... but with regards to what the OP intends to do with all these zombies and skeletons, they are nothing more than background decoration, fluff, story description, and scenery to give the players the impression of much bigger things occurring around them.What threw me is that the OP posted in the RULES section of the forums, so I was inclined to give a rules-based answer. This might have gone better in the advice or general discussion section.
Well, when I posted the thread I was looking for a rules-based solution on how to control so many undead and a rules based answer to whether they could even control a ship, so this seemed the appropriate place to post. Then the thread got turned into something that fits better in advice with all the talk about evil necromantic warships (which seem incredibly awesome).
Rule of Cool says yes. Especially if they were sailors during life.
Hollywood's on my side. The only other person who needs to agree is the GM.
I'm one of those people that feels that the rule of cool pales if you didn't do it legit. I think the OP feels the same way. As the GM, you already have so much power at your disposal- following the rules perversely legitimized the craziness you create.
That said, seconding the whole lieutenant undead. A handful of really creepy things that aren't minions per se of the Lich.
However you wish to employ it, the 'cook' has got to be a large undead. Possibly some type of flesh golem. Some hideous rancid sack of flesh, whose job is to strip the bodies of the defeated dead so their skeletons can be easily animated, and their butchered flesh can be used as necromantic components for spells, alchemy, and experiments.
Yes, I know there's a low level spell that turns the dead into skeletons. This is cooler.
How awesome would it be to have the adventurers fight their way into the bowels of the ship to arrive into a blood stained chamber with several tables of sloppy but psychopathic organization: this one hearts, this one hair, this one intestines. A massive thing stoops over a grinding wheel, single mindedly sharpening a rusty meat cleaver. It seems oblivious to both the adventurers and the battle that has been occurring around it. But then one large eye rolls around in its stitched skull, focusing on the lead adventurer, and it growls in a guttural voice (say it with me now): FrEsh mEaT!
Extra points if you can give it a meat hook that it can throw and pull people to it with.
Make the sailing vessel a nest of haunts. It could be as simple as the ghost ship having several of the following haunts:
XP 1,600
NE persistent haunt (nine contiguous 10 ft. by 10 ft. square areas on a sailing ship)
Caster Level 9th
Notice Perception DC 20 (to notice the unnatural smell of death)
hp 40; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 minute
Effect When this haunt is triggered, all dying creatures in the area are targeted by a death knell spell (save DC 13). The necromancer (or negative energy cleric) with the highest caster level currently aboard the ship is the beneficiary of spell effect's bonuses. Creatures who perish in the area (whether or not it is by the death knell effect) have their corpses targeted by an animate dead spell, where they rise as a zombie crew member capable of operating the ship with a +0 skill modifier. All new zombies created in this fashion are under the control of the necromancer (or negative energy cleric) with the highest caster level currently onboard the ship just as if they had cast animate dead themselves.
Destruction The necromancer (or negative energy cleric) responsible for creating the haunt must be destroyed. The ship on which the haunt resides may also be destroyed, but should any part of the ship (even a single nail) be used in the repair of the ship or the construction of a whole new ship while the haunt's creator still exists, the haunt returns in full. Should the haunt's creator return to existence after being destroyed (such as in the case of resurrection or a lich), the haunt does not return as well.
Special Ghost ship haunts can be created by necromancers or negative energy using clerics, using the same rules for crafting magical traps.
I'm one of those people that feels that the rule of cool pales if you didn't do it legit. I think the OP feels the same way. As the GM, you already have so much power at your disposal- following the rules perversely legitimized the craziness you create.
That said, seconding the whole lieutenant undead. A handful of really creepy things that aren't minions per se of the Lich.
However you wish to employ it, the 'cook' has got to be a large undead. Possibly some type of flesh golem. Some hideous rancid sack of flesh, whose job is to strip the bodies of the defeated dead so their skeletons can be easily animated, and their butchered flesh can be used as necromantic components for spells, alchemy, and experiments.
Yes, I know there's a low level spell that turns the dead into skeletons. This is cooler.
How awesome would it be to have the adventurers fight their way into the bowels of the ship to arrive into a blood stained chamber with several tables of sloppy but psychopathic organization: this one hearts, this one hair, this one intestines. A massive thing stoops over a grinding wheel, single mindedly sharpening a rusty meat cleaver. It seems oblivious to both the adventurers and the battle that has been occurring around it. But then one large eye rolls around in its stitched skull, focusing on the lead adventurer, and it growls in a guttural voice (say it with me now): FrEsh mEaT!
Extra points if you can give it a meat hook that it can throw and pull people to it with.
Yes.
Make the sailing vessel a nest of haunts. It could be as simple as the ghost ship having several of the following haunts:
XP 1,600
NE persistent haunt (nine contiguous 10 ft. by 10 ft. square areas on a sailing ship)
Caster Level 9th
Notice Perception DC 20 (to notice the unnatural smell of death)
hp 40; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 minute
Effect When this haunt is triggered, all dying creatures in the area are targeted by a death knell spell (save DC 13). The necromancer (or negative energy cleric) with the highest caster level currently aboard the ship is the beneficiary of spell effect's bonuses. Creatures who perish in the area (whether or not it is by the death knell effect) have their corpses targeted by an animate dead spell, where they rise as a zombie crew member capable of operating the ship with a +0 skill modifier. All new zombies created in this fashion are under the control of the necromancer (or negative energy cleric) with the highest caster level currently onboard the ship just as if they had cast animate dead themselves.Destruction The necromancer (or negative energy cleric) responsible for creating the haunt must be destroyed. The ship on which the haunt resides may also be destroyed, but should any part of the ship (even a single nail) be used in the repair of the ship or the construction of a whole new ship while the haunt's creator still exists, the haunt returns in full. Should the haunt's creator return to existence after being destroyed (such as in the case of resurrection or a lich), the haunt does not return as well.
Special Ghost ship haunts can be created by necromancers or negative energy using clerics, using the same rules for crafting magical traps.
AWESOME! Thanks.
I noticed a lot of people are getting side-tracked by off-topic discussions, rather than trying to answer the OP's questions. Therefore, I have started another thread for said discussion so that this thread can get back on track.