[3.5] Help me make a gravedigger

[PrGo]

I'd like to make a gravedigger character that's a capable combatant with limited necromantic abilities.

Fluff-wise: His entire life he spent around the graveyard, being raised by an old gravekeeper, until he ultimately inherited his calling. He dabbled in necromancy, but couldn't become a true necromancer due to limited resources (and his sub-par intelligence). Eventually, he heard rumors of an active necromancer (my brother's character) not so far away and went to find him and serve him.

So the plan is to have some cleric levels for command and rebuke undead and some self buffs for combat, and eventually animate dead if I level more levels of cleric.

So, gimme some ideas, concepts or builds. For those of you who play League of Legends, this is obviously inspired by Yorrick :smalltongue:

Also he'd fight with a shovel.

PS: Sorry if this is not well put, but it's 5 AM when I'm writing this, so I'll probably reread and recompose it tommorow.

Thanks in advance :smallbiggrin:

[Kol Korran]

fluff wise i'd actually got with a favored soul- his magic seems to be more a thing of instinct than belief. if you can get your DM to join the casting stats to just one, that would be better.

make your own belief and ideals (sorry, i know not who is Yorrick) and have your favored weapon be a shovel. i have... no idea how to stat a shovel, but i'd make it with the stats of a heavy mace, perhaps a morning star, only it's Bludgeoning and Slashing.

not much input, but i liked the idea. so here goes.

[Thurbane]

Cleric with Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Monk's Spade)? The weapon can be found in Secrets of Sarlona, from memory.

If you don't want to go pure cleric, you might want to look into the Death Delver PrC in Heroes of Horror - might be a fit thematically.

[Gotterdammerung]

I saw a character do this once in a RPGA Living Greyhawk game.

He was a necromancer wizard specialist.

Always carried around a spooky bull lantern.

Used a shovel in combat but had to take the penalties for an improv weapon.


Since, your background says your kinda dumb, wizard won't work for you (which is too bad cuz nec wiz palemaster works real well for a gravedigger. But there are a good bit of undead flavored casters that don't rely on int.

I can't remmeber dread necromancers stats but that sounds a little to audacious to match your guy anyway.

Warlock gets a undead making invocation.

Cleric is probably your best bet.

Unless you can get your GM to let in a dragonlance class for kenders and refluff it.

[deuxhero]

Profession: Miner lets you make 5 ft holes.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

But the question is... will he make it shallow, so that I can feel the rain

Also... check out Dread Necromancer class. It does pretty much what you want it to do.

[Chained Birds]

Profession: Miner lets you make 5 ft holes.

Profession: (Gravedigger) could work like Profession: (Miner). The DM will most likely allow this, because who (besides Kobolds) actually puts ranks in profession anyway?

[Qwertystop]

Profession: (Gravedigger) could work like Profession: (Miner). The DM will most likely allow this, because who (besides Kobolds) actually puts ranks in profession anyway?

Why do Kobolds put ranks in Profession again?

[deuxhero]

Profession: (Gravedigger) could work like Profession: (Miner). The DM will most likely allow this, because who (besides Kobolds) actually puts ranks in profession anyway?

Sailors and siege weaponry operators.

Pretty sure it is a requirment for a class or PRC as well

[PrGo]

Death Delver looks like a sweet PrC for this guy. In addition to that, I'll take a level or two of Death's Chosen from Libris Mortis.

Profession (Gravedigger) will be most valid choice of skill points :P
I may take a rank or two in Perform (Dance) to do something when bored. Just for the lulz.

Undead Leadership to have a dog companion that has some undead template.

Since this is a low-magic campaign, it's a no-no for awesome magic lantern and shovel, but I'll still take ordinary bull's eye lantern and maybe a masterwork shovel.

Thanks for the ideas so far! Keep them coming, please :smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Profession (Gravedigger) will be most valid choice of skill points :P
I may take a rank or two in Perform (Dance) to do something when bored. Just for the lulz. So he will move your dead bones too?


Undead Leadership to have a dog companion that has some undead template.

Since this is a low-magic campaign, it's a no-no for awesome magic lantern and shovel, but I'll still take ordinary bull's eye lantern and maybe a masterwork shovel.

Thanks for the ideas so far! Keep them coming, please :smallbiggrin:

I still say Dread Necromancer does everything you want to do. Makes Death Delver obsolete.

[PrGo]

I still say Dread Necromancer does everything you want to do. Makes Death Delver obsolete.

True, but that makes him a damn good necromancer, and eventually a lich, which kinda beats the purpose of being a servant to a mighty necromancer who'll become a lich.

I want more of a sidekick character, my Redcloak to my brother's Xykon, if I may :smalltongue:

[King Atticus]

I'd have him keep that shovel strapped to his back as a backup weapon (since it's improvised anyway) and utility tool and have his primary weapon be a heavy pick. It's still a digging implement so it can fit the fluff and has an actual chance at doing damage (hooray for x4 crit).

[Thurbane]

Undead Leadership to have a dog companion that has some undead template.
There's the Gravehound in Miniatures Handbook (not 100% sure if it's eligible for a cohort, though). It's a 4HD CR3 undead dog with a stunning bite.

[Lord.Sorasen]

Perhaps you could take the Knight of the Sepulcher (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/alternate-classes/antipaladin/archetypes/paizo---antipaladin-archetypes/knight-of-the-sepulcher) variant of the antipaladin, if your dm is ok with pathfinder things. You'd be a far cry from a real necromancer, but it seems like that might be your goal anyway, so it works. You could have the shovel and give it the stats of a different weapon, or go with the exotic monk's spade, and could take the command undead feat to use channel energy to control some level of undead.

[Treblain]

Warlock with Eldritch Glaive refluffed as an Eldritch Shovel would be pretty funny. Warlocks can get an invocation that functions as either temporary or permanent Animate Dead.

Rebuke Undead is tricky, whatever you choose. It's going to become impractical unless you keep your cleric levels up.

Death Delver is interesting and very thematically appropriate, but can't do everything you want it too. Other things I can think of are Hexblade and Paladin of Tyranny, who can do some necromancy, but not actually raise the dead, and could certainly fight with a shovel.