Necromancer Ideas.

[n4d3sniper]

I'm currently getting into a game of D&D3.5 and we are starting as 5th level I wanted to know what I should do to make him more like ill drown you in hordes of undead instead of ill throw a few tough undead at you and if you kick there ass then im screwed so if you could give me some feat ideas or some class thats better then cleric for undead that would be great.

[Frosty]

Umm what? Grammar and complete sentences without run-ons please. I can't tell if you're the DM asking for help on what undead to throw at your PCs, or whether you want to build a character around necromancy.

[n4d3sniper]

Umm what? Grammar and complete sentences without run-ons please. I can't tell if you're the DM asking for help on what undead to throw at your PCs, or whether you want to build a character around necromancy.

Sorry about that not very good at this and im a player.

[gorfnab]

so if you could give me some feat ideas or some class thats better then cleric for undead that would be great.
These links may be of some help:
Dread Necromancer Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214212)
Revised Necromancer Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=9488ls1ogds04rl823oa8veku4&topic=2733)

[Sylthia]

You say you want a better class than cleric, but it's actually quite good for the sort of character you're looking for. The get access to Animate Dead as a 3rd level spell, while Wizard/Sorcs get it as a 4th level spell.

[Malak'ai]

And the spell Desicrate increases the HD of your Undead I'm pretty sure, though I'm afb at the moment so I can't be 100% about that.

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, the reluctance to pick Cleric seems, odd. If you're going for raising a horde of undead to carry out your whims, I'd say Cleric is the way to go. Got all the Necromancery spells on your list. Not to mention the Cleric tends to be king of "Mass Buffs" which a lot of lower level undead are going to need to remain relevant for very long, even at 5th level. There's just a point where those 1/2 HD Skeletons and Zombies are going to stop being effective when it comes to a fight and you're pretty much knocking on the door of that point at 5th level.

[Coidzor]

I'm currently getting into a game of D&D3.5 and we are starting as 5th level I wanted to know what I should do to make him more like ill drown you in hordes of undead instead of ill throw a few tough undead at you and if you kick there ass then im screwed so if you could give me some feat ideas or some class thats better then cleric for undead that would be great.

Actually focusing on a cadre of elite undead is a lot less likely to leave you vulnerable and screwed than sending wave after wave of weak mooks at someone. Also, easier for your group and DM to deal with.

Figuring out a way to keep your minions from getting stolen by a 2nd level spell helps though...

Dread Necromancer doesn't get animate dead until 8th level, but it can have more undead minions than a cleric, but a cleric is still pretty good, especially with the right domains chosen. Wizards mostly get in on Necromancy via the debuffing/blasting it affords or by going through shenanigans to get minions with spell-stitched animate dead/animate dread warrior as spell-like abilities so that they have multiple sources of mook.

[Bonzai]

A less popular choice would be wizard 5/Pale Master 10. Aside from everything else it gives you, you can cast animate dead as spell like ability once per day with no material component. This can save you a lot of onyx over time. Plus 3 times a day you can death touch some one and animate them as a skeleton under your control. This doesn't count toward your HD limit, so you can raise a large horde for cheap over time. Dread Necromancer is better over all, but Pale Master has it's good points.

[dascarletm]

A less popular choice would be wizard 5/Pale Master 10. Aside from everything else it gives you, you can cast animate dead as spell like ability once per day with no material component. This can save you a lot of onyx over time. Plus 3 times a day you can death touch some one and animate them as a skeleton under your control. This doesn't count toward your HD limit, so you can raise a large horde for cheap over time. Dread Necromancer is better over all, but Pale Master has it's good points.

I'd go Dread Necromancer, then Pale Master going out at level 8.

I've been thinking of a build that went Dread Necro 1/Necromancer Specialized Wizard 1 (with skeleton familiar and enhanced undead from UA)/ Dread Necro 7/Palemaster 10/ Something 1.

Not the strongest, but I like it.

If you go with a large army of weaklings get destructive retribution from LM. Also see if your DM will approve the fixed Dread Necro Spell List (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162358).

[n4d3sniper]

Those are all some good ideas and i don't mind being a cleric i just was wondering if there was anything better. Is there any sort of feats that would be good for me to take.

[Lord Haart]

Actually focusing on a cadre of elite undead is a lot less likely to leave you vulnerable and screwed than sending wave after wave of weak mooks at someone.

Unless said weak mooks explode. There's a feat for that. Not that turning your minions into suicide bombers, even if they are mindless and kinda dead to begin with, doesn't count as being a BBEG-level jerk…

[Stea1k]

If you want Feats, I would suggest a mixture of Heroes of Horror, Libris Mortis, and Complete Mage. All of them tend to have something useful.

You will probably want to utilize the spell Awaken Undead (lvl 7 SC) (assuming your DM doesn't get into the metaphysics of giving a mindless creature under your complete control sentience). Undead with an intelligence score can do more things than undead without.

At really high levels (10+) capture/create some intelligent undead with a Wis score higher than 10 and make spell stitched undead (MM2). Even undead with a Wis of 10 can use 1st level spells, but IMO it is more worth the money and XP cost to use it on a few strong ones (mostly buffing spells or AoE's). Heck, make yourself a necropolitan and spellstitch yourself. Technically, you can start making them at any time with any spells at your disposal (must be a wizard or sorcerer), but it may be more prudent to wait for stronger undead that you can actually control.

[Stea1k]

Undead Leadership (LM) may also be worth looking at, though that may also be a bit annoying for all players/DM involved.

[Just to Browse]

Strong undead powers? Not a cleric? Want to be OP?

Boy, have I got the class for you. Take a stroll on over to your local copy of Dragon Compendium and pull out the Death Master class.

What does this class offer, you say? Why would you be interested? Well, just imagine this!
You get animate dead as a 2nd-level arcane spell, and you're a prepared caster. So you can pop zombies pre-buff in order to ROLL FACE two levels before anyone else could even dream about it, but if you don't feel like fighting one day, you're not losing out on spells known.
You can rebuke undead. If you turn a blind eye to errata (which you shouldn't), this means divine metamagic. Make people cry.
You get an undead companion, starting as (generally) a zombie wolf or human skeleton, and it advances sort of like a druid's animal companion. Remember that druid class and how the animal companion did more damage than the party fighter? Yeah, like that. It also doesn't make you take that pesky XP loss when it dies--another one comes along free of charge!
Did I forget to mention you're a fullcaster? Yeah that's a thing.
Best of all, you're an arcane caster that ignores spell failure. If you perform a ritual (this is in the class features) in which you kill a creature and drain its blood, you can make little blood vials that give you this fantastic little feature.

Best. Necromancer. Ever.

[n4d3sniper]

Strong undead powers? Not a cleric? Want to be OP?

Boy, have I got the class for you. Take a stroll on over to your local copy of Dragon Compendium and pull out the Death Master class.

What does this class offer, you say? Why would you be interested? Well, just imagine this!
You get animate dead as a 2nd-level arcane spell, and you're a prepared caster. So you can pop zombies pre-buff in order to ROLL FACE two levels before anyone else could even dream about it, but if you don't feel like fighting one day, you're not losing out on spells known.
You can rebuke undead. If you turn a blind eye to errata (which you shouldn't), this means divine metamagic. Make people cry.
You get an undead companion, starting as (generally) a zombie wolf or human skeleton, and it advances sort of like a druid's animal companion. Remember that druid class and how the animal companion did more damage than the party fighter? Yeah, like that. It also doesn't make you take that pesky XP loss when it dies--another one comes along free of charge!
Did I forget to mention you're a fullcaster? Yeah that's a thing.
Best of all, you're an arcane caster that ignores spell failure. If you perform a ritual (this is in the class features) in which you kill a creature and drain its blood, you can make little blood vials that give you this fantastic little feature.

Best. Necromancer. Ever.
I really like the idea of this it sounds like something worth looking into.