This is a slightly re-written version of my revamped Create Soldier proposal that I originally posted on Realmsboard last November. This has nothing to do with the Pool System Proposal or the Riders attached to that. This is an independent proposal that I thought that I would share with the community since someone mentioned that the current version of Create Undead Soldier was very broken.
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Create Soldier (Necromancer 6)
Uses: 1*special (see below) – Verbal: 40 words, and a full explanation
Material: A willing player to NPC the soldier, garb, mask.
The spellcaster’s player needs to find another player who is willing to play the soldier(s) and must supply that player with garb and a mask that allows other characters to realize what they are seeing is a construct of some kind.
This spell calls a soldier to do the bidding of the spellcaster. The spellcaster may only have one soldier in-play at any time. Soldiers are not considered to be undead unless advantages/disadvantages taken below change this state. Soldiers are considered to be enchanted beings. (see the enchanted being caveat)
When this spell is first cast, the spellcaster has to decide what the abilities and disadvantages of the soldier are. Once the soldier has been summoned once, the spellcaster can only summon that particular type of soldier, unless he learns the spell again, in which case, the spellcaster may summon a more powerful soldier, or may build a second soldier in their spellbook. The powers of the current soldiers must be written in the spellcaster’s spellbook. If the spellcaster unlearns a use of the spell, the soldier he summons becomes weaker, and must be adjusted accordingly.
The soldier is completely loyal to the spellcaster. It requires no payment for its service.
The soldier has to obey all the same rules for weapon lengths as all PCs do.
A spellcaster may take one disadvantage per learning, to construct his Soldier, however the extra point must be spent on the soldier that the rest of the points are spent. Unless specified otherwise each disadvantage can only be taken once per soldier:
• Disloyal Soldier: The soldier while loyal to its spellcaster will attempt to circumvent orders by being literal, slacking off while the necromancer isn’t paying attention, and/or talking back to and arguing with their spellcaster.
• Undead: The soldier is considered undead and must follow the Undead Caveat. They can be held back by both Protection from Undead and Protection from Enchanted Beings spells. Additionally soldier that are undead cannot be raised by Raise Dead, Combat Raise Dead, or Potion of Raise Dead Spells, and are immune to poison and disease.
• Weak Aura: Magic weapons (but not the Magic Missile spell) are considered armor-piercing vs. the soldier. Additionally wounds inflicted on a soldier by magic weapons cannot be regenerated from, but the soldier can be completely healed through an expenditure of a Create Zombie or Create Undead spell. Healing a soldier does not transfer ownership of the soldier to the spellcaster. It remains loyal to the spellcaster that created it.
• Demonic Infestation: The soldier despises the living, especially healers. Any time they have a “healer” path spell cast upon them, they will kill the healer, and proceed to into an uncontrollable rage killing everything and everyone around them, including friends.
• Unfailing Memory: The soldier remembers all the other times that s/he has been summoned and is not happy about it. While similar to disloyal soldier, they will not attempt to circumvent orders. They will however bad mouth their “caster” at every opportunity, and relate the casters secrets (if they have any) to others in the area. Examples of a secret would be scalping PCs, clandestine international incidents, etc.
Each time the spellcaster learns the spell they gain 4 points to construct their Soldier. For each learning currently in the spell casters spellbook the spellcaster may take one of the disadvantages from the list above to get another point to spend on their soldier. The spellcaster may also spend points gained from disadvantages to purchase special abilities from the following table:
- One 18″ dagger 0 pt.
- Primary Weapon 1 pt./ft rounded up
- Secondary Weapon 1 pt./ft rounded up
- Shield 2 pt.:
- Armor 1 pt./pt. of body armor (max 3 pt.)
- Regenerating Armor 3 pt./pt. of body armor (max 3 pt.)
- Regeneration 3 pt.
- Poisoned Weapon 5 pt. per weapon
- Diseased Weapon 3 pts (for 5 swings of “disease” per event)
- Armor-Piercing 5 pt. per weapon
- Magic Resistance 2 pt. per point
No more than 15 points can be spent on the creation of a soldier.
• If the soldier does not use the free dagger, 18″ can be subtracted off the length of its primary weapon. If the soldier’s only weapon was 3′ 6″ long, it would only cost 2 points (2′ plus free 18″).
• A shield costs 2 points, no matter how large it is.
• Every point of body armor counts towards each hit location.
• Body armor can be repaired though use of one Repair Item spell per hit location.
• A soldier may not have more than 3 points of body armor, and may not combine regenerating armor and normal armor.
• A soldier’s regenerating armor repairs itself when the soldier is Raised with the Create Zombie spell or Create Undead spell, Regenerates by use of the Ability, or if the soldier lies down without attacking for a 60 second count. Taking this ability makes the Soldier considered an enchanted being.
• Regeneration allows an un-scalped soldier to regenerate after 120 seconds. Also see the Regeneration Caveat.
• The poisoned weapon, diseased weapon and armor-piercing abilities may not be used on the same weapon. Taking these abilities also makes the soldier considered enchanted.
• Magic resistance works as per the Abjurer path spell Resist Magic (the soldier may choose when to use it), except that the points may be stacked.
• Soldiers may not use any weapons or armor not specifically granted them through the point system, and may not use magic items, except for potions, which it may administer, as directed.
Every 5 points that are used to construct the soldier also gives it an additional 100 blows before it is considered ‘scalped’. A 5 point soldier needs to take 300 blows before being scalped, while a 15 point soldier can take 500 scalping blows. If a soldier is scalped the spell ends. An un-scalped soldier may be healed and raised as normal.
The Banish Conjured Being spell (7th circle Abjurer) scalps a soldier, ending the spell.
Although each learning of the spell give the spellcaster points to create his undead soldier they do not have to be spent on one soldie, however all points learned from a single casting must be spent on the same build. Casting this spell expends 1 casting per 5 points spent on the soldier (rounded up).
For example (all three examples assume that the caster took a flaw to get 5 points per learning): Johnny Fifth the Spellcaster has learned the spell three times. He has taken one flaw per learning and has 15 points to construct his Soldier(s). He decides that he wants one really powerful Soldier and spend them all on one build. It will take all three castings for him to cast the Soldier.
Sarah Diverse has also learned Create Soldier three times, but has decided to build three separate soldiers. She spends her points to build three 5 point separate builds. Casting her 5 point soldier only expends 1 casting.
Shaun the Dead has three learnings of Crete Soldier and wants some versatility. So he spends the points from two learnings on one build, and invests the points from the third learning into a second soldier. Which gives him a 10pt Soldier and just in case it gets obliterated a 5 point soldier that he can call.
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