:43 AM
It's always amusing the anthropocentrism of roleplaying games that have all of these fantastic creatures and yet are dead set on making you play as a human anyway.
If you read the First edition AD&D books, it was explicitly anthrocentric. Even the demihumans played second fiddle to Homo sapiens sapiens, and DM's were given explicit directions to not let players play monsters. The whole Level Adjustment change of 3.X is actually an improvement on the situation.

Hague
2010-10-12, 01:02 AM
Have them get killed by a shadow or other spawning creature and force them into the Emancipated Spawn prestige class?

Jolly
2010-10-13, 05:05 PM
So, in looking over the Necropolitan template it appears you lose a level when taking it? If correct, isn't that basically a retroactive LA+1?

Morph Bark
2010-10-13, 05:08 PM
So, in looking over the Necropolitan template it appears you lose a level when taking it? If correct, isn't that basically a retroactive LA+1?

Sort of, yes, but at least you can regain it more easily, since it does not affect your XP gain.

...well, as in, losing that level will make you a level lower than the other party members for a while, sure, but you will be getting more XP to make up for it until you are back at the same level as them.

Greenish
2010-10-13, 05:27 PM
5. A class that is effective without raising hordes of other undead to fight for me. I'm thinking of making him a True Neutral worshipper of either Wee Jas or a homebrew version of Morr from WFRP.Go go Ruby Knight Vindicator!

LOTRfan
2010-10-13, 05:36 PM
Savage Species has Wraiths, Umbral Horrors, Mummies, and Wrights as templates (they have LA, but I don't remember how much...).

mangosta71
2010-10-13, 05:36 PM
There's a 3-level PrC for undead called "Emancipated Undead" or something like that. It essentially allows a character who has been killed and raised as an evil/mindless undead to reclaim their identity without being resurrected.

Jolly
2010-10-13, 06:25 PM
There's a 3-level PrC for undead called "Emancipated Undead" or something like that. It essentially allows a character who has been killed and raised as an evil/mindless undead to reclaim their identity without being resurrected.

Do you happen to know what book that's from?


Sort of, yes, but at least you can regain it more easily, since it does not affect your XP gain.

...well, as in, losing that level will make you a level lower than the other party members for a while, sure, but you will be getting more XP to make up for it until you are back at the same level as them.

True, but if you're making a character for a one shot that level drop is no fun.

LOTRfan
2010-10-13, 06:28 PM
Emancipated Spawn is from Savage Species.

Morph Bark
2010-10-13, 06:29 PM
True, but if you're making a character for a one shot that level drop is no fun.

Either way, "effective LA+1" is probably the lowest you will get as other undead give greater LA or are unplayable - especially since a whole lot are mindless or have too strong abilities.

Jolly
2010-10-14, 12:16 AM
Either way, "effective LA+1" is probably the lowest you will get as other undead give greater LA or are unplayable - especially since a whole lot are mindless or have too strong abilities.

An excellent point. Ah well, guess you've gotta take what you can get (or home brew). :smallsmile:

Gabe the Bard
2010-10-14, 01:59 AM
There's the Risen Martyr prestige class from Book of Exalted Deeds, which turns you in a good ghost. You're not undead, but "deathless," and you draw your strength from the Positive Energy Plane. After 10 levels of the prestige class, your character rises into the upper planes, never to adventure again... So, um, yeah...