Playing an Undead Wizard

[RealMarkP]

A near TPK and some dark magic later, I'm now an undead level 6 wizard. DM made some stuff up and I have some major penalties to ability scores as well as all of the undead traits of a zombie: No need for air, water, food, sleep; immune to charm, exhaustion, poison, sleep; darkvision; slower movement speed; and I'm also slowly rotting and parts of my body is falling off as a result.

So, I have a few concerns that I don't know how to address:

How do I stop rotting?
Are there any spells I can use to bolster myself?
Are there any classes/feats that I should consider looking into?

Beyond this, any suggestions are welcome on how I can manage my gimpness. I never played an undead character before and I'm also new to 5e. In 3.5e, there were tons of shenanigans that an undead character could do.

[PhantomSoul]

Gentle Repose (spell) should help with the rotting.


Potentially also useful, spell options for boosting effective health, excluding stuff like Rage from multiclassing:



Note: I think I recall having some mistakes in here, but don't recall where (I found my original list, not my revised list). Double-check before using! This is PHB-only.

(Re)Gaining HP
- Regular Hit Points
(Potions)
> Aid [2]: 8-hour duration for an increase to both maximum and current HP by 5*(slot-1). Affects three Creatures (30 ft). No concentration.
> Aura of Life [4]: All nonhostile creatures within a certain range regain 1 HP at the start of their turn when at 0 HP. Self (30 ft). Concentration.
> Aura of Vitality [3]: Caster can heal 2d6 as a Bonus Action for the duration, with no exclusion of Undead. Concentration.
> Goodberry [1]: Create 10 berries, each of which heals 1 HP, but it takes an Action to eat a single berry. No concentration.
> Heroes' Feast [6]: Costs 1000gp and high-levelled, but would cover the whole party and gives 2d10 to max and current HP.
> Regenerate [7]: 4d8+15 HP regained, and +1 HP/turn for the next 10 minutes. No concentration.
> Vampiric Touch [3]: Damage a creature by (slot)d6 necrotic damage, then regain half of the amount healed. Concentration.

- Temporary Hit Points
> Armor of Agathys [1]: 1-hour duration for 5*(slot) THP. When hit while some THP remain, the attacker takes as much cold damage as you originally got THP. Self. No concentration.
> Enhance Ability [2]: The Bear's Endurance option grants 2d6 THP and Advantage of Constitution Checks. One creature, but upcasting adds more targets. Concentration (1 hour).
> False Life [1]: 1d4+4+[5*(slot)] THP for one hour. Self. No concentration.
> Heroism [1]: At the start of each turn, the target gains THP equal to the caster's spellcasting modifier. Upcasting increases the number of targets. Concentration (1 minute).

- Other
> Polymorph and other shape-changing spells
> Warding Bond [2]: Target gets +1 to AC and saving throws and gets resistance to all damage -- but the caster takes damage equal to the amount taken by the target. No concentration. (Basically, a heal-able divine spellcaster can cast on Jack.)
> Other resistance spells

Reducing Death / Improving "reawakening"
> Beacon of Hope [3]: Advantage on Wisdom Saving Throws (*cough cough* turning *cough cough*) and Death Saving Throws (20 --> regain 1 HP), and regain maximum HP from any healing (not specifically from spells...!). Multi-target. Concentration.
> Death Ward [4]: The target drops to 1 HP when it would be at 0 HP and is immune to one instance of an instant-death effect (then spell ends). No concentration.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Consider some warlock levels and gentle repose.

Warlock levels will give you mask of many faces which should be combined with gentle repose to stop people from noticing that you are dead. Combine this with prest. for cleanliness and excercise proper hygiene.

Next you’ll probably want to take advantage of the lack of sleep being needed, and might want to do some minor coffeelock stuff. A few Sorcerer levels goes far here. Make sure to pick up Catnap as a spell too, that thing is great.

Aside from that you’re stil a wizard so do some wizard things. As far as the MC subclasses I recccomend either Shadow Sorcerer or Divine Soul, as well as Celestial Tomelock.

[RavensLuck]

I'm not quite familiar with spells and the like, but as for the rotting, it all depends on what your DM allows you to get away with.

Since the body protects itself from rotting or the risk of infection through natural barriers such as the skin, chemicals in tears, and stomach acid, there needs to be some way to mimic that natural defense. In addition, the body's immune system is used to defend against invading microorganisms.

I'm honestly not sure how high-tech your world is, so I'm going to hazard a guess that your world has limited understanding over rotting and body decomposition, since they would know about food preservation and surgeons would be familiar with infection. Without magic, I imagine that you could attempt to slow down the decomposition process by freezing parts of your body or cutting it off. Otherwise, you could use salt to attempt to preserve your body. However, remember that no matter how long you preserve your body, it will rot because there is no way to protect against these micro-organisms, and no way to replace your dead cells.

Alternatively, you could simply forego your zombie stats and start the process into becoming a mummy. This might be fun to role-play; although playing an undead wizard desperately attempting to save your second chance at life isn't not fun. I'm not sure if playing a mummy would be fun for you, but having no flesh would solve the rotting problem.

Finally, magic would probably open more avenues for you if you believe the bits of rotting flesh are a big issue. Personally, it might make more narrative sense if you started to multi-class in Warlock to gain the favor of some Deity patron to give you a couple spells, cantrips, and the gift of preserving your flesh (which, now that I think about it, might make you immortal). However, I'm not quite sure if that's a good idea for optimization purposes.

You could also simply just fully embrace the fact that you are an undead wizard with all its consequences. You are the only wizard to have come back from the dead, and have full knowledge about death. Perhaps your stats do not enable you to fight as effectively as before, but your ARMY can. Grab animate dead when possible, and other minion-like spells. Grab some control spells that don't require you to move that much. Of course, this is a highly stylized playing style that might not suit your tastes. If you feel like trying it out, however, please read the guides on how to do it. Remember, you are the wizard who went to hell and back, the "Wizard Who Lived," if you will. Now draw that lightning shaped scar and grab a Firebolt!

I hope you have a great campaign! :smallsmile:

[RealMarkP]

multi-class in Warlock to gain the favor of some Deity patron to give you a couple spells, cantrips, and the gift of preserving your flesh (which, now that I think about it, might make you immortal).

Now you have my attention!

How would one go down this route (I'm rather new to 5e)? I can definitely talk to my DM about this; it actually might fit into the campaign setting. Originally, I was going to discuss with him a course of action that would make me into a Lich. But this seems equivalent if its possible with current rules.

Looks like Gentle Repose can help with the rotting. But, being undead, I'd still be somewhat putrid.

[Unoriginal]

I would advise to find a way to resurrect yourself despite the undead nature.

In any case, your DM is houseruling/homebrewing this, so there is nothing in the game that can help you as it is.

Spells like Gentle Repose don't work on undead, for example. Only your DM can tell how your body can be preserved or that kind of things.

Also, just to say, but becoming a Lich in 5e would not be a good thing for your character.

[RealMarkP]

One thing that has not come up yet (but probably will) is Turning Undead. Being undead, I am now a prime candidate for it. I read that Magic Resistance does help against Turn Undead (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/99316/does-magic-resistance-work-against-turn-undead) because it is a magical effect. So, my question is, is there a way to get magic resistance? My only other option now is to dump points into WIS or disarm the cleric when he/she holds up a holy symbol to attempt Turning.

So, Dispell Magic states "Choose one object, creature, or magic effect within range." So, it can target magical effects, such as Turning. Can it not?