D&D 5E Stradh Von Zarovich, formidable Necromancer? / Necromancer build for 5e

[psiconauta_retro]

Stradh Von Zarovich is the only famous Necromancer that I know. I looked his stats in the books I own and also on the internet, and I found that they vary (as it was expected). Which would you say that are the most recent/updated stats for Stradh?


Is he really a great Necromancer? What makes him special (besides from his specific situation of being a 20th lvl Fighter/Necromancer, Ancient vampire, 1st Darklord, etc.). Do you know other Necromancers as powerful as him or more?


Which would be your recommended build for a Necromancer? Having so much previous material from different editions and campaigns any spells and items from any edition can be considered. I would like to use your suggestions as foundation for a homebrewed 5e Ultimate Necromancer PC. Back in the day I liked the idea of the Spritualist showed in the Accesory "Champions of the Mists" (they looked to help the spirits to find their final rest) so the final PC could end up being any kind of Necromancer. Please go wild with the idea (or not).

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You mean, in literature?

Bauchelain and Korbal Broach come to mind, from /Memories of Ice/ by Steven Erikson. These two necromancers are the only ones who survive the siege of Capustan, thanks to all their demons and undead minions. Plus, the scene with the virgin's blood is hilarious. "Why, it's woody!"

Steve Brust's Morrolan e'Drien certainly has the mien of a necromancer.

In the Dresden Files, the Corpsetaker (/Dead Beat/) is a pretty iconic bodysnatching necromancer. You can even replicate her shenanigans, to an extent, in 5E via Magic Jar. (Though ironically, Magic Jar works better for a Diviner than a Necromancer. Although a Lucky Necromancer with high Charisma and Death Ward pre-cast could push things pretty far without too much risk.)

If you wanted to replicate the Bauchelain/Korbal Broach approach in 5E, you'd want to start out as a fighter for heavy armor proficiency and Con save proficiency, and then multiclass from there. Grim Touch will gives you oodles of hit points if you are fighting mooks--just cast Fire Shield or something similar (Evard's Black Tentacles) that kills on other people's turns so that you gain 8 HP per death instead of being capped at merely 6 HP like Fireball does for you. Vampiric Touch is a pretty good spell, especially for someone with good AC and Grim Touch. Remember that you can overcast it at 5th level (7 spell points) to do 5d6 damage, granting you 5d6/2 damage per hit and an extra 15 HP healed on a kill.

Nothing needs to be said about undead skeleton archers. They're awesome, everybody knows it, nothing to say there.

At high levels, creating your own Wight via Create Undead and then dominating it via Command Undead might be worth doing, especially because that wight can command a dozen zombies of its own for free. Zombies have about 40 effective HP due to the way Undead Fortitude works, so a dozen zombies is quite a lot of meat. If you're fighting in the midst of all those zombies you have at least partial cover from most enemies (+2 more AC) and relatively little to fear from most enemies, especially if you used Disguise Self to look like one of the zombies.

It's hard to tell from your post if you're interested in wizard shenanigans that don't involve necromancy, but one of the fun things about being a 5E necromancer is that you're still a full wizard. You don't even have restricted spell schools like AD&D wizards did, so you can cast Illusion and Enchantment/Charm spells to your heart's content. No need to discuss wizard tricks here, but you do have access to them all.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

I've personally only ever played through the very beginning of a Ravenloft adaptation and never seen stats for Strahd. But other powerful necromancers might potentially include Vecna, Szass Tam of Thay, the Forgotten Realms deity Myrkul, and possibly Sammaster. If one is delving into the realm of demigods / demon lords, Orcus might potentially qualify.

 

[Maialideth]

AD&D 2e had a Complete Book of Necromancers, which is pretty cool if you want ideas for Necromancers.

In Warhammer Fantasy there is Nagash the Supreme Lord of the Undead.

But Strahd is awesome. I'd probably make him some sort of enhanced vampire with at least 16 levels as necromancer. Or not stat him at all... he is too cool to need stats.

 

[enigma5915]

I'm currently working on 5e stats for Strahd for my campaign. I've designed him to be a 12th level fighter and a 16th necromancer. This fits best in my opinion with his history. Yes he is outrageously formidable, but that's OK for me.

 

[Mephista]

Personally, I'd represent Strahd as a warlock using the current rules than a Fighter/Necromancer. Feels more vampiric to me than the wizard.

 

[Jester David]

Stradh Von Zarovich is the only famous Necromancer that I know. I looked his stats in the books I own and also on the internet, and I found that they vary (as it was expected). Which would you say that are the most recent/updated stats for Stradh?

I believe he had a statblock in Open Grave for 4th Edition. Prior to that was the statblock in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft and the statblocks in the licenced 3rd Party Ravenloft line by Swords & Sorcerery.

Is he really a great Necromancer? What makes him special (besides from his specific situation of being a 20th lvl Fighter/Necromancer, Ancient vampire, 1st Darklord, etc.). Do you know other Necromancers as powerful as him or more?

What makes Strahd "special" is that he wasn't just a vampire. Waaaay back in the days of 1st edition, when he was created, vampires were just vampires. So a vampire with class powers was special.
I know of a couple other Necromancers in Ravenloft and I believe the lich master of Thay in the Forgotten Realms is also a necromancer. So there's a few others kicking around.

Which would be your recommended build for a Necromancer? Having so much previous material from different editions and campaigns any spells and items from any edition can be considered. I would like to use your suggestions as foundation for a homebrewed 5e Ultimate Necromancer PC. Back in the day I liked the idea of the Spritualist showed in the Accessory "Champions of the Mists" (they looked to help the spirits to find their final rest) so the final PC could end up being any kind of Necromancer. Please go wild with the idea (or not).

This varies for players and monsters. NPCs don't really need to follow "the rules" and can have all kinds of unique or amped up necromancer abilities. Plus, since they're only around for 2-5 rounds of combat, full PC abilities can just make monsters too complicated.

For a PC, a multiclass death domain cleric and necromancer wizard might work out interestingly.

 

[Remathilis]

Strahd REALLY isn't an iconic necromancer per se. (Well, depending on the lore you use, I guess). In the more generic material (I6: Ravenloft, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, Open Grave) he's merely a wizard of moderate to high level. (9th in I6: 10th in Expedition). In the Ravenloft campaign setting lore (House of Strahd, the various 2e box sets, Domains of Dread, and 3e's Arthaus material) he's a high-level necromancer (usually around 16th) who created several unique undead (Strahd zombies/skeletons, meld creatures) and spells (or in some cases, found other spells and appropriated them to his name instead). Strahd certainly isn't the picture of the dark-robed wizard raising armies of the undead to conquer the world, he's much more interested in creating stronger guardians to watch over Castle Ravenloft.

Further, Strahd isn't much of warrior these days; those fighter levels are usually an attempt to explain his history as a soldier before his turn to vampirism. (His Vlad Tepes phase, as it were). I certainly don't see them as integral to his build these days (his soldier training can be expressed in his high attack bonuses, hp, and ability to use any weapon or armor he chooses.)

If I were to use generic Strahd (such as to update I6) I'd use the vampire-mage variant from the Monster Manual. He'd be CR 15, cast spells as a 9th level mage (same as I6) and have legendary/lair actions. If I was stating Strahd for the Ravenloft setting, I'd probably up his caster level, add the warrior-vampire variant on as well, and maybe give him a few more "necromancer" abilities (like command undead) as well as his unique spells and shoot for CR 18-20.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Here are a few famous D&D Necromancers.

Vecna the God of Secrets. Szass Tam the Lich Ruler of Thay. Larloch the Shadow king. Larloch is really impressive being one of the oldest non draconic beings in Faerun. (Also he is a creepy lich that has 2 dozen Ioun stones floating around his head.)

 

[Dausuul]

My recommended build would be either straight necromancer or cleric 1/necromancer [everything else]. If multiclassing, put your first level in cleric for the proficiencies--pick a domain that gives you heavy armor. After that, straight necro all the way.

Key spells to pick up:

• Animate dead, obviously. You get this for free at level 6, though, so don't sweat it.
• Cloudkill and stinking cloud. Poison AoE is your friend.
• Seeming. From time to time, you will need to go into places where undead are not welcome, like... well... everywhere. Being able to make them look like a bunch of regular men-at-arms is essential.
• Counterspell. One of the biggest threats you face is enemy wizards and sorcerers, who can nuke your whole army if they win initiative. Counterspell can buy you the round you need to fill those pesky spellslingers full of arrows.

Make sure to stock up on gear for your skeletons--bows and arrows are the most important, but they should also have shortswords for melee, and shovels to dig up graves. You'll need to find the right balance between maintaining your skeleton army and keeping spell slots available for actual casting. I found I usually used about half my mid-range slots (3-5) for skeletons and kept the rest open.

Also, check with your DM (if you're not the DM) to see if s/he would allow acid splash to be used on a dead creature. (The spell says it targets creatures, but it doesn't say the creatures have to be alive.) If so, add acid splash to the list of key spells. If not, consider picking up a background as a butcher or a surgeon... anything that gives you a plausible argument for why your PC can quickly strip the flesh off a corpse.