Hello everyone, I'm a rookie dm who is trying to get a campaign on the Age of Worms started(I've been playing an Iron Kingdoms campaign for awhile but this'll be the first time I'm DMing). I got practically everything I need, except players. Well apparently I got three but one of them said something that scares me.
He said he wanted to play a class not in the player's handbook called a "Dread Necromancer". He described it as someone who's really good at necromancy and terrible at any other magic.
He said the name of the book it came from but naturally I forgot it by now. He also said he was going to bring it next time we meet , but if anyone can give me a rundown and perhaps warn me of anything about that class that may be trouble I'd appreciate it.
Oh and nice to be here. Sorry if some of my grammer is sub-par; it's late here and I'm tired. Ans as fot the unimaginative username; I infest a lot of message boards and using the same name on most of them keeps me from being confused.
The Dread Necromancer is indeed a 20-level class from the fairly new Heroes of Horror. And he's right: They are excellent at Necromancy and not very good at anything else. They also slowly turn into a creature like a lich, this transformation cumilates at 20th.
I haven't studied the class, but it's pretty straightforward. Favors undead, naturally. Which could be a slight problem in a campaign that has so many. It's not nearly as loopy as the Archivist. That guy makes my head spin. Probably the best non-core caster in the game (since he can learn just about any spell in the game. Only Artificers can access more spells than him)
That said, if you're not ready to accept non-core classes, then DON'T. If you're kind of shakey on the cores, then don't be afraid to limit your players to them.
If you do decide to be nice and let him use the Dread Necro, at least CAREFULLY study the class before you say "Yes." Understand that non-core classes fundimentally change your game. Note that I did not say "break", I said "chnage". They provide unique options. Some of them are very strong. You should understand what a class can do before you sign off on it.
Though frankly, the best necromancer is a Lawful Neutral Cleric of Wee Jas. Rebuke Undead and the Animate and Create Undead series. No need for Control Undead.
All depends on what he wants, I suppose. You get used to meeting player's demands and deciding what's broken and what's not.
I doubt the Dread Necro will bust your game, or even this campaign, but as I said: Tread lightly.
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I foresee some serious problems with this class when used by a PC in the "Age of Worms".
Many of the special offensive abilities of the Dread Necromancer use negative energy, disease, and the like, and many of the foes in the campaign will be immune to these effects.
More severe of an issue is this: one of the greatest strengths of a Dreak Necromancer is its ability to take control of already-existing undead. Many of the undead in "Age of Worms" unleash Kyuss worms when they attack others. The adventure assumes that the characters--even if not traditional 'heroes'--are trying to PREVENT the Age of Worms, and by extension, they'd be opposed to the spreading of worms that cause the brains of others to be consumed and then rise as new worm-spreading horrors.
I think your player will ultimately feel that he/she can't enjoy some of the Dread Necromancer's best features. One of the most important parts of DMing comes before the campaign even starts, when DMs have the responsibility to give some feedback on what sort of PC skills will be important, and what sort of classes will not have as much of a role to play. A good example of this: the DM cautioning a player hoping to play a Druid in a campaign that'll take place primarily in cities and urban environments.
You can steer your character away from this class gently. "I've looked ahead to see what the campaign will include, and talked to others who've DMed and are familiar with it, too, and I don't think you'll enjoy this class in this campaign. What other things would be fun for you?" Of course, that sort of response assumes that your comfortable with your players knowing you're running the game from modules, and trust them not to go hunting for info on it, heheh.
Best wishes with your game!
...Dread Necromancer... You can steer your character away from this class gently...
Just to throw in a couple of cents here (and I'm bored this morning): I'll only go so far in tolerating disruptive player choices -- alignments, races, classes, whatever.
A player that won't make at least a token effort will eventually have a hard way to go, up to and including getting killed off. It's easy for a DM to arrange an "accident."
Problem solved (until his/her next problem character) :)
Regards,
Jack
As it is your first time as a DM don't be afraid to limit players choices by what you know or are confortable with. As a new DM much of your energy will be used with dealing with the basics. Special exotic classes will need more DM attention than the "basic" classes. If you explain this and ask him to rather choose a class you're familiar with he might understand.
Not allowing something from books you haven't read beforehand is a very good policy (I use it). When asked myself I always reply that I might look into it (reading books and understanding the texts takes extra time on top of the normal DM preparation time) and tell them to that a negative answer is a possibility and they should plan accordingly. If the first few levels are similar to a basic class I might even allow a rebuilt later.
Foreshadowing that the class can provide problems later, as already mentioned, is also good advice. These problems are not only a problem for the player but will result in more work for the DM.
The main thing is that the player should understand that requesting "exotic" classes from books the DM hasn't read is asking for the DM to spent more time on that character alone. When this basis is understood there is less chance that there is a conflict over disallowing something, even though there have been other seemingly similar instances where the DM did allow something.
And last but not least, congratulations for taking the step to take up DMing. I hope you will enjoy it.
You could just tell him,"Buy me a copy so I have access."
If the DM cannot look stuff up, how can he tell if the
player is reading that right?
This doubles the cost of "Buying the game"
Also, if Necro Head keeps adopting Spawn, the Age of Worms
will quickly become a reality.
The class is intended for a horror campaign.
Are you running a horror campaign?
Dread Necro is a fine choice for the AoW's campaign, after all it fits the feel brilliantly.
But if you have lawful good types or 'no grey area' PC's in the group who might be at odds with a Dread Necro working with them (even if it is for the greater good) then you should probaly steer clear for now.
If the Dread Necromancer's player is willing to imagine the character as a 'chaotic neutral with good tendancies' type in addition to only using 'evil looking' spells or abilities when the goodies arnt looking then you could let them go for it!
The Dread Necro will seem like a Sorceror or simular arcane caster to most.
I would let a player be a Dread Necro in my AoW's, it would be nice to fight fire with fire.
You could just tell him,"Buy me a copy so I have access.
My group buys books quite often, its only fair.
But then I do give out some additional xp for anything (like books) that they contribute to the game.Its cool because sometimes a player will buy a book that I would never think of buying or its a book that I completly miss and one day they just turn up to the game with Races of the Wild, Stormwrack or whatever and I am pleasantly suprised at how much cool stuff is actually in there.
Stormwrack was bought by a guy who wanted to be a Hadozee ships-mage/swashbuckler after we all went nuts over 'Pirates of the Carribean' and really wanted to do something simular to the movie. We never did get the 'Swashbuckling' game off the ground but a lot of my notes and a fair few npc characters from those first brainstorming sessions made it into our AoW's or heavily influenced my grittier toned Diamond Lake or 'Krakens Tooth' as it came to be known.
I'm currently running the Age of Worms (set in Eberron) and one of my players is using the Dread Necromancer class. I thought long and hard before allowing him to use this class, since I was worried about the whole "take control of the undead" thing, but, since I only have 3 players and not a fighter type in the group (their heaviest hitter is the Urban Druid's companion which happens to be an animated chair), I figured that they could use the undead to bolster their combat prowess. So far, the only thing he's managed to take control of was the Tomb Mote from the old observatory when the party went to confront Filge.
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But, see, that's it; the Tomb Mote spreads disease, Uluvant causes "ghoul fever" to afflict his victims, and of course, the Spawn of Kyuss... they're a source of the same insidious infestation that the characters are working to prevent.
Filge's zombies and the Temple of Hextor's skeletons seem like the only early, safe bet to join the group in a non-evil-PC campaign, and even then, the rest of the group's got to assume that the shells for the undead were obtained in a manner similar to the callous grave-plundering at the Land homestead.
I would not recommend an "evil-PC campaign" with Age of Worms, especially for a first-time DM, and that seems to be the only justifiable way the characters would allow these death-and-disease-spreading undead to fight for them.
Again, I'd not recommend the Dread Necromancer (or Clerics focused on rebuking, or Necromancy specialist Wizards) for this particular campaign.
That was a useful point -- if you're worried about being a rookie DM, try to minimize any non-Core material used. You already have enough to keep track of.
Jack
I suppose my AoW's is an 'evil campaign'.
Not the bad cartoon villian 'baby murdering' 'evil' that most D&Der's seem to think of when somebody says 'evil campaign' and certainly not the 'PC vs PC' mess that they think of next; but my players characters are still evil enough for any decent minded paladin to want to give them jail time or some other punishment if he caught wind of their 'crimes'.
A Dread Necro would be a great way for a player to play a tragic anti-hero character and put his very soul into combating the coming epic threat to the world known as 'The Age of Worms'
*Cue crash of dramatic Thunder and Lightning*
Maybe the Dread Necro was born to be a negtive energy wielding creature after some terrible super natural event during birth or puberty? The poor Dread Necro is infused with death and hates what he has become, he has strange visions telling him of the approaching time of doom, he then decides to use his dark, undead summoning powers for the greater good!
Maybe the Dread Necro is willing to become a Liche (at 20th level they do that) in order to stay around and act as an immortal custodian/guardian, making sure Kyuss never raises his worm ridden head ever again!
After all, the Dread Necro might want to watch over his mortal relatives and loved ones, making the world a safer place for them at his own tragic (and his souls) expense?
The AoW's is a terrible, awful end-times event!
Even the most evil characters dont want to see something like an apocalypse happen! (unless they are completly deranged of course, meaning: thesefore unplayable, but most DMs and players arnt gonna make such pointless characters.)
Another thing worth mentioning is that 'evil characters' dont have any problems doing things (like killing or stealing) to further their goals, little things like hooking up with vamps or dragons (apart from obvious trust issues of course) or toturing to get information are all ok, 'because your worth it'.
Typical anti-hero types and other such characters arnt held back from doing whatever it takes to save the day, they may not like it (or at least admit to liking it) but they almost always have what it takes to get the job done.
It's like that scene at the end of 'From Dusk Till Dawn' where George Clooney's character says 'I might be a bastard but I'm not a ****ing bastard.'
I understand how a new DM might feel about going down this 'shady' road but it is something to consider, especially if you get the awsome 'Heroes of Horror' book, and you have some clever and willing players. It's a lot of fun and adds a hint of realism into the game; playing characters that reflect what real people (maybe even you) would do in extreme circumstances...
Also I dont think Diamond Lake seems like a place that would produce your typical D&D 'good guys' to me, if anything Diamond Lakes 'heroes' would be morally grey or darker than even your average anti-heroes. The place is totally corrupt and 'evil' even the cleric of St Cuthbert is a self flagellating freakiod.
This isnt your average D&D campaign so maybe this task is upto some new breed of (anti) hero...
Ok, maybe it works in your campaign.
But if a party member gets worm infested he will have to
take them to someone to get turned into a 'normal' zombie
and later resurrected.
Actually a burning skeliton would be very useful against a Spawn of Kyuss.
(I'm starting to warm up to the idea)