DreamChaser said:
how could a single class rogue get this at 5th level? knowledge (religion) is cross class which makes the max rank (Level+3)/2. At 5th level rogue could only have Know (religion) to rank 4.
thank you, i was giong to say this myself. a 5 level rogue has it as cross class skill. you could get it with a level one cleric/5 rogue. this does raise a pretty big balance issue though. maybe add in a BAB requirement of +6?? this would set it for a level 9 character, which would be better than allowing it for a level 6 guy. this feat is very potent, if used.
also, i think you need to balance this out between your clerics and rangers. clerics, with minimal efforts can use their skills to get their requirement (level one cleric/5 rogue) btu rangers, who are specialist hunters, have to be 5 ranger/5 rogue to get this feat. That isnt balanced. id say just have a +2 favoured enemy (undead) is sufficient. the reason? well, you get the associated (but reduced, because of the undead typre) bonuses, from the favoured enemy special ability, and with clerics, the +5 ranks in Knowledge: religion gives a bonus to turning. both are potent as is.
Hawken said:
Also, your feat assumes there is some specific weak point in the energy that animates undead that if targeted would allow extra damage. In the Core books there is nothing to support this assumption, . . . Holy energy doesn't target a specific point on undead, it simply reacts because the target is undead.
the weak point can be exploited by a +1 or better weapon; it is a holy weapon allows the full application of sneak attack damage (not minus 2d6). now, if you are a smart DM (or are the player of a smart DM) he/you will not allow all the rogues to run around with +1 holy daggers at level 7 (when you can then use a holy weapon). also, you wont always keep around your +1 holy weapon, better ones will come along, and that old one will be discarded or sold. that said, the whole point of this feat is being able to use sneak attack damage against undead. if a BAB of +6 were added in, this would become an excellent 9th level feat (when characters are coming in to some bigger, better powers) also, i think that the addition of the Holy property is too powerful. in effect, this adds +4d6 damage to all evil (and most aer) undead with thaddtion of the Undead Hunter feat > you get back the +2d6 sneak attack damage, and you get +2d6 damage against those of evil alignment (which applies to everyone, not just undead). thus, you will have a made scarmble for these weapons. i would drop that part of it for sure.
so, if i may, the way id do this feat would be like this:
Undead Hunter
You know how to strike undead so it hurts.
Prerequisite: BAB +6, Sneak Attack +3d6, Favored Enemy-Undead +2 or Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks,
Benefit: While using a +1 or better magical weapon, you can strike at the very heart of the energy that animates a corporeal undead creature. If you meet the requirements for a sneak attack, you can deal additional damage equal to 2 dice less than your normal sneak attack damage. You must have a ghost touch weapon to affect incorporeal undead.
theres my two cents, feel free to steal them, add to them, or flatten 'em under a train. up to you.