Deathless Defenders

School necromancy [stronghold]; Level antipaladin 4, cleric 4, paladin 4, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 5

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF

EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Targets one or more corpses
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

DESCRIPTION

This spell functions as animate dead except as noted above, but the skeletons and zombies you raise can take no actions other than attacking creatures you designate. Your deathless defenders have the same alignment you do, and when you cast this spell the spell gains alignment subtypes to match your alignment. Deathless defenders do not count against the Hit Die limit for animated undead you create.

Deathless defenders gain a +4 bonus to their CMD against combat maneuvers to bull rush, drag, overrun, reposition, or trip them. Any skeletons or zombies that leave the area of your stronghold begin crumbling to dust, taking 2d6 points of damage per round until they return to the stronghold or are destroyed. A corpse that has been animated with deathless defenders and then destroyed cannot be reanimated by this spell or by animate dead.

* Stronghold Spells

As an optional rule, many of the spells designed to defend a stronghold below may be ruled to function only in an area that is a fixed point of defense called your stronghold. For the purpose of a stronghold spell, your stronghold must be a specific location or structure you designate, no larger than a cube 30 feet per level on a side. If this covers only part of a larger structure or location, you may use stronghold spells only within the designated area. You must spend at least seven days focusing on your stronghold, meditating upon its every detail, placing magical marks that resonate with your personal magic.

You may have only one stronghold at a time. If you create and designate a new one, the benefits of the old one fade immediately. Your death does not alter your stronghold, and stronghold spells persist after your death to the extent of their normal duration.