Handling a Necromancer for Dungeon Masters & Players in DnD- GM 911

Handling a Necromancer for Dungeon Masters & Players in DnD- GM 911
Original GM 911 Post
Hey Guys,
I have recently switched my wizard from a lore wizard to a necromancer due to the lore wizard not being released in Xanathar's Guide. As it stands we are 11th level so I can maintain around 38 zombies/skeletons. I currently only run around with 8 skeletons/zombies. I would like to run around with more but I am afraid that it would take away from the rest of the party as far as combat is concerned. I have never played a necromancer nor have I ever played with one before either so I am not sure where to really draw the line. Lots of the necromancer abilities deal with animate dead so I would like to use the spell but I don't know how much is too much and want to make sure that the rest of the party is still having a good time, especially in regards to combat.

I guess the questions boil down to:
1.) How much is too much as far as summons go for animate dead?
2.) How as a DM should you handle a Necromancer in a campaign?

Thank you for the help and really love the show :)

Thank you,
Andy
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[BMCArchangel]

I heard a story that supports a good necromancer.

A DM did a solo campaign for a friend, the friend wanted to do a powerful wizard, but since he was going solo decided to do a necromancer. As the campaign went on The wizard started to travel from town, to city, to village teaching them that death was the end of the souls use of the body, but the body can be used for better things. The Wizard taught these places how to create and control the undead in simple ways. Showing the people undead can be used to plow fields, push/pull carts, Simple task such as an unseen servant can do.

After a life of travel and teaching the Wizard has become old and wanted to look back on the places he helped and see how they were doing. He sat in his tower and looked into his scrying device to see nothing but horror as he looked at one place after another only to see them destroyed and in ruins.

Once the campaign ended the DM told the solo player he was DMing another game for a full party of adventures that followed in the Wizards wake roughly a year behind him, They choice to destroy all undead on sight and kill the people controlling them, assuming they must be evil.

The party never asked if the towns were evil, if the act of creating and/or commanding the undead was evil in the setting, or any real questions at all about this odd event they kept coming across. They just assumed and killed the undead and anyone protesting about it.

I enjoy the idea of a game with a Necromancer that uses the undead to help defeat evil or in this case, help towns become more productive, while the undead did the labor the townsfolk could become better educated, becoming more skilled in their more difficult craft/profession. Not unlike today where we use machines to help reduce labor so we can become smarter and further evolve.

[TheDreamSyndicateArts]

Ineffectual as it may be, waltzing around with a horde of undead is just (im)pure and simple fun. It's a way to raise a family and make friends all at once- thanks Necromancy!

[Nurkmrath]

"And a parade of skeletons behind ... for entertaining." I have this mental image now of a Bard/Necromancer concept with a troupe of dancing skeletons.

[GrandGoblin]

Have an actual parade of skeletons playing instruments and a float that you sit on to wave to the townsfolk when you enter.

[gregoryfloriolli]

See page 250 of the DMG for rules on streamlining mobs. If you use those rules, combat will move along just fine. No worries.

[gambent]

@ Andy, here are some of my suggestions.
1.) How much is too much? Summon whatever your Necromancer is able to, according to your situation. If you're worried about your upsetting your fellow players during combat due to time, one suggestion is to maybe divide your undead up amongst you and the other players. Your necromancer gives a basic command, like kill the enemies, and then your friends run a number of the undead themselves so they get to roll more dice and have fun during that turn. If you don't want to get rid of control of so many of your undead, I also liked what Ted said about just rolling multiple dice at once in order to speed up combat on your turn.
2.) How should your DM handle the Necromancer? Talk to your DM and see how this will work in his setting. Problems will only really occur if you and your DM aren't on the same page. Your DM should be able to convey to you how your necromancer is more than likely perceived in the world / region. Use that info to run your character. If necromancy is frowned upon in your setting, then your wizard will probably have to hide the fact that he is, in fact a necromancer. If necromancy is more commonplace, then perhaps it's not a big deal for your entourage of undead to follow you, perhaps its even seen as a mark of power. The crux of the matter is that your character should know how he fits into the world, and it's your DM's job to convey that to you so you can make meaningful choices based upon that knowledge.

Hope that helps!

[mikegould]

I have had more than one player inquire about this. Hell, I have asked my own DM about this. What I can state unequivocally is that this whole issue about "All Necromancers are evil" falls into that same "all Paladins are Lawful Good" and "All (insert race) are (insert alignment).

I hate that stereotyping old school dogma crap. One can't say "do what you like" in one breath then spout this sort of dogma with the next. It's crap.

I am impressed that the player is ASKING about this ahead of time. Kudos to you sir. There's some math to consider before raising your undead servitors. Note that they all require reassertion of your magical authority 24 hours later, so having the right amount of spell slots means resource management. Keep careful track of that.
Secondly, consider the Undead in a non-combat manner. You have an immortal workforce that requires no sleep, food, clothing, shelter, pay, housing, or upkeep outside of spell slots. Turn this undead force into the labour required to build your wizard tower, or even use their utility to bribe official otherwise fearful of them to build homes, dig trenches, build roads...etc. Talk to magistrates about using criminals condemned to death to utilize these recent dead to perform eternal communal service. They can work in conditions or areas the living cannot. Clearing debris in poisonous areas or those filled with deadly diseased mosquitos, under water, or in mines in danger of collapse. Undead could climb over each other to create body bridges or organic "ladders" so players could ascend walls or cliffs. They could carry ropes under rivers to help build lines over the river eventually.
In essence, do not treat them as undead. Treat them as drones. I did this in a modern science-fantasy game, and undead were used in conjunction with our explosive expert to breach walls, deliver packages or notices into hostile territory where they might get shot or risk toxins/radiation and the like. It's very effective.
Older versions of D&D had hirelings, servants and even torch bearers. Using the Undead to perform mundane tasks and carry treasure frees the party to do the majority of the heavy lifting (combat).

If you're worried about masses of undead in combat, the DMG has optional rules for mass attacks.

[Ephringael]

That would be fun, getting a bunch of evil NPCs trying to follow a good necromancer, and having to try to figure out how to slowly turn them to the side of good, without them realizing that you're not a big bad.

[curtisbrown]

I mean... if you think about it undead an necromancers would make fantastically good military allies. you essentially have a infinite number of mindless fearless shock troopers. I can't imagine all the great an powerfull civilizations an empires in the DND world are going to look at such a incredibly potent form of magic an be like "nah... I'll pass!" not to mention for every undead soldier a civilization raises it doesn't have to draft or recruit a living soldier to risk their life in replacement. no more family's destroyed by the horrors of combat.

[Lechteron]

Timely video. I'm currently playing a good necromancer. He's trying to create divine magic without the gods. A little insane but a legitimately well intentioned guy. He views corpses as abandoned property and thus homesteadable. He's going to be multiclassing into Celestial Warlock.

[qlipothian]

I've always seen the enchantment school as far more evil than the necromancy school.

[tactitin]

The true flexibility of a necromancer is when their summons are permanent and used creatively. Imagine that a necromancer gets a chance to use skeletons and zombies as a labour force and make coin to do all kinds more things. The options are endless

[RazzlePhoxx]

Last week one of my players made what he calls a "friendomancer", basically a necromancer that uses something like speak with dead to ask permission to use a corpse. I linked him this video to watch and will be using some of the sugestions from near the end about some of the possible challenges I can use with him

[TheShaded]

I found this video incredibly helpful, I'm playing a campaign where me and my friend are both use necromancer spells with him being a classic necromancer and me being an neutral warlock who summons shadows, and I was afraid of breaking the game but this put me at ease, so thanks nerds :)

[gobo]

Late to comment, but as a be necromancer player, I live by these words “War is an equation with death the solution, lives the cost. Necromancy provides the solution with out the cost.”

[millerjames]

Well better than the time my level 10 enchanter converted a city into his personal slaves in less than a month of down time

[jeffersonian]

Privateer Press put out a neat d20 module called the Witchfire Chronicle, which was our first glimpse into the fantasy world that would become War Machine. In the module, the players have to deal with girl that being persecuted as witch, because she’s a Sorcerer that can inherently raise the dead. And awesome story, as both the party and the girl race to acquire the Witchfire Sword, an artifact used to execute witches that was used to steel her mother’s soul.

[spoiler] they introduced a new craft magic item feat: Craft Skeletons. It allowed you to create intelligent soldiers from mix-matched bones that could communicate with each other, use weapons, armor and tactics. [/spoiler]

[typoko]

As a DM i have gone the route of how Wights are done. They have a passive ability how much they can have creatures following them and not try to make sense of the undead in the limits of spells listed in the books.

[logannichols]

Animate undead works diffrent in PF you can have a number of undead equal to twice you cater level. They are under your command until they are killed. No time limit.