Unusual Character Option


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


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WARNING: The following post (and possibly thread) contains a level of shenanigans that some people may find broken, dirty, and downright awesome. If this level of game foolery offends you, please find another thread.
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Recently I was rolling up a character for the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. A friend of mine is GMing, and said I could use anything on the Pathfinder SRD to create my character. Since I like playing undead characters, and I wanted to make an undead cleric, I requested if I could use the Damned template from Heroes of Alvena's races page. He said I would have to begin play as a human, but I could become undead later by having the correct spells cast and what-not, with the appropriate gold piece investment.

At which point another friend of ours who is playing in the same game and I got to brainstorming, and we came up with a few things. Basically, my character is now an 8 HD undead mummy, pretty much right out of the gate. Those interested in her backstory can find it further below.

Beginning as a Mummy

  • Trait: Rich Parents (+900 gp starting wealth)
  • Trait: Agent of Dusk (double starting wealth, 10% discount on items)
  • Create Undead spell of the appropriate level: 900 gp
  • Material Component Cost: 400 gp (discounted to 360 due to Agent of Dusk)
  • Slightly above average starting wealth (180 gp is enough).

    So my character is now a mummy. Possibly the best tank-undead possible at 1st level. Her equipment consists of a club, a sling, rocks, and her starting outfit so she isn't naked. :P

    Other possibilities include Ghouls and Ghasts which both make pretty good choices for almost any character class due to their broad stat modifiers to most ability scores, making them good spellcasters, while their natural attacks + paralysis lend them nicely to martial characters as well.

    Backstory (CotCT Spoilers):
    Morgana "Dreadscar" grew up as a nameless orphan in the streets of Korvosa, and like many other children, was inducted into Gaedren Lamm's service by force, along with her younger brother Daniel. While life was hard, and vicious, she managed to take care of her brother well enough that they survived for some time. The hope of freedom never left them.

    However, that hope would be crushed one night. In a drunken rage, Gaedren stabbed Daniel to death because he lost his stolen goods due to the holes in his clothes. Morgana attempted to stop him from hurting her brother, but was slashed across the face with the rusty knife, and then kicked off the pier into the dark waters below. Miraculously, the girl washed to shore without being devoured by sawtooth sharks, devilfish, or reefclaw, or ol' Gobblegut who are often found nearby. Cold, wet, and in shock, she wandered the streets in a daze before passing out in a small dark alleyway where she would have probably died.

    As fortune would have it, a member of a secret cult located in the back of the alleyway was passing through and noticed her. Realizing she was hurt badly, soaked to the bone, and half-starved, he scooped her up and brought her to the basement temple beneath an old pub called the Rusty Nail. There, he and his fellow dark clerics breathed life back into her with their healing magics, and bandaged her wounds. The cut on her face was too deep and had not been tended to soon enough to fade away; leaving a terrible slashing scar diagonally across her face; which she would later use as her surname.

    With no where else to go, the young street orphan was indoctrinated into this mysterious cult of necromancers. They called themselves the Night Saviors, and they mostly dwelt within the basements, sewers, and other deep areas beneath the slums of Korvosa. Disguised as beggars and street rats, they secretly tended to the needs of some of the dregs of society. Studying and healing various diseases and maladies, and dissecting the remains of those found dead with no one to claim them. She was tasked with keeping up their main temple beneath the Rusty Nail. Day in and day out she would clean the alter, replace candles, dust the alcoves and scrub the floors. Each night, the memory of her brother haunted her, and she attempted to find solace in the teachings of the underground church. She could not, however, let go her need for vengeance.

    During her training, her mentor Vanlen Silvermoon – who found her in the alleyway - attempted to teach her that her anger and rage were like a powerful fire. Such dark emotions could be used to fuel the greatest of changes in the world, or could be let loose to consume you from the inside out. Under his tutelage, her need for vengeance slowly gave way to the desire for justice and retribution. So she continued her duties until she was to come of age.

    When she finally reached adulthood, the temple she had now spent the last few years in celebrated her rite of passage. They feasted, and promised her a boon from their sect. A single birthday gift from the dark church. Having thought long and hard about her desires, and long being haunted by the memory of her lost brother and the cruelty of their captor, she made a startling request. She begged the circle of priests to kill her, and return her to life with the power to seek justice for her brothers murder. To hold a terrible sway over evil men like Gaedren Lamm and those who would share his ways. The council of priests convened for a time to discuss her wish. It was so very different than they had expected...

    After seven days of deliberation, and careful discussion with her mentor, they agreed to grant her request. And so, upon the very alter that she had cleaned a thousand times, she transcended mortal life and was reborn. There she was ritually killed with a dagger engraved with the names of angels, and as her life began to slip away, the inside of her body was ignited with black fire to burn away the impurities of a mortal body, and preserved through enchantment. They anointed her dead heart with sacred oils, and filled her body with flowers, incense, and small prayers written on holy papers. It would be from these that her new organs would grow, strengthening her body unlike her mortal shell. Finally, she was wrapped in bandages made from the very tattered clothes she was found in, purified and blessed, as a symbol of her journey and her future. Then, the priests combined their power to call forth an awakening of her, and her soul back to her new body.

    When she awoke, she awoke with a scream. Even on the edge of death the nightmares haunted her, but as her eyes opened it was like seeing the world for the first time again. Over the next few days, she learned to cope with her new existence, and planned her actions. Along with the blessed wrappings, she clothed herself in second hand tattered robes and clothing. At first glance, she would have looked like a homeless person, wrapped in rags. This was to her comfort, as this was the life she had always known.

    Some days after her rebirth, she collected up a few pieces of junk, fashioned a simple sling, and collected a bag of rocks and stones that washed up with the waves of the bay, where she had washed up years before. Then it was only a matter of time to decide when to strike. On the eve of her brother's birthday, she found a strange card wrapped within her rags...

    Character Portrait


  • This is one of the best uses of cheese I've seen in a bit. I throughly approve of these shenanigans but wouldn't be able to let it stand as is due to the simple power surge you would bring with it to the table.

    I would offer up some other undead template in it's place however... something with less hit dice. Always wanted to play a ghost outside of the ghostbound setting.

    Shadow Lodge

    if only this was PFS legal, i would love to play this and give you credit lol.

    Shadow Lodge

    *golf clap*


    I would totally allow this (for at least a few sessions) on grounds of cleverness.

    Bravo. Bravo.

    Dark Archive

    Ashiel wrote:

    Beginning as a Mummy

  • Trait: Rich Parents (+900 gp starting wealth)
  • Trait: Agent of Dusk (double starting wealth, 10% discount on items)
  • Create Undead spell of the appropriate level: 900 gp
  • Material Component Cost: 400 gp (discounted to 360 due to Agent of Dusk)
  • Slightly above average starting wealth (180 gp is enough).
  • While the idea tickles my fancy, Rich Parents doesn't add 900 gp. to your starting wealth it replaces your starting wealth with 900 gp.

    Agent of Dusk, afterwards, could be legal, if the GM allows them to stack that way and / or apply to anything other than normal starting wealth, and if it's okay to grab a Campaign Trait for a campaign you're not in, and make this do-able (although the GM also could decide that spellcasting services don't count as 'items' for the purposes of the Trait, not that the 10% thing would really slow you down).

    It's an idea that's pretty easy to shut down, or, at least, slow down, if the GM wants to make you work for it.

    I'm a big fan of unusual concepts (I once played a gnomish giant space werehamster in a Spelljammer game, so I've got no footing to stand on, critically!), but, from a GM's standpoint, I'd probably have you start out as a Necropolitan or use racial levels from Libris Mortis to buy up Ghoul status something...


    Set wrote:
    While the idea tickles my fancy, Rich Parents doesn't add 900 gp. to your starting wealth it replaces your starting wealth with 900 gp.

    That actually would work out even better, as it would have meant I wasn't destitute after doing this. XD

    Quote:
    Agent of Dusk, afterwards, could be legal, if the GM allows them to stack that way and / or apply to anything other than normal starting wealth, and if it's okay to grab a Campaign Trait for a campaign you're not in, and make this do-able (although the GM also could decide that spellcasting services don't count as 'items' for the purposes of the Trait, not that the 10% thing would really slow you down).

    Keep in mind, I never reduced the cost of the spellcasting service. I reduced the cost of the material component I had to provide to do it, which actually is an item.

    EDIT: Also, it's worth noting that the original concept I presented was actually a very weak undead template that pretty much just makes you an undead version of yourself. No special abilities, hit dice, or anything. He turned that down, but humorously (after a good bit of consideration and some "Ho, yeah, this is legit" from the other players) said I could do it.

    I actually didn't set out to break anything. Just that he said if I wanted to be undead, to make it work by paying an NPC to do it. So I figured out a way. :P


    Abraham spalding wrote:

    This is one of the best uses of cheese I've seen in a bit. I throughly approve of these shenanigans but wouldn't be able to let it stand as is due to the simple power surge you would bring with it to the table.

    I would offer up some other undead template in it's place however... something with less hit dice. Always wanted to play a ghost outside of the ghostbound setting.

    Thanks! Actually yes, there is a noticeable power surge. I'm technically 1st level with 0 XP, but she has 76 HP, 23 AC (naked), Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +7, DR 5/-, CMD 29, a +16/+11 to hit with her club at 1d6+15 (2 handing it), a +9/+4 with her sling dealing 1d3+9 with rocks, 20 ft speed, fire vulnerability, Despair Aura, and a mish-mash of skill points, as well as a few feats due to Hit Dice. She needs 26,000 XP to reach her next level. :P

    She won't be gaining levels anytime soon, and I imagine that the party will catch up to her very quickly. I've had similar things turn up in games I was GMing and honestly it's not that bad if the GM is comfortable with things.

    Definitely had to put some ranks into Disguise and Bluff, as I don't really want to be parading around Korvosa drawing huge amounts of attention. She looks like a beggar. ^-^

    TheSideKick wrote:
    if only this was PFS legal, i would love to play this and give you credit lol.

    Hah, it would be banned within hours. :P

    Thanks for the kind remarks. ^-^

    TriOmegaZero wrote:
    *golf clap*

    This means a lot coming from TriOmegaZero. :D

    Morty the Cleverly Named wrote:

    I would totally allow this (for at least a few sessions) on grounds of cleverness.

    Bravo. Bravo.

    Hah, thanks! Actually, a few sessions is all the party will need to catch up to her. She's pretty insane for a 1st level character, but by the time she gets to level up (6th level), she'll won't seem so awesome by then. I'm going to try and keep her alive though.

    Fun fact: Playing undead is like playing hardcore mode. While they have lots of nice immunities, they are darn fragile. That dead at 0 thing is pretty bad, and there's a lot of effects that hit undead pretty hard. Couple this with the fact rezzing them is a difficult prospect, and you realize playing undead is not for the faint of heart. :P


    The thing you need to remember is that this is not a 1st level character. According to the Bestiary, a monster's starting character level is equal to its CR. While you may have only (possibly, depending on rules interpretation) used the starting resources available to a 1st level character, the result is something far above the power level of a 1st level character.


    Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
    The thing you need to remember is that this is not a 1st level character. According to the Bestiary, a monster's starting character level is equal to its CR. While you may have only (possibly, depending on rules interpretation) used the starting resources available to a 1st level character, the result is something far above the power level of a 1st level character.

    Oh I know. That's why I said I had to reach 26,000 XP (medium progression) to get to the next level. By bestiary rules, I'm now effectively 5th level, you see. But I did it with 1st level resources, which is why I found it amusing.

    You can also do it with a ghast, which is CR 2 (much lighter level adjustment), which is also much cheaper (only 990 gp starting cash required) and would grant you a +6 Str, +8 Dex, +6 Int, +8 Wis, +8 Cha, +4 natural armor, +1 BAB, +3 Will, +2 Channel Resistance, Bite/Claw/Claw attack routine, Paralysis (affects elves), Stench, and 2 HD.

    And of course, you can take Civilized Ghoulishness for bonus fun!

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