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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FoxWander" data-source="post: 1764723" data-attributes="member: 1356">Wow, Khaalis, thanks for working on this with me. Of course, I have a few more tweaks to the idea. Rather than do the quote-then-comment game, I’ll just put all my comments here then post a whole new write up at the end. You asked for more background on the concept. Well it’s been quite awhile since I read Necroscope so my ideas here may not really mesh with the character in the book (btw, for reference purposes I felt compelled to find my copy of the book- the character’s name is Harry Keough, though he’s just as often called “the necroscope”. His ability to speak with the dead is called “deadspeak”. This may be a good term for the death-touched communication ability, but since I’m not trying to make an exact ‘necroscope’ here, that may be inappropriate, or just smack of plagiarism.) The idea I have is just as much influenced by The Sixth Sense if you want to just skip the book references. The core of it is the innate ability to speak with the dead- combined with innate sorcerous necromantic spells and you get the concept I see as the Death-touched. That’s why I love your lineage sorcerer idea. The vanilla WOTC sorcerer just doesn’t hint at what kind of person a sorcerer must be. They’re born with innate magical powers! No long apprenticeship or book studying. No praying at the feet of the gods. Just magic- literally at their fingertips. That power HAS to shape who they are. So what kind of person comes from inborn power to speak with and summon the dead? A very different person than someone born with lightning bolt or fly in their blood, I should think. It all boils down to what they DO with that power though- just as it does with all things. So that’s why you’ll see I’ve tried to avoid any predefining of the death-touched sorcerer’s relationship to the dead, or the undead, in my write-up below. That’s for the player to decide. So if I gave the impression they viewed undead as the antithesis of the dead or automatically felt cursed by their powers, I apologize for not being clearer on my view of the concept. My calling them a ‘tragic hero’ was in reference to the always detecting as evil and negatives versus good limitations and how that would affect a good-aligned death-touched sorcerer. This is also why I think animate dead works for the spell list. But part of that is colored by the original 3.0 write up for skeletons and zombies, when simple animated dead were neutral aligned. This made perfect sense to me- as mindless animated creatures, how could they be “evil”? This was changed in 3.5, but I kept it as a house rule. So that’s why I saw a distinction between animate dead and create (greater) undead. The create spells make straight up EVIL creatures. In Necroscope, the dead rose from their graves of their own accord simple from their love of and desire to protect Harry Keough- thus “evilness” didn’t seem to fit. But, all undead are evil now in D&D (regardless of how much that may or may not make sense) so that is neither here nor there. I had thought about adding an ability to the Benefit section to the effect that any undead created by the death-touched sorcerer were not automatically evil, but rather matched the alignment of the sorcerer. But that added more awkward rules, clashed somewhat with the “always detect as evil” taint of the lineage and would most likely be just too much for benefits. So instead I decided to add a choice to the spell list. I know this doesn’t really fit with the other lineage sorcerers, but I think it should work out fine. Especially since the spell levels match up in all cases. The choice deals with undead vs. planar allies, as you’ll see below.As for the ghostform spell vs. the Psion Uncarnate class abilities. I still think simply referencing the ghostform spell should suffice and still be balanced, and here’s why. First of, you’re correct that the spell is probably overpowered for a 5th level spell, but it’s probably spot on for a 6th level spell. As a 6th level spell a sorcerer would be able to know it at 12th level. Since we’re talking about gaining it as a 14th level lineage ability, there shouldn’t be a balance issue. Second, the spell works almost exactly as the Psion Uncarnate Shed body ability combined with the Assume equipment ability gained at the 3rd level of that PrC. Looking at the requirements for becoming a Psion Uncarnate, the PrC can be taken as early as 5th level. So, a Psion Uncarnate can essentially replicate the ghostform spell as an 8th level character. Again, since the lineage ability is gained at 14th level, there shouldn’t be a balance issue. Finally, you bring up a good point about the awkwardness of the changes I proposed to the Ghost template, and I had missed that the Undead type was gained as well. So awkward + way too powerful = scratch that idea. But I still like the ghostly concept, so I’ve taken a slightly different approach below.OK, that’s enough talking, err, typing. (And don’t I make a lot more sense when I’m NOT falling asleep at the keyboard! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ) And now, yet another version of …DEATH-TOUCHED LINEAGE: Death-touched sorcerers are a rare lineage of sorcerers born with an ability to bridge the gap between the living and the dead, gifted with the ability to speak directly to the spirits of the dead. This forms the sorcerer’s power in an innate affinity for magic related to the dead, but not necessarily a necromancer that is a specialist in the undead. This connection to the dead is involuntary and death-touched sorcerers may choose to harness the ability for their own ends- be they good, evil or some shade between. Harry Keough, of Brian Lumley’s Necroscope books, or Cole Sear, from the movie The Sixth Sense would be death-touched sorcerers were they to exist in the D&Dverse.Benefit: Death-touched sorcerers gain Knowledge (arcana and planes) as class skills. The sorcerer’s link to the spirits of the dead allows them to speak with those spirits to converse or even to glean information. This acts as a speak with dead spell-like ability at will, with the following exceptions. Unlike the spell, the death-touched sorcerer does not compel a spirit to answer. Instead, information gathered is as if using the Gather Information skill (at a +2 insight bonus to the skill check) rather than the standard Will save. Also, the death-touch sorcerer can communicate with any deceased spirit regardless of whether or not someone has used speak with dead on the corpse. The sorcerer can still use this ability on a subject that has been deceased for any amount of time, however the sorcerer does not need a “mostly intact” corpse to communicate. This ability, unlike the spell, allows communication between the sorcerer and the departed spirit, not just “imprinted knowledge stored in the corpse”. However, a focus for communication is still required- this can be the corpse of the subject, a part of it, or an object very dear to the subject in life. Also, the spirit always remembers previous conversations through this ability, unlike the spell. This ability still does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature, unless the undead was created by the sorcerer. Death-touched sorcerers may learn any spell, regardless of the spell list from which it comes from, that directly affects undead or incorporeal creatures.Special Limitation: Death-touched sorcerers have an innate connection to the spirits of the dead and with many necromantic magics. This leaves a tell-tale mark of negative energy on the sorcerer making it harder for them to heal by magical healing. The death-touched sorcerer gains an involuntary Spell Resistance equal to 5+ their sorcerer class level versus all Conjuration (healing) magic. By involuntary, this means that the Spell Resistance is always active and cannot be voluntarily dropped by the sorcerer. The sorcerer’s aura also always detects as necromantic regardless of the other powers they possess. The death-touched sorcerer may also never learn any spell, spell-like ability or supernatural ability with the Good or Healing designator. They cannot use spell completion or spell trigger items that activate banned spells, as they just do not work for the sorcerer. Due to their strong affinity to magic of the spirit world, they are left with a natural weakness toward magic of good or positive origin, receiving a –2 penalty to all saving throws against any spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability of the good designator or used by creatures of the good subtype. A death-touched sorcerer who learns a prohibited spell, spell-like ability or supernatural ability may no longer gain levels as a sorcerer as well as loses all sorcerer lineage abilities (including lineage bonus known spells and spell-like abilities, but not including weapon proficiencies and normal spells known), until they atone (see the atonement spell description). Also, like a member of any other class, a death-touched sorcerer may be a multiclass character, but they face a special restriction. A death-touched sorcerer who gains a new class or template that involves racial or bloodline or heredity related abilities that are not specifically spirit oriented (for example Half-Dragon), may never again raise their sorcerer level and loses all sorcerer lineage abilities (including their bonus spells known and lineage based spell-like abilities, but not including weapon proficiencies and standard spells known).Lineage Spells: The sorcerer has a specific affinity with the spirits of the dead and the magic they wield manifests in a Lineage Spell List. These lineage spells may never be changed through spell swapping or spell evolution, but only through Innate Ability evolution. These lineage spells are gained as bonus known spells as soon as the sorcerer is able to cast spells of that spell level. The sorcerer gains the Death-touched Lineage spell list. (note: at levels 4, 6 and 8 two spells are listed, depending on the sorcerer’s alignment one or the other is gained- not both! Neutral aligned sorcerer’s may choose which one upon gaining 4th level spells, they then gain the matching 6th and 8th level spells when appropriate.)Death-touched Lineage Spell List: 0–disrupt undead; 1st-unseen servant; 2nd-command undead; 3rd-gaseous form; 4th-planar ally, lesser or animate dead; 5th-contact other plane; 6th-planar ally or create undead; 7th-ethereal jaunt; 8th-planar ally, greater or create greater undead; 9th-etherealnessLineage Abilities: The death-touch sorcerer’s connection with the spirits of the dead grows over time and they become more akin to those spirits and to the force of the spirit world.-- At 8th level the sorcerer gains a supernatural ability that may be activated as a move-equivalent action a number of times per day equal to 3+ the sorcerer’s Charisma modifier and acts as a see invisibility spell (at the sorcerer’s class level) except that it detects undead as well as invisible and ethereal creatures by outlining them in a faint aura. This ability also reveals illusions used to hide or camouflage undead, and also reveals undead creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see. The aura also acts as a sanctuary spell against these creatures. This aura can be dispelled, but can be activated again as a move-equivalent action on the sorcerer’s next turn and lasts for 10 minutes per sorcerer class level.-- At 14th level the death-touched sorcerer begins to come closer to the spirits they have such a strong contact with and can become incorporeal once per day per point of Charisma modifier as a standard action. This ability functions exactly as the Ghostform spell from Tome and Blood. Losing their physical form allows the sorcerer to more easily access their innate spell power, and they gain a +1 bonus on all save DCs for spells they cast while incorporeal.-- At 20th level the death-touched sorcerer becomes so attuned to the spirit world and the dead that they transcend their mortal form and complete their connection to the spirit world, gaining the outsider type, as well as the augmented and native subtypes. The sorcerer undergoes a minor physical transformation usually to the skin or eyes- such as a death-like pallor, an unusually cold touch or eyes that are completely white. They are forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the sorcerer’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the sorcerer gains the following benefits.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Darkvision out to 60’</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gain Damage Reduction (Su): Grants damage reduction 10/magic, which allows them to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a non-magical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No longer needs to eat or sleep, however the sorcerer still breathes</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The ability to take on, or drop, the Ghost template at will, with the following modifications:</li> </ul> 1) Type does not become undead while a ghost 2) Hit dice and hit points do not change 3) Gain the manifestation special attack and two other special attacks chosen when this ability is first gained (once chosen, these two special attacks cannot be changed) 4) Do not gain turn resistance, the sorcerer is not undead and therefore cannot be turnedUnlike other outsiders, the sorcerer can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.The obligatory call for- Thoughts?</blockquote>

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