McToomin
2012-05-06, 11:51 PM
I'm going an undead army-controlling character in a game I'm in now, and I finally hammered out my build to 20. I wanted to put this up here because it was really hard for me to find the exact kind of build I was looking for, even though it seems like a build like this would be a fairly common request. I couldn't find anything like it while searching around online, so hopefully it can help someone. Things after the colon are feats, and just assume that I'm taking the skills necessary to join my prestige classes. Items in tildas ("~") are my Paragnostic Apostle Knowledge is Power abilities. Items in equal signs ("=") are my stat increases (they're all Charisma). Color is used for ease-of-reading in the initial read-through.:
1. ~ Cloistered Cleric.. 1. : Augment Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Iron Will
2. ~ Cloistered Cleric.. 2. :
3. ~ Monk............... 1. : Improved Unarmed Strike, Toughness, Still Spell
4. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 1. : =Charisma +1=
5. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 2. :
6. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 3. : Silent Spell
7. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 4. :
8. ~ Mystic Wanderer.... 1. : =Charisma +1=
9. ~ Mystic Wanderer.... 2. : Improved Familiar
10 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 5. :
11 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 1. : ~Divine Understanding (Undeath)~
12 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 6. : =Charisma +1=
13 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 2. : ~See Through the Veil~, Innate Spell (Create Undead)
14 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 7. :
15 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 8. : Craft Wondrous Item
16 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 9. : =Charisma +1=
17 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 10 :
18 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 3. : ~Divine Understanding (Necromancy)~
19 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 4. : ~Discern Weakness (Undead)~, Innate Spell (Create Greater Undead)
20 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 5. : =Charisma +1=, ~Call of Worlds~
And here's the build again with my commentary after each level to explain some things that may not make sense on the first read-through:
1 ~ Cloistered Cleric 1 : [Deathbound Domain], [Knowledge Domain], Augment Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Iron Will
Any chance I get, I'm dumping BAB and HD for spellcasting and skills. The DM allowed 2 flaws (thankfully). I took Noncombatant and Vulnerable to really play up my character's physical weakness (ironically I take the Toughness feat later, but that's because it's the only one from the Monk martial arts variants in Unearthed Arcana that benefited me in any way). Augment Summoning and Spell Focus are prereqs for Master of Shrouds. Iron Will is prereq for Mystic Wanderer. Also traded a domain away to gain Divine Magician ACF, which allows me to add one wizard necromancy spell per spell level to my list.
2 ~ Cloistered Cleric 2 :
3 ~ Monk 1 : Improved Unarmed Strike, Toughness, Still Spell
Monk is here for the +2 to Will save that will get me into the Master of Shrouds early. Other classes also give good Will save, but many of them are spellcasting, and my Caster Level is already going to fluctuate a lot, I'd rather not deal with an altogether separate spellcasting class. Monk also grants Wisdom (best stat) to AC. Toughness is traded in for Stunning Fist via an Unearthed Arcana variant Monk. Monk is the easiest variable of this build to switch out and still have the basic end result remain the same, so long as the class you replace it with has a good Will save. Still Spell is prereq for Innate Spell.
4 ~ Master of Shrouds 1 : =Charisma +1=
5 ~ Master of Shrouds 2 :
6 ~ Master of Shrouds 3 : Silent Spell
Silent Spell is prereq for Innate Spell.
7 ~ Master of Shrouds 4 :
8 ~ Mystic Wanderer 1 : =Charisma +1=
Grants sacred bonus to AC = to Cha mod (second best stat).
9 ~ Mystic Wanderer 2 : Improved Familiar
Going to get a Quasit, have him invisibly hold a Magic Jar with my soul in it (Magic Jar from the ACF that grants me a wizard necromancy spell to my list) and just control my undead minions that way, in order to keep my true body safe.
10 ~ Master of Shrouds 5 :
11 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 1 : ~Divine Understanding (Undeath)~
My Caster Level increases by 1 when casting any spell on the Undeath spell list, on which Animate Dead, Create Undead, and Create Greater Undead appear.
12 ~ Master of Shrouds 6 : =Charisma +1=
I wanted to grab Innate Spell (see below), but realized that I don't gain Create Undead by this level due to my caster level loss from Monk and Master of Shrouds 1. Luckily, my DM allowed me to delay gaining a feat by 1 level.
13 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 2 : ~See Through the Veil~, Innate Spell (Create Undead)
My Caster Level for the purposes of rebuking undead rises by 2 (gaining back lost levels), and I can now cast Create Undead 3/day as a spell-like ability as long as I have a scepter made of black onyx that is worth enough gold.
14 ~ Master of Shrouds 7 :
15 ~ Master of Shrouds 8 : Craft Wondrous Item
As long as I have enough gold to make a phylactery, I plan to become a lich. I will be using the good-lich variant (pg. 156 of Libris Mortis.
16 ~ Master of Shrouds 9 : =Charisma +1=
17 ~ Master of Shrouds 10 :
18 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 3 : ~Divine Understanding (Necromancy)~
My Caster Level increases by 1 when casting any spell on the Necromancy spell list, on which Control Undead appears, and which I have on my spell list thanks to the Divine Magician ACF.
19 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 4 : ~Discern Weakness (Undead)~, Innate Spell (Create Greater Undead)
Again, I was allowed to delay a feat for 1 level to grab Create Greater Undead for my Innate Spell.
20 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 5 : =Charisma +1=, ~Call of Worlds~
Sort of a capstone, I guess. None of the other abilities looked very appealing. This gives my summons Fast Healing 1, assuming of course that I can get this changed to Fast Inflicting instead, it's a pretty good ability IMHO. Might move this ability sooner.
I'm not the greatest optimizer in the world (nor do I try to be). I'm mainly posting this build because I looked all over the place online for a good build to make yourself a spellcasting, undead-controlling necromancer going through cleric. I read through several different handbooks (including ones that didn't really apply, like the Dread Necromancer's Handbook or the Cleric Prestige Class Handbook which had specific goals in mind when reviewing prestige classes (BAB, good saves) so which advised against Paragnostic Apostle which as far as I can tell works perfectly for this kind of character). So I just hope that it helps some people out who might also be looking to build an undead-controlling character and need ideas on what they should do, vis-a-vis feats, levels, and prestige classes. Several liberties were taken with this build (such as the two delayed feats), as liberties are taken in pretty much any game. I don't think it's unreasonable to delay a feat by 1 level, even if overall the benefit is better for you. If a DM doesn't allow you to do that, you'll have to try some other kind of workaround, gain a bonus feat somewhere, or something else.
By level 20, this character:
Will add his Wisdom and Charisma (his two best stats) modifiers to AC so long as he is unarmored, which also applies to touch spells and flat-footedness.
Has 9th level cleric casting, along with a few choice spells from the wizard list.
Can hand his magic jar to his invisible quasit familiar and hide his body in a Handy Haversack and just possess his various undead minions (of which he'll have many).
Will basically never fail a Knowledge check, ever.
Can summon one dread wraith, two greater shadows, four spectres, four wraiths, or four shadows a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier as a spell-like ability.
Can cast create undead 3 times per day as a spell-like ability without having to pay the onyx material component each time (so long as he holds a focus of acceptable value).
Can cast create greater undead 3 times per day as a spell-like ability without having to pay the onyx material component each time (so long as he holds a focus of acceptable value).
Will be a lich, and as a neutral lich that can swap all spells out for the inflict line of spells at any time, can always keep himself and his undead minions healed.
Will grant all created undead Fast Healing (Fast Inflicting?) 5.
So yeah, I'm pretty proud of the build now that I've got it basically finalized. If anyone has any recommendations on items I'm all ears, but if not I'll probably just be hoarding money until I can be a black onyx scepter of enough value to create whatever kind of undead I want once I get to higher level, and then hoard the rest to make my phylactery. If I start gaining more money, then I might buy some stuff. Stat-boosting items are an easy choice.
Right now we're level 4, and I'm basically staying out of all fights, only using spellcasting for buffing and healing my allies.
So yeah, just wanted to put this out there for others who are interested in spellcaster necromancers who can gain undead minions for (basically) free; this build offers a lot of ways to do it. Even if you don't want to use the entire build (and who ever wants to use a duplicate of a build they find online?), hopefully you can find something here you can use.
Classes
Cloistered Cleric - Unearthed Arcana 50 (references Cleric - Player's Handbook 30)
Monk - Player's Handbook 39
Master of Shrouds - Libris Mortis 46
Mystic Wanderer - Magic of Faerun 35
Paragnostic Apostle - Complete Champion 94
Feats
Augment Summoning - Player's Handbook 89
Spell Focus - Player's Handbook 100
Iron Will - Player's Handbook 97
Improved Unarmed Strike - Player's Handbook 96
Toughness - Player's Handbook 101
Still Spell - Player's Handbook 101
Silent Spell - Player's Handbook 100
Improved Familiar - Player's Guide to Faerun 39 (which references Improved Familiar - Dungeon Master's Guide 200 which grants Quasit as a familiar choice)
Innate Spell - Player's Guide to Faerun 39
Craft Wondrous Item - Player's Handbook 92
Other
Good Lich - Libris Mortis 156
Divine Magician - Complete Mage 33
1. ~ Cloistered Cleric.. 1. : Augment Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Iron Will
2. ~ Cloistered Cleric.. 2. :
3. ~ Monk............... 1. : Improved Unarmed Strike, Toughness, Still Spell
4. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 1. : =Charisma +1=
5. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 2. :
6. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 3. : Silent Spell
7. ~ Master of Shrouds.. 4. :
8. ~ Mystic Wanderer.... 1. : =Charisma +1=
9. ~ Mystic Wanderer.... 2. : Improved Familiar
10 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 5. :
11 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 1. : ~Divine Understanding (Undeath)~
12 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 6. : =Charisma +1=
13 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 2. : ~See Through the Veil~, Innate Spell (Create Undead)
14 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 7. :
15 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 8. : Craft Wondrous Item
16 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 9. : =Charisma +1=
17 ~ Master of Shrouds.. 10 :
18 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 3. : ~Divine Understanding (Necromancy)~
19 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 4. : ~Discern Weakness (Undead)~, Innate Spell (Create Greater Undead)
20 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 5. : =Charisma +1=, ~Call of Worlds~
And here's the build again with my commentary after each level to explain some things that may not make sense on the first read-through:
1 ~ Cloistered Cleric 1 : [Deathbound Domain], [Knowledge Domain], Augment Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Iron Will
Any chance I get, I'm dumping BAB and HD for spellcasting and skills. The DM allowed 2 flaws (thankfully). I took Noncombatant and Vulnerable to really play up my character's physical weakness (ironically I take the Toughness feat later, but that's because it's the only one from the Monk martial arts variants in Unearthed Arcana that benefited me in any way). Augment Summoning and Spell Focus are prereqs for Master of Shrouds. Iron Will is prereq for Mystic Wanderer. Also traded a domain away to gain Divine Magician ACF, which allows me to add one wizard necromancy spell per spell level to my list.
2 ~ Cloistered Cleric 2 :
3 ~ Monk 1 : Improved Unarmed Strike, Toughness, Still Spell
Monk is here for the +2 to Will save that will get me into the Master of Shrouds early. Other classes also give good Will save, but many of them are spellcasting, and my Caster Level is already going to fluctuate a lot, I'd rather not deal with an altogether separate spellcasting class. Monk also grants Wisdom (best stat) to AC. Toughness is traded in for Stunning Fist via an Unearthed Arcana variant Monk. Monk is the easiest variable of this build to switch out and still have the basic end result remain the same, so long as the class you replace it with has a good Will save. Still Spell is prereq for Innate Spell.
4 ~ Master of Shrouds 1 : =Charisma +1=
5 ~ Master of Shrouds 2 :
6 ~ Master of Shrouds 3 : Silent Spell
Silent Spell is prereq for Innate Spell.
7 ~ Master of Shrouds 4 :
8 ~ Mystic Wanderer 1 : =Charisma +1=
Grants sacred bonus to AC = to Cha mod (second best stat).
9 ~ Mystic Wanderer 2 : Improved Familiar
Going to get a Quasit, have him invisibly hold a Magic Jar with my soul in it (Magic Jar from the ACF that grants me a wizard necromancy spell to my list) and just control my undead minions that way, in order to keep my true body safe.
10 ~ Master of Shrouds 5 :
11 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 1 : ~Divine Understanding (Undeath)~
My Caster Level increases by 1 when casting any spell on the Undeath spell list, on which Animate Dead, Create Undead, and Create Greater Undead appear.
12 ~ Master of Shrouds 6 : =Charisma +1=
I wanted to grab Innate Spell (see below), but realized that I don't gain Create Undead by this level due to my caster level loss from Monk and Master of Shrouds 1. Luckily, my DM allowed me to delay gaining a feat by 1 level.
13 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 2 : ~See Through the Veil~, Innate Spell (Create Undead)
My Caster Level for the purposes of rebuking undead rises by 2 (gaining back lost levels), and I can now cast Create Undead 3/day as a spell-like ability as long as I have a scepter made of black onyx that is worth enough gold.
14 ~ Master of Shrouds 7 :
15 ~ Master of Shrouds 8 : Craft Wondrous Item
As long as I have enough gold to make a phylactery, I plan to become a lich. I will be using the good-lich variant (pg. 156 of Libris Mortis.
16 ~ Master of Shrouds 9 : =Charisma +1=
17 ~ Master of Shrouds 10 :
18 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 3 : ~Divine Understanding (Necromancy)~
My Caster Level increases by 1 when casting any spell on the Necromancy spell list, on which Control Undead appears, and which I have on my spell list thanks to the Divine Magician ACF.
19 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 4 : ~Discern Weakness (Undead)~, Innate Spell (Create Greater Undead)
Again, I was allowed to delay a feat for 1 level to grab Create Greater Undead for my Innate Spell.
20 ~ Paragnostic Apostle 5 : =Charisma +1=, ~Call of Worlds~
Sort of a capstone, I guess. None of the other abilities looked very appealing. This gives my summons Fast Healing 1, assuming of course that I can get this changed to Fast Inflicting instead, it's a pretty good ability IMHO. Might move this ability sooner.
I'm not the greatest optimizer in the world (nor do I try to be). I'm mainly posting this build because I looked all over the place online for a good build to make yourself a spellcasting, undead-controlling necromancer going through cleric. I read through several different handbooks (including ones that didn't really apply, like the Dread Necromancer's Handbook or the Cleric Prestige Class Handbook which had specific goals in mind when reviewing prestige classes (BAB, good saves) so which advised against Paragnostic Apostle which as far as I can tell works perfectly for this kind of character). So I just hope that it helps some people out who might also be looking to build an undead-controlling character and need ideas on what they should do, vis-a-vis feats, levels, and prestige classes. Several liberties were taken with this build (such as the two delayed feats), as liberties are taken in pretty much any game. I don't think it's unreasonable to delay a feat by 1 level, even if overall the benefit is better for you. If a DM doesn't allow you to do that, you'll have to try some other kind of workaround, gain a bonus feat somewhere, or something else.
By level 20, this character:
Will add his Wisdom and Charisma (his two best stats) modifiers to AC so long as he is unarmored, which also applies to touch spells and flat-footedness.
Has 9th level cleric casting, along with a few choice spells from the wizard list.
Can hand his magic jar to his invisible quasit familiar and hide his body in a Handy Haversack and just possess his various undead minions (of which he'll have many).
Will basically never fail a Knowledge check, ever.
Can summon one dread wraith, two greater shadows, four spectres, four wraiths, or four shadows a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier as a spell-like ability.
Can cast create undead 3 times per day as a spell-like ability without having to pay the onyx material component each time (so long as he holds a focus of acceptable value).
Can cast create greater undead 3 times per day as a spell-like ability without having to pay the onyx material component each time (so long as he holds a focus of acceptable value).
Will be a lich, and as a neutral lich that can swap all spells out for the inflict line of spells at any time, can always keep himself and his undead minions healed.
Will grant all created undead Fast Healing (Fast Inflicting?) 5.
So yeah, I'm pretty proud of the build now that I've got it basically finalized. If anyone has any recommendations on items I'm all ears, but if not I'll probably just be hoarding money until I can be a black onyx scepter of enough value to create whatever kind of undead I want once I get to higher level, and then hoard the rest to make my phylactery. If I start gaining more money, then I might buy some stuff. Stat-boosting items are an easy choice.
Right now we're level 4, and I'm basically staying out of all fights, only using spellcasting for buffing and healing my allies.
So yeah, just wanted to put this out there for others who are interested in spellcaster necromancers who can gain undead minions for (basically) free; this build offers a lot of ways to do it. Even if you don't want to use the entire build (and who ever wants to use a duplicate of a build they find online?), hopefully you can find something here you can use.
Classes
Cloistered Cleric - Unearthed Arcana 50 (references Cleric - Player's Handbook 30)
Monk - Player's Handbook 39
Master of Shrouds - Libris Mortis 46
Mystic Wanderer - Magic of Faerun 35
Paragnostic Apostle - Complete Champion 94
Feats
Augment Summoning - Player's Handbook 89
Spell Focus - Player's Handbook 100
Iron Will - Player's Handbook 97
Improved Unarmed Strike - Player's Handbook 96
Toughness - Player's Handbook 101
Still Spell - Player's Handbook 101
Silent Spell - Player's Handbook 100
Improved Familiar - Player's Guide to Faerun 39 (which references Improved Familiar - Dungeon Master's Guide 200 which grants Quasit as a familiar choice)
Innate Spell - Player's Guide to Faerun 39
Craft Wondrous Item - Player's Handbook 92
Other
Good Lich - Libris Mortis 156
Divine Magician - Complete Mage 33