Animate dead overpowered house rule???

[BeholdreR]

Is it overpowered if I allow one of my players , when they use animate dead to humans to retain their HDs?

For example animate a 5 lvl human fighter as a skeleton with 5d8!

(this allows them to have useful undead while keeping the number of minions to a minimum)

[Are]

That sounds a bit unbalanced to me. That would almost be like giving them skeletal champions (requiring the create undead spell alongside the enervation spell as per "Undead Revisited") instead of regular skeletons.

[Claxon]

Just let them kill some high HD creatures once in a while and animate them instead.

[Pinky's Brain]

If you just change the class HD to undead racial HD, dropping all the feats and class abilities like a normal skeleton it's fine. The skeleton would be significantly weaker than the larger high HD undead you would normally want to make because of it's much lower strength (giants, dire animals etc).

[Quantum Steve]

Pinky's Brain wrote:

If you just change the class HD to undead racial HD, dropping all the feats and class abilities like a normal skeleton it's fine. The skeleton would be significantly weaker than the larger high HD undead you would normally want to make because of it's much lower strength (giants, dire animals etc).

+1

[Erikkerik]

Pinky's Brain wrote:

If you just change the class HD to undead racial HD, dropping all the feats and class abilities like a normal skeleton it's fine. The skeleton would be significantly weaker than the larger high HD undead you would normally want to make because of it's much lower strength (giants, dire animals etc).

Then again, they'd be medium sized and much easier to bring along everywhere. I don't think it would be OP, but it would make an already stronger and more flexible spell even stronger and flexible. I don't think the spell need a boost, at all. Also, IMO, it makes sence that class levels are lost. It's just a corpse, after all. What are you hoping to achieve by changing how it works? I know my battle oracle would appreciate having a 15 hd bloody skeleton that was medium sized and easy to disguise as a normal human in a zity, in addition to the huge dragon and large giant I already have, but I don't think I really deserve even more milage from the spell.

[BeholdreR]

Pinky's Brain wrote:

If you just change the class HD to undead racial HD, dropping all the feats and class abilities like a normal skeleton it's fine. The skeleton would be significantly weaker than the larger high HD undead you would normally want to make because of it's much lower strength (giants, dire animals etc).

Yeap, that's the plan...