Making a dread necromancer

[TGWG]

THis has always been on my mind since I picked up heroes of horrer. I'm wondering how to make a dread necromancer (human) good. I thought I'd stack ranks in bluff and go for improved feint and pack feint, and then at Lev6 i'd take the corpsecrafter feat from Libris mortis. after that I'd be moving on to undead leadership, then close cohort, and then to class champion

just a few questions

does undead leadership count as leadership for the purpose of meeting prerequisites

what spells should I pick for advanced learning?

Should I drop the leadership thing altogether?

[brian c]

does undead leadership count as leadership for the purpose of meeting prerequisites

Yes

Should I drop the leadership thing altogether?

Yes.


Also: try to ask your DM to let you have Corpsecrafter for free. Dread Necromancers get those same bonuses as a class feature and they don't stack, so the only reason to take that feat is as a prereq.

[Keld Denar]

Here is a link to the Dread Necro Handbook over on Gleemax. I've read it through about twice. The knowledge and insight there is amazing. Happy undeading!

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=759515

[kamikasei]

The big, obvious one is Tomb-Tainted Soul, so that your touch attack will give you free infinite healing for you and your undead creations.

[Dausuul]

Also: try to ask your DM to let you have Corpsecrafter for free. Dread Necromancers get those same bonuses as a class feature and they don't stack, so the only reason to take that feat is as a prereq.

Not strictly true. The stat bonuses don't stack, but the hit point bonuses do. Since hit points are a major weakness for most undead, this can be quite helpful.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Plus some of the feats that require Corpsecrafter can be good to take too

[DraPrime]

Just a little warning. By playing an dread necromancer you greatly increase the risk of your DM punching you in the face for playing a cheesy character.

[brian c]

Plus some of the feats that require Corpsecrafter can be good to take too

Exactly, which is why you should try to get your DM to let you take those without wasting a feat on Corpsecrafter, since you would gain almost nothing from the feat itself.

Just a little warning. By playing an dread necromancer you greatly increase the risk of your DM punching you in the face for playing a cheesy character.

*scratches head* How so? Dread Necro on its own isn't cheesy at all.

[Ganurath]

*scratches head* How so? Dread Necro on its own isn't cheesy at all.

Take another look at lussmanj's link. If that doesn't clear things up, I have bullet points:

1. Infinite Heals
2. One-Stat Class
3. One-Man Army
4. Time Spent on Actions of Said Army
5. Need I say more?

[Xefas]

...[*]Time Spent on Actions of Said Army
...[/LIST]

That's the worst bit in my opinion. I had a player with a very unoptimized Dread Necromancer in one of my games, and he took a lot longer than everyone else, even though he only had a couple of minions. When he pulled out a Summon Undead or two, it just became ridiculous.

Most of the time, he'd just opt to forgo his actual character's actions to speed things up, and only control all the undead.