Dnd 3.5 - The Hunt for the Holy Grail.

[Dusk Raven]

It'd be as a template, I'd imagine … Curst get an Int. penalty from the original creature — as I've discovered — and Mummy template also has one, I think.

Mummy gains -4 Int, hence my question. but I will build with the reduction already calculater into it all.

Ah, it hadn't occurred to me that one could get an INT penalty from the undead template itself, despite having been told about the Curst earlier.

In the meantime... I think Merideath's aesthetic concerns can be solved with a Hat of Disguise and possibly something to disguise the smell - something that's been dead for as long as a lich shouldn't have much one one, but it's still a good base to cover. A Hat of Disguise also means I don't need Disguise Self on my list, so Dread Necromancer is back on the table. DN still has the issue of having a lot of its features eclipsed by the Lich template (the point is that you're slowly becoming a lich, after all), and its spell selection, while spontaneous, is much more limited. It is, however, lower-optimization and less of a headache for me, as I have fewer potential spells to worry about. Could also PrC out so I get actual class features. The Wizard may be the superior choice in terms of power, but it'll also take a lot more sifting through sourcebooks.

One other consideration - the Dread Necro is better than the Wizard in terms of making and controlling undead, thanks to some class features that aren't Lich Jr. abilities. That's not necessarily a point in its favor, though - from the fact that Leadership is banned, I assume samduke doesn't want to deal with too many minions, and I don't want to deal with minions much, either.

I think I'll make a Dread Necro build first for expediency's sake, then if I have time I'll work on a Wizard build and decide which I want.