Pale master

Pale masters were powerful necromancy spellcasters who used their knowledge of the arcane to guide them into the divine deathless arts that strengthened their bodies with undead powers and allowed them to control undead creatures. They arose from the likes of mages, sorcerers, wizard-clerics, and occasionally bards.
==Activities==
Almost all pale masters were wizards or sorcerers in the past who could cast the command undead and vampiric touch spells, were well-versed in religion, and all of the pale masters were creatures of evil, either who followed law, chaos, or neither. Those mages who wanted to embark un such a dark path had to lock themselves in a tomb for three days with animated undead creatures. Whether the mage interacted with the undead peacefully or violently, after three days, they received a divine epiphany that allowed them to become pale masters. Those wizards who died whilst in the tomb could still become pale masters afterward if they were resurrected or raised by other means.
==Abilities==
By learning the dark magics, pale masters learned to control droves of lesser undead and summon more powerful undead creatures under their control. Many pale masters visually looked a lot like their undead servants, with their bodies changing and fusing with the magics of the undeath. While they were originally mages, pale masters became more focused on close combat, learning to use light and medium armor.
Pale masters learned to summon such undead creature as shadows, greater shadows, wraiths, dread wraiths, spectres, ghouls, ghasts, wights, and powerful pale master mummies. The most powerful and experienced pale masters, epic pale masters, gained the ability to cast certain epic magic spells and summon immensely powerful creatures. These creatures were vampires, greater bodaks, ghoul kings, skeleton blackguards, liches, lich lords, alhoons, alhoon elders, and lesser demiliches.
In addition to new undead summoning powers, pale masters eventually learned to animate dead and gained darkvision. Those who already possessed darkvision prior to becoming pale masters had their field of view in the dark expanded to . Their affinity undead armor and control undead spells, empowering them. With time, pale masters achieved deathless vigor and later became tough as bone, with their bodies becoming more akin to that of the undead, boosting their fortitude, granting them immunity to diseases, and rendering them unable to be stunned. A strange necrophiliac urge came after that. Pale masters removed at least one of their limbs and grafted an undead creature's limb in its place, boosting their strength and giving them the horrible ability to paralyze, wither, degenerate, and destroy creatures with a touch. The most powerful pale masters created an undead cohort who shared a part of their master's powers. Lastly, pale masters bodies became mummified without turning them into actual undead, making them immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, death magic, ability drain, and energy drain, and prevented enemies from sapping their strength, dexterity, and constitution. Despite being so similar to undead, pale masters still had to breathe, eat, and sleep.
==Notable Pale Masters==
*Ilivarra, a drow wizard-pale mistress who operated in the Sunset Mountains in the late 14 century DR.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Prestige classes
Category:Classes
Category:Arcane spellcasters
Category:Divine spellcasters