Ways to Necromancer besides just making an army?

[Ryunosuke]

So I played some AL D&D at a con recently including a few expeditions and an Epic adventure using my Yuan Ti Pureblood Necromancer. Came out level 4, got a Pearl of Power and traded the leftovers from the good magic items to get a Wand of the War Mage +1. I also have some on theme trinkets I randomly got (candle that can’t be lit and a rope necklace of 4 mummified elf fingers) and I’m approaching the Anime Dead level finally.

Now I love Necromancer even from a purely thematic matter and even just some roleplay and the like but I also want to be able to be useful outside of playing as a wannabe Evoker half the time and without always carrying 4-8 skeleton archers on hand everywhere I go.

Unfortunately no official rules exist regarding undead proficiencies (so slapping plate male on a more durable zombie walks skier and attacks at disadvantage and I can’t upgrade my skeletons to crossbows) and my character doesn’t want to just run around with a small army all the time since it’s conspicuous for one and a minor hassle to keep track of the bastards all the time.

Since the Necromancer archetype got slightly shafted imo for abilities and minionmancy is really toned down in 5e, what are some creative or fun ways you guys have made use of necromancy as players before? Kinda looking to do more than just assign each of my other party members a skeleton or just using them to body trigger traps for us.

[MaxWilson]

Even zombies with disadvantage due to plate armor can still Help PCs attack, spread ball bearings, etc. And skeletons with longbows or heavy crossbows, if the DM rules they aren't proficient, still attack at +2 due to Dex. It's less efficient than their shortbows, and honestly I'd probably stick to shortbows against heavily-armored foes unless I needed the extra range, but it's not a showstopper.

But your question seems to basically be, "What kind of Necromancy does 5E have to offer that isn't minionmancy?" and on that front I'd have to say, "Negative Energy Flood, Vampiric Touch, and Grim Harvest abuse." Grim Harvest is an interesting ability in that it can fire once per turn, not just once per round, and it doesn't require that the creature you kill be "hostile." Chickens are 2 cp each, and if you cast e.g. Evard's Black Tenctacles on a bunch of chickens, you will gain 8 HP for each chicken that dies. (And they make good eating afterwards too, yum.) If you cast Vampiric Touch V, you will gain *15* HP for each chicken that dies, although in that case you're capped at 150 HP since you only have ten rounds to kill chickens before the spell ends.

So if you want to be a non-minion Necromancer in 5E, you could get heavy armor, Warcaster and/or Resilient (Con), and wade into combat with life-drain abilities. In big fights you could also experiment with Negative Energy Flood to convert an enemy who is low on HP into a zombie version of itself that will attack other nearby enemies. (This obviously works best if your DM rules that it converts enemies who hit 0 HP instantly, instead of waiting for them to die from failed death saves.) Just make sure that at the start of your next turn, the creature closest to it is an enemy and not a PC.

But really, if you give up on minionmancy, you're giving up the best parts of being a Necromancer. You won't benefit from your 6th level feature or your 14th level feature: so no Mummy Lords or zombie beholders for you. Even Dance Macabre is basically out of bounds for you. You can still have some fun times as a pseudofighter with Vampiric Touch, but it's much more fun if you're open to at least a couple of undead minions. If not, I'd advise you to pick another subclass.

[Ryunosuke]

Oh no I wasn’t looking to disregard minionmancy but I wanted to avoid simply spamming the largest number I can possibly control on a regular basis. Namely I was looking for a few more creative ways to use no more than a single animate dead’s worth of minions (so 4 at most for a third level slot) and things I can do with them besides just standard archer squads and things like that.

Is there an official way to make them into literal suicide bombers to throw at an enemy and ignite with fire bolt? Items they can use with their turn for me more efficiently besides handing them wands of magic missile? (That’s limited per day and I can’t guarantee I’ll find one) things that are unusual but legal by the rules of possible since he’s an AL wizard.

Also I used my PHB+1 to be a yuan ti so unless I ever encountered another pc Necromancer then Dance Macrabre will never be an option for me due to AL rules unfortunately. Though I really wish there was a Lowe level version of that spell even if it effected fewer undead because Undead Thralls seems like a weak ability to me. Mostly since it doesn’t boost the attack rolls and honestly a ranger companion gains way more benefits from the get go.

[Vogie]

You can fiddle around with multiclassing to be a bit of a blaster. A 1 level dip into Death Cleric will allow you to pseudo-twin your Chill Touch or Toll the Dead spells and give you access to Inflict Wounds in addition to proficiency in martial weapons, medium armor & Shields. You could almost be Gish-y if you up to a 2nd level dip for touch of death.

[Ryunosuke]

You can fiddle around with multiclassing to be a bit of a blaster. A 1 level dip into Death Cleric will allow you to pseudo-twin your Chill Touch or Toll the Dead spells and give you access to Inflict Wounds in addition to proficiency in martial weapons, medium armor & Shields. You could almost be Gish-y if you up to a 2nd level dip for touch of death.

Death Cleric and Oathbreaker Paladin are DM variants for NPC use and wouldn’t be AL legal by any means unfortunately. In fact the rights to get the death domain is a convention story reward for AL at the epic I played in but it was gained by the higher tier tables I believe.

[MaxWilson]

Oh no I wasn’t looking to disregard minionmancy but I wanted to avoid simply spamming the largest number I can possibly control on a regular basis. Namely I was looking for a few more creative ways to use no more than a single animate dead’s worth of minions (so 4 at most for a third level slot) and things I can do with them besides just standard archer squads and things like that.

Grappling, shoving, spreading caltrops and ball bearings, carrying around portable partial cover for PCs, Helping PCs on attacks and grappling attempts, acting as living walls to create chokepoints/protect squishies, threatening opportunity attacks, giving them torches to play NARC beacons in the dark, up-armoring skeletons with scale mail, long bows, or dual-wielded short swords; upgrading zombies with chain mail and shields and clubs and/or mauls. Have armored zombies Dodge to last longer. Use Darkness or Fog Cloud to cancel out disadvantage for not being proficient with their armor, if they aren't. Have them throw nets to restrain enemies.

Cast spells like Stinking Cloud to simultaneously cancel out disadvantage on attacks AND deplete enemy action economy. Your undead are immune to poison so won't be affected. At 6th level your spell slots are too precious to make this option very attractive, but later on it gets better.

Is there an official way to make them into literal suicide bombers to throw at an enemy and ignite with fire bolt?

There's flaming oil but it's more of an area denial effect than a big kaboom. 5 HP of damage per round.

Items they can use with their turn for me more efficiently besides handing them wands of magic missile?

Caltrops, ball bearings, and various forms of armor and weaponry are all in the PHB and pretty cheap. The forementioned flaming oil can be useful against hordes, but it really pushes the limits of what zombies can be expected to understand. Skeletons should be able to handle it though.

If you have your skeletons throw Nets, you may want them in pairs to cancel out disadvantage that Nets always have from range and/or non-incapacitated enemies within 5'. (Nets have a range of 5/15, so you are ALWAYS either at long range or have an enemy within 5', unless you're trying to throw a net on an incapacitated enemy.) E.g. you could have two armored zombies and two skeletons, and the zombies are supposed to Help the skeletons in their Net attacks on enemies.

Landing a Net restrains them until they get it off, so friendlies get advantage on all of their attacks on that enemy, the enemy has disadvantage on all attacks, and the enemy can't chase after the squishies. All they can do is attack the net, burn actions to remove the net, or attack the zombie.

Also I used my PHB+1 to be a yuan ti so unless I ever encountered another pc Necromancer then Dance Macrabre will never be an option for me due to AL rules unfortunately. Though I really wish there was a Lowe level version of that spell even if it effected fewer undead because Undead Thralls seems like a weak ability to me. Mostly since it doesn’t boost the attack rolls and honestly a ranger companion gains way more benefits from the get go.

Undead Thralls helps your minions survive AoEs and gives you a scaling damage boost to your no-concentration, all-day spell.

If you're not planning on stacking Animate Dead, Undead Thralls is less impressive, but even if you're just using four up-armored minions, +50% free HP for your skeletons and four +3s to damage is still as good as most subclass features. And it doesn't cost you concentration.

[StorytellerHero]

One of the potential paths of a necromancer that you can pursue (using official rules) is that of a medicinal expert.

A necromancer that creates undead will likely study bodies and anatomy to enhance his/her understanding of life and unlife.

If you take the Skilled Feat (PHB) for herbalism kit, Medicine skill, and Nature skill, that should turn you into a necromantic doctor.

[Kane0]

You may find the AD&D Complete Book of Necromancers useful for your purposes.

[Theodoxus]

Played along side a 5th level necromancer in a AL game a few weeks back. He made prodigious use of Vampiric Touch, wading into combat and healing any damage he took. Helped he was a lizardman, so had natural AC, but nothing that mage armor wouldn't replicate.

[Ryunosuke]

Grappling, shoving, spreading caltrops and ball bearings, carrying around portable partial cover for PCs, Helping PCs on attacks and grappling attempts, acting as living walls to create chokepoints/protect squishies, threatening opportunity attacks, giving them torches to play NARC beacons in the dark, up-armoring skeletons with scale mail, long bows, or dual-wielded short swords; upgrading zombies with chain mail and shields and clubs and/or mauls. Have armored zombies Dodge to last longer. Use Darkness or Fog Cloud to cancel out disadvantage for not being proficient with their armor, if they aren't. Have them throw nets to restrain enemies.

Cast spells like Stinking Cloud to simultaneously cancel out disadvantage on attacks AND deplete enemy action economy. Your undead are immune to poison so won't be affected. At 6th level your spell slots are too precious to make this option very attractive, but later on it gets better.

I was already looking forwards to Stinking Cloud specifically because as a pureblood, i can be in the area without suffering the negative effects as well (can't seem to find any other abuses for my poison immunity) so that's all well and good. Having them grapple targets and making them pack mules and the like is a nice bit of utility as well. I am however missing how Darkness or Fog removes the disadvantage to attack for my undead minions. They can't 'see' through magic darkness either and nothing in the Fog Cloud spell implies anything about granting advantage to my minions either.

[Asmotherion]

The best spell I can think off that is an on-off army on demand (if you play your cards right) is Xanathar's Danse Macabre. Love this spell.

Otherwise, there are plenty of Damaging Necromancy Spells, or thematic Spells that are not Necromancy School, but fit the Trope Nicelly (Darkness, Shadow Blade). I love Hex on any Necromancer, as it makes your spells deal extra Damage of your thematic type; I usually get it as a Warlock dip, and have a high enough Cha for Eldritch Blast, but Chill Touch is RP gold for any Necromancer who has nothing better to do with his action/wants to damage something. I usually RP the visual as a Force Choke that drains the life out of the target.

The Demon/Devil conjuring Spells together with the Planar Binding Spell can be a very good call and very thematic. Just figure out what to call; Hint: Some of your undead have imunities most Humanoids don't. Pairing them together with the right fiend is a good call.

Overall, get a concept, figure out if it works/gets synergy, and go for it. Don't beat yourself too much over details.

Are you Aspiring to become a Lich? Perhaps you're not a Necromancer at all then, but a transmuter instead, obsesed with Imortality? How or why did you become a Necromancer in the first place?

If you're woried about social implications of creating an Undead Army, don't. You're a Necromancer, that's who you are. Role play it, one way or the other. See what happens. If you worry too much about embracing your in game character concept, it means you chose the wrong character concept to begin with.

Here are some RP tropes, and my personal tags, as I see them:
You can try to champion a cause of free use of Necromancy as any other form of Magic (chaotic)
Or hide your Undead army from civilisation, since they would not understand (Neutral)
You could try to petition a special permision of using an undead army as a special agent of the King (Lawful)
You could only use Necromantic Animation as a last resort, to save everyone, and then make sure to destroy the undead and bury them (Good)
Or not care about anything, take some minimal precautions, but whoever dares to get in your way of building your undead army will soon end up part of it (Evil)

[Shulk]

You could just start a construction buisiness and make a world spanning enterprise with your undead workforce, Being able to have a free workforce wherever there's a graveyard. Could be a decent plan.