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Person_Man
2007-10-01, 01:08 PM
A simple combo I just thought of but haven't yet seen online:

The Beckon the Frozen feat (Frostburn) makes anything you summon have the cold subtype, giving it immunity to Cold damage (and as an extra bonus, they deal an extra d6 of cold damage on each attack, with no LA to the spell).

The Lord of the Uttercold feat (Complete Arcane) modifies any spell you cast to make the damage 50% Cold and 50% Negative energy (with no LA to the spell).

The Destruction Retribution feat (Libris Mortis) makes any undead you summon explode with negative energy (that scales up with its HD) when its destroyed.

Summon as many undead as you can, using Beckon the Frozen to give them the cold subtype. During combat, dump Uttercold Fireballs or other area of effect spells in the middle of the battlefield, harming your enemies and healing your undead minions. If one of your minions does die, it explodes with negative energy and heals its friends even more.

For extra fun, the Tomb-Tainted Soul feat (Libris Mortis) allows you to be healed by negative energy (and damaged by positive energy). Then go into the Frostmage PrC (Frostburn) or you can just buy an item or cast something that gives you Energy Resistance to cold, and YOU are healed by the same combo as your minions.

Since many undead can essentially be summoned permanently for a modest cost, it'd be easy for you to walk around with a extremely potent army of minions at all times.

I'm not sure how this would work for a PC, but I think it would make an excellent BBEG.

Thoughts? Critiques? Build ideas?

Nerd-o-rama
2007-10-01, 01:14 PM
You'll run out of spells eventually, and it's easy to counter half of your spell damage since it's all one element, but yes, this is possibly the best swarm o' minions combo out there (sans infinite loop cheese). It gets a mention near the top of the WotC CharOp boards' Necromancer's Handbook.

It's actually how I've rebuilt Erandis d'Vol for my personal Eberron campaigns, because you can't get much better than this for pure-Wizard necromancers.

Also, you don't need the Beckon the Frozen feat if you just summon Skeletons, as they're immune to cold already. Just saying.

Jasdoif
2007-10-01, 01:16 PM
If for whatever reason you need to summon something that can't be healed by negative energy, don't forget that death ward (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/deathWard.htm) makes the target immune to negative energy effects. Combine that with Beckon the Frozen on the summon, and it'll be immune to your uttercold casts and your exploding minions.

Kaelik
2007-10-01, 01:31 PM
Thank you for inventing the Uttercold Assault Necromancer! This build has surely not been detailed out by the writer of the Tome of Necromancy! There is no way at all that there could be a homebrewed PrC designed specifically for this type of character!

Annoying condescension aside, I'm only being a jerk because you of all people should know that that has already been gone over. In addition, Beckon the Frozen is not strictly necessary since most undead have cold immunity already.

This was mentioned in another thread earlier today. And while the specifics were not explained fully, the Uttercold Assault Necromancer is not even an obscure build.

tainsouvra
2007-10-01, 01:39 PM
It might be more productive, and less of a flame, if you just linked the original and left it at that.

Person_Man
2007-10-01, 01:56 PM
Thank you for inventing the Uttercold Assault Necromancer! This build has surely not been detailed out by the writer of the Tome of Necromancy! There is no way at all that there could be a homebrewed PrC designed specifically for this type of character!

Annoying condescension aside, I'm only being a jerk because you of all people should know that that has already been gone over. In addition, Beckon the Frozen is not strictly necessary since most undead have cold immunity already.

This was mentioned in another thread earlier today. And while the specifics were not explained fully, the Uttercold Assault Necromancer is not even an obscure build.

Jeeze Kaelik, sorry for not being a total encyclopedia of all things D&D. Even I miss obvious stuff once in a while. Anywho, here's the link to the Necromancy Handbook (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=599129), which hasn't been updated in over a year.

AtomicKitKat
2007-10-01, 01:59 PM
Huh. I could have sworn you posted the whole load sans Beckon the Frozen previously. Interesting tack on, but yeah, not many points for credit.

Chronos
2007-10-01, 05:41 PM
Does Beckon the Frozen work with undead? It seems to me that Animate Dead and the like aren't exactly summons. Or is there some other spell/ability which actually summons undead, instead of making them out of corpses?

Jasdoif
2007-10-01, 05:43 PM
Or is there some other spell/ability which actually summons undead, instead of making them out of corpses?Libris Mortis has a "Summon Undead" line of spells. I can't check the book right now, so I can't tell you precisely what kinds of undead can be summoned with them.

Thrawn183
2007-10-02, 09:30 AM
I suggested the Lord of the uttercold idea to a friend of mine who DM's and he found a particularly useful application:
5 foot hallway encounter: cold/negative energy wall of fire. The PC's can't get out of it and the bad guys never have to worry about leaving it. Works particularly well with DR that can't be easily overcome because it allows more time for the bad guys to heal and the PC's to get worn down.

Indon
2007-10-02, 10:18 AM
Fairly good, though if you could give your minions some kind of resistance to Fire, it'd be even better.

Kaelik
2007-10-02, 01:22 PM
Fairly good, though if you could give your minions some kind of resistance to Fire, it'd be even better.

Why would resistance to fire be any more beneficial then resistance to acid? There is no fire damage.

Jasdoif
2007-10-02, 01:35 PM
Why would resistance to fire be any more beneficial then resistance to acid? There is no fire damage.The Cold subtype has vulnerability to fire in addition to immunity to cold.

Indon
2007-10-02, 02:25 PM
The Cold subtype has vulnerability to fire in addition to immunity to cold.

Yeah, this is why.

When you've got a legion of frozen undead running around the place, an adventurers' first instinct will be to use fire.

Heck, many adventurers, its' their first instinct _period_.

Kaelik
2007-10-02, 06:00 PM
The Cold subtype has vulnerability to fire in addition to immunity to cold.

But that's why you just use skeletons with cold immunity and no fire vulnerability.

Jasdoif
2007-10-02, 06:04 PM
But that's why you just use skeletons with cold immunity and no fire vulnerability.If this thread didn't mention the use of Beckon the Frozen to apply the cold subtype to undead (or other creature types) otherwise not immune to cold, that would be a good point.