Surviving an Undead Apocalypse Campaign Without Divine Powers

[Vulgrim]

I need the help of people with more knowledge than myself. I'm going to join a campaign soon, and the setting goes like this;

One day, out of the blue, giant storm clouds filled with whispers and faces surrounded the earth and started killing people. 3.5 months have passed, %95 of the population is now dead, and most of them are risen. The undead populate the world, and PC are survivors. I'll start level 9. I will distribute 82 stat points for level 1(18max-10min.) and bring the character to level9 before starting.

Available books are;

PHB I-II
DMG I

Complete
Adventurer
Scoundrel
Warrior
Arcane
Divine
Mage
Champion

Environmental
Sandstorm
Stormwrack
Frostburn

Race
Monster Manual I
Races of the Wild
Races of Stone

Bonus
Libris Mortis
Book of Exalted Deeds
Magic Item Compendium


There are no race/alignment restrictions, but it must be within reason. I can't play a "pixie assassin". The world has a deity called The God, and that's it. He's like the combination of Heironeous, Pelor and Kord, so suggest accordingly for clerics and such. The world is filled with negative forces, so we'll have to roll saving throws against the undead throughout the game. There are some communities that survived. I'll have around 35~40k gp at level 9.

Anyway, what I'm looking for is someone you can call a "survivor". I want my character to be able to hold his ground, be sturdy and give a good fight. Almost everyone use some form of divine magic, and I find this to be cheesy to be honest. I want a different approach, a survivor, like a Dwarf ranger/fighter multi, maybe a Deepwarden? But I'm not so sure. What do you guys suggest?

[Manyasone]

Skullclan Hunter :smile:

[Vulgrim]

Skullclan Hunter :smile:

Miniatures Handbook isn't allowed tho :(

[John Longarrow]

If you can't beat em, join em!

Necropolitan (Libris Mortis) on a grey elf wizard. It basically replaces your crappy d4 HP on a race with a penalty to con with a nice D12! Take improved toughness when your fort is high enough and you'll have about 60 HP to start.

[charcoalninja]

The Bard spell list has a lot of options that can help you deal with typical undead attacks such as ability damage and disease, as well as giving you a toolset that has options for any situation. I'd recommend a Dwarf Bard who sings a deep bass as a sort of tunnel chanter. Yeah -2 Cha sucks, but it's not the end of the world and in 3.5 there's enough goodness around to really make bard crazygonuts fun.

[Vulgrim]

If you can't beat em, join em!

Necropolitan (Libris Mortis) on a grey elf wizard. It basically replaces your crappy d4 HP on a race with a penalty to con with a nice D12! Take improved toughness when your fort is high enough and you'll have about 60 HP to start.

Well, there are Paladins and Clerics in the group. Like I said, people created characters strictly for anti-undead purposes. So if I join the group and say; "Hi guys! I'm an undead, what's up?" I'm pretty sure they'd try to smite me :D

[ericgrau]

There are lots of extremely good anti-undead arcane spells too. Command undead, halt undead, wall of fire, disintegrate, sunburst, etc., etc. That would be my first choice if someone else didn't already do it. Third choice would be ranger with favored enemy undead, similar feats, and undead bane weaponry. But the melee clerics and paladin can already do most of that so I would just go arcane.

If you go wizard ban enchantment and abjuration without a 2nd thought. Enchantment doesn't work and you have 2+ allies covering abjuration. Plus you obviously want necromancy. And there will be more foes immune to certain conjurations and less immune to certain evocations. Also don't forget evocation has immunity-free BFC too, it's not only a matter of less fire resistance. Sorcerer might also be nice in case you keep spamming the same kind of spells such as the above ones. That way you don't have to guess how many of each to prepare, and can cast 4 command undeads if needed without losing your other options. Plus it helps with the charisma check if you want to steal an undead army from your encounters. Another tip for that would be to convince the party to help disable them rather than destroy intelligent undead with halt undead, turning, walls, etc. to buy you more time to command them. To help your "Please don't smite me bro" argument, be sure to steal all your undead rather than animating any. Call it fighting fire with fire or using their own forces against them.

Also similar to not playing a cleric, I would dump abilities you expect them to cover. It will be shocking to them that you don't have it, but that's exactly why 2-3 of them already have it covered for you. Don't bother with knowledge (religion), dispel magic or all of abjuration for that matter, or etc.

To be a survivor without being melee guy #4 I'd get false life, heart of X, walls, resilient sphere, etc. Lots of spells like resilient sphere aren't specifically anti-undead but help protect you against most. They aren't like outsiders where most of them can teleport out, and many are slow. Likewise a wand of invisibility is nice, because how many have true seeing or tremorsense? Etc.

[Vulgrim]

@eric

Well yeah, I can go Wizard. The points you make are all valid. Tbh the reason I'm struggling choosing a character is I'm going in a little late. They played 4 games, there are 4 groups, and I don't know which one I'll be joining. Just now they announced dead players, and it looks grim man! Looks like all the divine power guys died lol.

Group 1
Paladin/Fist of Raziel — R.I.P.
Cleric/Radiant Servant of the God — R.I.P.
Barbar/Fighter/Ranger — R.I.P.
Ranger/Scout — R.I.P.
Wizard/Master Specialist — R.I.P.

Group 2
Druid
Rogue/Swashbuckler
Transmuter
Duskblade
Paladin/Ranger/Hunter of the Dead — R.I.P.

Group 3
Cleric/Radiant Servant of the God
Beguiler/Warlock/Eldrich Theurge
Ranger/Scout/Fighter
Fighter
Fighter/Pious Templar

Group 4
Fighter
Scout/Ranger
Barbarian/Fighter — R.I.P.
Paladin — R.I.P.

[ericgrau]

Ha so looks like even cleric might be open in one. If the RIP guys get to make new characters, you might ask what they're thinking of.

Also based on the many many deaths you may want to play cautiously and effectively in a way that keeps the group alive. Get some battlefield control spells mainly. Wall of force is superb. Most undead can't teleport or destroy it, outdoors many can't even fly or move fast to go around it since it's so large. You just take half the encounter and say "Nope!" Blow low level slots on hour/level buffs. Do get false life for yourself. Defensive is nice since you're squishy, but I think you need to look out for your buddies too or in a really bad fight you'll simply die a little later in the fight after somebody else drops.

[John Longarrow]

On a practical build, how about Bard 4 / Duskblade 1 / Ur-Priest 2 / Mystic Theurge 2

You have a caster level of 6 for bard, 7 for cleric, turning, and a lot of neat tricks. Down side is you need to be evil to get into Ur-Priest, but that can be mitigated afterwards by switching to a more neutral alignment.

[Vulgrim]

The problem is I don't want to create a character for the sole purpose of defeating the undead. Rolling a cleric or pally seems like cheating to me. Besides, I don't like playing "The Light Side" , and I don't like the feeling of being forced to play as someone I don't like. I'd like to make one and figure out how he survived. The battleground control wizard makes a lot of sense atm, and I'm liking it more and more I think about it. I'll start digging some feats and stuff, and make a rough draft of one right now. Any suggestions on that part would be awesome as well :smallsmile:

[atemu1234]

Even just a straight cleric can be good in situations such as these.

If you buff turning properly, you don't even need to worry about the majority of encounters, if they're majority undead.

Edit:

If you don't want to be good, run a Necromancer Cleric and focus on rebuking undead.

[Willie the Duck]

What kind of undead are the risen? Are they all zombie-esque or are there incorporeals, energy drainers, etc? I ask because Monks (and monk based-builds, since straight monks aren't very good) have very good touch ACs, as well as good saves (especially if you grab a PrC or two). That might be a character who can survive a bit, but not specifically an undead hunter. Plus it looks like those groups could use another skill monkey or two.

[ericgrau]

Classic BFC/get away/survive stuff:
5: wall of force, overland flight, heart of fire (complete mage).
4: resilient sphere, greater invisibility, black tentacles, solid fog, dimension door, wall of ice, heart of earth
3: sleet storm, heart of water
2: web, glitterdust, invisibility, false life (unless you get heart of earth), heart of air

If you don't get overland flight then consider swift fly or fly. But I think overland is a lot better for you. I'd wait a level or two before picking up heart of fire, and then only if you got the other 3.

[MisterKaws]

An ardent with life as one of his mantles isn't necessarily good even though he channels positive energy, he just likes living a lot more than dying.

[Vulgrim]

What about Holy Scourge PrC ? I kinda liked it, is it worth it?

[ben-zayb]

I suggest fighting undead fire with undead fire, of the more versatile variety. Take Wu Jen, learn Spirit Binding, and use it to gather up ghost allies. Just Telekinesis and/or Magic Jar (works againt undead yessir!) at will wouldalready solve a lot of things. If the DM is lenient enough, almost anything can be a Ghost too.

Wu Jen can jump off to Shadowcraft Mage. It also has access to many wizard goodies like Protection from alignment, Rope Trick, Fly, Invisibility, Alter Self, Polymorph, Teleport, Solid Fog, Dimension Door, and walls.

Also, take Ring of the Darkhidden and/or Shirt of Wraith Stalking from MIC.

[Vulgrim]

Well, if a Wu Jen touches a dead body, she can't cast any more spells that day. That seems like a huge gamble playing one in an undead campaign :D


edit; oh nvm, they're optional.

[Deeds]

Prestige into Kensai. Complete Warrior.

Your former paladin lord, may he rest in peace, has decreed that you will personally shelter and defend the weak during these dark times. With your +1 Holy Undead Bane insert weapon name here, you will strive to honor your lord's wishes as you seek out a new leader to swear an oath to.

If you're looking for a tank-like build I'd normally suggest Crusader. Too bad about the book limitations.

[SangoProduction]

Again, any spell casting class, even non-divine. Warlock came out in Complete Arcane, if the wiki is right (as in actual Wikipedia). They have functionally infinite magic, which is well-suited to a world of zombies/similar undead, and even some incorporeals. Go right on ahead and cleanse the world of the undead apocalypse.

Martial characters are A LOT more reliant on what the enemy is. Corporeal - yay, they possibly live. Incorporeal - well, they are boned. Fort-save based - cool, this won't be hard. Will-save based - well damn it.

That's assuming a lower magic campaign setting, where magic weapons aren't commonly available, as these tend to be. Kensai is pretty damned fair in such a world.

As far as just surviving, the best idea is to not get in to a conflict. This is true in pretty much every situation, except when getting in a conflict is the only way to obtain food/water/other vital sustenance. As such, some great stealth would be great. Magical, undefeatable stealth is even better, but that's magic. So, get Darkstalker. Take up a bow. Assuming you don't have an obliterated plant life (in which case, you're dead if you have a metabolism), and your enemies are corporeal, then you've likely got an effectively infinite supply of ammo. Take up that sniper class in Comp. War. and Adv. Then Far Shot, then maybe some perception-boosting stuff, because you're going to need it, as you can neither hide from nor shoot what you can't detect.

Assuming they can't fly, then build/find some sort of watch tower/similar sniper-position. Plink away from safety until the area is secured. I'm fairly sure there's something that lets you see through your familiar's eyes (thus letting it act as your spotter). Or perhaps that's a magic item that lets you share senses with someone else. I forget.

[Alistaroc]

How strict are those book limits?
Because a Mystic Ranger with Sword of the Arcane Order who dipped a level of Wizard is a pretty good survivor character.
It would require approval of Champions of Valor, for SotAO, and technically Mystic Ranger is from Dragon(#336), although it can be found online as well.
But it really seems to fit the theme of an arcane, undead-slaying survivor.

[Janthkin]

Ultimate survival type? You'll want some stealth, you'll want a deep resource pool, and you'll want a variety of escape abilities. I'd suggest Beguiler/Shadowcraft Mage.

Yes, I know the Enchantment spells of the Beguiler are largely wasted on the undead, but if you're haggling for the limited remaining resources with the living, they could come in handy there. Otherwise, you get a skill monkey chassis, with lots of spells/day, Silent Image to easily confound the unintelligent undead (plus invisibility & silence for the rest), a variety of speed-enhancing spells, some decent battlefield control (Solid Fog > corporeal undead), (Greater) Mirror Image to offer decent protection against energy-draining touch attacks, and then all the Shadow Illusion evocation & conjuration you might need (and most undead have only mediocre will saves against it).

Otherwise, you might go Bard->Sublime Chord. Without Dragonfire Inspiration you won't be as cool as you might wish, but in a "grim survivors barely hanging on" sort of setting, a charismatic leader should be fun to roleplay.

[SangoProduction]

Ultimate survival type? You'll want some stealth, you'll want a deep resource pool, and you'll want a variety of escape abilities. I'd suggest Beguiler/Shadowcraft Mage.

Yes, I know the Enchantment spells of the Beguiler are largely wasted on the undead, but if you're haggling for the limited remaining resources with the living, they could come in handy there. Otherwise, you get a skill monkey chassis, with lots of spells/day, Silent Image to easily confound the unintelligent undead (plus invisibility & silence for the rest), a variety of speed-enhancing spells, some decent battlefield control (Solid Fog > corporeal undead), (Greater) Mirror Image to offer decent protection against energy-draining touch attacks, and then all the Shadow Illusion evocation & conjuration you might need (and most undead have only mediocre will saves against it).

Otherwise, you might go Bard->Sublime Chord. Without Dragonfire Inspiration you won't be as cool as you might wish, but in a "grim survivors barely hanging on" sort of setting, a charismatic leader should be fun to roleplay.

Don't forget Perform (Oratory) great. Just hope that the undead are not too sound-sensitive.

[John Longarrow]

For pure "Can't kill me" fun, Pixie Ranger 2 / Warlock 3.

You can hunt for your own supper, your an invisible flyer with a 2d6 (3d6 with practiced spell caster) range touch attack on a hyper high dex build.
Between Greater invisibility, small size, DR, and a +8 racial to Dex you should have a very high touch AC. Your big trick is to let loose a blast then move. Repeat. Repeat. etc...

They won't know where you are, just where you were. Having a 19 touch AC to start (before anything else that improves it) is gravy. For more fun go Warlock 1 / Ranger 2 / Sorcerer 2. That way you can toss mage armor and shield to really raise your touch AC. And don't forget your SR... :D

[Vulgrim]

Alright I'm going for Conjurer5 / Master Specialist 4. All set except some items. And I have a question regarding that as well;

I have a Twilight Mithral Chain Shirt. Can I add Soulfire (BoED) to it and make it Soulfire Twilight Mithral Chain Shirt? :D If so, how the hell do I calculate the price? I'm confused.

Also, I want to get a Staff that casts the spell Light on Command. The table says; spell level x caster level x 1800 gp to make that item. Light is a 0 level spell. And the book says; When multiplying the spell values to determine value, 0 level spell should be treated as 1/2 level.

So does it cost 1/2 x 1/2 x 1800 = Which is 450gp. Adding the 350 for masterwork quarterstaff, it all comes down to 800gp. Isn't that like, too cheap?

[Quertus]

Also, I want to get a Staff that casts the spell Light on Command. The table says; spell level x caster level x 1800 gp to make that item. Light is a 0 level spell. And the book says; When multiplying the spell values to determine value, 0 level spell should be treated as 1/2 level.

So does it cost 1/2 x 1/2 x 1800 = Which is 450gp. Adding the 350 for masterwork quarterstaff, it all comes down to 800gp. Isn't that like, too cheap?

Spell level = 1/2
Caster level = 1
Not a masterwork weapon unless you want it to be.
Final cost: 900 gp.