[edit] Lord of the Dead

Like the Mystic Theurge, a Lord of the Dead believes that true power comes from both faith and knowledge. Similar to the True Necromancer, the Lord of the Dead knows of the great potential of necromancy and of the undead. In contrast however, True Necromancers focus on necromancy as a whole, whereas the Lord of the Dead pour their energies into capitalizing on the animation and control of the dead as their mindless servants.

[edit] Requirements

To qualify to become a Lord of the Dead, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

• Alignment: Any non-good
• Skills: Knowledge (arcane) 8 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks.
• Feats: Corpsecrafter, Necromantic Presence, Spell Focus (necromancy).
• Spells: Able to cast summon undead III as an arcane spell and animate dead as a divine spell.
• Special: Able to rebuke undead.
• Special: Access to one of the following domains; Death, Deathbound or Undeath.

[edit] Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Lord of the Dead gains no new armor or weapon proficiencies.

Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level (except 1st and 10th), a Lord gains new spells per day (and spells known if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in one arcane spellcasting class and one divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding this prestige class. If he had more than one arcane or divine spellcasting class before becoming a Lord of the Dead, he must decide to which class to add each Lord level for the purpose of determining spells per day, spells known and overall caster level. He does not, however, gain any other benefits a character of the class would have gained (metamagic feats, item creation feats, or the like).

Rebuke Undead (Su): A Lord’s level stacks with his Cleric (or other class that grants this ability) level when rebuking undead.

Undead Minion: At 1st level, a Lord may animate a warrior skeleton of his/her size to serve as a cohort and personal guardian. A Lord’s undead minion gains an Intelligence and Charisma score equal 10 + ½ the Lord’s class level rounded down. An undead minion gains the following abilities: Alertness, Empathic Link, Speak with Master, and Scry on Minion. These abilities function the same way as those granted to a familiar (see page 53 of the Player’s Handbook). Furthermore, an undead minion also gains abilities according to the Lord’s class level (see below).

An undead minion gains hit points and skill points according to its HD. Its HD are equal to the Lord’s character level -4. An undead minion's class skills are: Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str) and Ride (Dex). Furthermore, the undead minion gains the abilities granted by the Corpsecrafter feat and feats where Corpsecrafter is a prerequisite, no matter when these feats are gained by the Lord.

Turn Resistance (Ex): An undead minion gains a bonus equal to ½ the Lord’s class level rounded down to all turn/rebuke attempts. The skeleton also gains a +2 bonus on all Will saves against control undead and similar spells or effects. This ability stacks with any other similar ability (such as the Bolster Resistance feat).

Armor Proficiency: Unlike ordinary skeletons an undead minion is capable of wearing armor. An undead minion gains the Armor Proficiency (Medium) feat as a bonus feat.

Summon Undead (Sp): An undead minion can summon undead of its own as per the spell Summon Undead I (caster level equals master's arcane caster level).

Swarm Form: An undead minion gains the Swarm-Shifter template (see pages 124-127 of the Libris Mortis). The Lord chooses which swarm-form his undead minion acquires.

Rebuke Undead (Su): An undead minion can rebuke undead as a cleric equal to ½ its master's class level +1.

Undead Lieutenant (Ex): An undead minion may issue commands to undead under the control of its master.

Evolved: An undead minion gains the Evolved template (see pages 99-100 of the Libris Mortis). The Lord chooses which spell-like ability his undead minion acquires. If an undead minion is destroyed a Lord must wait a year and a day before creating a new minion.

Animate Dead (Sp): At 2nd level, a Lord of the Dead can use Animate Dead once per day, with a caster level equal to his character level. Furthermore, when casting Animate Dead normally a Lord uses his character level rather than his caster level to determine the spell's effects.

Dark Legion (Ex): At 4th level, a Lord can control 4 HD plus ½ his/her class level rounded down of undead per caster level (normal 4 HD per caster level).

Aptitude (Sp): At 6th level, a Lord imbues undead with the intelligence they had in life when animating them. Treat undead that a Lord animates using Animate Dead as if they have also had Awaken Undead (see page 62 of the Libris Mortis) cast on them. Furthermore, a Lord’s undead are absolutely loyal and will perform any task set before them, even if the task may destroy them.

Animators Prowess (Sp): At 8th level, a Lord adds his class level to his caster level to determine what kind of undead he can create when casting Create Undead or Greater Create Undead.

Plague of Undead (Sp): At 10th level, a Lord can use Plague of Undead once per day (see page 70 of the Libris Mortis), with a caster level equal to his character level.

Dark Blessing (Su): At 10th level, a Lord doubles the amount of HD worth or undead he may control with his rebuke undead ability.

Transcendence: Upon reaching 10th level, a Lord of the Dead has learned through years of study and the constant presence of undead that the only path to true power is to become undead himself. A Lord of the Dead gains the Lich template (see page 167 of the Monster Manual I).

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