Evil Necromancer Kitten

[GnomeGninjas]

After just getting dragon compendium I came up with an interesting character concept. A tibbit deathmaster who stays in cat form all the time and performs horrible acts of necromancy in the name of Orcus all while pretending to be a normal(ish) not (very) evil cat. My plan is to use easy metamagic and silent spell as well as blood to get rid of the somatic and verbal components that cat form prevents me from using. My undead minion would be in charge of collecting blood from slain enemies and carrying most of my stuff. My question is material components. Can I use them in cat form? It doesn't say that I can't but I says I can't manipulate fine objects so I might not be able to use them. Also do you have any tips for keeping my alignment and evil deeds secret or suggestions for playing a deathmaster.

[Malachei]

No, I think you cannot.

I don't have access to your exact ability's description right now, but assuming it works similar to other shapechanging effects:


If the new form is capable of speech, you can communicate normally. You retain any spellcasting ability you had in your original form, but the new form must be able to speak intelligibly (that is, speak a language) to use verbal components and must have limbs capable of fine manipulation to use somatic or material components.
(from Alter Self)

[Jeff the Green]

Eschew Materials is your friend. Also, Nonverbal Spell is probably better than Silent Spell, since it only costs one feat, rather than the two for Silent + Easy metamagic.

[ILM]

Surrogate Spellcasting from Savage Species takes care of the verbal and somatic components, if your DM will allow it. I guess Eschew Materials is your best bets for the components but you're SOL for spells with expensive ones.

[hewhosaysfish]

Surrogate Spellcasting from Savage Species takes care of the verbal and somatic components, if your DM will allow it. I guess Eschew Materials is your best bets for the components but you're SOL for spells with expensive ones.

Expensive components like the black onyx needed to cast Animate Dead...

Would "manipulating" material components with Mage Hand count? Maybe get a Hand of the Mage (you might have to take the Spell Hand feat from CArc to explain how you got the HotM in the first place..)

[ILM]

Expensive components like the black onyx needed to cast Animate Dead...
I guess he could always carry a little onyx pebble in his mouth, drop it when he wants to animate a zombie, and mew while rolling around on his back, pawing at the air, as substitutes for verbal and somatic components :smalltongue:.

[Bonzai]

This reminds me of a charcter I once thought up as a DM (Had a Cat familiar deliver touch spells). I would highly encourage you to look at the Mother Cyst feat from Liber Mortis. One touch spell and you have implanted a Cyst. From there you can do all kinds of nasty stuff to them. Scry on them. Dominate them. Turn them into suicide bombers... Its a suprisingly potent feat, especially for an NPC. Plus it's creepy as all get out.

[Igneel]

Surrogate Spellcasting should be a very helpful feat for spellcasting as a cat.

If carrying a Onyx or two is a big problem, grab a Collar of Perpetual Attendance (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c) for a Unseen Servant at will, along with carry your Handy Haversack (5lbs out of its 20lb carry weight limit). After you get a skeleton servant he can wear a cloak and do the heavy lifting for you. Of course a Deathmaster gets a undead for a familiar/cohort so that might not be the case, but at least you have a 'second' servant by dressing your Unseen Servant in a cloak.

I personally like to use the MIC rules for combining items and combine Collar of Perpetual Attendance with a homebrew Prestidigitation at-will item (should be the same price as they have a similar formula), then proceed to have two very useful cantrips at will for ~5,000gp.

Conceal Spellcasting/False Theurgy skill tricks might be interesting options once you get enough skill ranks/points to actually use them.

[GnomeGninjas]

Surrogate Spellcasting should be a very helpful feat for spellcasting as a cat.

If carrying a Onyx or two is a big problem, grab a Collar of Perpetual Attendance (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c) for a Unseen Servant at will, along with carry your Handy Haversack (5lbs out of its 20lb carry weight limit). After you get a skeleton servant he can wear a cloak and do the heavy lifting for you. Of course a Deathmaster gets a undead for a familiar/cohort so that might not be the case, but at least you have a 'second' servant by dressing your Unseen Servant in a cloak.

I personally like to use the MIC rules for combining items and combine Collar of Perpetual Attendance with a homebrew Prestidigitation at-will item (should be the same price as they have a similar formula), then proceed to have two very useful cantrips at will for ~5,000gp.

Conceal Spellcasting/False Theurgy skill tricks might be interesting options once you get enough skill ranks/points to actually use them.

Surrogate Spellcasting and that collar looks very useful.

[Darth Stabber]

I am currently running a game with a tibbit dread necromancer, and I let her get away with taking natural spell.

[GnomeGninjas]

Surrogate Spellcasting seems like it could do the same thing Natural Spell could.

[Slipperychicken]

Also do you have any tips for keeping my alignment and evil deeds secret or suggestions for playing a deathmaster.

Take Leadership for a Dread Necro Cohort and cultist followers. Pretend to be the Dread Necro's pet/familair, wearing a collar and responding to a name like Mr. Snugglypoo. Only the most genre-savvy/metagaming opponents will see such a twist coming. Use Magic Aura so you don't trigger the Christmas Tree effect under things like Detect Magic. Best part is that, even if you're defeated, you can scurry off to rebuild later.


Google the Fabulous Cats web enhancement. Some good stuff there like Handle Humanoid for keeping your cohort in line.


EDIT: Max Bluff. Get either Undetectable Alignment or a Nondetection Ring. Animals (INT less than 3) show up as true neutral anyway. Without a magic aura to give it away, you'll pretty much always avoid suspicion, assuming you stay "in character" for an ordinary cat.

[GnomeGninjas]

Take Leadership for a Dread Necro Cohort and cultist followers. Pretend to be the Dread Necro's pet/familair, wearing a collar and responding to a name like Mr. Snugglypoo. Only the most genre-savvy/metagaming opponents will see such a twist coming. Use Magic Aura so you don't trigger the Christmas Tree effect under things like Detect Magic. Best part is that, even if you're defeated, you can scurry off to rebuild later.


Google the Fabulous Cats web enhancement. Some good stuff there like Handle Humanoid for keeping your cohort in line.


EDIT: Max Bluff. Get either Undetectable Alignment or a Nondetection Ring. Animals (INT less than 3) show up as true neutral anyway. Without a magic aura to give it away, you'll pretty much always avoid suspicion, assuming you stay "in character" for an ordinary cat.

The problem with that is the party they would probably object to the dread necromancer's evilness as much as they would object to a death master's evilness and if they kill the dread necromancer and I scurry off to rebuild I wouldn't get to participate in the adventure.