Necromancer

Decomposing flesh radiates fading life force. You know how to siphon that power, twist and shape it, then reinfuse the dead with it to return them to ambulatory service. You can also draw that energy directly from them to heal your own rent flesh or anyone near you. In fact, your necromantic prowess gives you a degree of control over undead of all sorts, allowing you to daze and repel them, or even briefly command their service. Because your abilities are so directly tethered to death, many people fear and hate you regardless of your deeds and true motivation. Your animated helpers can aid whoever you command, including any allies willing to accept help from a corpse. Likewise, your ability to drain life from your foes to heal your flesh can also provide balm to allies willing to accept it. And should your group face an external necromantic threat, you have the knowledge and power to help confront it.

Background Options

• When your spouse died, you dedicated your life to bringing them back, if not to life, then at least to a lifelike animated facsimile. But so far, it’s been failure upon failure.
• About six months ago you animated a corpse that whispered your name before turning to dust.
• You recently discovered there’s a bounty on you because you reportedly disturbed a graveyard.
• After nearly dying as a young person, you decided that seeking immortality through unlife was your goal.
• The dark school where you learned your craft was destroyed by lightning a few months ago.
• Your sibling was found dead a year ago, apparently killed by an undead host.
• You learned your craft from sigils scribed in the walls of ancient tombs, but now all the things buried there continually seek you out to “reclaim” what you stole.
• Your friend remains angry that you failed to turn up for an important ceremony three months ago.

Necromancer Abilities

You gain all of the following benefits: Able to take two more minor wounds and one more moderate wound Add +4 to Intellect Pool Add +1 Edge in Pool of your choice

Freely use light and medium weapons Freely use light armor Gain one weapon of your choice At tier 3 and tier 6, choose an ability from the Fantasy Genre Abilities list

Basic Necromancy (3+ Intellect): You animate the body of a dead creature of approximately your size or smaller within immediate range, creating a level 1 follower that is an undead creature. It has none of the intelligence, memories, or special abilities that it had in life. The creature follows your verbal commands until you use a one-hour or longer recovery, after which it becomes an inert corpse. Unless the creature is killed by damage, you can reanimate it again when its time expires, but any damage it had when it became inert applies to its newly reanimated state. If you use Basic Necromancy to animate a second body, any body you’ve already animated with this ability becomes an inert corpse again. Action to animate.

Drain Life (1+ Intellect): You send forth an ashy tendril reaching up to short range, inflicting 2 damage to a living target with a successful Intellect attack roll. You benefit from their drained life, healing a minor wound from yourself or an ally within immediate range. At tier 3, if you apply two levels of Effort, a successful attack inflicts 5 damage and heals a moderate or minor wound from yourself or an ally within immediate range. Action. Tribulation (1+ Intellect): You conjure pure spiritual energy to blast up to five undead, demons, and creatures of similar ilk of level 2 or less within short range. If you succeed on a separate Intellect attack against each foe, you choose whether they spend their next turn fleeing or lose their next turn.

Effort: Increase the maximum level of the foe you can affect by 1. Specify some other action for the creatures to perform for one round, such as attacking a foe of your choice. Last action.

[!example]

Necromancer Equipment Bundle

Choose the following equipment bundle to quickly outfit your character, or assemble your own starting equipment. A quarterstaff, appropriate clothing, a book of necrotic lore, a backpack, a bedroll, incense (10 sticks), matchsticks (10), a lantern, three days of rations and water, three flasks of oil, and enough extra currency to buy a moderately priced item.

Part of Dungeon Fantasy