Yes, I know "subtle" is the last thing you'd ever describe a necromancer as unless they depended on creating undead on the battlefield with the wordspell Undeath. I'm trying to figure out a way to disguise undead minions so they can be around a necromancer without any social backlashing from the general public. I first thought about it using multiple Hats of Disguise but I don't think it's possible because the user needs to have an Intelligence to imagine what their disguise should look like.
I then thought about using only Beheaded undead minions as they can be Small or Tiny. I figured for a female necromancer she could hide four Tiny Beheaded underneath some loose clothes (two in front of the breasts and two on her bum) while wearing a Hat of Disguise to make it look like she's wearing a wire-frame dress made for medieval royalty. But then she wouldn't be controlling the maximum amount of undead when doing so (and the caster would take up space in an odd way).
Suggestions, comments? What say you?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Gentle repose spell or two illusion spells centered on the undead (Perfume is a must as well!) and disguise yourself and the undead as part of a silent order of priests or monks! That should hold you over until you can get intelligent undead.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
You are a barrel merchant. When you need to move undead, stuff them into a barrel, roll them onto your cart and go.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
How about head to toe armor with a helmet? I think that a disguise, some perfume, and a cloak on top with a good bluff skill and you're pretty set. Tell people they are vow of silence bodyguards or have had their tongues cut out depending on how vicious you want to be perceived. I mean armor can get pricy but not in comparison to hats of disguise. Also a game master and party who want to be a part of this. If they don't want to buy in you will be thwarted at every turn, if they do then just find out what is considered enough for the majority of gameplay. And to be fair there will be a big blow up where your crimes against the natural cycle of death are exposed. It is too juicy to not happen with that character.
Gentle repose spell or two illusion spells centered on the undead (Perfume is a must as well!) and disguise yourself and the undead as part of a silent order of priests or monks! That should hold you over until you can get intelligent undead.
Never thought about that, thanks.
You are a barrel merchant. When you need to move undead, stuff them into a barrel, roll them onto your cart and go.
Your idea is great, and it gave me inspiration for something similar. How about the necromancer poses as a carriage driver with undead inside; tinting the windows and keeping the doors locked by a simple door baracade from the inside with no way to open it from the outside in the first place. When trouble arises, the necromancer tells the undead inside to lift the baracade. After that happens the necromancer uses the cantrip open/close and undead spew out from the carriage like clowns from a car.
You're welcome Pibby! One of my characters was a Half-Elf Vampire Necromancer in the vampire variant of Way of the Wicked and I came up with that idea in an 'evil finger-pyramid' moment. The irony was quite delicious, almost as much as my character found the priests that he got the robes from! XD
How about head to toe armor with a helmet? I think that a disguise, some perfume, and a cloak on top with a good bluff skill and you're pretty set. Tell people they are vow of silence bodyguards or have had their tongues cut out depending on how vicious you want to be perceived. I mean armor can get pricy but not in comparison to hats of disguise. Also a game master and party who want to be a part of this. If they don't want to buy in you will be thwarted at every turn, if they do then just find out what is considered enough for the majority of gameplay. And to be fair there will be a big blow up where your crimes against the natural cycle of death are exposed. It is too juicy to not happen with that character.
Golems! Same idea, but take out the part where you try to pretend they are breathers. As long as no one sees underneath to find a skeleton, then no one will know that it isn't just regular golem.
Of course, you might want to place a few skill points in golem crafting related skills in order to pass casual inspection by actual golem makers. Maybe claim that the golem was made by your master, and you only have enough skill to maintain it, rather than make it. After a few bluff checks, and suddenly you are just someone beneath their notice without expending too many feats and such.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I played a "good" necromancer in Eberron who had an ogre skeleton as a 'pet'. It wore armor and wore a hooded cloak. Prestidigitation daily kept him clean. It wasn't tough. He never took him into town, but that disguise usually worked while travelling on the road.
I went the other route with mine and kept them in a Bag of Holding. It's somewhat expensive but you might be able to afford it by the time you hit Animate Dead spell levels.
|
|
Several options present themselves:
1. Leave them outside town and/or bury them.
2. Disguise them as the living, with the techniques listed above.
3. Disguise them as the dead. Unmoving undead could be part of a funerary rite, scientific specimens, or even taxidermy.
4. Remember that undead can wait unmoving indefinitely, and needn't breathe, eat, or sleep. Bags of holding, burial, or submersion are all viable options not available to the living.
Once you can create undead or command intelligent undead you encounter you'll have more or less willing accomplices in these endeavors, probably better at passing for living cohorts, I think.
A necromancer can be subtle by not hanging out with his minions. Have a job and a proper haircut and only meet up with his minions at the local cemetary at nigth where he renew his control spells and do weird evil stuff.
If he is traveling he need to send minions ahead to scout out the way and prepare for his arrival. A necromancer with undead hangarounds is like a army and the logistics of moving is a big thing.
As a necromancer with an army( or the dream of an army) you must think like a general.
Plan ahead(send your Igor in to scout the graveyards and sewers) , built contingencies(rent a house at the harbour and fill its basement with undead minions), be ruthless( control one ghoul and make it turn all the homeless folks living in the sewers, that way you get many ghouls for the price of one) and remember the big goal(what ever that may be i assume it involves your own survival and eventual immortallity so dont forget to run away from time to time).
The level of your necrodude is important because several spells will change everything, most notably the create undead spells, but also invisibillity, teleport and several others.
If this is for a PC you first and foremost need to work with the GM she need to undestand and approve what you want. You need to have a clear idea about the mobility of the campaign.
And remember in the middelages nobody took a shower and folks walked around with puss filled sores and tumors in the face. So if your world is middelagelike a hat and a dark ally is all you need.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I found it quite amusing that when trying to solve the problem of undead in public, one of your first thoughts was to cut their heads off and shove them in your lady parts.
Many people have suggested gentle repose a a solution to the problem of smell, however I would recommend asking your gm if you could research a mass gentle repose spell, as you want a lot of undead, and using a 3rd level spell each every few days is a bit of a hurdle, what if you have 10? you need to use some 4 and 5th level spell slots. Bad mojo. A mass gentle repose should be 4th or 5th depending on the generosity of the gm.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Another thing, and I'm surprised that no-one suggested it, pretend to be caring for lepers. it would explain why a few may be deformed, and why they are all covered in bandages, if they do smell, witch may happen if you can't get your hands on fresh corpses, people will assume it's a leprosy thing. Finally nobody will want to approach them so no-one will be able to tell they can't talk. You will be feared and respected, and no-one will think you a necromancer. Just make sure you explain that you can take on no more charges, unless you need more bodies...
How does one portray a subtle Necromancer? Easy, don't have a shambling horde of undead following you around! Take one or two necromancy spells per level - you know, the one's everyone agrees are quite useful such as Ray of Enfeeblement, Blindness/Deafness, Command Undead, and Vampiric Touch and never let on you're a specialist Necromancer (or Undead bloodline Sorcerer or whatever you actually are). Pretend to be just another wizard (Sorcerer, Oracle, Witch, whatever).
If you actually meant "How can I be a 'shambling hordes of undead' nbecromancer without anyone catching on," then you need A) a good disguise, B) an outrageous Bluff check, or C) a mostly-unreachable hiding place to keep the hordes. Ideally, you want all three.
Full plate & great helms on the bodies, voluminous hooded robes, a holy order under a vow of silence (or maybe even "forbidden to show their faces to outsiders"), a vehicle or extra-dimensional space to keep them in, or (for higher levels) a teleporting minion who brings the army to you or a Leo's (TM) Tiny Hut outside of town to park them.
I have a fondness for massive, mount-like Undead covered head to toe in animal skins, furs, and/or blankets (Much like how George Lucas diguised African elephants as Banthas in (1977) Star Wars.) that are then ridden by the party - or just by me.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
Quick note about the "head to toe armor" plan - mindless undead aren't proficient with armor, and that sounds like heavy armor to me, so the penealties for nonproficiency would be large.
You could use costume armor but I'd allow people familiar with armor a Perception check to notice the fake.
