Necromancer

[Despaxas]

Ok here goes, I'm trying to make a necromancer either cleric or wizard or both, whichever gives the best possibilities for a really cool necro. I'm interested in your views on skills, feats and spell selection.

Point buy system 32 points, all stats begin at 8, after 15 (I think, it starts costing 2, 16 3, 17 4, 18 5) Don't have the DMG with me so I could be wrong, but some nice person will surely help me out.

Now what I see this necro being is not a flashy spell hurling type, so no fireballs etc. But rather the scary type you don't want to meet in a dark alley. So think enervation, vampiric touch etc.

Only use the core books and FR book, we don't use any others.

Level range: 1-15

And note: he does have to fit in a party, so a chaotic evil psychotic murderer would probably not be an option

 

[Kae'Yoss]

What party does he fit in? Would the CE madman be out of place because he's evil, because he's chaotic, or because he's a psycho?

What alignments are allowed?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

whichever gives the best possibilities for a really cool necro.

? are we talking about spell slinging badass, raise legions of undead, what?

"Only use the core books and FR book, we don't use any others." so you can't PrCs from the splatbooks?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

alright, let me put this another way.

if you don't have access to any of the splatbooks DON'T multi-class. there's no reason to lower your caster ability unless it's required by a PrC.

Cleric - who has more power over life and death than a cleric? take Velsharoon (FR) as your patron diety and the Undeath domain. your alignment can be one step from your deities' (who is NE), so if you played true neutral, take Death as your other domain. if you're evil, take Evil as your other domain (it will bolster all of your 'evil' spells like animate and create undead)

(note: it's alot easier to be a cleric. all you have to do is pray for spells! a wizard has to study and spends tons of money aquiring and scribing spells, etc., etc)

(note 2: clerics get access to animate dead earlier than wizards, and wizards can't cast create undead, or create greater undead)


Wizard - even after saying all of the above, no caster is as versatile as a wizard, even a specialist. create a necromancer specialist with evocation or transmutation as your banned school, and take the skills and feats required to become a Shadow Adept (FRCS). while it lowers your power and ability to cast evocation or transmutation (one of which should be banned anyway), it greatly increases your enchantment, illusion and necromantic spell power (saves and ability to overcome SR)

(note: if you think the PC has a chance of being played after 15th level, make sure you take skill focus:spellcraft and spell focus in 2 schools of magic. by the time you're done with the 10 levels of Shadow Adept, you'll be ready to start taking levels of Archmage. when you add the spell focus: necromancy to the Shadow adept's spell power ability, and the archmage's spell power ability, nothing will be able to resist your spells!)

(note 2: there's is nothing about a necromancer that requires a certain alignment. in game settings like Ravenloft, even good aligned necromancers have been discussed at length. in the Scarred Lands setting, there's an entire city run by LN necromancers. (or so i'm told )

 

[Despaxas]

? are we talking about spell slinging badass, raise legions of undead, what?

more in the line of nasty spell effects that have to do with death, poison, disease, etc. raising legions of undead is not going to sit well with the rest of the players who tend to make characters that will kill any other character that creates undead

What alignments are allowed?

Any good, neutral, and technically evil, but I know some of the other players will also try to get my character booted or killed when they find out I'm evil, so ... it's possible but I'd better have a good excuse.

Mr. Fidgit
I was indeed thinking of a cleric after some deliberation. Velsharoon sounds nice. Shadow Adebt looks cool, only problem I see is the -2 wisdom, which just plain sucks.

I've been tinkering a while now with my build, gonna have to wait a little longer, building a necro is hard And ofcourse while i was building him, I thought of a really kickass fighter/ranger combo so I had to do that first, short attention span.

Thanks for the replies keep em coming

 

[Mr Fidgit]

only problem I see is the -2 wisdom, which just plain sucks.

the price of power! MWAAAHAHAHA!

*ahem*


despaxas, do you get to create anything you want, or do you have to make it fit the party? (the reason i ask, typically in my group, the players are concerned with balanced partys)

and - are you related to Ormraxes? (lots of X'es and X'as' running around... )

 

[Pax]

Mr. Fidgit
I was indeed thinking of a cleric after some deliberation. Velsharoon sounds nice. Shadow Adebt looks cool, only problem I see is the -2 wisdom, which just plain sucks.

Worship Shar. *poof* no more -2 Wisdom for the Shadow Weave Magic feat.

 

[Rpjunkie]

I will second Valshroon (Spelling sorry).

For me it would be Death and Magic domains.. Then you get to be a cleric who can use wizard stuff. I means scrolls,staves,wands etc.. what more do you need? The wizard wand use is awesome for a cleric. I have a 4th level cleric that is doing just that. I have 4 dead bodies I buried outside our house just waiting to be able to cast animate dead..

RPJ

 

[Xarlen]

It's a serious shame you can't use other party stuff. Mongoose Publishing has an *awesome* necromancer book. And T&B has some cool Necro spells.

If you want some creativeness, how about 'Animate dead+Fire trap on undead's mouth'. Now, all you do is use them as smart-bombs. But, for the nastier ones...

Cleric: Go for Cleric of the Undead god, Spell-focus: Necromancy. Specialize in Inflict spells, Contagine, Poison, and the like. Eventually get Reach spell, or go for Hirophant. You will be a force to be feared.

Wizard: Spectral hand Is Your Friend. Get a magical item that can let you cast it so you don't have to. If your DM will let you, try and research a spell that will let you cast touch spells above 4th level. A lot of the spells in Magic of Faerun are good for a necromancer; Shroud of Undeath, Kiss of the Vampire, etc, etc. I too suggest the Shadow Adept, but if you can, shoot towards the Red Wizard of Thay PrC instead of the Archmage. This will bolster your save DCs, as well as give you some cool stuff, and RP potential.

 

[Despaxas]

despaxas, do you get to create anything you want, or do you have to make it fit the party? (the reason i ask, typically in my group, the players are concerned with balanced partys)

I have to make it fit into the party, but I have some leeway, they're not going to slap me silly if I make an evil character, just as long as I don't pull off anything evil that their characters know about.

and - are you related to Ormraxes? (lots of X'es and X'as' running around... )

Never heard of him