The Undead Minion Horde - Level 20 Necromancer help

[mgshamster]

I'm running a quick game for a friend and he's playing a level 20 Necromancer with tons of minions.

What rules and other things do I need to pay attention to?

He's got 140 skeletons, a mummy Lord, and 20 zombies (from Finger of Death). He may have others, but I don't recall any more at the moment.

For example, I know it takes a bonus action to command his undead. Is that every round, or once in the morning, or what? What else do I need to look out for?

Thanks!

[werescythe]

I'm running a quick game for a friend and he's playing a level 20 Necromancer with tons of minions.

What rules and other things do I need to pay attention to?

He's got 120 skeletons, a mummy Lord, and 20 zombies (from Finger of Death). He may have others, but I don't recall any more at the moment.

For example, I know it takes a bonus action to command his undead. Is that every round, or once in the morning, or what? What else do I need to look out for?

Thanks!

How did he obtain his minions? If he is using Animate Dead it takes 1 hour to cast the spell (I believe it is also a concentration spell). Also once the day is up, the undead created this way are no longer under his control but will still walk around and do stuff (including attacking the living).

Also depending upon the world he is in, most individuals are generally going to frown upon a guy walking around with an army of skeletons.

[mgshamster]

How did he obtain his minions? If he is using Animate Dead it takes 1 hour to cast the spell (I believe it is also a concentration spell). Also once the day is up, the undead created this way are no longer under his control but will still walk around and do stuff (including attacking the living).

Also depending upon the world he is in, most individuals are generally going to frown upon a guy walking around with an army of skeletons.

Animate Dead is not concentration, and you can stack the spells. And you can recast it daily to maintain control. Its casting time is one minute, not one hour.

Regarding society, the module I'm running will make it so that's not a concern.

[Naanomi]

The logistics of the rest limitations and exactly 24 hour recast timer need negotiating with the GM... a strict reading makes maintaining the same minions for any length of time grossly impractical (bordering on impossible)

[werescythe]

Animate Dead is not concentration, and you can stack the spells. And you can recast it daily to maintain control. Its casting time is one minute, not one hour.

Regarding society, the module I'm running will make it so that's not a concern.

Hmmm... weird, I don't know why I thought it took an hour to cast. Oh well.

I guess so long as he roleplays it properly, and he spends the slots he needs to in order to maintain control it is fine.

Of course if you wish to make things a challenge for him I would suggest the following:
-Pick enemies that are strong against skeletons and necromancers to fight him.
-Don't remind him when to use his spell slots to maintain control, I'm sure he is a big boy and he should be doing this himself.
-Remember in the case of skeletons they aren't very smart, meaning they will only use magical items if they have them equipped. If they have the item in their inventory they aren't going to use it (maybe if instructed by the necromancer they would, but otherwise no).
-Also in theory these bodies are continuously decaying over time, so you might just make it that he either has to have someone in the party heal his minions, heal them himself, or once they've decayed to the point of being useless; find time to animate more dead.

Just make sure you have the stats of the undead he has summoned on hand. That way you know their strengths and weaknesses.

That's all I can think of. I hope this helped.

[leogobsin]

For Animate Dead, here's the specific relevant text for commanding them:


You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.

[mgshamster]

That's all I can think of. I hope this helped.

Thanks!

I was more looking for rules things to watch out for, but you gave a lot of awesome advice that I hadn't thought of.

As far as rules, here's what I've discovered so far:

He's using the Mummy Lord to control 56 skeletons - and that takes up all the ML's 3+ level spell slots daily. The remainder (84 skeletons) takes up the PC's 3-6 spells slots + one 7th level spell slot just to maintain them.

The necromancer school grants his undead minions bonus HP and bonus damage, but that would not count for the Mummy Lord (not summoned with a necromancy spell) nor *any* of the skeletons that the ML is controlling. If the ML is killed, then all his skeletons become uncontrolled and will attack anyone around them, including the PC.

He's equipped all his skeletons with longbows, so they have ranged damage, but his zombies are not equipped. They'll have to be melee only.

He requires a bonus action *every round* to dictate who they're attacking and where they're moving, unless a general order is given. But that has to be general. The same is true for the ML. Fortunately for him, neither the zombies from FoD nor the Mummy Lord have rules about what kind of action it takes to command them. So he gets to command them for free.

The skellies also have to be within 60' of him to follow a command, which means we need to pay attention to corridor size and location of him relative to his skellies. In an open field, it's easy to simply have them surround him. But what about in a 10' wide cave? Issues will arise.

[Innocent_bystan]

Do some math beforehand: how many skeletons will fit in a fireball? In a lightning bolt?

How will he protect and replenish his horde? I can't imagine that even half of his army makes it to the end of the adventuring day.