If you've nagged me and want your specific question answered, and I, or someone else, has directed you here, skip to the bottom.
Libris Mortis wrote: Pale Master:
Virtually all pale masters are former wizards or sorcerers, due to the arcane talents required for entry into the class. Some have also dabbled in divine magic, perhaps multiclassing as clerics, before following this path. NPC pale masters head special strike groups containing lesser undead, supplemented as needed with more powerful summoned undead. Sometimes they serve or act in collusion with powerful evil characters, such as true necromancers or divine spellcasters with Death as one of their domains. Wherever pale masters go, undead follow. Often it is difficult to tell a pale master from the undead that he surrounds himself with.
Requirements:
Alignment: Any non-good.
Skill: Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks.
Feat: Skill Focus (Knowledge [religion]).
Spells: Able to cast command undead and vampiric touch as arcane spells.
Special: The candidate must have spent three or more days locked in a tomb with animate undead. This contact may be peaceful or violent. A character who is slain by the undead and later raised still meets the requirement, although the resulting level loss may delay compliance with other prerequisites.
RE: Alignment. This goes without much debate, although a lot of debate on Arelith for some reason!
Aside from the very act of turning yourself into a PM being pretty insane and very degenerate, as you are partly necromatic and draw constantly from the negative energy plane, you are essentially a constant source of evil; a conduit drawing negative and evil energy into the world. (Not your morale evil, but your FR actual can put in a bottle evil).
This is why it's, or it should be, exceptionally hard to be a neutral PM. Your entire existence is evil. So it wouldn't be enough to just 'exist' and not harm anybody (directly), you'd need to be out doing objectively good deeds a hell of a lot.
The sleepover party with undead isn't enforced on Arelith at all, but I believe it's to reflect the close bond that a Pale Master develops with undead.
Feats, next!
Bone Skin - NWN Feat
Undead Armor Affinity: wrote: A pale master has an instinctive feel for undead armor. At 4th level and higher, he treats the
undead armor as if its arcane spell failure chance were 10% less.
At 8th level, this reduction improves to 20%.
There's no direct comparison between the NWN feat and Libris Mortis, but it can be considered a reflection of the Undead Armour Affinity a PM would otherwise gain, unfortunately undead armour doesn't exist in NWN!Deathless Vigor: wrote: Beginning at 5th level, a pale master’s body becomes more akin to the undying fl esh of his undead associates. The character gains a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves except against effects that also work on objects
It's also partly a reflection of 'Deathless Vigor' which states that "beginning at 5th level, a pale master’s
body becomes more akin to the undying flesh of his undead associates.".
A Palemaster's trade mark arm is actually quite a far way into the class and probably the least noticeable if covered up - their skin is the real giveaway! So the AC bonuses and, hp, in NWN that they receive are a direct reflection of this 'harder to pierce' undead-like skin
Of course, we have the summoning feats. Palemasters have a huge control over undead and can cause them to rise without any material components.Various Summoning Feats wrote:
Something that's not implemented in NWN, is something that really shows the power that PM's have over undead. A saveless dominate!Control Undead: wrote:
Once per day, a pale master of 5th level or higher can gain control over an undead creature (with Hit Dice equal to or less than his highest arcane caster level) by making a successful touch attack against it. The undead creature receives no saving throw to resist this effect. The control lasts for 1 round per class level
Something heavily associated with PM's, it's important to note that they don't actually lop their arms off till a fair way into the class. It's certainly not something that people do on a whim!Undead Graft: wrote:
At 6th level, a pale master gives in to terrible necrophiliac urges. He cuts off his arm and replaces it with an undead prosthetic, which may be skeletal in form or preserved flesh stitched in place like that of a flesh golem. Regardless of its composition, the graft grants a +4 inherent bonus to the character’s Strength score. Additionally, the undead graft allows him to deliver horrible touch attacks
Tough as Bone: wrote:
On reaching 7th level, a pale master takes on even more of the qualities of an undead creature. He becomes immune to disease, nonlethal damage, and stunning.
Both of these feats, in combination with the Bone Skin, really show how undead-like the PM becomes. They are as undead as it gets, without dying first! I can't stress how 'not normal' and horrible a PM would look - at least one of this level.Deathless Mastery: wrote: On reaching 10th level, a pale master gains the virtues of his deathless arts. His body becomes partly mummified (though he is not truly undead), and he becomes immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, death effects, critical hits, ability drain, and energy drain, as well as damage to his physical ability scores (Str, Dex, and Con). He still needs to breathe, eat, and sleep as normal for his type, and he still ages normally
PM FAQ:
Can I be a Neutral PM? wrote:
Yes, you can, if your PM is /actively/ good and devotes himself to doing that, it's possible. However, please note that it's actively good and you will need to do that all the time to ensure that you aren't bringing more evil into the world, than good.
If you're tied up in politics/study/anything else that isn't doing objective good, you're evil.
On a PW I don't think it's particularly possible to play a PM, or at the least it's going to be /extremely/ challenging and of course you're going to run into good people that want you dead and, well, they'd get good boy points for doing so every time without fail.
Can I be a 'forced' PM or an 'accidental' PM? wrote:
Not on Arelith.
The same as you can't accidentally become, or be forced into a warlock.
However it's not possible in PnP for a PM, unlike a warlock, at least in any possible way that I know.
The problem is that becoming a PM isn't an instant thing and it's an extremely willful thing to do - you are explicitly degenerating your body for power. You also have to have very specific knowledge and a very specific approach over a long period of time to do it. So while I wouldn't say it was entirely impossible (in a PnP game) it's very improbable and you'd probably have to revolve everything around that.
Do PM's live longer? wrote:
No. They aren't quite undead!
Do PM's, or should they, be harmed by healing effects? wrote:
No and neither should they be. While they are corrupt, warped, mutilated beings, and draw on negative energy and evil to fuel their existence and their abilities, they are still 'alive' - they're as close to undead as you can get without being undead.
Undead arms are gross, do I have to chop mine off? wrote:
Yes, you need to chop your arm off, when you get to 6 PM and this /must/ be replaced by an undead arm. Note that this is not a 'dead' arm. It is specifically undead and is the font of all your touch attack negative energy power.
If anyone has any questions, or wants to make any clarifications, just post below and I'll update this top post!Can't I play a nice PM? wrote:
I guess? Though your personality isn't really going to be the first thing that people notice. You are a walking abomination, from your undeady-mummified-skin to your gross undead arm. Most people are going to run away or try to kill you.