So, I have never made a Necromancer just because they are inherently evil and even my hood characters ain't that good. But I was playing around with a juju oracle Necromancer focusing on creating undead minions. So what options do you have for making skeletons that go boom or zombies that freeze? I found Final Combustion in Deep Magic but wasn't sure what else was out there. Ideas please! And filling a zombie full of oil was kinda the direction I was heading...
Nothing? Kinda surprised... I would think that the draconian ideas from the Dragonlance Chronicles would have inspired some to come up with vicious ways to make the undead even more deadly or annoying.
Dot
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Well, there are already a host of skeleton subtypes created by Paizo.
You can use regular Animate Dead to make Bloody or Burning Skeletons. They count as twice their HD when creating them, but only their regular HD for the limit on controlling them.
Acid, Exploding, Mudra, and Multiplying skeletons should probably follow the same rule (2x HD to create, 1x HD to control), but it isn't explicitly stated.
Magus skeletons are really a type of skeletal champion, and so would be created with Create Undead rather than Animate Dead.
Archer skeletons are just regular skeletons with weapon and feats swapped out.
Creating a Freezing or Electric skeleton would be the same as a Burning or Acid skeleton with a simple change in energy type.
There are also Zombie subtypes.
However, unlike Skeletons, there is no rule for creating them. Using the same rule as Skeletons (2x HD to create, 1x HD to control) is will probably work though.
Don't forget, you can stack multiple templates on top of each other, with certain exceptions liked in the templates.
A good example of template stacking is the Apocalypse Zombie
There are also Zombie subtypes.
However, unlike Skeletons, there is no rule for creating them. Using the same rule as Skeletons (2x HD to create, 1x HD to control) is will probably work though.
Don't forget, you can stack multiple templates on top of each other, with certain exceptions liked in the templates.
A good example of template stacking is the Apocalypse Zombie
Zombie subtypes require a specific spell cast prior to animation (like haste or contagion) in order to create. There are also exoskeletons and frost fallen you can create with animate dead. I'd look at exoskeletons as they are undead hand grenades (and might count as skeletons for applying templates but don't quote me on that).
Scratch that. Exoskeletons are their own catagory of undead, not a special subset of skeletons.
Zombie subtypes require a specific spell cast prior to animation (like haste or contagion) in order to create.
Yes, but it doesn't say if they count as more than regular HD to create or control.
Since you have to use two spells (say, Haste and Animate Dead for Fast Zombies), I suppose that is approximately even with Skeletons (as you would need two castings of Animate Dead to create an equivalent HD of Bloody Skeletons, as they count as 2x HD to create).
And that is only true of Fast and Plague Zombies. For other zombies (Brain Eating, Cursed, Gasburst, Host, Relentless) we have no information on how they are made.
The DM could determine an appropriate spell you need to cast when animating them (like Fast Zombies) or decide they count as extra HD when created (like Bloody Skeletons). Either rule would probably work.