Necromancer help

[littlebum2002]

I'm building a Necromancer Cleric, and this is the first time I've ever played a Necromancer, so I'm trying to figure out all the rules so I can play him non-stupidly. I've been reading the necromancer handbook, and I've got a lot of good ideas, but I did have a couple of questions that I needed to ask.

Would it work if I had a Merciful weapon, used it to knock foes unconscious, then hit them with a Fell Animate Inflict Minor Wounds? It would deal 1 damage, which should kill them, then raise them as a zombie, correct?


Also, are there any good magical items for necromancers? None of the handbooks mention any. The only ones I can think of are items to increase Rebuking attempts. Anything else I'm not thinking of?



Anyway, I'm going to be starting as a Level 6 Character with 2 Cleric levels and a Bone Knight level (the other 3 levels are for fluff, don't ask. But since you're going to ask anyway, they're Paladin levels) so I have 3 effective Cleric levels for rebuking undead. This means that I get to COMMAND up to 6 HD worth of undead, but CREATE (using Deathbound domain of 3 x caster level) up to 3x3=9 HD. Is that correct? What exactly is the point of having different levels of undead you can create or command? What happens to the extra 3HD of undead?

Being a necromancer is confusing. Note that I am NOT trying to play this character "optimally", simply "competently"

[Karnith]

Would it work if I had a Merciful weapon, used it to knock foes unconscious, then hit them with a Fell Animate Inflict Minor Wounds? It would deal 1 damage, which should kill them, then raise them as a zombie, correct?No, lethal damage and nonlethal damage are tracked separately. You would need to deal lethal damage normally (i.e. reduce it to -10 hp) to kill the creature once it is unconscious.

Anything else I'm not thinking of?Items that can boost your effective cleric level for the purpose of Rebuking and Commanding undead (such as the Scepter of the Netherworld, Libris Mortis p. 78) will let you command more undead that normal, though I believe that most of them are going to be out of your price range at level 6. Also, since you're three levels behind on Rebuking, those items may be chasing a lost cause.

I have 3 effective Cleric levels for rebuking undead. This means that I get to COMMAND up to 6 HD worth of undead, but CREATE (using Deathbound domain of 3 x caster level) up to 3x3=9 HD. Is that correct? What exactly is the point of having different levels of undead you can create or command? What happens to the extra 3HD of undead?The Deathbound domain's ability has nothing to do with rebuking undead; it only gets used in reference to spells that animate undead (such as, well, Animate Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateDead.htm)), which typically have their own control pools separate from a cleric's Rebuking pool.

[littlebum2002]

So each casting of "animate dead" can CREATE 3x3=9 HD worth of Undead
I can CONTROL 4x3 = 12 HD worth
I can COMMAND 6 HD worth of Undead.


Thanks, I'll have to check out the items in LM to see if there's anything interesting.




No, lethal damage and nonlethal damage are tracked separately. You would need to deal lethal damage normally (i.e. reduce it to -10 hp) to kill the creature once it is unconscious.

Is there some sort of trick then to using Fell Animate? I mean, I could beat them until they are low HP, then attack with a spell and hope it does enough damage to kill them outright, but that just seems too risky. I thought about putting Fell Animated Inflict Minor Wounds on a Spell Storing sword and releasing it as I kill them, but since that spell wouldn't directly kill them i figured it wouldn't work.

Is it possible to reduce the amount of damage I do to someone? If they have 25HP, and I do 40 damage with an attack, can I choose to only do 34 damage instead to leave them at -9HP where they would die from inflict minor wounds? Its a neat trick if it would work.

The Necromancer Handbook suggested tying Fell Animate to a touch cantrip and killing them with a coup-de-grace, but since the save is only 10+damage, it seems pretty easy for anyone to make it.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Inflict light wounds would do 10+2d8+5 (10?) on a coup de grace. Assuming your caster level was 5+, of course. That save ranges from 17-31, average 24. That will kill most things w/o a good fort save. Granted, that is level 1, not 0, but it works.

[littlebum2002]

Lol, I totally forgot that the critical hit damage doubles for spells too. That looks like it would work perfectly.

[Ranting Fool]

Lol, I totally forgot that the critical hit damage doubles for spells too. That looks like it would work perfectly.

Or knock them out then get a small cat to maul them until they look like they are about to die (There is a level one spell that tells you when someone is bleeding out but don't remember the name) THEN zap them with evil raise dead magic :smallbiggrin:

[Fosco the Swift]

Can you use any feats/ spells outside 3.5? Pathfinder has quite a few neat feats, spells and magic items to help with a necromancer cleric.

[littlebum2002]

I'd have to ask about pathfinder. This game is supposed to be more about roleplaying, so I might get away with it if it fits my character right. He was a Paladin of Freedom, and he fell, hard. Now he's a Lawful Evil bone knight raising an undead army..... for some reason I haven't figured out yet.

I thought the whole point of Fell Animate was to save yourself a standard action. If you're going through all that trouble to use it, why not just kill them and cast Animate Dead? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying my understanding of the mechanics must be flawed.

Edit: NM, forgot about the Onyx.

On that note, isn't Onyx cheaper than gold? And if a gold piece is the size of a half dollar, then for a 3 HD mummy, I'd need 75 half dollars, which would barely fit in my two hands. And therefore I'd need a gem bigger than that (about the size of a grapefruit) and somehow shove it in this things eye socket?