dread necromancer build 3.5

[deephelldragon]

I am making a Dread Necromancer i currently have in my party a rouge a fighter and a ranger so I thought that we could use a necromancer so all book are availible and my stats are 18,16,17,18,15,18 you can do anything that you want nothing is baned and I am level 2.

[Marriclay]

I am making a Dread Necromancer i currently have in my party a rouge a fighter and a ranger so I thought that we could use a necromancer so all book are availible and my stats are 18,16,17,18,15,18 you can do anything that you want nothing is baned and I am level 2.

it is a requirement that you have tomb-tainted soul. the ability to heal yourself with an at-will touch is invaluable, and you should not sacrifice it.

In general, you want to be up in combat with the other players. because of your damage reduction (which you can enhance with a savage species feat called thick skinned) and a hearty constitution, you can be a damage sponge and deal damage like a rogue if you mix touch attack spells with your charnel touch (which is a really cool way of doing it, if you think about it). get the best light armor you can, and at third level take corpsecrafter. until you hit level eight, take levels in dread necro, but then switch off to prestige classes you like, as you won't be getting any more really good Dread necro class abilities for a while. also, note that you keep getting advanced learning even if you choose to take prestige classes.

and trust me, you want eight levels of this class. the dread necro gains abilities to raise the undead that nobody else can copy.

[deephelldragon]

Ok thanks but I think i want to go for being a lich.

[Octopus Jack]

Ok thanks but I think i want to go for being a lich.

If you want to be a lich then go for Dread Necromancer 20 but there isn't much else good in the class after level 8, however you could go into rainbow servant...

[Marriclay]

Ok thanks but I think i want to go for being a lich.

depending on the power level of your game (like, are your other party members optimizers? from their classes I doubt it, but you never know) the full progression to level 20 isn't actually a bad idea, you're just better served getting PrC levels in something. either way, it's your character, your choice. besides, gaining those PrC levels don't improve your DR/"You won't beat this"

[Optimystik]

You have very good stats - I don't think you can really go wrong here. Put one of the 18s in Cha, one in Dex and the last one in Con or Int. The rest of your stats really won't matter.

[Marriclay]

You have very good stats - I don't think you can really go wrong here. Put one of the 18s in Cha, one in Dex and the last one in Con or Int. The rest of your stats really won't matter.

Con. definitely con.

[Gnaeus]

Ok thanks but I think i want to go for being a lich.

If you have any choice in the matter, you are much better off becoming a necropolitan. Dread Necro>Lich takes 20 levels. You can become a necropolitan at level 3, when those undead bonuses are actually helpful.

[Optimystik]

If you have any choice in the matter, you are much better off becoming a necropolitan. Dread Necro>Lich takes 20 levels. You can become a necropolitan at level 3, when those undead bonuses are actually helpful.

The downside to that though, is that Necropolitans don't get phylacteries.

[Marriclay]

The downside to that though, is that Necropolitans don't get phylacteries.

heh yeah. meaning that once you smash 'em, they stay dead. lichs eventually just sorta... come back. and it can be really annoying when the lich makes a deal with a dragon, leaving his (quite valuable) phylactery in the dragon's horde in exchange for a place to regenerate his body safely

[Greenish]

heh yeah. meaning that once you smash 'em, they stay dead. lichs eventually just sorta... come back. and it can be really annoying when the lich makes a deal with a dragon, leaving his (quite valuable) phylactery in the dragon's horde in exchange for a place to regenerate his body safely

Of course, poor normal lichies only get one phylactery…

Now dry lich then, eh is pretty cool and dosent afraid of anything. 8 phylacteries!

[Optimystik]

Now dry lich then, eh is pretty cool and dosent afraid of anything.

He walks outside the cave carrying his 8 jars, and feels the first plops of a refreshing rainfall...

[Marriclay]

Of course, poor normal lichies only get one phylactery…

Now dry lich then, eh is pretty cool and dosent afraid of anything. 8 phylacteries!

all you need to do is make that arrangement with several dragons, leave ones that would only require a single day more of work to finish in the ones other than the first, and set up contingencies for dedicated wrights to finish one of the phylacteries should the active on be destroyed. easy peasy, and really mean to those do-gooding adventurers

[Greenish]

all you need to do is make that arrangement with several dragons, leave ones that would only require a single day more of work to finish in the ones other than the first, and set up contingencies for dedicated wrights to finish one of the phylacteries should the active on be destroyed. easy peasy, and really mean to those do-gooding adventurers

Or he could just finish all the eight of them at once, and tuck them into different demiplanes.

[Johanas]

If you want to be a lich then go for Dread Necromancer 20 but there isn't much else good in the class after level 8, however you could go into rainbow servant...

I can see it now. Emo Dread Necromancer, "Life is Pain...and Rainbows."

[Ormagoden]

It's dangerous to go alone, Here take this.

Dunn dunnnn dunnnnn dunnnnnnnn

[deephelldragon]

Now dry lich then, eh is pretty cool and dosent afraid of anything. 8 phylacteries!
__________________

What is a Dry Lich and also thank you everybody I like these ideas alot.

[Vizzerdrix]

18,16,17,18,15,18, and you want to go Lich.

Str-17
Dex-18
Con-15
Wis-16
Int-18
Cha-18

If you're gonna go undead, then con is a dump stat (not that a 15 con is bad)

Avoid melee and take a nice Strength Adjusted Longbow as your martial weapon. Sure, your DR will be nice in melee, but taking AOOs from casting in the front lines sucks. Anyways, you have fantastic cosmic powers, let the peasants do the sweaty dirty fighting, then animate the loosers and make them serve you.

[Greenish]

What is a Dry Lich and also thank you everybody I like these ideas alot.

Dry Lich is Lich that doesn't have much moisture.

It's the capstone of Walker of the Wastes, a 10 level PrC from Sandstorm.

[deephelldragon]

Dry Lich is Lich that doesn't have much moisture.

It's the capstone of Walker of the Wastes, a 10 level PrC from Sandstorm.

So what book is that in is it in Sandstorm or in a different book.

[Optimystik]

So what book is that in is it in Sandstorm or in a different book.

You have to be a Walker in the Waste to become a Dry Lich - both are in Sandstorm.

[deephelldragon]

Thank you I will look at that.

[Fouredged Sword]

unfortunatly dry litch requires devine casting. You could get into it at a silly low level though with some tricks. Cleric 1 with the sand and thirst domaine. Now use the spontanius cleric class substitution. Take versitle spellcaster and heat endurence as you first level feats. Now you can enter the class as your second level. Be a litch at level 11.

[OldTrees]

As a Dread Necromancer you will get a small army of undead from the Animate Dead spell.

However if you want to increase it by a few orders of magnitude, I would recommend taking Extend Spell, Chain Spell and Arcane Thesis (Command Undead). After all Command Undead >>> Animate Dead.

[Rothen]

If you're gonna go undead, then con is a dump stat (not that a 15 con is bad)

Then again, if you're only going to be a lich by level 20...It probably isn't.

[Machiavellian]

unfortunatly dry litch requires devine casting. You could get into it at a silly low level though with some tricks. Cleric 1 with the sand and thirst domaine. Now use the spontanius cleric class substitution. Take versitle spellcaster and heat endurence as you first level feats. Now you can enter the class as your second level. Be a litch at level 11.

?! I bet WotC NEVER saw that coming!

[Optimystik]

Then again, if you're only going to be a lich by level 20...It probably isn't.

Given that his "dump stat" is 15, I think he'll be fine

As a Dread Necromancer you will get a small army of undead from the Animate Dead spell.

However if you want to increase it by a few orders of magnitude, I would recommend taking Extend Spell, Chain Spell and Arcane Thesis (Command Undead). After all Command Undead >>> Animate Dead.

You'll also want to UMD a wand of Desecrate.
(Why WotC why??? )

[Fouredged Sword]

Yes, and you take no exp or money cost. You loose one level of spellcasting, but you get to be a lich. To get around the "all water is holy water" problem requiers being creative, but I imagine that you could place yourself in some kind of force bubble before to long. Or take the item, I don't remember where it is, but it allows you to ride a slime from the inside. No ride a gelatinus cube and let the cube eat any water or water based items that your foes throw at you. You don't eat, sleep, or breathe and the cube doesn't block line of sight. NEVER LEAVE THE CUBE. now you can swim through the ocean with that thing.

Also, if you are going to go dread necro, a interesting options is to have a one level dip into both wizard and spellthief. Wizard let's you pick up the necromancer ability that replaces the extra spell slot for another 2 hp per hit die for all undead you create. The spellthief let's you take master spellthief to CAUSE ALL ARCANE CASTER CLASSES TO RAISE ALL ARCANE CASTER LEVEL. You will loose two levels of spellcasting progresion, but you get
12 X CL undead to do your work. That's 4 x caster level, but you have three casting classes, all at full caster level. Steal spells of create undead to allow spellthief to raise undead and shiviering touch and raise a zombie dragon mount with a powerful scroll of raise dead, it's expensive but effective, and at level ten you can ride a zombie dragon version of most dragons, go for silver so you can paralyse your foes.

[Maerok]

By RAW, you don't get the Lich template at 20. You just get typed as undead and all the class abilities you've gained are more or less lich-like. Of course, this may have been errata'ed but I don't feel like having to track down WotC's endless rules changes since they were the ones to screw it up in the first place. Also, your phylactery may or may not actually do anything.

Dry Lich is better than Lich in many ways. The Lich bonuses seem to favor wizards better than spontaneous arcane casters, IMHO.

Ghost is actually one of the better undead templates for the DN (big Cha bonus and ghost abilities). I'm not sure how you can reliably turn into a Ghost...

Necropolitan is pretty standard at low levels but then Tomb-tainted Soul is useless unless you can get it retrained.

As for race, Human is fine. Hellbred is good for a DN trying to be Good (+2 Cha, -2 Con, and some extra abilities). DN's don't explicitly lose abilities if they later 'become' Good. Naenhoon Illumian is good for metamagic death-magic DNs since they have rebuking. There really aren't that many good Cha boosting races. I think Human is most appropriate as they are always seem preoccupied with life, their own mortality, and death in one way or another.

EDIT: Walker in the Waste is pretty boss for a PrC because if something wises up to your undead army antics, throw some Sand Golems at them. Or turn them into dust.

[Vulaas]

?! I bet WotC NEVER saw that coming!

Like entering archmage early through polymorphing into a barghest, people using aptitude weapons to make lightning mace apply to kukri (and thus go to improbable numbers of attacks, barring strings of truly horrid luck), or for people to take levels of other classes when level drained and using restoration? They have a long history of not knowing quite what sort of malevolent potential they are unleashing.

Also, seconding Optimystik on Desecrate being an absolute must for Dread Necromancers to get on their lists by almost any means. Going with your stats, however, I'd much prefer to use Arcane Disciple: Undeath domain to UMDing it. Add in Southern Magician (pretend once per day for every two caster levels that an arcane spell is divine), and some DMM fun to the mix, if you feel like it!