Café de Nuit

This is a very interesting class . . . but isn't it a bit unbalanced? I mean, they get more hp than sorcerer, armor, more spells known etc plus a bunch of powers. . .

Any thoughts? Opinions?

And honestly who of you thought when reading the class that they will eventually get a "slaying touch" as levels progress only to find that (balance-wise) thankfully they didn't?

Ok... First thing first: I really didn't like Heroes of Horror.
I bought it in Lucca last month, and after reading it for a while, I found it a quite childish book. It was the idea of "horror" a 13-years-old might have.
I was looking for a chill, they gave me a BOO!
I was looking for Nosferatu, they gave me Freddy vs. Jason.
...
Now, not to say the WHOLE book is to end down a drainage pipe (mine is still busy chocking down Champions of Darkness ): I really loved the grey jester, some of the hooks they gave for the DM (the grisly hag with the jester, especially...), and the art is really beautiful...
Just that the book was as far from horror as the Care Bears are.
I'll stick with my basic Ravenloft, thank you.

About the "Dread Necromancer"...
Well, I find it absolutely out of place in a Ravenloft campaign. Ravenloft is not about people going around dressed in bones proclaiming "GHAAAAAA!!! I'M SOOOOO MEAN!!!" and raising an army of undead mices.
I look for a more... MATURE villain.
Or a PC who's not jeopardizing his soul with every breath: every class feature has "Powers Check" written on it.
No DN in my campaign, thank you.

About their powers... Well, I find them, again, childish. Channel negative energy? Already seen. Dread armor? Already seen.
It was the True Necromancer and the Pale Master wrapped in a new (quite unbalanced) class. Bof.

You guys are both right, but I think it is all about a state of mind.

Hereos of Horror was clearly written for one purpose - for typical D&D gamers to introduce horror elements. The book was never intended for people who were so well versed in horror as Ravenloft fans - it was intended for people who played Forgotten realms, and... shudder... Ebberon.
People such as ourselves are very well versed in horror elements. In fact, it becomes second nature to Ravenloft fans. Every single book, adventure and novel in the line is devoted to horror gaming. ead so much as one, and you are already ahead of the rest of the D&D community in the Tao of Terror.
It is a big disapointment, however, that there were no Advanced sections in the book - put in for people who already knew the basics.
But even still, it was an oaky book.

As for the Dread Necormancer, your right and it is overpowered. But again, its a matter of state of mind, or more correctly, placement of campaign.
The uber-powerful, cartoonish supervillany of the Dread Necormancer must have been intended for playes like Forgotten Realms and the much hated (by me) Ebberon. In places where paladins and clerics are comming out of the woodwork, and holy relics are cheaper by the dozen, the bad guys need some fire power. Hence the disporportionate power.
Besides, I'll agree on one point - I do like to see necromancers be feared. The idea of them being just another type of wizard is not condusive to the fear and loathing these dabblers of death deserve.

he uber-powerful, cartoonish supervillany of the Dread Necormancer must have been intended for playes like Forgotten Realms and the much hated (by me) Ebberon.

This, of course, implies that ANYONE likes Ebberon...

I haven't read the Heros of Horror book, and I don't intend to. No one would ever dare produce a 'heros of fantasy' for Ravenloft.

On the note of over-balanced classes in Fantasy Campaigns, FR is designed for massively epic campaigns. In FR, it is possible to freely multi-class between monk levels and paladin levels (depending on what deity you believe in): of course the forces of evil needed some help.

First thing first I liked the Dread Necromancer: I agree with ScS that the necromancer should be feared. I also like very much the known spell list instead of a couple of known spells per spell level.

My , and "Bong! ! !" when reading the class wasn't the necromantic touch as much as the damage reduction so early, the use of armor and of course . . . the negative energy explosion. What is the necromancer? A battery of negative energy?
I understand the need for the damage reduction and it seems logic to me that the necromancer will eventually try to cheat death by lichdom, but I would prefer if he chose to follow that path later. As the class is presented, the apprentice dread necromancer is very aware that he will become an undead creature eventually and also takes step towards damnation.
Also the apprentice Dread necromancer is a destructive force all on its own. He can transfer wounds, he has a good touch attack, he can blast enemies and also has damage reduction and armor.

A 4th level dread necromancer has reasonable chances to defeat a 4th level fighter in melee combat range. (That is not brandishing a weapon, but within 5' of the fighter)

understand the need for the damage reduction and it seems logic to me that the necromancer will eventually try to cheat death by lichdom, but I would prefer if he chose to follow that path later.

Um, I may be wrong, but isn't the idea behind damage reduction not necessarily a matter of 'cheating death' so much as just being physically tough? I would more think that cheating death would be things like bonuses against death from massive damage, or immunity to death attacks.

Likewise, to balance the class, an idea might be to have it suseptable to things that harm undead. such as holy water or turning.

I use power checks/ self induced curses everywhere, so the Dread necromancer gets balanced that way (the hard way).
Although at high levels when he gets an energy draining touch, I agree that holy water and turning should affect him.