What creatures stand out for Animate Dead?

[LudicSavant]

So, basically just hoping to find out what monsters make good zombies or skeletons.  I already know about the Remorhaz, the Hydra, the Hellwasp Swarm, and the dragon skeletons/zombies.  What other good options are flying around out there?

[Raineh Daze]

Anything big with plenty of weapons?

[zook1shoe]

Outsiders are a pretty good choice, some have great stat averages vs. their HD

[LudicSavant]

Outsiders are a pretty good choice, some have great stat averages vs. their HD

Any in particular?  Mariliths and Balors and Pit Fiends seem good.

[zook1shoe]

Jariliths (MM2) are pretty good
how many HD were you looking at? That'll help narrow things down

[LudicSavant]

Jariliths (MM2) are pretty good
how many HD were you looking at? That'll help narrow things down

Currently level 12 with access to Desecrate and Deathbound domain, so pretty much anything that can become a skeleton or zombie is fair game.  Up to 20 for skeletons, 10 for zombies.

[linklord231]

Things with lots of natural armor make good Zombies.  Things with lots of attacks make good Skeletons, and things with one big attack make good Zombies.  Things that have Ex flight make good Zombies.  Thoqquas make good Skeletons (they'd make good Zombies too, but doubling their HD would take up more of your control pool). 

Most things make better Skeletons than Zombies.

[LudicSavant]

Things with lots of natural armor make good Zombies.  Things with lots of attacks make good Skeletons, and things with one big attack make good Zombies.  Things that have Ex flight make good Zombies.  Thoqquas make good Skeletons (they'd make good Zombies too, but doubling their HD would take up more of your control pool). 

Most things make better Skeletons than Zombies.

What makes Thoqquas good?

[phaedrusxy]

IIRC, if you can use the special rules from the Draconomicon, it's hard to beat dragons.

[Clanjos]

For sheer, unadulterated numbers? You can't do better than simple Rat skeletons. 1/4 HD. Combined with the Undead Eyes spell, they make really good scouts.

[wotmaniac]

What makes Thoqquas good?

as skeletons, they are immune to both cold and fire; tremorsense; no-move charge.
as far as low-level skeletons go, you could do much worse.

[zook1shoe]

Thoqqua don't appear to have a skeleton system, required for skeletons and zombies.

looking at Wikipedia, they have a spinal column made from magma.

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find out if you can use simple templates? Many of those can vastly improve the abilities of skeletons and zombies w/o major changes to the HD.

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zombie advanced sewerm makes a crazy grappler (+16 racial to grapple)

[linklord231]

What makes Thoqquas good?

as skeletons, they are immune to both cold and fire; tremorsense; no-move charge.
as far as low-level skeletons go, you could do much worse.

This, plus the burrowing that leaves a usable tunnel . I don't think they keep their tremorsense though, because it's not a special quality that improves attacks.

[LudicSavant]

What makes Thoqquas good?

as skeletons, they are immune to both cold and fire; tremorsense; no-move charge.
as far as low-level skeletons go, you could do much worse.

This, plus the burrowing that leaves a usable tunnel . I don't think they keep their tremorsense though, because it's not a special quality that improves attacks.

It doesn't improve attacks?  But it removes miss chances and such.  That seems like a meaningful improvement to attacks.