Questions about cohort and undead leadership

[Max Caysey]

So, I am trying to help a fellow player understand and use undead leadership as best as possible...

I was wondering - in my efforts to help him - what is the best undead to get as a non-mindless cohort? The question is really more about what undead creatures - which isnt mindless - has the lowest LA? Its really all about getting the best undead creature possible at low level... and thats a major challenge.

Any help or a link to a list of all undead creatures and their LA would be amazing!

Cheers!

[Jack_Simth]

So, I am trying to help a fellow player understand and use undead leadership as best as possible...

I was wondering - in my efforts to help him - what is the best undead to get as a non-mindless cohort? The question is really more about what undead creatures - which isnt mindless - has the lowest LA? Its really all about getting the best undead creature possible at low level... and thats a major challenge.

Any help or a link to a list of all undead creatures and their LA would be amazing!

Cheers!

Necropolitan is the lowest LA, at 0 (although the ritual to become one costs a level and change).

[Doctor Despair]

+1 for Necropolitan for functional purposes if you want it to be like Leadership in most other respects.

Also consider a Ghostly Visage as a blanket buff for the PC and to reduce the complexity of running multiple characters.

Also consider adding a wight (or other similarly empowered undead creature) for their ability to indefinitely enslave the humanoid enemies the party fells and build an army if they're keen on that sort of thing.

[Max Caysey]

Necropolitan is the lowest LA, at 0 (although the ritual to become one costs a level and change).


+1 for Necropolitan for functional purposes if you want it to be like Leadership in most other respects.

So, if the character can have a level 4 cohort, that would be a level 3 necropolitan? Would that be correctly understood? Or, if its LA0, we assume it had made the change before becomming a follower it could be level 4 right?



Also consider a Ghostly Visage as a blanket buff for the PC and to reduce the complexity of running multiple characters.

What ECL does a Ghostly Visage have?


Also consider adding a wight (or other similarly empowered undead creature) for their ability to indefinitely enslave the humanoid enemies the party fells and build an army if they're keen on that sort of thing.

What ECL does a Wight have?


Thanks again for the help so far!

Cheers!

[Jack_Simth]

So, if the character can have a level 4 cohort, that would be a level 3 necropolitan? Would that be correctly understood? Or, if its LA0, we assume it had made the change before becomming a follower it could be level 4 right?Level 4 Necropolitan. The cohort isn't undead prior to being recruited.

[Doctor Despair]

Yeah, Necropolitan is LA0

I take back the Ghostly Visage suggestion; Libris Mortis is expressly against incorporeal cohorts apparently.

A wight would have LA+4 and 4HD, so ECL8 at least.


Table 2–2: Undead Level Adjustments and ECLs
Creature - LA - ECL
Ghast - +4 - 8
Ghost - +5 - *
Ghoul - +3 - 5
Lich - +4 - *
Mohrg - +6 - 20
Mummy - +5 - 13
Vampire - +8 - *
Vampire spawn - +4 - 8
Wight - +4 - 8

*Add the creature’s HD to the indicated level adjustment
to find its ECL.

Honestly, just check out that whole page in LM. It's got useful info for you on how to handle this.

Oh, apparently they've worried about wights, too.


In general, DMs should be hesitant to allow characters to have
followers or cohorts that can create spawn. When an undead
cohort or follower creates a spawn, the creature must release or
destroy the spawn unless the character is of suffi ciently high
level for the spawn to be a follower in its own right.

So no wight army based off the cohort... which is kind of stupid if you think about it, since you could just command undead a wight and make the army anyway. >.> Kind of trying to close the barn door after the horses already got out, Wizards...

[ShurikVch]

Mumia template (Ghostwalk) have "technical +0" LA (3.5 update booklet includes Mumia, but don't assigned any LA for it), and your Cohort would gain from it +3 natural AC, +2 turn resistance, fast healing 2, and Withering Touch (on any of Mumia's natural attacks, victim should make Fort save or suffer 2 Con damage)

[Dalmosh]

Applying the Umbral Template to a Bard or Marshal to herald their Shadowpocalypse is hard to top, provided you want to destroy your own campaign world.

[Max Caysey]

Applying the Umbral Template to a Bard or Marshal to herald their Shadowpocalypse is hard to top, provided you want to destroy your own campaign world.

Well that is definitely not the goal, but the cohort is still supposed to be useful - why else have one. The party is pretty low optimized, but again the goal is to get something that is a substantial contribution to the party.

The party consists of a cleric, warblade, fighter and illusionist. 26 point buy. All level 6.