sandmote
2022-07-30, 01:13 PM
this page on the homebrewery (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/5V8AF8GAKil1)
Grim Harvest as a feature of the School of Necromancy has always been weird to me. First, the fact it provides healing means it only applies in weirdly narrow cases. A PC has to have taken damage, still be conscious, and then heals for...2 or 3 per spell level-- and at publication there just weren't enough damaging necromancy spells to be able to boost he healing very consistently. Second, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the subclass, which is about raising undead and the effects thereof. Similarly, the requirement that you have to reach 5th level before you can start being a necromancy is a bit annoying; most other character concepts that can be represented by a single class only need to reach 3rd level to get off the ground.
So I've gone ahead and tried to fix Grim Harvest and have the rest of the School of Necromancy subclass focus on that theme, and used the name "School of Pale Mastery" to represent the undead army-type wizard, including a feature that lets the wizard obtain an undead minion early.
I've also posted some additional necromancy spells here (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?648082-13-Nasty-Necromancies&p=25528123). They didn't turn out very well, but they hopefully help round out the ability to necromancers to get the full benefit out of the Grim Harvest feature.
School of Necromancy
The School of Necromancy explores the cosmic forces of life, death, and undeath. As you focus your studies in this tradition, you learn to manipulate the energy that animates all living things. As you progress, you learn to sap the life force from a creature as your magic destroys its body, transforming that vital energy into magical power you can manipulate.
Most people see necromancers as menacing, or even villainous, due to the close association with death. Not all necromancers are evil, but the forces they manipulate are considered taboo by many societies.
Necromancy Savant
Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a Necromancy spell into your spellbook is halved.
Grim Harvest
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to reap life energy from creatures you kill with your spells. Once per turn when you kill one or more creatures with a spell of 1st level or higher, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice the spell's level, or three times times its level if the spell belongs to the School of Necromancy. You don't gain this benefit for killing constructs or undead.
Grim harvest now gives THP. It still interferes with casting False Life, but at least it grants a benefit for killing a creature at the start of combat.
Necromantic Cyst
By 6th level, you can kill living flesh with your touch, creating necrotic tinged regions within a creature's body. As an action, you can make a melee touch attack against a creature within reach. Undead and constructs are immune to this effect. On a hit, you create a necrotic cyst within the target's flesh.
While the creature has the cyst, your attacks and spells deal an extra 1d8 necrotic damage to the target, and you count as having a body part of the creature for the purpose of spell effects. The cyst lasts for four. As an action you can rupture the cyst, which deals 1d12 force damage for each full day remaining until the cyst is healed (to a minimum of 1 damage if less than a full day remains).
A necrotic cyst requires a DC 15 Perception (Wisdom) check to locate and identify, and can be safely removed with a DC 20 Medicine (Wisdom) check, rupturing the cyst on a failure. The cyst can also be removed with a remove curse, greater restoration, heal spell or stronger magic.
You can create a necrotic cyst once, and regain the ability to do so at the end of a long rest.
The duration the cyst last increases to six days at 10th level, and to eight days at 14th level.
3.5e had a series of necrotic spells with a similar effect. Damage is intended to start at 3d12 and decline afterward. Then it bumps up to 5d12 and 7d12 at higher levels. TO strong? Too weak? Too weird?
Restorative Unlife
By 10th level, your ability to reap the life energy from creatures you kill becomes increasingly potent. When you gain temporary hit points through your grim harvest feature, you can choose to regain hit points instead, up to your hit point maximum. If this would cause you to have more hit points than your hit point maximum, you gain temporary hit points equal to the difference.
Example case: you kill a creature using blight, cast at 4th level while at 8 hit points below your hit point maximum. You are intended to heal for 8 hit points, and then gain (3*4-8) THP.
Power of Weakness
By 14th level, your control over necrotic energy allow you to weaken creature you target with your spells. When a creature succeeds on a saving throw against a spell you cast you can drain the creature's vitality as a reaction, forcing the creature to repeat the saving throw. The creature suffers no ill effects from the original successful saving throw when you use this feature.
You can use this feature once, and regain the ability to do so at the end of a short or long rest.
Based on the Heightened Spell metamagic, but with a stronger effect. I'm not sure between having it be a short rest effect or to allow it to be used twice per long rest instead.
School of Pale Mastery
Wizards of the School of Pale Mastery delve deep into the mysteries of undeath, learning ways negative energy flows through the remains of the once living. In time they learn to raise undead more powerful than those of other wizards, to resist negative energy, and even to deal with naturally occurring and intelligent undead.
Where Necromancers are menacing, even the rumors of a Pale Master can send waves of fear through communities of living and undead alike.
Undead Companion
You can spend 10 minutes channeling necrotic energy into the remains of a creature of medium or small size within 10 feet, after which the remains raise up as a zombie that is permanently under your command. The zombie follows your mental orders to the best of its ability, and lasts until it is destroyed or you use this feature again.
The zombie created using this feature benefits from the Undead Thralls feature.
10 minutes feels okay, and 1 hour might be a bit much, especially at higher levels. Alternatively, maybe I should allow this feature to be used faster at higher levels? Didn't think of that until posting, so I'm not sure how well it would work.
Undead Thralls, Inured to Undeath, and Command Undead remain as they appear in the Player handbook, and so are not reproduced here.
Grim Harvest as a feature of the School of Necromancy has always been weird to me. First, the fact it provides healing means it only applies in weirdly narrow cases. A PC has to have taken damage, still be conscious, and then heals for...2 or 3 per spell level-- and at publication there just weren't enough damaging necromancy spells to be able to boost he healing very consistently. Second, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the subclass, which is about raising undead and the effects thereof. Similarly, the requirement that you have to reach 5th level before you can start being a necromancy is a bit annoying; most other character concepts that can be represented by a single class only need to reach 3rd level to get off the ground.
So I've gone ahead and tried to fix Grim Harvest and have the rest of the School of Necromancy subclass focus on that theme, and used the name "School of Pale Mastery" to represent the undead army-type wizard, including a feature that lets the wizard obtain an undead minion early.
I've also posted some additional necromancy spells here (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?648082-13-Nasty-Necromancies&p=25528123). They didn't turn out very well, but they hopefully help round out the ability to necromancers to get the full benefit out of the Grim Harvest feature.
School of Necromancy
The School of Necromancy explores the cosmic forces of life, death, and undeath. As you focus your studies in this tradition, you learn to manipulate the energy that animates all living things. As you progress, you learn to sap the life force from a creature as your magic destroys its body, transforming that vital energy into magical power you can manipulate.
Most people see necromancers as menacing, or even villainous, due to the close association with death. Not all necromancers are evil, but the forces they manipulate are considered taboo by many societies.
Necromancy Savant
Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a Necromancy spell into your spellbook is halved.
Grim Harvest
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to reap life energy from creatures you kill with your spells. Once per turn when you kill one or more creatures with a spell of 1st level or higher, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice the spell's level, or three times times its level if the spell belongs to the School of Necromancy. You don't gain this benefit for killing constructs or undead.
Grim harvest now gives THP. It still interferes with casting False Life, but at least it grants a benefit for killing a creature at the start of combat.
Necromantic Cyst
By 6th level, you can kill living flesh with your touch, creating necrotic tinged regions within a creature's body. As an action, you can make a melee touch attack against a creature within reach. Undead and constructs are immune to this effect. On a hit, you create a necrotic cyst within the target's flesh.
While the creature has the cyst, your attacks and spells deal an extra 1d8 necrotic damage to the target, and you count as having a body part of the creature for the purpose of spell effects. The cyst lasts for four. As an action you can rupture the cyst, which deals 1d12 force damage for each full day remaining until the cyst is healed (to a minimum of 1 damage if less than a full day remains).
A necrotic cyst requires a DC 15 Perception (Wisdom) check to locate and identify, and can be safely removed with a DC 20 Medicine (Wisdom) check, rupturing the cyst on a failure. The cyst can also be removed with a remove curse, greater restoration, heal spell or stronger magic.
You can create a necrotic cyst once, and regain the ability to do so at the end of a long rest.
The duration the cyst last increases to six days at 10th level, and to eight days at 14th level.
3.5e had a series of necrotic spells with a similar effect. Damage is intended to start at 3d12 and decline afterward. Then it bumps up to 5d12 and 7d12 at higher levels. TO strong? Too weak? Too weird?
Restorative Unlife
By 10th level, your ability to reap the life energy from creatures you kill becomes increasingly potent. When you gain temporary hit points through your grim harvest feature, you can choose to regain hit points instead, up to your hit point maximum. If this would cause you to have more hit points than your hit point maximum, you gain temporary hit points equal to the difference.
Example case: you kill a creature using blight, cast at 4th level while at 8 hit points below your hit point maximum. You are intended to heal for 8 hit points, and then gain (3*4-8) THP.
Power of Weakness
By 14th level, your control over necrotic energy allow you to weaken creature you target with your spells. When a creature succeeds on a saving throw against a spell you cast you can drain the creature's vitality as a reaction, forcing the creature to repeat the saving throw. The creature suffers no ill effects from the original successful saving throw when you use this feature.
You can use this feature once, and regain the ability to do so at the end of a short or long rest.
Based on the Heightened Spell metamagic, but with a stronger effect. I'm not sure between having it be a short rest effect or to allow it to be used twice per long rest instead.
School of Pale Mastery
Wizards of the School of Pale Mastery delve deep into the mysteries of undeath, learning ways negative energy flows through the remains of the once living. In time they learn to raise undead more powerful than those of other wizards, to resist negative energy, and even to deal with naturally occurring and intelligent undead.
Where Necromancers are menacing, even the rumors of a Pale Master can send waves of fear through communities of living and undead alike.
Undead Companion
You can spend 10 minutes channeling necrotic energy into the remains of a creature of medium or small size within 10 feet, after which the remains raise up as a zombie that is permanently under your command. The zombie follows your mental orders to the best of its ability, and lasts until it is destroyed or you use this feature again.
The zombie created using this feature benefits from the Undead Thralls feature.
10 minutes feels okay, and 1 hour might be a bit much, especially at higher levels. Alternatively, maybe I should allow this feature to be used faster at higher levels? Didn't think of that until posting, so I'm not sure how well it would work.
Undead Thralls, Inured to Undeath, and Command Undead remain as they appear in the Player handbook, and so are not reproduced here.