Template for Undead

[Tindragon]

Won't go into the full story, but this is a template I made for my campaign. The question is, is the the CR/LA appropriate?

The Burning Dead
Template for Undead only
The burning dead are those soul who died in the fires of Romanovs destruction for centuries in the lands of Bafarez. These souls passed under the pain of fire, and that fiery power persisted with them into undeath.

Size/type: same as base undead and add fire subtype
HD: same as base undead
Speed: same as base undead
AC: same as base undead
Attack: same as base undead, plus add +d6 fire damage to all melee natural attacks for Medium and smaller, +2d6 for large and larger. Any undead with 10HD or more adds a cone of fire breath weapon, 30’ cone 4d6 fire damage once a minute. Increase Damage to 6d6 for large and up and up sizes. Reflex DC 10+ half creatures base HD + CHR mod. Save is CHR based.
Damage: same as base + fire damage for natural melee attacks
SQ: same as base + under a permanent fire shield affect (warm), level equal to HD. Fiery death, when a Burning Dead reaches 0 HPs it exlpodes in a shower of fire and vileness, d6 per HD to a 20' radius, half fire damage, half vile damage.
Environment: same as base
CR +2
Alignment: same as base
LA: +1


edited template.

[Ortesk]

I mean, If I was the DM I would give it a LA +1. If I was the player, I wouldn't touch it. It needs to give something besides a little fire ability.

Look at who could use it right now. Mainly martial characters. And we don't need a LA to make us even weaker, when we stand next to the wizard. Next, fire is the weakest type in DND. You have to count that into things.

Look at mineral warrior (A nice +1 for a melee type) And compare it to yours.

[Necroticplague]

1. Resistance/immunity to fire is redundant with the fire subtype, because the fire subtype grants immunity to fire (and weakness to cold).
2. This is not LA3. Compare it to half-dragon, which is usually considered a crappy LA3. This seems to be at the lower end of LA +1. So I'd beef up the template a bit, then make it a +1. Make the breath weapon and fire damage per attack scale with HD, and it seems appropriate as a +1.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I would increase the breath weapon damage to 1d8 per 2 HD, and lose the increase for size. Once a minute means it's effectively once per combat, which is fine.
I would increase the bonus damage on natural attacks to 1d4 per 2 HD, also without the increase for size. Attackers take the same damage, unless they use reach weapons.
You don't need the fire resistance, because the fire subtype already adds fire immunity.

If you want a template that really makes the undead much stronger, worth CR+2/LA +3, definitely add something else. For example, the at-will ability (as move action) to cover every square it threatens (at the time of casting) with fire, until the end of its next turn. This would automatically deal fire damage equal to the bonus damage on natural attacks, grant 20% concealment to any targets within the cloud, and block any special senses dependant on scent, sound or light (that is, blindsense, blindight, darkvision)(the templated creature automatically pinpoints the location of anything within the cloud). Another nice thing to add is the ability to overcome fire resistance. For example, the templated create overcomes the fire resistance (as Searing Spell) of any target caught within the cloud.

This defines a pretty standard attack routine, fitting unintelligent undead: always open with your cloud of fire, ready an action to breathe fire on people who enter, and full attack on your next turn (after which the cloud fades).

[NevinPL]

Yup, it's too high. Fiery skeleton from LM is a bit weaker, and has CR +1/2.
You could buff it by dividing the fire damage to 50% fire, 50% divine (it will nicely fit with that bit of fluff). Maybe a bit of vile damage. Make it set things on fire, etc.

[Tindragon]

Edited template a bit, dropped LA (which, it's not meant for players, but I see the point of too high LA) added a bit of a bang on death that I was toying with originally.

[Ortesk]

Edited template a bit, dropped LA (which, it's not meant for players, but I see the point of too high LA) added a bit of a bang on death that I was toying with originally.

Switch it to half vile damage and you should be good. It adds to a real issue. Unholy damage can be healed by the local priest. Vile, not so much. No natural healing, and magical must take place in sacred ground. See how 40-50 level 1 human zombies could actually be scary with that?