What zombies have going for them is their 22 HP, which is pretty stellar for a creature that is already dead. Many a wizard will use their zombies as meat shields, having them form a protective wall or circle around them so they can cast fireball while the zombies take all the damage from the attacking foe. Those 22 HP also give the zombie an advantage in grappling as it will probably take more than one blow to kill the zombie, thereby ending the grappled effect.

You can even take the whole zombie horde idea to the next level and have multiple zombies grapple the same creature, just like in the movies. There is nothing in the description that states that a creature cannot be grappled by multiple creatures. Did you know that in 3.5e, the rules stated that you could be grappled by up to 4 creatures at once? Once your opponent is grappled by a couple of zombies, I’m willing to bet they will be frantic to escape. To escape a grapple the PHB states that:

A Grappled creature can use its action to escape. To do so, it must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity(Acrobatics) check contested by your Strength (Athletics) check

Based on the wording, the grappled creature would need to make a successful check for each of the creatures grappling it. So when our opponent makes a successful check against the first zombie, they better hope they somehow have another 3 actions to roll checks for the other zombies that are grappling them.

Reduce and Mage Hand

An oldie but a goodie, this one has been around for a while. This combination of a cantrip and a 2nd level spell has helped many a small humanoid character achieve their dream of flying without having to know the 3rd level fly spell.

First, you need to be a gnome or a halfling. Cast Mage Hand first. Then, on the next turn, cast Reduce upon yourself. You can now use the mage hand to fly you up to 30 ft per round for up to a minute. It’s an effective and inexpensive way to get down the side of a mountain, fly up to the ledge with the treasure chest on it (don’t worry, it’s not a mimic) or get across the pit in the dungeon floor.

Death by a 1000 Pricks: Animate Object + Needles

Now I have needles listed above, but they can be any object you wish. I know a lot of people who prefer to use small objects such as daggers or the like for the additional damage and AC. I like tiny objects such as needles since they are easy to carry around in bulk and they have an AC of 18 and +8 to hit.

Make sure to have a variety of needles such as wooden, metal, silver and adamantium ones. The needles all do the same amount of damage regardless of what they are made of, but their natural properties will allow you to hit creatures with certain immunities.

What really makes this combo is that the needles get a 30 ft. flying speed and they each get their own initiative. Needles may not seem like great object to attack with, but each needle does an average of 5 points or damage per round. If half your needles hit, thats an additional 20 points of damage per round. They are susceptible to AOE spells, so keep those needles moving and don’t group them up too close to each other.

Of course, since you’ve now added 10 additional individual attacks to each round, maybe this combo belongs with the rest of the Combos to Make Your DM Crazy!

The Problem with Spellbooks: Wizard Spell Book + Glyph of Warding

Considering how important the spellbook is to a wizard, it seems like very few take the necessary precautions to make sure that nothing bad will happen to it. I know many a wizard who creates copies of their spellbook and have them in various nearby locations in case they ‘lose’ their spellbook, but why not just cover the original copy itself in every sort of protective magic known to mankind? There are lots of bad people out there looking to do bad things to you and your stuff. Here’s a combo if you’re one of the bad people looking to do bad things.