No Pain, No Gain

[Corwin of Amber]

I would like to try my hand at making a character that can sacrifice his life essence in order to gain power. What I'm looking for is something similar to Hellfire Warlock or Blood Magus, but melee focused. My initial reaction would be to try Runescarred Berserker, but I was hoping for someone a little less prone to psychotic bloodlust.

I'm assuming that the class I am looking for will be a PrC, rather than base, and will attempt to fill my other levels with a ToB class. While I'm not against other options, I would prefer to be able to enter it as a LN Hellbred. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Dandu]

Look up the feats Lady's Gambit, Karmic Strike, and Robilar's Gambit.

 

[Corwin of Amber]

Look up the feats Lady's Gambit, Karmic Strike, and Robilar's Gambit.

Karmic Strike and Robilar's Gambit are pretty close. I would rather something along the lines for causing yourself pain/ability damage in order to gain power, but those could work.

Lady's Gambit seems just right. While I would prefer a class that had abilities the work on that mechanism, I could work with just the feat. Thank you.

 

[Dandu]

You'll probably also enjoy the Viscous weapon enchantment.

 

[Axel]

The 1st level Paladin/Blackguard spell Divine Sacrifice (Spell Compendium) may also have some of what you are looking for. Basically, gain 5d6 damage with each attack but lose 10HP each attack roll you make.

 

[Dandu]

There's also Blade of Blood.

 

[Kyros Pyralis]

I suppose if I go Cleric/Crusader/PrC Pally I can get both Blade of Blood and Divine Sacrifice. I think that could work for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

I also pretty regularly use Viscious, being a primarily Cleric player. It's amazing how many problems can be solved by just playing a Cleric.

 

[Empirate]

The Book of Vile Darkness has the Masochism spell, which grants you bonuses according to the damage you take.
The Crusader's delayed damage pool is quite similar, in effect.

Runescarred Berserkers aren't really the homicidal maniacs you make them out to be - you seem to be confusing them with Frenzied Berserkers. Runescarred Berserkers (btw, don't even acknowledge the horrible artwork in UE) cover their body in mystical runes written into their flesh. These runes then work like scrolls for the Berserker to use, drawing from a small, but powerful spell list - which includes Heal, and Antimagic Field!

 

[Corwin of Amber]

The Book of Vile Darkness has the Masochism spell, which grants you bonuses according to the damage you take.
The Crusader's delayed damage pool is quite similar, in effect.

Runescarred Berserkers aren't really the homicidal maniacs you make them out to be - you seem to be confusing them with Frenzied Berserkers. Runescarred Berserkers (btw, don't even acknowledge the horrible artwork in UE) cover their body in mystical runes written into their flesh. These runes then work like scrolls for the Berserker to use, drawing from a small, but powerful spell list - which includes Heal, and Antimagic Field!

I just checked the class again. I had been combining the two. I remembered the runescar spells, but I somehow attatched the "kill everything in sight" mechanic to it as well. Thank you for pointing that out. Perhaps Runescarred is what I'm looking for after all.