Recommendations for Undead Cohort (3.5)

[Chester]

At level 12, my group is OK with me taking Undead Leadership.

Dread Necromancer, Charisma score 20 (22 with Cloak of Charisma; plus I'll have a bonus stat point to put somewhere).

Not quite sure what to do about my cohort / followers. I was thinking a Ghost Priest of Hades with the Graft Flesh feat, but I'm wondering what other suggestions you all might have.

Follower ideas are good, too! :smallbiggrin:

[sideswipe]

how about a necropoliton wiz/cleric/druid?

as followers, level 1's should all be elven archer skeletons, and the higher level ones possibly being shadows under your control if you are allowed.

[Ellowryn]

Depends on what you want it to do.

For minionmancers then a DFI bard (with that feat that allows their music to affect undead. Edit: Requiem) will be your best bet.

Or you could do a cleric and give it all your undead crafting stuff, leaving you to take more offensive feats.

[OldTrees1]

Have your Cohort be your dedicated Corpsecrafter.
Necropolitian Human Necromancer(Enhance Undead) 1 / Dread Necromancer 8 with the Corpsecrafter feats and Fell Energy + Eclectic Learning(Desecrate)/Arcane Disciple(Domain with Desecrate).

This is a bigger force multiplier than even a DFI Bard. (although they are a good 2nd pick via your 6th level followers)

[Chester]

how about a necropoliton wiz/cleric/druid?

as followers, level 1's should all be elven archer skeletons, and the higher level ones possibly being shadows under your control if you are allowed.

Love the follower ideas--where do I find elven archer skeletons? Necropolitan works, but as the party has a Druid / Sorcerer / Arcane Heirophant, I might want to move away from the arcane druid thing.


Depends on what you want it to do.

For minionmancers then a DFI bard (with that feat that allows their music to affect undead. Edit: Requiem) will be your best bet.

Or you could do a cleric and give it all your undead crafting stuff, leaving you to take more offensive feats.

Yeah, I like crafting stuff . . . hence the idea of Graft Flesh.


Have your Cohort be your dedicated Corpsecrafter.
Necropolitian Human Necromancer(Enhance Undead) 1 / Dread Necromancer 8 with the Corpsecrafter feats and Fell Energy + Eclectic Learning(Desecrate)/Arcane Disciple(Domain with Desecrate).

This is a bigger force multiplier than even a DFI Bard. (although they are a good 2nd pick via your 6th level followers)

I see where you're going there, but truth be told, I'm just not into making my cohort another Dread Necro. (That's just my own personal thing, though your idea makes perfect sense.)

I like the idea of a cohort who can graft flesh and create items--he won't be seeing too much combat, and I'm not really optimizing my undead hordes....could a priest/crafter of some kind work? (Necropolitan, most likely.)

[Urpriest]

Love the follower ideas--where do I find elven archer skeletons? Necropolitan works, but as the party has a Druid / Sorcerer / Arcane Heirophant, I might want to move away from the arcane druid thing.



Yeah, I like crafting stuff . . . hence the idea of Graft Flesh.



I see where you're going there, but truth be told, I'm just not into making my cohort another Dread Necro. (That's just my own personal thing, though your idea makes perfect sense.)

I like the idea of a cohort who can graft flesh and create items--he won't be seeing too much combat, and I'm not really optimizing my undead hordes....could a priest/crafter of some kind work? (Necropolitan, most likely.)

Necropolitan Cleric would work fine for a Priest/Crafter/Grafter-type, if you're ok with sticking to Undead Grafts anyway. Archivist might be a bit better, for a wider range of spells and thus craftable items. There's a bit more trickery involved in getting the full set of grafting feats online via Fleshwarper if you're interested in going that route.

For elven archer skeletons, just kill elven archers. :smalltongue:

[OldTrees1]

Yeah, I like crafting stuff . . . hence the idea of Graft Flesh.

Then you should have a Grafter as your Cohort. However since crafting requires xp, your Cohort will want to tag along with the party to earn their share of the xp(since cohorts don't automatically level up when you do).

Grafter:
Necropolitian Cleric/Archvist of ___ 9 with 2 flaws (as long as the class has Heal as a class skill)
Feats:
1st - Apprentice(Craftsman) [DMG II] <+2 competence to craft, -10% raw material gp cost, Appraise and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) are class skills>
Flaw - Favored(Religious Guild) [Cityscape] <misc>
Flaw - Primary Contact(Religious Guild) [Cityscape] <Heal max ranks are HD+4, misc>
3rd - Exceptional Artisan [ECS] <The time it takes to craft is reduced by 25%>
6th - Graft Flesh*
9th - Magical Artisan [PGF] <multiply the base price by 75% before determining the cost of xp and the raw materials>

*Gained at 6th via Primary Contact's extra rank in Heal

Grafting
Time: 3 days per 4000gp in market price (3/4th a day per 1000gp)
Gold cost: 33.75% of market price(75%*90%*50%)
XP cost: 3% of market price (75%*4%)

[Chester]

Then you should have a Grafter as your Cohort. However since crafting requires xp, your Cohort will want to tag along with the party to earn their share of the xp(since cohorts don't automatically level up when you do).

Grafter:
Necropolitian Cleric/Archvist of ___ 9 with 2 flaws (as long as the class has Heal as a class skill)
Feats:
1st - Apprentice(Craftsman) [DMG II] <+2 competence to craft, -10% raw material gp cost, Appraise and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) are class skills>
Flaw - Favored(Religious Guild) [Cityscape] <misc>
Flaw - Primary Contact(Religious Guild) [Cityscape] <Heal max ranks are HD+4, misc>
3rd - Exceptional Artisan [ECS] <The time it takes to craft is reduced by 25%>
6th - Graft Flesh*
9th - Magical Artisan [PGF] <multiply the base price by 75% before determining the cost of xp and the raw materials>

*Gained at 6th via Primary Contact's extra rank in Heal

Grafting
Time: 3 days per 4000gp in market price (3/4th a day per 1000gp)
Gold cost: 33.75% of market price(75%*90%*50%)
XP cost: 3% of market price (75%*4%)

This looks . . . fantastic!

Now, if I wanted to consider Fleshwarper for this, would some levels of an arcane spellcaster be advisable? I'm thinking that if I build this around Graft Flesh, I should at least open it up to some more options.

[Urpriest]

This looks . . . fantastic!

Now, if I wanted to consider Fleshwarper for this, would some levels of an arcane spellcaster be advisable? I'm thinking that if I build this around Graft Flesh, I should at least open it up to some more options.

It's probably better to do it with a divine build that gets a familiar. Mystic Wanderer, a PrC from Magic of Faerun (maybe updated?) will get you one.

[OldTrees1]

This looks . . . fantastic!

Now, if I wanted to consider Fleshwarper for this, would some levels of an arcane spellcaster be advisable? I'm thinking that if I build this around Graft Flesh, I should at least open it up to some more options.

As UrPriest said Mystic Wanderer is a good option (you can pick up Iron Will by being Human or by visiting the Otyugh Hole for 3000gp)

[Milo v3]

(you can pick up Iron Will ... by visiting the Otyugh Hole for 3000gp)

.... I have no idea what the Otyugh Hole is in this context, but.... I'd be willing to let characters get Iron Will for visiting a Otyugh hole just to prove they can survive the stink.

[OldTrees1]

.... I have no idea what the Otyugh Hole is in this context, but.... I'd be willing to let characters get Iron Will for visiting a Otyugh hole just to prove they can survive the stink.

Basically it is a "prison" so vile that survivors gain a feat from a short list (Iron Will and Extend Rage are examples of the feats). It counts at 3000gp worth of wealth against wealth by level.

[sideswipe]

Love the follower ideas--where do I find elven archer skeletons? Necropolitan works, but as the party has a Druid / Sorcerer / Arcane Heirophant, I might want to move away from the arcane druid thing.


well the skeletons are just because elves have +2 dex and -2 con.... so they are just normal skeletons who can use longbows and elven stuff and have +2 dex.