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The Demented One
2006-11-21, 10:24 PM
Sorrowspeaker

"This world is one of sadness. Battle brings death. Death brings sorrow. The living... may not hear them. Their voices... may fall upon deaf ears. But make no mistake... the dead... are not silent. Now you will know the sorrow of those whose lives you have ended."

Not all necromancers raise or control the dead. Some choose to right the wrongs done to them, avenging their needless deaths. They serve as mediums, letting the voices of the dead be heard, and spreading sorrow to those who have unjustly killed. Sorrowspeakers, though they may use their gifts for selfish or corrupt purposes, are united in their respect for the dead. A Sorrowspeaker treats the undead not as tools or slave, but as trusted friends. They prefer not to raise the dead when possible, doing so only when there is no other option.

d6 HD

Requirements
To qualify to become a Sorrowspeaker, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks, Sense Motive 4 ranks
Feats: Tomb-Tainted Soul (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Tomb-tainted_Soul,LM)
Spells: Must be able to cast speak with dead.
Special: Must be able to rebuke undead

Class Skills
The Sorrowspeaker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (N/A), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Spellcasting
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Rebuke Undead, Unearthly Whispers|–
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3|Touch of Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3|Cry of Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Communion of Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Summon Ghost|+1 level of spellcasting class
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Form of Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Share Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6|Sorrowful Gaze|+1 level of spellcasting class
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6|Cloak of Sorrow|+1 level of spellcasting class
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7|Maddening Sorrow|–
[/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Sorrowspeaker prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Spellcasting
Whenever you gain a new Sorrowspeaker level except at 1st and 10th, you gain new spells per day and spells known as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class you belonged to before you added the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

Rebuke Undead (Su)
Sorrowspeaker levels stack with any Cleric levels you have for determining your effective Cleric level for rebuking undead.

Unearthly Whispers (Su)
At 1st level, you gain the ability to discern the secrets whispered by the dead. Whenever you make an attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or level check, you may expend a use of rebuke undead. If you do, you gain an insight bonus on the roll equal to half your class level, rounded up.

Touch of Sorrow (Su)
At 2nd level, any weapon you wield or armor you wear gains the ghost touch special ability.

Cry of Sorrow (Su)
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to make the baleful moans of the dead audible to your foes. As a standard action, you may expend two rebuke undead uses to call forth the moans of the dead. All creatures within 30 ft. of you must make a Will save, DC 10 plus your class level plus your Cha modifier, or be panicked for 2d4 rounds. Even if they successfully save, they are shaken for 1 round. This is a sonic, mind-affecting fear ability.

Communion of Sorrow (Sp)
At 4th level, you gain the ability to use speak with dead as a spell-like ability at will, with caster level equal to your class level.

Summon Ghost (Su)
At 5th level, you gain the ability to summon forth the ghosts of the dead. Once per day, you may perform a ten minute ritual to summon a ghost. Its total HD may not exceed your caster level. In order to gain the ghost’s services, you must bolster its power. You must expend a number of rebuke undead uses equal to half the ghost’s HD, rounded down, which takes a standard action. In place of expending a rebuke undead use, you may choose to take a point of Constitution drain, feeding the ghost with your own life force. If you do not make such an offering to the ghost within 1 round per class level, it returns to its afterlife.

Once you have won the ghost’s services, it remains with you for one hour/class level. It cannot be rebuked or otherwise commanded while it remains in your service. It performs any service you ask of it, but it cannot go more than fifty feet per class level from you.

Form of Sorrow (Su)
At 6th level, you gain the ability to become as a ghost. As a standard action, you may expend three uses of rebuke undead to become incorporeal for up to one minute. While incorporeal, you gain all the benefits of the incorporeal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#incorporealSubtype) subtype. You lose the ability to make physical attacks against corporeal creatures, but you gain an incorporeal touch attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. The touch attack is treated as a magic weapon for overcoming damage reduction.

Share Sorrow (Su)
At 7th level, you gain the ability to share your sorrows with that of the dead. As a standard action, you may expend two uses of rebuke undead to link yourself to the afterlife, spreading your sorrow throughout all those dead willing to bear it for your sake. While linked to the afterlife, you can act normally even when reduced to -1 to -9 hp, as the dead bear your pain. In addition, even if you are reduced to -10 hp, you remain alive, your soul teetering on the border between life and death. However, you may only take a single standard or move action each round. This state of linkage lasts for only 1 round per class level. In addition, if you are at or below -10 hp when the link breaks, you die.

Sorrowful Gaze (Su)
At 8th level, you gain the ability to see the realm of the dead. You may see invisible and ethereal objects just as easily as you can see material ones. As a swift action, you may use detect undead as a spell-like ability, and you do not need to concentrate to maintain the spell. Finally, when looking at an undead creature, you perceive it free of any illusions or disguises that may mask its true appearance, as the true seeing spell.

Cloak of Sorrow (Su)
At 9th level, a veil of ephemeral ectoplasm constantly surrounds you. You gain a constant 20% miss chance, and gain a +5 enhancement bonus on Hide checks. In addition, you may, as a standard action, expend two uses of rebuke undead to increase the miss chance to 50% for 1 round/class level.

Maddening Sorrow (Su)
At 10th level, you gain mastery of the ultimate justice. Once per day, you may make a touch attack against a creature. If you successfully touch it, you open its eyes to the world of the dead for the briefest moment, giving every creature it has ever killed a chance to take its revenge, wracking their killer’s mind. It takes 2d10 points of Wis and Cha damage. If either ability score is reduced to 0, the creature goes mad, as the insanity spell. If you use this ability against a creature that has never killed a sentient, once-living creature, it is not affected, though your use of the ability is still wasted.

I_Got_This_Name
2006-11-21, 11:46 PM
10 minutes is too long a casting time for something that has a duration measured in rounds, for the ability to summon a Ghost.

Also, I'd probably give them a few, specific ghosts that they can call (created by the player), rather than being able to create them on-the-fly. I'd probably cut it down to a round to summon them, plus an action to augment (and I might even collapse those two into one round). I think the Con damage/Rebuke Undead cost makes it expensive enough, if you change the Damage to Burn (like damage, but immune to magical healing)

The Demented One
2006-11-22, 12:02 AM
10 minutes is too long a casting time for something that has a duration measured in rounds, for the ability to summon a Ghost.
Meant to make it hours/level, which rather messes up the whole conversation. I'll fix that.

Fax Celestis
2006-11-22, 01:35 AM
It feels like it's missing something, but I'm not entirely sure what exactly.

The Demented One
2006-11-22, 07:45 PM
It feels like it's missing something, but I'm not entirely sure what exactly.
In terms of flavor, or mechanics? I agree that there seems to be a certain lackingness, but can't put my finger on it.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2006-11-22, 07:55 PM
Does it's equipment also become incorporeal when it does using form of sorrow?

Fax Celestis
2006-11-22, 11:13 PM
A mechanical lacking. I'll ponder as to what can be done.

Here's the issue: all the abilities are nifty, but not a single one of them says "I HAVE TO TAKE THIS CLASS FOR THIS ABILITY ZOMG", the way that Duskblade's Arcane Channeling pops out, or Incantatrix's Easy Metamagic flares.

The Demented One
2006-11-22, 11:26 PM
A mechanical lacking. I'll ponder as to what can be done.

Here's the issue: all the abilities are nifty, but not a single one of them says "I HAVE TO TAKE THIS CLASS FOR THIS ABILITY ZOMG", the way that Duskblade's Arcane Channeling pops out, or Incantatrix's Easy Metamagic flares.
Maybe some sort of ghost-related supernatural attack?

Flabbicus
2006-11-22, 11:31 PM
Is this too easy a reference for anybody to get?

If not

Orson Scott Card, Ender Series, 2nd book.

The Demented One
2006-11-22, 11:35 PM
Is this too easy a reference for anybody to get?

If not

Orson Scott Card, Ender Series, 2nd book.
Not quite. That's what I got the thread title from, but the class itself is based on something entirely different.