[WIP][3.5e] Monarch of the Damned...(Because we all like undead armies)

[Giegue]

Monarch of the Damned


http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/165/4/8/count_dracula_by_genzoman-d3iwdzf.jpg

Necromancy is often considered a poor choice of specialization for arcane spellcasters. While there is some power in the arcane necromancer's ability to enervate and curse foes, those seeking command over large amounts of undead almost always peruse divine means. However, for a stubborn few arcane necromancers, the allure of the power a massive legion of undead provides is to great to give up and as a result some arcane casters decide to delve into forbidden arts, sacrificing some of their arcane power for the ability to martial armies of undead larger then any other spellcaster.

These dark mages fancy themselves royalty among the undead, and unlike the divine minion masters focus on both animating the undead, but also on other means of increasing the size of their armies such as through magical domination of the undead and even mundane manipulation. Known as Monarchs of the Damned, these spellcasters sit at the head of massive undead legions and have both the arrogance and power to match,self-appoint themselves as royalty among the dead.

Requirements

Alignment: Any Evil
Skills: Diplomacy 5 Ranks, Knowledge(Nobility and Royalty) 2 Ranks, Knowledge(Religion) 8 Ranks, Knowledge(Arcana) 8 Ranks
Feats: Corpsecrafter, Undead Empathy, Spell Focus(Necromancy)
Spellcasting: Must be an arcane spellcaster able to cast at least one necromancy spell of every spell level to which you have access, one of which must be Command Undead.
Special: If the aspiring monarch is a wizard, they must be a specialist wizard who's specialty school is Necromancy

Class Features

Hit Die: d4
Proficiencies: The Monarch of the Damned gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Diplomacy(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(Arcana)(Int), Knowledge(Religion)(Int), Knowledge(Nobility and Royalty)(Int), Knowledge(History)(Int), Knowledge(The Planes)(Int), Profession(Wis), Sense Motive(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points Per-Level: 4+ Int Modifier

Monarch of the Damned
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Rebuke Undead, Lore of the Damned, Master of the Dark Art +1|---

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Grace of the Monarch|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|The Legion's Banquet|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Edict of the Monarch|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Duke of the Damned, Master of the Dark Art +2|---

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Chessmaster's Hand|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Kindle the Soul's Fire|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Dread Lieutenant|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Rise, my Legion!|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Emperor of the Damned, Master of the Dark Art +3|--- [/table]

Spellcasting: At every level except 1st, 5th and 10th, the Monarch of the Damned gains new spells per-day, spells known(if applicable) and an increase in caster level as if he had taken a level in his base arcane spellcasting class. He however, gains no other abilities from this(such as improvements to his familiar.)

Rebuke Undead (Su): As a master of commanding and controlling large amounts of minions, one of the first dark arts the Monarch of the Damned learns is the ability to channel negative energy to subjugate undead in the same manner as an evil cleric. At 1st level, the Monarch of the Damned gains the ability to rebuke undead as an evil cleric of their character level a number of times equal to 3+ the Monarch’s Cha modifier. If the Monarch already had the ability to rebuke undead before entering this class, this class stacks with the class that granted him rebuking for all purposes except determining uses per-day of the Monarch's rebuke undead ability.

Lore of the Damned: The Monarch of the Damned's dark studies reveal to him Necromantic lore to which few other arcane spellcasters have access. The Monarch of the Damned adds all "Inflict" spells and the spells Animate Dead, Desecrate, Unhallow, Harm, Mass Harm and General of Undeath to his spellbook or spells known when he gains access to the spell level at which they appear on the cleric list. All these spells are considered to be of the necromancy school, even if they usually belong to a different school.(So a monarch who had chosen evocation as a banned school could still cast desecrate because it is treated as a Necromancy spell for him, not an evocation spell.) If the Monarch already has access to the spell level at which they appear on the cleric list, he automatically adds them to his spellbook or spells known upon taking his first level in the Monarch of the Damned class. These spells are treated and cast as any other spells the monarch can cast are in all ways incidental to all other spells on the Monarch's class spell list.

In addition, at every even numbered monarch of the damned class level, the monarch may choose one necromancy spell from any spell list and add it to his class spell list, but not his spellbook or spells known at the level they appear on the spell list the Monarch drew them from. The Monarch may learn these spells either as bonus spells from leveling up or from written sources and may prepare these spells like any other spells on his class spell list if he is a prepared spellcaster. If he is a spontaneous caster he may select these spells when choosing his spells known and may swap out any of his current spells known for one of these spells each time he takes a monarch of the damned class level or would exchange a spell known for a new one. These spells are treated and cast as any other spells the monarch can cast are in all ways incidental to all other spells on the Monarch's class spell list.


Master of the Dark Art: The Monarch of the Damned may give up much of his arcane power for the necromantic abilities he gains, but retains his mastery over necromancy. The monarch's effective caster level when casting Necromancy spells is equal to his caster level +1. At level five, it becomes his caster level +2 and at level 10 it changes to his caster level +3. This effective caster level also applies to his monarch of the damned class features and the effects of the spells animate dead and desecrate and deathbound domain.(So the monarch's would use his enhanced caster level rather then his modifier to determine how many undead he could animate and control with his class features and the animate dead spell)

In addition, while the monarch of the damned does not advance in caster level at levels 1, 5 and 10 he still gains new spells per-day, and access to new spell levels if would obtain them, as if he gained a caster level at those levels. He however, does not gain an actual caster level increase at those levels; just new spells per day. Also, while he gains access to new spell slots and spell levels, he is temporarily limited in how he can use these new slots and spell levels.

Until his unmodified caster level(so this ability and feats such as practiced spellcaster would not factor in) is equal to the caster level a standard member of his base spellcasting class would need to have access to these spell slots and spell levels he can only prepare and cast necromancy spells in these spell slots, and can only learn spells of these spell levels if they are necromancy spells. Once the Monarch's unmodified caster level reaches the level a standard member of his base spellcasting class would need to access them he is able to learn, prepare and cast any spells he normal could.


Grace of the Monarch (Ex): As a master of undeath, the Monarch of the Damned is to undead a ruler and lord, a person to be respected. At 2nd level and every level after all unintelligent undead creatures the Monarch meets automatically have an indifferent disposition to him if they would be anything worse then indifferent disposition-wise. If they would be indifferent normally, they are automatically friendly instead. In addition, the Monarch of the Damned may choose to treat intelligence as the governing ability score for the diplomacy skill when dealing with undead rather then charisma if his intelligence modifier is higher. The Monarch of the Damned also gains a +2 bonus to diplomacy when dealing with undead creatures.

The Legion's Banquet (Su): At 3rd level, the Monarch of the Damned learns how to fuel his undead animation spells with the blood rather then black onyx. Once per-day, when casting the spell Animate Dead, the Monarch may ignore all material components except the corpses to be animated if he sacrifices one living humanoid during the casting of the spell.

Edict of the Monarch (Su): The Monarch of the Dead is not only a master of mundane manipulation and undead animation, but also domination of the dead through magical means. At 4th level and every level after the Monarch of the Damned is able to cast mind-effecting spells on undead and effect undead with mind-effecting spells as if they where not immune to such magics. If that undead was a humanoid in life, it is treated as a humanoid for the purposes of determining whether or not a mind-effecting spell would be able to effect them.(So a human zombie or a vampire who was a human in life could be effected by a Charm Person or Dominate Person spell through this ability.)

Duke of the Damned (Su): The Monarch of the Damned not only learns how to command undead through force of personality but also how to animate and command more undead then any other spellcaster. At 5th level and beyond, the amount of undead the Monarch of the Damned can animate with the spell animate dead becomes 5x his caster level worth in HD of undead rather then the typical 2x caster level worth. This ability stacks with the spell desecrate and the deathbound domain power, counting 5x the Monarch's caster level as his caster level for the purpose of stacking with these spells and powers. In addition, the Monarch also learns how to control more undead. The Monarch of the Damned's control limit for the Animate Dead spell becomes 4+ the higher of his inteligence and charisma modifiers HD of undead per caster level rather then the usual 4 HD per caster level.

Chessmaster's Hand (Su): Eventually the Monarch becomes so powerful that he need not be present on the field of battle to command his undead minions. At level 6, the Monarch of the Damned gains the ability to give telepathic orders to undead minions under his control from any distance as long as he is on the same plane as his minions. He dose not gain the ability to telepathically communicate in any other way, however. In addition he can, as a standard action, can cast Scrying as a spell-like ability on any undead creature under his command. At 8th level and every level after he may cast Greater Scrying as a spell-like ability on an undead minion under his command instead.

Kindle the Soul's Fire (Su): As the Monarch advances in power he learns dread secrets that allow him to make his undead minions more useful by awakening them. At 7th level and every level after, when using the spell animate dead, a number of undead equal to 1/2 the amount of undead the Monarch could control with his animate dead control pool are awakened as per the spell awaken undead.

Dread Lieutenant: Eventually the Monarch of the Damned becomes so powerful that he gains the service of a loyal undead cohort. At 8th level, the Monarch of the Damned gains an undead cohort as if he had obtained a cohort via the leadership feat. This ability only provides a cohort, no followers are gained. The cohort must be undead, but can be any kind of undead and can possesses class levels provided that it's class levels, any level adjustment it may have and any racial HD it may have would add up to the HD of a cohort he could normally obtain with his effective leadership score. The effective leadership score of the monarch for this ability is equal to the leadership score he would have if he had the leadership feat, though he may use his intelligence modifier in place of his charisma modifier to calculate this if it is higher.

Rise, my Legion! (Su): One of the greatest powers the Monarch of the Damned possesses is the ability to animate massive amounts of undead at once. At 9th level, the Monarch of the Damned gains the ability to cast multiple Animate Dead spells with a single casting. Doing this is a full-round action, and all the Animate Dead spells he casts when using this ability are considered one single spell for the purpose of controlling excess undead and using his "The Legion's Banquet" ability, but not for any other purposes. So each individual animate dead spell cast with this ability would animate an amount of undead equal to the amount the Monarch would normally animate, but for the purpose of determining how many undead the Monarch could control each of these individual spells would be considered one single Animate Dead spell and one single casting. The Monarch may cast as many animate dead spells that he has prepared, but may not cast any animate dead spells prepared with metamagic feats with this ability.

Emperor of the Damned (Su): At the peak of his power the Monarch of the Grave becomes the ultimate undead animator, able to call forth countless numbers of undead. The amount of undead the Monarch can animate with the spell Animate Dead becomes 10x his caster level HD worth of undead. This ability stacks with the spell desecrate and the deathbound domain power, counting 10x the Monarch's caster level as his caster level for the purpose of stacking with these spells and powers. In addition, the Monarch of the Damned can control more undead as well. He may control 8+ the higher of his intelligence and charisma modifiers HD of undead per-caster level.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This class is a work in progress and as a result it needs some help. The basic aim of the class was to make wizards and other arcane spellcasters who generally got shafted in the minion-mastery department of undead become very, very, very good at it at the cost of a significant CL loss. However, I am concerned that the CLs lost are not justified and that they make the class too weak...and that is where I need your help. Is this class too weak to justify the loss of 3 CLs? Are some abilities too broken? I would really appreciate any help I can get with this class so please feel free to help me out.

[Madara]

Requirements

Alignment: Any Evil
Skills: Diplomacy 5 Ranks, Knowledge(Nobility and Royalty) 5 Ranks, Knowledge(Religion) 8 Ranks, Knowledge(Arcana) 8 Ranks
Feats: Corpsecrafter, Undead Empathy, Undead Leadership
Spellcasting: Must be an arcane spellcaster able to cast at least one necromancy spell of every spell level to which you have access, one of which must be Command Undead.

Wow, already a minion master. But Undead Empathy? I suppose you need to throw it at least one mediocre feat. Otherwise these aren't the work prereqs. I don't know why you limit it to Arcane. Go ahead and open it to both types of casting, but keep Command Undead, which makes it harder entry for divine casters.



Hit Die: d4
Proficiencies: The Monarch of the Damned gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Class Skills: Bluff(Cha), Concentration(Con), Diplomacy(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(Arcana)(Int), Knowledge(Religion)(Int), Knowledge(Nobility and Royalty)(Int), Knowledge(History)(Int), Knowledge(The Planes)(Int), Profession(Wis), Sense Motive(Wis), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points Per-Level: 2+ Int Modifier

Low HD is appropriate, so are the class skills. Make it 4+Int mod, since they have a lot of skills.

Spellcasting: At every level except 1st, 5th and 10th, the Monarch of the Damned gains new spells per-day, spells known(if applicable) and an increase in caster level as if he had taken a level in his base arcane spellcasting class. He however, gains no other abilities from this(such as improvements to his familiar.)

Three is a lot. Remember that. It needs a lot of umph to make up for being three spell caster levels behind. That means you just barely get the X level spells when someone else gets X+1 level spells.


Rebuke Undead (Su): As a master of commanding and controlling large amounts of minions, one of the first dark arts the Monarch of the Damned learns is the ability to channel negative energy to subjugate undead in the same manner as an evil cleric. At 1st level, the Monarch of the Damned gains the ability to rebuke undead as an evil cleric of their character level a number of times equal to 3+ the Monarch’s Cha modifier. If the Monarch already had the ability to rebuke undead before entering this class, this class stacks with the class that granted him rebuking as appose to granting a new rebuking pool.

Ok, so they gain Rebuking, that's nice. I see you took into account Dread Necromancers.


Legion of the Damned: As the undisputed master of large undead army generation, the Monarch of the Damned’s personal legion expands with his power. When determining the Monarch’s effective leadership score for his Undead Leadership feat, Monarch of the Damned class levels count twice.(So a wizard 6/Monarch of the Damned 5 with a charisma of 14 would have a leadership score of 18 before factoring in modifiers rather then a leadership score of 13 before factoring in modifiers.)

However, despite the increase in his leadership score, the Monarch of the Damned cannot have a cohort who’s HD exceeds 2 less than his own. In addition, all undead followers and cohorts gained with the undead leadetrship feat or any class that grant cohorts(such as the Pale Master class or this PrC.) are fanatically loyal to the Monarch, and the Monarch can ignore any of the negative penalties on the leadership table when calculating his leadership score for his Undead Leadership feat.

Yeah...Leadership in all its forms is "Broken". Actually, since you can pump your leadership score without this class as a DN focusing on Cha up to 23ish at 11th level, this makes things crazy. But it doesn't advance the Cohort. So now you have even more low powered minions! I suggest changing it to being "By counting your Leadership score for Undead Leadership as 4 lower, all followers are one level higher than indicated on the table." or something like that. Sure having 75 1st level skeletons is amusing, but they aren't useful. Also, I notice this class does nothing for good old Animate Dead, especially considering you require Corpscrafter.


Favored of the Damned (Ex): The Monarch of the Damned is so respected among the undead that he is able to have an edge in dealing with them even if his charisma is not as great as it could be. If the Monarch of the Damned ‘s intelligence modifier is higher then his charisma modifier he may treat intelligence as the governing ability score for the diplomacy skill when interacting with undead creatures. Charisma remains the governing score for the skill for interactions with the living. In addition, when using the spell command undead, the monarch may make an intelligence check instead of a charisma check to get the undead effected by the spell to do as he wishes.

Undead Diplomacy is nice, and having the option to use your Int mod is also nice. Give some flat +2 bonus when using diplomacy with Undead. Otherwise this ability is only useful for Int based casters.


Channel Negative Energy (Su): While arcane necromancers usually are unable to heal their minions, the Monarch of the Damned knows all to well the importance of keeping his unliving pawns to stand and fight another day. To those ends, the Monarch learns how to directly channel negative energy to heal his minions and smite his enemies. At 3rd level, the Monarch of the Damned gains the ability to expend one use of his Rebuke Undead ability to channel negative energy. When the Monarch channels negative energy he heals all undead and damages all living creatures except himself in a 30ft. radius burst centered on himself. The damage dealt and healed is equal 1d6 + 1d6 for every 2 character levels beyond first that the Monarch possesses.

This is ok...but even as a burst its nothing special. Except for the burning rebuke uses. Just do 1d6/ 2 character levels. I suggest putting a cap on it, however.


Grace of the Monarch (Ex): The Monarch of the Damned becomes so respected by the undead that his standing in their lifeless eyes becomes even greater. At 4th level and beyond, the Monarch of the Damned gains a +2 bonus to his leadership score for his Undead Leadership feat and a +2 bonus to all diplomacy checks made in interaction with undead creatures. These bonuses increase to +4 at 9th level and remain that way for every level after. Despite these increases to his leadership score, the HD limit on his cohort as prescribed by the Undead Leadership feat remains.

More leadership bonuses! See what I said above. Maybe you can make it so all things Animated by Animate Dead are Awakened, as per the Awaken Undead Spell, up to 1/2 the HD controlled pool.


Barron of the Grave (Su): The Monarch of the Damned not only learns how to command undead through force of personality but also how to animate and command more undead then any other spellcaster. At 5th level and beyond, the amount of undead the Monarch of the Damned can animate with the spell animate dead becomes 5x his caster level worth in HD of undead rather then the typical 2x caster level worth.

Hey look, Animate Dead. How about this. 3xCharacter level. A 10th level Wizard normally has a 40HD pool(Doubling with Desecrate). This character would have at this level 35HD(5x7(CL)). Does this stack with Desecrate? Even then, DN is better off.



Zone of Desecration (Su): As the Monarch of the Damned grows in power he begins to radiate negative energy. At 6th level, the Monarch of the Damned gains a class feature identical to the Zone of Desecration class feature of the True Necromancer class.

Its flavorful and fills a level. Nothing special about this, desecrate is a very easy effect to get. For example, the cheap ring in CM.


Dominate the Dead (Su): The Monarch of the Dead is not only a master of mundane manipulation and undead animation, but also domination of the dead through magical means. At 7th level and every level after the Monarch of the Damned is able to cast and effect undead creatures with mind-effecting spells as if they where not immune to such magics.
This is very cool, and very awesome. Specialized, yes, but still good.


Unliving Cohort: Eventually the Monarch of the Damned becomes so powerful that he gains the service of second undead cohort. At 8th level, the Monarch of the Damned gains a second undead cohort using the rules for cohorts of his Undead Leadership feat. This cohort, however, can have class levels and be any kind of undead creature so long as it’s HD stays within the limits of the Undead Leadership feat.

Yay. Another Cohort. Not a bad effect. In the end, its fairly useful.


Emperor of Undeath (Su): At the peak of his power the Monarch of the Grave becomes the ultimate undead animator, able to call forth countless numbers of undead. The amount of undead the Monarch can animate with the spell Animate Dead becomes 10x his caster level HD worth of undead. In addition, the Monarch of the Damned can control more undead as well. He may control 4+ the higher of his intelligence and charisma modifiers HD worth undead per-caster level rather then the standard 4 HD per caster level the spell normally allows.

:smallcool: That's crazy! Absolute Madness! Yeah...its mad, but I suppose its an awesome capstone. I would've suggested being able to command controlled undead from a distance as an ability to gain. But I suppose Super Undead army works. Does this stack with desecrate? If so, the world is craaazy.(note: This is still lower than the DN, who at 13th level had 235HD for animate dead, so it doesn't dominate undead creation. But it shouldn't, since it still has the Wizard list of spells.)




This class is a work in progress and as a result it needs some help. The basic aim of the class was to make wizards and other arcane spellcasters who generally got shafted in the minion-mastery department of undead become very, very, very good at it at the cost of a significant CL loss. However, I am concerned that the CLs lost are not justified and that they make the class too weak...and that is where I need your help. Is this class too weak to justify the loss of 3 CLs? Are some abilities too broken? I would really appreciate any help I can get with this class so please feel free to help me out.

It goes up and down. I feel the class focuses a bit too much on Undead Leadership. Leadership, in all its forms, is generally frowned upon. If you made a similar ability built into the class with stronger, but fewer, minions, that would probably be more favorable. Overall I think its currently worth the CL loss.

[Giegue]

Both the Barron of the Grave and the capstone stack with desecrate, yes. As for your other suggestions I like the awaken ability and will probably pilfer that for this class. Also, I considered allowing them to command undead from a distance, and will probably add that back in as well. Also, your leadership concern is legitimate. Some people will probably not be allowed to use that, so I was thinking about scrapping the leadership abilities all together, as well as channel negative energy, and instead give them access to all necromancy spells with the stipulation that they have to enter them into their spelbook/blow spells known on them, as well as other abilities(such as being able to stack castings of animate dead for literal mass animation, and perhaps some way to circumvent the monetary cost of animate dead to some extent.)

The only concern is that with these changes the class will not be worth the CL loss. When I apply them please respond back and tell me if it is or not.

EDITs: got rid of some abilities and added others. Leadership theme striped from class and replaced with different abilities focused more on animate dead or Necromancy in general. Barron of the Grave and Emperor of undead made to work off of character level instead of caster level.

[Madara]

and instead give them access to all necromancy spells with the stipulation that they have to enter them into their spelbook/blow spells known on them, as well as other abilities(such as being able to stack castings of animate dead for literal mass animation, and perhaps some way to circumvent the monetary cost of animate dead to some extent.)


That sounds good. Maybe not all necromancy spells, but give them advance learning for any necromancy spell at each level.

[Giegue]

Yeah, but since the class is still losing 3 CLs I figured all necromancy spells would be worth it. That idea was MAINLY used for them to gain the Inflict line to heal undead, since they now don't have channel negative energy.

Also, I made some edits to it, described in my previous post.

[Madara]

I like it. If you changed it to advance learning, you could drop it to losing 2 CL and it would be perfect. Or keep it as is, it will still be just right.

[Giegue]

I edited it again. While the advance learning was nice, it did not allow you to take the good higher level spells unless you delay taking the class. Thus, instead, I thought I would give them the ability to add either their int or cha(whichever is higher) modifier of necromancy spells from any list to their class spell list, thus allowing them to be learned, scribed into spellbooks and chosen as spells known normally. Also swaped the placement of Dominate the Dead and Kindle the Soul's Fire, since as it was before it got the ability to get a free awaken effect before it could cast awaken undead, which is VERY broken. By swapping their positions it gets the ability the same level a normal wizard that lost no CLs would be able to cast awaken undead, which is more balanced. However, I am wondering whether or not this class is worth 2 CLs lost or 3 CLs as it did originally. It does, after all, provide a ridiculously large amount of undead minions(which was the point of the class), and I am just wondering with, as it stands now, how many CLs it should lose?

EDIT: Added back that they get all necromancy spells and switched the class to losing 3 CLs again.

[Madara]

EDIT: Added back that they get all necromancy spells and switched the class to losing 3 CLs again.

Yeah, three seems right now. I suggest you add your PrC to the Compendium(Check my sig). I might want to use it next time I play a necromancer and have access to homebrew.

[drack]

This was requested in a game I'm running so I thought I'd share some input:

access to all necromancy is pretty powerful, personally having my player drop it, but your call. also the Barron of the Grave ability can be a nurf to deathbound domain animates of the dead as their create undead lets them use x6 if I recall properly...

[Giegue]

I'm glad to see somebody wanted to use the class. Anyway, as for the barron of the grave, it dose not nerf deathbound, but rather stacks with it. Also, the deathbound domain dose not provide 6x CL animated, it only provides 3x CL if I remember correctly. Either way, the class has been edited to state that the barron of the grave/emperor of undeath abilities stack with deathbound domain and desecrate, using the X time Character level HD that it allows you to animate as their effective "caster level" for stacking with those abilities. So if a wizard 6/Monarch of the Damned 5 with the domain power ACF(deathbound domain power) and a desecrate effect running casts animate dead and the deathbound domain dose in fact give 6x CL and not 3x CL he would be able to animate 660 HD worth. If the deathbound only dose 3 X CL, like I believe, then he'd be able to animate 330 HD worth. I'll double check on this when I have time.

Also, since your asking about the deathbound domain, I assume he's a wizard with the domain power ACF or an arcane caster multiclassing cleric? I ask because this class is only meant for arcane casters. If your houserueling it for a cleric that's a/ok, but this class was made to throw arcane casters a bone when it comes to minion-mastery, since they get the short end of the stick in that department(barring Dread Necro obviously.). I am just curious since I want to make sure he's not taking this class with a cleric and not gaining any CLs from it(Since it's CL increases only advance arcane.)

Also, do you mind telling me what game this is if it is a PbP on GITPG? I ask because I may lurk to see how the class runs. As for the compendium, I actually have a few classes I may put in there...including a base class that I made a while back...

[drack]

ah yes, I was thinking with desecrate, but that's not necessarily controlled as it can surpass HD limits. :smallcool:

Not sure they're intending deathbound, but there being lots of players it could be taken any number of ways so i try to proof my homebrew for the most abusive scenario. Personally I barred the whole access to any necromancy spell part since being well acquainted with necromancy I'd say both arcane and divine have their fair share even before we get into the messy classes that don't quite fit either. Anywho the game is http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247154

[Giegue]

Changed Lore of the Damned to be slightly more balanced. I would like imput to see if this change makes the class too weak for the CLs it loses.

[drack]

As a DM I would probably allow that at lower levels, but as ability mods can range from 30-50 I think I'm still going to omit it. But I do thnk at lower levels that may work. another approach that some official material takes is to give one spell every few levels such as to give a few of up to some level, and more up to a higher level, and so on as you progress. I believe dread necromancer does this too... :smallconfused: in the end though it is your class, so I don't want to commandeer it (especially without a clear idea of where I'd point it :smalltongue:)

[Giegue]

Edited Lore of the Damned again to instead be a psudo advance-learning, as well as granting access the Inflict, Desecrate/Unhallow and Harm lines. I would like to know of this makes the class too underpowered to justify the CL loss or is it still powerful enough that the CL loss dose not make it too weak?

[Madara]

Edited Lore of the Damned again to instead be a psudo advance-learning, as well as granting access the Inflict, Desecrate/Unhallow and Harm lines. I would like to know of this makes the class too underpowered to justify the CL loss or is it still powerful enough that the CL loss dose not make it too weak?

Make it one other Necromancy spell of a level that he can cast. Rather than a Cleric spell. That gives a little boost, more like advance learning. So I think it'll work just right.

[Giegue]

Edited, taking your suggestions into mind. Also changed up the Undead Chessmaster ability. If you don't mind I'd like to know if you still think it's worth 3 CLs lost?

[Aluroon]

I'm usually pretty critical of the homebrew on this site, but this is a decent example of something that someone has tried to do right with a prestige class. It loses some caster levels, specializes, and gets some neat powers. That said, it still has a few things that jump out at me.

Grace of the Monarch should not function on intelligent undead by default.

Rise, my Legion needs to clarify how many animate dead spells can be cast at once. Right now I have no idea. One per X levels of the class would seem appropriate. Maybe 1/3 levels.

Chess Master's hand needs to have it's see through the eyes of all undead simultaniously over any distance reworked. Instead I'd let him see through the eyes of one (though it is mechanically tricky to arbitrate - does he uses his own spot check, do his special senses work). An alternative may be scrying or greater scrying on any undead he controls as a standard action.

I would replace leadership with someone else. It's an ability that many DMs are (rightfully) uncomfortable with. That's more a design choice than a problem though, I simply think it's more friendly to play without it.

That said, I have difficulty seeing this class in play. This isn't because my impression of it is that it is too powerful or poorly balanced, but because the bookkeeping associated with it will be enormous for the player, and possibly the GM as well. Depending on how many undead you travel with you can end up with turns taking an enormous amount of time to play out. I know at my table if one person had a thousand undead with him taking turns there would likely be an issue. This might be a lesser problem in a PBP medium.

With regard to your question about casting loss, I think as the class stands from a balance perspective you could cut the loss to only 2 caster levels. That wouldn't be my choice though from a design standpoint. Rather than bump casting access I think you should give them a caster level boost with necromancy spells on the order of +1-3 scaling with level (perhaps on the levels they lose spellcasting).

Edit One thing, I don't believe turning/rebuking attempts stack with regard to uses. I don't honestly recall where the rule is in 3.5, but I'm fairly certain that in PF it was specified that your level stacked for rebuking, but not attempts if you gained it from multiple sources. I don't like the exception you made, even if I understand why you made it. A better alternative maybe be treating your level for rebuking if you have previous ability as total level +4. They still get a boost, without getting doubled attempts.

[drack]

In 3.5 it can work both ways, though on occasions that it stacks it generally does not grant extra uses.

[Giegue]

Used some of your suggestions to fix the OP. Also, I never intended for the rebuke ability to give more then one use-pool. I'm sorry if my wording made it seem like that way, I am not the best gramarian in the world.

As for Rise my legion, it's meant to be able to use all animate dead spells you have prepared that have not been prepared with metamagic feats. Basicly you can get a LOT of undead, but have to blow a bunch of third level spell slots to do it.

Any more imput on the class would be great.