Best Master of the Undead

[ClarkKent07]

Ok so I've done a couple of searches for different threads on being the best controller of the undead and not really come up with many good answers.

So what I am looking for is a nice clear breakdown of:

What Class

What Race

What Archtype (and what book it's in)

What Feats (and what book)

What Spells

Will make for the best Master of the Undead.

From what I have ready the goal should be to summon/control/create the single strongest undead possible while bolstering it with spells or additional undead as needed.

So please oh mighty lord that is the hive mind of the boards grant me this insight.....and GO!

[tonyz]

Cleric is the best undead creator, particularly the Death domain and Undeath sub domain; there's an undead lord archetype that has some useful abilities. You can use death knell to raise your caster level, desecrate to create stronger undead, and a lot of nifty buff-type spells to strengthen them, plus you have negative energy channelling to heal or buff them (look into the variant channelling rules).

Oracles with the bones or juju mystery would be good, too, but nothing really beats clerics for flexibility and power and earlier access to higher-level spells.

Race really doesn't matter, though dhampirs have some nice affinities for negative energy. At high level, you can turn yourself into a lich and benefit from your own undead-boosting abilities.

The thing about creating really powerful undead is that you usually need a skeleton/body of appropriate HD to animate, and these can be difficult to come by. Or you can use the high-level spells to create different types of undead. Leadership lets you take a cohort who can be undead -- a bloody skeleton champion, a vampire, etc., etc.

[XMorsX]

1. Juju Oracle with Spirit Vessels and Undead Servitude revelations.

2. Does not matter, but Humans have an excellent favored class bonus, I would probably go with that.

3. Does not matter too, but I suggest Dual-Cursed Oracle because the Juju revelations are meh after the first ones.

4. Just Command Undead and you take it as a bonus.

5. ANIMATE DEAD. The cornerstone of your necromancer. Desecrate is important too.

Read this guide for more info. It focuses on a cleric undead master who is a perfectly viable choice. Juju Oracle will let you have animated more undead per lvl (6HD per lvl instead of 4HD).

[ShadowcatX]

The reason you haven't come up with a single answer is because there isn't a single answer. Divine casters are generally slightly better than arcane casters, but really Necromancer wizard, cleric (no archetype or undead lord), gravewalker witch, and the juju oracle are all capable necromancers.

As to spells, you might consider burning a feat to get the animate dead equivalent word spell. It works the same as animate dead, but doesn't require material components and can be done at a range. It does not specifically state that you can make alternate types of undead though (like bloody skeletons), so talk to your DM about that. (Even if it can't, it is probably still worth it for just throw away undead.)

[Nuclearsunburn]

***************** HI THERE ******************

Without using 3.5 or 3rd party stuff, I would say the Cleric is the best all around option. The Bones Oracle is really good for a low point-buy character since you only need Charisma, but you're a level behind on spell progression compared to a cleric. Be careful with the Juju Oracle. It was reprinted in Faiths and Philosophies without any of its undead-related abilities.

If you can take Leadership, take it with another character that can control undead, to double up.

For Archetype, I'd say none. There's an Undead Master archetype, but it's really not that great in my opinion. You trade a lot of versatility for a weak undead minion and free Command Undead.

Feats, there aren't many besides Command Undead that you absolutely need. And even that can wait depending on the campaign. I'm in Kingmaker and almost level 4 and haven't run into a single undead monster yet. But you definitely want it by level 5, when you get access to your bread-and-butter spell, Animate Dead. Selective Channeling is useful when you're using your channel negative energy offensively at low levels (not recommended at higher levels though) so take that early if you can retrain out of it later on. Improved Channel, you won't really need for skeletons and zombies, but if you're going to be attempting to control intelligent undead, it's a must-have. Improved Initiative is a great feat for any character with a secondary buffing focus like any good necromancer has.

You're also going to want the spell Command Undead. That spell is only available to a cleric through the Law(Inevitable) domain (which is kind of crazy), but you can make a fairly cheap magic staff that casts it. Just make sure you invest in the Use Magic Device skill, and that you remember to put a level 1 spell actually on your spell list into the staff, so you can recharge it as needed. Inflict Light Wounds is a good choice for healing your army.

Race, really doesn't matter all that much. Just depends on what you want from your character outside of being a master of the undead. Half-Orc and Elf give you weapon proficiencies that are somewhat useful. The Dhampir does indeed have good negative energy interactions. Aasimar buffs both Wis and Cha and is a solid choice. As always, the bonus Human feat and flexible stat bonus cannot be ignored either. If you're going to be attempting to control intelligent undead (not recommended), do not take any race with a Charisma penalty. You'll regret it if you do.

[ClarkKent07]

Thanks for the feedback all, apparently it is much simpler than I had believed!

Been tempted to play something like this for awhile but just havent had the chance.