PDA

View Full Version : Undying Musician [PEACH]



asdflove
2013-10-05, 08:08 PM
Undying Musician

Hit Die
d6.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Undying Musician, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment
Any nongood

Skills
Knowledge (Religion) 13 ranks, Perform (Any) 13 ranks

Spellcasting
Ability to spontaneously cast 4th level spells

Feats
Fell Animate (LM)

Special
Bardic Music Class feature

Class Skills
The Undying Musician’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at Each Level
6 + Int modifier.

Level BAB Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spellcasting 1st+0+0+2+2Bardic music, rebuke undead, command undead, animate dead, Requiem2nd+1+0 +3+3Touch of Vampirism, mourning song +1 level in an arcane spellcasting class3rd+1+1+3+3Undead Mastery, song of undead's power+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class4th+2+1+4+4Draining attack, graverising song+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class5th+2+1+4+4Create Undead, vampiric strengths, song of undeath+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class6th+3+2+5+5Charming Gaze, Mourning song +4+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class7th+3+2+5+5 Animating song+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class8th+4+2+6+6Blood drain, fast healing+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class9th+4+3+6+6Create Greater Undead, alternate forms+1 level in an arcane spellcasting class10th+5+3+7+7Vampiric Transformation Mourning song +6 +1 level in an arcane spellcasting class

Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the Undying Musician prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Undying Musicians gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Rebuke Undead (Su)
A Undying Musician can rebuke or command undead creatures by channeling negative energy through their body. See the cleric class feature described on page 33 of the Player's Handbook.

Bardic Music (Su)
An undying musician adds their class level to their bard level, if any, to determine what bardic music abilities they can use and how often they can use them. An undying musician with no bard levels gains bardic music abilities as a bard of their class level.

Command Undead (Ex)
A undying Musician adds Command undead to their spells known list as a 2nd level spell. This does not count against their spells known for that level.

Animate Dead (Ex)
An Undying Musician adds animate dead to their spells known list as a 3rd level spell. This does not count against their spells known for that level.

Requiem (Ex)
Undying Musician gets Requiem (LM) as a bonus feat.

Spellcasting
Starting at 2nd level and every level thereafter an undying musician gains new spells per day and spells known as if they had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class they belonged to before taking Undying Musician. They do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an Undying Musician, they must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Touch of Vampirism (Ex)
Starting at 2nd level Musicians start to take on traits of an undead themselves. Their skin pales slightly and they gain resistance to cold 5 and electricity 5. They also gain damage reduction 5/silver and magic.

Mourning song (Su)
At 2nd level a Undying Musician can, with 15 or more ranks in perform, as an additional bardic music effect, can affect those within a 30-ft radius. Undead within the radius of the effect gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls, while non-undead are not affected. This increases by +2 every 4 levels (+4 at level 6, +6 and level 10 and so on.)
The effect lasts for as long as the Musician concentrates (to a maximum of 5 rounds) and 3 rounds thereafter.

Undead Mastery (Ex)
All undead creatures created by an Undying Musician who has reached 3rd level or higher gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and Dexterity and 2 additional hit points per Hit Die.

Song of Undead's Power (Su)
At 3th level an Undying Musician can, with 16 or more ranks in perform, as an additional bardic music effect necromancy spells. The effect lasts 5 rounds+ a number of rounds equal to the musician's Cha modifier. All spells from the necromancy school cast within 20-ft of the musician during the duration of the effect are cast at a +1 caster level and the save DC's increase by 2.

Draining attack (Su)
At 4th level an undying musician gains a slam attack. This slam attack deals 1d4 damage, regardless of size and forces the target to make a fortitude save. The DC for the save is 10 + ½ musician’s HD + musician’s Cha modifier. If they fail this save they are affected by the draining attack. Anyone affected by a musician’s draining attack gains two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, the musician gains 5 temporary hit points. A musician can use its draining attack once per round.

Graverising Song (Su)
At 4th level an Undying Musician can, with 17 or more ranks in perform, as an additional bardic music effect duplicate the spell animate dead. This take 3 rounds and costs 3 bardic music uses rather than just one.

Create Undead (Ex)
At 5th level Undying Musician adds create undead to their spells known list as a 5th level spell. This does not count against their spells known for that level.

Vampiric Strengths (Ex)
At 5th level an Undying musician continues forward on their path towards undeath by gaining some of the strengths of an undead. They gain an inherent +2 bonus to Dex, Str, and Cha.

Song of Undeath (Su)
At 5th level an Undying Musician, with 18 or more ranks in perform, as an additional bardic music effect, can command undead around them. Every round they continue to performance, every undead in close range is subject to the an effect similar to that of a command undead spell. Undead who are not intelligent do not get any save while intelligent undead get a save. Those who fail the save are subject to an effect identical to a command undead spell with the following modifications:
They may send commands to undead they control through this ability using telepathy rather than just voice commands. Undead who had the effect broken due to threats from them or their allies must still make a new save in their next round. Undead which succeed on their saves get a -2 penalty to any attack role to harm them for the duration of the dance.
Undead who have made at least one save do not need to make subsequent saves from the same use of this performance. If they stop the performance and start the performance again, all undead make a new save. Finally, while they use this dance any undead already controlled by them at the start of the performance within 30 feet get a +2 bonus to fortitude saves and +2 turn resistance.
They can perform for a number of rounds equal to their Undying Musician level+ their Cha modifier.
This costs 3 bardic music uses rather than just one.

Charming Gaze (Su)
At 6th level an Undying musician’s eyes turn vividly blood red, but take on a certain allure that makes some people like you. They can change someone’s attitude merely by looking them in the eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the musician must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the musician targets must succeed on a Will save or be affected by a charm person spell. The DC for the save is 10 + ½ musician’s HD + musician’s Cha modifier. The ability has a range of 30 feet.

Animating Song (Su)
At 7th level an Undying Musician can, with 20 or more ranks in perform, as an additional bardic music effect, can animate the recently slain corpse of a creature within 30 feet. This requires the Musician to make a Perform check (DC 10 +target creature’s HD). The slain creature can have no more Hit Dice than the Musician’s character level. If the attempt fails, a bardic music attempt is still used. The corpse to be animated must have been dead for no more than 1 hour.
The animated creature’s type becomes undead, and it retains any subtypes it had. The creature retains all class features, as well as any supernatural or spell-like (but not extraordinary) abilities
it possessed in life (though any spells cast or daily uses expended before the creature’s death count against its normal limits). The animated creature is completely loyal to the Musician and obeys any commands given to it (if no commands are given, it simply attacks the Musician’s foes). The creature remains animate for a number of rounds equal to the Musician’s level.

Blood Drain (Ex)
At 8th level a musician advances even farther into undeath. They grow fangs and gain the ability to drain blood. A musician can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the musician gains 5 temporary hit points.

Fast Healing (Su)
A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point.

Create Greater Undead (Ex)
At 9th level an Undying Musician adds create greater undead to their spells known list as a 6th level spell. This does not count against their spells known for that level.

Alternate forms (Su)
A number of times per day equal to the musician’s Cha modifier they can assume the shape of a bat, dire bat, wolf, or dire wolf as a standard action. While in its alternate form, the musician loses its slam attack and charm ability, but it gains the natural weapons and extraordinary special attacks of its new form. It can remain in that form for 10 minutes+ a number of minutes equal to their Cha modifier.

Vampiric Transformation (Ex)
When an Undying Musician attains 10th level, they finish their transition into undeath and fully become a vampire, but without the level adjustment. Their type changes to undead, and they gain all the traits of the undead. They no longer have a Constitution score, all her existing Hit Dice become d12s, and they must reroll their hit points.
With this they also lose many of their class features, as they were building up to this. They lose touch of vampirism, draining attack, vampiric strengths, charming gaze, blood drain, fast healing, and alternate forms.
A Undying Musician who is not humanoid does not gain this class feature.

JoshuaZ
2013-10-05, 09:24 PM
I like the idea a lot, but the name is a real clunker. Maybe "Undying Musician"?

Also, I suggest giving them Requiem as a bonus feat. Mourning Song should also probably give a +2 bonus to turn resistance, and should not effect the singer if the singer is alive (maybe shouldn't have a negative impact on living allies at all?). It might also make sense for the bonuses for Mourning Song to improve as a function of how many Perform ranks one has so it keeps getting better after one has finished or existed the PrC.

This seems similar in idea to my Dancer of the Threshold, (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12544807) or at least pushing on similar motifs. You class seems to be similar to the Dirgesinger but does a much better job than Dirgesinger does at actually meeting its fluff.


They lose touch of vampirism, draining attack, vampiric strengths, charming gaze, blood drain, fast healing, and alternate forms.

I'm not sure you need this. You really mean they get the same things instead as part of the Vampire template? Why not just say that.

Balance/intent question. Do you intend for someone with say Sorcerer 9/Bard one to be able to take this class and then keep progressing? I'm worried this may lead to balance issues since they then get all the same class features but with 9th level spells at level 20, and create undead as a 5th level spell on the sorcerer list which probably is abuseale somehow (although I haven't completely figured out how, probably some clever metamagic stunts exist though).

It might be nice to have a few more special bard songs they get. One that makes the DC of necromancy spells go up might make sense. Another that lets you control undead might be nice, since as of how it is written you can make really powerful undead easily but have almost no way of controlling them. Feel free to steal/modify any of the dancers from the Dancer of the Threshold if they suit your purposes.

Overall, I like what you've done. The idea of necromancy and music being connected is a really fun one, and there's an unfortunate lack of good material handling it.

asdflove
2013-10-06, 09:24 AM
I like the idea a lot, but the name is a real clunker. Maybe "Undying Musician"?
This was my 3rd working name. I like that better. I'll change it in a moment.


Also, I suggest giving them Requiem as a bonus feat. Mourning Song should also probably give a +2 bonus to turn resistance, and should not effect the singer if the singer is alive (maybe shouldn't have a negative impact on living allies at all?). It might also make sense for the bonuses for Mourning Song to improve as a function of how many Perform ranks one has so it keeps getting better after one has finished or exited the PrC.
Requiem? Oh, I meant to do that, but I completely forgot. Yeah, I'll change that. I wasn't sure about that at all.


This seems similar in idea to my Dancer of the Threshold, (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12544807) or at least pushing on similar motifs. You class seems to be similar to the Dirgesinger but does a much better job than Dirgesinger does at actually meeting its fluff.
When I started this class, I told myself I would do better than the Dirgersinger.



I'm not sure you need this. You really mean they get the same things instead as part of the Vampire template? Why not just say that.

Well, I mostly put that there because of Vampiric strengths and Charming gaze. Vampiric strengths would have stacked with the vampire ability bonuses, which I didn't want, and they would have had charm person and dominate person at will, which I didn't want.



Balance/intent question. Do you intend for someone with say Sorcerer 9/Bard one to be able to take this class and then keep progressing? I'm worried this may lead to balance issues since they then get all the same class features but with 9th level spells at level 20, and create undead as a 5th level spell on the sorcerer list which probably is abuseale somehow (although I haven't completely figured out how, probably some clever metamagic stunts exist though).
Knowledge (Religion) isn't a class skill for Sorcerers, but I'll add a perform requirement to extra lock them out.
Though I did come up with a fully bard build that gets 9ths at 21. (Dip a level in Sublime Chord before entering the class, and advance Sublime Chords casting)
Edit: So I realize the could just take able learner, but I can't think of anyway to lock them out anymore. But that's 2 of their feat slots locked down, just to take this class. Seems rather ridiculous to me.


It might be nice to have a few more special bard songs they get. One that makes the DC of necromancy spells go up might make sense. Another that lets you control undead might be nice, since as of how it is written you can make really powerful undead easily but have almost no way of controlling them. Feel free to steal/modify any of the dancers from the Dancer of the Threshold if they suit your purposes.

Well, I gave them control undead at first level in the class, and rebuke undead, but I do see your point. I wanted to give them more Bardic music effects, but I was out of ideas. I may have to take you up on that offer.



Overall, I like what you've done. The idea of necromancy and music being connected is a really fun one, and there's an unfortunate lack of good material handling it.
I like to connect everything with bards. It's my favorite class.
Squeeeeeeeeeeeee! For the first time ever, someone actually said something bout my homebrew!

JoshuaZ
2013-10-06, 09:26 PM
Yeah, 2 feats for a sorcerer to enter shouldn't be a serious balance issue when they are then also losing two caster levels effectively.

Afool
2013-11-02, 03:22 PM
OK, good I caught this in time (nearly 30 days...).

The class looks good (though I agree with JoshuaZ that the ability lose is unnecessary, but I'm AFB so *shrugs*), just a few questions/nitpicks.

1, The table says that the class gains Bardic Music, but there is no text in the OP that supports that, so there might be a small RAW vs RAI issue with particularly dense/troublesome players or GMs.

2, The durations of Mourning Song, Song of Undeath's Power, Song of Undeath (which sounds a tad lackluster IMO, how about Song of Undeath Guidance?), and Animating Song, all vary by a distinctive amount, which makes me wonder if there was some editing going on and the durations were skipped. I'd suggest allowing the Songs to be performed Class Level+Cha Mod rounds with the effect ending 3 rounds after the performance stops (unless altered by feats).

3, Are undead intended to be allowed to take this class? Because I believe a Necropolitan Bard could qualify and transform into a vampire by the end of the class (which I think is quite cool, allowing lower powered sentient undead to transform into a more powerful form by the end of their journey through Musical Undeath).

4. On the topic of the template and granted abilities, how about mentioning that the abilities of the class and of the template don't stack when pertaining to DR, Energy Resist, Supernatural Abilities, and Natural Attacks,?

Debihuman
2013-11-03, 10:35 AM
Animating Song is confusing. Are you animating the corpse or awakening it? Those are two different effects. See animate dead and awaken undead spells. Animating dead creates a zombie or a skeleton. Awakening undead grants those zombies and skeleton an intelligence score. It appears that this ability creates a kind of intelligence undead creature but it is lacking definition. It's neither a zombie nor a skeleton. I think you need a Template to flesh it out.

Graverising should be two words Grave Rising. Otherwise it looks like graver-ising.

You really need to pick a plural or singular. Each paragraph switches for no good reason. "Their" is plural and using it as a singular throws off all your paragraphs.

Debby

asdflove
2013-11-14, 09:12 PM
1, The table says that the class gains Bardic Music, but there is no text in the OP that supports that, so there might be a small RAW vs RAI issue with particularly dense/troublesome players or GMs.
Whoops, I'll fix that.

2. The durations of Mourning Song, Song of Undeath's Power, Song of Undeath (which sounds a tad lackluster IMO, how about Song of Undeath Guidance?), and Animating Song, all vary by a distinctive amount, which makes me wonder if there was some editing going on and the durations were skipped. I'd suggest allowing the Songs to be performed Class Level+Cha Mod rounds with the effect ending 3 rounds after the performance stops (unless altered by feats).
Eh. All of them were written at different times and the durations were actually based on different bardic music effects I saw all over the place.

3, Are undead intended to be allowed to take this class? Because I believe a Necropolitan Bard could qualify and transform into a vampire by the end of the class (which I think is quite cool, allowing lower powered sentient undead to transform into a more powerful form by the end of their journey through Musical Undeath).
Uh, not something I intended but that does sound like a neat character concept.

4. On the topic of the template and granted abilities, how about mentioning that the abilities of the class and of the template don't stack when pertaining to DR, Energy Resist, Supernatural Abilities, and Natural Attacks,?
Not sure what you mean by this.

Animating Song is confusing. Are you animating the corpse or awakening it? Those are two different effects. See animate dead and awaken undead spells. Animating dead creates a zombie or a skeleton. Awakening undead grants those zombies and skeleton an intelligence score. It appears that this ability creates a kind of intelligence undead creature but it is lacking definition. It's neither a zombie nor a skeleton. I think you need a Template to flesh it out.

That particular thing is taken directly from the dirgesinger with the duration and the name changed. The awaken thing was a typo, because on the dirgesinger it was called awakening song. I'm not using animating as the spell, but just as the definition of the word.

You really need to pick a plural or singular. Each paragraph switches for no good reason. "Their" is plural and using it as a singular throws off all your paragraphs.

Achem. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they)
Of course people posted right after I un-subbed.