NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 1744739" data-attributes="member: 19675">That assumes that the undead created are non-sentient, but there are plenty of sentient undead forms.  While they don't pay taxes, they generally also don't need to be fed or paid, and may not need to be housed.That assumes both that the clerics of the faith in question cannot control undead and also that the undead themselves are not sentient and incapable of resisting being controlled by their enemies.No one said zombie.  There are more undead out there than zombies.A wizard or priest who is about to die might consent to lichdom or mummification in defense of his city or god.  A king who serves under the aegis of divine right may have no choice but to become an undead defender of his people (after his long rule and death, of course) because it is a condition his god places upon his being allowed to be king.  A warrior may feel that his hatred of his enemies is so great that he would do anything to prevent them from taking his homeland.  Either might become a skeletal warrior or perhaps the equivalent of a deathknight.Over time, such defenders will accumulate- as long as there is no attack.  In 200 years, a city could EASILY accumulate 20 of each of the above high level undead.And remember, it might not be just one warrior at a time...Imagine this conversation at the end of a brutal battle (repeated many times):"Faithful one, we have turned back the unbelievers one more time, but your life ebbs.  You have earned eternal paradise.  But I fear for your loved ones- the infidel are many and we are few-do you wish to delay your entry into paradise to fight one more battle?""Yes, I swear the filthy unbelievers must never take this city!  Make it so!"Of course, not all would so volunteer, nor could the priests "preserve" all of the potential defenders.  But, on the other hand, even a fervent commoner might be willing to fight one more time to preserve his former way of life.Besides, sometimes numbers aren't important.  Some undead are so *ahem* ghastly... they are worth many times their number in standard warriors.Outsiders may not be willing to serve.  And why compel an unwilling outsider to fight to the death (or PM dissolution) when you have willing undead?  Forcing someone to fight unto death or dissolution would seem to be a fairly reprehensible act.And, while I'm not 100% sure of this, I believe you can get more HD in undead at any given caster level than you can in Outsiders.But you asked quite pointedly "Why use Undead?"Undead do not eat- so the most vulnerable part of any army-its supply line) is not as crucial.  Your undead forces may still need ammo or weapon/armor repair, but they don't need food.  (Except, possibly, brains- but they can get that themselves. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> )Undead do not sleep or tire- so your watch and patrols can be simplified.  Most kinds could be put on watch 24/7.Undead, generally, can operate in total darkness and temperature or weather extremes, so your undead forces will not consume firewood or oil, don't need winter gear, water, etc.Undead are not subject to many enchantments, charms, illusions, critical hits or gaseous attacks, which makes them more durable than many other troop types.  Some undead are even resistent to certain kinds of damage...piercing, slashing, or even non-magical weapons may be useless against undead troops of sufficient power.  They are immune to all but magical diseases or poisons, meaning your enemy cannot use mundane toxins or contagion as a weapon against them, and in fact, could be used to spread contagion or toxins among your enemies.Also, realize that not all cultures regard the body with as much reverence as we Westerners.  Some cultures believe that the body is just meat and bones once the animating force of the soul has departed.  Since the spells don't say ANYTHING about souls being bound into non-sentient undead like zombies or skeletons, those cultures might not view raising an army of such undead as an evil act, since it would be a functional variant of "Animate Object."  (Of course, even such a culture would more likely raise the deceased of their foes than using their own dead as fodder.)And yet it is an example that has been used in fiction-Fritz Lieber's Sons of Kyuss for example- and in real life- not everyone buried in a pyramid, tomb or temple in Pharonic Egypt was unwilling, some considered it an honor to serve after death.  (Editorial note: I don't want to come across as a nutcase- I most emphatically don't believe there is any evidence of undead walking the Earth in the real world.)</blockquote>

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