A real Necromancer

[Arc_knight25]

If all you had to work with was:

Base classes:
Dread Necro, Wizard, Sorc, Cleric, Archivist

Prestige classes:
Palemaster, True Necro

How would you build your level 20 "Real" Necromancer?

If there are any others you think should be on the list I'll add them on as we go.

But I'm looking for the Necroy of Necromancer builds.

And please keep the cheese on the side or put it in a spoiler please.

[Ellowryn]

Either DN, Wizard, or Cleric 20, alternatively DN, Wizard, or Cleric 10/Pale Master 10.

Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, but will mostly play out the same.

If you want to play a sorcerer necromancer you are better off going DN, and True Necromancer is treated along the same lines as mystic theruge (a trap in all but a very few cases).

[Gildedragon]

Cloistered Cleric all the way. Spell (or magic) and Undeath domains. Spontaneous domain variant.
Undeadize (or turn into a pos energy undead) at level 3 or ASAP
Use Anyspell to get wizard only necro spells. This qualifies one for true necro but I'd not go in.

[Arc_knight25]

I forgot Archivist. You think it could have a place in the realm of Necromancy?

[OldTrees1]

If all you had to work with was Dread Necro, Wizard, Sorc, Cleric and the only PrC you could go into were Pale master or True Necro, How would you build your level 20 "Real" Necromancer?

Darn I can't use Red Wizard and/or Dread Witch?

"Early" Entry:
Dread Necromancer 1/ Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) 1 / Dread Necromancer +4 / Pale Master 2 / Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) +1 / Pale Master +8 / Ghost +1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) / Dread Necromancer +2

Alternative Entry:
Dread Necromancer 1/ Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) 1 / Dread Necromancer +5 / Pale Master 2 / Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) +1 / Pale Master +7 / Ghost +1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) / Pale Master +1 / Dread Necromancer +2

Feats of Note:
Versatile Spellcaster [Useful feat, "early" entry]
Skill Focus (Knowledge[religion]) [Prereq]
Arcane Disciple (Renewal Domain) + Touch of Healing [Cures ought to be Necromancy spells :smallmad:]

Item of Note:
1 Lesser Chain Spell Metamagic Rod

Ghost 3 is used to get a cheaper form of Lichdom.
Pale Master is used to get free Animation and a Cohort.

[Gildedragon]

Yeah. They don't get Turn Undead but they fill a wizard like role.
Okayish for going into TN along with wizard (with early entry tricks)
MT has better caster progression tho

[Vedhin]

What about Yathrinshee?

[Vaz]

Archivist;

Animate Dread Warrior for Humanoid followers not in HD cap
Bone Talisman for Turn Undead usage and qualification for DMM
DMM persistent echoing Consumptive Field for CL stacking to get insanely powerful animated undead

[Ravens_cry]

*etymological pet peeve* Any class with speak with dead. Without that, you're just somebody who messes around far too much in extrabiological affairs.

[Segev]

*etymological pet peeve* Any class with speak with dead. Without that, you're just somebody who messes around far too much in extrabiological affairs.

*cough* If you're really being pedantic about etymology, all a "necromancer" is is a "death user." Anybody who uses death - however one might define "using" it - is a "necromancer."

This means assassins, who use it to ply their trade, are necromancers.
As are politicians and demagogues who use death to spur their own careers.
As are soldiers, who use death to succeed on their missions.
Heck, pretty much every adventurer ever uses death in one way or another.

[Ravens_cry]

*cough* If you're really being pedantic about etymology, all a "necromancer" is is a "death user." Anybody who uses death - however one might define "using" it - is a "necromancer."

This means assassins, who use it to ply their trade, are necromancers.
As are politicians and demagogues who use death to spur their own careers.
As are soldiers, who use death to succeed on their missions.
Heck, pretty much every adventurer ever uses death in one way or another.
No, necromancer is someone who uses the dead as a form of divination (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=necromancy). A death user would closer to necroturgist, or perhaps a necrothurge, a death worker. Yes, I am being pedantic.

[Sception]

ANyway... :p

In a "normal" campaign (some dungeon delving, some city stuff, some down time, but no major faction building on the part of party members), I'd play a dread necro 20. Not the most powerful, but a nice set of thematically appropriate abilities that work well together.

In a campaign where faction building is an element, I'd still play a dread necro, but after picking up the familiar I'd bail out into pale master and take it up to the cohort at least (to join my 'leadership' and 'undead leadership' cohorts) before finishing out on dread necro, or maybe divine oracle if that could be made available, based on the control return of a cohort being better than that of going straight dread necro for a larger animate dead pool.

[RedMage125]

Cloistered Cleric all the way. Spell (or magic) and Undeath domains. Spontaneous domain variant.
Undeadize (or turn into a pos energy undead) at level 3 or ASAP
Use Anyspell to get wizard only necro spells. This qualifies one for true necro but I'd not go in.
Pretty sure Anyspell is still a divine spell, it allows you to prepare an arcane spell in your domain spell slot, but calling that "casting arcane spells" for purposes of meeting prerequisites is attempting to twist and abuse the rules.




"Early" Entry:
Dread Necromancer 1/ Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) 1 / Dread Necromancer +4 / Pale Master 2 / Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) +1 / Pale Master +8 / Ghost +1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) / Dread Necromancer +2

Alternative Entry:
Dread Necromancer 1/ Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) 1 / Dread Necromancer +5 / Pale Master 2 / Ghost (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) +1 / Pale Master +7 / Ghost +1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a) / Pale Master +1 / Dread Necromancer +2
The ghost thing is innovative.

I like it.


Feats of Note:
Versatile Spellcaster [Useful feat, "early" entry]
This is another one of those "twisting and abusing the rules". Versatile Spellcaster does not allow you to cast higher-level spell for purposes of meeting prerequisites. I've seen some people claim they can use the Domain Wizard and VS to insist on some kind of infinite loop where they get 9th level spells known at level 1.

No, just no.

You want a by-the-rules adjudication? VS allows you to cast a higher level spell known once you have expended 2 lower-level spells. In this instance, a 3rd level spell for casting two 2nd level ones. If you ever fail to meet the prerequisites of a PrC, you lose all benefits of it , other than BAB, saves, hit dice, skill points, and any (Ex) abilities. Which means the day after you level up in PM, you wake up and cannot cast vampiric touch, you lose all your PM abilities (which at level 1 is 0 abilities, lol), until you do spend two 2nd level spell slots to gain the ability to do so (even if you cast a different 3rd level spell, you don't gain THE ABILITY to cast it until you've spent the 2nd level spell slots), at which point your PM abilities would return. And this would continue EVERY DAY, no matter how many levels of PM you picked up (you would also be losing your spellcasting levels gained from PM, until you spent the 2nd level slots), until you finally went and took one more level of DN and had the ability to cast vampiric touch without resorting to levels gained from PM, and then you'd finally be a legal character and would never have to go through that again.

Same goes with ANY build that uses Versatile Spellcaster to meet prerequisites. VS does not impart the "ability to cast spells of level x+1" (where x is the highest level you can cast w/o the feat). It gives you the ability to cast spells of level x+1 ONLY AFTER 2 spell slot of level x are expended. Which means you lose the benefit of ANYTHING you were counting on "ability to cast spells of level x+1" until you actually do spend 2 slots of level x.


That said, I agree with Ellowryn. DN 20, or DN 10/Pale Master 10.

I've got an interesting take on the Dread Necromancer here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?335215-Character-Concepts-Non-Evil-Necromancer)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

True Necromancer isn't even worth considering, and Pale Master is a downgrade from whatever you add it to.

Sorcerer is the worst choice of base class on that list only because it cannot use the Ancestral Relic Runestaff trick to make up for its greatest drawback, due to alignment conflicts.

So a single-classed Dread Necromancer, (Cloistered) Cleric, Wizard, or Archivist is going to be the best choice. Dread Necro and Cleric are tied for first IMO, followed by Wizard and Archivist which are equal choices as well.

[Gildedragon]

Pretty sure Anyspell is still a divine spell, it allows you to prepare an arcane spell in your domain spell slot, but calling that "casting arcane spells" for purposes of meeting prerequisites is attempting to twist and abuse the rules.

It is abuse, but not twist. it is even cast as if by a wizard.



This is another one of those "twisting and abusing the rules". Versatile Spellcaster does not allow you to cast higher-level spell for purposes of meeting prerequisites.
Why not? it is an Xth level spell, regardless of how it was got.


I've seen some people claim they can use the Domain Wizard and VS to insist on some kind of infinite loop where they get 9th level spells known at level 1.

No, just no.
This is the elf generalist trick. It is cheesy and abusive and RAW but completely besides the point.


You want a by-the-rules adjudication? VS allows you to cast a higher level spell known once you have expended 2 lower-level spells. In this instance, a 3rd level spell for casting two 2nd level ones. If you ever fail to meet the prerequisites of a PrC, you lose all benefits of it , other than BAB, saves, hit dice, skill points, and any (Ex) abilities. Which means the day after you level up in PM, you wake up and cannot cast vampiric touch, you lose all your PM abilities (which at level 1 is 0 abilities, lol), until you do spend two 2nd level spell slots to gain the ability to do so (even if you cast a different 3rd level spell, you don't gain THE ABILITY to cast it until you've spent the 2nd level spell slots), at which point your PM abilities would return. And this would continue EVERY DAY, no matter how many levels of PM you picked up (you would also be losing your spellcasting levels gained from PM, until you spent the 2nd level slots), until you finally went and took one more level of DN and had the ability to cast vampiric touch without resorting to levels gained from PM, and then you'd finally be a legal character and would never have to go through that again.
1.- those prereq rules are only for certain prestige classes (ie: those in complete warrior and complete arcane), not all

2.- The class bootstraps you. You do not lose the casting because the spellcasting advance the class gave you is there. At no moment is the caster unable to cast their adequately leveled spells (otherwise a caster that used up all their prereq level and above spellslots would lose class benefits).
Furthermore, one must remember that VS is meant for spontaneous casters, as such as long as the spontaneous caster has 2 slots of the adequate level free they are -Capable- of casting the spell of the right level.



Same goes with ANY build that uses Versatile Spellcaster to meet prerequisites. VS does not impart the "ability to cast spells of level x+1" (where x is the highest level you can cast w/o the feat). It gives you the ability to cast spells of level x+1 ONLY AFTER 2 spell slot of level x are expended. Which means you lose the benefit of ANYTHING you were counting on "ability to cast spells of level x+1" until you actually do spend 2 slots of level x.


3.- VS does grant that ability. It explicitly does so (it needs you to do something, but that is like saying you need to spend an X level spell slot to cast an X level spell)

[Tryxx]

I think a Dread Necromancer 8/Pale Master 2/Ur-Priest 10 would be fun (can't speak to how optimal) if rebuking from Dread Necromancer and Ur-Priest can stack.

[gorfnab]

Some decent information on building necromancers can be found here: K's Revised Necromancer Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2733) and here: Reanimated Dread Necromancer Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?214212-Reanimated-Dread-Necromancer-Handbook)

[adriana]

Some decent information on building necromancers can be found here: K's Revised Necromancer Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2733) and here: Reanimated Dread Necromancer Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?214212-Reanimated-Dread-Necromancer-Handbook)

I'll second k's necromancer handbook

I recommend two ways. Either cleric with the deathboud and necromancy domain or dread necromancer. Here's a tasty nugget from the necromancer's handbook.


Most people don’t even know that the Deatbound domain was seriously changed in the errata, so it up to tell your DM about the change or not. That being said, some people are confused as to how the domain works with Desecrate, as the errata on the Deathbound domain power lets you create up to three times your caster level in undead per casting(instead of your double your caster level), and Desecrate allows you to create up to twice your usual limit of 2 HD per caster level of undead(instead of your caster level). You are thinking “How you they stack, if ever?” The answer is that we go to the rules in animate dead itself. When you cast the spell, you specifically control every creature you animate with that casting – losing only creatures from previous castings. This means that you actually can use you whole 6HD per caster level of animated dead – even though your control limit is only 4HD per caster level. This is pretty neat, as it allows a basic Necromancer to create undead armies in one go that are larger than what he can make in multiple steps. You can also make individual undead that are so large that to have a second undead servitor you’d need a Rod of Undead Mastery*.


the 6hd per casting level is nice. IMO some of the best undead are from the draconomicon. Normally you can only animate something up to 20hd with the draconomicon there is no limit on skelly or zombie dragons.

Please don't go true necromancy. It sucks major ass. My vote is cleric or dread with some corpse crafting feats.

Edit:
With the necromancy domain you can get command undead. This with a few meta rods of twin spells lets you mass a whole army of undead. that are desecrated and kick ass. For example you animate undead via the spell in a desecrated area with an alter. You then cast command on them with the rod of twin spell, now they're under your control but don't count towards your total HD for animate undead. You then proceed to animate more powerful undead. Another nugget is rebuking shadows or wights. Anything they kill turn into spawn that they control. Since you control the shadow or wight you indirectly control their spawn and it doesn't count towards your limit. Also the undead you command through rebuke doesn't count towards your total HD that you control from animate undead.

Just a few more nuggets to throw out.

[RedMage125]

Why not? it is an Xth level spell, regardless of how it was got.
This is the elf generalist trick. It is cheesy and abusive and RAW but completely besides the point.
It's not even RAW. It's twisting words and word semantics by someone who is more interesting in "winning" D&D than playing the game. Anyone who actually tries to claim they can do that at a table of D&D should be immediately ejected from the game.


1.- those prereq rules are only for certain prestige classes (ie: those in complete warrior and complete arcane), not all
Incorrect. Saying that would be like claiming Quicken Spell is a free action and not a swift one as long as you Quicken a PHB spell, and not one from a later source. It was a rules clarification that superceded the ambiguity of the Core Books, which did not say anything on the matter.

Munchkin Fallacy: "Just because the rules don't say that I can't do this, it must mean that I can".


2.- The class bootstraps you. You do not lose the casting because the spellcasting advance the class gave you is there. At no moment is the caster unable to cast their adequately leveled spells (otherwise a caster that used up all their prereq level and above spellslots would lose class benefits).
Furthermore, one must remember that VS is meant for spontaneous casters, as such as long as the spontaneous caster has 2 slots of the adequate level free they are -Capable- of casting the spell of the right level.And really only useful for ones that spontaneously cast off their whole list. A level 4 Sorcerer, for example, doesn't KNOW any 3rd level spells, so VS would be useless.



3.- VS does grant that ability. It explicitly does so (it needs you to do something, but that is like saying you need to spend an X level spell slot to cast an X level spell)
Not the same at all, because you don't have access to spell slots of level "x+1". You gain the ability to "cast a spell of level 'x+1' when expending 2 spell slots of level 'x'". So until you actually expend 2 slots of level "x", you don't have the ability to cast level "x+1", because you can't just cast a level "x+1" spell from a "x+1" spell slot.



I think a Dread Necromancer 8/Pale Master 2/Ur-Priest 10 would be fun (can't speak to how optimal) if rebuking from Dread Necromancer and Ur-Priest can stack.
They explicitly do stack. A DN 8/PM 2/Ur-Priest 10 rebukes as an 18th level cleric.

[shadowseve]

I'll second k's necromancer handbook

I recommend two ways. Either cleric with the deathboud and necromancy domain or dread necromancer. Here's a tasty nugget from the necromancer's handbook.



the 6hd per casting level is nice. IMO some of the best undead are from the draconomicon. Normally you can only animate something up to 20hd with the draconomicon there is no limit on skelly or zombie dragons.

Please don't go true necromancy. It sucks major ass. My vote is cleric or dread with some corpse crafting feats.

Edit:
With the necromancy domain you can get command undead. This with a few meta rods of twin spells lets you mass a whole army of undead. that are desecrated and kick ass. For example you animate undead via the spell in a desecrated area with an alter. You then cast command on them with the rod of twin spell, now they're under your control but don't count towards your total HD for animate undead. You then proceed to animate more powerful undead. Another nugget is rebuking shadows or wights. Anything they kill turn into spawn that they control. Since you control the shadow or wight you indirectly control their spawn and it doesn't count towards your limit. Also the undead you command through rebuke doesn't count towards your total HD that you control from animate undead.

Just a few more nuggets to throw out.

pretty much ^ this. She knows her undead.

[Gildedragon]

Red Mage: I take exception with your implications that anyone that doesn't see things the way you do, or plays as you deem "adequate" should be, and I paraphrase: be kicked out of games, and that must be more interested in "winning than playing". I find it a pretty objectionable stance and one I can't discuss against.



And really only useful for ones that spontaneously cast off their whole list. A level 4 Sorcerer, for example, doesn't KNOW any 3rd level spells, so VS would be useless.
Indeed. But they could metamagic to that level. Or it could help a level drained sorcerer cast a higher level spell...



Not the same at all, because you don't have access to spell slots of level "x+1". You gain the ability to "cast a spell of level 'x+1' when expending 2 spell slots of level 'x'". So until you actually expend 2 slots of level "x", you don't have the ability to cast level "x+1", because you can't just cast a level "x+1" spell from a "x+1" spell slot.

Spell slot access isn't what is asked for. It doesn't say "cast x level spells from an x level slot" or anything of the like.
What it asks for is the ability, and you have the ability to do so.
-----

A very... classical-understanding of necromancer can also be done by the Ancestral Speaker variant cleric, where essentially spirits of the dead can boost your skills, saves, etc, instead of turning; bonuses to social skills against the undead, and boosted resurrection capacities.

[OldTrees1]

This is another one of those "twisting and abusing the rules". Versatile Spellcaster does not allow you to cast higher-level spell for purposes of meeting prerequisites. I've seen some people claim they can use the Domain Wizard and VS to insist on some kind of infinite loop where they get 9th level spells known at level 1.

No, just no.

You want a by-the-rules adjudication? VS allows you to cast a higher level spell known once you have expended 2 lower-level spells. In this instance, a 3rd level spell for casting two 2nd level ones. If you ever fail to meet the prerequisites of a PrC, you lose all benefits of it , other than BAB, saves, hit dice, skill points, and any (Ex) abilities. Which means the day after you level up in PM, you wake up and cannot cast vampiric touch, you lose all your PM abilities (which at level 1 is 0 abilities, lol), until you do spend two 2nd level spell slots to gain the ability to do so (even if you cast a different 3rd level spell, you don't gain THE ABILITY to cast it until you've spent the 2nd level spell slots), at which point your PM abilities would return.

First: I includes 2 progressions for a reason.

Second: Even with the interpretation you are using (which is the one I personally use), it still is worthwhile. You use VS to enter the PrC early but do not gain any benefit from the class until the 2nd level of the class improves your spellcasting from 5th to 6th level(thus fulfilling the prereqs all of the time).

[Vaz]

An Archivist can pick up Deathbound by Catalogues of Enlightenment.

If they stack all of their castings of Consumptive Field, then you're looking at a CL of 225 for 6 castings, and that's not including the echoed spells. Don't dragons ignore the CL max like skele's/zombies etc? Make it a fast (LM) zombie dragon for further fun.

[Gemini476]

Actually, wouldn't a Spirit Shaman/Contemplative (with the Pact domain) fit the basic divination-via-the-dead thing pretty well? Thematically, at least.

Although going straight cleric is probably better.

[RedMage125]

Red Mage: I take exception with your implications that anyone that doesn't see things the way you do, or plays as you deem "adequate" should be, and I paraphrase: be kicked out of games, and that must be more interested in "winning than playing". I find it a pretty objectionable stance and one I can't discuss against.


I'm perfectly willing to accept people who think in manners other than my own. I have no problem with people who's preferences are different then my own. I honestly have no trouble with people who prefer "kick in the door" style, of investigative, I welcome all at my table, and will try to have something for everyone (obviously hard to do all at the same time).

But someone who HONESTLY tried to pull the Elven RSL General Specialist + Versatile Spellcaster bull**** (the one where they claim they get a cascading effect that lets them cast 9th level spells at level 1) at my table would be asked to leave. There is NO WAY anyone actually thinks that such is RAW legal. It is not. And anyone who thought that they were so clever as to be able to try and weasel that past me and think I'd be dumb enough to think it's legal is too self-absorbed and only concerned with being "better" than everyone else to be of much value in a cooperative game like D&D.

That's what I meant.

[OldTrees1]

I'm perfectly willing to accept people who think in manners other than my own. I have no problem with people who's preferences are different then my own. I honestly have no trouble with people who prefer "kick in the door" style, of investigative, I welcome all at my table, and will try to have something for everyone (obviously hard to do all at the same time).

But someone who HONESTLY tried to pull the Elven RSL General Specialist + Versatile Spellcaster bull**** (the one where they claim they get a cascading effect that lets them cast 9th level spells at level 1) at my table would be asked to leave. There is NO WAY anyone actually thinks that such is RAW legal. It is not. And anyone who thought that they were so clever as to be able to try and weasel that past me and think I'd be dumb enough to think it's legal is too self-absorbed and only concerned with being "better" than everyone else to be of much value in a cooperative game like D&D.

That's what I meant.

Generally people will misunderstand you less if you make fewer excessively hyperbolic non-sequiters. Nobody in this thread mentioned anything close to the cascading effect. You bringing it up merely to beat it down made you seem unnecessarily antagonistic.

[RedMage125]

Generally people will misunderstand you less if you make fewer excessively hyperbolic non-sequiters. Nobody in this thread mentioned anything close to the cascading effect. You bringing it up merely to beat it down made you seem unnecessarily antagonistic.

It's not non-sequitur, it was directly related to the Versatile Spellcaster shenanigans.

[OldTrees1]

It's not non-sequitur, it was directly related to the Versatile Spellcaster shenanigans.

In the same way Pun Pun is related to Kobold PCs. If no one was suggesting a cascade, then bringing up cascade only to beat it down is the textbook definition of a strawman.

[RedMage125]

In the same way Pun Pun is related to Kobold PCs. If no one was suggesting a cascade, then bringing up cascade only to beat it down is the textbook definition of a strawman.

Look, all I'm saying is that Versatile Spellcaster is not, by RAW, a valid means to acquire "early entry" into a PrC. Your second progression was totally legit. I'm even a big fan of going with a ghostly necromancer. Totally original.

EDIT: I realized after I hit submit that the last bit may come across sounding sarcastic. It is not.

[Karnith]

What about Yathrinshee?
Adding it into the pool of available PrCs doesn't really change the analysis that much. There are precious few builds I can imagine that would ever want Yathrinshee levels, and pretty much all of them are just worse versions of other theurge builds, since all Yathrinshee really adds that you might want is CL-stacking (which is usually better obtained by divine/theurge casters via Consumptive Field shenanigans).

That said, I have some old build skeletons based around using True Necromancer and/or Yathrinshee:

Pretty much the only reason to ever actually take levels in True Necromancer is to abuse the caster level increases. This is probably best accomplished by having a way to stack your caster levels from your arcane and divine casting combined with early entry tricks to minimize your casting losses. A level in Yathrinshee (from Player's Guide to Faerun) to get that class's Necromancer ability will let you do this for your necromancy spells, as will the feat Theurgic Specialist (from Dragon Magazine 325). Take note that maximizing your caster level like this is very feat-intensive, so the builds work best if flaws, Chaos Shuffling, worshiping Elder Evils, and other ways to get bonus feats are allowed.
So, one basic builds would probably look like (Lesser) Drow Wizard 1/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 1/True Necromancer 4/Yathrinshee 1/TN 10, using Precocious Apprentice to cheat into Mystic Theurge. You normally need to delay Yathrinshee until level 10 because of the feats required; take it as early as possible if you have some means of getting extra feats early. You'd also want to take Practiced Spellcaster on both sides of your progression to maximize your CL. You'd end up with 7th-level spells on your Wizard side and 8th-level spells on your Cleric side at 20th level, with a caster level of 46 (assuming that you can get Necromantic Prowess to apply after Practiced Spellcaster) for Necromancy spells. Also, it bears mentioning that if your DM is slavishly devoted to the written fluff, Kiaranselee doesn't offer the Death domain and hence you can't actually take levels in Yathrinshee and True Necromancer.
With a few alterations to the previous build, you can get 9ths at the price of a lower CL and fewer TN levels and abilities. Drow Wizard 1/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 1/True Necromancer 5/Yathrinshee 3/Mystic Theurge 7 gets you 9ths on your Cleric side and 8ths on your Wizard side, with your CL for Necromancy spells at 41.

And, yes, removing True Necromancer levels did improve the build, to the surprise of precisely no one.
If you can get something like Southern Magician allowed and have access to Dragon Magazine, you can use Theurgic Specialist instead of Yathrinshee to stack your caster levels, and go Wizard 3/Cleric 1/Mystic Theurge 1/True Necromancer 14/Mystic Theurge 1, which ends up with Wizard 9ths and Cleric 8ths. Taking into account Practiced Spellcaster on both sides, you end up with a caster level of 47 for Necromancy spells (again assuming that you can get Necromantic Prowess to apply after Practiced Spellcaster).
Or you can be a NecroCheat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272556) and enter from Sha'ir, which gets silly fast.

[OldTrees1]

Look, all I'm saying is that Versatile Spellcaster is not, by RAW, a valid means to acquire "early entry" into a PrC. Your second progression was totally legit. I'm even a big fan of going with a ghostly necromancer. Totally original.

EDIT: I realized after I hit submit that the last bit may come across sounding sarcastic. It is not.

1) I understand what you are saying. I was saying that the strawman was one factor that contributed to people misunderstanding you.

2) You did say that Versatile Spellcaster is, by RAW, a valid means of entering and progressing a PrC at the cost of lacking access to the class features until you retroactively constantly fulfill the prerequisites. (Aka Pale Master 2 in my case). So both progressions are legit by the interpretation you said.

PS: I noticed the sincerity when you first complemented the idea of Ghost.
PPS: I am not the best identifier of tone, but I believe your 2nd to last sentence ensure your last sentence is taken as sincere.

[Vedhin]

Adding it into the pool of available PrCs doesn't really change the analysis that much. There are precious few builds I can imagine that would ever want Yathrinshee levels, and pretty much all of them are just worse versions of other theurge builds, since all Yathrinshee really adds that you might want is CL-stacking (which is usually better obtained by divine/theurge casters via Consumptive Field shenanigans).

That said, I have some old build skeletons based around using True Necromancer and/or Yathrinshee:

Curse of the Revenancer is pretty neat though.

Though when it comes to hordes of zombies, Animate Infectious Zombie can't be beat. You just need to invest in other means of controlling undead.