here you can continue you in character discussions to help you complete your characters
Placing the letters back into her pocket, she resumed her meal with another bite. "Forgive me, you don't mind if I keep eating, do you?" She then asked, remembering her manners after swallowing. "It looks as if your meals will be here shortly."
She did not miss the question about her family. Having little to no communication with her parents for some months had been odd, but nothing she wasn't used to. In fact, it was a relief, considering the events of that fateful night.
Unable to fully engage his chivalrous nature, Wiles instead gives the woman a grave nod of his head, dipping his head a moment. "A pleasure likewise, Miss Aravis."
He turns to the gentleman, shaking his head, small beads of water inadvertently flung with the gentle gesture. "Not from around here, no. From Caliphas originally, though I've been around lately. Nice to meet ya." Wiles extends his hand to shake, his grip firm as they greet one another.
His gaze drifts back to the woman, and he nods. "Do not stop on my account, ma'am. Ya should get something warm if ya belly while ya can. I fear this weather be here for a bit" I fear something deeper than that, as well...but I can't put my finger on it.
He grins in delight as a steaming bowl of the stew and a glass of wine are brought out for him, nodding his thanks to the server before digging in with an appetite.
He clears his throat and raises his steaming cup of spiced wine. "If I may, I would like to offer the first toast to the late professor. He was a fine scholar, a gentleman in every sense of the term, and, I would like to think, a friend. May our memories of him be ever fond."
Taking her draught, she sighed contentedly as she then finished up her rather large meal, having eaten enough for two men yet still seemingly thin. Leaning back in her chair, Aravis fished out her letters once more and regarded them.
"Am I the only one who wonders why we were invited to the professor's funeral? I'm sad to admit our relationship was a bit of a rocky one ... but don't get me wrong, I thought very highly of the Lorrimors. I just didn't think us that close."
"He did not extend an invitation to my professor, though. I had thought they were friends." He looks down into his mug, peering briefly up at Aravis and Wiles over the rim of his spectacles. Antor clears his throat, seeming somewhat uncomfortable as he continued. "His last letter to me was a bit... odd. Had either of you noticed anything like that in his correspondence to you?"
A man in white armor with black leather patterns enters the room, his wide-brimmed hat containing a feather in it. His dark black hair shows out under the hat and around the scarf like face covering he has covering his most of his face, only his eyes are showing and they are a vibrant red. A long red cape flows out behind him as well and on his side is a pistol in seemingly well condition. on his left wrist rests a buckler made of the same white material most of his armor is made from. The outfit certainly draws attention to the man, but many pass him off as some noble seeking that attention a closer look however, reveals something a tad off. Around his neck hangs a holy symbol of Iomeade when greeted he merely nods his head, and makes his way towards the bar.
Antor glances at the door as it opens and quirks an eyebrow at the armed and armored man. "I hadn't realized the count's soldiers frequented taverns in their full array out here in the countryside," he murmurs to the other patrons sitting at the table.
im sorry I did not mean for you all to start role play with each other this was meant to help players interested in this game flesh out characters.
as in if you still did not know what you wanted to play or if potential players wanted to have connecting backgrounds things like that.
but thank you all who did add some roleplay post I can see which ever of you get in to the game it will be fun ^_^
I would rather use a wizard instead of cleric but there aren't any options that I see to heal the undead I create or summon. I could go Mystic Theurge but that would mean missing out on 3 levels of either wizard and cleric and I couldn't take it until level 7. So I was wondering if some things could be changed:
Mayhaps I could take Corpse Companion from Undead Lord instead of a familiar, that way I always have at least one undead and they aren't too expensive to create.
Change Power over Undead so that it acts like a channel negative but only to heal undead and cleric level is wizard level -2.
Or
Change Bolster to heal as Inflict spell instead of usual benefits.
Or
Add Inflict to spells known.
Thoughts?
So Undead Lord's companion is subpar exchange for your second domain. It won't be that combat viable after a few levels - but it's fantastic if you have some 'notable' undead you want to stick around. Like someone from your backstory or something, or just flat out a packmule for junk.
Clerics are better minion masters, but having played one, I actually didn't enjoy it all that much. There are way too many situations roleplay wise that restrict you from actually having your minions all the time, so you just end up being a subpar cleric that NPCs want to execute. Necro-wizards at the least can fill more roles than that, and have in my opinion, better utility in the necro-role.
Accidentally pressed post, I hate there there isn't an edit button (?)
I was going to finish off that with the fact that choosing a necromancer wizard means that you do not necessarily have to be tied to an evil god. Necro clerics, especially Undead Lord, are generally tied to extremely evil gods, and as a cleric you kind have to follow those evil ways which can cause a lot of trouble as a party if there are mixed alignments. It's a lot harder to make believable backstories with more neutral necromancers as a cleric. Wizards have the option of "this is a neat thing and I just want to study it"
Biased towards a neutrally aligned necro wizard because it would make my character easier to play if I was also chosen lol.
same here, considering that the inquisitor in question is half undead, but despises the undead as the root of all his problems... evil cleric would be a problem, neutral necro wizard will pose interesting RP moments, but could work if convinced the undead in question is not -evil- like himself.
that said, isn't there a way to give your "big" undead minions the intelligent undead shtick?
EDIT: there is an edit option, that said I hate that the inquisitor has so many amazing spells.. but only gets 3-4 T.T
Clerics are better minion masters, but having played one, I actually didn't enjoy it all that much. There are way too many situations roleplay wise that restrict you from actually having your minions all the time, so you just end up being a subpar cleric that NPCs want to execute. Necro-wizards at the least can fill more roles than that, and have in my opinion, better utility in the necro-role.
I agree that Undead Lord isn't great. I disagree that a necro-cleric can't fill other roles. Clerics don't have a lot of skill slots, but assuming you don't want to hurt your fellow PCs you'll have taken Selective Channeling to keep your negative energy channels from hurting party members. That means you need to spend points on Cha, and Diplomacy is just sitting there waiting to be taken, so he can be a decent party face.
So 1st level skill points are Diplomacy and Knowledge: Religion, maybe Perception or Spellcraft if you're human. If Disguise and Bluff was already on the table to disguise the undead followers, use those same skills to act like a Pharasmin with spooky, silent bodyguards instead of an Urgathoan.
Just because the cleric worships an evil god doesn't mean it has to go around twirling his moustache and cackling about how eeeeevil he is. Nobody says a cleric has to be an evangelist. Let the clerics who stay home do the sermons; the adventuring necro cleric raises undead and kill people with them for its own selfish reasons. There's also the difference between evil and stupid, which we don't need to go into.
Unless people grill the PC about their religion nobody needs to know they're evil. Even then, only an idiot would tell the truth if they follow an evil god.
Plus at level 1, a 30' radius negative energy channel can put down lots of minor mooks and take off up to 3/4 the HP of your average orc. Once it gets access to an Animate Dead scroll it can tote around a skeleton to carry stuff and act as a flank buddy for PCs. If you cast Animate Dead at level 2 you've got a bloody skeleton that's almost impossible to permanently kill.
So at level 1 the necro-cleric is playing the face role, shooting a crossbow, de-buffing bad guys, and if it gets surrounded spams channel until everybody is down. And if it gets access to a minion, its channeling heals its undead followers while hurting living enemies. Plus unlike a wizard, the cleric is wearing armor and carrying a morningstar and shield. At level 2, it picks up an unkillable bodyguard. Once it can cast Animate Dead at will, it can raise dead bad guys in combat- that's pretty cool. That's a respectable amount of stuff for a level 1 PC to be doing.
A wizard necromancer is just not good in comparison to a cleric. Maybe you can play the battlefield control game in addition to raising dead, but raising an enemy corpse is battlefield control, too. Summoning? You're raising higher CR dead than you could summon. Blasting? Wizards aren't blasters. So that's... why would you want to be a wizard necromancer?
that said, isn't there a way to give your "big" undead minions the intelligent undead shtick?
You can animate intelligent undead, but they get a daily Will save to attempt to get out from under your Command Undead feat. Then they'll probably be annoyed that you were controlling them.
As a cleric the backstory would have been something like a separatist group of Pharasma or Groetus that use undead to combat undead. Fight fire with fire. Able to better handle necromancers because they understand the art. They seek out and attempt to gain control of undead and return them to their resting places. Easier and more respectful of the bodies. As for evil practitioners they would seek them out and put an end to them just like any good paladin. A tight rope that few can manage.
Two figures approach the Willow's Inn. One is of large stature and girth, and the other, the opposite. Though it is easy to tell who is in charge by the way the larger one walks behind the smaller. As they approach, they become more distinct. The smaller person wears a heavy scholar's robe made for travel and thick cloak to protect him from the rain. He has no limp but walks with a staff in hand and a pouch at his side. The larger one carries a backpack, a sword and shield. He is dressed head to toe in studded leather and a thick cloak large enough to cover even his girth. He also wears mask that, with the hood from the cloak, completely conceals his features.
Jacob Romero thumbs the letters in his pocket as he approaches the Inn. So much seemed off about this situation. The first was by the late professor. It only mentioned that something had caught his attention and he would be away. That didn't sound too far-fetched as Lorrimor had a penchant for leaving at a moments notice for something or other. What was concerning was the letter from his daughter that followed about his untimely death. Too close not to be connected. What was he investigating? What did he discover? What killed him? So many questions that he hoped to unravel.
Poor timing too. He had left a year ago to complete his experiments. Ones that would be...frowned upon in Ustalav with its history. He had hoped to bring the fruits of his labor by so they could both unravel its secrets. But now he was alone in that endeavor. One the late professor didn't discourage but also didn't condone. Lorrimor might be gone but his warnings stayed with him. He would never forget.
For a moment, he considered leaving his companion outside. But it was simple. It couldn't take complicated commands. It would follow his orders literally. So he would bring it inside to keep and eye on it. Foolish as it might be, it was even more foolish to let it out of his sight. He had done his homework and made it seem as human as possible. And so far it had passed inspection through all the towns he had passed so far. Time one more test.
"Stew please," he says to the innkeeper. "Just water for him," he comments, indicating his companion. As he walks into the common room he is surprised to see so many of Lorrimor's colleagues and students already gathered. An even better test to see if it passes as alive. One he was nervous to take so soon but he had run through as many scenarios and conversations as his vast intellect could imagine. He sits at their table while his minion stands behind him, and takes on the air of a bodyguard.
"Surprised to see so many of you before making it to Ravengro. Malloy, Saren, Lelaint," he says nodding his head to each in turn. Another strange figure sits at the bar but he didn't recognize him. "How fair you?"
Mechanically, if I take 20 on disguise +2 for the kit and +7 for skill check that's a 29 Perception to notice anything off and even then it would be difficult to tell what is being disguised in my opinion. Undead don't detect as magical, looked it up, but he will detect evil and detect undead will point him out if someone decides to use the spell. At some point I will need to account for these but not enough money or spells yet.
Didn't see Antor's post before posting but it seems we are on the same page. Also, Undead Lord plus Bloody Skeleton of anything equals undying minion at level 2.
see i totally disagree a dhampir undead lord rules, can heal him self and deal big damage to most enemies but still heal pets nice, it all deepens on how you play it
Just because the cleric worships an evil god doesn't mean it has to go around twirling his moustache and cackling about how eeeeevil he is. Nobody says a cleric has to be an evangelist. Let the clerics who stay home do the sermons; the adventuring necro cleric raises undead and kill people with them for its own selfish reasons. There's also the difference between evil and stupid, which we don't need to go into.Unless people grill the PC about their religion nobody needs to know they're evil. Even then, only an idiot would tell the truth if they follow an evil god.
I get that evil characters aren't like that, I'm just saying for the other PCs it just doesn't seem that believable to me that you see a cleric of unknown religion raising corpses and you don't mistrust and intensely investigate them. You assume they're evil and untrustworthy because that's the most logical thing, and they have to prove otherwise. The same thing applies to wizards, but clerics are directly linked to a source of evil, and they get their power from praying to that source of evil, not through the 'math is cool, let's learn' theme of wizards.
I am just saying that I think it is harder for a party of mixed alignments to get on the road to trusting a cleric rather than a wizard in this case. Both are difficult, one is definitely more of a stretch.
Varya, I would go a step further and say that seeing any person raising a corpse into an undead creation would have a neutral/good party howling in indignation, at the very least.
But that is what will make things interesting too. Also you can worship a neutral god and still cast evil spells. That's why I mentioned Pharasma and Groetus. Both are neutral. Even more interesting is that Pharasma is usually against undead and necromancy because she is the judge of all dead souls. Groetus is just the keeper of her boneyard and little is known about him. Perfect for a neutral cleric necromancer.
Yeah if you're allowed to modify Pharasma a bit to allow undead like what you described, it becomes way more doable. What you wrote up looks pretty good!
I found that the best way to mesh with a party as a necromancer was to make a character that was friendly and sociable and to establish that first. I also avoided raising humanoid undead because obviously that's more objectionable (and honestly anything without racial levels is awful), and waited until I could 'save' the party to reveal my necromancy. Like we were outnumbered and pretty hurt, so I raised a skeletal lion mid battle and it turned the tide pretty well.
It ended up making believable relationships between all the characters and worked out well.
also, jacob, I hate to say it but Draken has both detect evil and detect undead :p
though I am considering swapping the detect undead for dayborn.
or I should say, detect alignment (at level 2)
Do what you want man. Either would be useful. How close or far do you want to be to your vampiric side is up to you? I can't find a way to fool Detect Undead though. Undetectable alignment might be altered to help but it is divine only.