No, really, it *can* get worse...

[mmu1]

I recently ran a D&D session that resulted in a near-TPK. The party made a couple of mistakes - pushing on too far despite being a bit beaten up and low on spells, and ignoring signs that indicated the enemy probably knew they were coming - and the fight ended with one character running away, two dying (either dead or captured by the opposition) and one character dead as a doornail.

Now, the dead character (A 6th level Swashbuckler) actually tried to run for it as well - which was the smart thing to do, and the only way he could hope to survive - but the way the enemies were positioned led him to go for a passage the party hadn't explored yet. Specifically, a narrow chimney descending almost vertically, with water trickling down the walls. This is where things began to turn from bad to really, really bloody awful.

1. The guy playing the character rolled a natural 3 on his Climb check - not enough, despite his high level of skill.

2. As he fell, he went by a Glyph of Warding with Hold Person in it and failed his save miserably, losing any chance of catching himself, however slim.

2a. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that 10' down, he also set off another one, with Blindness in it, since it was really looking irrelevant at that point.)

3. He landed - paralyzed and helpless (and maybe blind) - in a 1' deep pool of water. Not enough to cushion a 60' fall, but potentially deep enough to drown in...

4. ...and, finally, the shaft led down to a lower level of the cave complex, and he hit the floor 10' away from a necromancer who wandered over to listen to the sounds of fighting up above.

It was something of a mercy, in the end, that the fall killed him outright. Though given the setup, if the party regroups and decides to go back, he's definitely going to put in another appearance. Any suggestions as to what exactly he should come back as?

 

[Squire James]

Unless the necromancer is really high level, I don't imagine he can manage anything better than a zombie, which is somewhat of an anti-climax. Of course, you can go by the general D&D guideline that NPC necromancers can create MUCH more powerful undead than any PC necromancer of the same level, in which case ghoul or even vampire is not out of the question. Vampire probably accentuates the swashbuckler's strengths the best, but he'd probably be controlling the necromancer rather than the other way around!

 

[coyote6]

Ghoul is good -- recognizable, and somewhat of a threat.

Or find an undead template & apply it. Swordwraith, from Fiend Folio, might work for a swashbuckler.

 

[Greg V]

During the playtest of one of the Slumbering Tsar trilogy adventures from Necromancer Games, a similar (but certainly not identical situation) occurred to the party's wizard.

When they met their companion later, he had been animated as a zombie from which all the skin had been removed. They then met their adversary wearing the wizard's skin. While the zombie wasn't particularly tough, it made for a most memorable and gruesome reappearance.

 

[GQuail]

I would stick to the rules for the most part for what the Necromancer could do, which means probably only a Zombie or Skeleton by the book. Howeve,r if he was some sort of Dread Necromancer who had Rebuke Undead and had managed to pacify a ghoul....

Rather than having him as a foe, potentially messing up your players chances for ressurection, what if the Necromancer is using him for Raw Materials? Perhaps the body is being stored to carry out experiments on, to plunder for organs for magical components, or just kept to feed to a pet. The players going back to rescure their comrade from A Fate Worse Than Death could be a lot more fun than having to kill him all over again, and if they then manage to get him Raised they will probably feel all the better.

Is the Necromancer capable of contacting them? Could he try and ransom the body back?

 

[Greg V]

Actually, now that I think about it, I recall that what was really hilarious about the whole thing was that the wizard had been dominated and the party was forced to kill him and abandon his body.

So the group joke became that they had killed him three times. Once as a PC, once as a pile of walking meat, and once as a skin suit.

 

[Evilhalfling]

depends on how long the Necro has -
There is a terrific idea from Scarred lands:
bones are removed, wired togeather and animated
skin is sewn togeather, and all the holes closed, and filled with sand
remaining muscles and things then has blades attached to the arms and animated.

3 undead from 1 body, for the necromancer who has more time and books than materials.
all were statted close to zombie/ ghoul in strength.

I DM'd a darksun dwarf PC who was killed by a fall. When the party finally reached that level of the dungeon he had reanimated as a Remant bent of furfilling his lifequest (to kill a Baraxat) Unfortunatly a new PC happened to be wearing baraxat armor....
I went through PCs like candy in Darksun.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Make him a Spawn of Kyuss.

The necromancer has a worm in a vial. That's all you need. The necromancer preserved his life just long enough for the worm to feed on him.

A Spawn does have a mind and a dim memory of what it was....for all the good it will do the party.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

You Got Necroserved!

Make the aforementioned PC a revenant (Monsters of Faerûn, pp. 93-94) and have him blame the party for his death.

-Samir​

 

[Tiberius]

Do remember that if you should bring him back as some manner of undead, he will be ineligible for either Raise Dead or Reincarnate once his undead form is slain. If the player wishes to come back, he might not appreciate the need for an expensive 7th level spell to return.