Best way to transport an undead army? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best way to transport an undead army? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Shandrakor
03-11-05, 07:22 AM Howdy. I've got a Yathrinshee (FR evil dual-spellcasting necromancer) who's looking to raise a huge army. Problem is, she doesn't want it to be noticed in advance. What's the best way of hiding it, and transporting it easily? Bag of Holding? Portable hole? Shrink Item in combination with the above? A custom magic item: The Bag of Undead Holding? Help!
The_Ditto
03-11-05, 08:33 AM Portable hole - techinically - has a larger volume than bags of holding:

Portable hold: 6' diameter .. or 3' radius. ... 10' deep.

Area of a circle = pi * r^2 ... volume of the cylinder will just be ht * the area .. basically ... so roughly: 282 cubic feet.

The largest bag of holding is only 250 cubic feet ..

:angel:
(I'm such a geek .. heh :P )

You may also want to look at the wondrous item: "Ring Gates" .. which could be very useful as well ... only 18" in diameter .. so no Giant Zombies are going to be pushed through .. but oh well .. :rolleyes:

You could use it to deploy those bag of holdings chock full of goodies, though ..
:schemes:

.. and since, the portable hole has neglible weight .. this becomes the best way to move stuff ...

a) fill the hole with undead
b) stuff it through the Ring Gates (easy - just roll the hole up .. heh)
c) unload the undead
d) stuff it back through the Gates
e) Lather, rinse, repeat ..

(well, the lather part is purely optional .. but I do recomment rinsing the hole well before re-using for something else ... like food storage .. or what-have-you .. :uh-huh: )
Jshock_75
03-11-05, 10:28 AM Isn't there an item (or possibly a spell?) that lets you and a bunch of allies hide out in a pocket paradise?
BW0222
03-11-05, 11:00 AM Start a mortuary?

Buy some land, make some crypts, and buy a few black carriages. Wear some holy symbols and advertise in the local shops. At two or three per coffin, and four or five coffins, that is at least a squad per trip. Have the top coffin empty and even if any body searches, all they find are... dead bodies.

Any other large transport business would do, but a mortuary makes searches easier. Besides, with enough adds, folks might start sending your more troops.
lukelightning
03-11-05, 11:06 AM Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies.
Wyrd Bearer
03-11-05, 12:22 PM First, kill all Great Red Wyrms (or whatever the collosal red dragons are) you can find and animate the bodies as bone creatures so they can still fly.

Next step, fill their skeletal bellies with as many undead you can fit in them. Make sure the passenger undead all have rings of featherfall on them.

Command your floatilla of bone dragons to fly high over a city you want to conquer.

Commence divebombing.
Scarlet Knight
03-11-05, 12:29 PM Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies. :rofl: That's great. I love it!
mvincent
03-11-05, 01:27 PM Note that Bulettes (and similar creatures) retain their burrowing ability after being turned into skeletons. Their carcasses could be turned into excellent troop transports for other undead (maybe add some armor plating), and burrowing allows them to easily bypass many defenses in safety (without being noticed).
Tyus Kanan
03-11-05, 08:57 PM I'm not sure if its been mentioned, but having them travel up or downriver on the river or lakebed in one is nearby, andhaving themstandby there until ready to attack, is a cool idea. just makde sure to kill them random nosey fishermen :p
Iver Gearsham
03-11-05, 10:19 PM If money is not a problem extra dimentional Cargo trunks are 90,000 gp and they have a ten ft. by ten ft. opening with room for 2 tons of cargo.
stackem like the cord wood they are.
Titan W
03-11-05, 11:05 PM or you could... assuming you have the cash, have a demi-plane created and utilise a ring of gate... or am I missing somehting important about that... seems obvious to me... jsut need like 1 level in a character who can use the ring... and the cash to make the realm...
PhaedrusXY
03-12-05, 03:41 AM For a True Necro NPC I used, I had her transport the big ones with Shadow Walk, and stick the smaller ones inside a Portable Hole. You're better off using the biggest, highest hit die monsters you can to animate, anyway. And Shadow Walk isn't restricted by the size of the creatures transported, like Teleport is. It is only restricted by numbers. Take ranks in Use Magic Device, beef your familiar's charisma up, and give him a scroll of Shadow Walk to double your transport capacity. :P
Norseman
03-12-05, 03:56 AM You could always try dressing up your undead minions as nuns or monks or something...
bomaz
03-12-05, 03:59 AM Put them on the negative energy plane. Then open a gate or have a portal to take them out.
bastet
03-12-05, 11:26 AM sawmill+undead=bits, then pack bits and in nice boxes, bits+thread and neadle=undead I recommend the Nike sweet shops they work um so hard that they wound not notice the difference between a shoe and a arm.
Shandrakor
03-12-05, 02:24 PM Thanks guys -- there are some GREAT suggestions here. I'll try them out as soon as I can. However, let's assume that the PC will be relatively near the 'Character Wealth by Level' guidelines. Say she's level...7 or 10 or thereabouts. What nifty, low-cost tricks do you have for her then? Hmm?

I'm really looking forward to your responses. =)
guevaramartyr
03-12-05, 03:22 PM if you could give me some more info about where she plans to get the bodies, where shes taking them, terrain in between, etc, i have some ideas that might work
Helmed Horror
03-12-05, 05:31 PM demiplane or plane of negative energy stronghold. Take a while though...
Shandrakor
03-12-05, 06:24 PM if you could give me some more info about where she plans to get the bodies, where shes taking them, terrain in between, etc, i have some ideas that might work

Sorry for the lack of detail -- I'm not sure where the party's going to be when she joins. As of right now, they're southeast of Amn (FR campaign setting), more south than east, and headed in a generally southeasterly direction. The map looks like plains and forests; possibly some rivers. (NOTE: I don't have the map with me, so this is from memory.)

The DM and I are still in negotiations, but it looks like the character will be able to start with at least one, and possibly several bodies. I'm liking Thri-Kreen skeletons. Perhaps one with a few levels of rogue? =) After the first few, I imagine she'll be animating as the party defeats the baddies, with possibly an ocassional side quest for a particularly choice skeleton. Currently, she's questing for Arrow Demon bodies//skeletons (MM3), and planning to collect rat bodies until she has several hundred, at which point they'll become either a Bone Rat Swarm or a Corpse Rat Swarm (LM).

At this point I can't be more specific than 'overland travel', but as the time of her joining approaches I'll be sure to post again. I do like the river idea though. Should work great for skeletons...it's the zombies I worry about. Ring Gates w/ portable holes/BoH...Great Wyrm Red Dragon Skeletons with Paratroopers...Cargo Bulettes... This stuff is Gold. GOLD! MUST...HAVE...MORE...IDEAS...

NOTE: Even if I can't use it all as a player, I think my next BBEG just got a whole lot nastier.
ManTimeForgot
03-12-05, 07:39 PM Put them on the negative energy plane. Then open a gate or have a portal to take them out.

Or for those necromancers who aren't 17th level or higher (and have access to gate and teleportation circle) you could try just hiding them in a lake, at the bottom of a sand dune, at the top of a mountain range, etc. Remember ladies and gentlement undead do not need to sleep or breathe. Command them all to go wait on the bottom of a lake until further notice and they will just sit down there like good little skeletons/zombies/whatever. That's pretty much your best way to hide undead.

Best way to transport undead? Besides telling them to just walk there since they don't ever tire out? Maybe boat? I dunno long distance its kinda hard to keep any army hidden for extended periods of time. Assuming you don't have access to 9th level magic, then veil would work nicely (though wouldn't work all day iirc). If 6th level magic is out of the question, then Mirage Arcana could help in areas which you know there to be passerby's, but really anything less than 6th level magic is going to spell detection for your undead army. Though, detection may not be a problem. If your army is hidden in a lake, and then is sent onto the nearby town which is only 8 hours away, then the town is not going to just be able to up and leave by the time they figure out an army is coming.

Edited: changed screen out; meant to say veil, though screen works much better since it is basically the upgraded version of veil.

Thank You all and have a nice day.
Signed,
The Man Time Forgot
PlutoniumKnight
03-12-05, 08:00 PM First, kill all Great Red Wyrms (or whatever the collosal red dragons are) you can find and animate the bodies as bone creatures so they can still fly.

Next step, fill their skeletal bellies with as many undead you can fit in them. Make sure the passenger undead all have rings of featherfall on them.

Command your floatilla of bone dragons to fly high over a city you want to conquer.

Commence divebombing.

I remember in some book a vairant of undead that exploded. No rings of feather fall and make them explosive. Bombing run.
soulknife
03-12-05, 09:03 PM Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies.

thats where i keep all my armies
Starmage21
03-12-05, 09:13 PM remeber you CAN march your undead all night and all day simply because they dont get tired at all.
Shandrakor
03-13-05, 01:31 PM Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies.

Most folks seem to think this is a great idea. So do I, as a matter of fact. The question I have is: How precisely are we fitting them into our sleevies in the first place?

EDIT: Are we using a Portable Hole that is spring-loaded and & unrolls on command, or..?
Helmed Horror
03-13-05, 01:34 PM gloves of storing... only armbands/wristbands?
MadScientist!!
03-13-05, 01:40 PM Find a river and that leads to your destination and have them walk along the bottom of it to the destination. Think simple ;) .
hj
03-13-05, 01:45 PM Do something that will really **** them off. Tell your undead to march through the river and into the sewer system of a nearby city/town.
Patrick Draken-Korin
03-13-05, 02:03 PM and since undead don't sleep you could actually be carried by them (the adventureres sleep while the skeletal red dragon/bulette carries them to thier destination).

a few notes: 1) skeletal undead that are goining to be use as troop carriers shouldn't just be used as is- there should be armor added on as well as walls inside (you don't want to fall out, do you? skeletons aren't exactly bright enough to avoid gaps inthe bones either).
2) incorporeal undead (though harder to create/control) are much easier to transport/hide (they usually have a fly speed, and they ARE incorporeal).
3) not only can you hide undead at the bottom of a lake but, you can hide them in wells and sewers too (say in the middle of the city you'd like to rule?)
4) if you control a vampire or other spawning undead (you created it or have commanded it) and it creates spawn, you indirectly control them (the lead spawner controls them, but you control it). large nets of undead all indirectly under your control. fun.
5) see if your DM will allow the standard animate dead spell to create the variant skeletons and zombies (p.162 and p.173 of LM). flaming skeletons and unkillable zombies anyone?
6) i've han an idea for awhile but never organised it: skeletons coated with metal. not sure how well it would work, but at leats it's a natural armor bonus. better use liquidmetal (T3, ha ha ha).
7) if you're adventureing in faerun, and you're a necromancer of ANY sort (let alone a True Necromancer) you need the "summon undead" spells (either in magic of faerun or libris mortis). and wands of ythose spells.
8) intelligent undead don't have to be controlled. they can be allies or even friends (though you probably ain't good in that case, he he he). merely make sure your goals, and the goals of the undead are similiarily aligned and make deals that you and your other friend won't be bothered. this works better if the entire group ARE undead (a ghast and a ghost, a lich and a vampire. great traveling companions).

that's about it. also, for various undead that require to feed, consider whether a ring of susentance should work for them or not.
DarkLordDiablos
03-13-05, 02:37 PM Think simple... Buy small piece of wasteland, bring to flavor with macabre decorations (go see Barbarian Guilds for those), name it something like "The Valley of the Dead", create a small cabin filled with blood and dead animals, and a secret door leading to the basement filled with Portable Holes, Bags of Holding, and other stuff, organize in neat little piles that suit your everyday needs (e.g. if you want to conquer a Merfolk village you'll need some swimming undead, etc.), and put one of the Ring Gates right where you'll need it.
Keep the other Ring Gate with you, pull Holes through when you need them.
Instant undead army/bedpartners/assassins/cannon fodder/whatever.

Alternitively, befriend some intelligent undead, and agree to using his/her cellar/basement for the above use. Intelligent undead ALWAYS have a castle/tomb/crypt/palace/other Lair of Evil that has some empty rooms for their friends...

My Necro has a couple of these Undead friends. Me and the rest of the party (except for the Pally, who has to sleep with the fishes... errr, fishers :evillaugh ) regularily stay with that Vampiress I got to know... :D
But I guess that's slightly too much detail now, innit?
PhaedrusXY
03-13-05, 04:24 PM Most folks seem to think this is a great idea. So do I, as a matter of fact. The question I have is: How precisely are we fitting them into our sleevies in the first place?

EDIT: Are we using a Portable Hole that is spring-loaded and & unrolls on command, or..?Umm... it's a joke. Or were you making a joke, also? Everyone knows the best place to keep your arm(ie)s is in your sleev(ie)s.Ever heard someone talk to a baby? "Oh, wook at his widdew armies sticking out of his widdew sweevies!"
mvincent
03-13-05, 10:20 PM I'm liking Thri-Kreen skeletons. Perhaps one with a few levels of rogue? =) Note: animated dead typically lose their class levels. Also, the base creature needs to have a skeletal system (a Thri-Kreen insectoid exo-skeleton might be applicable, but check with your DM).

Currently, she's questing for Arrow Demon bodies//skeletons (MM3), and planning to collect rat bodies until she has several hundred, at which point they'll become either a Bone Rat Swarm or a Corpse Rat Swarm (LM). If you're in a hurry, you could instead pay a wizard (1,200gp) to cast "Polymorph Any Object" to create a desired skeleton.

Hydras skeletons are a favorite to animate (high combat abilities for their HD), and are big enough to ride inside if needed. Also, Night-mares are good because they retain their flying ability when skeletal (most creatures do not).
ravidge
03-14-05, 12:25 AM well the river idea is very good and cheap also i think this one could work well: dress them up in big ropes and what not so their faces can not be seen and have them travel as a religious prosesion, keep acouple of living/itelegent undead in the mix to control them and your army can possibly just kill any one they come upon to add fuel to the fauter. personally i am one of those lazy necs in one of my games that just has good advertising and gets everyone to come to me, so far it works great i use some variant undead such as crypt guardians which you do not actually control but they injoy guarding stuff mixed with some fun spells to guard my fortress, and i just watch the army increase as stupid adventurers come to kill me
The_Ditto
03-14-05, 07:25 AM or you could... assuming you have the cash, have a demi-plane created and utilise a ring of gate...

Ring of Gates, IIRC, must be on the same plane to function properly ..
Liox
03-14-05, 10:22 AM Why the need to transport them? Necros are suppose to be lonely creatures who step into graveyards. Havent you Noobs ever heard of a Gate Spell? Make a Plane and dump them in. Go to a Graveyard and Raise a whole Army, and throw them to your plane. After that, when you need them - Open the Freaking Gate !! And order them out.

Incidentally, you probably would have lots of Vampire Lords by the time you decide to use your Army to fight against Greater Deities. So, please be powerful enough to control them if you want to become Vecna.
Bonzai
03-14-05, 11:12 AM My Pale Master usually animates rats, as he has destruction retrobution. they have 1/4 hd, which means I get 4 to every 1 human skeleton. They blow up for just as much as a 1 hd skeleton, so the more the better. This also means that you can fit quite a few in a bag of holding, or hide them very easily. This makes travel easier, as I only have to worry about my Cohort and ghoul.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shandrakor 03-11-05, 07:22 AM	Howdy. I've got a Yathrinshee (FR evil dual-spellcasting necromancer) who's looking to raise a huge army. Problem is, she doesn't want it to be noticed in advance. What's the best way of hiding it, and transporting it easily? Bag of Holding? Portable hole? Shrink Item in combination with the above? A custom magic item: The Bag of Undead Holding? Help!
The_Ditto 03-11-05, 08:33 AM	Portable hole - techinically - has a larger volume than bags of holding: Portable hold: 6' diameter .. or 3' radius. ... 10' deep. Area of a circle = pi * r^2 ... volume of the cylinder will just be ht * the area .. basically ... so roughly: 282 cubic feet. The largest bag of holding is only 250 cubic feet .. :angel: (I'm such a geek .. heh :P ) You may also want to look at the wondrous item: "Ring Gates" .. which could be very useful as well ... only 18" in diameter .. so no Giant Zombies are going to be pushed through .. but oh well .. :rolleyes: You could use it to deploy those bag of holdings chock full of goodies, though .. :schemes: .. and since, the portable hole has neglible weight .. this becomes the best way to move stuff ... a) fill the hole with undead b) stuff it through the Ring Gates (easy - just roll the hole up .. heh) c) unload the undead d) stuff it back through the Gates e) Lather, rinse, repeat .. (well, the lather part is purely optional .. but I do recomment rinsing the hole well before re-using for something else ... like food storage .. or what-have-you .. :uh-huh: )
Jshock_75 03-11-05, 10:28 AM	Isn't there an item (or possibly a spell?) that lets you and a bunch of allies hide out in a pocket paradise?
BW0222 03-11-05, 11:00 AM	Start a mortuary? Buy some land, make some crypts, and buy a few black carriages. Wear some holy symbols and advertise in the local shops. At two or three per coffin, and four or five coffins, that is at least a squad per trip. Have the top coffin empty and even if any body searches, all they find are... dead bodies. Any other large transport business would do, but a mortuary makes searches easier. Besides, with enough adds, folks might start sending your more troops.
lukelightning 03-11-05, 11:06 AM	Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies.
Wyrd Bearer 03-11-05, 12:22 PM	First, kill all Great Red Wyrms (or whatever the collosal red dragons are) you can find and animate the bodies as bone creatures so they can still fly. Next step, fill their skeletal bellies with as many undead you can fit in them. Make sure the passenger undead all have rings of featherfall on them. Command your floatilla of bone dragons to fly high over a city you want to conquer. Commence divebombing.
Scarlet Knight 03-11-05, 12:29 PM	Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies. :rofl: That's great. I love it!
mvincent 03-11-05, 01:27 PM	Note that Bulettes (and similar creatures) retain their burrowing ability after being turned into skeletons. Their carcasses could be turned into excellent troop transports for other undead (maybe add some armor plating), and burrowing allows them to easily bypass many defenses in safety (without being noticed).
Tyus Kanan 03-11-05, 08:57 PM	I'm not sure if its been mentioned, but having them travel up or downriver on the river or lakebed in one is nearby, andhaving themstandby there until ready to attack, is a cool idea. just makde sure to kill them random nosey fishermen :p
Iver Gearsham 03-11-05, 10:19 PM	If money is not a problem extra dimentional Cargo trunks are 90,000 gp and they have a ten ft. by ten ft. opening with room for 2 tons of cargo. stackem like the cord wood they are.
Titan W 03-11-05, 11:05 PM	or you could... assuming you have the cash, have a demi-plane created and utilise a ring of gate... or am I missing somehting important about that... seems obvious to me... jsut need like 1 level in a character who can use the ring... and the cash to make the realm...
PhaedrusXY 03-12-05, 03:41 AM	For a True Necro NPC I used, I had her transport the big ones with Shadow Walk, and stick the smaller ones inside a Portable Hole. You're better off using the biggest, highest hit die monsters you can to animate, anyway. And Shadow Walk isn't restricted by the size of the creatures transported, like Teleport is. It is only restricted by numbers. Take ranks in Use Magic Device, beef your familiar's charisma up, and give him a scroll of Shadow Walk to double your transport capacity. :P
Norseman 03-12-05, 03:56 AM	You could always try dressing up your undead minions as nuns or monks or something...
bomaz 03-12-05, 03:59 AM	Put them on the negative energy plane. Then open a gate or have a portal to take them out.
bastet 03-12-05, 11:26 AM	sawmill+undead=bits, then pack bits and in nice boxes, bits+thread and neadle=undead I recommend the Nike sweet shops they work um so hard that they wound not notice the difference between a shoe and a arm.
Shandrakor 03-12-05, 02:24 PM	Thanks guys -- there are some GREAT suggestions here. I'll try them out as soon as I can. However, let's assume that the PC will be relatively near the 'Character Wealth by Level' guidelines. Say she's level...7 or 10 or thereabouts. What nifty, low-cost tricks do you have for her then? Hmm? I'm really looking forward to your responses. =)
guevaramartyr 03-12-05, 03:22 PM	if you could give me some more info about where she plans to get the bodies, where shes taking them, terrain in between, etc, i have some ideas that might work
Helmed Horror 03-12-05, 05:31 PM	demiplane or plane of negative energy stronghold. Take a while though...
Shandrakor 03-12-05, 06:24 PM	if you could give me some more info about where she plans to get the bodies, where shes taking them, terrain in between, etc, i have some ideas that might work Sorry for the lack of detail -- I'm not sure where the party's going to be when she joins. As of right now, they're southeast of Amn (FR campaign setting), more south than east, and headed in a generally southeasterly direction. The map looks like plains and forests; possibly some rivers. (NOTE: I don't have the map with me, so this is from memory.) The DM and I are still in negotiations, but it looks like the character will be able to start with at least one, and possibly several bodies. I'm liking Thri-Kreen skeletons. Perhaps one with a few levels of rogue? =) After the first few, I imagine she'll be animating as the party defeats the baddies, with possibly an ocassional side quest for a particularly choice skeleton. Currently, she's questing for Arrow Demon bodies//skeletons (MM3), and planning to collect rat bodies until she has several hundred, at which point they'll become either a Bone Rat Swarm or a Corpse Rat Swarm (LM). At this point I can't be more specific than 'overland travel', but as the time of her joining approaches I'll be sure to post again. I do like the river idea though. Should work great for skeletons...it's the zombies I worry about. Ring Gates w/ portable holes/BoH...Great Wyrm Red Dragon Skeletons with Paratroopers...Cargo Bulettes... This stuff is Gold. GOLD! MUST...HAVE...MORE...IDEAS... NOTE: Even if I can't use it all as a player, I think my next BBEG just got a whole lot nastier.
ManTimeForgot 03-12-05, 07:39 PM	Put them on the negative energy plane. Then open a gate or have a portal to take them out. Or for those necromancers who aren't 17th level or higher (and have access to gate and teleportation circle) you could try just hiding them in a lake, at the bottom of a sand dune, at the top of a mountain range, etc. Remember ladies and gentlement undead do not need to sleep or breathe. Command them all to go wait on the bottom of a lake until further notice and they will just sit down there like good little skeletons/zombies/whatever. That's pretty much your best way to hide undead. Best way to transport undead? Besides telling them to just walk there since they don't ever tire out? Maybe boat? I dunno long distance its kinda hard to keep any army hidden for extended periods of time. Assuming you don't have access to 9th level magic, then veil would work nicely (though wouldn't work all day iirc). If 6th level magic is out of the question, then Mirage Arcana could help in areas which you know there to be passerby's, but really anything less than 6th level magic is going to spell detection for your undead army. Though, detection may not be a problem. If your army is hidden in a lake, and then is sent onto the nearby town which is only 8 hours away, then the town is not going to just be able to up and leave by the time they figure out an army is coming. Edited: changed screen out; meant to say veil, though screen works much better since it is basically the upgraded version of veil. Thank You all and have a nice day. Signed, The Man Time Forgot
PlutoniumKnight 03-12-05, 08:00 PM	First, kill all Great Red Wyrms (or whatever the collosal red dragons are) you can find and animate the bodies as bone creatures so they can still fly. Next step, fill their skeletal bellies with as many undead you can fit in them. Make sure the passenger undead all have rings of featherfall on them. Command your floatilla of bone dragons to fly high over a city you want to conquer. Commence divebombing. I remember in some book a vairant of undead that exploded. No rings of feather fall and make them explosive. Bombing run.
soulknife 03-12-05, 09:03 PM	Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies. thats where i keep all my armies
Starmage21 03-12-05, 09:13 PM	remeber you CAN march your undead all night and all day simply because they dont get tired at all.
Shandrakor 03-13-05, 01:31 PM	Everyone knows the best place to keep your armies is in your sleevies. Most folks seem to think this is a great idea. So do I, as a matter of fact. The question I have is: How precisely are we fitting them into our sleevies in the first place? EDIT: Are we using a Portable Hole that is spring-loaded and & unrolls on command, or..?
Helmed Horror 03-13-05, 01:34 PM	gloves of storing... only armbands/wristbands?
MadScientist!! 03-13-05, 01:40 PM	Find a river and that leads to your destination and have them walk along the bottom of it to the destination. Think simple ;) .
hj 03-13-05, 01:45 PM	Do something that will really **** them off. Tell your undead to march through the river and into the sewer system of a nearby city/town.
Patrick Draken-Korin 03-13-05, 02:03 PM	and since undead don't sleep you could actually be carried by them (the adventureres sleep while the skeletal red dragon/bulette carries them to thier destination). a few notes: 1) skeletal undead that are goining to be use as troop carriers shouldn't just be used as is- there should be armor added on as well as walls inside (you don't want to fall out, do you? skeletons aren't exactly bright enough to avoid gaps inthe bones either). 2) incorporeal undead (though harder to create/control) are much easier to transport/hide (they usually have a fly speed, and they ARE incorporeal). 3) not only can you hide undead at the bottom of a lake but, you can hide them in wells and sewers too (say in the middle of the city you'd like to rule?) 4) if you control a vampire or other spawning undead (you created it or have commanded it) and it creates spawn, you indirectly control them (the lead spawner controls them, but you control it). large nets of undead all indirectly under your control. fun. 5) see if your DM will allow the standard animate dead spell to create the variant skeletons and zombies (p.162 and p.173 of LM). flaming skeletons and unkillable zombies anyone? 6) i've han an idea for awhile but never organised it: skeletons coated with metal. not sure how well it would work, but at leats it's a natural armor bonus. better use liquidmetal (T3, ha ha ha). 7) if you're adventureing in faerun, and you're a necromancer of ANY sort (let alone a True Necromancer) you need the "summon undead" spells (either in magic of faerun or libris mortis). and wands of ythose spells. 8) intelligent undead don't have to be controlled. they can be allies or even friends (though you probably ain't good in that case, he he he). merely make sure your goals, and the goals of the undead are similiarily aligned and make deals that you and your other friend won't be bothered. this works better if the entire group ARE undead (a ghast and a ghost, a lich and a vampire. great traveling companions). that's about it. also, for various undead that require to feed, consider whether a ring of susentance should work for them or not.
DarkLordDiablos 03-13-05, 02:37 PM	Think simple... Buy small piece of wasteland, bring to flavor with macabre decorations (go see Barbarian Guilds for those), name it something like "The Valley of the Dead", create a small cabin filled with blood and dead animals, and a secret door leading to the basement filled with Portable Holes, Bags of Holding, and other stuff, organize in neat little piles that suit your everyday needs (e.g. if you want to conquer a Merfolk village you'll need some swimming undead, etc.), and put one of the Ring Gates right where you'll need it. Keep the other Ring Gate with you, pull Holes through when you need them. Instant undead army/bedpartners/assassins/cannon fodder/whatever. Alternitively, befriend some intelligent undead, and agree to using his/her cellar/basement for the above use. Intelligent undead ALWAYS have a castle/tomb/crypt/palace/other Lair of Evil that has some empty rooms for their friends... My Necro has a couple of these Undead friends. Me and the rest of the party (except for the Pally, who has to sleep with the fishes... errr, fishers :evillaugh ) regularily stay with that Vampiress I got to know... :D But I guess that's slightly too much detail now, innit?
PhaedrusXY 03-13-05, 04:24 PM	Most folks seem to think this is a great idea. So do I, as a matter of fact. The question I have is: How precisely are we fitting them into our sleevies in the first place? EDIT: Are we using a Portable Hole that is spring-loaded and & unrolls on command, or..?Umm... it's a joke. Or were you making a joke, also? Everyone knows the best place to keep your arm(ie)s is in your sleev(ie)s.Ever heard someone talk to a baby? "Oh, wook at his widdew armies sticking out of his widdew sweevies!"
mvincent 03-13-05, 10:20 PM	I'm liking Thri-Kreen skeletons. Perhaps one with a few levels of rogue? =) Note: animated dead typically lose their class levels. Also, the base creature needs to have a skeletal system (a Thri-Kreen insectoid exo-skeleton might be applicable, but check with your DM). Currently, she's questing for Arrow Demon bodies//skeletons (MM3), and planning to collect rat bodies until she has several hundred, at which point they'll become either a Bone Rat Swarm or a Corpse Rat Swarm (LM). If you're in a hurry, you could instead pay a wizard (1,200gp) to cast "Polymorph Any Object" to create a desired skeleton. Hydras skeletons are a favorite to animate (high combat abilities for their HD), and are big enough to ride inside if needed. Also, Night-mares are good because they retain their flying ability when skeletal (most creatures do not).
ravidge 03-14-05, 12:25 AM	well the river idea is very good and cheap also i think this one could work well: dress them up in big ropes and what not so their faces can not be seen and have them travel as a religious prosesion, keep acouple of living/itelegent undead in the mix to control them and your army can possibly just kill any one they come upon to add fuel to the fauter. personally i am one of those lazy necs in one of my games that just has good advertising and gets everyone to come to me, so far it works great i use some variant undead such as crypt guardians which you do not actually control but they injoy guarding stuff mixed with some fun spells to guard my fortress, and i just watch the army increase as stupid adventurers come to kill me
The_Ditto 03-14-05, 07:25 AM	or you could... assuming you have the cash, have a demi-plane created and utilise a ring of gate... Ring of Gates, IIRC, must be on the same plane to function properly ..
Liox 03-14-05, 10:22 AM	Why the need to transport them? Necros are suppose to be lonely creatures who step into graveyards. Havent you Noobs ever heard of a Gate Spell? Make a Plane and dump them in. Go to a Graveyard and Raise a whole Army, and throw them to your plane. After that, when you need them - Open the Freaking Gate !! And order them out. Incidentally, you probably would have lots of Vampire Lords by the time you decide to use your Army to fight against Greater Deities. So, please be powerful enough to control them if you want to become Vecna.
Bonzai 03-14-05, 11:12 AM	My Pale Master usually animates rats, as he has destruction retrobution. they have 1/4 hd, which means I get 4 to every 1 human skeleton. They blow up for just as much as a 1 hd skeleton, so the more the better. This also means that you can fit quite a few in a bag of holding, or hide them very easily. This makes travel easier, as I only have to worry about my Cohort and ghoul.