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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class Undying One(PEACH, I guess?)



Rater202
2020-09-26, 09:09 AM
Undying One

(Warning: No Table becuase I'm not sure how to make one with this interface)

Immortality is a common desire among all peoples, from the young who fear death to the middle-aged man who wishes to be young again, to the elder who wishes he had more time, to the sick who wish for health, to the ascetic sage refining his habits to become divine, to the priest who preaches an afterlife or the existence of reincarnation preserving the soul, to the narcissist who can't stand the idea that the world will outlive him.

And then there are the Undying Ones.

Simply put, the Undying Ones don't die. To call them immortal isn't quite true, as all but the oldest and most powerful physically can die, but for the most part they simply... Don't. One who elects to live a quiet life will live until the stars vanish from the skies... But it's so very rare for those gifted with special powers, to resist injury and mend from even the most grievous of wounds to be content with the life of a peasant.

Strictly speaking, Undying Ones aren't one kind of being, but countless. It's just, there are patterns of behavior and, functionally, an Undying One whose mixed troll and elf ancestry result in extreme hybrid vigor is indestinquisible from one who stumbled across an artifact that imbued them with overwhelming life force, the result of a mad wizard's experiment, or one who was cursed by a God of Death to never know the peace of the grave. Some are just otherwise normal people who were randomly born that way.

As no two Undying Ones have the same origins or upbringing, no two adventure for the same reasons, but common motivations are seeing their condition as a curse and hoping to be rid of it, seeing their condition as a blessing, and wanting to take advantage of it by doing dangerous things or learn everything that they can, deciding that their quasi-immortality makes life meaningless and traveling for the sake of engaging in hedonism, or to give life meaning through their actions, or just to be their best selves despite that, and some just do it becuase they feel like it.

Regardless, Undying Ones tend to have an absolutely reckless disregard for their own well being.

Abilities: Constitution is commonly a high score among Undying Ones, but it's not universal. Undying one's don't particularly need any specific ability scores, though high intelligence isn't rare.

Proficiencies: Undying Ones are proficient in simple weapons, unarmed strikes, and any natural weapons or racial proficiencies they may have from their race. They are not proficient with any type of shield or armor.

Skills: Undying Ones come from all walks of life, but it's rare for them to not become knowledgeable only from living a long time. Choose two knowledge skills and six other skills of your choice. These are your class skills. An Undying One gets 2 skill points per level, plus intelligence modifier, and multiplied as normal at first level.

Hit Dice: Undying Ones have D12 Hit Dice.

Base Attack Bonus: As it turns out, when you can't be easily harmed, you're not incentivized to get good at killing the other guy first. Undying One's have half base attack bonus.

Saves: Fortitude good, Will and Reflex Bad


Class Features

Heartiness: No matter what, an Undying One always seems to be at the peak of their race's ability to resist and cope with harm. Starting at first level, instead of rolling Hit Dice, an Undying One always has the highest possible maximum hit points for their hit dice. A Level 1 Undying One with 10 constitutions will thus have 12 hit points, while the same Undying One at level 20 will have 240. Meanwhile, an Undying One with constitution 10 who multiclass to Wizard at level 2 and remains a wizard until level 20 will have 88 hit points. This applies to racial hit dice, and applies retroactively: A multiclass character who takes a level of Undying One recalculates the maximum hit point total.

Timeless Body: Unlike Monks and Druids, an Undying One doesn't need to earn eternal youth. From first level, an Undyng One-Stops aging and cannot be agreed artificially by any means. They retain any aging penalties they already possessed but do not gain more, though benefits still acrue. Unlike most who have this power, this is genuine eternal youth: An Undying One has no maximum lifespan and will never die of old age.

Natural Armor: the vast majority of Undying Ones, that is to say, all of the ones who don't stupid themselves to death before they begin to come into their power, are difficult to injure: The older or more experienced, the harder they are to hurt. Starting at second level, an Undying one has natural armor equal to half of their Undying One Class Levels, or a bonus to pre-existing natural armor equal to the same. Unlike most sources of natural armor, this stacks with other sources of natural armor but not worn armor. An undying one who gains proficiency with armor or shielded uses the best of the natural armor granted by this class or their combined armor, shield, and armor/shield enhancement bonus when calculating Armor class.

Toughness: At third level, an Undying One gains Toughness and Improved Toughness as bonus feats. At the sixth, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth, and eighteenth level the Undying One gains Toughness an additional time. A multiclass Undying One can substitute Toughness for any other bonus feat they'd be entitled too from class levels.

Fast Healing: At fourth level, an Undying One's regenerative abilities begin to manifest. An undying one gains Fast Healing, recovering a number of hit points per round equal to one-fourth their total Undying One Class levels or their constitution modifier, whichever is lower, to a minimum of one per round. At level eight, it becomes whichever is higher. At level twelve, it becomes equivalent to their full level or their constitution modifier. At level 16 it becomes equivalent to their full level plus their Constitution modifier, if positive. This does not stack with other sources of fast healing, instead use whichever is higher.

Damage Reduction: At level five, an Undying One gains Damage Reduction equal to one fifth their hit dice from class levels(but not racial hit dice.) Choose from Magic, Adamantine, Silver, Cold Iron, Slashing, Piercing, Bludgeoning, or a single alignment (Law, Evil, Chaos, Good) to overcome this Damage Reduction. At tenth level, you may choose a second category, with the caveat that you cannot choose something incompatible: An Undying One can choose to be vulnerable only to magical bludgeons, or only to weapons that do piercing and bludgeoning damage such as a monster's bite, but not to weapons that are both Good and Evil, or to a weapon that is both silver and cold iron. A fifteenth level, the Undying One chooses a third category. At twentieth level, they may either add a fourth or, if they have already selected "magic," upgrade it to Epic. This stacks with similar Damage reduction(A werewolf Undying One who has chosen "silver" will have it stack with their damage reduction in their other forms) but not with any other form of Damage Reduction.

Unstoppable: Undying Ones at level seven or higher are very good at resting damage to their body and only slightly worse at resisting attacks to the mind or avoiding danger in the first place. This functions as both Evasion and Mettle, allowing an Undying One who makes a saving throw to reduce the severity of an effect to avoid it entirely upon success.

Immortal Organs: At level nine, an Undying One becomes totally immune to Crtical Hits and prescion damage, such as Sneak Attack or similar abilities, but not nonlethal damage.

Regeneration: At level 10, an Undying One's true immortal nature comes to light. first, their consciousness is no longer tied to any part of their physical body and they will survive from decapitation. They are blinded and unable to speak if their head is removed, unless their sight and methods of speech are located elsewhere, but they are not inconvenienced beyond that. Secondly, any severed limb or organ, including the head, will regrow perfectly after eight hours of rest or within 1d6 minutes of full concentration when at rest, though only one limb can be regenerated at a time in this manner. Finally, any damage taken, excepting damage from weapons that bypass their damage reduction, from Negative Energy affects(or positive energy effects, if they are somehow undead) or from the Undying's choice of any two between Fire, Electricity, Acid, Cold, Sonic is converted to Nonlethal damage which heals at a normal rate. (Fast healing from class does not apply to healing nonllthal damage acrued from regeneration)

Perfect Immunity: a perfect metabolism and superhuman immune system make a Level eleven Undying One immune to all-natural and supernatural poisons and diseases, though does not cure supernatural diseases they were already afflicted with before taking this level, those must finish their course.

Undimishible: A thirteenth Level Undying One becomes immune to all sources of ability damage, cannot have any ability score reduced below 2 via ability drain, and heals one point of ability drain per ability per eight hours of rest. At level 17, they become fully immune to ability drain and to negative levels, though they must finish healing any pre-existing ability drain as normal.

Eternal Engine of Life: a Fifteenth Level Undying One has a life-force that can't be snuffed out. Negative Energy Effects no longer overcome their regeneration. At Nineteenth Level, and Undying One becomes completly immune to Negative Energy Damage or other harmful effects related to Negative Energy. If they are affected by Postive Enrgy as a living being is effected by negative energy, this instead applies to positive energy effects.

An Unrelenting Existence of Pure Vigor: At Level twenty, the Evasion and Mettle like abilities granted by Unstoppable become equivalent to Improved Evasion and Improved Mettle. Furthermore, their regeneration is improved so that they recover a number of points of non-lethal damage equal to half their total Fast Haling granted by this class per round, and they may remove one of the energy types that overcome it. Finally, in the event hat an Undying One someone does die, they can be returned to life far more easily: The Material component cost of a Raise Dead, Ressurection, or True Ressurection spell is halved. There is no limit on how long they've been dead before they can no longer be revived: A Raise Dead spell cast on the fossilized toe-bone of a million years dead Undying One is just as effective as casting it on a warm body that's been dead for less than a minute. Finally, an Undying One never suffers level or ability loss from being raised from the dead.

So, I made this on a whim in less than two hours so it's probably not balanced very well and I might have missed a dead level or and I can't for the life of me figure out how to make the table tags work properly so, sorry about that.

My design intent with this is a No Ability Dependant, Fluff neutral, Build Neutral Meatshield. Con encouraged but not essential, otherwise go nuts. You're not the damage dealer, you're not utility, you run into melee and eat hits and then walk away from it, with Timeless Body as a fluff ability and... Though with decent intelligence the ability to pick your on class skills could make for a passable skill monkey. Off the top of my head, I'm seeing a trap handler who can handle the consequences if her screws up.

I don't know how useful that "cheaper and easier to raise" part of the capstone is, but it felt thematically appropriate.

My intent is that you take it at level one and ride it to 20, but I'm fully aware of the potential for dips and multiclassing.

Possible expansions include "char creation only" feats that give more skill points or better BAB under the justification that you're an older Undying One who put in more effort, and I have no idea where to take this in Epic Levels.

Thoughts?

nonsi
2020-09-28, 05:31 AM
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Click the first link in my sig. That thread is loaded with all sorts of table formatting. I'm sure you'll find whatever you need over there.

Silly Name
2020-09-29, 01:20 PM
Toughness: At third level, an Undying One gains Toughness and Improved Toughness as bonus feats. At the sixth, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth, and eighteenth level the Undying One gains Toughness an additional time. A multiclass Undying One can substitute Toughness for any other bonus feat they'd be entitled too from class levels.

I'm not sure I understand the last sentence. If I am [Other Class] X/Undying One 3, I can pick any other feat in place of the Toughness bonus feat? It's not something particularly broken, but I don't really understand the logic behind this.


Damage Reduction: At level five, an Undying One gains Damage Reduction equal to one fifth their hit dice from class levels(but not racial hit dice.) Choose from Magic, Adamantine, Silver, Cold Iron, Slashing, Piercing, Bludgeoning, or a single alignment (Law, Evil, Chaos, Good) to overcome this Damage Reduction. At tenth level, you may choose a second category, with the caveat that you cannot choose something incompatible: An Undying One can choose to be vulnerable only to magical bludgeons, or only to weapons that do piercing and bludgeoning damage such as a monster's bite, but not to weapons that are both Good and Evil, or to a weapon that is both silver and cold iron. A fifteenth level, the Undying One chooses a third category. At twentieth level, they may either add a fourth or, if they have already selected "magic," upgrade it to Epic. This stacks with similar Damage reduction(A werewolf Undying One who has chosen "silver" will have it stack with their damage reduction in their other forms) but not with any other form of Damage Reduction.

Wait, why do I get vulnerable to more things as I level up? Or did you mean that this becomes more and more specific? I.e., at fifth level I'm vulnerable to adamantine weapons, at ten I'm vulnerable only to weapons that are both adamantine and slashing and so on?

Also, can't you simply word the first line as "gains DR equal to one fifth of their class level"? I don't see why mention Hit Dice at all.


I don't know if I'd want to take levels in this class except as dip for the retroactively maximised HD and eternal youth and lifespan I get at level 1. Maybe if I can afford it I'd go as far as level 9 or 10 for the immunity to critical hits, decapitation and limb regeneration. And Evasion and Mettle all in one is cool.

Thematically, the idea is cool and appealing, but mechanically... I don't know, I don't see anything that really makes me want to stick with the class. I'd be extremely good at not dying, which is cool, but apart from that I wouldn't be doing anything. What's my role in the party? If I choose to tank, how do I get in the way of enemy attacks to defend my allies?

The feats to earn extra skill points and BAB would be appealing, as they'd help qualify for other feats and PrC that better help establish a role for the character, but it still runs the risk of feeling like you're playing a flying brick, but without the flying part.

Rater202
2020-09-29, 01:47 PM
I'm not sure I understand the last sentence. If I am [Other Class] X/Undying One 3, I can pick any other feat in place of the Toughness bonus feat? It's not something particularly broken, but I don't really understand the logic behind this.If you're an undying one 3, then start taking fighter levels, you can use Toughness in place of Fighter Bonus feats, which is a suboptimal option but one I felt was thematic.



Wait, why do I get vulnerable to more things as I level up? Or did you mean that this becomes more and more specific? I.e., at fifth level I'm vulnerable to adamantine weapons, at ten I'm vulnerable only to weapons that are both adamantine and slashing and so on?More specific. Like, as Iunderstnad it, if you have DR 2/Magic and Piercing, then you can only be hurt by magical weapons that deal piercing damage, while magic "or" piercing would mean you're vulnerable to both.

If I'm wrong about that, then nobody has bothered to correct me o, a misconception I've had for 13 years and I need to rethink the class feature.


Also, can't you simply word the first line as "gains DR equal to one fifth of their class level"? I don't see why mention Hit Dice at all.
BEcuase its based on your total hit-dice minus any racial hit dice. If you take it to 5 and then take five Fighter LEvels, you'd still get the extra point of DR(though you wouldn't get the "more specific" type of weapon damage that overcomes the DR)

Like I said, the intent is to ride it to twenty but I knew people would see the dip and multiclass potential and I'm willing to facilitate that.

Also, truth be told I kind of second-guessed myself as I was writing it. Originally I was going to do higher DR, more fast healing, and bonuses to physical attributes and I had vague ideals of "trnsfuse your blood into someone's veins to function as a cure wounds potion" but then... I don't know, I've had experience with people saying that non-casters who are too hard to hurt ot that doo too much stuff are overpowred.

Silly Name
2020-09-29, 02:03 PM
More specific. Like, as Iunderstnad it, if you have DR 2/Magic and Piercing, then you can only be hurt by magical weapons that deal piercing damage, while magic "or" piercing would mean you're vulnerable to both.

If I'm wrong about that, then nobody has bothered to correct me o, a misconception I've had for 13 years and I need to rethink the class feature.

You're correct, but I'd edit the text to make it clear that those effects are cumulative. Something along the lines of "when choosing a new category, that means you're now only vulnerable to attacks that possess all those qualities."



BEcuase its based on your total hit-dice minus any racial hit dice. If you take it to 5 and then take five Fighter LEvels, you'd still get the extra point of DR(though you wouldn't get the "more specific" type of weapon damage that overcomes the DR)

Like I said, the intent is to ride it to twenty but I knew people would see the dip and multiclass potential and I'm willing to facilitate that.

I see. Most class features usually scale off class levels, which is why I misread it initially.


Also, truth be told I kind of second-guessed myself as I was writing it. Originally I was going to do higher DR, more fast healing, and bonuses to physical attributes and I had vague ideals of "trnsfuse your blood into someone's veins to function as a cure wounds potion" but then... I don't know, I've had experience with people saying that non-casters who are too hard to hurt ot that doo too much stuff are overpowred.

A class that can do too much stuff very well is overpowered, it doesn't matter if it's a pure martial or a caster or an half-caster. It's ok to be very good at a few specific things and bad at others, or to be ok at a wide breadth of things with a focus where you're good at. Being good at nothing, being good at only one single thing, or being good at everything are all poor design, IMHO.

Characters who are very hard to hurt honestly aren't problematic. You can do the same by not going on an adventure, or sticking yourself in a lead box while circumventing the need to drink, eat and breathe.

The ability to heal and protect your allies by infusing them with a bit of your eternal life is actually pretty cool, makes thematic sense and would make the class a bit more interesting.

The thing with "tanking" in D&D is that there aren't really many good ways to "take aggro" like in an MMO. So by becoming invulnerable, you still don't solve the problem of keeping the squisher party members alive long enough for them to do their thing.