Necropolitan? Drawbacks? ... Advantages?

[Crake]

I think level 3 is based on that being the earliest level when you can lose a level and 1000xp without being destroyed...

Correct. If the level loss and xp loss result in the creature reaching 0xp, they are instantly destroyed and turned to dust, unable to be raised or revived again by any means. Doing the ritual at 2nd level means you lose a level, bringing you to level 1 with 500 xp (halfway to the next level, just like raise dead does), and then you lose 1000xp, bringing you to -500xp, which means you're destroyed. Doing the ritual at 3rd level however, drops your xp to 2nd level with 1000xp, which you then lose, putting you exactly on the cusp of 2nd level.

[bean illus]

Correct. If the level loss and xp loss result in the creature reaching 0xp, they are instantly destroyed and turned to dust, unable to be raised or revived again by any means. Doing the ritual at 2nd level means you lose a level, bringing you to level 1 with 500 xp (halfway to the next level, just like raise dead does), and then you lose 1000xp, bringing you to -500xp, which means you're destroyed. Doing the ritual at 3rd level however, drops your xp to 2nd level with 1000xp, which you then lose, putting you exactly on the cusp of 2nd level.

... let me see if i understand what you're saying.

If you are level 2.9 (nearly enough xp for 3rd), and you do the ritual, then you "lose a level", an end up at level 0.5 (half way to 1st). At this point -1,000 xp = dead (permanently).

So performing the ritual 'immediately' after attaining 3rd, the character lose 1.5 levels, and becomes level 1.5? Then 1,000 xp is subtracted?

[Crake]

... let me see if i understand what you're saying.

If you are level 2.9 (nearly enough xp for 3rd), and you do the ritual, then you "lose a level", an end up at level 0.5 (half way to 1st). At this point -1,000 xp = dead (permanently).

So performing the ritual 'immediately' after attaining 3rd, the character lose 1.5 levels, and becomes level 1.5? Then 1,000 xp is subtracted?

You lose a level as if raised by the raise dead spell. That is, you go back down a level, and your xp is set halfway through that level. How far through your current level is irrelevant. If you're level 2.9 or you're level 2.0, in either case you're set back to 1.5 (500xp through first level). If you're level 3 in any capacity, you get set to level 2.5 (1000xp through the second level). AFTER that is done, you then lose an additional 1000xp. So a 2nd level character, after being raised, would end up 1st level with 500xp, and then would lose 1000xp, leaving them at -500, which equals dead permanently. A 3rd level character, after being raised, would be 2nd level, with 1000xp, which they would then lose, meaning they're exactly 2nd level.

[bean illus]

You lose a level as if raised by the raise dead spell. That is, you go back down a level, and your xp is set halfway through that level. How far through your current level is irrelevant. If you're level 2.9 or you're level 2.0, in either case you're set back to 1.5 (500xp through first level). If you're level 3 in any capacity, you get set to level 2.5 (1000xp through the second level). AFTER that is done, you then lose an additional 1000xp. So a 2nd level character, after being raised, would end up 1st level with 500xp, and then would lose 1000xp, leaving them at -500, which equals dead permanently. A 3rd level character, after being raised, would be 2nd level, with 1000xp, which they would then lose, meaning they're exactly 2nd level.

That sounds like what i said. But thanks for the clear reiteration, and all your other help.

When i think about it, that makes more sense than ... losing a level and going from level 3.01 to level 2.99 (i know levels aren't gradiated in thousandths, but i rarely have to call a level a "half level" either).

[Thurbane]

Long story short, if you can get Faerie Mysteries Initiate, Improved Turn Resistance + Cloak of Turn Resistance, Headband(s) of Conscious Effort - a Necropolitan can be quite a resilient character.

[Vizzerdrix]

Evolved undead is a nice template to stack on this. You get some goodies in the stat department annd fast healing too.

[Crake]

Evolved undead is a nice template to stack on this. You get some goodies in the stat department annd fast healing too.

Evolved undead does require that you have been an undead for at least 100 years though, not really applicable if you're planning on becoming a necropolitan in the middle of a campaign.

[Quertus]

Evolved undead does require that you have been an undead for at least 100 years though, not really applicable if you're planning on becoming a necropolitan in the middle of a campaign.

One scroll of Teleport Through Time, and a century of downtime underwater basket weaving later, and you're good to go.

Otherwise, yeah, doesn't work in most campaigns, as they just don't give you that kind of downtime. Although, the ones that do? I guess that could explain why you needed to go Necropolitan in the first place.

[Batcathat]

One scroll of Teleport Through Time, and a century of downtime underwater basket weaving later, and you're good to go.

That reminds me of one of the Futurama movies, where hundreds of versions of a time-travelling Bender spend thousands of years in the basement (then they decide to all come out at the same time, thus sort of breaking the universe, but that's not really relevant for this discussion).

[Kalkra]

Can one take taint and be good?

What are some expoits for that?

Heroes of Horror is kinda unclear on taint. It says that you can be good and have taint, but REALLY good people avoid it. That being said, any undead creature automatically gets a virtual taint score equal to Cha/2 + 1, and are immune to the effects of taint.

There are two kinds of taint, corruption and depravity. Corruption happens when your taint score is higher than your Con (which is effectively 0, because you're undead), and depravity happens when your taint is higher than your Wis. When you become moderately tainted (2 taint with 0 Con for corruption, 6 with a Wis of 9-12 for depravity) you get a bonus feat. By RAW, this can be any feat, but a lot of DMs rule that it only applies to Tainted feats. You get another at severe taint (6 taint with 0 Con for corruption, 18 taint with a Wis of 9-12 for depravity).

Some nice Tainted feats include Eldritch Corruption, which requires moderate depravity and gives you free metamagic by dealing 2 points of Con damage to an ally (one of the options is +2 Heighten, which is nice for early entry cheese), Mad Faith, which requires mild depravity and gives you an extra 2nd-level divine spell slot, and an extra 3rd if you have severe depravity (regardless of whether or not you would normally have spells of that level, very nice at low levels, also good for early entry cheese), and Surge of Malevolence, which requires gives a +3 untyped bonus to ANY attack roll, save, or check for each level of corruption you have once per day (so +3 for mild, +6 for moderate, +9 for severe). This can boost level checks and other things you can't normally boost.

If you are evil, you get more options, but free feats is plenty.

[Vaern]

Of course, that only heals 2.5 HP per round. And since most combats are about 4 rounds, it only totals 10 HP avg, during combat.

Combat healing in general is usually considered to be a subpar use of action economy unless someone is on the verge of death and absolutely needs a couple of extra hit points right just now, or you have a big Heal ready to drop. Being able to heal out of combat for literally free and always being topped off for your next encounter, though, can be extremely valuable.

[Thunder999]

2.5hp a round in combat is actually quite nice if you're not spending actions on it, and when you don't have the luxury of going to -10 getting an extra 10hp over 4 rounds is a nice way to offset that.

[Calthropstu]

So, a disintegrate gets cast on a necro, then the necro rolls d20 with a zero modifier?

What are solutions? Does a bonus to fort saves work?

Disintegrate wrecks undead like nothing else. I used it as a primary attack on Strahd as pretty much any elemental damage was handled. It's the most effective anti-undead spell I know of on the arcane list. And it literally requires items to defend against.

[Thurbane]

Disintegrate wrecks undead like nothing else. I used it as a primary attack on Strahd as pretty much any elemental damage was handled. It's the most effective anti-undead spell I know of on the arcane list. And it literally requires items to defend against.

Well, SR and/or a good touch AC also help...

[Ruethgar]

Losing con on melee sucks but your RHD is a D12 now for w/e thats worth lol

Just wanted to point out that this is misrepresents the template's effects. All HD are increased to d12, racial and otherwise. It is one of the few templates to actually do that making undead significantly less of a burden for lower HD classes.

[Zanos]

Just wanted to point out that this is misrepresents the template's effects. All HD are increased to d12, racial and otherwise. It is one of the few templates to actually do that making undead significantly less of a burden for lower HD classes.

Don't almost all undead templates raise all HD to d12s?

d12 HP is pretty good upgrade for a wizard. Assuming average hit points, you'd get 6.5 a level, which is the same as a d4 with 18 con. If you can swing a desecrate it's equivalent to 22 con, and if you can get your grubby hands on a fell energy desecrate, it's 28 con. If your DM uses max HP per HD it's even better.

Disintegrate wrecks undead like nothing else. I used it as a primary attack on Strahd as pretty much any elemental damage was handled. It's the most effective anti-undead spell I know of on the arcane list. And it literally requires items to defend against.

Disintegrate is quite good on undead, but as a ray it's susceptible to ray deflection and friendly fire. Which I would recommend taking as a necropolitan wizard. Glass Strike is another one that's hard to defend against. Spell Resistance/Immunity are possible defenses, other than shoring up your fort save with items.

[bean illus]

Heroes of Horror is kinda unclear on taint. It says that you can be good and have taint, but REALLY good people avoid it. That being said, any undead creature automatically gets a virtual taint score equal to Cha/2 + 1, and are immune to the effects of taint.

There are two kinds of taint, corruption and depravity. Corruption happens when your taint score is higher than your Con (which is effectively 0, because you're undead), and depravity happens when your taint is higher than your Wis. When you become moderately tainted (2 taint with 0 Con for corruption, 6 with a Wis of 9-12 for depravity) you get a bonus feat. By RAW, this can be any feat, but a lot of DMs rule that it only applies to Tainted feats. You get another at severe taint (6 taint with 0 Con for corruption, 18 taint with a Wis of 9-12 for depravity).

Some nice Tainted feats include Eldritch Corruption, which requires moderate depravity and gives you free metamagic by dealing 2 points of Con damage to an ally (one of the options is +2 Heighten, which is nice for early entry cheese), Mad Faith, which requires mild depravity and gives you an extra 2nd-level divine spell slot, and an extra 3rd if you have severe depravity (regardless of whether or not you would normally have spells of that level, very nice at low levels, also good for early entry cheese), and Surge of Malevolence, which requires gives a +3 untyped bonus to ANY attack roll, save, or check for each level of corruption you have once per day (so +3 for mild, +6 for moderate, +9 for severe). This can boost level checks and other things you can't normally boost.

If you are evil, you get more options, but free feats is plenty.

The Taint feats could work, though my melee idea was to dump Con, Cha, and Wis.

But am i understanding that Mad Faith allows access to zone of truth, for entry to Church Inquisitor at ECL 3?

So rapid dips like this are possible (primary contact, frog's fane)?
1. Cloistered 1
2. Cloistered 2
3. Church Inquisitor 1
4. Church Inquisitor 2
5. Divine Oracle 1
6. Seeker of the Misty Isle 1
7. Divine Oracle 2
8. Sacred Exorcist 1
9. Divine Disciple 1
10. Contemplative 1

We just have to talk an elf deity into accepting an undead cleric. Elves have the Baelnorn lich, so there's precedent.