Undead suggestions for my lich's army

[Ettina]

I have a lich character who gets accidentally freed by a hobgoblin excavation team (his phylactery was stuck in an anti-magic field for centuries). He soon raises an army of living and undead (hobgolbins and their slaves), and starts wreaking havoc. He is a wizard, with no connection to any dieties.

He has several general types of progressions for his servants:

Willing servants start out serving him in life, and if they please him enough or die in his service, they are raised as intelligent, free-willed undead who would be fairly desirable for an evil character to be. Such as bone creatures/corpse creatures, ghouls, etc. Undead servants who please him could wind up gaining beneficial templates like fleshvigor. He also likes spawn-creators, and they become essentially lieutenants commanding their spawn.

A servant who displeased him, but not enough to be considered an enemy, could wind up as an intelligent undead with unpleasant side effects - decreased int, inability to speak, being really unhappy or insane, etc. This would be fairly rare, though.

Lastly, and these guys would be the majority of his army - an enemy killed becomes an undead that has no free will, probably mindless. Typically after a successful battle he'll just spend awhile raising every corpse in the battlefield.

The absolute top of the hierarchy is his apprentice, another wizard, who he plans to guide through the process of becoming a lich.

So, I have a bunch of ideas already. But any other kinds of undead I should know about? I'm looking especially for free-willed, intelligent undead who seem like they'd like to be what they are, and the fluff or crunch links their creation to arcane magic.

[ATHATH]

Look up the Collection of Necromantic Oddities. It's basically a handbook about the undead you can rules-legally create.

Consider the Spellstitched template as well.

The apprentice should probably be a Deathwalker or a Dread Necromancer. There's another Wizard variant that can imbue mindless undead with the personality, skill ranks, BAB, etc. of a soul that he's captured (without harming the soul!).

There's also a spell from an online article that can imbue an item with the personality of a creature that you have on hand.

[OldTrees1]

Boneclaw are a surprisingly interesting undead.

[Ettina]

The apprentice should probably be a Deathwalker or a Dread Necromancer. There's another Wizard variant that can imbue mindless undead with the personality, skill ranks, BAB, etc. of a soul that he's captured (without harming the soul!).

He's already a wizard before he meets & signs on with the lich, so I need him to either be straight wizard or a prestige class that stacks with wizard.

[Zephonim]

He's already a wizard before he meets & signs on with the lich, so I need him to either be straight wizard or a prestige class that stacks with wizard.

My suggestion make him a Walker in the Waste even though it's a divine prc refluff it. I love Walker in the Waste it's absolutely flavorful.

Like your players enter the dungeon and open the door suddenly a blast of hot air pours out the door. They get deeper in and its getting hot... like REALLY HOT. Like oh god my metals burning my flesh hot. Then they get to the final door and their flesh bubbles and boils from the extreme heat. They see a man withered with dry cracked and dusty skin looking like he hasn't had watered for a year. He's stitching up a dessicated corpse when he notices the intrusion and suddenly plants his hand on the skull as he awakens a Salt Mummy. Then out of two coffins pop out more salt mummies as they deal with the horror of dehydration.


Oh and then when he retreats to leave them to the mummy they enter a room thats full of sand and suddenly the sand takes form as a sandstorm fills the room as the sand golem punches the wizard from behind and he sudddenly begins choking. Dehydration is usually something players never have to deal with they wont be prepared for that **** at all

I ****ing LOVE MUMMY WIZARDS

[ATHATH]

He's already a wizard before he meets & signs on with the lich, so I need him to either be straight wizard or a prestige class that stacks with wizard.

Deathwalker and Soul Reaper (I remembered the name) are variant Wizards... do they/does that count?

[MHCD]

Brain in a Jar is a good one for intelligent undead with fluff links to creation with necromancy and alchemy. An advanced brain in a jar (or one given class levels) also makes a handy lieutenant, complete with control over the living and the undead. As a bonus, they would also make great punishments for an enemy forced into your service, being also mad in crunch and a great example of "and I must scream". You can also stick one on/in another undead creature for mobility.

The aforementioned spellstitched template is great for customizing special undead allies, particularly intelligent ones, and has magic requirements for creation.

Necropolitans are too often overlooked as elements of an undead army, but make for great intelligent and extremely customize-able allies. You can handwaive a bunch as loyal servants or gained through leadership and/or undead leadership.

And of course, don't forget a slaymate (or more than one). Any true Scotsm- er, necromancer, is accompanied by a slaymate whenever possible.

[Ettina]

And
of course, don't forget a slaymate (or more than one). Any true Scotsm- er, necromancer, is accompanied by a slaymate whenever possible.

How would an arcane necromancer get a slaymate? Especially if they're a long-dead lich with no handy neglected children?

[OldTrees1]

How would an arcane necromancer get a slaymate? Especially if they're a long-dead lich with no handy neglected children?

Find one?
Make one?

[WhatThePhysics]

Wights would be suitable soldiers. Since they are under the command of the wights that created them, all you need is one or more starting wights, the Command Undead spell, and a pool of living humanoids to convert. Given we're talking about a lich that's also a wizard, creating a wight only requires a single casting of Enervation on your average peasant.

[MHCD]

How would an arcane necromancer get a slaymate? Especially if they're a long-dead lich with no handy neglected children?

Find one?
Make one?

Find one: backstory, divination spells, network of undead servants and living contacts, offering a reward for "live" capture...

Make one: create undead / greater create undead (houserule necessaey for these), custom spell to create one (if the aforementioned ones won't work for you), try to make one the "natural way"...

Slaymates are undead creatures given a semblance of life when a guardian's betrayal, either outright or through negligence, leads to death.

Nothing there says they had to be YOUR children, and surely an ancient lich can think of a few ways to create the circumstances under which one may arise naturally. Here's a simple one with seriously dickish evil:
1) visit orphanage(s)
2) adopt children
3) let them die from neglect
3a) alternatively, sacrifice them in a dark ritual or as a component for a listed or custom undead creation spell
4) slaymate?
4a) if no, proceed to step 1

[Dappershire]

What, those hobgoblins didn't have children? You rewarded the ones who freed you with death and eternal slavery. Im sure the children crawled off into the forest to...well...to do whatever happens to children in shipping containers in major port cities.

[Ettina]

What, those hobgoblins didn't have children? You rewarded the ones who freed you with death and eternal slavery. Im sure the children crawled off into the forest to...well...to do whatever happens to children in shipping containers in major port cities.

Dying while you have a child isn't really betrayal.