Can intelligent undead read?

[James the Newbie]

Raising Wights isn't hard - any source of negative levels + Sacrificial Commoners will do it. Controlling them can be. "Simple" control is a 2nd level spell - same one you're using - and it's just a matter of how many castings (or chained castings) do you need to control that many? At days/level, 70 undead could be a 7th level Wizard dedicating 5 3rd level spell slots per day to Extended Command Undead spells (or 4 3rd level slots and 2 2nd level slots, or 3 3rd level slots and 7 2nd level slots, and so on). Or just two 5th level slots each day, with Chain Spell.

That is a good method of doing it, I personally doubt my DM thought of using that method, but he may well have.

That said, we are a party of 6 level 4's, who are very close to levelling, so level 5 when we get there. We will face who knows what challenges in his lair, to arrive against a fairly well optimised wizard of at least 7th level. A fairly well optimised wizard, is something to fear, a fairly well optimised wizard of higher level than you, who is probably aware that you will approach, and who has planned against you, after you walked through his lair, is almost suicide.

 

[Jack Simth]

That is a good method of doing it, I personally doubt my DM thought of using that method, but he may well have.

That said, we would be facing a well optimised wizard, which in itself is something else. Also he would have access to level 4 spells which we would not. If it is just the one wizard I don't want to take my chances with him.

Ah, but you see: He's invested almost everything into his undead minions! The wizard, himself, becomes little more than a stumbling block...

Oh, and it can also be done with a cleric-7. Needs: 1 feat, one method of increasing Rebuking level (there's a feat for that, and a few items), a batch of commoners, and about a day.
Feat needed: Fell Drain.

Cast a Fell Drain Inflict Minor Wounds on one of the commoners.
Wait a day for the resulting dead body to morph into a Wight.
Command the Wight.
Have the wight kill the other commoners with negative levels.
Wait a little bit for the other dead commoners to morph into Wights.
Order your Commanded Wight to have all of it's Spawn to obey you.

Of course, if your 'general' wight gets killed, well....

 

[James the Newbie]

Id exp you for your insight, but I have already exp'd you to recently, sorry.

And they are most likly a cleric, possibly a wizard, either way they can change their entire spell list to suit the occasion. And their base will likely be a nightmare.

 

[Orius]

Depends on the undead.

Illiterate liches make no sense whatsoever. Assume all liches can read.

Vampires are often presented as cultured and decadent, so being able to read shouldn't be a problem.

Ghouls, wights, wraiths, specters and the like could vary depnding on the campaign, rules, etc.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Illiterate liches make no sense whatsoever. Assume all liches can read.

Illicherate?

Illiterich?

Does the Demi-lich become the Dummy-lich?

(Let the throwing of rotten tomatoes commence.)

 

[Samloyal23]

I suppose an undead barbarian could still be illiterate. Lichdom would be out of the question for such character, too much magical research required...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But a barbarian wight, revenant or vampire...

 

[britefire]

While I'm unsure if a wight could read, would tearing the paper and damaging the runes trigger the spell? If so, then you could simply have the wight tear the paper up when near the necromancer.