Agent of the grave spell level of animate dead


Rules Discussion


Hey, I have been trough and trough searching posts, redit and guides, but I cant find some official declaration on this beseids theories.

So as pc goes in to prc agent of grave, it lose spell caster progresion, on the same time this statement "and an increased effective level of spellcasting" tells as you still use your caster level as full.

So here if you can officialy rule it out for me:
Cleric lvl 7, agent of grave lvl 5, how many HD of undead can he controll with animate dead (no feats or traits)

7x4hd + 5x8hd OR 7x4hd + 4x8hd

Scarab Sages

First, it would be helpful if you indicated whether you are going with 1st or 2nd edition. I'm assuming you mean 1st edition, as the language you are using feels more like 1st edition terminology and usage.

Second, I've flagged this for a different forum, as this would be a rules question, and not for the general AP page. If this applies to a specific AP, you might also try on the GM forum for that specific AP and ask the question about the specific encounter you are referring to.

Now to the rules:

1) animate dead says in the second paragraph, "Regardless of the type of undead you create with this spell, you can't create more HD of undead than twice your caster level with a single casting of animate dead. The desecrate spell" doubles this limit." and then in the third paragraph, 2nd sentence, No matter how many times you use this spell, however, you can control only 4 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level."

2) Agent of the Grave ability Inspired Necromancy says, "When determining the maximum number of Hit Dice of undead he can control with spells like animate dead, a character counts his agent of the grave levels twice. This ability does not factor into how many undead he can create with a single casting of a spell. Thus, a cleric 7/agent of the grave 3 would be able to control 52 Hit Dice worth of undead with animate dead."

When you add +1 level of existing class, it ONLY applies to spells per level, and per the prestige class, "He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting." This is pretty typical language for prestige classes that offer extra levels of spells.

The example in Agent of the Grave equals 7 cleric levels x 4HD = 28 per level and 6 (double 3rd level) x 4HD = 24 per level for a total of 52 HD of undead. If you use that equation exactly for your example, you would be able to control 7x4HD + 10x4HD of undead for 68HD. Because this is a specific example, then I think this breaks the general rule for adding effective spellcasting level that prestige classes generally add. Like a level 5 Wizard + a prestige class that adds 5 more levels of effective spellcasting, would cast a fireball at 10d6, not 5d6. So realistically, the way its written should be 11x4HD + 10x4HD for 84HD. But because there is a very specific example of how to apply this specific spell to your Agent of the Grave, the 68HD would be correct.


Thank you for replie :)

Now i have new question...

So i found this build online (and put some on it), but I cant comperhand my head around its math:

Traits:
Magical knack
Signature spell (animate dead)
>>{Q1} to wich class/es we count this Caster level?

Lvl 1-4 oracle juju, we can controll 6hd per lvl. We will take 2 feats here, spell specialization and mages tatto. This should net us additional 3 caster levels for animate dead.>>{Q2} at lvl 20, where do we calculate this caster levels?

Lvl 5-7 wizzard, we can controll 4hd only per caster level

Lvl 8-15 mystic theurge, and at 15 we are taking spell perfection, now this shoul net us 6hd+4hd per MT level, and additional 3 caster levels.

Lvlv 16-20 agent of grave, progressing on oracle, for 5x 12hd.

Now I am not sure, where do we calculate in all those feats and bonuses, are you selecting every level where to apply them, can you use for more caster lvls?

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Make sure you discuss with the group whether a game-stopping undead-spamming character is what anybody wants to endure at the table.


Afcourse, spaming minions, undead, magical or othervice brought in to the game can be stupid for game. But thats another topic.

I just found there are so many "best builds" for necromancer, using so many iffy things,

I just want to wrap head around this, so i understand the rules.

For instance this similar build i posted above: Jujuoracle 4 + arcaneclassX 3 + mystic theurge 10 + x, in so many cases counts controllable HD as separated pools for each caster, almost doubling it.

I am trying to form some data in exel, and draw some graphs, that would trully show necromantic way, as it is.

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