Publication:Dread Codex 2/Prestige Classes

Prestige Classes

All these prestige classes can be found throughout this tome as they are part of the lives of the necromancers found herein. They are meant to flavor any setting and give new meaning to the word necromancer. Actually, one of the prestige classes detailed below is not a true necromancer at all, but a fighter who has been cursed on the battlefield and has now become a necromantic warrior with strange necromantic powers. They can be used in any setting, but should be approved by the GM first, as he will know if they are balanced in reference to your game.

Bloodbound

“	These necromancers have less power in the arts, but they serve an important purpose, to aid and protect their masters. For years I have been looking for a person of potential. One who would learn and serve, selflessly, and who know more than just magic. He will be my weapon and shield.	”
—Master Ilnioth of the Eluan Eye

Necromancers are mostly known for their undead servants, but some necromancers prefer the company of the living as well, mostly because they offer intelligent company and can aid the wizard in ways that the undead cannot. The bloodbound are such servants. They often become apprentices to more powerful necromancers, serving them with all of their soul and hoping to, one day, become as powerful as their masters. They are near the necromancer at all times, and see the dark rituals he performs behind magically sealed doors, offering the wizard the components and aid which is needed. Many necromantic secrets are revealed to the bloodbound.

These lesser wizards have many different backgrounds, and most have some experience with a blade and will defend their master if it should come to that. One is bought at the local slave market and offered some semblance of power, in exchange for his devoted service, while another is left standing as the last fighter of a small army and offered the chance to survive. There are even those who seek out a powerful necromancer and swears an oath to him, chosing this fate for himself. But they must know something of the magic before taking their blood pledge.

The bloodbound bond with their necromantic lord through a series of necromantic blood rituals, and thereby gain lesser powers that will aid them in their endeavors. Some of these powers will make them better fighters, while others strengthen their magic.

They can be as vile as their masters, and in the end strive to take over the true power that he possess, or they can serve him with all of their hearts, never giving him cause to suspect any misdeed. It is widely known that the scholarly savants of the dead, seek out these warrior-wizards and ask for their service.

Becoming a Bloodbound

This is a class tailored for NPC use. PCs are expected to be their own masters doing their own adventures, not minor servants doing the menial labor of powerful wizards.

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Concentration 8 ranks, Gather Information 4 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks.
Feats:	One [Fighter] feat and one [Metamagic] feat.
Spellcasting:	Must be able to cast at least 4 arcane necromancy spells.
Special:	In order to become a bloodbound, the character must have a necromantic master. Should the bloodbound leave the service of his master, he retains his levels in the bloodbound prestige class but cannot gain any more.

Table: The Bloodbound

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+2	+0	+0	Bloodgift	–
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+0	Aid Master	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+1	Detect Undead 1/day	–
4th	+3	+4	+1	+1	Bonus Feat	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th	+3	+4	+1	+1	Bloodgift	–
6th	+4	+5	+2	+2	Detect Undead 3/day	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th	+5	+5	+2	+2	Bonus Feat	–
8th	+6	+6	+2	+2	Bloodgift	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th	+6	+6	+3	+3	Detect Undead at will	–
10th	+7	+7	+3	+3	Aura of Death	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level) Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis) Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Bloodbound.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Bloodbound gain no new proficiencies with weapons, armors, and shields.

Spellcasting: The bloodbound continue their training in the arcane arts, and starting at second level, they gain new spells per day, as if they had gained a level in their existing spellcasting class. Note that the bloodbound does not gain any other benefits of this existing spellcasting class. If the character has more than one arcane spellcasting class, the first choice is the wizard class.

Bloodgifts (Su): At the first level of this prestige class, the blood which flows through the veins of the bloodbound becomes poisonous. Every time he is hit by a weapon which causes a bleeding wound (doing more than 5 points of damage), his blood splatters to those standing within 5 feet. They take 1d4+1 points of damage at the time the bloodbound is hit. The bloodbound can also coat his weapon in his own blood. This makes for a potent poison that will last for a number of rounds equal to his Constitution modifier, causing an additional 1d4 points of damage. This poisonous blood also gives him a 50% resistance to all poisons.

At the 5th level, the bloodbound gains the power to direct his innate negative energy into his weapon and make more powerful attacks. If the weapon was not magical before, it now counts as a magical +1 weapon. On a successful hit, the dark energy flows through the blood of the bound into the weapon delivering 1d6 points of negative energy damage, +1 for every 2 levels of this prestige class.

At the 8th level, the blood is now as powerful as it gets. The bloodbound gains a spell resistance of 11 + caster level.

Aid Master (Ex): The bloodbound is a true servant and every time he Aids Another creature of a higher challenge rating than himself he doubles the bonus gained from a successful check.

Detect Undead (Sp): Starting at 3rd level, the bloodbound gains the ability to use detect undead once per day as a spell-like ability. At 6th level this becomes three times per day, and at level 9 the bloodbound can use this ability at will.

Bonus Feat: At levels 4 and 7, the bloodbound gains a bonus feat. He must meet the pre-requisites of whatever feat he chooses.

Aura of Death (Su): Upon reaching the 10th level, the bloodbound now exudes death and gains a +4 competence bonus on all checks involving undead, and he casts necromancy spells at +1 caster level. Any who has the ability to see magical auras, or uses detect magic, will see a faint dark aura around the bloodbound and know that he is strong in necromancy magic.

Bonewielder

“	The army arrived yesterday, and as I look over the plains, I can only wonder at the creature who created all these skeletons. The power. I fear that before the sun goes down, we might have found a new master to serve. Dead or alive.	”
—Lord Ulirian of Crant

Bones have always been a focus among most necromancers. They need them to summon the skeletons of the earth, and with the bones they can create servants and mounts. The bonewielder takes this a little bit further. To him the bones are something special, and he collects them, to aid the bonewielder in his task of gaining more power. They learn the power of crafting strong bone amulets which strengthen their power, as well as how to make their own bones into powerful weapons. Bonewielders live solitary lives and crave power. They will create strong skeleton armies, and have been known to march at the gates of strong cities and demand their complete surrender.

NPC bonewielders are powerful adversaries, who will perhaps crave the bones of the party, and wish to use them in strange bone rituals. They live far from the known civilization, in bone towers and castles. To most sane people, these spellcasters seem quite mad and must be avoided at all cost.

Becoming a Bonewielder

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Concentration 11 ranks, Intimidate 5 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks.
Feats:	Combat Casting, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy).
Spellcasting:	Must be able to cast the following arcane spells: chill touch, command undead, ghoul touch, halt undead, animate dead.

Table: The Bonewielder

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Bone Focus +1	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Strong Bones	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Natural Bone Weapon (+1)	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bone Focus +2	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Natural Bone Weapon (reach)	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Bone Focus +3	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Natural Bone Weapon (+2)	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Control Bones	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Bone Focus +4	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Transformation	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Bonewielder.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The bonewielder gains no new proficiencies with weapons, armor, and shields.

Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a bonewielder, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Bone Focus (Ex): At the first level of this prestige class, the bonewielder crafts a personal bone amulet which becomes his focus. This focus grants the wielder a bonus to his necromancy spells' save DCs equal to +1 at level 1, +2 at level 4, +3 at level 6 and +4 at level 9. This bonus stacks with spell focus and greater spell focus, but only with necromancy spells.

Strong Bones (Ex): The bones of the bonewielder becomes strong and can take much more damage before they break and shatter. This power gives the bonewielder Damage Reduction 5/-.

Natural Bone Weapon (Su): Starting at 3rd level, the bonewielder learns how to make his arm into a powerful bone weapon. At a command word spoken of the bonewielder, spiky bones break through the skin at 8 different parts of the arm, making it a deadly natural weapon. The bonewielder is always considered proficient with this natural weapon.

This is a +1 magical bone weapon at level 3, and the 5th level, this bone weapon grows and become a reach weapon (10 ft.). Note that the bonewielder still retain his hand and can use it if he so chooses. At level 7, this becomes a +2 weapon.

The statistics of this natural bone weapon are Dmg(s) 1d8, Dmg(m) 1d10, Crit 19-20, x2, Piercing.

Control Bones (Sp): At the 8th level of this prestige class, the bonewielder is now able to control the bones of others. This spell-like ability works like the spell command, as the bonewielder controls the bones of a subject. He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to his Intelligence modifier.

Transformation (Su): Upon reaching the 10th level of this prestige class, the bonewielder goes through the bone transformation which will transfer him into a bone creature called the [[Daerth�l (Dread Codex Template)|Daerth�l]]. This is a dark and dangerous bone ritual which takes a full month to complete. This creature is made from bones and is undead.

Plaguebearer

“	Mark these words. The warrior who returns from the battlefield, alone, shall be turned out of all cities he tries to enter. He is no longer a man, as we know it, but a necromantic warrior, and his touch is poisonous and will kill even the most pure-hearted.	”
—Aramen, Cleric of Lorakil

These are the cursed heroes who fought against the necromancers and survived. They were touched by a dreadful disease yet did not die, and were healed back to life. Their lives are forever cursed and will never be the same. Some part of the disease has never truly left them and continues to eat away at their soul. Every day, this disease grows and the plaguebearer can feel it. His skin begins to rot, yet it never threatens to kill him, only twists his body into a deadly necromantic weapon.

The plaguebearer becomes an unwilling weapon of the necromancers he fought and, for this very reason, some plaguebearers will seek a way to end their own life. They know that their body is changing and that, in the end, they will become a creature of rot and decay. They are granted immortal life, but at a terrible cost.

Plaguebearer NPCs are often fighters who have lost everything that they love and care for. They can never return to their families, and some may even have tried and paid the price. These plaguebearers have accepted their fate as cursed and tries to use these cursed powers as best they can. Sometimes these warriors are the tools of greater necromancers who has promised them a new life.

Becoming a Plaguebearer

Entry Requirements

Ability Score:	Constitution 14+.
Base Attack Bonus:	+6.
Feats:	Great Fortitude, Iron Will.
Special:	The plaguebearer must have fought a powerful necromancer of at least level 7, and been affected by a contagion spell, and survived. During this ordeal, something has happened to the person, and his body will slowly begin to change.

Table: The Plaguebearer

Hit Die: d12

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Disease Resistance
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Rebuke Undead
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Touch of Fatigue
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Chill Touch
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Aura of Decay
6th	+6	+5	+2	+2	Ghoul Touch
7th	+7	+5	+2	+2	Disease Immunity
8th	+8	+6	+2	+2	Disease Touch
9th	+9	+6	+3	+3	Circle of Desecration
10th	+10	+7	+3	+3	Immortality
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Plaguebearer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The plaguebearer gains no new proficiencies with weapons, armor, or shields.

Disease Resistance (Su): At 1st level, the plaguebearer becomes more resistant against diseases. He gains a +4 bonus to saving throws related to diseases.

Rebuke Undead (Su): The plaguebearer is slowly becoming a creature of undeath himself, and becomes slowly attuned to the Negative Energy Plane. He can rebuke undead as a cleric of the same level as his levels in plaguebearer. If the character has levels in another class which also can rebuke undead, these levels stack.

Touch of Fatigue (Sp): At 3rd level, the plaguebearer is beginning to physically manifest the changes happening to him. His hands get a yellow taint and he can use touch of fatigue as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his Constitution modifier (caster level equal to his hit dice).

Chill Touch (Sp): At 4th level, the plaguebearer becomes cold to the touch. He can use chill touch as a spell-like ability once per day (caster level equal to his hit dice).

Aura of Decay (Su): The skin of the plaguebearer becomes rotten with infested yellow wounds, and the rotting smell emanates forth from the infected soul. All creatures within 10 feet of the plaguebearer must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + plaguebearer level + constitution modifier) or become nauseated for as long as they remain within 10 feet. A successful Fortitude save renders the creature immune for one hour.

Ghoul Touch (Sp): The plaguebearer can use ghoul touch as a spell-like ability once per day (caster level equal to his hit dice).

Disease Immunity (Su): While the plaguebearer may carry diseases, he is no longer affected by them. The plaguebearer gains immunity to all diseases, but will still carry them.

Disease Touch (Su): Whenever the plaguebearer touches a creature, they must make a save (DC 10 + plaguebearer level + constitution modifier) or be immediately infected with any one disease the plaguebearer is carrying (plaguebearer's choice).

Circle of Desecration (Su): The area around the plaguebearer now becomes affected by his negative energy, and a 20 foot radius around the plaguebearer is constantly affected by the desecrate spell.

Immortality (Su): The plaguebearer has reached his full potential and becomes immortal. He never ages, and while he can still be killed, spells and effects that affect age have no effect on him. His skin is yellowish with open and infested wounds, and some places bone can be seen. The plaguebearer is now an undead creature, and if Tome of Necromancy rules are being used, he has the Dark Minded and Unliving subtypes.

Savant of the Dead

“	Everybody knows where the Savants live in Tâl Vorgath, but not where they meet and hold their secret meetings. They rarely leave their homes, and my henchmen have not yet been able to follow them on the streets. These necromancers remain a mystery to me.	”
—Erion Nidaeon, master thief

There are those among the necromancers who believe that there is much to learn from the dead. They do not deny the power of the undead and the negative energy plane, but understand that this power should be used with great care and caution.

The savants are necromancers who treasure the lore of the dead, and the lore gained from the dead. While most necromancers live solitary lives away from civilization, these savants create orders and secret societies and are often found in the greater cities. They share knowledge among them and keep to a strong code which in turn makes them strong. It is well-known that these necromancers keep secrets — secrets they would never dream on telling anyone not of their order, even their most trusted servants.

NPC savants are scholars who spend most of their time within their homes, studying and doing research. They are most often neutral to the happenings of the world, yet the secrets they keep, protects it from the realm beyond which remains a threat. They are known to keep servants among the living as well as the dead and are often tied to the Bloodbound.

Becoming a Savant of the Dead

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Knowledge (Arcana) 10 ranks, Knowledge (Undead or Religion) 10 ranks
Feats:	Iron Will and Spell Focus (Necromancy).
Spellcasting:	Must be able to cast at least five necromancy spells, one of which must be at least level 4.

Table: The Savant of the Dead

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Ghostsight	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Summon the Dead 1/day	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Darkvision 60 ft.	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Negative Energy Resistance	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Summon the Dead 2/day	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Spirit Possession	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Detect Undead	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Summon the Dead 3/day	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Greater Spirit Possession	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Negative Energy Immunity	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level) Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Savant of the Dead.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The savant of the dead gains no new proficiencies with weapons, armor, and shields.

Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Savant of the Dead, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Ghostsight (Su): At 1st level, the savant of the dead gains the ghostsight power, and her eyes change color to a dull grey. This enables the savant of the dead to see ghosts and invisible creatures within 60 feet. This power is always active.

Summon the Dead (Sp): This is a ritual power, where the savant calls forth one of the dead who must answer his questions. The ritual takes half an hour to prepare, and the savant must know the name of the spirit he is summoning. At level 2, the savant can use this power once per day, twice per day at level 5, and thrice per day at level 8. Each time the savant asks the dead spirit a question, he must succeed at an Intimidate check (DC 10 + the original creature's challenge rating) as he commands the spirit to answer him. After an hour, the dead returns to wherever they came from. This power should not be compared to the cleric spell speak with dead as this is a spirit summoning from the realms beyond, and the spirit knows whatever the original creature knew. The savant does not need a corpse to use this power, only the name of a dead creature.

Darkvision (Su): The savant of the dead now has Darkvision out to 60 feet. If he already had Darkvision, then it increases to 120 feet.

Negative Energy Resistance (Su): At 4th level, the savant of the dead gains resistance to negative energy equal to 10 + his class level.

Spirit Possession (Su): At 6th level, the savant has the power to call upon a spirit from the realms beyond and let it take possession of his body. This possession is not a mental possession, but one of memories and powers. There is several uses of this power, and each time the savant uses this ability he must specify the use.

• Ancestral Guidance: The savant calls forth one of his ancestors to aid him perform a task. He gains a +5 bonus to saves or skill checks.
• Heroic Guidance: The savant calls upon a heroic spirit of the past to aid him in battle. He gain a +2 bonus to AC and attack rolls.
• Master’s Guidance: The savant calls forth the spirit of one of the ancient necromancers to strengthen his ability to cast spells. Necromancy spells the savant casts are at +1 caster level and +2 to the save DC.

The savant is possessed by the spirit a number of rounds which equals his Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (whichever is higher), and can only be possessed by one spirit at a time. This power can be used a number of times per day equal to the caster’s Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (whichever is higher) + half his class level, rounded down.

Detect Undead (Sp): The savant of the dead can use detect undead as a spell-like ability at will (caster level equal to the savant's hit dice).

Greater Spirit Possession (Su): At level 9, the savant can summon a more powerful spirit, but only once per day.

• Ancestral Guidance: The savant calls forth one of his ancestors to aid him perform a difficult task. He gains a +10 bonus to saves or skill checks.
• Heroic Guidance: The savant calls upon a heroic spirit to aid him in battle. He gains a +4 bonus to AC and attack rolls.
• Master’s Guidance: The savant calls forth the spirit of one of the ancient necromancers to strengthen his ability to cast spells. Necromancy spells the savant cast are at +1 caster level and +4 to the save DC.

The greater spirit can only be called upon once every day, and not while the savant is already possessed by another spirit. The savant is possessed by the greater spirit a number of rounds which equals his Intelligence modifier or Wisdom modifier, whichever is higher.

Negative Energy Immunity (Su): At 10th level, the savant of the dead is immune to negative energy.

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