Gonna crib from Pathfinder again, will focus on bonus spells and powers:
Undead/Necromantic BloodlineBonus spells, in order by circle:
- Chill Touch (Not implemented in PotM. Suggest negative energy ray instead?)
- False Life
- Vampiric Touch
- Animate Dead (Not certain there is an arcane undead-summoning spell at this level. Replace with Enervation or Bestow Curse?)
- Waves of Fatigue (Could be a new spell to interact directly with our fatigue system, otherwise just put Animate Dead or Thalassemia)
- Undeath to Death
- Finger of Death
- Horrid Wilting
- Energy Drain
Naturally I think most of these are either middling-and-evil to incredible-but-evil, which is pretty much how the Necromancy school is. I personally think animate dead (and Celestial's Gate) are mostly a waste as summons are terrible and require too much feat investment just to still be terrible, but that's fine for a strict list of spells a bloodline has to take.
Next, bloodline powers!
Grave Touch (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can make a melee touch attack as a standard action that causes a living creature to become shaken for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1). If you touch a shaken creature with this ability, it becomes frightened for 1 round if it has fewer Hit Dice than your sorcerer level. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
I like this ability and it's thematic, but we'd need different effects to apply to it. It's sort of a budget palemaster arm without the RP or commitment, but it doesn't turn you into a notably evil outcast. I think simplifying it to a fear effect would do, but of course I'd be willing to hear suggestions. It's a pretty steep risk to make a melee touch attack for a fear, after all.
Death’s Gift (Su): At 3rd level, you gain resist cold 5 and DR 5/— against nonlethal damage. At 9th level, your resistance to cold increases to 10 and your DR increases to 10/— against nonlethal damage.
We don't really have nonlethal damage unless we count subdual, so I propose an alternative to go with the cold resistance: an undead-blooded sorcerer is immune to bleeding out while downed. They still have to make the check to eventually recover but if they're not finished off they
will get back up. I think this is obviously extremely thematic and fun and plays to the class promise of the sorcerer being something less and more than human(oid). I think this would be an appropriately creepy power!
Grasp of the Dead (Sp): At 9th level, you can cause a swarm of skeletal arms to burst from the ground to rip and tear at your foes. The skeletal arms erupt from the ground in a 20-foot-radius burst. Anyone in this area takes 1d6 points of slashing damage per sorcerer level. Those caught in the area receive a Reflex save for half damage. Those who fail the save are unable to move for 1 round. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. The skeletal arms disappear after 1 round. The arms must burst up from a solid surface. At 9th level, you can use this ability once per day. At 17th level, you can use this ability twice per day. At 20th level, you can use this ability three times per day. This power has a range of 60 feet.
I think this is wildly cool and were I doing things I'd implement it as-is. It's got a reasonable DC for its power - were my sorcerer of this bloodline the max DC she could reach would be 30 with a perfect roll of an empowered Eagles Splendor.
Incorporeal Form (Sp): At 15th level, you can become incorporeal for 1 round per sorcerer level. While in this form, you gain the incorporeal subtype. You only take half damage from corporeal sources as long as they are magic (you take no damage from non-magic weapons and objects). Likewise, your spells deal only half damage to corporeal creatures. Spells and other effects that do not deal damage function normally. You can use this ability once per day.
This could, more or less, be implemented as a bonus, spell-like Ethereal Jaunt, maybe one that doesn't require somatic or verbal components. Nothing too earth shaking but still fits the theme.
One of Us (Ex): At 20th level, your form begins to rot (the appearance of this decay is up to you) and undead see you as one of them. You gain immunity to cold, nonlethal damage, paralysis, and sleep. You also gain DR 5/—. Unintelligent undead do not notice you unless you attack them. You receive a +4 morale bonus on saving throws made against spells and spell-like abilities cast by undead.
Like most capstones this would need to be toned down especially on POTM as it stomps on the toes of an app PRC. We'd toss the cosmetic effect and immunity to cold.
I think keeping the paralysis and sleep immunity would be alright. Powerful but niche, kind of like the Celestial petrification immunity. I don't think we should do the unintelligent undead thing unless we're fine with Dirgists having friends. I think the +4 bonus vs the effects of undead would be awesome if it can be done in NWN.
The 5 DR is also pretty nice. So to summarize this capstone:
Immunity to paralysis and sleep.
DR 5 physical, kind of like a barbarian.
+4 bonus to saving throws vs the effects of undead creatures
All in all, this is one of the easier bloodlines to adapt. I don't think the power scaling needs to be peeled back all that much.
