We've been told that these things won't be in the playtest but I want to talk about them anyway. Not sure why they won't put it in though. Seems like a good way to get some of the players involved in trying out mass combat and how to play it.
I want to compare 5e Animate dead/create undead with pathfinders animate dead (not sure about pf create undead, seems fine). I prefer the way 5e handles it in general with the exception of variety. The focus will be on a Wizard character. There's 3 things the matters to me.
Commitment
Payoff
Variety
In 5e commitment works in a few different ways.
1. Spells prepared
2. Spells learned
3. How the spells themselves work
4. Misc. costs like how society will view you, resources spent hiding your minions etc.
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1. You can prepare spells equal to your lvl + casting modifier. So lvl 20 = 25 spells to prepare. You also only have to prepare the spell once then it stays there until you prepare another spell to replace it. All casters in 5e are kinda spontaneous casters and can therefore prepare the spell once then cast it in each lvl3+ slot they have. Preparing the spell is a decent commitment because you will only be able to prepare less that half your spell selection assuming that you find a few spells on your journey.
2. You learn, 2 spells per lvl + any spells you learn from scrolls/books + 6 spells starting lvl 1. This means that learning 1 spell (animate dead) is not that large of a commitment.
3. Animate dead is a lvl 3 spell. When cast you animate dead you gain control of 1 skeleton/zombie. With the lvl 6 feat of the necromancy school you can animate and gain control of 2 skeletons/zombies. These skeletons will remain in you control for 24 hours after which they will act on their own accord. You can cast the spell to reassert control over your minions. A lvl 3 Animate Dead will reassert your control over 4 skeletons/zombies. This is not increased by your lvl 6 feat from the school of necromancy. For each lvl above lvl 3, Animate Dead will raise/reassert 2 more. Animating is recruiting for your army and will determine the speed at which your army grows. Reasserting is paying the upkeep and will determine the maximum size of your army. It takes 1 minute to cast.
4. The misc. cost is basically the same as in pf1 I believe. The main difference is that you have to reassert control of your minions daily which means the discomfort of you animating these vile creatures will come up more frequently. More opportunities to rp the whole shtick.
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The payoff is simpler. In pf1 it's instant. You press the button twice and voila, you have max capacity. 5e makes you work for it a bit more*. What I like is that I basically get two systems to engage with, recruitment and upkeep. The both feel different and they are both fun in their own way. Both way feels like a proper investment, one that I have perfect control over. I can make all different sizes of army. I can make a small personal guard or a full blown army and anywhere in between.
Pf1 variety beats 5e easily. I want that to remain the same.
I'm not really sure how to really describe it. In my group I'm trying to hide, badly, that I'm a necromancer. First time I tried to animate a zombie was after we just killed some bandits and was getting ready to move on. I was faking my phantom steed ritual while I was really trying to pull a bandit closer to our carriage (which I bought and had painted pink). I thought that it would be more subtle. One of my companions heard me and wondered what I was doing I I gave some poor excuse that I can't remember then I gave up on my really great attempt.
First time I successfully animated something I abandoned my watch to go to a place where we killed a few guys, about 30 minutes away. 1 Zombie and a guy I previously suggested we burn as a burial ritual kinda thing so I could get a skeleton :^). I then proceed to put the skeleton in the back compartment and I kinda shoved the zombie between the axle of the wheel. If this was pf1 I could have just turned around and done a quick cast while lagging slightly behind before even leaving the gravesite.
What I would really want is if there was a feat that let undead spells more or less function identically to how it's done in 5e. Maybe even just make the spell itself a weird exception. Similar to how they are doing counterspell maybe? Let us just pick a slot to burn after preparing it.
Do you think there is a advantage to pf1 system?
*a lot more
P.S. I have never played pf1