Dread Necromancer - Revision history

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1d4chan>Slipmcripfist: /* Prestige Classes */ link

2023-05-31T16:50:00Z

Prestige Classes: link

1d4chan>UnityPrime at 01:26, 7 December 2022

2022-12-07T01:26:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:26, 7 December 2022
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	You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you lose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.		You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you lose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.

	(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template. So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.(This is actually incorrect as the feature states it only applies to humanoids, Necropolitan swaps your type to Undead. You can actually avoid becoming a lich altogether by playing as a nonhumanoid race from the get go.))		(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template (unless you're playing as a nonhumanoid race). So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.)

	Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.		Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.

62.107.127.213: /* Prestige Classes */

2022-03-09T21:19:47Z

Prestige Classes

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:19, 9 March 2022
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	===Prestige Classes===		===Prestige Classes===
	You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you ~~loose~~ 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.		You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you lose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.

	(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template. So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.(This is actually incorrect as the feature states it only applies to humanoids, Necropolitan swaps your type to Undead. You can actually avoid becoming a lich altogether by playing as a nonhumanoid race from the get go.))		(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template. So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.(This is actually incorrect as the feature states it only applies to humanoids, Necropolitan swaps your type to Undead. You can actually avoid becoming a lich altogether by playing as a nonhumanoid race from the get go.))

73.70.13.107: /* Prestige Classes */

2021-02-07T21:37:36Z

Prestige Classes

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:37, 7 February 2021
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	Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.		Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.

	If your DM is either retarded enough or likes you enough to let you visit the Hidden Jungle Temple of Couatls before you hit level 11, then you're in for a giant pile of cheese, because this opens up the [[Rainbow Servant]] prestige class. Levels 1-9 of this class aren't terribly impressive; they'll give you some cleric domains and gay rainbow wings, and they'll only advance your Dread Necromancer spellcasting progression by 6 levels. But the capstone ability makes it all worth it: "A 10th-level rainbow servant can learn and cast spells from the cleric list, even if they don’t appear on the lists of any spellcasting class he has." When stacked on top of a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or other fairly conventional arcane caster, it doesn't teach any spells retroactively; the player must continue advancing in their original caster class in order to actually ''learn'' any cleric spells. The Dread Necromancer, however, automatically knows every spell on its class spell list - or, in this case, ''lists'' - so once you hit Rainbow Servant 10, the entire goddamn Cleric spell list just gets dumped straight into your tiny Necromancer brain.		If your DM is either retarded enough or likes you enough to let you visit the Hidden Jungle Temple of Couatls before you hit level 11, then you're in for a giant pile of cheese, because this opens up the [[Rainbow Servant]] prestige class. Levels 1-9 of this class aren't terribly impressive; they'll give you some cleric domains and gay rainbow wings, and they'll only advance your Dread Necromancer spellcasting progression by 6 levels. But the capstone ability makes it all worth it: "A 10th-level rainbow servant can learn and cast spells from the cleric list, even if they don’t appear on the lists of any spellcasting class he has." When stacked on top of a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or other fairly conventional arcane caster, it doesn't teach any spells retroactively; the player must continue advancing in their original caster class in order to actually ''learn'' any cleric spells. The Dread Necromancer, however, automatically knows every spell on its class spell list - or, in this case, ''lists'' - so once you hit Rainbow Servant 10, the entire goddamn Cleric spell list just gets dumped straight into your tiny Necromancer brain, allowing you to spontaneously cast from it like a Favored Soul hopped up on methamphetamine and Viagra

	(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)		(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)

2601:988:8281:4F70:D85C:C1B3:5820:D2EC at 18:09, 28 August 2020

2020-08-28T18:09:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:09, 28 August 2020
Line 26:		Line 26:
	You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you loose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.		You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you loose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.

	(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template. So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.)		(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template. So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.(This is actually incorrect as the feature states it only applies to humanoids, Necropolitan swaps your type to Undead. You can actually avoid becoming a lich altogether by playing as a nonhumanoid race from the get go.))

	Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.		Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.

193.37.252.131: /* Feats */ Fixed Liber Mortis to being Libris Mortis.

2020-08-13T01:18:15Z

Feats: Fixed Liber Mortis to being Libris Mortis.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:18, 13 August 2020
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	===Feats===		===Feats===
	Since it takes a while to get up in level to actually do some useful stuff, you'll need to find some good bread-and-butter feats that will always be useful right off the bat. Improved Initiative, Extra Turning (for your Rebuke ability), and even Profane Lifeleech (~~Liber~~ Mortis, light area damage that heals you even if you're undead) are all great feats you can use your whole career. Necromantic Presence and Necromantic Might (both in ~~Liber~~ Mortis) are really clutch: they work with the ''summon undead'' spells, or your regular minions, whatever you have near you, and on top of that the feats have no requirements to get them. Versatile Spell (Races of the Dragon) is never bad, either; you can blow all your lower-level slots for your big killing spells more often.		Since it takes a while to get up in level to actually do some useful stuff, you'll need to find some good bread-and-butter feats that will always be useful right off the bat. Improved Initiative, Extra Turning (for your Rebuke ability), and even Profane Lifeleech (Libris Mortis, light area damage that heals you even if you're undead) are all great feats you can use your whole career. Necromantic Presence and Necromantic Might (both in Libris Mortis) are really clutch: they work with the ''summon undead'' spells, or your regular minions, whatever you have near you, and on top of that the feats have no requirements to get them. Versatile Spell (Races of the Dragon) is never bad, either; you can blow all your lower-level slots for your big killing spells more often.

	Once you hit about level 9, you should be getting (or near to getting) ''animate dead'', meaning it's time to get serious about making minions. Grab Corpsecrafter, Bolster Resistance, and Nimble Bones (all from ~~Liber~~ Mortis). These three feats are really basic and good: more Str, more turn resistance, and more initiative and movement. Your minions will just be better overall with these feats, and since not all your minions will benefit from them right away, don't hesitate to send them off to die as you get a new feat to improve your next batch.		Once you hit about level 9, you should be getting (or near to getting) ''animate dead'', meaning it's time to get serious about making minions. Grab Corpsecrafter, Bolster Resistance, and Nimble Bones (all from Libris Mortis). These three feats are really basic and good: more Str, more turn resistance, and more initiative and movement. Your minions will just be better overall with these feats, and since not all your minions will benefit from them right away, don't hesitate to send them off to die as you get a new feat to improve your next batch.

	If you're more interested in spellcasting, you can grab Divine Metamagic and turn your Rebukes into metamagic boosts. Good options are Quicken, Rapid, Extend, Persistent, Repeat, Twin, Enlarge, Silent, and Still. Note you can't really do all these things; pick either faster casting, making them last longer, doubling the spells you cast, or being stealthy with your spells. In addition, you'll probably want to take more Extra Turning feats if you can, to have enough juice for these spells.		If you're more interested in spellcasting, you can grab Divine Metamagic and turn your Rebukes into metamagic boosts. Good options are Quicken, Rapid, Extend, Persistent, Repeat, Twin, Enlarge, Silent, and Still. Note you can't really do all these things; pick either faster casting, making them last longer, doubling the spells you cast, or being stealthy with your spells. In addition, you'll probably want to take more Extra Turning feats if you can, to have enough juice for these spells.

193.37.252.131: Fixed Liber Mortis to Libris Mortis.

2020-08-13T01:08:46Z

Fixed Liber Mortis to Libris Mortis.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:08, 13 August 2020
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	I mean, Jesus, look at the 1st-level ability Charnel Touch. Christ, it's negative energy touch damage on command. Sure, your BAB kind of sucks... but touch attacks bypass about 50% of the shit you'd have to worry with on AC, and there's delicious ways to boost your attack roll (which we'll cover later). Oh, wait, negative energy also heals all undead. And your class is meant to make undead minions to aid you in combat. So... unlimited healing of undead? Unlimited healing that can include yourself with Tomb Tainted Soul or somehow becoming undead? Yes, please!		I mean, Jesus, look at the 1st-level ability Charnel Touch. Christ, it's negative energy touch damage on command. Sure, your BAB kind of sucks... but touch attacks bypass about 50% of the shit you'd have to worry with on AC, and there's delicious ways to boost your attack roll (which we'll cover later). Oh, wait, negative energy also heals all undead. And your class is meant to make undead minions to aid you in combat. So... unlimited healing of undead? Unlimited healing that can include yourself with Tomb Tainted Soul or somehow becoming undead? Yes, please!

	But it just gets better. You get Rebuke Undead, which is fucking stupid for you. Not only can you just steal other necros' undead from them and they can't do much of shit about it (unless they also have Rebuke), but you now get access to Divine Metamagic bullshit that is usually reserved for [[CoDzilla]]s. Never mind that ~~Liber~~ Mortis and a few other tasty supplements give you ways to bolster your undead even more with your Rebuke.		But it just gets better. You get Rebuke Undead, which is fucking stupid for you. Not only can you just steal other necros' undead from them and they can't do much of shit about it (unless they also have Rebuke), but you now get access to Divine Metamagic bullshit that is usually reserved for [[CoDzilla]]s. Never mind that Libris Mortis and a few other tasty supplements give you ways to bolster your undead even more with your Rebuke.

	This is all at 1st level, guys. Level fucking 1.		This is all at 1st level, guys. Level fucking 1.

73.70.13.107: /* Prestige Classes */

2020-03-12T06:18:14Z

Prestige Classes

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:18, 12 March 2020
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	Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.		Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.

			If your DM is either retarded enough or likes you enough to let you visit the Hidden Jungle Temple of Couatls before you hit level 11, then you're in for a giant pile of cheese, because this opens up the [[Rainbow Servant]] prestige class. Levels 1-9 of this class aren't terribly impressive; they'll give you some cleric domains and gay rainbow wings, and they'll only advance your Dread Necromancer spellcasting progression by 6 levels. But the capstone ability makes it all worth it: "A 10th-level rainbow servant can learn and cast spells from the cleric list, even if they don’t appear on the lists of any spellcasting class he has." When stacked on top of a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or other fairly conventional arcane caster, it doesn't teach any spells retroactively; the player must continue advancing in their original caster class in order to actually ''learn'' any cleric spells. The Dread Necromancer, however, automatically knows every spell on its class spell list - or, in this case, ''lists'' - so once you hit Rainbow Servant 10, the entire goddamn Cleric spell list just gets dumped straight into your tiny Necromancer brain.

			(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)

	Want to get trickier and more powerful? Of course you do, you filthy bitch.		Want to get trickier and more powerful? Of course you do, you filthy bitch.

	One of the most powerful builds you can probably do is the Ur-Priest / True Necromancer build. It's pretty disgusting; a DM may not flip the table, but he might chuck a book your way. It works like this: you need to start with a high Wis and Cha, trying to get to 20 in both of them (or at the very least 19, so you can actually cast the spells you get access to). Go Dread Necro 8 (for Undead Mastery), then dip Ur-Priest 2 for 2nd level spells. Now you qualify for True Necromancer, which is basically the super-charged Necromancy Mystic Theurge. You need to take True Necromancer 10 to get your 9th-level cleric spells from Ur-Priest, but don't even fret over that: like Dread Necro, True Necro gets shit every level to make up for any problems you might have had otherwise. You get ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'' as SLAs, but sadly still need to pay for the components. However, this build fully advances your Rebuke Undead ability (all classes involved get it, so all contribute to it). In addition, True Necro gives you caster level boosts to all your necromancy spells/SLAs and Rebukes, and you even get a ''desecrate'' aura that penalizes turn undead and buffs your own undead with more attack, damage, saves, and hp. While the free ''animate dead'' of Pale Master is spiffy, the only really good undead you will ever create will be from ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'', so it's a little bit of a moot point.		One of the most powerful builds you can probably do is the Ur-Priest / True Necromancer build. It's pretty disgusting; a DM may not flip the table, but he might chuck a book your way. It works like this: you need to start with a high Wis and Cha, trying to get to 20 in both of them (or at the very least 19, so you can actually cast the spells you get access to). Go Dread Necro 8 (for Undead Mastery), then dip Ur-Priest 2 for 2nd level spells. Now you qualify for True Necromancer, which is basically the super-charged Necromancy Mystic Theurge. You need to take True Necromancer 10 to get your 9th-level cleric spells from Ur-Priest, but don't even fret over that: like Dread Necro, True Necro gets shit every level to make up for any problems you might have had otherwise. You get ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'' as SLAs, but sadly still need to pay for the components. However, this build fully advances your Rebuke Undead ability (all classes involved get it, so all contribute to it). In addition, True Necro gives you caster level boosts to all your necromancy spells/SLAs and Rebukes, and you even get a ''desecrate'' aura that penalizes turn undead and buffs your own undead with more attack, damage, saves, and hp. While the free ''animate dead'' of Pale Master is spiffy, the only really good undead you will ever create will be from ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'', so it's a little bit of a moot point.

	(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)

	If you don't care as much about having undead mastery, you can do a Dread Necro 7 / Warlock 3 / Eldritch Theurge 10 build. This one is tricky because the invocations you get shore up your necro abilities. For least invocations, take ''baleful utterance'', ''eldritch spear'', and ''entropic warding''; for lesser invocations, take ''eldritch chain'', ''flee the scene'', and ''walk unseen''; for your greater invocations, get ''chilling tentacles'' and ''vitriolic blast''. The big play here is to use spellblast to drop area spells in your list on target, use eldritch spellweave to put ''vitriolic blast'' on targeted spells (so that they do acid damage and bypass SR), and use greatreach blast to drop ''inflict'' and other touch spells directly on choice targets. Note that fiendish resilience will work on you even if you're undead, so enjoy the increased heal rate, as well as the nice bit of DR you pick up to avoid getting punked down too easily. You shouldn't take ''fell flight''; there are more and better ways to get flight for a Dread Necro.		If you don't care as much about having undead mastery, you can do a Dread Necro 7 / Warlock 3 / Eldritch Theurge 10 build. This one is tricky because the invocations you get shore up your necro abilities. For least invocations, take ''baleful utterance'', ''eldritch spear'', and ''entropic warding''; for lesser invocations, take ''eldritch chain'', ''flee the scene'', and ''walk unseen''; for your greater invocations, get ''chilling tentacles'' and ''vitriolic blast''. The big play here is to use spellblast to drop area spells in your list on target, use eldritch spellweave to put ''vitriolic blast'' on targeted spells (so that they do acid damage and bypass SR), and use greatreach blast to drop ''inflict'' and other touch spells directly on choice targets. Note that fiendish resilience will work on you even if you're undead, so enjoy the increased heal rate, as well as the nice bit of DR you pick up to avoid getting punked down too easily. You shouldn't take ''fell flight''; there are more and better ways to get flight for a Dread Necro.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:50, 31 May 2023
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	===Prestige Classes===		===Prestige Classes===
	You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you lose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.		You can stick with Dread Necro all the way to 20 without trouble, but before setting course that way, you should decide if you want to actually be a lich, or just make yourself into some other kind of undead thing. There's nothing "bad" about lich by itself, but if you actually plan to play past level 20 into epic shit, you should be aware that lich adds a positively hideous +4 LA on your ECL. That means you lose 4 character levels other folks are getting, and all lich really gives you are slight bonuses to your mental stats, some good defense, and a few offensive options. By contrast, as early as level 3 or 4, you can basically take a level lost and some XP lost to become a necropolitan (Liber Mortis) and get all the fun of being undead without any LA.

	(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template (unless you're playing as a nonhumanoid race). So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.)		(Side note: Necropolitan is one of the least overpowered undead packages you can get: no crazy abilities, no debilitating hunger stuff, you're just a sentient corpse with turn resistance who can actually get healing from rest like a regular person. Note you can't have it both ways with Dread Necro: the mechanic of becoming a lich at level 20 means it overwrites and supercedes your necropolitan template (unless you're playing as a nonhumanoid race). So no self-healing and all that LA. Most optimizers say "fuck being a lich" and go find four levels of something fun to do.)

	Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.		Past that, there's only a few really great options to take in terms of prestige classes.

	The best one to take on top of Dread Necro with nothing extra is Pale Master. Now, you don't get any Rebuke Undead advancement, and you miss some really fun stuff in the upper levels of Dread Necro that may not be worth it to you. But you do get some pretty neat advantages. You get a per-day animate dead that doesn't require material components, which by itself is pretty fucking good; if you plan to have a nice, big undead army, this is the way to do it for free. The other great things are the undead graft, which gives you even more crazy touch-attack stuff to do. Other bonuses you get are darkvision, deathless vigor (nice Fort bonus except against spells that also work on objects), and tough as bone. The best thing here? Deathless master's touch, which allows you to create zombies that aren't subject to your normal cap on the HD of undead minions you can have. Yes, this does in fact mean you can create armies of weaker zombies, put them up somewhere, and then call upon them when needed, backing up your actual decent minions when it's time to go ham on some fuckers. One big disadvantage here is, you don't advance Rebuke Undead at all, so think carefully before doing this one, because you will have to put in all the work of making undead without simply stealing them from other necromancers when you find them (which is a ''delightful'' way to mess with certain BBEGs). With this build, you just go Dread Necro 10 / Pale Master 10, though you could drop Dread Necro to 8 if you want to play with more multiclassing.		The best one to take on top of Dread Necro with nothing extra is Pale Master. Now, you don't get any Rebuke Undead advancement, and you miss some really fun stuff in the upper levels of Dread Necro that may not be worth it to you. But you do get some pretty neat advantages. You get a per-day animate dead that doesn't require material components, which by itself is pretty fucking good; if you plan to have a nice, big undead army, this is the way to do it for free. The other great things are the undead graft, which gives you even more crazy touch-attack stuff to do. Other bonuses you get are darkvision, deathless vigor (nice Fort bonus except against spells that also work on objects), and tough as bone. The best thing here? Deathless master's touch, which allows you to create zombies that aren't subject to your normal cap on the HD of undead minions you can have. Yes, this does in fact mean you can create armies of weaker zombies, put them up somewhere, and then call upon them when needed, backing up your actual decent minions when it's time to go ham on some fuckers. One big disadvantage here is, you don't advance Rebuke Undead at all, so think carefully before doing this one, because you will have to put in all the work of making undead without simply stealing them from other necromancers when you find them (which is a ''delightful'' way to mess with certain BBEGs). With this build, you just go Dread Necro 10 / Pale Master 10, though you could drop Dread Necro to 8 if you want to play with more multiclassing.

	Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.		Another good option without getting crazy with multiple classes is Fiend-Blooded. It's not as "pure" necromancy as Pale Master, but it's still actually really decent. The 10th-level capstone is worth the loss of spellcasting, because you get a pretty big stat boost along with a few other goodies. Special note here, Fiendish Sorcery is like the regular Advanced Learning you get, except you can add any fire-subtype, enchantment, illusion or necromancy spell. This is fucking great, because it means you can add in a lot more spells you may want for special builds or situations. Want to dip Mindbender for telepathy (and the delicious Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness)? Cool, build Dread Necro 8 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Mindbender 1, then finish off the rest of Fiend-Blooded and a spare level of Dread Necro or whatever.

	If your DM is either retarded enough or likes you enough to let you visit the Hidden Jungle Temple of Couatls before you hit level 11, then you're in for a giant pile of cheese, because this opens up the [[Rainbow Servant]] prestige class. Levels 1-9 of this class aren't terribly impressive; they'll give you some cleric domains and gay rainbow wings, and they'll only advance your Dread Necromancer spellcasting progression by 6 levels. But the capstone ability makes it all worth it: "A 10th-level rainbow servant can learn and cast spells from the cleric list, even if they don’t appear on the lists of any spellcasting class he has." When stacked on top of a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or other fairly conventional arcane caster, it doesn't teach any spells retroactively; the player must continue advancing in their original caster class in order to actually ''learn'' any cleric spells. The Dread Necromancer, however, automatically knows every spell on its class spell list - or, in this case, ''lists'' - so once you hit Rainbow Servant 10, the entire goddamn Cleric spell list just gets dumped straight into your tiny Necromancer brain, allowing you to spontaneously cast from it like a Favored Soul hopped up on methamphetamine and Viagra		If your DM is either retarded enough or likes you enough to let you visit the Hidden Jungle Temple of Couatls before you hit level 11, then you're in for a giant pile of cheese, because this opens up the [[Rainbow Servant]] prestige class. Levels 1-9 of this class aren't terribly impressive; they'll give you some cleric domains and gay rainbow wings, and they'll only advance your Dread Necromancer spellcasting progression by 6 levels. But the capstone ability makes it all worth it: "A 10th-level rainbow servant can learn and cast spells from the cleric list, even if they don’t appear on the lists of any spellcasting class he has." When stacked on top of a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or other fairly conventional arcane caster, it doesn't teach any spells retroactively; the player must continue advancing in their original caster class in order to actually ''learn'' any cleric spells. The Dread Necromancer, however, automatically knows every spell on its class spell list - or, in this case, ''lists'' - so once you hit Rainbow Servant 10, the entire goddamn Cleric spell list just gets dumped straight into your tiny Necromancer brain, allowing you to spontaneously cast from it like a Favored Soul hopped up on methamphetamine and Viagra
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	(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)		(Why do you need cleric spells? First off, they are jam-packed with buffs that turn you from a bad-BAB fuckstain into a walking fucking war-machine; ''divine power'', ''righteous might'', ''magic vestment'', and a few other buffs allow you to turn into a strangely effective stick-jockey. Second, there's several spells in there to turn your ordinary necromancer's lair into a fucking deathtrap that will stop any meddling kids from messing with you. Oh, and also you can use items that the party cleric can, which should make you really fucking popular if shit goes wrong. Christ, you can even ''resurrect'' people, if needed.)

	Want to get trickier and more powerful? Of course you do, you filthy bitch.		Want to get trickier and more powerful? Of course you do, you filthy bitch.

	One of the most powerful builds you can probably do is the Ur-Priest / True Necromancer build. It's pretty disgusting; a DM may not flip the table, but he might chuck a book your way. It works like this: you need to start with a high Wis and Cha, trying to get to 20 in both of them (or at the very least 19, so you can actually cast the spells you get access to). Go Dread Necro 8 (for Undead Mastery), then dip Ur-Priest 2 for 2nd level spells. Now you qualify for True Necromancer, which is basically the super-charged Necromancy Mystic Theurge. You need to take True Necromancer 10 to get your 9th-level cleric spells from Ur-Priest, but don't even fret over that: like Dread Necro, True Necro gets shit every level to make up for any problems you might have had otherwise. You get ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'' as SLAs, but sadly still need to pay for the components. However, this build fully advances your Rebuke Undead ability (all classes involved get it, so all contribute to it). In addition, True Necro gives you caster level boosts to all your necromancy spells/SLAs and Rebukes, and you even get a ''desecrate'' aura that penalizes turn undead and buffs your own undead with more attack, damage, saves, and hp. While the free ''animate dead'' of Pale Master is spiffy, the only really good undead you will ever create will be from ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'', so it's a little bit of a moot point.		One of the most powerful builds you can probably do is the Ur-Priest / True Necromancer build. It's pretty disgusting; a DM may not flip the table, but he might chuck a book your way. It works like this: you need to start with a high Wis and Cha, trying to get to 20 in both of them (or at the very least 19, so you can actually cast the spells you get access to). Go Dread Necro 8 (for Undead Mastery), then dip Ur-Priest 2 for 2nd level spells. Now you qualify for True Necromancer, which is basically the super-charged Necromancy Mystic Theurge. You need to take True Necromancer 10 to get your 9th-level cleric spells from Ur-Priest, but don't even fret over that: like Dread Necro, True Necro gets shit every level to make up for any problems you might have had otherwise. You get ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'' as SLAs, but sadly still need to pay for the components. However, this build fully advances your Rebuke Undead ability (all classes involved get it, so all contribute to it). In addition, True Necro gives you caster level boosts to all your necromancy spells/SLAs and Rebukes, and you even get a ''desecrate'' aura that penalizes turn undead and buffs your own undead with more attack, damage, saves, and hp. While the free ''animate dead'' of Pale Master is spiffy, the only really good undead you will ever create will be from ''create'' (''greater'') ''undead'', so it's a little bit of a moot point.

	If you don't care as much about having undead mastery, you can do a Dread Necro 7 / Warlock 3 / Eldritch Theurge 10 build. This one is tricky because the invocations you get shore up your necro abilities. For least invocations, take ''baleful utterance'', ''eldritch spear'', and ''entropic warding''; for lesser invocations, take ''eldritch chain'', ''flee the scene'', and ''walk unseen''; for your greater invocations, get ''chilling tentacles'' and ''vitriolic blast''. The big play here is to use spellblast to drop area spells in your list on target, use eldritch spellweave to put ''vitriolic blast'' on targeted spells (so that they do acid damage and bypass SR), and use greatreach blast to drop ''inflict'' and other touch spells directly on choice targets. Note that fiendish resilience will work on you even if you're undead, so enjoy the increased heal rate, as well as the nice bit of DR you pick up to avoid getting punked down too easily. You shouldn't take ''fell flight''; there are more and better ways to get flight for a Dread Necro.		If you don't care as much about having undead mastery, you can do a Dread Necro 7 / [[Warlock]] 3 / [[Eldritch Theurge]] 10 build. This one is tricky because the invocations you get to shore up your necro abilities. For least invocations, take ''baleful utterance'', ''eldritch spear'', and ''entropic warding''; for lesser invocations, take ''eldritch chain'', ''flee the scene'', and ''walk unseen''; for your greater invocations, get ''chilling tentacles'' and ''vitriolic blast''. The big play here is to use spellblast to drop area spells in your list on target, use eldritch spellweave to put ''vitriolic blast'' on targeted spells (so that they do acid damage and bypass SR), and use greatreach blast to drop ''inflict'' and other touch spells directly on choice targets. Note that fiendish resilience will work on you even if you're undead, so enjoy the increased heal rate, as well as the nice bit of DR you pick up to avoid getting punked down too easily. You shouldn't take ''fell flight''; there are more and better ways to get flight for a Dread Necro.

	===Feats===		===Feats===