Necromancer Class Book

A magic user wishing to study the necromantic arts is treading a dangerous path indeed. Few necromancers willingly share their secrets without demanding something in return, for slowly but surely the nature of the magic takes its toll on the body and mind of the necromancer. The ability to talk with spirits is not without its price, the dead always ask for something in return! Many people learn about necromantic magic from dark tomes written long ago by ancient wizards (namely the Shianti), but even this method of study is not without its drawbacks. Most texts on the subject are written in the dark tongue or some other ancient language and needs to be translated to be fully understood. This takes a great deal of time and the deciphering of some of these ancient and usually dark languages puts a mental strain on the would-be necromancer.

Many wizards practicing necromancy are forced to live in isolation by suspicious townsfolk, more still choose to do so as no one is around to notice the ‘results’ of their experimentations. Most are resentful of the distrust and fear their studies cause in common folk, sometimes falling in with servants of the Darklords and other cruel regimes around Magnamund. The majority of necromancers however, only contact civilization to acquire supplies and hirelings they may need to collect the more hard to find components for some of their spells or experiments. Some of them may have been respected members of other organisations such as the Magician’s Guild of Toran or Sages of Lyris, but have taken an interest in necromancy. Once this unsavoury interest is discovered by their peers it is not long before they are asked to leave their guild lest its name be associated with such an unhealthy study.

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Adventures: Necromancers are a secretive group, mainly due to the distrust and disgust that others have of their ‘art’. Most Necromancers are evil, but even those with the best intentions must use some fairly distasteful research material from time to time to aid their study, which most common folk would not understand. As a result they are often hounded out of most settled areas of Magnamund, or leave for their own safety to continue their research uninterrupted. For this reason they rarely are seen out of their homes, only travelling when they become aware of the location of some tome or artefact they believe could aid their study. Most prefer to have others do the unearthing for such items for them but it can be difficult to get hirelings to work for them if they know the nature of the Necromancer’s work.

Characteristics: Spending most of their adult lives studying death and ways to avoid and control it, Necromancers are usually very secretive, driven and usually selfish individuals. Spending many days if not months locked away in dank crypts or ancient dark libraries they are usually very intelligent, strong willed scholars, dedicated to their art above all else. The power of their will can be phenomenal as it is through this they control any undead servitors they have. They can be charismatic at times, after all they are not suited to direct confrontation and many have groups of followers willing to protect their Necromancer leader or employer.

Religion: Necromancers are usually either not religious at all or follow one of the dark gods. Their studies (so they believe anyway) allow them to surpass the forces of nature and deities by reversing the effects of death and bringing life to that which was dead. In the minds of many powerful Necromancers their work is the work of their gods and their followers revere and fear them as if they were almost gods themselves, after all, who but gods can control life and death.

Background: Many Necromancers are drawn to the field by personal tragedy or a lust for power over death. They are generally learned folk, possibly having studied for a time as a member of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star or other magician’s guild. Some are simply evil individuals who wish to use the art to further their power or influence over others. Still others enter into their studies with the best of intentions, seeking to use the knowledge to prolong or enhance the lives of others, often however, their good intentions are forgotten as their thirst for knowledge takes over and they become twisted by their failure to save all those they are close to. Regardless of how or why they choose Necromancy as their main focus of study many also study other fields too as they often lead solitary lives and Necromancy alone is not always enough to protect them from those who would wish them ill. Many Necromancers learn a range of offensive and defensive spells from the Brotherhood’s grimoire or fields of study from the Sages of Lyris, and indeed some were once Sages themselves.

Other Classes: Necromancers rarely mix with any other classes except those serving them as henchmen. Even then they are not always easy to get along with as their outlook on ‘life’ may be far from that of those they travel with. The only classes they would choose to associate with are the Cener Druids and Dark Cultists which whom they at least have something in common. More powerful Necromancers may have several Adepts and Warrior henchmen in tow, but they generally prefer to work alone. Some however join sects such as the Dazudskul cult of Ruel and others like it scattered about the nations of Northern Magnamund. Many find refuge in lands loosely allied to the Darklands, but that does not mean then serve the Darlklords or are their loyal subjects.

Game Rule Information

The Necromancer has the following game statistics.

Racial Note: The Necromancer has a very versatile background in Lone Wolf, The Roleplaying Game. As a consequence any nationality can be chosen by the player for his/her character and they will receive the usual benefit for their race in addition to any class benefits and abilities granted for this class.

Abilities: The main ability score for a Necromancer, like all magic users is Intelligence as this determines how difficult it is for an enemy to avoid the effects of his magic, grants additional uses of spells and broadens the Necromancer’s usable skills. Intelligence also forms the basis for the Occult skill, a vital part of the Necromancer’s arcane learning. Necromancers also benefit from a high Wisdom and Constitution.

Endurance Die: d4.

Base Speed: 30 feet.

Class Skills

The Necromancer’s class skills (and key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (any, taken as separate skills) (Int), Occult (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (none) and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (3 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 3 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Necromancer.

Armour and Weapons Proficiency: Necromancers are not proficient with any armour or shields. They are proficient in the use of the dagger, quarterstaff, spear and dart.

Necromantic Spells (Sp): As Brotherhood spells description.

As with the spells of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, Tier I spells can be cast as often as the necromancer wishes. Tier II spells can be cast once per day plus a number of times equal to the necromancers Intelligence modifier. Tier III spells can only be cast as often as the necromancers Intelligence modifier (placing them beyond the reach of a Necromancer without at least a +1 Intelligence modifier).

Whenever a Necromantic spell allows a saving throw to avoid or reduce its effects, the Difficulty Class for the spell is always 10 + casters Intelligence modifier + Tier of effect + half the Necromancer’s class level.

Magical Combat (Su): As Brotherhood magic combat description.

Arcane Expertise (Su): As mystic expertise description for Brotherhood mage.

Necromancer’s Staff (Sp): A necromancer reaching 5th level has the ability to create a staff that he can use to store his life force to supplement his own endurance when casting spells. Each day he can transfer up to half his level in END points from his own END to the staff. The END used to fuel the staff is recovered in the usual way. The maximum END that can be stored in the staff is equal to twice the casters class level at the time of the creation of the staff – so a staff created by a 5th level Necromancer can hold a maximum of 10 END, where a staff created at 10th level can store up to 20 END. The END stored in the staff can only be used to supplement the casters own END for the casting of spells that have an END cost, not to top up END lost to injury.


The act of creating a staff requires a material component of either wood or bone, between 4 to 6 foot in length. The wizard must then transfer some of his END to the staff (the exact amount is up to the wizard – anything up to the maximum capacity of the staff). At this point the Necromancer must make an Occult roll with a DC of 25 – the number of END points used when creating the staff. A failure with this roll results in the END points used being lost and the staff being broken. If the roll succeeds then the staff has been created, though at this point it only has 1 END in it (the END used by the Necromancer is consumed during the creation of the staff), though the staff is now ready to use and the wizard can transfer END to it immediately. The process of creating the staff is a ritual taking 1 hour to complete and also requires a black onyx gem worth 200gc per level of the caster. The gem is fused to the top of the staff during the creation.


The staff has a hardness and endurance as a normal staff, plus a number of hit points equal to the creator’s class level at the time it was created. If it is ever destroyed then the END is lost from the staff and the wielder of the staff must make a Fort save with a DC of 15, failure of the save will result in the wizard suffering a permanent -1 to Con. If the necromancer’s staff is destroyed, the life energy released by the event causes damage to all within 20 feet equal to the END stored in the staff, divided evenly between all creatures in the area of effect. If any undead are in the area, they will be healed for whatever END others would be damaged for as the damage comes in the form of negative energy. Would be victims of this burst of negative energy are allowed a Ref save against a DC of 15 to reduce the damage by half.

Greater Necromantic Spells (Sp): (As Greater Brotherhood spells.)

Gift of the Dead (Su): Necromancer is ignored by all unintelligent undead unless he comes within 10 feet of the creature or attacks it – in which case they act as normal for undead. (Work with Cener Druid and Shadakine Wytch abilities)

Curse of the Dead: At 5th level, the Necromancer only gains 1 END and also shows visible signs of the strain of his chosen path. (Work with Cener Druid Curses)

Corruption

As with certain Right-Handed-Magic spells some Necromantic magic brings with it the chance that the caster will have his soul consumed by evil and be corrupted by Naar’s dark influence. (See rules in The Darklands for full rules on corruption.)

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Necromantic Grimoire

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Summoning

Tier I - Animate Dead (Endurance: 1 for every full BMD of undead created)

This spell turns the bodies or bones of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the casters commands. It takes a standard action to cast and a further round for the bodies to become animated. Summons a number of Skeletons or Zombies equal to the casters Base Magical Damage die roll. They can be commanded to protect the caster or remain in the area and attack any creature (or just a specific type of creature) entering the area. The summoned undead carry out the casters command given during the summoning round and carry out that order until they are destroyed or are commanded by the Control Undead spell. The caster can maintain control over a number of undead equal to his class level multiplied by his WIS modifier (minimum of class level +1.)

Material Component: Dead bodies.

Tier II - Create Undead (Endurance: 4)

This is a much more powerful spell than Animate Dead, creating a more powerful undead servitor for the caster. It takes an hour long ritual to create the undead and can only be cast at night. Unlike the previous spell any undead created with Create Undead is not automatically under the control of its creator (something that less knowledgeable necromancers may not be aware of.. to their cost) and will need to be controlled using the Control Undead spell. The ritual to cast this spell required a jar of grave dirt to be placed on the chest of the body used and a black onyx gem (value of at least 100gc) to be placed in each of the eye sockets of the corpse. At the end of the hour long ritual the undead servitor will rise up (taking a full round to do so) and unless controlled by the caster (or some other person) it will attack all living beings it sees until it is destroyed or otherwise stopped.

Material Component: Dead body, a heart taken from a living being, jar of grave dirt, 2 onyx gems (worth at least 100gc each).

Tier III – Stealing Graves (Endurance: 6)

Possibly the most frightening thing to witness a necromancer doing, Stealing Graves is best carried out (for obvious reasons) in a Graveyard or other mass burial site. The spell is cast as a full round action and all corpses over a day old in an area equal to the casters BMD x10 feet are raised as if by the Animate Dead spell. The undead created by this spell are not all under the control of the caster – only those equal to the casters class level multiplied by his WIS modifier are initially under their control. Remaining undead behave as normal for their type. In subsequent rounds the caster (or others how know the spell Command Undead) can try to gain control of other undead.