In these pages I will adress a couple of topics I researched in an attempt to enable necromancers to become more capable adventurers, without losing the special feel of the necromancy school. I have created clear definitions of life, death, living creatures and undead creatures, that gave ground to a couple of totally new necromantic spells. I also believe that a many more new spells could be created using this, I certainly haven't explored every possibility. First I will show the way to these documents. These will open in a new window (only if your browser doesn't dissapprove of that), so that you can look at them while perusing the spells given below.
The Trinity of LifeThe Course of the Corpse
| SPELL: detect life-force | |
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LEVEL: 1 RANGE: up to 50 yards DURATION: 2 rounds/level AREA OF EFFECT: the caster |
SCHOOL: necromancy, divination COMPONENTS: v,s CASTING TIME: 1 SAVING THROW: none |
| This spell enbles the caster to perceive the life-force of any creature in his line of sight within the spell's range. He can determine type (positive/negative) and relative strength. The caster can also detect life-force inside inanimate objects. | |
| SPELL: phantom death | |
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LEVEL: 1 RANGE: 20 yds. + 10 yds./level DURATION: 3 rounds/level AREA OF EFFECT: 1 creature |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s,m CASTING TIME: 1 SAVING THROW: negating |
| This spell temporarily severs a part of the connection between the victim's spirit and body. This immediately causes the body to start decaying as if the creature had already died. This means that the creature will lose 1 hp/round until the spell ends. Please note that the creature can still function in any way it normally can until it reaches 0 hp, at which time it falls unconscious. If the creature reaches -10 hp, it really dies and decomposition continues in the normal (natural) fashion. The material component is a piece of gum which must be pulled into two separate pieces during the casting. | |
| SPELL: circle of the undead | |
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LEVEL: 2 RANGE: 10 yds. DURATION: 5 rounds/level AREA OF EFFECT: 1 circle |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v CASTING TIME: 2 SAVING THROW: none |
| With this spell, the necromancer can create a misty purple circle from negative energy, centered on himself or any point within range. The circle can be up to 15 yds. in diameter, as chosen by the caster. Any creature with animal intelligence (that is not undead itself) will interpret the passage through this wall as a sign of undead presence and will need to make a morale check. More intelligent creatures need only check morale in special situations, as determined by the DM. The caster can end this spell at any time by silent act of will. | |
| SPELL: mixed blessing | |
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LEVEL: 2 RANGE: touch DURATION: permanent AREA OF EFFECT: 1 creature |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s CASTING TIME: 2 SAVING THROW: none |
| This spell allows the caster to transfer some (or all) of his hit points to a wounded creature. The caster can decide how many d6's of hit points will be transferred. If this casting brings the caster's hp total down to -10, the caster dies and no more hit points can be gained by the recipient. | |
| SPELL: heritage | |
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LEVEL: 3 RANGE: 120 yds. DURATION: 1 day/level AREA OF EFFECT: 1-4 creatures |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s CASTING TIME: 3 SAVING THROW: special |
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This spell affects 1 to 4 creatures within range of the caster's choosing. Every creature receives a saving throw vs. spell to negate the effect on him. If only 1 creature is targeted, the creature receives a -2 penalty on his saving throw. If 2 creatures are targeted, both receive a -1 penalty. If 3 or 4 creatures are targeted, all receive a normal saving throw. Victims of this spell will never notice anything of its effect, as it activates at the creature's death, but only if it falls within the duration of the spell. When an affected creature dies, it's life-force is stripped from the spirit and converted into hit points, that are bestowed upon the caster if he is on the same plane of existence. For every level or Hit Die the creature had, the caster will be healed 1d6 points. The caster can only benefit from these hit points if he has suffered wounds, because they cannot raise his hit point total above the normal maximum. The hit points gained are normal hit points and do not disappear when the spell duration has elapsed. Note that creatures who died and had their life-force taken cannot be raised nor resurrected. |
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| SPELL: spirit link | |
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LEVEL: 3 RANGE: touch DURATION: 1 turn/level AREA OF EFFECT: 1 item |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s,m CASTING TIME: 1 round SAVING THROW: none |
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This spell enables the necromancer to infuse 1 item of 15 pounds or less with a bit of his own life-force. This causes the item to funcion as part of the caster's body for magical purposes. Thus, the caster can use touch spells against creatures touching the item. Also, any magical protections functioning on his own body will protect the item aswell. To infuse the item with life-force, the caster must touch it. After that time, the caster and the item must be within 30 yds. + 5 yds./level of each other for the link to work. If one of the two moves out of this range, the spell does not end, but the item no longer shares the caster's magic, until they again come within range of each other. This spell provides no way of knowing what is happening around the item, so the caster must either see or know what is happening to use it effectively. Note that this link also works the other way around, so if a spell is cast at the infused item, the caster will be affected as if the spell was cast directly at him. If the item is destroyed while this spell lasts or the spell ends while the item and the caster are out of range, the life-force is lost to the caster, inflicting 2d6 points of damage against the caster, that can only be regained by magical healing. The material components are some drops of blood of the caster that are dropped onto the item. The item itself is not consumed by this spell. |
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| SPELL: soul shift | |
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LEVEL: 4 RANGE: 10 yds./level DURATION: permanent AREA OF EFFECT: 1 creature |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v CASTING TIME: 4 SAVING THROW: special |
| This spell enables the caster to move his spirit into another body. This body must have a positive hit point total and must be functional (i.e. cannot be undead). If the body currently carries another spirit, this spirit will be placed in the caster's old body, if it fails its saving throw vs. spell. This change cannot be dispelled. See for details on spirit exchange the magic jar spell. | |
| SPELL: spiritual teleport | |
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LEVEL: 4 RANGE: unlimited DURATION: instantaneous AREA OF EFFECT: the caster |
SCHOOL: necromancy, alteration COMPONENTS: v,s,m CASTING TIME: 4 SAVING THROW: none |
| This spell transports the caster's spirit and current hit points to another human body on the same plane. This body must be human, cannot be carrying another soul but need not have a positive hit point total. The hit points will be infused into the destination body, up to the maximum hit points of the new joining. The precision of this transport also depends on the caster's knowledge of the body and the location, but he cannot end up in the wrong place. The caster must make a roll to see if the transport succeeds, depending on his knowledge of his destination, but if he fails, de joining will have 2d8 hit points less then it would if all went right. The material component is the body the caster's soul was in when he cast the spell. It will decompose instantly into a pile of ashes. | |
| SPELL: blood trace | |
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LEVEL: 4 RANGE: 0 DURATION: 1 turn/level AREA OF EFFECT: the caster |
SCHOOL: necromancy, divination COMPONENTS: v,s,m CASTING TIME: 1 round SAVING THROW: none |
 This spell enables the caster to see a trail of blood-red liquid at all the locations a chosen being has ever been. These blood lines hover in the air at the level the creature's centre of gravity (just above navel-height) was when he passed the locale. Only the caster can see the blood lines and he can unerringly track one of those lines at any time if he can remain within 10 feet of it, but cannot tell where it goes or where it came from. The material component of this spell is at least a drop of the chosen being's blood, which must be ingested by the caster.
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| SPELL: soul safehold | |
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LEVEL: 5 RANGE: 0 DURATION: 1 day/level AREA OF EFFECT: the caster |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s,m CASTING TIME: 1 round SAVING THROW: special |
| This spell, that lingers inside a specially prepared ring until the duration runs out, activates when the caster reaches 0 hit points or when he wills the spell to activate. When the spell is activated, it will transfer the caster's soul to the ring, provided that the ring is currently worn. This ring must be made of solid gold or an alloy consisting at least for 80% of gold and must have been submerged in some of the caster's blood for 11 days. Within the ring, the caster can survive anything the ring can, for as long as the spell lasts. The only thing he can do from there is sense the condition of the body that is wearing it, if any and whether or not it contains a spirit. Possible conditions are Alive (>0 hp), Dying (-10<->0 hp) and Dead (<-10 hp). If the ring is worn by a living body, the caster can choose to enter it or not. He has no way of discerning what body it is. If it's his old body, he will be restored as he was before, if it's another one, the body and his soul will be joined as per the rules given in The Trinity of Life document and the soul already occupying the body will be placed in the ring. If a soul occupying the ring is unable to enter another body before the spell ends, he dies. At the end of the spell's duration the spell will have slowly consumed the ring, which will be fragile and cannot be used again. | |
| SPELL: shock ray | |
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LEVEL: 5 RANGE: 10 yds./level DURATION: instantaneous AREA OF EFFECT: 1 creature |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s CASTING TIME: 1 SAVING THROW: negating |
| To cast this spell, the necromancer points his index finger at the target creature and utters the incantation. Then, a thin stroke of purple lightning shoots forth towards the target. The target creature receives a saving throw vs. spell to avoid the stroke. If he succeeds, he remains unharmed. If he fails, the lightning will cause an overload on the creature's nervous system. This forces the creature to make a system shock roll to survive. If he succeeds, he will live (that is, at least for the moment), but any spellcasting is disrupted and he is stunned for 1d4 rounds. If the creature fails this check, it will die, but the body will still be at positive hitpoints (at first at least, it will instantly start loosing 1 hp per round, see The Course of the Corpse which treats on this subject). | |
| SPELL: life spell | |
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LEVEL: 6 RANGE: touch DURATION: permanent AREA OF EFFECT: 1 creature |
SCHOOL: necromancy COMPONENTS: v,s CASTING TIME: 1 round SAVING THROW: none |
| This spell can pull a departed spirit back into its own body. The creature cannot have been dead longer than 1 day per level of the caster. The creature's body must have a positive hit point total and must not be carrying another spirit. The affected creature must roll a resurrection survival roll to be restored to life. If he succeeds, he loses 1 point of constitution but is otherwise a normal living person. | |
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