SangoProduction
2022-09-10, 10:43 PM
Preamble: I found a meme about a necromancer (and it's funnier seen than written). In the hyper-lethal campaign I have joined, I joked that I found my next character.
Now I actually have to figure out what necromancer-style character would be the most interesting.... to play for about 3 hours, admittedly.
And I realized that that's a distinct question from what's the best talents in the Death sphere, or is a given archetype worthwhile. So maybe I'll start up this little series. Without any hard scores. Just a general, relative, ranking, in terms of what classes / archetypes best enable a character concept.
The Incanter is probably just going to be my "default," upon which all other options are compared.
Theme: Necromancer
I don't like swarms of undead. Those are clunky, hard to hide, and just kinda... not fun for anyone to *actually* deal with outside of the narrative conflict.
But I also don't want simply a curse-slinger. That's not nearly necromantic enough.
So it does need to actually be able to raise the dead and get them to fight for it. Just not too many. Thus they've got to be relatively high quality undead.
Or at least be very undead-themed.
Points for flexibility. Vampires are cool and all, but if all you can do is that, then it gets old quick.
Classes
Soul Weaver (+Shepherd of the Lost Archetype): Base class can be very necromantic without any tinkering, and has full caster talents. Each of the archetypes can work quite well, but Shepard of the Lost in particular also grants the incanter death sphere sub-specialization, which fits perfectly.
Void Wielder: An armorist archetype that lets you literally trap and use the "essence" of defeated creatures. Not strictly as "undead," but the essence of the fluff is akin to undeath.
Wraith (Path of the Corruptor): At first, I thought that a "ghost" has a somewhat sterile 'feel' compared to a zombie or skeleton or what have you. So I largely dismissed it until I saw the Path of the Corruptor, which lets you possess dead bodies. So you can literally become a zombie, while raising it. And it's cool. Granted, the stronger it is, the less time you get with it. Sure, it's not going to make will saves against you, but it goes as low as 1 round / level per spell point.
Bonewright: An armorist archetype that grants the ability to "summon" equipment from the bones of undead creatures. Which is objectively worse than simply being able to freely summon equipment. But it's flavorful and that's what counts. It also has has some neat Arsenal Tricks that are actually fun, including getting to outfit your undead with any weapons you care to think of. Even without the obvious abuse of summoning zombies with trebuchets to launch themselves over walls, that's still a neat idea.
Incanter (Guide of the Dead sub-specialization): Most talents of any class. House Soul creates a super undead minion for you.
Stitcher: A Scholar archetype which lets you modify the undead you raise, with just a 1 minute preparation. Also longer duration.
Incanter (Death specialization): Can select the most talents of any class. Death specialization grants Command Undead. Which works.
Shifter: Probably a cop-out, but you can transform yourself into the various undead things.
Bloodbinder: An Armorist archetype that basically neuters the class's one defining feature. But lets it have 1 talent per level rather than just 1/2. Oh, and making weapons out of blood is neat and kinda necromantic.
Plaguebringer: An archetype for the Mageknight. Greatly improves the disease ghost strike. And that's all it really does. So no flexibility.
Spheres
Death: Obviously, the sphere named Death has the most appropriate talents for a necromancer.
Conjuration: You can have specific, named undead minions, that you "raise" on demand.
Alteration: I mean, you make undead one way or the other. Also, you get to disguise your undead. Or give them tentacles.
Warp: A place to put the bodies between uses. Also better justifies Conjuration.
Creation: Why leave your skeletons disarmed right when they need to fight the most?
Destruction: Because what necromancer would leave home without green balls of fire?
Blood: Specifically the Blood Arts talents kinda have that necromantic feel.
Dark: Because all Halloween episodes happen at night.
Now I actually have to figure out what necromancer-style character would be the most interesting.... to play for about 3 hours, admittedly.
And I realized that that's a distinct question from what's the best talents in the Death sphere, or is a given archetype worthwhile. So maybe I'll start up this little series. Without any hard scores. Just a general, relative, ranking, in terms of what classes / archetypes best enable a character concept.
The Incanter is probably just going to be my "default," upon which all other options are compared.
Theme: Necromancer
I don't like swarms of undead. Those are clunky, hard to hide, and just kinda... not fun for anyone to *actually* deal with outside of the narrative conflict.
But I also don't want simply a curse-slinger. That's not nearly necromantic enough.
So it does need to actually be able to raise the dead and get them to fight for it. Just not too many. Thus they've got to be relatively high quality undead.
Or at least be very undead-themed.
Points for flexibility. Vampires are cool and all, but if all you can do is that, then it gets old quick.
Classes
Soul Weaver (+Shepherd of the Lost Archetype): Base class can be very necromantic without any tinkering, and has full caster talents. Each of the archetypes can work quite well, but Shepard of the Lost in particular also grants the incanter death sphere sub-specialization, which fits perfectly.
Void Wielder: An armorist archetype that lets you literally trap and use the "essence" of defeated creatures. Not strictly as "undead," but the essence of the fluff is akin to undeath.
Wraith (Path of the Corruptor): At first, I thought that a "ghost" has a somewhat sterile 'feel' compared to a zombie or skeleton or what have you. So I largely dismissed it until I saw the Path of the Corruptor, which lets you possess dead bodies. So you can literally become a zombie, while raising it. And it's cool. Granted, the stronger it is, the less time you get with it. Sure, it's not going to make will saves against you, but it goes as low as 1 round / level per spell point.
Bonewright: An armorist archetype that grants the ability to "summon" equipment from the bones of undead creatures. Which is objectively worse than simply being able to freely summon equipment. But it's flavorful and that's what counts. It also has has some neat Arsenal Tricks that are actually fun, including getting to outfit your undead with any weapons you care to think of. Even without the obvious abuse of summoning zombies with trebuchets to launch themselves over walls, that's still a neat idea.
Incanter (Guide of the Dead sub-specialization): Most talents of any class. House Soul creates a super undead minion for you.
Stitcher: A Scholar archetype which lets you modify the undead you raise, with just a 1 minute preparation. Also longer duration.
Incanter (Death specialization): Can select the most talents of any class. Death specialization grants Command Undead. Which works.
Shifter: Probably a cop-out, but you can transform yourself into the various undead things.
Bloodbinder: An Armorist archetype that basically neuters the class's one defining feature. But lets it have 1 talent per level rather than just 1/2. Oh, and making weapons out of blood is neat and kinda necromantic.
Plaguebringer: An archetype for the Mageknight. Greatly improves the disease ghost strike. And that's all it really does. So no flexibility.
Spheres
Death: Obviously, the sphere named Death has the most appropriate talents for a necromancer.
Conjuration: You can have specific, named undead minions, that you "raise" on demand.
Alteration: I mean, you make undead one way or the other. Also, you get to disguise your undead. Or give them tentacles.
Warp: A place to put the bodies between uses. Also better justifies Conjuration.
Creation: Why leave your skeletons disarmed right when they need to fight the most?
Destruction: Because what necromancer would leave home without green balls of fire?
Blood: Specifically the Blood Arts talents kinda have that necromantic feel.
Dark: Because all Halloween episodes happen at night.