"Let's play Wake the Dead!" -- 4e Wizard Class Feature: Raise Undead (Please PEACH)

[Tarantulas]

Designer's Note:
This is an idea I've been toying with, possibly in preparation for a whole Necromancer class build for the wizard. Chances are it will all be obsolete after Arcane Power comes out, but in the meantime, it's entertaining. :) The idea itself, of course, is based in part on the Barbarian's Rage Strike.

Please critique. It's the only way I'll figure out what the hell I'm doing. ;)

NEW WIZARD CLASS FEATURE
To select the following feature, you must give up a portion of your arcane knowledge. If you wish the power to Raise Undead, you do not gain Arcane Implement Mastery at first level, although you may still take the appropriate feats later.

Raise Undead Wizard Feature
You sacrifice a piece of the magic that burns within you, warping the fabric of arcane magic, bending your will upon it to create an undead servitor to guard you and do your bidding.
At-Will & Arcane, Necrotic, Implement
Standard action, Ranged 5
Requirement: One creature who was not a minion must have been killed during the current encounter, and you must have at least one unused daily spell.
Target: One dead creature.
Effect: When you cast this spell, you expend one of your unused daily spells and raise an undead servant that occupies 1 square within range. The creature has hit points equal to your level + your Wisdom score + the level of the spell sacrificed, and defenses equal to your own. As a move action, you can command the creature to move up to 2 + your Wisdom modifier squares and make an Intelligence vs AC attack, dealing damage equal to 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier on a hit. The creature endures until slain, or until you take an extended rest. The creature cannot be healed or regain its hit points in any way, although you can raise the same creature again after it expires.
Special: You can only command one creature at a time to rise as the result of this power. Some spells grant additional powers to your undead creatures when they are expended, as noted in the spell descriptions.

Thoughts: Maybe a necromancer can support one additional undead servant per tier? And I'm looking to balance in some additional spells so a necromancer can raise really a proper horde.

[Mando Knight]

If you're going for undead horde, perhaps raising the number of undead raised to (# dailies spent)*(# of tier (Heroic=1, Paragon=2, Epic=3)...

Other than that, yeah, it'll probably be superseded by something in Arcane Power, but there's really no other way to play a necromancer in the meantime...

Or... new idea! Add in:
"You can also use an encounter power to make an undead minion out of any corpse you can raise an undead servant from, or a daily power to create a number of undead minions equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Undead minions are immune to disease and poison effects, and have the same defenses as their master, but are destroyed by any successful attack.

As a standard action, you can command all of your undead minions to attack an enemy adjacent to them. Their attacks use your Int (including half your level, not including implement or weapon bonuses) vs. Reflex, dealing damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Together, all of your undead minions can make only one attack of opportunity per round, regardless of how many provoking actions are made, or how many minions you have."

[Shadow_Elf]

I'm pretty sure they mentioned somewhere that Necromancer will be its own class with the Shadow Power Source. Look for it in PHB III or PHB IV, depending on which comes first, Elemental or Shadow.

In the meantime, this looks like a good quick-fix.

My major problem is that this zombie is rather... pathetic. Its damage and mobility cost you your actions, and its damage is sub-par and has no secondary effects... why use a zombie that doe 1d6 + INT mod when u can do 1d6 + INT and slow the enemy? or leave a minor cloud of floating daggers behind? Or, do it in one of several AOE attacks? While the fluff is excellent, I would currently much rather one of the current Implement Masteries than this feature.
I do not, unfortunately, have any suggestions for improvement at this time.

[Inyssius Tor]

Powers! Like the Beastmaster ranger, I should think, a wizard with this class feature would have a number of spells which command your skeletal henchperson to attack and do something else neat.

EDIT: But... expend a daily? Seriously? No, no, no, no, no. Bad idea. Just let them raise dead whenever there's a corpse about--maybe spending a healing surge on it, but not necessarily.

[Tarantulas]

Mando Knight: I liiiike it. I'm gonna work that in.

WIZARD CLASS FEATURES

Spoiler

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Raise Undead Wizard Feature
You sacrifice a piece of the magic that burns within you, warping the fabric of arcane magic, bending your will upon it to create an undead servitor to guard you and do your bidding.
At-Will & Arcane, Necrotic
Standard action, Close burst
Requirement: One creature must have been killed during the most recent encounter. You must have at least one unused daily spell.
Target: One or more dead creatures in burst.
Effect: When you cast this spell, you expend one of your unused daily spells, and you raise one undead servant that occupies 1 square within range. At each tier of play, you can raise one additional servant (for a total of two at 11th level, and three at 21st level). This servant has hit points equal to your level + your Wisdom score + the level of the spell sacrificed. It has defenses equal to your own, and is immune to disease and poison effects. As a move action, you can command each servant to move up to 2 + your Wisdom modifier squares and make an Intelligence vs AC melee attack, dealing damage equal to 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier on a hit.
--At your option, when you expend one of your daily spells to use this power, instead of undead servants, you raise undead minions equal to your Intelligence modifier, +1 for each tier of play. Your minions have defenses equal to your own, and are immune to disease and poison effects. As a standard action, you can command your minions to move up to 1 + your Wisdom modifier squares and make an Intelligence vs AC melee attack, dealing damage equal to 2 + your Intelligence modifier. Your minions can make only one opportunity attack in a given round, regardless of how many provoking actions are made, or how many minions are present.
--If you have at least one undead servant or minion under your control, you can expend one unused encounter spell to create an additional minion.
--Servants and minions endure until slain, or until you take an extended rest. You may dismiss any or all undead creatures you have created using this spell as a minor action. Your servants and minions cannot be healed or regain hit points in any way, although you can raise the same creature again after it expires.
Special: Some spells grant additional powers to your undead servants when they are expended, as noted in the spell descriptions. These powers have no effect on minions, unless otherwise noted.

How's that?

Shadow Elf: Heh, too true. Personally, from the viewpoint of concrete reality, it seems like it really shouldn't cost the caster *any* of their actions for their summoned meat-shields to move and attack. Of course, this is 4e, and things get more abstract all the time. Plus making the zombies autonomous seemed potentially unbalancing. For your move action, your servant can move and attack, which does leave you your standard action; I wasn't even sure that that wasn't potentially broken, which is why the damage and hit points are so low.

It's a balancing act-- I'll see what I can do to beef this thing up without breaking the class. Edit: What about 2d4 damage? 1d10? 2d6? What's too high, here? Your undead creatures are more or less a meat wall of stopgap defenders, but I don't want them to be an unstoppable force.

Inyssius Tor: The idea behind expending daily powers would be that expending different powers would give your creatures additional benefits, which is another part of the balancing act still yet to come. Generic bonuses for non-Necrotic spells, more flavourful abilities for the spells that a pure necromancer would be likely to take.

I'm not sure what these generic bonuses would entail, but I thought the necromancer specialties might be something like this:

LEVEL 1 DAILY SPELLS (Edited.)

Spoiler

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Death Armor Wizard Attack 1
With horrible patience, you concentrate, drawing a web of living shadows from the very air. They gather around an ally, lashing out at creatures who draw too near.
Daily & Arcane, Necrotic, Implement
Standard Action, Area burst 1 within 10 squares
Target: All creatures in burst.
Attack: Intelligence vs Reflex
Hit: 2d4 + Intelligence modifier necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of your next turn. Choose one ally in the burst. Until the end of the encounter, whenever a creature hits the ally with a melee attack, the attacker takes damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1).
Special: When you sacrifice this spell to fuel the Raise Undead ability, the resulting creature is a zombie with resistance to all weapon attacks equal to your Wisdom modifier, and its attacks gain the Brutal 1 property. The creature is also immune to mind-affecting powers, including psychic damage. However, the creature’s AC and Reflex defenses can be no higher than 14, it cannot make opportunity attacks, and its speed is reduced by 2 (minimum 1).

Wraithwall Wizard Attack 1
Bound by your will, restless spirits surge up from beneath your feet, forming a crooked path. Against you and your allies, they can only weep and rail, pawing feebly at your boots, but you do not extend such protection to the foe.
Daily & Arcane, Necrotic, Implement
Standard Action, Area wall 5 within 5 squares
Effect: You raise a contiguous wall of grasping, ghostly hands. It can be up to 5 squares long and up to 1 square high. The wall lasts until the end of your next turn. You and your allies can move freely through the wall, but an enemy moving through its space treats the wall's squares as difficult terrain. Once per turn upon entering the wall, an enemy is subject to an immediate Intelligence vs Fortitude attack. On a hit, the target is grabbed. If the target attempts to escape, the wall uses your Fortitude defense.
Sustain Move: The wall persists.
Special: When you sacrifice this spell to fuel the Raise Undead ability, the resulting creature is a wraith. The creature is insubstantial and has a fly speed equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier, but it has a Fortitude defense of 12 and takes a -2 penalty on its attacks, which deal no damage on a hit; instead, they push the enemy 1 square.

[Tarantulas]

You can never have too many shambling undead... Or can you?

LEVEL 1 ENCOUNTER SPELLS

Ancient Regiment Wizard Attack 1
The ashen dust of a crypt chokes the air around you, pushing your enemies aside as it clings to the bones of the dead who arise and march in lockstep beside you.
Encounter & Arcane, Necrotic
Standard action, Close burst 1
Target: All creatures in burst.
Attack: Intelligence vs Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier necrotic damage, and you push the target 1 square.
Effect: You raise a skeletal minion in each empty square in the burst. These minions have defenses equal to your own -5, and are immune to mind-affecting powers, including psychic damage. At the end of your turn, each minion can make a single Intelligence vs AC attack against an adjacent target. On a hit, you can choose between dealing 1d6 + Intelligence modifier damage, or pushing the target 1 square. Minions raised by this power cannot make opportunity attacks.
--When you move, each minion can move in the same direction and at the same speed; you can also command them to remain where they are as a free action. If a creature’s movement is blocked, it remains where it is. As a move action, you can move each minion up to 5 squares; however, at the end of this movement, all minions must be within the same 5x5 square. The regiment lasts until the end of the encounter, or until it is destroyed.