Ideas for a Tier 8 Death Summon

[Shadow Knight]

Keep in mind that these are not Unhallowed units. They are death sphere summons. Unhallowed already have the anti-paladin in Death Guard and also other mounted warriors in Phantom Lancers.

True, but a powerful undead melee unit would also work for any Sorcerer Lord who takes many books in the Death Sphere, regardless of their race. I wouldn't have the tier 8 be equivalent to the Unhallowed unit but one that far surpasses it.

[alghero]

Just to understand jamoecw's idea this Tier 8 summon would be a kind of heroic lich that can be summoned only once per Warlord (and re-summoned if he/it dies)?

[Hoverdog]

well vampire jumps to mind, but i think that was being saved for future DLC.

MoM has a hero be the ultimate summon (torin) and was available at rare level (below very rare), so maybe you could have a demi lich hero as a summon (and thus only be able to get 1).

edit: ps, by demi lich i mean a weaker version than in the srd, basically a stronger lich hero.

Vampires were featured in the first draft (as tier 7), but got kicked out.
The hero (as in Torin wannabe) will probably be a Tier 9 Summoning spell.

[ampoliros]

Tier 8 Death Summon - why the Specter of course

vicious, intelligent undead with a great hatred of the living. They take pleasure in the dismemberment of flesh, and often appear wielding a scythe. Their touch radiates a deep chill that drains life in a similar way as a wight's touch.
More powerful spectres have a respectable command of magic as well as the ability to command lesser undead. Much like vampires and liches, they are often the master of a crypt, and rarely cooperate with other intelligent undead. For that reason, they are often classified as a greater undead creature. However, the spectre does not have a real, corporeal body, although its spiritual form is easily the most robust of all the spirits.

[Happerry]

We already have wraiths as the tier 7 summon though. Specters are way to similar to them..

Perhaps a Bone Devil? Or a Night Hag?

..No, wait, I know! We can bring the Bonestorm back! Anyone remember how it was the original idea for the undead siege unit?

[Aaron]

Dracoliches would be a solid and obvious choice.

Shadow Knights could also be awesome, lol. However, we would really have to work to separate them from Death Guards and Phantom Lancers. That would probably be tricky.

Vampires have been pushed off for the moment. We still have the Vampire Crypt World Feature, but I am mulling over just how vampires are going to work...

Specters are classic. Good old shadows, and wraiths, and specters... Just thinking about wraiths and specters makes me want to go play Death Knights of Krynn... Anyone else? They need to remake that series.... Sorry, it's Saturday morning and my mind was wandering...

Yea, the Bonestorm was a wild idea. It would actually make an interesting summons.

All in all though I think I +1 the Dracoliches. We can always add more with DLC

[alghero]

I also vote for Dracolich, even if the Bonestorm seems an interesting choice.

[Shadow Knight]

Dracoliches would be a solid and obvious choice.

Shadow Knights could also be awesome, lol. However, we would really have to work to separate them from Death Guards and Phantom Lancers. That would probably be tricky.

But on thoughts for Shadow Knights () I would just make them more powerful that Death Guards, Phantom Lancer, etc. More immunities, more skills (maybe life stealing), and some kind of Dark spell that could be cast. Furthermore not everyone who takes the Death Spheres will necessarily be playing Unhallowed so giving an option in there that might be similar to something in that race's unit list isn't that uncalled for.

But I can live with Dracoliches if I must. :P

[War Troll]

+1 to Dracolichs. From the description on AD&D-

Dracoliches are created from evil dragons through powerful necromantic magics. Essentially, it involves the dragon dying and then taking over its own corpse. It also gains a vessel called a phylactery, or soul jar, in which its spirit is stored. The soul continues to exist even after the destruction of the body, and can only be killed by the destruction of the phylactery itself.

Something interesting could be done with this, maybe have it so Dracolichs destroyed in a battle can reanimate if the battle is then won. Or have it as an artifact carried by a hero.

[Endless Rain]

+1 to having a Dracolich as the summon.