PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

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Koneko
 

PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:50 pm

My last two PS characters having some degree of skill in the Necromantic arts, I took a certain interest in making a fairly standardized listing of a few of the vast variety of Necromancy spells. Suggestions, additions, constructive criticism, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also, some abilities that've been used by PS Necromancers in the past (mainly villains, so they'd have to be toned down) I would be grateful for.

Some spells that I've developed as of now:

[Necromancy=1] Deanimate (5 MP) - instantly destroys an undead minion created by the caster. Restricted to the unintelligent variety.

[Necromancy=2] Spirit Shield (16 MP) - Forms a protective spectral shield that is guided by the caster. Adds 4 to MBlock and PA, but only against one attack (magical or otherwise) per round. Lasts 1dRank rounds.

[Necromancy=3] Bone Armor (30 MP) - Provides one target, which may be the caster, with an intricate, custom-made suit of armor of interlocking bones, with an AC of 20+Rank and -1/-1 modifiers. Requires a corpse. The armor lasts for one day, until hit with a holy spell, or until otherwise dispelled. At Necromancy rank 8, the caster may maintain the armor for 10 MP/Day, but it cannot be taken off unless dispelled.

[Necromancy=4] Fester (10 MP) - Causes wounds to become diseased. Inflicts the equivalent of Level 1 poison for light cuts, Level 2 poison for medium wounds, and Level 3 poison for heavy wounds. (GM Discretion) This only applies to open physical wounds, however, as a target nearly dead of magical attack and having taken a few scratches would be inflicted with Level 1 poison. Treat the poision damage as physical damage, though multiple Festers do not stack. If Graft is used on a target inflicted with Fester, the typical result is Level 3 Poison-equivalent Fester damage due to grafting diseased materials.

[Necromancy=5] Graft (12 MP) - Uses the tissue of a dead living creature to seal wounds, infuse blood, and renew energies. Heals 20+rank*4+2d6 damage to a corporeal target, including undead. Depending on the size of the body, a creature may be used more than once, but no more than the creature's Max HP can be Grafted from its corpse.

[Necromancy=6] Skeletal Warrior (25 MP) Creates a basic humanoid skeletal fighter with an MBlock of 10, 70 HP, 11/11 Base AT/PA, 6+2d6 Initiative, a move of 6 hexes, 12 AC, and have 1+(Necromancy/2) ranks in most simple weapon types, with a penalty for the more exotic ones (GM Discretion). They have no skill in Unarmed Combat. Ranks are distributed evenly between AT and PA, with a preference to AT. They strike with a STR of +3, and may use all basic attacks. Requires 1 medium-sized corpse. Takes three rounds to cast when in combat, and lasts Rank/2 hours, which may be extended as a free action for another Rank/2 hours at the same cost. At Necromancy rank 12, the caster may make this permanent, but at a cost of 70 MP and 5 TP.

[Necromancy=7] Skeletal Mage (40 MP) - Creates a basic humanoid skeletal magic-user. If the body from which it was raised has an elemental affinity (aside from holy), the mage now has that particular element type. Otherwise, roll a d6 for element type upon its creation: 1,2 are shadow, 3 is fire, 4 is ice, 5 is lightning, and 6 is astral. The mages gain an additional 50% resistance to their particular element type, as well has having an MAtk of 16, MBlock of 12, 45 HP, 60 MP, 6/7 AT/PA, 3+2d6 Initiative, a move of 4 hexes, 6 AC, and are assumed to have 1+(Necromancy/2) ranks in their element, having all the basic offensive spells that a normal mage with such skill would have, such as Negatis, Shadowblast, etc. They also have an unarmed attack which deals 2+1d6 damage. Requires 1 medium-sized corpse. Takes three rounds to cast when in combat, and lasts Rank/2 hours, and may be extended by another Rank/2 hours as a free action with the usual cost. At rank 12, the caster may make this permanent at a cost of 90 MP and 8 TP.

[Necromancy=8] Reanimate (27 MP) - Reanimates a freshly dead enemy as a zombie to fight for the caster for rank rounds (may be renewed as a free action for the same cost as the initial casting), with 50% of its original max HP. The zombie obeys the caster's commands with about the intelligence of a golem, retains all stats but INT and WIS, is immune to shadow damage and weak against holy, and may only move and use basic attacks. At rank 12, the caster may make this permanent, at a cost of 75 MP and 4 TP. Cannot learn abilities.

[Necromancy=8] Gift Minion (15x MP) - grants to a minion of the caster's a particular spell or ability that the caster has. It must be able to use said ability (for instance, Skeletal Warriors and Packdragons, being magically inept, cannot be granted the Drain spell, whereas shadow-based Skeletal Mages and Skeletal Champions can). X is the rank requirement for the spell or skill. Ability granting is permanent until the minion dies. Cannot be used in combat.

[Necromancy=10] Packdragon (55 MP) - Creates a large undead dragon to do the caster's bidding, mostly for transportation purposes. The dragon is capable of flight and may carry up to Necromancy*70 kg of weight. If in dire straits, it may fight, and has an AT/PA of 8/8, an MBlock of 14, a Move of 6 hexes, an Initiative of 4+2d6, 50 Max HP, 8 Max TP, and an AC of 18. It can has a claw attack which deals 28+2d4 damage, and can "cover" a single target for a cost of 2 TP/Round. Requires at least 3 medium or 1 large corpse to cast. Takes five rounds to cast when in combat, and lasts Rank/2 hours, which may be extended as a free action at the same cost as the intitial casting. At rank 12, the caster may make this permanent, but at a cost of 135 MP and 14 TP.

[Necromancy=14, Malediction=12] Zombify (55 MP) - inflicts the status effect "zombie" on a single target. Target is not controlled by the caster, but attacks comrades and enemies alike. Takes 3 rounds, during which the target is prone, and if broken from the spell (such as by a purify spell), no effect or damage is taken.

[Necromancy=18] Skeletal Champion (70 MP) - Creates a powerful humanoid warrior and spellcaster with 90 HP, 60 MP, a Move of 8 Hexes, 6+2d6 Initiative, 15/15 Base AT/PA, an MBlock of 21, a MAtk of 16, and 18 AC. All rules for weapons and spells that applied to Skeletal Warrior and Skeletal Mage apply here, respectively, but does have ranks in Unarmed Combat, and a STR of +6. Requires 1 medium-sized corpse. Takes seven rounds to cast when in combat, and lasts Rank/2 hours, which may be extended as a free action for the same cost as the initial casting. Alternatively, the caster may make this permanent at a cost of 200 MP and 20 TP.

[Necromancy=22] Animate (85 MP) - Reanimates a freshly dead enemy as a zombie to fight for the caster, with full HP. The zombie obeys the caster's commands with about the intelligence of a golem, retains all stats but INT and WIS, is undead, and may only move and use basic attacks and abilities granted to it by the caster. Lasts Rank/2 hours (may be extended just like all the others), or may be made permanent for a cost of 230 MP and 16 MP.

*All changed* <p>

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=koneko@rpgww60462>Koneko</A] at: 9/25/03 8:39 pm

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Jak Snide
 
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Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Jak Snide » Wed Sep 24, 2003 8:50 pm

Righty. Read the post over, and I've got a few things that need to be changed in my eyes. If any of the other Phil Sys experts want to correct me, feel free to do so.

Bone Armor, for a start, does need material components. Unless you have conjuration skills, bones aren't going to materialise out of thin air. If it's going to last for a day, bump the cost of the spell up to 30, and the required rank up to 3. Creating a full set of armour's a tricky task, and will take a full round in combat. You could also add that, at rank 8, the caster can maintain the armour at a cost of 10MP. It can't be taken off, however, until it's dispelled.

I give you credit for fester, since I like that spell. Looks fine, but you need to note that grafting diseased flesh will cause problems.

As for the undead creation spells, until rank 12 or so, it isn't going to be permanent. Have the spells last rank/2 hours, with permanency available as an option at rank 12 and beyond at the following costs:

Skeletal Warrior: 70MP, 5TP
Skeletal Mage: 90 MP, 8TP
Zombie: 75 MP, 4TP
Packdragon: 125 MP, 12TP
Skeletal Champion: 200 MP, 20TP
Advanced Zombie: 230 MP, 16TP

Hefty costs, but this is for a permanent minion. It'd take a while (and alot of bones and corpses) for a necromancer to build up a force of considerable size, but he could do it.

As for "balance" and control, any PC who walks around with any number of the living dead with him will quickly find themselves an outcast from whatever society they were once in.

Also, allow the caster to extend any of these spells for another rank/2 hours by paying the basic cost again as a free action.

Finally, have Zombify take 3 turns to complete the process, in which time the afflicted target is rendered useless, and probably sprawled out across the floor too. If someone can cure him/her in that period of time, they're saved. If not, they're now a new member of the ranks of the damned.


Biomess
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Biomess » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:40 pm

Yours where cool. I might add a couple:

[Necromancy=6] Control Undead- (15 MP) - Take full control of a Zombie or Skeleton (greater undead, such as liches and vampires, can't be controled by this means), unless they save the resist. Control lasts for rank/2 rounds, at the end of wich you may repay the cost to extend control with no saves from the target.

[Necromancy= 10] Age- (X MP) - Automatically ages the target X years, with all the detrimental effects it may carry.

[Necromancy= 15] Control Greater Undead -(45 MP) As Control Undead but may affect any target. Against Zombies and Skeletons this works as double the skill ranks.

[Necromancy= 7] Become Undead - (15 MP)- Turns the aura of the group temporarily into a negative energy one, making other undeads believe the party is composed of undeads, and as such ignoring them. Lasts for rank/4 hours.

[Necromancy= 2] Preserve body - (2 MP) - Preserves a dead body from any kind of decay mechanisms, indefinitely.

So what do you think Koneko? I might add more if you liked these.
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Koneko
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:46 pm

...funny, that. Control Undead-type spells were going to be the next thing I put down.

I likes it, though Age is typically a Time Magic/Malediction spell, and Preserve Body might fall under the same category, though it's a bit of a toss-up. All in all, though, nice.

Preserve Body might want an upkeep cost, too. A couple of MP per day, per body wouldn't go amiss.

I can tell you two have been talking. *sagenod* <p>

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=koneko@rpgww60462>Koneko</A] at: 9/24/03 9:51 pm

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Jak Snide
 
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Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Jak Snide » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:55 pm

Age doesn't belong in the necromancy school of magic, unless it was rank 24 or the like. Futhermore, the MP cost is way too low. It should be something like 15MP a year, with the maximum aging possible in one go being rank/2 years.

As for become undead, it'd be 15MP for a single target, and 40 MP for all allies within a 10 foot area.

Hike preserve body up to 10MP a month, and you're sorted.


Uncle Pervy
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Uncle Pervy » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:58 pm

Koneko needs to pay more attention to Jak's criticisms :(. <p>------------------
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Biomess
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Biomess » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:13 pm

I was a bit unsure about Age, mainly if it belonged to the Necromancy school or not. Tough I must say when I created it I took into account that it may be ineffective against a lot of targets, such as elves. Then again since I've never had so much as a level 2 char, I couldn't really predict an exact cost. So yes, maybe the price suggested by Jak is right. But I'll say I think should be a least Malediction/Necromancy, since bodily time is more akin to Necromancy skills (like Bone dragons inflicting aging attacks etal.). Besides, I tought It might be ok, since there's usually a lot of overlaping between schools: take for instance the Healing Magic School: It's abilities bleed all over the place. I've seen characters with healing wind (air magic), Healing water (water magic), etc.

On another issue, I believe no one has mentioned the feared Lich attack Drain (it's not the shadow magic drain spell)

[Necromancy= 30, Shadow=30] Drain- (250 MP)- Drains 1d4 levels from target living creature. If that creature's levels drop below 0, it becomes a Shadow

Edit: So I checked, and it turns out Age was already done. I must say the olde version is more powerful than my own. So whatever, ditch the Age and leave the rest.

Preserve body: I tought I'll put it cheap since is not really that useful, I mean is a non-combat skill and all. Maybe instead of 10 a month, 5 a month?

And the Become undead, I'd rather have it just 40 MP and affect the whole party or allies within 10 ft radius.

Drain: I put 1d4, since 2d2 is weirder dice methods (not that it can't be done)
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</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=biomess>Biomess</A] at: 9/24/03 10:33 pm

Koneko
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:16 pm

Pervy: You are a hasty one.

Biomess: Eh... *steps back and lets others handle it* <p>

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=koneko@rpgww60462>Koneko</A] at: 9/24/03 10:55 pm

Biomess
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Biomess » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:29 pm

*slaps forehead*

How could I forget about this!!!!

[Necromancy=15] Corpse explosion- (30 MP)- Causes a corpse to rapidly decay. This is done so fast that the corpse itself explodes in a cloud of toxic gases and bits of bones and flesh, damaging with 60% of the corpse previous HP, within a 20 ft radius.

and this one has a name from somewhere else

[Necromancy= 30 ] Summon Skull- (50 MP) - Summons a spirit that takes the shape of a skull, and attacks a target of the casters choice, and will always hit. When it hits, it causes 5*rank damage. The next skull will damage for 6*rank and so on, as the target's aura and soul weaken.

Someone please correct this one, I really don't know if it's too little or too much damage.

Edit: Ok, correction's to drain duly noted. I will usually post ideas and hope you correct them, because I have no idea of power levels (I tought 100 MP was a lot) <p>---------------------
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</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=biomess>Biomess</A] at: 9/24/03 10:31 pm

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Kelne
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Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Kelne » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:50 pm

My own little contribution.

[Necromancy=6] Raise Spirit (30 MP) With sufficient preparation, a necromancer can summon up the spirits of the freshly dead to answer questions for him. This is not without its perils. Both parties (spirit and necromancer) make an unmodified Wis roll every five minutes. Should the necromancer win, the spirit must answer the questions truthfully. Should he lose, the spirit is free to lie, evade, or depart entirely. Should the necromancer lose critically, he is open to possession.

More advanced necromancers may actually be able to send the spirit out to do their bidding (See the wraith entry under the monster guide). <p>I will not waste time making my enemy's death look like an accident -- I'm not accountable to anyone and my other enemies wouldn't believe it.
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JoshuaDurron
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby JoshuaDurron » Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:32 pm

As an extension of Kelne's note:

[Necromancy = 12] Spirit Barrier (50 MP) With the proper use of a pentogram, and a few other things, it is possible for a necromancer to repel all spirits within 2d6x100 feet of his location, and keep them at that distance for a period of hours equal to his Necromancy skill rank. Note that this will only affect undead such as wraiths, which lack corporeal bodies, or people who are engaged in astral wandering. The barrier may be refreshed at any time (unless it has worn of, or been otherwise dispelled) returning the barrier's length of service to maximum, for 25 MP. <p>

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Koneko
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Thu Sep 25, 2003 4:00 pm

Spiffy. This is generating a just a bit more interest than I had thought it would, actually. o.o

Kelne, a question: what about the wraithy spell Korlan was using in Revenge of the Necromancer?

Other Necromancers that could make good examples that come to mind are Rhone and Akun.

A couple more, these being crafting spells:

[Necromancy=4] Boneshape (15 MP) - Shapes free (that is, not possessed by a living creature) bones into a form desired by the caster, such as a dagger, chains, or a statuette. Difficulty is based on size and complexity of the object, determined by the GM. The crafted bone can be imbued with shadow and death enchantments for 2/3 the cost and difficulty of enchanting.

[Necromancy=7] Carve Flesh (24 MP) - Shapes free flesh into a form desired by the caster. Difficulty is based on the size and complexity of the object, determined by the GM.

[Necromancy=10] Fashion Blood (35 MP) - Shapes free blood into a form desired by the caster, coagulating and hardening it into a crystalline substance. Difficulty is based on the size and complexity of the object, determined by the GM. Items of fashioned blood are considered to be of high quality, and can be imbued with shadow and death enchantments for 1/2 the cost and difficulty of enchanting.


Archmage144
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Archmage144 » Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:40 pm

Levels are not as in D&D, where they get drained all the time by all sorts of random crap--it's a concept that doesn't make much sense to me. Also, most monsters are not measured on a level scale anyway.

Non-combat does not necessarily mean cheap. However, I'd say 10 MP for preserving a corpse for a month is pretty reasonable.

Corpse Explosion's damage is too varied and doesn't really make a whole lot of logical sense. It worked for Diablo II, but the idea of an exploding corpse dealing damage based on how many hits it could take before dying is rather illogical.

A rank 30 is something very, very few people will ever achieve. However, the text of the Summon Skull spell is unclear--does it summon a one-shot entity who attacks and vanishes, or a persistent specter who continues to attack, round after round, and is unblockable? These sorts of things would contribute to its cost.

If the Packdragon is a huge dragon capable of carrying its master around, it probably deals more than 12+1d6 clawing damage--at least triple that. This may warrant an increase in cost. <p>
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</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=archmage144>Archmage144</A]&nbsp; Image at: 9/25/03 5:45 pm

Biomess
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Biomess » Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:56 pm

The idea behind the varied damage of corpse explosion is that an individual with better stamina has more muscles/stronger bones or has better physical attributes in general, that would make up for a better "bomb" , i.e. sharper bone bits, more flesh to decay, etc. However, if it becomes a pain for any GM to calculate, just go ahead and put a fixed number, as I would most likely give too much or to little power.

Summon skull is indeed a one-shot entity. The idea behind it getting stronger every time is that the attack, tough with pshysical effects, affects the spirit and aura

Level draining is only good vs. other players. If it complicates things too much, leave it out.

I believe Packdragon's purpose is mostly tranportation, such as a donkey. But then again, I don't really know what he wanted to create there.

Edit:
I forgot about&#058;

[Necromancy=4] Death knell- (10 MP) - As seen on D&D- You finsish a dying creature (5 HP or less) and gain a temporary boost in HP and MP equal to 1/4 the killed creature's HP, i.e. if you kill a creature with 100 HP you get 25 temporary HP and 25 temporary MP. This temporary bonuses will disappear rank/4 hours later, rounded down. However, any hit or any spell that would deduct from your HP or MP respectively will drain your temporary points first.

[Necromancy= 15] Posession. (100 MP) Your soul leaves your body and you ocuppy the target's body.

Fix these, specially the last one.
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</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=biomess>Biomess</A] at: 9/25/03 6:04 pm

Archmage144
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Archmage144 » Thu Sep 25, 2003 6:03 pm

Level draining doesn't make any logical sense. Honestly, the idea of gaining experience levels is already an abstraction--it's a game mechanic, but it's one that I prefer to ignore if at all possible, referring to their characters by skill abilities and stats rather than levels. Thus, any weakening of characters should be done via ability drain, not "level" drain.

I have no idea what sort of damage an exploding corpse would do, but %-based is a bad idea in general, especially since some GMs have a tendency to fudge HP numbers for the sake of convenience and/or to adjust a fight's difficulty (some monsters have a little more HP than they should, or a little less, whatever). I think if the concept were more interesting (i.e., I hadn't already seen it done in Diablo II, which is, in my eyes, not the greatest source of inspiration for actual roleplaying) I might be able to come up with something, but as it is, I'm not really willing to devote the effort (and it'd be a pain in the ass anyway). <p>
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Koneko
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Thu Sep 25, 2003 8:38 pm

Packdragon's damage has been upped to 28+2d4, and its costs to 55 MP and 135 MP/14 TP.

Oh, and not only that, but only a scant few people (such as myself) keep a record of their characters at every level, and thus level draining becomes a bit implausible, now that I think about it. (Not to mention that keeping sheets for every level when a character becomes higher level becomes a royal pain and a drain on webspace.) <p>

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=koneko@rpgww60462>Koneko</A] at: 9/25/03 8:49 pm

Squintz Altec
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Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Squintz Altec » Fri Sep 26, 2003 2:41 pm

There are a few necromancy spells: Check out Dhargun's sheet on the site for a few.


Koneko
 

Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Koneko » Sat Sep 27, 2003 2:19 pm

Those are kosher? Nifty, I hadn't seen them before. <p>

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>

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Re: PS Necromancy (C&C Appreciated)

Unread postby Squintz Altec » Sat Sep 27, 2003 5:48 pm

They're pretty kosher. I've been using him for a while.


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Kelne
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Answer (Somewhat late)

Unread postby Kelne » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:22 am

That'd be direct control of an existing wraith, and would function as a variation on the 'control undead' spell. <p>I will not waste time making my enemy's death look like an accident -- I'm not accountable to anyone and my other enemies wouldn't believe it.
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