Rules originally thought up by Fetch.
Last updated on Sept. 19th, 1997.
Necromancy is a relatively new tradition, one
that has appeared largely due to the neo-gothic craze that has been prevalent
in society since the late 1980's. As a tradition, it functions similar
to shamanism and voudoun, while bearing little or no resemblence to any
hermetic practice known. Necromancers treat Death much the same way that
a shaman treats his or her totem. In Egypt, magic-users similar to necromancers
are sometimes known as Priests of Osiris, an Egyptian death god. Necromancers
abhor anything that promotes life: light, heat, and even procreation.
Necromancers are very unique and distinctive
in their conjuring. A necromancer conjures spirits in the same way that
a shaman conjures nature spirits, except that a necromancer will only summon
two types of spirits: specters and wraiths.
Necromancers are predictable in their spellcasting,
at least. Similar to the darker aspects of voodoo, necromancers will only
learn spells that involve the absence of life: death, darkness, and cold.
A necromancer considers Death to be the great Undiscovered Country, and
looks forward to the day when he will walk the path that leads to it. For
this reason, necromancers do not fear death.
Necromancers can also create a Corps Cadavre
(p. 30, Paranormal Animals of Europe) using a special voodoo-type spell
(see below). Once made, these mindless zombies often function as a necromancer's
thugs.
Game Notes:
Necromancers automatically receive a -1 modifier
when fighting the effects of torture, death threats or similar tests made
against fear incurred by a life-threatening situation. They do not fear
death, rather, they would welcome the gift. However, necromancers have
such an intense psychological abhorrence to life that they are vulnerable
to elements that propogate it, such as light and heat. All light or heat
based attacks (fire, lasers, even flash grenades) against a necromancer
recieve +2 to the Power of the attack.
Additionally, a necromancer will be hard pressed
to ever intentionally save a life, unless someone gets to die in the process.
Otherwise, he or she must roll Willpower(6) and get at least two successes
in order to save the life in question. For example:
- Tot' Moraytay sees a member of the Rusted
Stillettos beating up an old man. The old man will die unless he
does something, so he casts a Heart Burst 6 at the ganger. The ganger
prompty dies. Tot' Moraytay feels good. If the ganger had not died, Tot'
Moraytay would have helped cheat Death, and felt the need to kill something
in order to even the score.
- The old man mentioned above gets up and starts
across the street to thank Tot' Moraytay. A sports car swerves around the
corner and heads straight for the old man. Tot' Moraytay makes a Willpower(6)
test to see if he can push the man out of the way. No successes. Tot' Moraytay
watches calmly as the old man gets run over. It just wasn't his day...
Conjuring: GM Discretion
There are only two types of spirits that will
ever appear as a result of a necromancer's summons: specters and wraiths.
(And Watchers, of course) The summoning of a specter involves rituals that
are similar to elemental conjuring. Materials for this ritual are 1,000
nuyen times the desired Force Rating of the specter, and can only be obtained
from a Houngan or a Talismonger with access to voodoo materials.
No conjuring library or hermetic circle is required, but the necromancer
does need a corpse (a cremated corpse will do, but add a +2 modifier to
the Conjuring Test). The summoning ritual takes a number of hours equal
to the specter's Force. At the end of this uninterrupted time the necromancer
makes a Conjuring Test against a target number equal to the Force of the
specter. Use of a Spirit Focus can add extra dice to this test. The number
of successes from this determines the number of services the specter will
perform for the necromancer. If no successes are rolled, then the necromancer
has failed and no specter appears. All ritual materials are used
up, however, including the corpse, which often disintergrates or bursts
into flame at the conclusion of the ritual. Regardless, the necromancer
must now make a Drain Resistance Test of Charisma vs. a target number equal
to the Force of the specter. See the Conjuring Drain Table (pg 140, SRII basic
rules) to discover the Drain Level. Note that most specters feel as though
the necromancer has disturbed its rest, and will almost always attack the
necromancer if given a chance (ex: another mage takes control of the specter
or similarly frees it). A necromancer can bind, at any one time, a number
of specters equal to his or her Charisma. See below for Specter stats and
powers.
Note: the following expansion uses the Astral
Quest Rules as found in the Grimoire II.
Summoning wraiths is a different story. Only
an Initiated necromancer can even attempt this task, and it is a very rigorous
summoning. The ritual requires no materials, but must be made in a area
that was once the site of human suffering. In fact, the maximum Force of
the summoned wraith is equal to twice the background count. The necromancer
must make an Astral Quest (Rating equal to Force desired) to summon the
wraith. This is a truely grueling Quest, and many necromancers have either
been driven insane or given a permenant phobia from whatever they experience
on this quest. (As always, GM discretion) Unlike normal Astral
Quests, this one only travels through 3 Places: The Place of Battle, The
Place of Fear, and the Place of Spirits. If the necromancer fails in the
Place of Battle, the quest ends and he recieves a permanent scar or similar
deformation. If he fails in the Place of Fear, he recieves a permanent
phobia of some sort. The Place of Spirits is where the necromancer faces
a wraith. He must defeat the wraith or bargain with it in some way to summon
it on the physical plane. If he defeats it in battle, a Conjuring test
vs. the Force of the Wraith will determine the number of services the wraith
owes the necromancer. If the necromancer fails in the Place of Spirits,
then that means he has brought himself to the attention of a particular
wraith, a situation that could be harmful to the necromancer in the future.
Remember, wraiths thrive on death, violence and destruction...which makes
them very dangerous enemies. It is not unknown for a necromancer to have
a wraith as a familiar or an ally spirit, but such a situation is very
tenuous, because wraiths are very deadly and very independent...treat such
an alliance as a bargain, with the necromancer supplying death, destruction,
and karma to the wraith and the wraith supplying similar services to the
necromancer.
Specter
unknown classification
| Body |
F-3 |
| Quickness |
(F+3)*4 |
| Strength |
F-3 |
| Charisma |
F |
| Intelligence |
F |
| Willpower |
F+2 |
| Reaction |
F+2(+10 in Astral) |
| Initiative |
1D6 + Reaction |
Specters are malicious spirits that often enjoy
inflicting pain and suffering on (meta)humanity. It is not known whether
they are the souls of our dead or simply evil spirits. Specters possess
a wide range of preternatural powers and an uncanny individuality for your
average spirit.
Basic Specter Powers: Fear, Manifestation,
Psychokinesis
Other Known Specter Powers: Compulsion (to repeat acts of deceased),
Dreamsend*, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Poisons, Toxins, Normal Weapons),
Noxious Breath, Paralyzing Touch, Raise Fog**, Teleport***, Temperture
Alteration****
Game Notes:
Specters have a higher Willpower than most other spirits, and are often
very "willful" because of this. Gamemasters may want
to use a Specter's Willpower instead of Force when determining the outcome
of Control and Banishing Contests.
*Dreamsend: The spirit possesses the ability to "implant"
a very specific dream into the mind of a sleeper. The spirit must
be in manifest form to use this power.
**Raise Fog: Can cause a ground level cloud to form; radius of fog is
equal to 10*F meters.
***Teleport: This Power allows an apparition to physically teleport
on the real plane. It is assumed that the apparition can somehow pull its
physical 'body' into its home plane, travel in that plane, then reform
the 'body' in the real plane instantaneously.
*****Temperture Alteration: Can alter the temperature of an area (radius
= F) by up to plus or minus 3*F degrees centigrade.
Wraith
Umbra metuculosus
(as seen in Paranormal Animals of Europe, pg. 110)
| Body |
F+6 |
| Quickness |
(F+8) * 3 |
| Strength |
F+2 |
| Charisma |
F |
| Intelligence |
F+1/F+1 |
| Willpower |
F+6 |
| Essence |
12(A) |
| Reaction |
F+3 |
| Initiative |
1d6 |
Wraiths appear as an amorphous black or dark gray spirit, commonly taking
one of two forms. In astral space, it appears as a cloud of black or deep
gray mist/smoke roughly one meter in diameter and illuminated from within
by a deep violet or ultraviolet light. In astral space the wraith moves
by stretching a tendril of its "mass" in the direction it wishes
to move, then flowing through the tendril.
Wraiths manifest as either a "cloud," as in the astral form,
or in an anthropomorphic form bearing a distinct resemblance to a tall,
dark figure wearing tattered robes. A faint light (again in the deep violet
to ultraviolet range) shows within the "hood," but does not distinguish
features. Observers wraith from sometimes gestures, temporarily forming
a hand out of the gray smoke/mist for that purpose.
Powers: Confusion (Zone * 2), Fear (Zone * 2), Immunity to Pathogens,
Immunity to Poisons, Influence (Zone * 2), Magical Resistance, Magic Sense,
Manifestation
Weaknesses: None known
Notes: Wraiths are generally free spirits (see pg. 76, Grimoire
2), and as such use a Spirit Energy Rating. The wraith's
Spirit Energy begins at 0, then increases by 1 point for every box of Stun
or Physical damage a victim under its influence does to another living
being or inanimate structure. The wraith can have a maximum Spirit
Energy Rating equal to twice its Essence.
Spellcasting:
Necromancers can only learn spells that focus
on death, darkness, decay, and cold. Cheerful chummers, aren't they? A
necromancer can also magically create zombies from the dead bodies of humans
and metahmans. Through a combination of Sorcery and Enchanting, the necromancer
can create a corps cadavre. This process requires the necromancer to use
the Enchanting Skill, with a Base Time of 10 days and a Target Number of
4, to properly prepare the corpse. If no successes are generated, then
the necromancer wasted 10 days and didn't prepare the corpse properly,
so he or she must begin again. He or she then casts the Create Zombie
spell, a manipulation spell that animates the creature. Once the cadavre
has been animated, it will obey the commands of its creator until it rots
away (loses 1 pt. from all physical attributes every week).
Create Zombie (Awakenings, pg.
130)
When cast on a specially prepared corpse, this Manipulation spell animates
it as a corps cadavre. The caster of the spell can issue simple (less than
20 words) commands to the creature to carry out basic tasks. Corps Cadavres
attack as humanoids.
| Type: Physical Manipulation |
Range: Touch |
| Duration: Permanent (20 turns) |
Drain: [(F/2)+2]S |
| Target: 6 |
Corps Cadavre
no accepted taxonomy
(as seen in Paranormal Animals of Europe, pg. 30)
| Body |
# |
| Quickness |
1*2 |
| Strength |
# |
| Charisma |
0 |
| Intelligence |
1 |
| Willpower |
6 |
| Essence |
0 |
| Reaction |
1 |
| Initiative |
1+1d6 |
Attacks-Humanoid
Powers: Immunity to Pathogens, Immunity to Poisons, Immunity
to all mana spells and similar powers empathy, hypnotic song, illusion,
and so on.
Weakness: Allergy(Sunlight, Severe)
Notes: Attributes marked with a "#" remain those of
the original owner of the body (elf, dwarf, human and so on), minus 1 rating
point to a minimum of 1. Target modifiers for wounds suffered by the Corps
do not accumulate, however, a deadly wound will render the corps cadaver
unable to function. It should also be noted that all bioware/cyberware
present on the corps that requires a nervous system to operate ceases
to function. This includes all forms of wired reflexes, cyberspurs,
organ-related bioware, and so forth. Modifications like bone lacing and
dermal armor still function, though.
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