This is the reason why you treat your summons humanely! Some of these days, one of them might take over the world, and you do not want to be on their bad side...

Quote Originally Posted by Ysbrand
Ysbrand, Horned Lord of the Frozen Procession



NE Ice Mephit 3 / Acolyte of the Skin 2 / Horned Harbinger 8 / Soul Eater 1 / Horned Harbinger +2 / Dragon Devotee 1 / Devoted Defender 1 / Warchief 2

Robed in a demon's hide and crowned with fiendish horn!
Followed by the frozen dead and served by ghosts forlorn!
Servant of a dragon-lord, which he chose to betray!
He and his pack consume the souls of all those who they slay!

Spoiler: Backstory
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The mephit appeared with a little popping sound and a waft of frozen air. Looking around, he saw rocky cavern walls giving way to dark passages, dried lichen clinging to scattered boulders, and a giant white dragon, staring down on him smugly. Nobody else, strangely enough. He'd been summoned a few times, but always to fight something.

"Alright, nice to meet you, here you go, one mephit as ordered. Just tell me what you want from me, I'll do it, and we can all go our separate ways in a minute or two, sounds good?"

The dragon blinked. Perhaps Ysbrand was imagining it, but its lizard-like grin seemed to get slightly wider.

"Look pal, if you're not commanding me to do anything I am not gonna do anything. Chop chop, the clock's ticking."

The dragon quite literally roared with laughter. The mephit was starting to get a little nervous: what wasn't adding up? Think, think, what was off? Air a little crisper than usual? Shadows a bit sharper? No con-

With a wave of its enormous claw, the dragon dismissed the spell that had called Ysbrand here.

The mephit remained where he was. A second later, he realized that he wasn't supposed to. Another second later, he decided the appropriate response to this chain of events was complete and utter panic.

The dragon, for its part, continued to laugh.

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His situation, so he would later learn, was one shared by many. Some dragon had acquired calling variants of established summoning spells, and was merrily using them to call large numbers of outsiders to its own realm. They could leave, sure, but with no place to go, and no desire to earn an ancient dragon's ire, most remained where they were rather than risk true death. Be they demons, yugoloths, slaadi, elementals: all were pressed into unceremonious service, digging tunnels, guarding entrances, and leading kobolds into raids.

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So Ysbrand would have remained, were it not for a fortunate coincidence. A recent count had revealed that the dragon's store of gems was short a single ruby, and servants had been mobilized to comb through the mazelike tunnel network that the dragon called home. Ysbrand had been told to search a narrow, vertical shaft that few others could fly down, connected to some-or-another abandoned treasure room.

After an uncomfortable thirty minutes, following cracks in the permafrost and partially collapsed ventillation shafts, the mephit found its path blocked by a single, large obstruction: some kind of black hemisphere, encased in ice? Parts of the object had become uncovered, revealing some kind of barbs lining its surface.

Ysbrand didn't care much. It wasn't a ruby, so he squeezed past, continued his search, and thought little of it. The passage went nowhere, the ruby was never found, and the search was eventually ended.

But ever since, Ysbrand found himself having all sorts of new ideas. He observed the dragon's summoning spells, taking mental notes on their structure and results. He studied the magic items in the dragon's hoard. He spoke to called fiends, trying to learn more of their homes and habits.

And eventually, the experiments lead him somewhere. In an isolated cavern, using stolen reagents and improvised schematics, something was called from the slumbering place of dead gods. Ysbrand's very own skin, offered as a sacrifice, was consumed and replaced, a process he only barely survived. His skull warped, growing six large horns, and his very touch grew deadly. Even his eyes were changed, showing him the very souls of those he watched.

Most of all, he learned how to animate the dead. That, in retrospect, kind of overshadowed the other things.

The dragon was suspicious of the new powers, but quickly saw their use. Kobold corpses were a plentiful resource for any dragon, and even weak zombies could perform considerable work. Slowly, Ysbrand's undead army grew: never to any size that truly worried the dragon, of course, but enough to let the mephit rise in rank.

For years (decades? centuries?) Ysbrand served the dragon faithfully, amassing more and more undead, raiding the frozen surface, even parleying with would-be vassals. The dragon grew to respect him, even trust him, and Ysbrand's quiet resentment almost began to waver.

But then, the whispers returned, carrying a new and magnificent suggestion with them.

The dragon was prepared for zombies, ghouls, the odd mummy or wight. But never had it realized Ysbrand could call more advanced undead as well. In a meticulously planned ambush, dozens of shadows emerged from the cavern walls, draining the dragon of all strength in a single instance. Its subsequent death was a drawn-out affair, perpetuated by the very kobolds it commanded in life.

And now? Now Ysbrand remains, his revenge complete. The bound outsiders, he set free, the treasures he took for himself, the kobolds he ruled and killed and raised. They say he still lurks there, deep underground, emerging only to claim new riches and corpses.



Spoiler: Ability Scores
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Strength Dexterity Constitution Intelligence Wisdom Charisma
Base 10 8 16 14 9 17
Racial adjustments 10 14 16 10 9 21
Classes - +2 - - - +4
Level-up - - - - - +5
Final 10 16 16 10 9 30


Spoiler: Build Table
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Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Ice Mephit 1 +1 +2 +2 +2 Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Move Silently 4, Speak Language (Draconic) (CC), Spot 4, Use Magic Device 4 Apprentice (Spellcaster) (the Planes) Breath Weapon, Magic Missile 1/day, Chill Metal 1/day, Summon Mephit, DR 5/magic, Fast Healing 2, Cold subtype
2nd Ice Mephit 2 +2 +3 +3 +3 Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 5, Hide 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Move Silently 5, Spot 5, Use Magic Device 5 - -
3rd Ice Mephit 3 +3 +3 +3 +3 Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Escape Artist 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 6, Move Silently 6, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6 Dragontouched -
4th Acolyte of the Skin 1 +3 +5 +3 +5 Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Use Magic Device 7 - Wear Fiend (+2 DEX), Poison 1/day
5th Acolyte of the Skin 2 +4 +6 +3 +6 Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Use Magic Device 8 - Fire Resistance 10
6th Horned Harbinger 1 +4 +8 +3 +8 Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 1 Entangling Exhalation Bone Horns, Rebuke Undead, Death Domain
7th Horned Harbinger 2 +5 +9 +3 +9 Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 2 - Deathwatch, Animate Dead
8th Horned Harbinger 3 +6 +9 +4 +9 Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Knowledge (Religion) 3 Extra TurningB -
9th Horned Harbinger 4 +7 +10 +4 +10 Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Animal Devotion, Extra TurningB -
10th Horned Harbinger 5 +7 +10 +4 +10 Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5 - Captain of Undeath
11th Horned Harbinger 6 +8 +11 +5 +11 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6 - Create Undead
12th Horned Harbinger 7 +9 +11 +5 +11 Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Knowledge (Religion) 7 Alertness, Weapon Focus (Bone Horns)B Ranged Animation
13th Horned Harbinger 8 +10 +12 +5 +12 Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 8 - Create Greater Undead
14th Soul Eater 1 +11 +14 +7 +14 Search 4 - Energy Drain 1
15th Horned Harbinger 9 +11 +14 +8 +14 Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 9 Multiattack, Extra TurningB -
16th Horned Harbinger 10 +12 +15 +8 +15 Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (Religion) 10 - General of Undeath
17th Dragon Devotee 1 +12 +17 +8 +15 Sense Motive 4 - +2 Charisma, +1 Natural Armor
18th Devoted Defender 1 +13 +19 +10 +15 Sense Motive 6 Strength Devotion Harm's Way
19th Warchief 1 +13 +21 +10 +17 Bluff 7, Diplomacy 7 - Tribal Frenzy (+2 STR)
20th Warchief 2 +14 +22 +10 +18 Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8 - +2 Charisma


Spoiler: Spotlights
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ECL 5
A basic mephit is kind of a weird foundation for a character. At low levels, we'll be helping out with a smattering of skills, serving as a solid scout, face, or wand monkey, and offering the odd bit of lore. In combat, our main attacking option is a cold breath weapon which debuffs AC and attack rolls, though if necessary we can fly into a flanking position and make some claw attacks (two attacks that deal 1d4+1d4 cold isn't awful). Chill Metal is mostly useful for creating ice to activate our Fast Healing with, though perhaps we can just repeatedly breathe frost at a waterskin.

We enter Acolyte of the Skin using our Chill Metal SLA (caster level 6!) to qualify. Unlike most warlock-friendly Complete Arcane PrCs, AotS doesn't specify arcane caster level, meaning we're good to go. The entry ritual is a bit scary, dealing a potential 40 damage to our 27 HP, but as the damage is dealt over 10 rounds, fast healing takes care of it without a problem. This gives us some more dexterity, 1/day Poison, and fire resistance.

ECL 10
Here's where things pick up! Horned Harbinger gives us a component-free Animate Dead that scales with level and charisma, and adds periodic bonuses to the amount of undead you can control. At level 10, we are controlling 55 HD through the spell, and a further 10 through Rebuke Undead: significantly more than an at-level cleric! The class also gives us at-will Deathwatch, the death domain's granted power, and a natural horn attack (which will end up being much more important than you might be thinking).

(Aside: Animate Dead was updated in 3.5 to allow for the control of 4 HD/CL. If we assume that this update applies to the harbinger and its features as well, we can control 110 HD instead)

(Another aside: if corpses are in short supply, just buy some lifestock and reanimate them: cows are 10 GP, 5 RHD and work just fine as boneshields until you come by something better. The cool thing about necromancy is that corpses are the one piece of guaranteed loot in D&D)

(Aside 3: access to cold damage has a minor synergy with necromancy: it lets you keep corpses fresh until you need them! 1/day Chill Metal can create enough ice to keep a sizeable underground room cooled, letting you stash superfluous bodies without creating disease risks)

Entangling Exhalation lets our breath weapon as a big debuff, which now doesn't just apply AC and attack roll penalties but Entangles as well. That said: Entangling Exhalation is overhyped. If several monsters are clustered together, that's typically because they are engaged in melee. Entangle them, and you entangle your allies as well. To optimally use the feat, you need roadblocks immune to your breath weapon... like our cold-immune skeletons.

Animal Devotion gives us a big boost in power, an extra natural weapon, or a very situational land speed bonus. It's very hungry for turning attempts, but fortunately Horned Harbinger gives us several free copies of Extra Turning.

ECL 15
With Create (Greater) Undead, we can now create Ghouls, Ghasts, Mummies, and Shadows. The latter especially is interesting: 80+18 RHD of strength damage-dealing incorporeals is a lot (and in a single level, it goes up to 170 + 50!). Soul Eater gives us energy drain, which additionally lets us create wights (uncontrolled, but we can rebuke them!). We don't need the spawn of these undead to be under our control as well, but if the DM rules it so, that's a very nice bonus.

Our combat routine has settled down by this point. After moving into position, we activate Animal Devotion for the strength buff and entangle some foes. Next turn, we activate Animal Devotion for the bite and full attack, hitting a buffed claw/claw/horns/bite routine that applies further debuffs on every hit. Note that we have 22 rebuking attempts, meaning we can use two animal devotions per combat, four combats in a row. And all the while, an arbitrary number of skeletons is playing goalie, while some shadows sneak through the walls to ambush enemy casters.

ECL 20
The CL for Animate Dead is boosted by the final level of Horned Harbinger and several charisma-boosting PrCs, for a final 20 (10 level, 10 charisma). This lets us create Wraiths, Spectres, Mohrgs, and even Devourers: the last of which can be used to convert fallen foes into various useful SLAs (most notably True Seeing and Lesser Planar Ally). For a character utterly lacking in caster levels, we can do some impressive minionmancy! We have 250 (possibly 450?) HD of undead under our control at this point, not counting any spawn they might create. With -6 AC applied to our foes, even basic shadows have a solid chance to hit.

Our final levels require a bit of explanation. Dragon Devotee and Warchief are there mostly there for the Charisma boost (though the former gives us +1 natural armor and useful class skills also!), but Devoted Defender might seem puzzling.

While it's not insanely synergistic, Devoted Defender grants us lots of little benefits that make it worth the entry skill investment. It offers another point of BAB and +2 Reflex, it lets us finally wear armor (though our AC is already pretty high between boosted natural armor, dexterity, and size), and it grants us Harm's Way, letting us take hits for a squishier target. If nothing else, we can use it to protect our more valuable undead (devourers, spectres) and then Fast Heal the damage after combat.

The last notable addition is Strength Devotion, which lets us overcome hardness and certain DR (mostly found on constructs, which we otherwise struggle with) and adds a slam attack to our routine. With 25 turning attempts a day, we can spend basically each of our in-combat turns activating a Devotion feat.

Finally, note how that with 30 Charisma, our ranks in UMD are now enough to reliably use wands on a roll of 2 or higher.


Spoiler: Discussion
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There's two questions in this competition: does your monster help the class levels, and do the class levels help your monster?

On the first count, being a mephit qualifies us for Soul Eater, while also providing the SLA we need to enter Acolyte of the Skin (and giving us the fast healing to survive that early entry). More importantly, it gives us the +4 charisma bonus we need to hit 30 charisma at level 20 and offers us a very useful at-will breath weapon that also debuffs AC. In theory, any mephit (but not much other than a mephit) could do the above, but only ice mephit offers a cold breath weapon, which has unique synergy with the skeletal immunity to cold, and only ice mephit combines a perfect flight speed with an easily-triggered Fast Healing. I am not exaggerating when I say that ice mephit is the only monster that this build could work with: remove the race and try to salvage the rest, and you'll be left with little more than the Horned Harbinger levels (without the ability to create devourers).

On the second count, our class levels improve the mephit's middling melee capacities. Soul Eater improves our lackluster melee damage, and the Extra Turning we get from Horned Harbinger lets us spam several useful devotion feats. Acolyte of the Skin grants us a useful resistance to fire, and finally we gain useful to several great social skills that benefit from our high charisma. We also go a route (minionmancy) that combos well with our breath weapon in several ways (protecting minions by lowering attack rolls, lowering the AC of enemies, entangling foes but not our skeletons).

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Also, a note about power. Ysbrand does something (animate dead minionmancy + BFC) that is traditionally the purview of casters, but he obviously does not stand up in direct comparison to a 20th-level cleric or wizard specializing in necromancy.

In my defense, I will note that those are tier 1 classes: an orb of force mailman will outperform a rogue, but we don't punish every rogue build with a low power score. Considering the components of Ysbrand (one terrible PrC, a few barely-used ones, and a single level of soul eater), I think the result is better than could be expected, and certainly manages to serve as a solid tank that does some debuffing and utility on the side. Furthermore, when comparing only the necromantic capabilities, Ysbrand can create most of the same undead as a full caster while being able to control more of them, and additionally has better ability to support those hordes.


Spoiler: Variants
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A variant I was initially considering is Ice Mephit 3 / Binder 2 / Horned Harbinger 8 / Soul Eater 1 / Horned Harbinger +2 / Knight of the Sacred Seal 4 (with the alignment changed to Lawful Evil to get more out of Aligned Strike).

This variant uses the Aym vestige to get early medium armor proficiency and fire resistance (at the cost of the dexterity bonus and Poison SLA that Acolyte grants, making it a bit more passive early-game), and later uses soul binding to qualify for Knight of the Sacred Seal, which is absolutely insane on high-charisma characters that can assume they'll be surrounded by allies. The build needs higher intelligence to meet the Horned Harbinger requirement in time (12 int allows for 2 cross-class ranks as a mephit, 6 skill points as a binder), but can afford to drop Apprentice early on. In return, it becomes required to take Practiced Magic to still hit CL 20 with the necromancy SLAs. Amon is an interesting option to bind because he offers another natural weapon (ram =/= bone horns!), and if we're already serving a dead god we might as well add another.


Spoiler: Sources
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Acolyte of the Skin - CA
Horned Harbinger - F&P
Soul Eater - BoVD
Dragon Devotee - RotD
Devoted Defender - S&F
Warchief - MH

Apprentice - DMG2
Dragontouched - DrM
Entangling Exhalation - RotD
Animal Devotion, Strength Devotion - CC

(the backstory spell is Halaster's Fetch IV)