How to Raise an Army of the Dead?

[pawsplay]

AEG's Empire offers a higher level animate dead suitable for creating vast armies of the undead.

 

[Pax]

Cohorts. Lots of necromancer cohorts.

How do you get multiple cohorts, you ask? Simple, I say.

Get one with the Leadership feat.

Pick up the Pale Master PrC, and get an undead vassal -- go for one of the sentient types, like a Vampire, and make sure he has levels of cleric or wizard (as preferred).

Pick up the Dragon Cohort feat (from Draconomicon), get a wee bairn of a chromatic dragon, and make sure he has Sorceror levels, and knows the Animate Dead spell.

OR maybe, depending on the necromancer in question ... I've been told of a Prestige Class, I forget which book it's from, called Dread Master or the like. Lots and lots and LOTS of cohorts.

If they were all, say ... clerics of the deity of Undeath and Carnage that you, yourself, are a high priest(ess) of ... hehehe ...

 

[Hypersmurf]

I thought incorporeal creatures could never be more than five feet away from the surface while inside something solid?

Sounds like a house rule...

-Hyp.

 

[Janos Audron]

Sounds like a house rule...

-Hyp.

Though I have to admit it's paraphrased, it really sounds more like MM page 310 than house rule to me.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Though I have to admit it's paraphrased, it really sounds more like MM page 310 than house rule to me.

Well, huh.

I was reading the DMG description of Incorporeality, which only states "can pass through solid objects at will" - rather than the "Incorporeal Subtype" text in the MM.

Is that new in 3.5? I don't remember ever coming across that in 3E...

-Hyp.

 

[Endur]

Honestly, to get the army of the dead, I think you need to use epic feats. Epic Spellcasting can let you build a spell that will let you control/build an army. Various feats like Undead Mastery (control hit dice in your level x10) also help.

The other thing you can do is use high level spells that can only be cast on one day of the year in a certain place with a powerful material component. i.e. an epic level spell that only takes a 9th level slot because of its various limitations.

 

[Janos Audron]

Well, huh.

I was reading the DMG description of Incorporeality, which only states "can pass through solid objects at will" - rather than the "Incorporeal Subtype" text in the MM.

Is that new in 3.5? I don't remember ever coming across that in 3E...

-Hyp.

I never knew that too, until one of my players pointed out my wight could not pass through walls

 

[Darklone]

Yup, it's new. Thanks, Janos.

 

[Matafuego]

Once I needed a Necromancer lvl 12th to raise a small army (100 skeletons, maybe a little more) so I decided that when "Animate Dead" was cast from different sources (he knew the spell and had a ring that could cast it) the amount of undead that could be controlled depended on different sources (the caster level of the ring and his caster level).
Of course I don't know if that's true but that worked for the moment.

Also there is a magic object at the Encyclopaedia Arcana Necromancy that casts Animate Dead and the wearer controls the dead guys. Although I seem to recall it was pretty powerful, maybe even for a 20th level guy, maybe like an artifact or something like that.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Once I needed a Necromancer lvl 12th to raise a small army (100 skeletons, maybe a little more) so I decided that when "Animate Dead" was cast from different sources (he knew the spell and had a ring that could cast it) the amount of undead that could be controlled depended on different sources (the caster level of the ring and his caster level).
Of course I don't know if that's true but that worked for the moment.

There's precedent for it with the 3E Ring of Animal Friendship.
It would depend on the description of the ring, but if you were the DM, you could certainly say it worked like the RoAF.

-Hyp.