Hi,
My group and I have recently decided that we are going to play the Way of the Wicked adventure path.
I have always wanted to make a legitimate necromancer but have never had a proper opportunity. Casting the spells to create my minions should not be the problem here, but what I am concerned about is whether or not I will have the chance to thrive as one.
- Will the presence of my undead minions be a problem (is recon a big part of this adventure)?
- Is there any chance that I will be facing undead creatures that I could possibly command (or will I need to create all of my minions)?
- Which type of necromancer will feel more comfortable (e.g. secondary abilities) in this campaign? (e.g. cleric, oracle of bones, sorcerer, wizard, witch, etc.)
Generally speaking, I would just like to know if being a necromancer will be a good idea.
Thank you,
Resentment
A necromancer who focuses on debikitating effects will be fine. However I don't think undead are terribly suitable. The core assumption in golarion is that undead are evil tgough how much this comes into play will really be up to your dm.
Its just somwthing I don't think really fits I'm also not sure how effe tive it eill be agsinst demons.
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Way of the Wicked being an evil AP a necromancer will work fine, sometimes you'll have to leave your hordes behind and often you'll want just one or two tough undead bodyguards with you when moving through more populated areas or interacting with people you don't want to scare off. But overall I think you'll certainly get a lot of use out the minions and you should be able to have them around a lot of the time, there are definitely some good and interesting opponents you can interact with as a necromancer in that AP :)
I'm a tard. My appologies I read way of the wicked and my brain inserted wrath of the rightious. Necromancer is fine from what I understand.
Alright, that sounds good. Thank you for the responses.
Playing one myself in the same campaign, may I suggest getting a Bag of Holding as soon as you can. It's a pain to have your minions taking up all the room on the board and above the board.
I actually worked out a deal with my DM so I can only take out so many zombies and skellies at once but it negates the ability to turn the bag inside out and having an overwhelming horde all at once.
Playing one myself in the same campaign, may I suggest getting a Bag of Holding as soon as you can. It's a pain to have your minions taking up all the room on the board and above the board.
I actually worked out a deal with my DM so I can only take out so many zombies and skellies at once but it negates the ability to turn the bag inside out and having an overwhelming horde all at once.
What kind of necromancer are you playing?
What kind of necromancer are you playing?Playing one myself in the same campaign, may I suggest getting a Bag of Holding as soon as you can. It's a pain to have your minions taking up all the room on the board and above the board.
I actually worked out a deal with my DM so I can only take out so many zombies and skellies at once but it negates the ability to turn the bag inside out and having an overwhelming horde all at once.
I'm playing an Oracle with a homebrew Mystery that fit my character concept better than Bones or Juju did. I'd suggest Juju though if you're going that route. Knowing who you'll be working for, it's in your best interest to have LE undead. The rest of the mystery just didn't fit my concept.
Damn it appears the Spirit Vessels revelation has been revised to no longer change the alignment of created undead. But you can talk to your DM to put it back in since what made them change it was the removal of the Evil descriptor and you're gonna be evil anyway.
This is my homebrew mystery that I'm using. It got some flak on the forums but so far I'm not overly powerful as the party buffer and indirect healer and crowd controller and flanking buddy. My next goal is to load up zombies with potions to pour on people to take advantage of my action economy while letting the wounded use theirs.
But it can be abused, so consult your DM if you think my Death mystery is right for you.
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A bit of advice for undead in unfriendly populated areas:
1. Undead can be left outside, even buried, and wait indefinitely till called.
2. Undead are great at playing...dead, and as such, can mimic slain creatures or even taxidermied trophies.
3. Never forget that naturally powerful creatures make unnaturally powerful zombies and skeletons, and can be further empowered by variant animations. Try, for example, zombie bugbears or skeletal quickling archers.
4. Although undead are tireless (making a team of skeletal horses and a coach the safest and quickest way to travel at night), normal zombies cannot run.
5. Flying creatures need to be animated as zombies, not skeleons, to retain flight. If you create a zombie wyvern, for that matter, make sure it's a fast zombie. (See above)
Thanks for all of the advice guys. I really appreciate it. :)
Both zombies and skeletons become weak before you're able to create the stronger undead. Practice using them a little differently. One skeleton grappling with five other skeletons gets a +10 bonus. To keep things simple and not having to bug my DM every time we kill something, I just use the skeleton example listed on the PFSRD. Also invest in Bloody Skeletons and Fast Zombies. They're the best for the early levels. Eventually I'll slap Burning onto the Bloody and maybe Plague with the Fast, although the latter will be more flavorful than anything else. Zombie Rot doesn't work so well against stuff you don't plan on letting live for the 1d4 hour onset. Once you hit Create Greater though, with Juju, your undead minions will KEEP THEIR CLASS LEVELS. This will be a total game changer. You just have to watch it because your control cap will be hit that much faster. Thankfully the Juju mystery raises that cap by 2hd per class level, totaling 60hd of undead controlled at level 10.
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Generally one or two powerful Bloody Skeletons or Fast/Juju Zombies will be far, FAR better than a horde of 1 or 2 HD minions who do very little but slow things down. Bloody Skeletons have the bonus of being throw away suicide troops who come back after they die, look out for big enemies as well as those with class levels, giants, dragons, etc. A Fast Zombie Wyvern can be terrifying, let alone an actual dragon version.
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Create Undead has it's own obvious advantages, creating very specialized, often intelligent creatures (whom often retain memories and abilities they had in life), but the issue then becomes control. Make sure you manta in it, or you may prematurely join their ranks!
I personally have much more experience with Animate Dead. Such creatures lose their identities and are mindless, therefore are usually effortless to control unless you are challenged by another necromancer or the like. Class abilities fall away, but naturally large, powerful creatures make excellent servants.
That's what I really liked about the alignment change in the original Juju mystery. A LE intelligent minion is more likely to take orders than a NE minion, with or without forced control. It's got some wiggle room as far as DM fiat and such.