fantastic! Love to see that this is up and ready for folks to devour.
-Ben.
There's an homage hidden in that cover, for the veteran gamers in the house.
-Ben.
Something does seem awfully familiar, but I can't place it...
Incidentally, I'm pretty sure my brain has been bugged. I've been tinkering with a ghoul empire for years now, and it never just seemed to come together. It looks like someone did it for me! Sadly, it'll be three weeks before I can afford to get it.
Then DungeonmasterCal, you also want to look at the Imperial Gazetteer, over here.
-Ben.
Dog gone it, man.
Yoink! Mine!
-Kcinlive
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There's an homage hidden in that cover, for the veteran gamers in the house.
-Ben.
Yep. Rending noises to follow.
So happy for this to finally see the light of adventurer's torches! More undead PC options!!! Yaaaaaaaaaay!!!
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This is very good. I've wanted a good(quality not alignment) undead PC race since playing my original Forsaken in WoW. I've seen several over the years, but I think this is the best I've seen.
I love the idea of eating the dead and drawing power from it. I also like the feats that can allow the Darachul to overcome the hunger.
This race/pdf definitely makes some great villains and some equally great PCs. I can imagine the horror of a good person getting sick and dieing, only to wake up with a new feeding requirement. Then having their friends and family trying to kill them, "For their own good." :]
-Kcinlve
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@Wolfgang Baur
My apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere but has the Gearforged been updated as of yet? I know some design changes were being talked about but i was never able to find out if those changes were actually finished/released.
Or, perhaps, will we see an Advanced Race book for Gearforged in the (hopefully near) future?
Regards,
Zen
It sounds great. The reviewer was all over it too.
Going to buy this too
Now on the store blog! :D
Admittedly, I don't have the PDF. But right off the cuff, it seems like one of the big problems with playing these guys is not having NPCs scream and faint whenever you walk into town. Tieflings are one thing. Goblins are another. But having some rotting undead monstrosity hanging around in a tavern...is quite another.
Maybe if you wore full-plate armor or a dark cloak, people wouldn't catch on?
I can tell you that very point is addressed within the text. :)
-Ben.
If I were a darakhul I'd be steering clear of taverns. Drunks are boring and taste weird.
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If I were a darakhul I'd be steering clear of taverns. Drunks are boring and taste weird.
I dunno, it might be like eating whiskey-soaked raisins or brandied cherries for them.
Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Press; RPG Superstar Judge
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Like vampires and their "wine", I'm sure that ghouls have many ways of hiding their horrible appetites.
As Ben points out, you don't have to be a bad guy to play one. The rather necropolitan darakhul are worlds away from the grave-hounds and horrors of your common ghouls.
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Yes, I have been running "Fang" the Darakhul monk in convention play, and other than her pale skin and ....unusual....dietary needs, she fits in pretty well with most partys. If you can have clockwork sorcerers and half-orcs throwing fireballs about, a pale, toothy monk or fighter that likes her steaks raw doesn't really stick out that much with most PC groups....
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For those curious, I'd peg the Darakhul at about 12pts on the ARG system:
16 Undead
-4 Food Requirement
12
+0 Human Heritage (kind of, +2 to a single defined ability)
12
+0 Standard Languange (Common+Undercommon, 7 others--6, actually)
12
+2 Channel Resistance (Approximately. This isn't in the traits)
14
+1 Bite
15
-2 Sunlight Weakness (Really, this is tougher than the ARG)
13
-1 Resurrection Weakness (And really, this is a variant, but there)
12
Which is an Advanced Power race, less than the Aasimars, Drow, Fetchlings, or Tengu.
-Ben.
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#2 on the Paizo downloads this week, again!
-Ben.
Another week in the top ten downloads! Looks like people like things raw and bloody! :)
-Ben.
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Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Press; RPG Superstar Judge
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Or darkly civilized. The thing I love most about the darakhul is that they turn the undead as mindless and beastlike horrors into something far worse.
At least when I run them, they are all a little like Hannibal Lector crossed with smug nazi stormtroopers. They *do* want to eat your liver. But only when they're done lecturing you about why undeath is so superior to messy, breathing, fear-ridden life.
They organize and plan and work together. And that's what makes them terrifying to players. Every darakhul war party is up to something, and working actively to secure their goal.
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Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Press; RPG Superstar Judge
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For those who are curious about the darakhul generally and in 13th Age RPG in particular, there's a 13th Age variant of them available free on the Kobold Press blog.
The image of darakhul holding prisoners longer while they force them to eat specific diets for their own menu is excellent...and gives a good reason why the raiding party might decide to attack the village and take the stores *and* prisoners.
Wow, they get worse the more I think of them. :D
Reviewed first on Endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop. Cheers!
Thank you for the review, sir! I'm glad you found it to your liking.
-Ben.
On Golarion, these guys might make for good Clerics or Antipaladins of Kabriri.
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I really like this PDF but I have a couple of questions. The darakhul template is addressed in a sidebar on its power impact. The version presented provides a playable version of the race. So far, so good.
1. Is the version presented here intended to only apply to PCs or would it be used for NPCs and replace the monster template in most cases?
2. If not intended to replace the monsters, what is the in-setting rationale why PC darakhul are different in Midgard?
3. If it is intended to become the new "base creature", is the intent that only ghouls spread the disease and those that are darakhul retain more of who they were/class levels/ability to learn at the expense of being weaker (fewer stat bonuses) and "sterile" (unable to spread the disease?
Again, I understand the tone-down to make the race PC-ready and like it. I'm just not sure what impact/explanation it's supposed to suggest in-setting.
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Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Press; RPG Superstar Judge
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The version presented provides a playable version of the race. So far, so good.
1. Is the version presented here intended to only apply to PCs or would it be used for NPCs and replace the monster template in most cases?
It could be used for specific, named, important NPCs with class levels. That wasn't the goal for designing a PC version, but it is a nice side effect of making one.
2. If not intended to replace the monsters, what is the in-setting rationale why PC darakhul are different in Midgard?
Like vampires and other undead, darakhul can have several possible power levels. I'd argue that there's not one single darakhul type to replace: there's multiples.
However, to suggest an in-setting rationale, I'd say that the newly made darakhul are similar to the beggar ghouls of the setting. The more powerful PCs witha few levels might be members of the Iron Guard. Others still become necrophages or the like. The PC darakhul are meant to be lower-power because they are meant to match up with the beggar ghouls, and allow for growth.
The ghoul transformation is pretty variable in its effects, after all, and sometimes does not create a darakhul at all, creating a lesser ghoul or ghast instead. There's no reason that it can't create ghouls with slightly more or less power than standard. Players get the slightly less powerful version to play.
3. If it is intended to become the new "base creature", is the intent that only ghouls spread the disease and those that are darakhul retain more of who they were/class levels/ability to learn at the expense of being weaker (fewer stat bonuses) and "sterile" (unable to spread the disease?
I like the idea that the lesser ghouls that darakhul look down on are the only carriers of the disease and the darakhul themselves are sterile, though this isn't stated in the Advanced Races text or the monster text. Your explanation is a good one with some interesting story implications, it's just not official.
But you know, it seems like the sort of change that might be fun to make in anyone's home campaign (including mine). It provides one more reason why the darakhul keep lesser ghouls around at all.
Throw a +1 to #3 from this member of the chorus. Great idea!
-Ben.
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Contributor; Publisher, Kobold Press; RPG Superstar Judge
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Glad you like it!
As to retaining a previous racial class, I can make the argument either way.
For my own home game, I'd probably rule against it, based on the logic that once your character is undead, you're really not a member of the living race any longer. You're undead, and they do not grow or thrive in the way of living things. The things that humanoids do no longer apply.
OTOH, if I were playing a darakhul and wanted to retain my racial class, I'd argue that the darakhul are different from most other undead, because they explicitly retain memories, skills, class, and so forth. So advancing in a racial class that you were already a member of seems fine, just as advancing in a core class is unsurprising (a fighter is still a fighter after becoming a darakhul). (Even in this case, I would argue that you cannot gain levels in a racial class that you did not join before becoming undead.)
Ultimately, it's something your GM has to address for his or her game. Good luck!
RPG Superstar 2013
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This thread hasn't sen much action in a while, so I wanted to remind everyone that the darakhul book gets a bit of a facelift in the Advanced Races Compendium Kickstarter!
Go here and back us to get a .pdf (or a 300-page hardcover!) for the Compendium, including at least chapters of new traits, archetypes, feats, spells, favored class options, racial equipment and more!
Go check out the project and its many teases at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/advanced-races-compendium-fo r-pathfinder-roleplayi/posts/1228878
I know ghouls have a special place in Midgard and in Wolfgang's heart, and I know Ben did a great job on this early book. I myself love undead PCs and am excited to deliver a few new options since so much new material has been released for Pathfinder since this book came out.
So...archetypes for new hybrid classes? I think so!