What Does A Necromancer Want?

[Bloodzy]

2 of my PCs (level 4s) have just died (even though not planned, it will further the story in a positive way) but first, the remaining 3 living PCs have decided they want to track down a Necromancer and ask for his help in bringing their friends back to life.

Now my question to you is,

what does he want? what should the price be?

Any and all ideas are welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Bloodzy

[noob]

Money?
World peace?
Anything else?
You know necromancers are just normal people who considers casting necromancy spells is not something utterly awful.
Like did someone ever kill with deathwatch?
Unless you decided that for some reason necromancy corrupted instantly the soul and turned people in atrocious villains necromancers are not much different from other spell-casters.
It is like enchanters: most of their powers is about control and boosting and debuffing and so if you chose necromancy is evil then enchanting should probably be evil too.
In dnd universe money have a lot of value for seemingly no reason so the necromancer can probably help them for a hefty price.
And if the adventurer team is really well known for its ability to solve problems instead of turning countries into wastelands with flaming zebras running around and exploding randomly on the last left survivors the necromancer might even ask them to do a quest for him.

[Bloodzy]

Money?
World peace?
Anything else?
You know necromancers are just normal people who considers casting necromancy spells is not something utterly awful.
Like did someone ever kill with deathwatch?
Unless you decided that for some reason necromancy corrupted instantly the soul and turned people in atrocious villains necromancers are not much different from other spell-casters.
It is like enchanters: most of their powers is about control and boosting and debuffing and so if you chose necromancy is evil then enchanting should probably be evil too.

You're right. I didn't give enough information. And correct, Necromancy is just type of magic, not evil nor good.

The Necromancer himself is (this is not finalized, but I was thinking about making him) true neutral. He, in fact, is a Vampire and lives in a secluded village that he has stood up by himself with the help of his "minions" for a lack of better word. But they are his Spawns, those he turned. However, they were turned willingly and they now feed off the citizens of the village who willingly let them.

Being true neutral, I'm not sure exactly what he would want in payment for reviving the 2 PCs. To put this in perspective, there are 5 of them, all level 4.

I want it to be more impactful then simply cash. Also, I'm not sure world peace would quite fit that persona

[noob]

Are the adventurers dangerous murder hoboes ruining entire countries or are they somehow contained even through they are above level 3?
Anyway if the adventurers are reliable on doing missions there might be some dangers for him and his vampires(like vampire hunters) and he might ask the adventurers to get rid of one problem without killing anyone(because he probably does not wants bad reputation)
(he avoids speaking of that because he does not wants people to know he have problems to avoid having more problems)
Or maybe the necromancer just wants something the party do not have and so the party will have to find another necromancer.

[OldTrees1]

You're right. I didn't give enough information. And correct, Necromancy is just type of magic, not evil nor good.

The Necromancer himself is (this is not finalized, but I was thinking about making him) true neutral. He, in fact, is a Vampire and lives in a secluded village that he has stood up by himself with the help of his "minions" for a lack of better word. But they are his Spawns, those he turned. However, they were turned willingly and they now feed off the citizens of the village who willingly let them.

Being true neutral, I'm not sure exactly what he would want in payment for reviving the 2 PCs. To put this in perspective, there are 5 of them, all level 4.

I want it to be more impactful then simply cash. Also, I'm not sure world peace would quite fit that persona

Am I correct in assuming this necromancy has studied the raise dead/resurrection sub-field of Necromancy? Or are the PCs asking for their friends to be brought back as intelligent undead?


You could ask for a willing subject for a necromatic experiment. In exchange for raising both of their friends, one of the living PCs would volunteer for a non lethal experiment with permanent consequences. The necromancer will learn from the experiment regardless of if it was a net benefit or loss.

You could ask for a sacred tome that is found beyond the necromancer's reach. Say a Pelorite tome on Turn Undead.

You could ask for 1 year's service as guards for the village.

You could ask for one of the PCs to replace one of their eyes with a scrying focus (extending the necromancer's information network).

You could ask for locating and safely transporting 3 refugees to the village.

...

[Coidzor]

Since they're too low level to easily afford Raise Dead and Reincarnate, a quest for a maguffin would be appropriate in the tradition of dnding.

[Wartex1]

Maybe the food supply for the Necromancer and his thralls is no longer adequate due to raiders or something killing them off, so said Necromancer wants the party to track down the raiders, eliminate them, and recruit a new food supply (which may or may not be the captured raiders).

[Atarax]

The Necromancer wants fresh corpses. From a graveyard. There's a graveyard near a small community, but they'll have to be careful not to get caught by the locals. Maybe they find the entrance to some ancient catacombs while they're at it...

[jmax]

The Necromancer himself is (this is not finalized, but I was thinking about making him) true neutral. He, in fact, is a Vampire and lives in a secluded village that he has stood up by himself with the help of his "minions" for a lack of better word. But they are his Spawns, those he turned. However, they were turned willingly and they now feed off the citizens of the village who willingly let them.

If you're not dead-set on those details, how about this?:

If the necromancer is a non-evil vampire, he may have trouble obtaining "food" without doing nasty things - things that would make it likely that he'd be hunted down and killed. Getting money is easy with a vampire's compulsion abilities, but I bet it's hard under most circumstances to find willing donors. If you make him Good-aligned instead of neutral, he would likely even have moral compunctions against dominating people for donations regardless of the risk that it would result in pitchforks and torches.

Have the vampire ask them for a year's supply of blood. It need not be delivered all at once. He can cast gentle repose (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gentleRepose.htm) to keep it fresh - or even something lower level, really, which I could definitely see as a custom-researched spell for a vampire.

There are 3 remaining PCs. Let's say the vampire requires 3 pints of blood per week. The Red Cross allows for donating every 8 weeks (http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/donation-faqs), but of course that's in a world without healing magic. Let's say that, if they get a cure moderate wounds spell after each donation, the PCs can each safely donate a pint of blood per week, which means they can pay off their debt within a year - a bit faster if their raised friends contribute - as long as they can come back for the appointments.

If you don't need to keep the PCs in the area, allow more frequent donations with the same per-donation magic requirement to replenish the blood. If the plot requires the PCs travel, they can do straight-up serial donations as long as there are spells available. The necromancer could even provide the spells, probably with a few wands if it needs to be done quickly.

In addition to satisfying your "not just cash" preference, this makes the relationship with the vampire significantly more intimate and sets you up with good reasons for that to turn into a long-term friendship justifying future interaction. It also gives you a plausible, renewable justification for further raising. And, particularly if you go the fast-with-wands route, it still leaves the option for the PCs to wander off without ever seeing him again if the players aren't interested in future interaction with him.

[J-H]

A piece of fiction over on Spacebattles had a different take on a necromancer. He started his magical career as a druid, but got tired of the hippy-dippy stuff, the excessive 'friendships' with animals (as he put it), and being out in all of the bad weather.

Modern medicine is often about creating poisons that specifically target and kill a given bacteria, cancer cell, etc. That sounds like death magic to me.
Modern medicine often includes taking body parts from a dead person and grafting them into a living being to enhance the graftee's ability to function. Necromancy!

He ended up doing a bunch of dissections and research, specializing, and eventually becoming a plastic surgeon for the wealthy. His office is a fairly cheerful place with lots of plants growing in it.

Money?
Connections?
Secure message delivery?
Advertising for his services?
Discreet elimination of a competitor?

[TheifofZ]

You know necromancers are just normal people who considers casting necromancy spells is not something utterly awful.
Like did someone ever kill with deathwatch?

No spellcaster is a normal person, by default. You don't study for years to be a wizard because life on the farm was boring. If you have the sorcerous powers of dragons, outsiders, or something Other flowing through your veins, you become a sorcerer because that is who you are, instead of a farmer or a merchant.
Magic is fundamentally more, and you don't dive into it without it touching you in some way, even something as subtle as changing how you see and judge the world around you.
And that's without touching on the general ideas that drive each school of magic.
A necromancer is defined by the magic of necromancy; of death, and dying, and sickness, and how that relates to life. Usually this comes from a fascination towards morbid subjects or a dislike of the living, and blossoms into something more impressive.
Given that it's a TN necro vampire, he may request the party spend time helping the village protect against outsiders, or find a rare herb used to cure a disease common in the area. Maybe he needs them to guard him as he renews the wards that quiet the dead at the local cemetery. (Or maybe the wards control the dead for him?)
As mentioned above, a willing subject to experiment on would also be something a necromancer would enjoy.

There are two things to think about, really, when you think about what they want. Why are they a necromancer, and how would that drive them?
And 'If the necromancer vampire protects the town, what would be good for the town to get that it doesn't have right now, that the party could get?'

[Calthropstu]

Say he doesn't, and the village doesn't, have the required component but he knows where some can be found. Send the surviving PCs on a short quest to acquire the needed diamonds.

Also, requiring them to stay and donate blood for a week, nonlethally of course with free restorations to handle level loss, as part of the payment would probably be a thing.

[jmax]

Modern medicine is often about creating poisons that specifically target and kill a given bacteria, cancer cell, etc. That sounds like death magic to me.
Modern medicine often includes taking body parts from a dead person and grafting them into a living being to enhance the graftee's ability to function. Necromancy!

He ended up doing a bunch of dissections and research, specializing, and eventually becoming a plastic surgeon for the wealthy. His office is a fairly cheerful place with lots of plants growing in it.

This is excellent! "Necromancy doesn't have to about evil and perversion of the dead. Those small-minded twits are just too ignorant to see the bigger picture." I could totally see a niche wizard who uses necromancy for healing. His stuff works far differently from the positive energy that clerics and druids sling around, and while it's less direct than regaining 4d8+CL hp worth of blood, it lets him do some different things that the "real" healers can't - like limb and organ transplants so survivors of a recent combat aren't crippled for life. Sure, the most powerful clerics can just grow them back, but he's doing it with 2nd-level spells instead of 7th.

This would be an especially excellent concept for a Mystic Theurge.



Also, requiring them to stay and donate blood for a week, nonlethally of course with free restorations to handle level loss, as part of the payment would probably be a thing.

Is there anything in D&D rules that actually requires a vampire to feed? Blood Drain grants temporary hit points, but I don't see anything in the entry saying they actually have to do it. That's rather odd. For my suggestion above, I just figured the PCs could nick a vein and drip the blood into a bowl.

[OldTrees1]

Is there anything in D&D rules that actually requires a vampire to feed? Blood Drain grants temporary hit points, but I don't see anything in the entry saying they actually have to do it. That's rather odd. For my suggestion above, I just figured the PCs could nick a vein and drip the blood into a bowl.

Libris Mortis has the rules on undead hunger and undead dietary requirements. IIRC Vampires get one of each.

[jmax]

Libris Mortis has the rules on undead hunger and undead dietary requirements. IIRC Vampires get one of each.

Hmm, ok. That's an optional splatbook though, right? There's nothing stock requiring it?

[OldTrees1]

Hmm, ok. That's an optional splatbook though, right? There's nothing stock requiring it?

The core vampire has a legacy of fluff.
Libris Mortis just provided crunch to that fluff and expanded it to ghouls and other similarly fluffed undead.

[Vizzerdrix]

An erganomic spade. Digging up minions is hard on the back.

[OldTrees1]

An erganomic spade. Digging up minions is hard on the back.

An Entomber is an undead specialized for digging up corpses. Bring me one.

[Xar Zarath]

A piece of fiction over on Spacebattles had a different take on a necromancer. He started his magical career as a druid, but got tired of the hippy-dippy stuff, the excessive 'friendships' with animals (as he put it), and being out in all of the bad weather.

Modern medicine is often about creating poisons that specifically target and kill a given bacteria, cancer cell, etc. That sounds like death magic to me.
Modern medicine often includes taking body parts from a dead person and grafting them into a living being to enhance the graftee's ability to function. Necromancy!

He ended up doing a bunch of dissections and research, specializing, and eventually becoming a plastic surgeon for the wealthy. His office is a fairly cheerful place with lots of plants growing in it.

Money?
Connections?
Secure message delivery?
Advertising for his services?
Discreet elimination of a competitor?

Emphasis mine. What is the title of this story? Sounds very interesting, would like to give it a look.

[Honest Tiefling]

He wants to hear the laughter of his only daughter, killed by a disease the god's servants were powerless to prevent.

His wife, a servant of these so-called gods, holds her remains in an attempt to prevent her husband from fulfilling his unholy rites. Getting the remains is going to be tough, and runs easily into the issue of attacking a good-aligned (or useful) religion. His research into meeting her spirit again might mean he has diamonds or other things lying around to help with the resurrection.

The necromancer himself doesn't particularly care to raise undead against their will, so a good or neutral party might have less qualms about aiding him and not attacking him after he's helped them. The necromancer is unlikely to aid the party afterwards, which might be a concern if you want a recurring NPC. If the power level and wealth of this sort of NPC is troubling, he has a good reason to fade into the background.

Alternatively, they can contact the priest of the goodly religion and inform her of her ex-husband's plan. She can give an alternative quest, allowing the PCs to have a choice. They can either get hit with a geas after a resurrection spell (to avoid anyone sitting out), or they can temporarily control priests/paladins of this religion while waiting for their characters to come back. The quest she gives can be related to the main plot, or to flesh out her religion. Or it could just be to inter her daughter's remains in a large enough temple where her ex-husband can never drag her soul from its rightful place to bind her with unholy magic, which might also be large enough to offer this service.

Or she could hint at killing her ex-husband, that while she loved the man she once was, she cannot allow her daughter's soul to be in such danger. Doing so might be murder in the eyes of the law, but this in this god. Do they obey the local authorities, or remove a sad necromancer who might be influenced to evil and harm the soul of a young girl?

[Pleh]

Famous villain trope.

"So what do I owe you?"

"Oh... nothing."

"... nothing?"

"Well, nothing for now. Let's call it a favor."

[OldTrees1]

Famous villain trope.

"So what do I owe you?"

"Oh... nothing."

"... nothing?"

"Well, nothing for now. Let's call it a favor."

Want to induce some paranoia? Next time the PCs ask for and receive help from a schemer, have the schemer not request payment.

[J-H]

Emphasis mine. What is the title of this story? Sounds very interesting, would like to give it a look.

Ned the Necromancer is a side character, and doesn't show up until about 180k words in.

In My Time of Troubles (https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/in-my-time-of-troubles-dnd-si-sorta.426130/)
(Orcish SI cleric of Ilneval, pre-TOT 2nd edition)

[Segev]

Why are they seeking a necromancer instead of a cleric to bring back their friends? I'm all for having adventurers owe me favors, but I also am not fond of having them decide they've been cheated by accepting my services when others could provide more tailored results.

As for what a necromancer would want? Big, expensive gems for use in trap the soul come to mind. Heck, he might ask them to make a delivery for him, where the delivery happens to have a trigger word hidden on it so that the person to whom they deliver will be sucked into such a gem.

He could want a rare creature's corpse. Perhaps one or more hydrae; they're quite good as zombies.

He could want an altar to a god of evil; why he wouldn't just buy one is a good question. But that plus a permanent desecrate spell is a boost to his minionmancy.

Remember that he's a Wizard; he could want anything you think a Wizard might want, regardless of whether it's "necromancer-themed" or not. Powerful artifacts, a spellbook containing a rare spell, a rare but important material component (perhaps a bit of flesh from an important personage...which he'll use to make a simulacrum).

[Pugwampy]

Is it a girl necromancer ? Give her a boner

[Psyren]

By "Necromancer" do you mean a wizard? Are they trying to reanimate their friends, or get them back via something like Limited Wish?

[Coidzor]

Is it a girl necromancer ? Give her a boner

A bra made from human skulls that is actually comfortable to wear, more like.

[Alent]

How about this:

The Necromancer requires a favor- of the dead. There is a certain ally of his in the afterlife he wishes to pass along a message to, and for various reasons this is beyond his ability. However, the adventurers' recently departed friends are in a unique situation where the necromancer can use both the corpses and the adventurers' bond with their friends to communicate with them, and his price is that they deliver a message and then return to the world of the living with the reply.