There were a few threads on necromancer earlier and a bit more hope to push the envelope on them as far as undead control, or at least something to give them a boost already pale (no pun intended) in comparison to the cleric.
Well I was writing up a character and thinking a bit on the progression when it hit me exactly how effected this character will be by the changes away from SoD...I do remember playing several necromancers already and one of their few saving graces was the ability to drop death on an enemy instantly at higher levels.
With that gone, Necromancers really are hurting a bit. I found myself a bit sad making one up for play with the new alpha. I don't see much change that will give the necromancer a boost in comparison to the old seeing is the change for the wizard was fairly lateral if not lessening.
Please consider some further changes to the necromancer going into the beta stage.
The huge amount of undead being controlled (8 HD per level), compared to the 1 HD per level a cleric now has.
Just add a low-level spell for necromancers to get undead, or something similar to channel negative energy, and they're OK.
Just add a low-level spell for necromancers to get undead,
There's a good one knocking around, although I can't remember where it came from. :D It's first level and lets you create a single 1HD creature, either skeleton or zombie. Sorry I can't provide a reference but, anything of about the same power would work fine.
Peace,
tfad