Death advice!

[Adamaro]

Long story short:
- Nerull became strongest god in pantheon
- Death cults got very, very strong and very, very rampant

How can I as a DM create some really annoying, overpowered death-cultists? (Like them being able to just conjure up extremely strong poisons, spam Symbols of death, etc. What bonuses would one get by being ona good side of god of death?)

Also, suggestions to kill as many people as possible as fast as possible are much appreciated. (from a standpoint of a cleric with death domain of a say, lvl 5 or 10. Not exactly 20. Poison in water supply comes to mind, but not much more.)

Need some cool death cultist-abilites.

[*.*.*.*]

Necromancers, Necromancers, Necromancers


'Nuff said

[sonofzeal]

Check out the Death Delver PrC. Its capstone isn't powerful, but it's hilarious, and totally in keeping. If you want to lighten up the campaign a little, and even the darkest campaign needs to break the tension every once in a while, Death Delver is a great place to start.

Blackguards, Wu Jen, and Warlocks all get Animate Dead, but would use it very differently. Things with levels in the Adept NPC class might also be interesting.

But the fastest way to depopulate a city on a budget is a Wightopocalypse. Things killed by a Wight come back as a Wight. Wight attacks deal negative levels, which are rapidly fatal to people of low levels. A few Wights in the right place can start a chain reaction that floods outwards, Zombie Apocalypse style. Good times are had by all, except the PCs.

[ILM]

Necromancers, Necromancers, Necromancers


'Nuff said
I always found it odd how deities and cultists of Death have this attachment to undead creatures. It would seem to me, in fact, that undead creatures are the worst slap in the face you could ever think of for the god of Death. I mean, he says something dies, and then you come along and make it not stay dead? Man, that'd piss me off, that's for sure.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I always found it odd how deities and cultists of Death have this attachment to undead creatures. It would seem to me, in fact, that undead creatures are the worst slap in the face you could ever think of for the god of Death. I mean, he says something dies, and then you come along and make it not stay dead? Man, that'd piss me off, that's for sure.

Kelemvor would agree with you. That's why he has the Repose domain rather than the Death domain in his portfolio.

[Adamaro]

I always found it odd how deities and cultists of Death have this attachment to undead creatures. It would seem to me, in fact, that undead creatures are the worst slap in the face you could ever think of for the god of Death. I mean, he says something dies, and then you come along and make it not stay dead? Man, that'd piss me off, that's for sure.
Well if it produces more death ... then this is just the perfect choice. Thing dies, its soul goes to another world while its body slays on.

how would one exactly "acquire" a wraith? (as a cleric)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well if it produces more death ... then this is just the perfect choice. Thing dies, its soul goes to another world while its body slays on.

how would one exactly "acquire" a wraith? (as a cleric)

Rebuke/Command Undead. And it's Wight, not Wraith... which is only 4HD, so it can be Commanded by a Cleric of 8th level or lower.

As for how to create one, apply negative levels to someone. Enervation is a good way to do that, but there are others.

[Ravens_cry]

Kelemvor would agree with you. That's why he has the Repose domain rather than the Death domain in his portfolio.

Pharasma from the default Pathfinder campaign setting has similar sentiments. In fact, while she has the Death domain, she gets some alternate abilities.
I am still pissed you can't put Disruption on a scythe.

[Serpentine]

You know... "cult" generally refers to fringe religion. By the time your death god is the head honcho, you're not really looking at "death cults" anymore. You're looking at full-blown death theocracies.

[Adamaro]

You know... "cult" generally refers to fringe religion. By the time your death god is the head honcho, you're not really looking at "death cults" anymore. You're looking at full-blown death theocracies.
Good point. Still, things changed rather fast here, and these cults popped up as a sort of "mass insanity", "death worship" and similar crap (maybe a bit like in the movie the Happening). But I guess in time, death theocracies may be in order.

[Person_Man]

I'm a fan of mooks with Destruction Devotion (Comp Champion). Every time one hits a PC, their AC is lowered by 1. Give it to 100 odd cultists and see what happens when the PCs try to break up their meeting.

[NikitaDarkstar]

Read up on various options in Libris Mortis and Hollowfaust, City of Necromancers. While the last one is 3rd party both have some fun options and ideas for running necromancy orientated stuff as large scale. (Libris Mortis for spells and various templates and prestige classes, hollowfaust for undead in a more organized manner.. because well, sounds like you might have a necropolis or two in your setting. :p)