Necromancers cast spells through the exercise of knowledge and will. They prepare spells by study of their spellbooks; each Necromancer has his or her own spellbook containing the magical formulae for each spell the Necromancer has learned. Spellbooks are written in a magical script that can only be read by the one who wrote it, or through the use of the spell read magic. All Necromancers begin play knowing read magic, and it is so ingrained that it can be prepared without a spellbook.
A Necromancer may only prepare spells after resting (i.e. a good night's sleep), and needs one turn per each three spell levels to do so (rounding fractions up). Spells
prepared but not used on a previous day are not lost. For example, a 3rd level Magic-User preparing all three of his or her available spells (two 1st level and one 2nd level) is preparing a total of 4 levels of spells, and thus needs 2 turns (4 divided by 3 and rounded up).
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| BLACK TENTACLES |
RANGE: 100'+10'/LEVEL |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: 1 ROUND/LEVEL |
A field of 10-foot-long rubbery tentacles will spring from the ground. The area is up to 30 by 30 feet, and they will appear from whatever surface is present, including water.
The tentacles will attack any creature in the area with the intent to wrestle them (see the wrestling rules in the Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules). They attack with the caster’s attack bonus and are considered to have a Strength of 18. There are more than enough tentacles to individually attack as many targets as can be present. If the attack succeeds, the target is held immobile and takes 1d6 points of damage each round it is held.
Any creature that is not held by a tentacle may still only move through the affected area at half speed.
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| BESTOW CURSE |
RANGE: 30' |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: INSTANTANEOUS |
This spell allows the caster to place a curse on the subject. A save vs. Spells is allowed to resist. The caster must choose one of the following three effects:
- –4 decrease to an ability score (minimum 1).
- –4 penalty on attack rolls and saves.
- Each round of combat, the target has a 50% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action.
It does not generally bestow the curse to a magic item such as a sword or suit of armor.
The caster may also invent their own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above. The curse thus bestowed cannot be dispelled, but it can be removed with a remove curse spell.
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| CAUSE DISEASE |
RANGE: TOUCH |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: INSTANTANEOUS |
Cause diease causes a living creature touched by the caster to suffer from a debilitating and potentially deadly disease for the next 1d10 days. A successful melee attack roll is required to touch the victim, and no Saving Throw is allowed. The target suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls, Armor Class and Saving Throws. While the victim is sick they cannot benefit from natural healing of damage or Constitution point losses, nor prepare spells or move at running speed. At the end of each day in which an infected character performed any form of exertion (for example by fighting, traveling, working, or doing magical research), the character must roll a saving throw vs. Spells or suffer 1d6 points of damage. Once the spell duration has elapsed the affected character, if still alive, is free of the illness and can start healing damage and recovering lost Constitution points, and can again prepare spells.
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| CORPSE FEAST |
RANGE: 5'/LEVEL |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: INSTANTANEOUS |
This spell heals the caster and nearby active undead beings by draining the last energies from any fresh corpses (no more than an hour old) within the spell range. The corpse must have been a living sentient being (i.e. not animal, undead, construct, elemental, etc). Any corpse drained using this spell provides vigor to the caster and their active undead allies within range, healing 1d4 hit points per corpse, up to their maximum. Slain or destroyed undead do not heal or rise anew. Any corpses consumed by this spell cannot be raised or resurrected by any means, even a wish.
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| ENERVATION |
RANGE: 50' |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: INSTANTANEOUS |
The caster points a finger at their intended target and rolls a ranged attack roll against the target that ignores armor (but not any Dexterity bonus). If the narrow ray of crackling black energy hits, the target suffers 1d4 negative levels and all of the effects described in Energy Drain in the Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rules. There is no saving throw, only the attack roll.
If the target survives, it will lose the negative levels (i.e. regain their levels) after a number of hours equal to the caster’s level.
An undead creature struck by the ray gains 5d4 temporary hit points for one hour.
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| GRAVE SANCTUARY |
RANGE: TOUCH |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: 1 TURN/LEVEL |
Similar to the Druid spell tree sanctuary, this spell enables the caster to create an invisible entry into a grave, mausoleum, sarcophagus, large tombstone, or similar item associated with the repose of the dead. The entry is visible to undead and other Necromancers, but this does not grant any special access to the doorway. Once the spell is complete, the Necromancer may enter the space, effectively disappearing from sight. Only one grave may be effected by grave sanctuary at a time.
The Necromancer is completely aware of their surroundings while in the grave, gaining the bonus of 360-degree vision and hearing, as well as being able to detect changes in the immediate temperature surrounding the site. Another benefit of this spell is that each turn the Necromancer rests inside the grave counts as a full hour of sleep, so the Necromancer may meditate to memorize spells while within the magical sanctuary. Also, if the grave site is on unhallowed ground or an area otherwise associated with hauntings and the like, then the Necromancer heals 1d4 HP per turn spent inside the grave.
While inside the grave, the Necromancer does lose any sense of taste, smell, or touch, and may not speak or otherwise cast spells while inside the grave's protection. If the grave itself is unearthed or broken into in some way, then the Necromancer takes 2d10 points of damage and is cast out into the nearest available space. This kind of undertaking should be roughly equivalent to actually digging a grave up, and not simply an attack against the earth.
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| GREATER FEAR |
RANGE: 30' |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: 1 ROUND/LEVEL |
This spell sends an invisible wave of fear out forward of the caster to a range of 30 feet. Anyone in the area must save vs. Spells or be panicked. A panicked creature will drop whatever it is holding and flee using any means necessary. If cornered, the creature will cower in fear. The victim will also suffer a -2 to all saving throws. The creature will do this for the duration of the spell. If a save is made, the victim is still shaken and suffers -2 to attack rolls and saving throws for 1 round.
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| PROTECTION FROM GOOD 10' RADIUS |
RANGE: TOUCH |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: 1 TURN/LEVEL |
This spell functions exactly as protection from good, but with a 10' radius rather than a 1' radius. All within the radius receive the protection; those who leave and then re-enter, or who enter after the spell is cast, receive the protection as well.
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| RE-ANIMATION |
RANGE: TOUCH |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: SPECIAL |
This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the caster's spoken commands. They remain animated until they are destroyed. The Necromancer may animate a number of hit dice of undead equal to three times their caster level, and no more. Animated skeletons have hit dice equal to the number the creature had in life; for skeletons of humans or demi-humans, this means one hit die, regardless of the character level of the deceased. Zombies have one more hit die than the creature had in life. An animated skeleton can be created only from a mostly-intact skeleton; a zombie can be created only from a mostly-intact corpse. The caster must touch the remains to be animated. The caster may control no more hit dice of undead than 6 times their level.
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| ROT FLESH |
RANGE: TOUCH |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: INSTANTANEOUS |
This spell works exactly like the decay flesh spell, save that it deals 2d6 points of damage plus 1 point per caster level to the creature affected by it. The caster must make a successful attack to inflict the damage. A missed attack roll does not dispel the effect, as it can be active until used or a number of rounds equal to the caster's level have passed.
Just like the lower level decay flesh spell, this spell may not be reversed, and similarly, this spell works upon undead creatures in the opposite fashion; they are healed for 2d6 points plus 1 point per caster level worth of damage instead.
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| WALL OF BONES |
RANGE: 10'/LEVEL |
| NECROMANCER 4 |
DURATION: 1 ROUND/LEVEL |
An immobile wall of writhing interlocking bone and bone fragments rises from the earth. The wall is composed of up to one 10- x 10-foot square section, 1 foot thick, per caster level. Unlike the similar spell, wall of stone, the caster may not double the wall’s area by halving its thickness, as the structure is already very porous and would lose its structural integrity, but of course the wall can be made thicker. For instance, a 10th-level caster could conjure a section to fill in a 10-foot cube (10 feet x 10 feet x 1 foot, 10 sections thick). The wall cannot be conjured so that it occupies the same space as a creature or another object. The wall does not require concentration to maintain, but falls to pieces at the end of the spell duration.
The spell also differs from the wall of stone spell in that the semi-animated wall attacks those within close proximity to its structure (10 feet) for 2d4 points of piercing and slashing damage from the bones. The structure is not completely solid, so high-strength individuals may attempt to break through with a Strength check, but they take an additional 2d6+1/level points of damage while making the attempt for each 1 foot of thickness that they attempt to move through. A separate Strength check is necessary for each 1 foot of thickness of the wall section in order to break through. The bone wall does not attack the caster or any undead creatures. The wall of bones may be fashioned into simple structures such as ramps or bridges to span a rift, but these uses reduce the size by half so that supporting arches or buttresses can be included.
