I'm with you, but the rest of the system leans away from summoned/controlled horde mechanics... characters who have companions of any sort generally only have one and can only give them move actions with relative freeness, they don't attack and act as separate characters so much as they become extensions of the player character. As I understand it, this was to avoid the "everybody waits while the druid takes a turn/wins the battle" effect in 3rd edition, and while it limits the possibilities it does help keep things moving along.
One of the things about 4E is that they've completely abandoned the idea, not present in early editions but on full display in 3rd, that the archvillains are essentially evil PCs and so anything statted out for one is accessible for the other.
It's an interesting and entrancing idea, and having rules for things like creating endless numbers of undead servants and magic items and mystic traps and all answers the question "Where do the bad guys get all this stuff?", but 4E's a great testimony to the possibilities that are revealed when you move away from that kind of a system.
So, the villainous zombie master has an army of skeletons and zombies because the villain has these things (cf., Open Grave makes the note that the easiest way to simulate a vampire lord's traditional thralls/familiars is to just pair them up with appropriate creatures, no mechanic needed), but a heroic PC Necromancer would instead be able to channel death magic into discrete (and quickly and easily gamed) localized effects. Maybe a dedicate servant, a few persistent summons, and several abilities that involve "drive-by" manifestations: shrieking shades, grabbing arms, etc.
If I wanted to play the more mastermind-type necromancer, I'd look for a system that's not so action oriented, like GURPS... which conveniently has a flexible "animate dead" spell with loads of options.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-05-14 07:29 pm (UTC)One of the things about 4E is that they've completely abandoned the idea, not present in early editions but on full display in 3rd, that the archvillains are essentially evil PCs and so anything statted out for one is accessible for the other.
It's an interesting and entrancing idea, and having rules for things like creating endless numbers of undead servants and magic items and mystic traps and all answers the question "Where do the bad guys get all this stuff?", but 4E's a great testimony to the possibilities that are revealed when you move away from that kind of a system.
So, the villainous zombie master has an army of skeletons and zombies because the villain has these things (cf., Open Grave makes the note that the easiest way to simulate a vampire lord's traditional thralls/familiars is to just pair them up with appropriate creatures, no mechanic needed), but a heroic PC Necromancer would instead be able to channel death magic into discrete (and quickly and easily gamed) localized effects. Maybe a dedicate servant, a few persistent summons, and several abilities that involve "drive-by" manifestations: shrieking shades, grabbing arms, etc.
If I wanted to play the more mastermind-type necromancer, I'd look for a system that's not so action oriented, like GURPS... which conveniently has a flexible "animate dead" spell with loads of options.