The "Anti-Druid"?

[Mr. Zolrane]

Okay, guys so the campaign I'm going to be DMing in the fall will feature an initial Big Bad who is a sort of nature-wrecking anti-druid. He creates lots of nature-based undead (one of his minions is Rich Burlew's "Charred Horror"), and specializes in killing fey (it will turn out, eventually, that the fey were the real bad guys, and the "anti-druid" was just trying to save the world by any means necessary, but that's not relevant).

My problem is that I haven't the foggiest as to how to go about building such a character. Does anyone know of any base classes or PrCs (homebrew is fine, so long as it's not busted), or any combination thereof that could facilitate that kind of flavor?

[Yuki Akuma]

Uh.

The Blighter PrC from Complete Divine?

You know, the one that's exactly an anti-Druid.

[Tvtyrant]

Other than Blighter? There is one that lets you wildshape as a skeleton I think.

[IthroZada]

There is a blight themed Druid prc, that I can't recall where it's at. It is nice and flavorful, but not all that impressive. And Pathfinder has alternate class features for a blight druid. Anti-nature? Yes. Good at specifically killing feys and raising undead, not so much.

[Mr. Zolrane]

Uh.

The Blighter PrC from Complete Divine?

You know, the one that's exactly an anti-Druid.

Ah. I should have specified that I don't own any splats. The only one I will own by the time the campaign rolls around is CAr. So Blighter's an actual class, eh? Funny, I was thinking of calling his class that very thing. Can you tell me more about this class? What can it do that's different from a druid?


Other than Blighter? There is one that lets you wildshape as a skeleton I think.

Not quite what I'm going for, but thanks. This is the kind of guy who only fights directly when there's no possible way for him to avoid the matter.

[Zale]

A lumberjack.

Barbarian with an axe. :cool:


Though, you're also going to need to somehow raise dead things.

[Mr. Zolrane]

Pathfinder has alternate class features for a blight druid. Anti-nature? Yes. Good at specifically killing feys and raising undead, not so much.

This is a Pathfinder campaign, so that could work out nicely. Haven't done a great deal of reading on the PF druid, otherwise I might have known about this already. Thanks. As for the fey killing and undead raising, I can DM fiat that in there if need be.


A lumberjack.

Barbarian with an axe. :cool:.

Cute, Zale.

[Greenish]

A lumberjack.

Barbarian with an axe. :cool:A Cutting (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040919a) greataxe. :smalltongue:


Oh, and Walker of the Waste could be anti-druid, since it's very anti-life.

[Yuki Akuma]

Ah. I should have specified that I don't own any splats. The only one I will own by the time the campaign rolls around is CAr. So Blighter's an actual class, eh? Funny, I was thinking of calling his class that very thing. Can you tell me more about this class? What can it do that's different from a druid?

It requires you to be nongood and be an ex-Druid previously capable of casting 3rd-level spells.

It grants its own spellcasting progression, at the same rate as an Ur-Priest (so at PrC level 10 you have 9th-level slots). It also gets class abilities to replace the abilities you lost from losing your Druid status - such as undead wild shape.

It has its own spell list, on which it has animate dead and other undead-creating spells. It has nothing particularly to do with killing fey, but any Druid worth his salt can do that already. Give him cold iron weapons.

[Hirax]

Can you tell me more about this class? What can it do that's different from a druid?


You get 9th level spellcasting over the course of 10 levels. You can't use spells unless you've destroyed a bunch of plants in the past 24 hours, though. It requires a BAB of 4 and ex-druid that was capable of casting 3rd level druid spells to enter.

[Tvtyrant]

Well you could combine two of the Druid Variants to get a Ranger/Monk/Barbarian that can cast spells. Wisdom to AC, double fast movement, Favored Enemy, full casting, etc. Good times.

[Zale]

I'm adorable. :smallbiggrin:


Blighters can animate undead animals, talk to their corpses and have to destroy plants to continue their access to magic.

[Malimar]

Blighter has to be a level 5 ex-druid to enter (being the DM, you could always recrunch that prereq). They basically have ur-priest spellcasting progression, but from a limited list of "screw nature" spells that doesn't look particularly good at first glance. They also get a weird and varied list of "screw nature" class features.

And the one that lets you wildshape as a skeleton is the blighter, unless there are more.

[LOTRfan]

I could e-mail you the Blighter PrC, if you wish.

[FMArthur]

Not every man with a different opinion on Moradin's precise number of beard hairs needs a prestige class. You could just make a regular necromancer and easily use this concept, without any of the wierd hitches that might otherwise have come with it (like needing Druid levels to be an anti-Druid).

[Eldariel]

Ah. I should have specified that I don't own any splats. The only one I will own by the time the campaign rolls around is CAr. So Blighter's an actual class, eh? Funny, I was thinking of calling his class that very thing. Can you tell me more about this class? What can it do that's different from a druid?

Blighter is basically Druid Blackguard. You fall as a Druid and enter the class; minimum entry level is level 7. It is a fast progression casting class so the spells start from level 1 on 1st level of the class (7th character level) and you get 9th level spells on 9th level of the class (character level 15). They basically cast like Druids; Wis-based, 9 spell levels, etc.

They have a locked, small spell list with lots of destruction and undead-themed spells. They also get Undead Wildshape for themselves (basically, they can turn to Skeleton-versions of the animals a normal Druid could turn into). Blighter has to use Deforestation (basically kills all plants within 20' per Blighter level area) daily to cast spells. Then Blighters gain a bunch of silly class features like Blightfire (5d6 damage to stuff within 10', ignites flammables; they apparently use it for Wildfires), Speak with Dead Animal (WONDER WHAT THAT MIGHT DO?), Animate Dead Animal (Guess!), Contagious Touch (as per the spell) and on 10th level, a 20' AOE version of Contagious Touch named "Plague". Then they can unbond animal companions/familiars from their masters but that's just weird. All these abilities have save DC 10+Blighter Level+Wis Modifier. Oh, and they get to live without food and drink (YAY!)

[Dr.Epic]

Uh.

The Blighter PrC from Complete Divine?

You know, the one that's exactly an anti-Druid.

Yep, pretty much this. It's what to druids what blackguards are to paladins.

[Hirax]

To suggest a whole build, if I had to use the blighter, here's what I'd go with:
Druid5/bard3/blighter 2/sublime chord 2/mystic theurge 8

Sublime chord is from Complete Arcane, and mystic theurge is in the DMG. This build will have you singing and dancing as you raze forests! Since the blighter's spell list is pretty tiny, sublime chord will give you some more versatility in spellcasting.

[aazru]

Dread Necro 7/Bligther 3/Arcane Hierophant X with a Vampiric Faerie Dragon familiar. :smallbiggrin:

[olejars]

Maybe a Talontor Blightlord is what your looking for out of Unapproachable East.

[Ernir]

DragoonWraith showed the necro-druid concept some love with his Deadwood (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9382290) PrC.

[Yuki Akuma]

Blighter is basically Druid Blackguard. You fall as a Druid and enter the class; minimum entry level is level 7.

6. Druid 5/Fighter 1 gets you there.

[Greenish]

6. Druid 5/Fighter 1 gets you there.So does druid 6, so minimum entry level 7, since you need to have 6 levels before you can enter. :smallamused:

[Tvtyrant]

So does druid 6, so minimum entry level 7, since you need to have 6 levels before you can enter. :smallamused:

The wording indicates you can have the levels peeled off by a Wight or Vampire and then become a Blighter, so you don't have dead levels.

[Yuki Akuma]

So does druid 6, so minimum entry level 7, since you need to have 6 levels before you can enter. :smallamused:

Sure, but that's just a waste of a level. It's better to go with... anything else, because then you actually get class features.

(Although I misunderstood exactly what he was saying. Whoops.)

[FMArthur]

You could also make use of the character rebuilding options in PHII to gradually exchange Druid levels for other things over the course of your career.

[Analytica]

Seconding Talontar Blightlord if you can find it. It gives full divine progression, a bonus domain with some thematic spells, ability to turn animals into "blighted ones" and rebuke "blighted ones", then you get plant type (like a pod person) as the capstone.

[Hirax]

Seconding Talontar Blightlord if you can find it. It gives full divine progression, a bonus domain with some thematic spells, ability to turn animals into "blighted ones" and rebuke "blighted ones", then you get plant type (like a pod person) as the capstone.

Just looked up this class, and I'll definitely recommend it as well, though it doesn't quite give full casting, you miss a caster level on levels 6 and 10. But that's very tolerable. As mentioned, it's in the book Unapproachable East.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Ya when I started reading this I totally though that that PrC from UE.

[Mr. Zolrane]

Unapproachable East, huh? Never heard of it, what's it like?

[Greenish]

Unapproachable East, huh? Never heard of it, what's it like?It's an FR book focusing on the eastern nations: Rashemen, Thay, Aglarond and so forth.

It has non-psionic thri-kreen, the everpopular beguiler (race) and stuff like that. Tefflammar Shadowlord too, if my memory serves.

[Mr. Zolrane]

It's an FR book focusing on the eastern nations: Rashemen, Thay, Aglarond and so forth.

It has non-psionic thri-kreen, the everpopular beguiler (race) and stuff like that. Tefflammar Shadowlord too, if my memory serves.

Ah. I try to stay away from setting-specific stuff in my worldbuilding. Gets messy sometimes. Also, the only published setting I really like is Eberron.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Dread Necro would probably do a good job by itself. Nothing says he can't raise animal skeletons. Much better than the Blighter, which quite frankly stinks on dry ice, mechanically.

[King Atticus]

Yep, I'd just go Necromancer and make sure you have the Junglerazer spell from spell compendium (pg 127) Seems to have the flavor you're looking for and it's only a 3rd level spell so you can cast it all day long.

The junglerazer spell turns forest to ash and ruins plant creatures Invisible destructive energy springs silently forth from you, instantly destroying all
natural plant life in the area and leaving a path of ash in its wake.

Fey, vermin, plants and plant creatures, and animals caught in the area take
1d10 points of negative energy damage per caster level (maximum 10d10).

[Mr. Zolrane]

Yep, I'd just go Necromancer and make sure you have the Junglerazer spell from spell compendium (pg 127) Seems to have the flavor you're looking for and it's only a 3rd level spell so you can cast it all day long.

The junglerazer spell turns forest to ash and ruins plant creatures Invisible destructive energy springs silently forth from you, instantly destroying all
natural plant life in the area and leaving a path of ash in its wake.

Fey, vermin, plants and plant creatures, and animals caught in the area take
1d10 points of negative energy damage per caster level (maximum 10d10).

That sounds pretty nasty. I'll have to look into that.

[Arbane]

To suggest a whole build, if I had to use the blighter, here's what I'd go with:
Druid5/bard3/blighter 2/sublime chord 2/mystic theurge 8

Sublime chord is from Complete Arcane, and mystic theurge is in the DMG. This build will have you singing and dancing as you raze forests!

"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay...."? :smallbiggrin:

Has anyone ported the Dark Sun Defilers over to 3.5? I'd think they might be a good choice, too.

[gorfnab]

the everpopular beguiler (race) and stuff like that.

The Beguiler race is in Shining South.

[Lord_Gareth]

You could refluff my Children of the Mausoleum. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116191&highlight=Mausoleum)

[Feytalist]

It's a big bad and not a PC right? So, nothing can stop you from combining your own spell list, taken from druid and wizard/sorcerer spells, and giving some anti-fey/undead capabilities, right?

Hmm, Turn Fey anyone?

As to the blighter, I agree that crunch-wise it's all that awesome, but fluff-wise it does seem to fit. Talonar Blightlord however is a bit too setting-specific, with some abilities that only really makes sense in context (including the actual "blight" part), but if you want to refluff it, that might be a better fit.

[Aricandor]

If I were to make such an NPC, I'd probably just make it a cleric. Plenty of negative energy and undead to go around while staying within the realm of divine characters. Throw in a Animal/Plant domains and Domain Spontaneity with them and it's got enough druidic-ish spells to pass off as once having been one.
As mentioned there's nothing more flavourful for the concept than the Junglerazer spell, which is sadly not on the cleric list, but I'd put it on for this particular NPC just because. :smallsmile:

[Luckmann]

Since you said that this is a Pathfinder campaign, I'd just go with a Druid of the Blight Druid archetype. Then I'd take a look at the Talontar Blightlord PrC from Forgotten Realms: Unapproachable East, the Blighter PrC in Masters of the Wild (3.0) and the Blighter PrC from Complete Divine (3.5); and work from there to make a custom Pathfinder PrC.

The Blighter in 3.0 and the Blighter in 3.5 is nearly identical, but it can't hurt to check both. If nothing else, the 3.0 Blighter has a cooler image. :smallbiggrin:

Edit: Unapproachable East also has the Blightspawned monster template, which you might want to take a look at.

[Feytalist]

Edit: Unapproachable East also has the Blightspawned monster template, which you might want to take a look at.

That was really part of my point: The Blightspawned is very setting-specific, which might take something out of your own campaign.

No reason why you can't refluff, obviously.

[Psyren]

It's an FR book focusing on the eastern nations: Rashemen, Thay, Aglarond and so forth.

It has non-psionic thri-kreen, the everpopular beguiler (race) and stuff like that. Tefflammar Shadowlord too, if my memory serves.

Also Shou Disciple (yay!) and Runescarred Berserker (double yay!)

[Luckmann]

That was really part of my point: The Blightspawned is very setting-specific, which might take something out of your own campaign.

No reason why you can't refluff, obviously.Well, yes, obviously he would have to rework any PrC he uses, anyway. It's a Pathfinder game, so at least any established blighter-kind of PrC will have to be reworked.

I only wanted to suggest PrCs to look at in the context. My proposal is to simply make an entirely new PrC based upon previous "blighters". For example, the "Blightspawned" template eventually turns anything into a Zombie - If I used the Blightspawned template, I'd obviously scrap that. How would a Blightspawned Treant transform into a Zombie anyway?

[Eldariel]

It's an FR book focusing on the eastern nations: Rashemen, Thay, Aglarond and so forth.

It has non-psionic thri-kreen, the everpopular beguiler (race) and stuff like that. Tefflammar Shadowlord too, if my memory serves.

One of the best books ever. Not only that, but also:
- Runescarred Berserker
- Shou Disciple
- Nar Demonbinder
- Berserker Lodge Feats
- Battle Jump
- Rashemi Elemental Summoning
- Animate Dread Warrior
- Valorous Weapon
- Star Elves


Overall, excellent balance and tons of superb material (compared to usual Faerun-material, it has a ridiculously small amount of stupid good stuff). Only thing is, Beguiler and Thri-Kreen are actually from Shining South. That said, UE still has more than its share of good stuff on its own value (Shining South is pretty high up there far as best Faerun supplements go, btw; just kinda more broken). Indeed, it's among my top books crunch-wise, and in an area that's one of the more interesting ones you can run in Faerun.

[gorfnab]

What about using Planar Shepard (Faiths of Eberron) with whatever the Plane or Realm of the Dead is for Pathfinder?

[Fox Box Socks]

For a slightly different tactic, you could go Walker in the Waste from Sandstorm. Rather than burning down the land, he'd instead slowly sap the life from it.