Cleric - Undead Animal Companion

[Qc Storm]

This thread is simply about a potential homebrew alternative. Me and my group are not super fond of raising undead using the current rules.

We were thinking a Necromancer Cleric could have an undead companion of sorts. He could raise (for free) and keep one corpse and keep it under its control forever, with a hit dice limit based on his level. If the undead is destroyed, it cannot be reraised, and another body must be sought after.

Obviously clerics don't exactly need a free buff, and this alternative should come with a drawback. (less domains? Armor?) How should the HD limit scale?

[eggynack]

I tend to like to do this kinda thing by drawing broad balance equivalencies until you get to the right ACF based balance level. In this case, I think that the closest thing to what you're looking for is skeletal minion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#skeletalMinion), which trades a wizard's familiar for a skeleton that scales with level in a manner alike to what you've described. After that, it gets kinda tricky, because wizards don't get all that much attachment to clerics in ACF terms. However, domain granted power lets you trade your wizard bonus feats for a domain granted power, and a feat is worth a familiar, per the feat obtain familiar, so I've gotta figure that either a domain granted power, or a domain itself, is worth about a skeletal minion.

You can also run the equivalencies the other way, and it works about as well. Domains are worth about a feat, because devotions exist, and familiars are also worth about a feat, because obtain familiar exists. Thus, trading a domain for a familiar is halfway reasonable, and trading a familiar for a skeletal minion is similarly reasonable. In other words, something between the granted power of a necromancy themed domain, or the domain itself, is probably a fair trade.

[Qc Storm]

I tend to like to do this kinda thing by drawing broad balance equivalencies until you get to the right ACF based balance level. In this case, I think that the closest thing to what you're looking for is skeletal minion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#skeletalMinion), which trades a wizard's familiar for a skeleton that scales with level in a manner alike to what you've described. After that, it gets kinda tricky, because wizards don't get all that much attachment to clerics in ACF terms. However, domain granted power lets you trade your wizard bonus feats for a domain granted power, and a feat is worth a familiar, per the feat obtain familiar, so I've gotta figure that either a domain granted power, or a domain itself, is worth about a skeletal minion.

You can also run the equivalencies the other way, and it works about as well. Domains are worth about a feat, because devotions exist, and familiars are also worth about a feat, because obtain familiar exists. Thus, trading a domain for a familiar is halfway reasonable, and trading a familiar for a skeletal minion is similarly reasonable. In other words, something between the granted power of a necromancy themed domain, or the domain itself, is probably a fair trade.

The logic is sound. But in this case, you are not limited to a humanoid skeleton, so the power level may vary. Some monsters have additional advantages such as natural attacks and size. Might need a size clause, or else hydras are kind of really good.

[Matticussama]

Why not go with the Undead Leadership feat from Libris Mortis? It gives you the benefit you're looking for without having to homebrew something. Plus, Leadership's built in ECL limitations cap what sort of creature the Undead Cohort can be.