necromantic gestalt help

[valoia]

hey all! i'd really love input and build advice for making a necromantic character for a gestalt game in the worlds largest dungeon. starting at level 2, with level 2 starting wealth. stats are 18,17,14, 14, 13, 9, yet to be placed. templates and most races are allowed- but the lvl adjust fills in a side of the gestalt till paid.

it's a 3 person party- the others are thinking melee build and ranged/clerical.. they are not sure.

i'd like to focus on not necessarily a huge sprawling horde, but a few good undead that can last and actually contribute without stretching my turn out to days. i'd also like some aoe available asap, since that's been our weak spot in previous runs..

cleric/dread necromancer?

i'm used to making melee characters.. i really don't know where to start or what if any templates or special races to take- halp!

[dantiesilva]

You actually choose what I was going to suggest. Go the DMM Persist route and have fun. Be neutral though and not evil so you get both turn and rebuke to fuel your DMM and then laugh as you and your body guard/Mount destroy the field. Would also suggest looking into not losing a single caster level on either side it will hurt if you do as you need to be able to shape an AMF around you as quickly as possible as most DMs do not like Persist characters and hurl Dispel and greater dispel magics at you.

[gallagher]

on your cleric side, since you are going for necromancy anyway, why not Bone Knight? It is super cool and has lots of great bonii that you will find titillating

[valoia]

neat. and what are your thoughts on undead player characters.. possible races? template suggestions?.. and spellstitched player characters?

[Amnestic]

neat. and what are your thoughts on undead player characters.. possible races? template suggestions?.. and spellstitched player characters?

Necropolitan [Bace Race] is the go-to Undead PC 'race'. Human is always nice for the extra feat. Strongheart Halfling might be a superior choice given the small size. Also you're then a midget with an army of giant undead - can't forget the aesthetics.

[Ravens_cry]

Necropolitan [Bace Race] is the go-to Undead PC 'race'. Human is always nice for the extra feat. Strongheart Halfling might be a superior choice given the small size. Also you're then a midget with an army of giant undead - can't forget the aesthetics.
I've always wanted to play a child with wild hair in ragged smock dancing a jig in front of an army of undead, playing a thigh bone flute.

[JaronK]

Bone Knight is a very good idea. If you want to do that, you want something like Cleric/PrC Paladin of Tyranny/Bone Knight//Dread Necromancer as a basic build stub. DMM Persist is a lot of fun... don't forget about Persistent Consumptive Field! But of course you can't get both Turn and Rebuke Undead that way.

Pale Master is another good PrC to consider, because Onyxs will be hard to find in WLD.

JaronK

[TheifofZ]

I think everyone agrees that you need to focus on Cha as your main stat.
Taking the corpse crafter feat tree is great to help boost your undead into beefier monsters too.
If you're going Gestalt, maybe a few dips into True Necromancer since DN gets you the Arcane Caster level Prereq, and if you shoehorn it into cleric you can get some pretty strong advancement and nice bonuses that way.
Maybe not obscenely optimized for casting, but probably alittle better for big bad minions.

[docnessuno]

True necromancer, being a theurge-like class, is usually not allowed in gestalt.

I'd consider taking a few (2-3) prestige paladin levels (of the alignment variant of your choice) on the cleric side.

The need for animate dead (and the associated material components) can be (mostly) ignored with "fell aniamte"-empowered spells.

[Darth Stabber]

Neutral cleric//dread necromancer is the obvious choice, but as dual active class, I have to offer a different choice: cleric//evil incarnate/necrocarnate. Mix in some big fast zombies and have some fun with it. You have cleric using your actions, and necrocarnate giving you bunches of bonuses. Sadly this usually precludes cleric prcs. You could go straight evil incarnate and prc up your cleric. Wisdom sets save dcs on both classes, and it's not like you didn't want con anyway. Dread necro works with it too, but cleric is better at DN's shtick than DN.

[Vaz]

I don't understand exactly why Gestalt is considered to be broken by the inclusion of semi-gestalt classes when strait classes are already broken (Druid/Cleric/Wizard).

It might be worth just asking for that clause to be ignored. I do.

[Darth Stabber]

I don't understand exactly why Gestalt is considered to be broken by the inclusion of semi-gestalt classes when strait classes are already broken (Druid/Cleric/Wizard).

It might be worth just asking for that clause to be ignored. I do.

Wizard1/psion12/cerbramancer7//archivist3/mystic theurge10/archivist7, and that's just off the top of my head, I could do worse with some splat diving, but I really don't want to dig right now. Saying "it's already unbalanced, why can't I break it more" is like saying "I'm already breaking the speed limit, may as well run over old ladies too". If you are an archivist//wizard, you are already a "mystic theurge" except you keep class features, and can get prcs with class features other than casting. I would consider allowing wizard1/archivist3/mystic theurge10//factotum14, but not the first sentence's atrocity

[Tokuhara]

On what Darth Stabber said,

a Wizard/Ardent/Cerebremancer//Crusader/Divine Champion/Ruby Knight Vindicator is a sin in and of itself to play. It's no longer "I'm God" so much as its "I won D&D"

[JaronK]

I find that the strongest thing for any Necromancer is the ability to cast Animate Dread Warrior (and maybe Awaken Undead) as a spell like ability. Usually that means using the Runesmith PrC or becoming a Necropolitan so you can get spell stitched.

JaronK

[DMVerdandi]

hey all! i'd really love input and build advice for making a necromantic character for a gestalt game in the worlds largest dungeon. starting at level 2, with level 2 starting wealth. stats are 18,17,14, 14, 13, 9, yet to be placed. templates and most races are allowed- but the lvl adjust fills in a side of the gestalt till paid.

it's a 3 person party- the others are thinking melee build and ranged/clerical.. they are not sure.

i'd like to focus on not necessarily a huge sprawling horde, but a few good undead that can last and actually contribute without stretching my turn out to days. i'd also like some aoe available asap, since that's been our weak spot in previous runs..

cleric/dread necromancer?

i'm used to making melee characters.. i really don't know where to start or what if any templates or special races to take- halp!

How about this for a build...


Human-Necropolitan
Cleric 20//Crusader 20

Feats [Smiting spell/Power attack/Intuitive attack/Extend spell/persist spell/Dmm:persist/Improved unarmed attack/Superior Unarmed Attack]
Take 2 flaws.

There are spells that can net you very powerful undead.
That build however is focused on creating a powerful undead warrior who can use inflict spells with his attacks crushing others with unholy energy.

As an undead, you can also use that energy to heal yourself.

The feat list can be changed to try and net you Leadership and Undead Leadership, which would get you a powerful Cohort, and that sounds like what you want, so really, the feat list can be changed completely.

Cleric//crusader does make you quite strong In melee combat however.
Put on some mythril full-plate and kick some ass.


At level 2, It might be a good idea to just pick up intuitive attack and power attack, though.

Allocate feats like so
18 Wis
17 Dex
14 STR
14 INT
13 CHA