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View Full Version : Undead death squads (3.5)



PanNarrans
2009-06-29, 05:05 AM
I'm currently DMing an undead themed campaign, and next adventure I plan to have a small army attack the port of Murk.

The populace in general will be harassed by ghouls rising from the sea, but I need something a little more intimidating for the level 9 party.

I plan to have the party split to defend key locations; one team will consist of a bard and a ranger tank, and one will consist of a rogue and a paladin tank. Another player's character is currently researching an artifact, so he'll co-DM.

What interesting combinations of undead could I assault them with? Current ideas include:
three vampire lieutenants with great plot importance as minibosses;
squads of 4 ghasts backed up by a necrosis carnex (MMIV);
Bloodhulk Fighters (MMIV) defending a siege golem;
Drowned, representing the captains of ships sunk by the vampires. (MMIII).

AslanCross
2009-06-29, 05:12 AM
-2 Boneclaws and a Bonedrinker (from MM3). I think that would be at around CR 8 or slightly higher.
-Ethereal swarms. Rat swarms with the noise = scary. floating undead rat swarms without the noise = verrrrry eerie.

PanNarrans
2009-06-29, 05:49 AM
Ephemeral swarm; YES. Very creepy, and they could be the ghosts of rats that went down with sinking ships.
Not too keen on the boneclaws and bonedrinkers, though. I think I'll commit to this watery theme, as it provides a good explanation for where all the undead are coming from that I've already foreshadowed, and works with my cosmology.

AslanCross
2009-06-29, 06:22 AM
Hmm, the Charnel Hound might be of too high a CR to use, but if the PCs really were in an aquatic setting you could just turn it into a Charnel Shark and give it a swim speed.

There's the Corpse Creature template from BoVD. In the adventure Eyes of the Lich Queen, there's a CR 8 Gargantuan Corpse Creature Orca with the fatal harpoon still stuck in one of its eyes.

Xefas
2009-06-29, 07:04 AM
If there's going to be fighting in the actual water, or near the water where the PCs can be thrown or dragged into the water, then I have an idea.

There seems to be a lot of undead rising from that water, so that's a lot of negative energy swirling around in the sea. How about some Water Necromentals (Libris Mortis)? They were spawned from all the negative energy polluting the water.

They can use the Water Elemental's Vortex ability to become whirlpools which suck people in, hold them underwater, and apply Energy Drain, sucking away levels while they struggle to not drown.

Alternatively, they could be used as the reason why all these people who are dieing at sea seem to come back as undead. Necromentals are the ones going around filling all the corpses in the surrounding ocean with negative energy.

PanNarrans
2009-06-29, 07:23 AM
Oho! I did not know about them, and the big bads are something very similar. If it's been statted out for me, then that's awfully convenient.:smallbiggrin:
Thanks!

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-06-29, 07:44 AM
Harpy Vampires are a very interesting encounter, though a bit more drawn out and long term. They show up at night with their captivating song, pick up someone who fails the save and continue singing while they fly out over the sea. They stop singing to drain them to near-death, at which point they drop them into the sea to die. If their victim breaks free early they're doomed anyway. Careful about targeting PCs with this tactic. You can even keep all of their default feats and they're still a decent challenge, though Dodge is redundant since Vampire grants it for free so swap it for Ability Focus: Captivating Song. You may even get a "WTF I get to use Countersong?!"