Cohort ideas for a Necromancer BBEG?

[ILM]

I've got this high-level general-of-undeath type adversary and he gets a free ECL 17 undead cohort courtesy of his Pale Master levels. I'd like some kind of support guy.

Problem: I've already done the buffer-Bard, the debuffer-Paladin/Hexblade/what-have-you, and I rather dislike clerics (*crowd gasps* - I have less problems with more restricted divine casters like Favored Souls). Thematically, I was thinking about making a vampire lord with a bunch of (DM-fiat) spawns, but I'm not sure what to do with the 9 remaining levels. Marshal is rather uninspiring beyond the first couple of levels, I have a thematic issue with DFAs (a dragon breathing fire is cool; a halfling breathing fire sounds like a circus act), and I'm not sure how the BBEG - god-king of a secluded city-state in an inhospitable region, populated with undead and other unwelcome creatures, quite a few of which he created and/or are under his direct control - would benefit from a factotum-type cohort.

So basically, I'm stumped and I come to you for cool, flavorful, practical ideas :).

[Septimus]

Once, I made a epic level bard with a cohort, and decide myself for a rogue/wizard/unseen seer lich. ECL 17 means a 13 HD lich and so quite a decent scout/investigator.

m2c

[Silva Stormrage]

Fiend of Possession + Savage Species Ghost. Use Legacy Champion/Uncanny Trickster or bloodlines to progress fiend of possession further.


Use the Fiend's ability to enhance weapons (It will add +6 enhancement bonus if you don't use legacy champion) to enhance the weapon of a particularly tough skeleton or zombie (Giants or outsiders and the like) and boost the weapon into ludicrously dangerous proportions. The fiend can also give the main BBEG and every other undead +4 bonus to all stats. It can be an amazing scout as well and in combat it can use its telekinesis ability while possessing a weapon.

The plus side? If they kill whoever is holding the weapon the cohort can just posses another weapon or stalk the PC's as they pick up the weapon as loot.

Finally, depending on how you interpret the Fiend of Possesion's 2nd level ability curse, it could be ludicrously dangerous. The ability states that anyone "Touching" the possessed item has to make a will save or be cursed as bestow curse. It doesn't say anything about having to hold the item or willingly touch it as well as no clause about a single save renders them immune. So thus it looks like to me that the RAW seems to state that every time an enemy is hit by a weapon possessed by a fiend of possession the enemy has to make a will save or be cursed.

[Ivanhoe]

I know you have done the buffer-bard, but a vampire bard (male or female, as appropriate) with the requiem feat would be quite stylish, I guess (creepy, too, if you like to include background music during play; you could get a "vampire bard" theme whenever that foul minion is somewhere near).
Nice synergy with CHR, plenty of nice interaction potential with the group.

Alternatively, you could emulate the assassin-like minion role of Gamora or Nebular in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie (i.e. a cohort forced into service for the BBEG, hating him, hating her/himself, possibly able to -tragically or not - switch the sides to the pcs). Then she would be a vampire rogue/assassin/insertRAndomToBclass. Her spawn minions with some ToB tricks as well.

In both cases, the cohort could serve as a link to the outside world for the BBEG (secluded in his sunken undead city); as some kind of ambassador or with a special quest.

[Daishain]

Spellstitched necropolitan bard with levels in War Chanter and/or Dirgesinger.

You can have the cohort literally play, sing, or chant spooky ambient music that bolsters and spurs on the entire mass of shuffling undead, and when that isn't enough, they have multiple spells and SLAs to bring to bear.

Edit: ninjaed, it seems the bard is a popular suggestion for this.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

With the author suggested class fixes from the Compiled Shadowcaster Handbook...
Shadowcaster 3/ Wizard 3/ Noctumancer 10/ Mystic Theurge 4
Probably with Lich-loved.

Undead and darkness/shadow plane magic seem like a natural fit.

[Waker]

How about an Artificer? He could serve as a back-up necromancer with access to all the various Inflict spells, Animate Dead, yada yada. He can also see to the day-to-day item crafting while he master can focus on the more important matters of ruling with an iron fist.

[Coidzor]

I figure Artificer or a Martial Champion type with White-Raven focused Crusader or Warblade and maybe some Marshal both sound good.

An Artificer could bring in a horde of constructs to mix it up with the undead as part of a mixed force. And be a potential source of grafts...

[atemu1234]

I second (third? fourth?) Artificer. Magic Items FTW!

[ILM]

Well, the BBEG is an NPC, so he already gets basically whatever magic items I think he needs (roughly within WBL, sure, but still). I don't think I need the extra oomph of an artificer. I guess he could be the guy crafting stuff for the army, but I think that's more of a DM fiat thing.

Plus, that doesn't sound like an interesting NPC for the party to confront. What does defeating him get them? Tons of magic items? Meh. Those he already made for whoever won't disappear when he's gone, so the party doesn't really have anything to gain from going after the blacksmith... I mean, as a PC cohort it'd be a great idea but I don't think it's as compelling for an NPC.

White Raven stuff might be interesting; like I said I've already done the bard/song of the white raven thing, but a pure martial character could be fun. Eh, maybe toss in a Marshal dip for flavour too.

[Martimus Prime]

Unpopular opinion inbound, but ghost truespeaker/warblade with white raven maneuvers might be a thing. Proceed to use quickened utterances, white raven tactics, belt of battle, and temporal twist to bend the action economy over your knee, buffing your allies with things like caster lens and stripping buffs from the PCs with broken dispel while still being able to gish with a ghost touch weapon and feats like knowledge devotion. When things get hairy, ghost through dungeon walls and come back to harass the PCs later. Best of all, it often doesn't stay dead for long even if it does get caught out and destroyed (just ghost things).