Necromancer!

[GutterFace]

So I am going to try and build a fully legitimate and function necromancer. Wizard-Necromancer that is. With no multiclassing available for the time being.
so before I begin to roll him up and get everything ready, does anyone have any actual playing experience with a necromancer in 5?
what should i look out for or be aware of? how do the undead stand up as levels go on?
anything you wish you had done or other tips would be welcomed!

and yes i have read both wizard 5e handbooks, and yes i know about the villainous classes in the DMG.
and no, i don't want to be a Cleric (again).

Im looking for a more personal insight into this with people that have actual play experience with a wizard necromancer, please.

[MrStabby]

I realise I have been saying this more than usual but make sure it is fun.

I played one as a one shot character and he was powerful but boring. So many skeletons but such boring fights and few meaningful decisions to make. Of course as a wizard, at a modest level, you get some decent out of combat spells as well.

A specific answer to a specific question - the undead do stand up well but keep them spaced out. One AoE spell and you lose a lot. Dont dump all your spell slots into them as it could go horribly wrong.


Probably not what you want to hear but for fun I would go to level six as a necromancer then add death domain cleric (the comment about "for the time being" might get you to 6th level). Animate dead, as your iconic ability scales will spell slots and takes the pressure of needing to learn high level spells. Reaper boosts your at-will damage and using spiritual weapon and spiritual guardians as you summoning ghosts to do damage fits the theme.

Another character I wanted to play but instead used as a hostile NPC was a Necromancer Oathbreaker. I don't know if this counts as "playing" the character but he was powerful, fun and versatile and I would be happy to wheel him out in a game. The problem is that it really should go Paladin first if you want the armour proficiency (so multi-classing out - "for the time being" I am guessing will be after lvl2).

[Dark Ass4ssin 1]

I am currently running a necromancer in 5 with the whole cleshe spiel of " being a necromancer doesn't automatically make you evil."

But as far as how he plays... well... it's not as exciting as you might think. Trust me the allure of commanding an army of the undead is what tempted me to play him, but it gets boring with no real meaning to combat.

[GutterFace]

thanks guys. i was afraid it was going to be lack luster. i mean skeletons and zombies dont have skills right? so i can make them do cool things besides take a hit?
how do i handle going into a town with my....um new friends

[MrStabby]

To be clear, I don't think it is lacking in power being a necromancer just that your best trick can kind of use up all your resources and leave you with nothing fun to do. Necromancy is a nice addition to a character but you need to ensure you have other toys to play with as well. And lets be clear - a horde of undead is a pretty awesome toy to have.

The undead actually stack up pretty well at high levels due to the whole bounded accuracy system. Even innacurate attacks still have a decent enough chance of hitting and with the extra damage from being a necromancer you will be inflicting a lot of pain through your minions. The problem is that they are delicate - especially when AoE attacks cone flying about. By itself it isnt an issue as you have more spell slots and can raise more but it does turn the adventure into an exercise in bookkeeping when you have 15 skeletons each with different hitpoints and in different positions.

Regarding going to town... leave them outside, stick them in a demiplane, disguise small numbers of them, put some in a litter (clowns in a car style - skeletons should be able to fold up pretty well without flesh getting in the way). Or, at higher level just march them in - seriously you just invaded the town with undead, you kind of solved your own problem (although you may make enemies if you just go round invading places).

[Joe the Rat]

Going to town. Get a box wagon with a lock. The undead are perfectly capable of holding still. If you go with skeletons, there's less of a smell issue. If you really like zombies, stock up on frankincense and say you're a spice merchant.

The lock is to keep people out.

I have a necromancer in my group (Cleric style, but this is relevant), and the biggest issue so far is getting the creepy Master of Undeath feel before level 5. Accoutrements are needed. I recommend adding Find Familiar to your spellbook. See if your DM would let you have an undead familiar. Mr. Squeakers the Zombie Squirrel has been all sorts of fun. (If not, I suppose you could take a crow that will sit there on your shoulder and loom menacingly). Unseen Servant is another flavor option. Ghost Valet!

Flavoring up your spell descriptions can help as well. Magic Missiles that look like little screaming phantoms, Hold Person having the feel of spectral chains binding down the target, your shield looks like a ghostly face stretched across a shadowy circle... and then the lips start moving. You know, normal wizard stuff, only be extra creepy with it.

[Millface]

I have played a Necromancer for quite some time in 5e

the trick to making it fun is making the character's personality fun. I play a Deep Gnome with severe social anxiety around the living, but who is charismatic as hell when dealing with undead. He doesn't just use his zombies, they're his friends. He dresses them up, names them, spends his rests talking at them, etc. If one dies he is heartbroken, he's very protective.

All in all its fun as hell from a roleplay standpoint, not as much from a rollplay perspective. It's not boring there, you still have a fair bit of battlefield control that you can lay out while your undead bash things or pew things, but the draw to playing a necromancer to me is the diverse emotions and quirks a character like that can have.

Depends on your play style!

[critter3of4]

Enlarge spell. A 2nd level spell to buff your pet zombie. Concentration for 1 minute. Adds d4 weapon damage and advantage on strength checks.

I played an AL game where a guy used this trick.

[druid91]

Enlarge spell. A 2nd level spell to buff your pet zombie. Concentration for 1 minute. Adds d4 weapon damage and advantage on strength checks.

I played an AL game where a guy used this trick.

The BETTER use for that is to use the reduce half of that, and find something large size and reduce it to medium, then Animate it and then drop concentration on the reduce.

Ogre Zombies.

[critter3of4]

^^ nice! ^^

[GutterFace]

The BETTER use for that is to use the reduce half of that, and find something large size and reduce it to medium, then Animate it and then drop concentration on the reduce.

Ogre Zombies.

i thought you couldn't cast another spell while concentrating on an ongoing spell....otherwise this is awesome

[JNAProductions]

You can't cast a second concentration spell.

[Naanomi]

Consider wizard/sorcerer or wizard/warlock if undead hordes are going to be your main schtick

[MaxWilson]

The BETTER use for that is to use the reduce half of that, and find something large size and reduce it to medium, then Animate it and then drop concentration on the reduce.

Ogre Zombies.

This doesn't work. According to the PHB "Longer Casting Times" section, a spell which takes more than one action to cast requires your concentration for the whole casting duration. Plus, Ogres aren't humanoids anyway, they are giants, so Animate Dead just doesn't work on them.

My experience with necromancers (both as player and as DM) is that you're torn between wanting lots of skeletons so you can easily handle anything you meet, and wanting only a handful of skeletons because lots of skeletons is overkill, boring, and problematic from a RP perspective. Definitely do keep them spaced out, with standing orders to e.g. "you four, shoot anything that Cranduin attacks; you eight, shoot anything that Eladriel shoots," so that you don't have to be within 60' of them to have them shoot. Up-armor them with scale mail or breastplates for better AC, and give them heavy crossbows or longbows (for damage or range, respectively). Inspired Leader from someone who speaks their language (or a Warlock of Cthulhu) makes them more resilient to AoE spells.

In many ways I actually kind of like the fact that necromancers make combats boring, because it keeps the focus on awesome stuff that happens in non-combat and pre-combat, and not on rolling attacks and damage during combat. (Because the skeletons will pretty much annihilate anything you fight, as long as you bring enough ammunition.) But do be prepared for other PCs to scout ahead of you and your skeletons; they'll handle any minor threats on their own and call you in as an airstrike if they need to. Allow them to have fun without calling in Big Brother Backup, and the game will still be fun. You can send an Earth Elemental along with them to represent you, or even come along yourself but leave the skeletons behind.

[GiantOctopodes]

This doesn't work. According to the PHB "Longer Casting Times" section, a spell which takes more than one action to cast requires your concentration for the whole casting duration. Plus, Ogres aren't humanoids anyway, they are giants, so Animate Dead just doesn't work on them.


As to the first point, you can easily have someone else concentrating on the "reduce" while you do your work. However the point regarding it being humanoid is certainly true. I looked through the MM, and could not find a single large humanoid in it, they're all monstrosities, abberations, giants, or whatever else. Makes you wonder how those Ogre and Beholder Zombies, and Minotaur and Warhorse Skeletons are coming into existence. And I mean come on, what kind of Necromancer are you if you're not riding on a Warhorse Skeleton?

[Naanomi]

Ride? How droll, zombies carrying my palanquin now that has style!

[GiantOctopodes]

Ride? How droll, zombies carrying my palanquin now that has style!

Man, that just made me think of a frail, crippled gnome or halfling necromancer, who gets carried around by his unseen servant at lower levels, then his zombies in a palanquin at higher levels, who plays it off like he's diffident and can't be bothered to walk anywhere but who actually lacks the use of his legs. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Millface]

As to the first point, you can easily have someone else concentrating on the "reduce" while you do your work. However the point regarding it being humanoid is certainly true. I looked through the MM, and could not find a single large humanoid in it, they're all monstrosities, abberations, giants, or whatever else. Makes you wonder how those Ogre and Beholder Zombies, and Minotaur and Warhorse Skeletons are coming into existence. And I mean come on, what kind of Necromancer are you if you're not riding on a Warhorse Skeleton?

I like how it is in that you can cheese it with create undead and control undead to have zombies, then you have wights who have zombies, then you land control on a mummy lord and have a mummy lord with zombies. You can overall have a bigger force than you could in 3e.

That said, I miss it being about HD, not creature type or size. Zombies appear to have 3 HD, and at the end of the day I can have about 130 of those, plus a mummy lord that has god knows how much HD, but I can't have a skeletal horse or a zombie giant? PFFFT. Bogus.

[2E Phoinex]

I'm having fun with my necromancer in part because the rest of the party doesn't know that he is a necromancer. The ranger has undead as a species enemy and Necromancy is very taboo in our world so my neutral good Necromancer has to be very careful about who gets let in on his dirty little secret. I keep a journal that I update while the other players are doing their thing with horrible experiments and cold observations on party members. If he dies and they read it the ranger will flip. Makes his death a much more acceptable scenario for me as a player.

He has finally reached 6th level and is getting ready to start experimenting with animation.

Grim harvest disappointingly doesn't come up that much for me. The way I see it with most wizard builds you are either basically at full health or almost dead. There isn't a whole lot of in between stages there for you to find the meager hit points grim harvest brings you useful.

And as has been said, other than grim harvest, it's hard to feel very necromancery with the rest of your abilities until level 6. My journal has helped with that but it takes some sort of role playing effort to make the necromancer fun and usable.

[Millface]

I'm having fun with my necromancer in part because the rest of the party doesn't know that he is a necromancer. The ranger has undead as a species enemy and Necromancy is very taboo in our world so my neutral good Necromancer has to be very careful about who gets let in on his dirty little secret. I keep a journal that I update while the other players are doing their thing with horrible experiments and cold observations on party members. If he dies and they read it the ranger will flip. Makes his death a much more acceptable scenario for me as a player.

He has finally reached 6th level and is getting ready to start experimenting with animation.

Grim harvest disappointingly doesn't come up that much for me. The way I see it with most wizard builds you are either basically at full health or almost dead. There isn't a whole lot of in between stages there for you to find the meager hit points grim harvest brings you useful.

And as has been said, other than grim harvest, it's hard to feel very necromancery with the rest of your abilities until level 6. My journal has helped with that but it takes some sort of role playing effort to make the necromancer fun and usable.


Playing with a Ranger like that is going to make that difficult, haha wow. I hide my necromancy with portable hole and eventually upgraded to keeping my posse in a demi-plane, my Mummy Lord is very articulate and I dressed him in some nice robes with the hood up. I pass him off as a burn victim. People see my shiney white robes and don't think twice... but someone who can detect undead (and does) so easily would be a crutch.

Of course, by the time we were level 14 I had already told the party, one by one and at different times, my secret. They knew I was good, had seen me save lives and put my own on the line. It's going to be really fun for you trying to gain the Ranger's trust to the point where you can tell him. (not being sarcastic) That kind of long term roleplaying is my bread and butter, and why I play the game.