Sepulchral Patrician (3.5e Epic Prestige Class)

Sepulchral Patrician

Many living mages can control the undead through magic, but in the end they are mere slavers, able only to mentally dominate the undead into submission. None living can hope for command like that of an undead sire, who receives slavish loyalty from the undead he spawns. But even that pales in comparison to the dominance of a Sepulchral Patrician. The nearest thing unlife has to an aristocracy, these undead (usually liches) have an air of command about them that bolsters their minions. They are guarded by their most loyal servants, which they personally create, improving them as they themselves grow in power.

Becoming a Sepulchral Patrician

Entry Requirements

Abilities:	14 Charisma.
Alignment:	Any non-good.
Type:	Undead.
Skills:	Knowledge (arcane) or Knowledge (Religion) 15 ranks, Spellcraft 10 ranks.
Spellcasting:	20 levels of any spellcasting class with a familiar as a class feature.
Special:	Ability to cast Rebuke Undead.

Table: The Sepulchral Patrician

Hit Die: d12

Level	Special	Spellcasting
1st	Rebuke Undead, Bonus Feat, Null Retainer	+1 Spellcaster Level
2nd	Aristocratic Presence	+1 Spellcaster Level
3rd	Ferocious Nulls	+1 Spellcaster Level
4th	Call of the Patrician	+1 Spellcaster Level
5th	Increased Retainer	+1 Spellcaster Level
6th	Ferocious Nulls	+1 Spellcaster Level
7th	Bestial Nulls	+1 Spellcaster Level
8th	Bonus Feat	+1 Spellcaster Level
9th	Ferocious Nulls	+1 Spellcaster Level
10th	Increased Retainer	+1 Spellcaster Level

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level)
Concentration (Cha), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

Spellcasting: Every level, the Sepulchral Patrician casts spells (including gaining any new spell slots and spell knowledge) as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he had previous to gaining that level.

Rebuke Undead (Sp): A Sepulchral Patrician's class level stacks with his Cleric (or other class that grants this ability) level when rebuking undead.

Bonus Feat: At 1st and 8th level, a Sepulchral Patrician may choose any Necromantic Creation feat feat if he would normally qualify to take it.

Null Retainer: At 1st level, a Sepulchral Patrician must ritually sacrifice his familiar. That familiar is removed from existence, and he cannot take another one for as long as he remains a Sepulchral Patrician. He may choose any humanoid non-incorporeal type of undead of up to 10 HD that he can raise or create. This type cannot be changed except by sacrificing all nulls he controls. He can create an undead of the chosen type as a null (a loyal blind guard, see below) in a ritual that lasts 3 hours and requires a trinket costing 2000 gp, which will serve as the material focus for the null (this cost is not affected by the Ignore Material Components feat). He can create and control up to 2 nulls, and nulls do not count toward any other total of controllable undead. If a null is destroyed, the Sepulchral Patrician takes 4d6 damage and automatically fails Concentration checks for any ongoing spells. A destroyed null can be replaced after 1 week.

A null gains an Intelligence and Charisma score equal 10 + ½ the Sepulchral Patrician's class level rounded down. A null gains the following abilities: Alertness, Empathic Link, and Speak with Master. These abilities function the same way as those granted to a familiar (see page 53 of the Player’s Handbook). Furthermore, its HD are equal to ½ the Sepulchral Patrician's character level (regardless of starting HD) and it gains 1 addition hit point for each HD. Its Will and Reflex saves are equal to those of its master's -4. A null has no eyes (or eye sockets), but is not treated as blind, ecept when doing so would be beneficial.

Aristocratic Presence (Ex): At 2nd level, the Sepulchral Patrician emits an aura that affects all undead under his command within 25 feet of him. They gain a +1 bonus to all turn/rebuke attempts. This bonus increases to +2 at 6th level, and to +3 at 9th level. They also gain a +1 bonus on all Will saves against control undead and similar spells or effects. This ability stacks with any other similar ability (such as the Bolster Resistance feat). The effect of this ability upon the Sepulchral Patrician's nulls is doubled.

Ferocious Nulls: The nulls of a 3rd, 6th, or 9th level Sepulchral Patrician gain any feat from the list of Fighter Bonus Feats for which they qualify (only 1 feat may be selected each time, and it applies to all current and future nulls the Sepulchral Patrician creates.

Call of the Patrician (Su): At 4th level, a Sepulchral Patrician may summon or dismiss any number of nulls within 5 feet as a standard action (a dismissed null is stored in a pocket dimension within its material focus).

Increased Retainer: At 5th and 10th levels, the maximum number of nulls that a Sepulchral Patrician may create and control increases by 1.

Bestial Nulls: The nulls of a 7th level Sepulchral Patrician gain a bite attack as a primary natural weapon. This bite poisons the enemy, with a Fortitude DC 16, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Con. The save DC is Constitution based.

Bonus Feats:

The Sepulchral Patrician gets a bonus feat at 4th level and an additional bonus feat every four levels thereafter. These bonus feats must be chosen from the following list: Armor Skin, Automatic Quicken Spell, Automatic Silent Spell, Automatic Still Spell, Bonus Domain, Enhance Spell, Epic Spell Focus, Epic Spell Penetration, Epic Spellcasting, Epic Will, Great Charisma, Great Wisdom, Ignore Material Components, Improved Alignment-Based Casting, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Heighten Spell, Improved Metamagic, Improved Spell Capacity, Intensify Spell, Multispell, Negative Energy Burst, Planar Turning, Polyglot, Spell Stowaway, Spell Opportunity, Spontaneous Domain Access, Spontaneous Spell, Tenacious Magic, Undead Mastery, Zone of Animation.

Ex-Sepulchral Patricians

If a Sepulchral Patrician becomes living, he loses all class features and cannot advance further as a Sepulchral Patrician, and his nulls become trapped in their focuses. If he becomes undead again, he regains access to his class features and can once again advance as a Sepulchral Patrician.

Campaign Information

Playing a Sepulchral Patrician

Combat:

Advancement:

Resources:

Sepulchral Patrician in the World

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NPC Reactions:

Sepulchral Patrician Lore

Characters with ranks in can research sepulchral patrician to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

DC	Result
11	.
16	.
21	.
26	.

Sepulchral Patricians in the Game

Adaptation:

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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