Gestalt Necromancer advice

[Morganstern]

I'm getting to play in a Gestalt campaign that focuses on fighting undead, and I have the idea of playing a wizard/cleric Necromancer build.
While the build itself isn't the issue, I'm not entirely sure how to play an effective Necromancer that fights undead.

Any spells, magic items or feats that I should really be focusing on, or is it just as simple as "command undead, use them as fodder"?

[GM Rednal]

Let's see...

Chill Touch can get undead to run away, which is nice if you're getting crowded. XD

Decompose Corpse (Ultimate Magic) is a relatively good debuff early on, although maybe not the best thing you could do at higher levels.

In an undead-heavy campaign, both would be reasonably solid choices. A lot of undead are weak individually, and I suspect you may be facing them in large numbers, so definitely focus on battlefield control. If you can limit their ability to approach, the fight-y types can smash them much more effectively. Add that to a well-developed Channel Energy (Harm Undead), and you ought to wreck your foes quite nicely. XD

[BadBird]

The thing about a Necromancer is that they're designed to give a Wizard access to Channel; being able to go gestalt arguably kind of removes that need. The other thing is that a Necromancer/Cleric ends up being based off of all 3 mental stats, which is kind of painful. Going with something like Undead Sorcerer + Bones Oracle would let you base spellcasting for both classes and channel uses/day and channel DC all off of one ability, and would let you affect some undead with spells that normally work on humanoids.

[Morganstern]

BadBird wrote:

The thing about a Necromancer is that they're designed to give a Wizard access to Channel; being able to go gestalt arguably kind of removes that need. The other thing is that a Necromancer/Cleric ends up being based off of all 3 mental stats, which is kind of painful. Going with something like Undead Sorcerer + Bones Oracle would let you base spellcasting for both classes and channel uses/day and channel DC all off of one ability, and would let you affect some undead with spells that normally work on humanoids.

For this character multiple stats aren't an issue, we roll stats and I did extremely well - two eighteens and a seventeen, and my lowest stat is a fourteen.

But my question is more about how to play one, less how to build one.
Which spells are good to know, any particular creatures that make good zombies or skeletons, should I bother making Necrocrafts? That's more what I'm looking for, though thank you for the suggestion on classes.

[Burnscar]

Anything non-humanoid generally makes for good undead. Get Desecrate, it increases the hp of your undead.

Consider dipping Juju oracle for the Spirit Vessel ability; it raises your HD control cap on Animate Dead from 4 x level to 6 x level, and maximizes the hp of zombies you create.

Tricks;

Always carry materials for a desecrate. Not desecrating your undead creation is missing out on 2hp/hd for little to no reason.

Fast Zombies are easy to make, and loads better than normal zombies. All your dragons should be fast zombies.

Bloody skeletons are expensive, but very durable. Also due to the charisma increase. They're prime targets for a command undead spell.

If you run across non-intelligent undead that you're not high enough level to control with your channel command, you can use the command undead spell to control them with.

If you decide to take the juju dip, go for the Fast Zombies every time. Desecrated zombies have 10hp/hd, while desecrated bloody skeletons only get 8.5/hd.

Avoid intelligent dead; you can't control them reliably, and undead have good willpower saves.
It's not like back in 3.5e where you could just perma-command undead with your channel.

Seperate channel pools are tracked seperately, so you should be able to command your HD worth of stuff from both the cleric and the wizard side.

Since you're a minion-mancer, consider buffs with loads of targets, like Mass Bull's Strenght, Haste, Blessing of Fervor etc. etc.

[Wiggz]

In an undead-heavy campaign, Invisibility to Undead is an incredibly effective 1st level spell. Necromancy is also full of fantastic spells that aren't undead related in any way.

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

Morganstern wrote:

For this character multiple stats aren't an issue, we roll stats and I did extremely well - two eighteens and a seventeen, and my lowest stat is a fourteen.

But my question is more about how to play one, less how to build one.
Which spells are good to know, any particular creatures that make good zombies or skeletons, should I bother making Necrocrafts? That's more what I'm looking for, though thank you for the suggestion on classes.

With those stats:

I recommend Gluttony Wizard/Undead Lord Cleric

Sure you double up on the Command Undead feat but you will get your own little Corpse Companion Level 1.

As far as playing a Necromancer there are many ways to go about it:

Horde or Choice Minion-mancer
Possession Master
Enervation Specialist
Debuffing Expert (most necromancy spell have effect even on a successful save)

Pretty much have Command Undead Prepared as a 2nd level Arcane spell and your Command Undead feat will allow you to take control of most Undead you encounter along the way.

Beyond that it is really up to you how to play. This Necromancy guide Is very good at showing How to be a Wizard Necromancer and This Undead Horde guide Can help you understand the making of the Undead.

Unlike the Wizard guide I prefer the Bonded Ring for a Cheap Ring of Invisibility. But really that is all Player preference. With 2 Spell lists of 9th level casters you might want the Familiar to deliver those nasty touch spells.

[Morganstern]

Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

Morganstern wrote:

For this character multiple stats aren't an issue, we roll stats and I did extremely well - two eighteens and a seventeen, and my lowest stat is a fourteen.

But my question is more about how to play one, less how to build one.
Which spells are good to know, any particular creatures that make good zombies or skeletons, should I bother making Necrocrafts? That's more what I'm looking for, though thank you for the suggestion on classes.

With those stats:

I recommend Gluttony Wizard/Undead Lord Cleric

Sure you double up on the Command Undead feat but you will get your own little Corpse Companion Level 1.

As far as playing a Necromancer there are many ways to go about it:

Horde or Choice Minion-mancer
Possession Master
Enervation Specialist
Debuffing Expert (most necromancy spell have effect even on a successful save)

Pretty much have Command Undead Prepared as a 2nd level Arcane spell and your Command Undead feat will allow you to take control of most Undead you encounter along the way.

Beyond that it is really up to you how to play. This Necromancy guide Is very good at showing How to be a Wizard Necromancer and This Undead Horde guide Can help you understand the making of the Undead.

Unlike the Wizard guide I prefer the Bonded Ring for a Cheap Ring of Invisibility. But really that is all Player preference. With 2 Spell lists of 9th level casters you might want the Familiar to deliver those nasty touch spells.

Thanks, this was more what I was hoping someone could point me to. I'm usually playing the rogue or fighter of the party (the two roles no one in our group usually wants) so playing a Necromancer was well outside my wheelhouse.