Welcome to Gaia! ::

READ THIS FIRST!
First, I created this class on the assumption that necromancers can be good guys. Please take this into account when giving feedback.
I am trying to make a necromancer base class to call my own. If this class is too similar to existing classes, such as the pale master, please tell me what elements are too uninspired and offer suggestions as to how this one can stand out. I've got several different versions trotted out in the hope that one of them has the potential to be balanced and thematically viable. The second two versions are in a separate post for length reasons.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to critique this.


NECROMANCER

Adventures: Like most, necromancers go on adventures to acquire treasure, discover arcane secrets, and develop their specific skills. Unlike most adventurers, they have the added motive/goal of acquiring "raw materials" for new undead. This is a serious benefit as there are few situations were one can routinely reanimate powerful creatures without getting armed mobs on your tail. Standard graveyard stock is of little value to a competent or ambitious necromancer, and wandering monsters rarely have nearby relatives to offend.

Characteristics: Necromancers are versed in the art of arcane magic. They have a far stronger specialization in necromancy than even the specialist wizards of the same name, and with a particularly strong focus in the magics that animate the undead.
What makes a necromancer different from any other weaver of magic is that they do not use and value magic for its own sake. Their primary concern is undead. Every necromancer has at least some undead under their control, and this theme pervades every iota of their power. A necromancer has undead minions, an undead familiar, and often becomes undead herself.
Alignment: Contrary to popular opinion, necromancers do not have a strong tendency towards chaotic evil. Granted, reanimating corpses is taboo or illegal in most cultures, but Necromancers would point out that many other cultures take a dim view of killing sentient creatures for a living Necromancers go on to point out that it’s a bit hypocritical for their fellow adventurers to complain about lack of respect for the dead when their main source of income is rifling through the pockets of their enemy’s still-warm body.

Religion: Even the most altruistic necromancers tend to find themselves dogmatically at odds with most religious orders. Evil necromancers in turn find themselves in a theological pickle, as most death gods disapprove of mortals encroaching on their territory and manipulating life and death directly. Chaotic necromancers usually worship Intayna. Lawful Necromancers sometimes worship Wee Jas, although this worship largely consists of saying “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” a lot.

Background: Necromancers come from all sorts of places, and odds are they left them quickly with a few dozen torches and pitchforks behind them.
There are several different ways a person becomes a necromancer. The first and rarest is “The Gift”. Some people have an inborn talent for necromantic arts, and learn to control and standardize this power. The beginning symptoms occur much like those of a sorcerer, although with a greater resemblance to a true haunting. With a little training and practice their control shifts to a conscious level indistinguishable from that of wizards.
Second are necromancers with “The Calling”. Unlike the gift, this occurs at virtually any point in life, though it seems to come out more often in the later stages of childhood or during a midlife crisis. People with The Calling have a series of recurring dreams involving some deeply personal symbol of life and/or death and begin seeking out the tomes and teachers of this forbidden art.
Finally, the most common are simply those with an interest in the arcane magics of life and death. These may be people with an obsession with a lost love, a lust for immortality, or an insatiable hunger for ultimate power. More often however, they are just introverted and mildly eccentric people with a rebellious streak or an unusual ethical view.

Races: The iconic practitioners of necromancy are the sarli. Humans have an eye for necromancy because of their comparatively short lifespans and their natural inclination to go against the norm, and perhaps to overcompensate for their lack of special powers. Half-orcs occasionally become necromancers despite their lack of ability for the task, on the premise that if your going to be a reviled social outcast you might as well go the whole nine yards. The practice of necromancy comes naturally to sentient undead of course.
Because of their long lifespans and loathing for “perverse” arcane, Elves and dwarves rarely practice necromancy.

Other Classes: Just like in every other situation, necromancers tend to be the proverbial “black sheep” in an adventuring party. They get along poorly with paladins and clerics because of the public opinion and common dogma regarding undead, and druids resent their perversion of nature. At least, that’s their view. Most necromancers hold the belief that divine spellcasters secretly despise them for encroaching on their territory, and that the average paladin needs a team of strong orcs to remove the pole jammed up their seat.
Although they draw the ire of divine casters in particular, necromancers have a tendency to make just about anybody else uncomfortable. Rogues can sometimes get along with necromancers, because they appreciate the troubles of a less-than-positive reputation and skills that are frowned upon by society, possess a general chaotic leaning and understanding the practical and aesthetic value of black clothing. Sorcerers generally know the pains of being shunned by home and family. Wizards tend to look down on their single-minded focus as eccentric. Necromancers connect best with other necromancers, exchanging tricks of the trade and lending a sympathetic ear to those problems that only necromancers suffer, but rarely is more than one necromancer found in the same party.


GAME RULE INFORMATION

Necromancers have the following Game statistics.

Abilities: Necromancers use intelligence to determine their spell’s save dc, bonus spells, and the maximum level of spell they can cast. Constitution is important to a necromancer to provide bonus hit points and compensate for weak fortitude saves, and because they must sometimes sacrifice some of their own life force for their more powerful magics. High charisma is valuable to a necromancer for rebuking/controlling undead and explaining her unique philosophical position to the town guard/paladin/angry mob.

Alignment: Necromancers can be of any alignment.

Hit Die: d4

Base Attack Bonus: necromancers have a base attack bonus equal to ½ their level.

Saves: necromancers have good will saves and poor fortitude and reflex saves.

Class Skills
Knowledge(arcana), knowledge(religion), intimidate(cha), spellcraft(int), concentration(con), knowledge(the planes), heal(wis), sense motive(wis), move silently(dex), hide(dex), alchemy(int), diplomacy(cha), and intimidate.

Class Features

Armor and Weapon Proficiency: necromancers are proficient with light armor and all kinds of flails, maces, scythes, and axes. They are proficient with all simple weapons.

Spiritual Familiar: necromancers have their own familiar list. Necromancers have a stronger connection to their familiars, which are more like a displaced portion of their souls than a mere magical servant.
Necromancers can absorb their familiars, a process which consists of holding it close as it dissolves into glowing light and enters the body through their eyes. This is a full-round action and a supernatural ability. They can summon the familiar again as a full-round action by slowly “breathing” it out of them. The familiar is melded into the necromancer’s being when absorbed, mind fused to mind, body dissolved, and has no presence beyond a soft commentary in the necromancer’s internal monologue (granting the benefits of slippery mind). The familiar ceases to exist if the necromancer dies. The necromancer suffers the normal loss for a familiar dying, plus 1d6 points of charisma damage do to the spiritual rending.

Spells: Necromancers cast arcane spells. They receive spells per day at the same rate as a wizard, but all of their bonus spells must be necromancies. Necromancers can spontaneously cast undeath spells as inflict spells of equal level, but only to heal undead, not for offensive purposes.

Necromancer’s Spellbook: to a wizard and a necromancer, the word “spellbook” means something almost entirely different. I wizard’s spellbook is simply a class tool. A necromancer’s spellbook on the other hand is a specialized magical item more than capable of fending for itself. First of all, if anyone other than the necromancer so much as touches the book, they are subjected to a specific known touch spell chosen beforehand by the necromancer (this effect is defensive in nature, so it can’t be triggered by throwing the book at somebody). The book is bound with a seal that has some common command word or clue to its working hidden in plain sight; this seal takes a knowledge(arcana) or spellcraft check dc:12+the necromancer’s class level to open. The necromancer always knows when her book is being opened.
Necromancers still use spellbooks for their normal purposes. They write all spells in it, except for read magic, prestidigitation, and ghostly manifestation, which all necromancers know by heart and can memorize without their spellbook. In addition, they have spells carved into their flesh or engraved on their undead creatures equal to their intelligence bonus plus one, as if they had the spell mastery feat.

Undead Minions: A necromancer controls a total number of undead equal to 6 hit dice per caster level instead of the usual 4 hit dice.


Undead Subsumption: when a necromancer creates an undead through a spell, he/she may choose to “subsume” any number of non-sentient undead they control into the creation. Subsumption transforms the undead into a shadowy quasi-corporeal black goo (if it is a zombie/fleshy undead) or a dry white smoke (if it is a skeleton/fleshless undead), which is siphoned into the undead creature being created. The total hit dice of the undead subsumed are added to the racial hit dice of the undead creature created, and the cost of material components (if any) is reduced by 25gp per hit die of undead subsumed.
This is a supernatural ability.


Rebuke/Control Undead: At third level, a necromancer can rebuke/control undead as an evil cleric two levels lower. Unlike clerics, this supernatural ability comes from a direct manifestation of negative energy and necromantic forces rather than a conduit of divine will. A necromancer’s rebuke/control ability requires no divine focus and is not inherently evil or good.


Rise from the Grave: A slain necromancer has a % chance equal to their charisma score plus their necromancer level of rising as a Reanimated Walker in 1d4 nights. This can be prevented by a formal burial on consecrated or desecrated ground, or by destroying the body (cremation or chopping the body into small peices and burying each piece in a different place are traditional methods). Casting Protection From Evil on the body will not prevent the corpse from rising as an undead, but necromancers like to encourage the rumor that it will.
A necromancer does not experience any level loss when rising from the grave of her own volition. Returning from the beyond the veil isn't nearly as traumatizing when you make a pit-stop along the way.

Certain Undeath: At 20th level, a slain necromancer is guarenteed to rise as a Reanimated Walker come nightfall. Even total bodily dismemberment or non-magical cremation will not prevent them from rising out of the grave. Only burial on hallow or unhallowed ground, with a white rose or silver holy symbol laid over the grave, or a Cremate spell, or a spell that specifically prevents undead from rising, can prevent the necromancer's dramatic reappearance.

Necromantic Feats: at several levels, a necromancer can pick from a list of bonus feats that are available exclusively to necromancers. Some of these feats are general bits of magical enhancement or necromancer oddity. Unprovement feats automatically enhance undead created by the necromancer. These feats will be posted in another post.

THE NECROMANCER




Necromancer Familiar List


Advanced Famliars: At fourth level, a necromancer may summon a more powerful familiar, although its special familiar powers advance at a rate two levels lower. If the necromacer's former familiar died, they may raise them as an Advanced version of the same species.



NECROMANCER SPELLS

Note: This spell list involves a number of changes relevant to the Necromancer class. New spells have been included, and some old spells have been moved to a different school or altered slightly within the framework of the class. Fear spells are enchantments, and healing spells are necromancies, not conjurations. Spells that have been moved to a different school are marked with an asterisk. Core spells with minor changes have a note after the name describing the alteration.

0-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS (Palls Open to better name)
Necromancy
Disrupt Undead Deals 1d6 damage to one undead
Ghostly Manifestations Mimicks a minor haunting
Touch of Fatigue
Minor Knit Bones
Minor Fleshweave
Minor Regrowth
Reanimations
Create Ghost Skull Ghost skull from severed head or skull
Minor Animate Dead Tiny skeletons or zombie
Windowpane Dust Temporary swarm of dead insects
Animate Arthropod Animates an exoskeleton
Other
Ray of Frost ray deals 1d3 cold damage
Read Magic Read scrolls and spellbooks
Detect Magic* (Universal spell)
prestidigitation performs minor tricks
Ghost sound
dancing lights
Resistance
Mage hand

1st-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Chill touch
Cremate See spell name
Deathwatch No evil subtype
Ray of enfeeblement
Flesh Graft semi-animate tissue graft grants bonuses
Control Lesser Undead minor undead creature obeys you
Light Knit Bones converts sonic and bludgeoning damage to subdual
Light Fleshweave converts piercing and slashing to subdual
Light Regrowth Restores lost tissue, converting certain damages to subdual
Ease Pain reduces pain effects and heals some subdual
Rainbow of Weakness colored beams deal ability damage
Reaper’s Raincheck increase target’s lifespan by one day
Reanimations
Lesser Animate Dead: creates up to 2HD worth of skeletons or zombies, plus 1HD per 3 levels.
Dark Scabbing creates several crimson clots
Animate Portion creates different undead depending on the body part targeted
Deadfire temporarily animates burning undead
Other
Magic Weapon
Feather Fall
Invisibility to Undead
Detect Undead
Identify
Protection from Evil/Chaos/Good/Law
Cause Fear*
Vitality Glamer Undead appears living or living person appears undead

2nd-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Ghoul Touch
Bull Strength*
Endurance*
Life Transfusion you transfer a spark of life essence to heal the target
Gentle Repose
Grimfield Spell similar to Desecrate
Reanimations
Mind over Meat: temporarily control dead body
Socket’s Glow
Great Skeleton
Other
Gravebind illusionary undead grab opponent, deal subdual damage
Scare*
Darkness
Continual Flame
Daylight



3rd-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Blindness/Deafness*
Contagion
Gentle Repose
Halt Undead
Vampiric Touch
Remove Blindness/Deafness
Remove Disease
Speak with Dead
Reanimations
Animate Dead This spell has the (Undeath) descriptor instead of the [Evil] descriptor
Chill of the Grave
Dreadfield
Pyrewalker
Other
Deeper Darkness
Dispel Magic
Gaseous Form
Greater Magic Weapon
Magic Circle Against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law
Negative Energy Protection


4th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Death Ward
Enervation Creatures slain by these negative levels do not rise as wights
Neutralize Poison
Open Ressurection: restores a person to life with possibility of horrible failures
Poison
Reanimations
Deathchill Maelstrom deals cold and negative energy damage, creatures slain become ethreen
Dreadful Sickness Target falls ill and rises as a zombie
Skeleton Warrior: Skeleton retains certain class levels, gets mild sentience
The Dead Talk Back
Vessel of Flesh
Other
Edvard’s Black Tentacles
Fire Shield
Fear
Fly
Water Breathing

5th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Circle of Doom
Commune with Dead Achieves true communication with dead spirits
Slay Living
Blight
Magic Jar
Reanimations
Raise as Undead Subject is raised as an undead creature with mind and soul intact
Sigil of Undeath Creates chance that creature will rise as undead when slain
Unspoken Animation Raises skeletons and zombies without components
Other
Ethereal Jaunt
Plane Shift
True Seeing
Contact other Plane (outer planes and positive and negative energy planes only)

6th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Control Undead
Finger of Death
Undeath to Death
Reanimations
Create Undead
Bind Body and Spirit As Reanimate Dead, but the subject is under your control.
Cone of Death cone kills lesser creatures, deals damage, and creates undead
Other
Stone to Flesh
Flesh to Stone
Baleful Polymorph
Shadow Walk
Bear’s Endurance, mass
Bull’s Strength, mass

7th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Restore Life Willing sentient undead is restored to true life
Reanimations
Other
Plane Shift
Spell Turning* (change to universal spell)

8th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Clone
Horrid Wilting
Symbol of Death
Reanimations
Create Greater Undead
Reanimative Virus Target falls ill and rises as a Reanimated creature
Other
Antipathy (Necromancer version, cannot choose fey, outsider, elemental, or construct as creature type)
Sympathy(cannot choose fey, outsider, elemental, or construct as creature type)
Limited Wish

9th-LEVEL NECROMANCER SPELLS
Necromancy
Wail of the Banshee
Astral Projection
Energy Drain
Power Word Kill*
Rejuvinate as restore life, but works on any undead creature
Reanimations
Dread of the Wyrm: animates a deceased dragon, retains breath weapon and frightful presence
Other
Etherealness

Other versions and links to spells and creatures in next post.

So listen. I play JUST enough DnD to GM every once in a while. So, while I think you've put together an imaginative array of necromantic elements missing from DnD in general, I don't feel terribly confidant giving you advice on how to balance them.

It's always bothered me that necromancy is so poorly handled. First of all, why should clerics be able to command more undead than arcanists? That doesn't make sense to me. It seems to me that necromancy-specialized wizards should at least get a bonus to the number of hit dice of undead they can control. Give an equally nice thing to each of the other schools and it'd work out fine, balance-wise.

Some of those ability names made me laugh out loud. Tom Waits and Michael Jackson.

I think maybe removing the "partial actions only" limitation from zombies might overpower them, since they have twice as much HP for their challenge rating. Maybe if the zombies instead could themselves perform a dance check as a free action once per turn, gaining a full-action for the turn on a success and falling prone on a failure?

"There's a world going on underground" is a Waits lyric from his song "Underground."



Tom Waits does superb work, especially in the realm of ultracreepy music.