Necromancer

Necromancers are dark casters who manipulate death, undeath, and fear. They raise undead minions to do their bidding and cast powerful death spells to slay their enemies. Necromancers are widely feared by the general population for their dark magic, as their spells have a terrible potential to do harm if misused.

Necromancer talents focus on offensive and utility effects. Some talents channel necrotic energy to harm the living, while others weaken the barrier between life and death and interact with the spirits of the dead. Necromancer ribbons give mostly utility effects related to the necromancer’s unique closeness with death.

Examples of necromancers in fiction include Nagash from Warhammer Fantasy, the White Walkers from A Song of Ice and Fire, and almost all fictional undead characters.

Novice Talents

Animate Dead

You animate a corpse into a mindless undead minion
Cost
2 Mana
Range
30 feet
Target
A Humanoid corpse you can see within range
Duration
1 hour

Your target animates as a Minion skeleton or zombie under your control. When the spell’s duration ends, you choose whether your minion deanimates and becomes a normal corpse, or whether your minion survives as a lesser undead that you no longer control.

Lesser undead are always hostile towards all living creatures. They do not speak and cannot be reasoned with. Only the most evil or desperate necromancers will risk animating lesser undead.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, your minion’s maximum health increases by 10, and its Strength or Agility increases by 1.

If you add +2 Mana, the duration extends to 24 hours.

Command Undead

You take control of a group of undead, becoming their new master
Cost
2 Mana
Range
120 feet
Area
20-foot burst
Target
Any number of Undead creatures in the area
Duration
Sustained, up to 1 minute

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Spirit DC. If your target is a greater undead, they have +10 Spirit DC against this attack.

Critical Success
Your target loyally follows all your commands for the next 24 hours, and any other effects controlling your target end
Success
Your target is stunned
Failure
Your target is incapacitated

Darkness

You fill an area with magical darkness that only you can see through
Cost
1 Mana
Range
120 feet
Area
10-foot burst
Duration
10 minutes, or until you decide to end it

You fill this spell’s area with magical darkness. This darkness completely blocks vision within or through the area. You can see through this darkness as if it wasn’t there.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the radius of the burst doubles.

Drain Touch

You absorb a creature’s life force, transferring it to another creature
Cost
0 Mana
Target
One creature you can reach

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Spirit DC.

Critical Success
Double damage and double mana loss
Success
Your target takes 1d8 damage and loses 1d4 mana

Choose another creature you can reach as your second target (you can choose yourself). Your second target heals health equal to the amount of health lost by your first target and recovers mana equal to the amount of mana lost by your first target.

Heightened

For each +2 Mana, the damage increases by 1d8 and the mana loss increases by 1d4.

Harm

You channel pure necrotic energy through your hand to slay a creature
Cost
1 Mana
Target
One creature you can reach

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Spirit DC.

Critical Success
Double damage
Success
Your target takes 3d10 damage
Failure
Half damage

Heightened

If you add +2 Mana, this spell loses its range and gains an area of a 20-foot emanation.

For each +2 Mana, the damage increases by 3d10.

Path to the Grave

You mark a creature for death, increasing all damage against it
Cost
2 Mana
Range
30 feet
Duration
Until the end of your next turn

The next time your target takes damage from any effect, they take an additional 3d10 damage from that effect. If this extra damage reduces your target to 0 health, they instantly die.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the damage increases by 1d10.

Shadow Step

You can teleport between areas of darkness with merely a step
Cost
1 Mana
Range
60 feet
Target
Any empty location within range (even if you can’t see the location)
Requirements
You and the target location are both in dim light or darkness

You teleport to the target location.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the range of this power doubles.

Vengeful Ghost

You summon a vengeful spirit that attacks or tracks a target of your choice
Cost
1 Mana
Duration
1 minute

You can use the Ghost Punch power.

Optionally, when you cast this spell, you can name and describe a specific enemy creature you’re seeking revenge on. If there are any ghosts who want to harm specifically this chosen enemy (for example, a ghost seeking revenge against their murderer), you summon an especially powerful vengeful ghost.

If you summon a vengeful ghost, then:

  • The damage of Ghost Punch increases to 3d6
  • Ghost Punch can only target the chosen enemy
  • You always know the exact direction towards your chosen enemy

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the damage of Ghost Punch increases by 1d6.

Veteran Talents

Circle of Death

You unleash a wave of negative energy that desecrates an area of land
Cost
4 Mana
Range
120 feet
Area
20-foot burst
Duration
1 week

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Strength DC.

Success
Your target takes 5d6 damage
Failure
Half damage

All ground in the spell’s area is desecrated for the duration. All Veteran Necromancers (and all minions controlled by Veteran Necromancers) have advantage on attacks against enemies standing on desecrated ground.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the damage increases by 1d6 and the radius of the burst increases by 10 feet.

Dark Aura

You surround yourself with an aura of dark shadows that hides you from sight
Cost
4 Mana
Target
One willing creature you can reach
Area
10-foot emanation, which follows your target for the duration
Duration
Sustained, up to 1 minute

You fill this spell’s area with magical darkness. This darkness completely blocks vision within or through the area. Your target can see through this darkness as if it wasn’t there.

Your target can use the Dark Vengeance power.

Heightened

If you add +2 Mana, the duration of this spell is 1 hour (and the spell is no longer sustained). If you instead add +4 Mana, the duration of this spell is 24 hours. If you instead add +6 Mana, the duration of this spell is Forever.

Enervation

You shoot a ray of dark energy that damages and weakens a creature
Cost
5 Mana
Range
60 feet

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Strength DC.

Critical Success
Your target takes 12d6 damage and gains 3 fatigue
Success
Your target takes 12d6 damage and gains 1 fatigue
Failure
Half damage

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the damage increases by 2d6.

Specialized Undead

You can animate undead that are stronger and more varied than before
Prerequisites
Animate Dead

When you cast Animate Dead, you can choose for your minion to gain two of the following abilities.

Distracting Aura. A hostile creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of your minion is dazzled until the end of its next turn.

Giant Size. Your minion has +1 Size, +5 feet reach, and +2 Strength.

Grave Bolt. Your minion can shoot bolts of dark energy as a ranged weapon with 1d10 Necrotic base damage and 150 range.

Incorporeal Move. Your minion gains the Incorporeal Move undead feat.

Paralyzing Touch. Your minion gains the Paralyzing Touch undead feat.

Unnatural Speed. Your minion has +20 feet Speed and +2 Agility.

Spirit Guardians

You summon a swarm of spirits that circle around you and protect you
Cost
3 Mana
Duration
Sustained, up to 10 minutes

The area within 15 feet of you is difficult terrain to creatures of your choice. You can use the Angry Guardians power.

Heightened

For each +2 Mana, the damage of Angry Guardians increases by 1d8.

Terror

You frighten a group a creatures, making them flee in terror
Cost
3 Mana
Area
30-foot emanation
Duration
Sustained, up to 1 minute

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Spirit DC.

Critical Success
Your target is terrified and has a -5 penalty to their Spirit DC
Success
Your target is terrified

Master Talents

Blood Drain

You drain the blood out of nearby enemies, using it to heal yourself
Cost
7 Mana
Range
30 feet
Target
Up to 10 creatures you can see within range

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Strength DC.

Success
Your target takes 8d6 damage, and you heal 2d6 health
Failure
Half damage

You heal for each target you succeed against.

Heightened

The damage increases by 1d6 and the maximum number of targets increases by 1.

Create Undead

You reanimate a corpse as a powerful, unique undead
Cost
6 Mana
Range
30 feet
Target
A corpse you can see within range
Requirements
In life, the corpse was a creature of CR 6 or less

Your target comes back to life as an undead. If your target was unintelligent in life, it becomes an unintelligent lesser undead. If your target was intelligent in life, the GM decides whether it becomes an unintelligent lesser undead or an intelligent greater undead. Your target has the same stats it had in life, except it gains the Undead trait. Your target may or may not be friendly towards you.

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the maximum CR increases by 1.

Shadow Assassin

You animate a creature’s shadow, causing it to attack them
Cost
6 Mana
Range
60 feet
Duration
Sustained, up to 10 minutes

Make a Magic attack roll against your target’s Spirit DC.

Critical Success
As success, and your target is terrified
Success
Your target takes 7d6 damage and is flat-footed
Failure
Your target is flat-footed

Heightened

For each +1 Mana, the damage increases by 1d6.

Epic Talents

Ribbons

Consume Life

You consume the life force of creatures you kill, healing yourself
Trigger
You kill a creature you can reach
Requirements
The triggering creature had at least 5 maximum health

You heal 1d6 health.

Decompose

You cause dead organic material to decompose extremely rapidly
Cost
0 Mana
Target
One object you can reach

If your target is made of organic material (such as a wooden door, a dead creature, or a plate of food), it takes 4d8 damage. This damage causes your target to decompose extremely rapidly: it might sprout moss and flowers, become covered in mold or fungus, or degrade into compost.

Heightened

If you add +1 Mana, this spell gains an area of a 10-foot burst. For each additional +1 Mana, the burst’s radius increases by 10 feet.

Grave Sight

You have a supernatural ability to detect death, corpses, and remains

You see a bright red glow around areas that have seen death. This includes places where a person has died recently (within a week or so), dead bodies, and even Undead creatures. You can roll Spirit+Notice to detect objects involved in death, such as weapons that have killed creatures or places an Undead creature has been recently.

Intimidating Presence

You exude an unnatural aura of fear and darkness

You have advantage on Spirit+Provoke rolls to intimidate or scare creatures you can reach.

Speak with Dead

You summon and speak with the spirit of a dead creature
Cost
3 Mana
Target
A Humanoid corpse you can reach
Requirements
Your target died within the last week

You conjure the spirit or ghost of the person. The spirit is only a faint echo of the person, and it can only speak when you ask it questions. You can ask this spirit up to three questions. The spirit may choose to answer or stay silent, and it may choose to tell the truth or lie.

After you ask the spirit three questions, it passes on fully, and Speak with Dead cannot target this person again.