Pale (Character Kit)

Pale
The pale is a particular type of necromancer, those wizards who draw magical energy from the plane of the dead known as the Gray. Unlike necromancers, however, pale seek to command and control undead, eventually
ruling these creatures by becoming as undead as they are.
Character Class: Pale are always defilers, and they always have alignments of neutral evil. The pale are always pure defilers, not wanting to sully their art by attempting to combine it with any other class.
Races: Only humans and half-elves have the will and desire to become these death-wizards.
Requirements: Manipulating and maintaining the delicate balance between life and death takes a toll on these wizards. To become a pale, a defiler needs a Wisdom score of at least 16 and a Constitution score of at least 14.
Role: Through their fascination with the undead, the pale have become connected to the Gray. This connection allows them to draw the energy for spells not from plant life but from the life forces trapped in the Gray. Unlike necromancers, who study death to learn more about life and extending it for as long as possible, the pale only want to call upon undead creatures to do their bidding. With every increase in level, with every piece of knowledge gained, the pale move closer to becoming undead beings of incredible power at least that’s what they hope for.
The pale call forth undead servants to wait upon them, defend them, and even fight for them should the need arise. They commune with undead beings to learn more about life, death, and the Gray existence that waits beyond the mortal coil.
As a member of an adventuring party, a pale can be a potent companion provided the rest of the party can stand his ghoulish ways. It also takes a lot for the living fully to trust someone so captivated by the dead. Still, a pale’s powerful spells and abilities to turn or command undead can be useful to any adventuring party.
Class Modification: The pale favor necromantic spells, as well as spells of an offensive nature. They require a shard of obsidian that has been prepared with the essence of an undead being to maintain their connection to the Gray. Without this shard, they cast spells as if they were normal defilers.
Because the connection to the Gray is unstable at best, the pale must roll on Table XVII: Gathering Energy Through Defiling Magic to determine how many spells they can memorize each day. Instead of determining the terrain benefit for energy gathering, the table is used
to represent how strong the wizard’s connection to the Gray is at the time of energy gathering. Roll to see which terrain line to use
Roll 1d10            Result
1 barren
2-4 infertile
5-7 fertile
8-9 abundant
10 lush
Weapon Proficiencies: The pale are proficient with all weapons normally available to the wizard class. In addition, they can learn to wield any weapons made of bone without penalty.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Bonus: Planes lore.
* Required: Languages, ancient.
* Recommended: Ancient history, astrology, bargain, intimidation, reading/writing, religion, spellcraft.
Special Benefits: The pale learn to fashion an obsidian shard to use as a conduit for drawing energy from the Gray. This shard must be prepared through an elaborate ceremony and ritu- al that lasts for 1d4+2 days. At the end of this period, the pale reaches into the Gray and makes a Wisdom check. A suc- cessful check inflicts 1d4+1 hp damage on the wizard and imbues his shard with a individual life force from the Gray. With this imbued shard, the wizard maintains a constant connection to the Gray. The life force is rendered comatose, providing nothing more than the spark necessary to maintain the open conduit. If the check fails, the shard isn’t imbued and the wizard suffers 2d4+2 hp damage.
The pale have the ability to take control of unintelligent undead. This is reflected as a pale’s Wisdom score plus 5% for each of his levels. This control lasts for 1d6+1 rounds, and the number of undead that can be affected by this power is a number of Hit Dice equal to the wizard’s level times two. So, a 3rd- level pale can control up to 6 HD of unintelligent undead creatures.
Through force of will, the pale can also attempt to command intelligent undead. The chance is equal to the wizard’s Wisdom score plus 5% per level, minus the creature’s Hit Dice. So, a 3rd-level wizard with a Wisdom of 16 has a base 31% chance to command an intelligent undead. If the undead was a 6 HD monster, the chance would be reduced to 25%. This command lasts for 1d4 rounds.
At 5th level, a pale gains a constant undead companion. One undead being can be called per level that remains at
the wizard’s beck and call until the creature is destroyed or a new creature is summoned (at the next level of experience). The type of creature that responds to the summons depends on the level of the pale:
Roll 1d10            undead type
5-6 normal skelton
7-8 normal zombie
9-12 thinking zombie
13+ wracked spirit
Finally, a pale is immune to any fear caused by undead, unless that undead’s Hit Dice total exceeds the pale’s level by three or better. Then the fear affects the wizard normally. For example, a 3rd- level pale would be affected by the fear of a 6 HD undead monster.
Special Hindrances: When a pale accesses the Gray for spell energy, the wizard must make a Constitution check to withstand the negative power of the dimension. If the wizard gathers energy as he casts a spell, a failed check inflicts 1d2 hp damage and the spell fails. If the wizard gathers energy during the memorization process, a failure inflicts 1d6+1 hp damage as he drains life energy from himself instead of from the Gray. He can make a second attempt, but if that fails as well he suffers another 1d6+1 hp damage and no memorization occurs that day. The pale can’t memorize new spells until 24 hours have passed.
Additionally, the pale have the look of death about them. They have pale flesh (as their name implies), and they are skeletal and gaunt to an unnatural extreme. The pale are also surrounded by a carrion stench — they smell like ghouls. This makes everyone they meet very uncomfortable, and if the pale doesn’t make a successful save vs. death magic whenever he encounters some- one, that person flees in terror.
Wealth Options: The pale, too preoc- cupied by death to worry about money, begin play with (1d4+1) x 10 cp.
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