Vampires! or, Templates Are For Weenies

[LoneWolf23]

I can understand that you are looking for a Necromancer Class. I think that being a specialist Wizard (Necromancy) is a little bland. Even the specialised Wizard doesn't gain half the Necromancy spells that the cleric does... Create Undead and Create Greater Undead are both off limits, which are two essential spells for Necromancers, IMO.

Get Mongoose Publishing's Necromancy: Beyond the Grave, from it's Encyclopedia Arcane series. It's the best supplement you could ask for to make the Arcane Necromancer the Undead controlling, Negative Energy Manipulating, I've-got-an-army-of-zombies kinda Necromancer you really want.

It includes tons of new necromantic spells, including "Animate Skeleton" (a level 1 spell to make a skeletal minion when you're starting out), "Bones of Steel" (make those Skeletons tougher) "Graft Weapons" (arm your skeletons with unremovable weapons) and "Raise Death Hulk" (Raise a ship from the ocean's depths with a skeletal crew) and "Raise City" (raise an entire abandonned city's population to create a base for you).

It also has Necromantic Feats like "Command Undead", which lets you rebuke and command Undead like a cleric half your character level, and "Replicate the Divine", which lets you cast a single Clerical Spell from the Death Domain (like Create Undead and Create Greater Undead).

If you want Arcane Necromancers in your campaign, I highly recommend Necromancy: Beyond the Grave.

 

[Azaar]

I've heard that Necromancy: Beyond the Grave was a good book. Another good one is Hollowfaust: City of Necromancers, which gives a good case for Necromancy not always being the evil arcane school that everyone pegs it to be. The Secret College of Necromancy was okay, but I think it left some things to be desired.

Personally, so far as necromancy goes, I think I have to jump on the bandwagon along with all those folks who say the best book is still the 2nd edition Complete Book of Necromancers. I've made an effort to convert the Archetypal Necromancer kit into an arcane-only prestige class, and last night I finally got inspired enough to get started on the Deathslayer kit-to-PrC conversion. Sooner or later I'll get started on the Anatomist, Philosopher and Undead Master kits and convert them as best as I can.

Why would I want to do all this? Because by and large, I dislike what's been done with necromancers. A lot of spells that arcane necromancers could use from 2nd edition are forever lost, and what's left is almost not worth the effort of specializing in Necromancy. Insofar as the prestge classes go, the Pale Master is a strange gimmick PrC (one I still swear by all the gods that I will play in my chaotic neutral Bard/Pale Master character concept (definitely with that nice Requiem feat from Song and Silence... I swear I will one day, just you wait)... interesting, but just not entirely there. The True Necromancer, while admittedly closer, annoys me for the simple reason that you're forced to multiclass as a Death domain-using cleric to qualify, and for a prestige class supposedly geared towards wizards and sorcerers, I think it's sadly lacking (of course, if you play epic levels, then the True Necromancer would make a lot more sense for a multiclassed cleric-Necromancy specialist wizard).

Sorry if this winds up turning the focus from the original topic, but I felt I should share my reasoning. Any thoughts/constructive criticism is welcome.

Btw... Clay_More, it's definitely interesting. I am, however, a bit leery of some of the higher-level vampires who look like they could smack around most of the deities in Deities and Demigods, but that's just my personal taste. Otherwise, kudos on a job extremely well done.

 

[Clay_More]

I was seriously thinking of putting a more interesting low-level Necromancer PrC in Necromancers Legacy 2. Something you could begin on from lvl. 3 as both Arcane & Divine spellcaster. Arcane spellcasters are getting cheated if they begin specialising in Necromancy, but a easily accesible Necromancy PrC could rectify it to some extent. I even considered that Necromancers should have their own class, but that would be to go to far.

Anyone here read Necromancers Legacy?

 

[Clay_More]

The above-mentioned Vampire is up & running. Its on

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46593