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Lysander
2009-08-14, 04:15 PM
One thread in the roleplaying forum asks "What are some good Necromancy spells?" There are a few, but most are evil as sin. Let's come up with some unquestionably good and moral necromancy spells a benevolent wizard can use.

Pacify Dead
Necromancy, Good
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Clr 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: One unintelligent undead creature
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: Yes
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell temporarily pacifies one unintelligent undead creatures. Pacified undead no longer attack other creatures on their own, and instead remain completely still or look at the living in curiosity. They will however attack in self-defense, or if magically commanded. Undead creatures with 4HD or less do not receive a saving throw to resist.

Physical Stasis
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Target: One willing or unconscious creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell temporarily freezes a person's biological processes, making them appear dead. It is ideal for protecting the wounded until they can receive medical care, surviving in cold or oxygenless environments, or passing someone off as a corpse. The subject become unconscious, does not need to breathe, does not lose further hitpoints if unstable at negative health, and cannot sustain nonlethal cold damage. Any poisons or diseases are halted while in stasis. Physical stasis does not protect their body in any other way, and does not guard against lethal cold damage.

A DC25 Heal check will reveal the target is still alive. A caster can target themselves with Physical Stasis and instantly becomes unconscious.

Dragon Elite
2009-08-14, 04:17 PM
Awesome idea. Physical Stasis is really level 3.5 or 4:smalltongue:

HamsterOfTheGod
2009-08-14, 04:22 PM
I like both. but why is pacify undead limited to intelligent undead only, especially since it's a first level spell?

Sorry about that. See below.

Dragon Elite
2009-08-14, 04:23 PM
It says Unintelligent.

DracoDei
2009-08-14, 04:37 PM
Very nice.

Huh... I thought Feign Death made it into the 3.5 SRD... guess not. Well, it is nice to see it back again.

Since Pacify Undead is No-Save even against 40 HD zombies, even when cast by a 1st level wizard, I think it needs some slight revision. You MIGHT start by making the duration by 1 round per level, but I suspect you may want to keep that.

Lysander
2009-08-14, 04:41 PM
Very nice.

Huh... I thought Feign Death made it into the 3.5 SRD... guess not. Well, it is nice to see it back again.

Since Pacify Undead is No-Save even against 40 HD zombies, even when cast by a 1st level wizard, I think it needs some slight revision. You MIGHT start by making the duration by 1 round per level, but I suspect you may want to keep that.

How about preventing a wizard from pacifying undead with more HD than their caster level?

HamsterOfTheGod
2009-08-14, 04:42 PM
It says Unintelligent.

Thanks. Misread the OP. Sorry about that. OK so it's limited to unintelligent undead. But they should get a save or it makes high HD skeletons/zombies useless. And I agree with making the duration 1 minute per level or some such.

Lysander
2009-08-14, 04:52 PM
I gave Pacify Dead a saving throw and a 1 minute/level duration to balance it out. It always succeeds against 4HD or less undead though.

Here's a good counterpart to Vampiric Touch:

Transfusion
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Living creatures touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

You may drain up to 2 hp/level (maximum 24) from one willing participant and use it to heal another person. A caster can either drain their own health, or touch two people and drain one person's health to aid the other. They cannot heal themselves with this spell. Transfusion cannot drain a person below 1hp, and does not drain more than needed to heal the subject to their maximum normal hp.

HamsterOfTheGod
2009-08-14, 04:53 PM
That's a cool one too!

DracoDei
2009-08-14, 05:17 PM
Another good one.

I might actually make transfusion 3xCL max 36. That way it ALMOST keeps up with the cleric's healing spells at levels 5-6, and even when it out strips them by the numbers it has the cost of the inflicted damage. Definitely needs the boiler plate about any damage that gets prevented by any means doesn't generate any healing.

The Neoclassic
2009-08-14, 05:34 PM
First spell should be "Necromancy [Good]". I like the most recent one especially; useful spell.

Set
2009-08-14, 05:56 PM
Spells that grant a person some undead immunities temporarily, by sustaining their body with negative energy, could be neat.

You could ape 'slow poison,' for instance by just shutting someone's metabolism down for a time, or allow someone to ignore the effects of hunger, thirst, environmental cold/heat or suffocation, for example.

Undead variations on buffs could also exist, giving someone the strength of a vampire (instead of a bull) or the swiftness of a shadow (instead of a cat).

Omegonthesane
2009-08-15, 05:15 AM
I think we already have an obvious template for a "nice" spell for an arcane necromancer, in the form of False Life.

Grant False Life
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One willing creature/2 levels
Duration: 1 hour/level or until discharged; see text
Saving throw: None (harmless)
Spell Resistance: No

You harness the power of unlife to grant your allies a limited ability to avoid death. While this spell is in effect, each target gains temporary hit points equal to 1d10 +1 per caster level (maximum +20).


Also, all Cure spell should be Necromancy just like all Inflict spells are Necromancy. I really don't see any conceivable reason for Cure/Inflict to be in two different schools when they are literally the same mechanical effect (heal X or hurt Y for Zd8+CL).

Ravens_cry
2009-08-15, 05:21 AM
If we go by the dictionary, the only Necromancy spell is 'Speak with Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/speakwithdead.htm)'. Still, I agree, all the spells that deal with the forces of life and death necromancy should be under Necromancy, rather than it simply being the Evil school.

Lysander
2009-08-15, 08:59 AM
Spells that grant a person some undead immunities temporarily, by sustaining their body with negative energy, could be neat.

You could ape 'slow poison,' for instance by just shutting someone's metabolism down for a time, or allow someone to ignore the effects of hunger, thirst, environmental cold/heat or suffocation, for example.

Undead variations on buffs could also exist, giving someone the strength of a vampire (instead of a bull) or the swiftness of a shadow (instead of a cat).

That's a great idea. How about this:

Zombie's Strength
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

The creature's strength is increased by 4 and their dexterity is decreased by 4, providing all relevant bonuses and penalties. A +1 natural armor bonus is granted, 3 temporary hitpoints, and the creature gains a zombie's slam attack. This does not provide any other benefits or drawbacks of being a zombie. The subject does not become undead but looks unnaturally pale and sickly.

DracoDei
2009-08-15, 02:20 PM
I would feel a little better about that one somehow if you put in "(minimum 1)" for the dex decrease. I can't name anything specific, but I smell vague cheese with that spell used offensively.

Flickerdart
2009-08-15, 02:38 PM
I would feel a little better about that one somehow if you put in "(minimum 1)" for the dex decrease. I can't name anything specific, but I smell vague cheese with that spell used offensively.
A 2nd level spell that needs both a will save, SR and a melee touch attack to give a penalty of 4 DEX? It's fairly weak, when Shivering Touch doesn't offer a save or SR to do more DEX drain.

The spell is also much weaker than Bull's Strength which is not so hot to start with. Make it temporary hit points equal to caster level (maximum 10), maybe? And NA bonus of +2 at least.

Set
2009-08-15, 05:27 PM
If we go by the dictionary, the only Necromancy spell is 'Speak with Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/speakwithdead.htm)'.

Yeah, it's just a form of divination, really.

But, to go along that line, Mongoose had a Spectral Loremaster PrC for Necromancers that could do a variation on Gather Information that involved pumping the local spirits for historical information about a location. That was kinda neat.

Less corpse-related magic and more stuff involving contacting spirits and sending them to fetch things (or people) or attack people or possess people (with various traditional ghostly powers) could be neat. At higher levels, the Spiritualist would be able to allow his summoned spirits to Manifest, and end up being able to call up people of his own level with NPC class abilities or his own level -2 or whatever with PC class abilities. By sacrificing quantity for quality, he could instead summon and Manifest multiple lower level spirits, turning himself into a one-man Horn of Valhalla! Such an 'ancestral channeler' sort of necromancer might hold people who rob graves and defile corpses in contempt.

Alternately, he might summon spirits within himself, channeling them like a voodoo houngan, allowing him to channel the spirit of a great champion to enact a Tenser's Transformation type effect, gaining incredible fighting skills (at the cost of not being able to use his own class abilities, while kinda-sorta-possessed).