Master of Undeath (3.5e Class)

Master of Undeath

The master of undeath is a fierce individual that is dangerous in the extreme without using many weapons. The key to his abilities lies in the ability to bring individuals they slay will come back to life, and through force of will they can bend the newly created undead to aid them. However the undead can exceed his ability to control at times and will turn against him if his will fails.

Making a Master of Undeath

The master of undeath combat abilities work very similar to a rogue though on a lesser scale. Unlike other classes that deal with undead the master of undeath does not have any sort of spell capabilities, arcane or otherwise. Through strength of will the individual can control undead that raise in this fashion but are unable to force undead not created through their own abilities to obey them.

Abilities: The most important attributes for master of undeath is Charisma which will dictate exactly how many undead are available for control at any given time. Other attributes that will also be extremely useful to the master of undeath will be Strength and Dexterity to increase the likelyhood to strike and kill targets and add to his ranks of undead.

Races: In theory any race can be a master of undeath, however most races abhor this kind of power as it deals with the undead which at the least is considered extremely unnatural. While these individuals are not necessarily evil, most people will assume they are simply from their command of the undead.

Alignment: Any non-good is acceptable for the master of undeath, as good people would desire to lay their creations to rest instead of compeling them to obey commands. However the simple act of being able to command the undead does not require the individual to be evil.

Starting Gold: 4d4x10 (100 average) gp.

Starting Age: "Simple" as rogue

Table: The Master of Undeath

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Necrotic strike 1d4, Creeping Death, Strength of Will, Necrosis
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Empowered Death
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Necrotic strike 2d4, Necrotic Empowerment
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Armored Death, Necrotic Vigor
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Necrotic Regeneration
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Necrotic strike 3d4
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	Necrotic strike 4d4, Death's Empowerment
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Necrotic Field
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Durable Death
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Necrotic strike 5d4
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	Necrotic Enhancement
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Necrotic strike 6d4
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Death's Alacrity
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	Necrotic strike 7d4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Destructive Death, Reinforced Death
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Craft (Int), Profession (Int), All Knowledge skills (Int),jump (strength),climb (Strength), spot (wis), search (int), listen (wis), Diplomacy (Charisma), Bluff (Charisma), Sense Motive, (Wisdom) .

Master of Undeath Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The master of undeath is proficient with all simple weapons and one martial weapon of choice. Masters of undeath are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Necrotic Strike (Ex): The necrotic strike is an innate ability that cannot be supressed by the master of undeath, and causes negative energy to lash the target with massive damage and pain. However unlike normal negative energy this only works against still living targets (this ability does not allow the healing of undead minions.) Whenever an individual is slain with this power the subject is affected by the creeping death ability. If the master of undeath uses a ranged weapon this ability lasts until it strikes the target, but does not remain after it strikes.

Creeping Death (Ex): When the master of undeath kills an opponent the slain opponent will raise one minute (10 rounds) following the death. The master of undeath chooses whether the slain individual returns as a skeleton or zombie (if skeletons are chosen the corpse rapidly deteriorates.) When the slain creature rises it is automatically subject to the Strength of Will ability unless the maximum hit dice of controlled creatures is reached.

Strength of Will (Ex): Strength of Will is the method by which the master of undeath controls the hordes that rise from the creatures that die by the master of undeaths hands. Strength of will takes the level of the master of undeath and multiplies it by the Charisma modifier (if any minimum of the master of undeaths' level) to determine the maximum hit dice that can be controlled at any one time.

Empowered Death (Ex): In addition to the Creeping Death abilities the undead that rise are actually stronger than when the individual was alive. When a creature is risen from death they receive a +2 profane bonus to strength and dexterity.

Necrotic Empowerment (Ex): While the master of undeath is within 30 feet of his risen servants they receive +1 to hit and damage (increasing by an additional +1 every three levels.) This bonus does not confer the ability for multiple attacks and is considered a bonus not an increase to base attack bonus. This bonus extends to 60 feet at level 12.

Necrosis (Ex): The negative energy that the master of undeath emits during his necortic strikes grows stronger and starts taking on a biting edge. The necrotic strike now is enhanced by the master of undeaths Charisma bonus, and this damage gains a multiplier increase at every fourth level of experience (x2 at 8th level, x3 at 12th level, etc.)

Armored Death (Ex): At fifth level and every five levels thereafter the undead servants gain a bonus to armor. This bonus starts at one and increases to four when the master of undeath reaches level twenty.

Necrotic Vigor (Ex): When the master of undeath reaches 5th level all undead minions gain two extra hit points per hit die. This bonus will increase to four points per hit die at level 15.

Necrotic Regeneration (Ex): While within 30 feet of the master of undeath all of his minions (note: not all undead just the ones under his control) gain fast healing 1 allowing them to regain health. While this is a negative energy effect emanating from the master of undeath it does not harm others. When the master of undeath reaches level 10 the fast healing increases to 3 and at 15 becomes fast healing 5. At level 18 this ability increases in power and extends to 60 feet.

Death's Empowerment (Ex): With Death's Empowerment all risen minions of the master of undeath automatically have full hit points per hit die when brought back to life. This makes the skeletons more durable, giving the master of undeath an advantage on the field.

Necrotic Field (Ex): The minions now exude a necrotic field that deflects attacks from themselves. All minions within 30 feet gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to the Charisma bonus (if any) of the master of undeath. At level 19 the field is extended to 60 feet.

Durable Death (Ex): The minions of the master of undeath are now extremely hard to kill and gain a damage reduction of 3/-. Further the minions all gain resistance 5 to each type of energy (except force) making them harder to destroy but still susceptable to magic.

Necrotic Enhancement (Ex): All minions of the master of undeath now gain an additional quality that makes them much more lethal in combat. The minions gain a portion of the same necrotic attack that the master of undeath enjoys, though their attacks will never cause an individual to rise, even if they manage to kill an opponent. This adds 2d4 damage to each attack.

Death's Alacrity (Ex): The minions of the master of undeath finds that all of his minions move with increased speed and act faster. All minions movement is double and they gain a +4 enhancement bonus to initiative when the master of undeath reaches 18th level.

Destructive Death (Ex): At level twenty any of the risen soldiers of the master of undeath that die again will emit a pulse of negative energy. This pulse effects an area of ten feet by ten feet and deals 5d6 negative energy damage, healing undead and harming all non undead within the area. Also oddly this energy does not affect the master of undeath, as it neither heals nor harms the individual.

Reinforced Death (Sp): All prior powers possessed by the master of undeath are now stronger whenever he concentrates on strengthening them. Whenever the master of undeath spends a full round in concentration doubles all auras and fields that affect his minions, and doubles their output range to a total of 120 feet.

Epic Master of Undeath

Table: The Epic Master of Undeath

Hit Die: d6

Level	Special
21st	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
22nd	Improved Reinforced death
23rd	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
24th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
25th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
26th	Perfect Reinforced Death
27th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
28th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
29th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
30th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
6 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Improved Reinforced Death: The reinforced death ability is no longer a full round action and is now considered to be a move action. The master of undeath still requires a full round to bring the power online but thereafter it can be maintained as a move action until he allows it to expire.

Perfect Reinforced Death At this stage the Master Of Death has perfected his art and now using Perfect Reinforced Death takes a move action to charge and then he has to roll 2d6 to see how long the effect will last.

<-another existing class feature->: <-how this class feature increases or accumulates at epic levels->

<-Lather, rinse...->

<-... repeat.->

Bonus Feats: The epic <-class name-> gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic <-class name-> bonus feats) every <-number of feats per level-> levels after 20th.

Epic Master of Undeath Bonus Feat List: <-list of bonus epic feats->.

Master of Undeath Starting Package for Human

Armor: Leather

Weapons: Quarterstaff, dagger, Light crossbow

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 7 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
<-Skill name->	<-4 for class skills and 2 for cross-class skills->	<-Abbrieviated key ability->	<-armor check penalty based on starting armor. If innapplicable put "—"->
<-Skill name->	<-4 for class skills and 2 for cross-class skills->	<-Abbrieviated key ability->	<-armor check penalty based on starting armor. If innapplicable put "—"-> <-copy and paste the rows as necessary.->

Feat: Improved Initiative

Bonus Feats: Maximize spell (human only)

Gear: Backpack with waterskin, 1 day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Ten candles, map case, scroll case, 3 pages of parchment, ink, inkpen. Spell component pouch, spellbook. case with 10 bolts

Gold: 4d4x10 gp

Master of Undeath Alternative starting package

Races: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, or Halfling

Armor: Padded

Weapons: Club instead of quarterstaff

Skill selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 6 + Int modifier

Bonus feat: none

Campaign Information

Playing a Master of Undeath

Religion: <-description of how this class typically (but no exclusively) approaches religion including likely portfolios it would worship->.

Other Classes: <-How this class typically interacts with other classes and how characters of this class interact with characters of other classes->.

Combat: <-Typical role in combat->.

Advancement: <-Typical advancement options for characters with this class. Include desirable multiclass options->.

Masters of Undeath in the World

“	You may not be my friend now, but your body will do nicely.	”
—Galdrean the Black, a human Master of Undeath

<-Where characters of this class fit in a d20 world.->

Daily Life: <-day in the life of a character of this class->.

Notables: <-notable NPCs of this class->.

Organizations: <-info on what, where, when, and how characters of this class congregate and assemble->.

NPC Reactions: <-How NPCs react to PCs of this class->.

Master of Undeath Lore

Characters with ranks in <-the appropriate skills-> can research <-pluralized class name-> to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

<-the appropriate skills->

DC	Result
5	<-common knowledge->.
10	<-not so common knowledge->.
15	<-rare information->.
20	<-very rare information->.

Masters of Undeath in the Game

<-How characters of this class fit in the game (PC and NPC) and what roles they play.->

Adaptation: <-Possible variant conceptions of this class.->.

Sample Encounter: <-DM placement for NPCs of this class.->.

EL : <-Encounter scenario and character info on sample NPC including stat block. The CR of the NPC is typically the same as the EL for the encounter.->.

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