I mean, a dracolich, the mere presence of which draws hordes of undead to its presence that are bent to its will, makes a fantastic high-level undead villain. Ditto a death knight. And there are a number of creatures available from different sources that cover every CR from 1/2 to something like 15. But a half-dozen CR 4 to 6 undead creatures (thinking of Deathlock, Bone Naga, Flameskull, Drowned Skull [all CR 4]; Beholder Zombie, Greater Zombie, Skeletal Juggernaut, Wraith [all CR 5]; Bodak, Centaur Mummy [both CR 6]) or a combination of those together or one with a crowd of zombies/skeletons/wights/ghouls can make great tense encounters.
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"I saw her first. Go find your own genetic time-capsule or, so help me, I'll cut you."
You could always go for some homebrew undead, or just take a normal undead and modify it, throw some extra hit points in, add some unique features to it. Say something like a normal beholder zombie but where its eyes used to be a necromancer has implanted crystals which each have a limited number of charges for a different spell? Could make for a very interesting encounter.
I'm a fan of the Skull Lord from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. CR15, can reanimate piles of skeletons or zombies for mobs at a cost of 3 legendary actions., it has Evasion, it can make three attacks with its Bone Staff, doing 1d8+3 bludgeoning and 4d6 necrotic PER HIT, AC of 18.
He shouldn't be easy if you give him minions and give him some extra HP.
For variety you can also look at monsters that create undead. Things like a Corpse Flower or necromancy wizards can offer some addition options while staying with the undead theme.
Additionally, take a look at fiends with innate or learned spellcasting, such as glabrezu or arcanaloth, and changing their spells with more necromatic options of the same calibur.
There are options as some pointed out. But how about increasing the number of lower level undead. Zombies for example, and alot of them, I mean a crowd of them. Then just treat them as minions like in 4E. Any successful hit automatically kills. Could make for some fun times. Just keep in mind that even though the mob would be a bunch of low levels that there being so many could still be dangerous for a high level group.
and as far as BBEG goes, lichs and vampires are classics
And you can always dial them up to 11 if you need to. Back in AD&D “Vampires” and “Nosferatu” were technically different so feel free to mix things up on them too by “borrowing” from older editions.
There are options as some pointed out. But how about increasing the number of lower level undead. Zombies for example, and alot of them, I mean a crowd of them. Then just treat them as minions like in 4E. Any successful hit automatically kills. Could make for some fun times. Just keep in mind that even though the mob would be a bunch of low levels that there being so many could still be dangerous for a high level group.
I have used zombie minions and they are GREAT. You don't have to track hit points, you just roll a ton of dice and the players figure out very quickly that they need to avoid the swarm. And with undead fortitude, even when the party kills them, they may not stay dead. It's a great way to bog down and choke a battlefield without bogging down the action at the table. Also, I like giving all of my zombie minions an initiative of 1 so they go at the very end of the round. Give players as much opportunity as possible to cut a path through the horde.
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"Not all those who wander are lost"
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I want to use undead as the main type of bad guy in my next campaign. How can I make threatening undead encounters for higher level characters?
What's your party's average level? What level do you expect them to be by the time they meet the Big Bad Evil Guy?
I mean, a dracolich, the mere presence of which draws hordes of undead to its presence that are bent to its will, makes a fantastic high-level undead villain. Ditto a death knight. And there are a number of creatures available from different sources that cover every CR from 1/2 to something like 15. But a half-dozen CR 4 to 6 undead creatures (thinking of Deathlock, Bone Naga, Flameskull, Drowned Skull [all CR 4]; Beholder Zombie, Greater Zombie, Skeletal Juggernaut, Wraith [all CR 5]; Bodak, Centaur Mummy [both CR 6]) or a combination of those together or one with a crowd of zombies/skeletons/wights/ghouls can make great tense encounters.
"I saw her first. Go find your own genetic time-capsule or, so help me, I'll cut you."
You could always go for some homebrew undead, or just take a normal undead and modify it, throw some extra hit points in, add some unique features to it. Say something like a normal beholder zombie but where its eyes used to be a necromancer has implanted crystals which each have a limited number of charges for a different spell? Could make for a very interesting encounter.
and as far as BBEG goes, lichs and vampires are classics
I'm a fan of the Skull Lord from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. CR15, can reanimate piles of skeletons or zombies for mobs at a cost of 3 legendary actions., it has Evasion, it can make three attacks with its Bone Staff, doing 1d8+3 bludgeoning and 4d6 necrotic PER HIT, AC of 18.
He shouldn't be easy if you give him minions and give him some extra HP.
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InsiderFor variety you can also look at monsters that create undead. Things like a Corpse Flower or necromancy wizards can offer some addition options while staying with the undead theme.
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Additionally, take a look at fiends with innate or learned spellcasting, such as glabrezu or arcanaloth, and changing their spells with more necromatic options of the same calibur.
There are options as some pointed out. But how about increasing the number of lower level undead. Zombies for example, and alot of them, I mean a crowd of them. Then just treat them as minions like in 4E. Any successful hit automatically kills. Could make for some fun times. Just keep in mind that even though the mob would be a bunch of low levels that there being so many could still be dangerous for a high level group.
And you can always dial them up to 11 if you need to. Back in AD&D “Vampires” and “Nosferatu” were technically different so feel free to mix things up on them too by “borrowing” from older editions.
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I have used zombie minions and they are GREAT. You don't have to track hit points, you just roll a ton of dice and the players figure out very quickly that they need to avoid the swarm. And with undead fortitude, even when the party kills them, they may not stay dead. It's a great way to bog down and choke a battlefield without bogging down the action at the table. Also, I like giving all of my zombie minions an initiative of 1 so they go at the very end of the round. Give players as much opportunity as possible to cut a path through the horde.
"Not all those who wander are lost"