Henchmen (CBN)

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Although apprentices can dramatically increase a necromancer's research productivity, they have the same skills and limitations as their master. In a sense, they are a weaker reflection of their mentor, and most necromancers who utilize living allies will recognize this drawback. Like most wizards, a necromancer may turn to living hirelings or henchmen for assistance in defending their stronghold, administrative duties, spying missions, and the like. Anatomists, in particular, must often rely on roguish associates to procure the fresh cadavers that are necessary for their professional advancement.
A necromancer's henchmen will either be fighters (40%), thieves or bards (30%), wizards (10%), psionicists (5%), or (death) priests (5%). It is improbable that a retinue will include druids, rangers, paladins, or wizards from a different school. If necromancers wanted access to a spell from another school of magic, they would have learned it themselves. Some wizards may promote their own students to the rank of henchmen once they reach high enough level (it is a big leap from student to employee).
Henchmen wizards are thus necromancers who get along well with their former mentors. Most henchmen will have about half as many experience levels as their patron. They will be well equipped with mundane and magical items, according to the whims, taste, and financial background of their employer. Unlike students, who are attracted by a wizard's prestige, the number of henchmen in a necromancer's service will depend on his or her Charisma.
Note that there is yet another fundamental difference between the henchman or crony and the lowly apprentice who works for little more than the quest for magical knowledge and power. Most henchmen must be compensated in more concrete terms. Their loyalty most often comes at a price, usually in the form of monetary wealth or magical items. As with player characters, most abused henchmen will desert or seek to betray their masters. In most cases, only those henchmen with a compatible alignment will remain for long in a particular necromancer's service