[3.5] How can I get a SLA

[kaiserthe3rd]

In my current campaign im playing a Dread Necromancer so having cheap affordable undead is important. I'm looking to get animate undead as as an SLA at least 1/day but more if possible. How can I go about doing this? Any help or other ideas are much appreciated.

[Duke of URL]

Pale Master 2.

Edit: At level 22+, of course, the Ignore Material Components epic feat makes this moot.

[molten_dragon]

It's not available until high levels, but the archmage prestige class can get you spell like abilities.

[Chilingsworth]

The Innate Spell feat, in the Players Guide to Faerun (Pg. 39-40) Can do this for you. You'll need to get a focus costing 50 times the usual material component cost though (so, the savings only kick in after you've used it fifty times), and you'll also need the still and silent spell feats. Lastly, you'll lose one spell slot of the spell's level... But, you'll have a 3/Day SLA.

[Duke of URL]

It's not available until high levels, but the archmage prestige class can get you spell like abilities.

That's a really, really bad idea for the purpose:


Spell-Like Ability

An archmage who selects this type of high arcana can use one of her arcane spell slots (other than a slot expended to learn this or any other type of high arcana) to permanently prepare one of her arcane spells as a spell-like ability that can be used twice per day. The archmage does not use any components when casting the spell, although a spell that costs XP to cast still does so and a spell with a costly material component instead costs her 10 times that amount in XP. This ability costs one 5th-level spell slot.

[Ernir]

Have you considered using a get-rich-quick scheme instead?

It would depend on the campaign and DM, but maybe just getting your own onyx mine is something that would be great fun for all involved. :smalltongue:

[Duke of URL]

The Innate Spell feat, in the Players Guide to Faerun (Pg. 39-40) Can do this for you. You'll need to get a focus costing 50 times the usual material component cost though (so, the savings only kick in after you've used it fifty times), and you'll also need the still and silent spell feats. Lastly, you'll lose one spell slot of the spell's level... But, you'll have a 3/Day SLA.

Out of curiosity, how does that rule handle a material component that can scale with caster level? A casting of animate dead can have a material component cost of up to 50 * CL -- wouldn't the value of the focus place an upper cap on the HD of undead that can be created?

Edit: Of course, you can always craft a custom magic item to cast a 1/day animate dead for 3,580 GP times the caster level (assumptions: command-word, spell level 3 [divine version], material cost of 50 * 50 * CL). Each additional use/day is another 3,850 * CL, up to 5/day (at which point, it costs the same as at-will). The item would have a fixed caster level, though in theory it could be increased for the difference in cost as you gain levels.

[Chilingsworth]

Out of curiosity, how does that rule handle a material component that can scale with caster level? A casting of animate dead can have a material component cost of up to 50 * CL -- wouldn't the value of the focus place an upper cap on the HD of undead that can be created?

I honsetly don't know. I would think it might, but the OP would have to talk with his DM for his/her ruling, I'd say. At worst, it still allows for some undead to be made for cheep.

[dextercorvia]

Dweomerkeeper from the CDiv Web enhancement.

[Essence_of_War]

The warlock has an invocation, "The Dead Walk", which duplicates animate dead as an SLA. However, the undead it creates are temporary unless you have access to onyx.

[Keld Denar]

Become Necropolitan (Libris Mortis) and then Spellstich (CArcane) yourself? You need an ok wisdom score, and it'll cost you some XP both to become Necropolitan and to actually Spellstich yourself, but you'll make up the XP, and the gold is decently cheap.

[monkey3]

All good. Let summarize and add 1.

Palemaster 2
Spellstitch
and
Runesmith 5 (need to be a dwarf)

I am not counting other sla methods that do not give spells with free components (Archmage, etc)

[Stallion]

Spellstitching your undead is normally best for this IMO, especially if you can find one worth keeping around and making stronger by awakening it, making it eligible for class levels. This handbook (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872470/New_Dread_Necromancer_Handbook) by zombiegleemax is pretty helpful for pretty much all things dread necro. I don't completely agree with several parts in it, but it's still quite useful.

[molten_dragon]

That's a really, really bad idea for the purpose:

Ah, right you are. I was AFB when I posted that and forgot about that part.

[Person_Man]

Libris Mortis has the Night Caller and Undead Shroud magic items, which let you Animate Dead. Can't remember the usages though.

And though it's not useful to you, it's worth mentioning that the Necrocarnum Circlet soulmeld bound to your Crown chakra (Incarnate 2) can Animate Dead at will with no cost. You can only have 1 incarnate zombie at a time, but it's a very cheap and continuous source of undead.

[Benly]

Libris Mortis has the Night Caller and Undead Shroud magic items, which let you Animate Dead. Can't remember the usages though.

And though it's not useful to you, it's worth mentioning that the Necrocarnum Circlet soulmeld bound to your Crown chakra (Incarnate 2) can Animate Dead at will with no cost. You can only have 1 incarnate zombie at a time, but it's a very cheap and continuous source of undead.

The Necrocarnum Circlet also deserves mention because necrocarnum zombies are generally superior to the regular variety. They're non-mindless and don't have the "only one action per turn" restriction. Spending the two feats is potentially worthwhile even for non-incarnum regular necromancers.

If you're undead yourself, the Lord Of The Dead (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20021031x) is a five-level prestige class with full casting and Animate Dead as an SLA. It doesn't really have much else of interest, but since it's five levels you can fit it in with another PrC pretty easily.

[Person_Man]

The Necrocarnum Circlet also deserves mention because necrocarnum zombies are generally superior to the regular variety. They're non-mindless and don't have the "only one action per turn" restriction. Spending the two feats is potentially worthwhile even for non-incarnum regular necromancers.

It's worthwhile investment for anyone, really. You don't need essentia for the zombie to be useful (although having essentia allows you to buff it). The only real limitations are that a single body can't be Animated more then once, and that the zombie's Hit Dice is limited by your meldshaper level (which is 1/2 your total character level if you're not an Incarnate). So your zombie buddy is likely to die on the first or second round of combat, but that's one or two rounds that your enemy's are attacking it and not you. And then you just replace your fallen zombie with the body of a recently fallen enemy after (or during) combat as needed. It also means you get an easy +2 to many Skill checks thanks to Aid Another, someone to open doors and "disarm" traps for you by setting them off, someone to carry equipment, a flanking buddy, etc.

Although these are the big benefits of Summoning based builds in general - you multiply your actions, while your enemies must split their actions between a greater number of targets. To a lesser extent it's true of builds with Leadership/Companions/Special Mounts/Familiar/etc, though in that case there is a built in incentive to protect your minions in order to avoid the hassle of replacing them after their death(s).

[Re'ozul]

One way is always Warlock 6 (animate dead at will, with a duration of minutes/level without material component) but on the downside that is 6 levels of warlock.

Items:

Robe of Bones 2400gp
not really that great but creates undead you then can control.

Staff of skulls 39,200gp (yeah, not really)
animate dead at 1 charge

[Trekkin]

There are two ways you may not have considered, since neither revolves around getting Animate Dead itself as a SLA:

1. Fell Animate. It's a metamagic effect that causes anything slain outright by the spell to rise as a zombie (and only ever a zombie) under your control.

2. The Rod of the Dead, from Underdark. 75k gp, but it will animate 20 hd of undead a day.

You can also craft such a rod yourself.

That said, there's something to be said for reducing the cost by reducing how many undead you actually animate. 25 gp per HD sounds like a lot, but eventually it becomes fairly negligible unless you're constantly getting undead re-killed--it may be better to focus your optimizing on keeping those undead alive and as magically buffed as possible, rather than on turning a continual stream of corpses (which dries up once you get into higher levels and start fighting things that don't necessarily have bodies) into basic undead for free.

[Benly]

That said, there's something to be said for reducing the cost by reducing how many undead you actually animate. 25 gp per HD sounds like a lot, but eventually it becomes fairly negligible unless you're constantly getting undead re-killed--it may be better to focus your optimizing on keeping those undead alive and as magically buffed as possible, rather than on turning a continual stream of corpses (which dries up once you get into higher levels and start fighting things that don't necessarily have bodies) into basic undead for free.

Yeah, it's only really worth going out of your way for free Animate Dead if you want to really get serious about an expendable and expanding undead horde. If you just want a thug or two to back you up, you'll do fine with one or two skeletal fire giants or zombie hydras or whatnot, which is fairly cheap. Don't animate anything that'll go down in a hit or two, just one or two nice sturdy corpses that you can patch up after the fight to serve as flank buddies and tactical support for your front line. You won't be much of a MWAHAHA ZOMBIE MASTER but you'll get a lot of benefit for low cost.

Personally, I love having enough chaff that "throw more zombies at it" starts sounding like a good answer to every question, so I love having Animate Dead as an SLA, but if that's not the mindset you're going in with, ordinary Animate Dead is reasonably cost-effective with the right corpses.

[Trekkin]

Personally, I love having enough chaff that "throw more zombies at it" starts sounding like a good answer to every question, so I love having Animate Dead as an SLA, but if that's not the mindset you're going in with, ordinary Animate Dead is reasonably cost-effective with the right corpses.

And really, if you want an unlimited supply of undead, free Animate Dread Warrior (which is insanely good, and equally expensive) or that Pale Master 10 ability are probably less risky than Animating and then letting them run uncontrolled for building up a limitless cadre of undead to throw at your problems.

[Benly]

And really, if you want an unlimited supply of undead, free Animate Dread Warrior (which is insanely good, and equally expensive) or that Pale Master 10 ability are probably less risky than Animating and then letting them run uncontrolled for building up a limitless cadre of undead to throw at your problems.

Free Animate Dread Warrior is only really feasible via spellstitching (which is a LA - template with a blatantly borked price calculation), and requires a 19 Wisdom. It is indeed fantastic if you can pull it off, though. Pale Master 10 is awesome but, well, you can't use it until ECL15 or so. Meanwhile, all the way up towards PM10, you have that nice Animate Dead SLA right there, and you need Command Undead to qualify for PM, so an interim plan suggests itself. :smallwink:

[AslanCross]

Bone Knight (Eberron: Five Nations) gets Fill The Ranks 1/day at 5th level, which raises corpses as Karrnathi (intelligent) skeletons or zombies. The PrC requires the ability to Turn/Rebuke undead and 1st-level divine spells, though.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

"NPC" template things in DMG2 will do exactly what you want. Be warned that the LA is inflated. The BG board members seem to agree with my LA/3 scheme, the question is in the rounding. Its probably worth LA+2.