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Necromancer
About this class
Necromancers are mages who wield power over life and death itself. They can mend flesh and bone, wither foes with corrupting magic, and reanimate the dead to serve their will. Feared and misunderstood, necromancers are often outlawed in civilized lands and many of them conceal their craft or retreat to the fringes of society to avoid scrutiny.
Their motivations vary – some seek forbidden knowledge buried with the dead, others crave an army of obedient undead. Regardless of their goals, necromancers share a common creed—no truth is too dark, no magic too profane. To them, death is not an end, but a doorway to ultimate understanding.
Domains
Splendor
Starting stats
Hope feature
Class features
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Attuned to Death
You can sense the presence of corpses and undead creatures within Close range. You can "find a corpse" as a bonus downtime move.
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Undead Servant
Make a Spellcast Roll (13) on a mostly intact corpse within Close range. On a success, mark a Stress to turn the corpse into an undead creature under your control. The Undead Servant has no will of its own, only understands simple instructions, and cannot communicate but obeys all your commands to the best of its ability. You can only have one Undead Servant at a time. The Servant lasts until it is destroyed or you may dismiss it at any time. In both cases it crumbles to dust and you need a new corpse to create a new Servant. When you level up your character, choose a level-up option for your Undead Servant as well. These improvements apply to all Undead Servants you raise. You cannot use an undead adversary to create an Undead Servant.
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Creating Your Undead Servant
Step 1: Describe your Servant.
What corpse did you use to raise it? What does it look like now? Is it more like a zombie or skeleton or maybe a ghoul or something else entirely? Give it a name and sketch a picture of it, if you wish, but don't get too attached.
Step 2: Fill in their Evasion.
At level 1, Undead Servants start with 10 Evasion. Write this on your sheet.
Step 3: Determine their Experiences.
You Undead Servant will have two Experiences, each at a +2 bonus. The first is shared by all the Servants you raise and should reflect your character's distinct brand of necromancy. The second is unique to each Servant and should reflect the type of corpse used to create it.
Step 4: Pick their attack and write their damage die.
Describe how your Servant deals damage and record it on your sheet. At level 1, your Servant has a d6 damage die and their range is Melee. -
Using Your Undead Servant
Spellcast Rolls, Hope, and Experience:
Make a Spellcast roll to command your Undead Servant to take action. Spend a Hope to add a relevant Servant Experience to the roll. On a success with Hope, you gain advantage on your next action roll if it builds on their success.
Movement and Attacking with your Undead Servant:
Your Servant can move within its Close range as part of its action. Use a Spellcast roll to command it to move further. To make an attack with your Undead Servant, make a Spellcast roll against the target's Difficulty. On a successful attack, the Undead Servant uses your Proficiency and their damage die. If it needs to make a reaction roll, use your Spellcast trait.
Damage and Stress:
Undead Servants have Hit Points and are unable to mark Stress. Any time it would mark a Stress, it marks a Hit Point instead. Once it marks its last Hit Point, it is destroyed utterly and does not receive a death move. Its damage thresholds are as follows
Major=your character level plus your Knowledge
Severe=double its Major threshold plus your tier
At level one, it has 3 Hit Points. Undead Servants cannot clear marked Hit Points by any method. -
Leveling Up Your Undead Servant
When you level up your character, choose one available option for your Undead Servant from the list below and mark it on your sheet:
-Skilled: your Servant gets a +1 bonus to one of their Experiences.(Choose up to 3 times)
-Commune with the Dead: once per rest, during a quiet moment you can use your Undead Servant as a conduit to commune with dead spirits. You may gain a Hope or clear a Stress. (Choose once)
-Fortified: when your Servant takes damage, you can mark one of your Armor slots to reduce the number of Hit Points it would mark by 1. (Choose once)
-Ferocious: increase your Servant's attack range or damage die by one step. (Choose up to 3 times)
-Tough: your Servant gains an additional Hit Point and its Major damage threshold increases by 1 (which increases its severe threshold by 2). (Choose up to 3 times)
-Die for the Master: when you mark your last Hit Point, you call your Undead Servant to rush over and sacrifice itself to save you. Roll a number of d6s equal to the unmarked Hit Points it has and mark them. If any roll a 6, your Servant takes the hit for you. Clear your last Hit Point and return to the scene. If you have multiple Servants, only one can use this ability. (Choose once)
-Quick: your Undead Servant gains a +2 bonus to their Evasion. (Choose up to 3 times)
Class items
- A bone talisman or a tome of rituals you are trying to decipher.
Character questions
Background prompts
- How did you discover that you can raise the dead? Who was the first corpse you raised?
- What knowledge are you seeking that you are sure the dead can reveal to you?
- What steps have you taken to hide your activities? What have you had to do to avoid or silence onlookers?
Connection prompts
- Why do you trust me, knowing what I can do?
- What question do you have for someone who has died that I promised I would help you find the answer to?
- What skill are you helping me improve on?
Subclass cards
Printable via header menu
Death Diviner
Foundation
SPELLCAST TRAIT: Knowledge
Speak with the Dead: Your Undead Servant can communicate with you. You can ask it a number of questions about its former life equal to your Spellcast trait. When you do, make a Spellcast Roll (12) to have it find the answers in its jumbled memories. On a success with Hope, it answers to the best of its knowledge. On a success with Fear, the answer is cryptic or misleading.
Thanatological Scholar: You gain advantage on all rolls to learn about and identify undead creatures. You also gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against undead adversaries.
Death Diviner
Specialization
Summon Specter: When you raise an Undead Servant, mark an additional Stress to raise a ghost instead. You can use a corpse or summon a restless spirit from the area. The Specter can fly and pass through walls and has resistance to physical damage. The Specter has one additional Experience at a +3 bonus, representing who they were in life. It also comes with a Burden - an injustice or unfinished task from its former life. You automatically know this Burden. If you help it complete this task or right this injustice, you gain a Hope. If it is destroyed or dismissed before its Burden is completed, the GM gains a Fear.
Death Diviner
Mastery
Foresight: Your Undead Servant gives you a glimpse into the future then sacrifices itself to change the outcome. You can make any creature within Close range reroll an action or reaction roll after the results have been totaled. After the outcome of the reroll, your Undead Servant is destroyed. You need an active Undead Servant to use this feature.
Expert Reanimator: Choose two additional level-up options for your Undead Servant.
Undead Commander
Foundation
SPELLCAST TRAIT: Knowledge
Cadaver Collector: When you use the "find a corpse" downtime move, you find an amount equal to 1 + your tier.
Undead Horde: You can have an amount of active Undead Servants equal to 1 + your tier. Each Servant must come from a different corpse and you must mark a Stress for each when you raise them. You can use one Spellcast Roll to raise all corpses in Close range, up to your maximum. Spend a Hope to have all your Servants move to and attack an adversary within their Close range. Each Servant must target a different adversary. Make a single Spellcast Roll and deal your Servant's damage to all targets you succeed against.
Undead Commander
Specialization
Meat Shields: You can use the bodies of your Undead Servants to protect you from attacks. You gain a +1 bonus to your Evasion for every Servant within Melee range of you. In addition, when you would mark an armor slot, spend a Hope to mark a Hit Point of an Undead Servant in Melee range of you instead.
Command Undead: Make a Spellcast Roll against an undead adversary within Close range. On a success, the adversary marks a Stress and you can issue a one-word command. On the next GM spotlight, they must spotlight this adversary first and carry out the command.
Undead Commander
Mastery
Golem: Once per long rest, mark 3 Stress to amalgamate all your Servants into a single fearsome monstrosity. You must have your maximum amount of Servants active to use this feature. The Golem functions as an Undead Servant but gains a 1 bonus to its Proficiency and Hit Points, its damage dice and range increase by one step, and it gains resistance to physical and magic damage. It also gains the Experience "Brute" at a +4 bonus. After the scene, if the Golem survives, it separates back into its component Undead Servants. For each Hit Point it marked as a Golem, one Servant is destroyed.
Necromancer
Necromancers are mages who wield power over life and death itself. They can mend flesh and bone, wither foes with corrupting magic, and reanimate the dead to serve their will. Feared and misunderstood, necromancers are often outlawed in civilized lands and many of them conceal their craft or retreat to the fringes of society to avoid scrutiny.
Their motivations vary – some seek forbidden knowledge buried with the dead, others crave an army of obedient undead. Regardless of their goals, necromancers share a common creed—no truth is too dark, no magic too profane. To them, death is not an end, but a doorway to ultimate understanding.
Domains
Splendor + Dread
Starting Evasion
10
Starting Hit Points
6
Class Items
- • A bone talisman or a tome of rituals you are trying to decipher.
Necromancer’s Hope Feature
Bolster Undead : Spend 3 Hope to empower an Undead Servant within Far range. It gains a +1 bonus to its Evasion and damage thresholds and adds a d6 to its damage rolls until either you or the Servant mark any number of Hit Points, or until your next rest. If you do not have an active Undead Servant, mark a Stress to conjure one within Close range. Describe how it enters the scene. This conjured Servant is bolstered.
Class Features
Attuned to Death
You can sense the presence of corpses and undead creatures within Close range. You can "find a corpse" as a bonus downtime move.
Undead Servant
Make a Spellcast Roll (13) on a mostly intact corpse within Close range. On a success, mark a Stress to turn the corpse into an undead creature under your control. The Undead Servant has no will of its own, only understands simple instructions, and cannot communicate but obeys all your commands to the best of its ability. You can only have one Undead Servant at a time. The Servant lasts until it is destroyed or you may dismiss it at any time. In both cases it crumbles to dust and you need a new corpse to create a new Servant. When you level up your character, choose a level-up option for your Undead Servant as well. These improvements apply to all Undead Servants you raise. You cannot use an undead adversary to create an Undead Servant.
Creating Your Undead Servant
Step 1: Describe your Servant. What corpse did you use to raise it? What does it look like now? Is it more like a zombie or skeleton or maybe a ghoul or something else entirely? Give it a name and sketch a picture of it, if you wish, but don't get too attached. Step 2: Fill in their Evasion. At level 1, Undead Servants start with 10 Evasion. Write this on your sheet. Step 3: Determine their Experiences. You Undead Servant will have two Experiences, each at a +2 bonus. The first is shared by all the Servants you raise and should reflect your character's distinct brand of necromancy. The second is unique to each Servant and should reflect the type of corpse used to create it. Step 4: Pick their attack and write their damage die. Describe how your Servant deals damage and record it on your sheet. At level 1, your Servant has a d6 damage die and their range is Melee.
Using Your Undead Servant
Spellcast Rolls, Hope, and Experience: Make a Spellcast roll to command your Undead Servant to take action. Spend a Hope to add a relevant Servant Experience to the roll. On a success with Hope, you gain advantage on your next action roll if it builds on their success. Movement and Attacking with your Undead Servant: Your Servant can move within its Close range as part of its action. Use a Spellcast roll to command it to move further. To make an attack with your Undead Servant, make a Spellcast roll against the target's Difficulty. On a successful attack, the Undead Servant uses your Proficiency and their damage die. If it needs to make a reaction roll, use your Spellcast trait. Damage and Stress: Undead Servants have Hit Points and are unable to mark Stress. Any time it would mark a Stress, it marks a Hit Point instead. Once it marks its last Hit Point, it is destroyed utterly and does not receive a death move. Its damage thresholds are as follows Major=your character level plus your Knowledge Severe=double its Major threshold plus your tier At level one, it has 3 Hit Points. Undead Servants cannot clear marked Hit Points by any method.
Leveling Up Your Undead Servant
When you level up your character, choose one available option for your Undead Servant from the list below and mark it on your sheet: -Skilled: your Servant gets a +1 bonus to one of their Experiences.(Choose up to 3 times) -Commune with the Dead: once per rest, during a quiet moment you can use your Undead Servant as a conduit to commune with dead spirits. You may gain a Hope or clear a Stress. (Choose once) -Fortified: when your Servant takes damage, you can mark one of your Armor slots to reduce the number of Hit Points it would mark by 1. (Choose once) -Ferocious: increase your Servant's attack range or damage die by one step. (Choose up to 3 times) -Tough: your Servant gains an additional Hit Point and its Major damage threshold increases by 1 (which increases its severe threshold by 2). (Choose up to 3 times) -Die for the Master: when you mark your last Hit Point, you call your Undead Servant to rush over and sacrifice itself to save you. Roll a number of d6s equal to the unmarked Hit Points it has and mark them. If any roll a 6, your Servant takes the hit for you. Clear your last Hit Point and return to the scene. If you have multiple Servants, only one can use this ability. (Choose once) -Quick: your Undead Servant gains a +2 bonus to their Evasion. (Choose up to 3 times)
Necromancer Subclasses
Choose either the Death Diviner or Undead Commander subclass.
Death Diviner
Play a Death Diviner if you want to use your connection to the dead to expand your knowledge and predict the future.
Spellcast Trait
Knowledge
Foundation Features
Speak with the Dead: Your Undead Servant can communicate with you. You can ask it a number of questions about its former life equal to your Spellcast trait. When you do, make a Spellcast Roll (12) to have it find the answers in its jumbled memories. On a success with Hope, it answers to the best of its knowledge. On a success with Fear, the answer is cryptic or misleading.
Thanatological Scholar: You gain advantage on all rolls to learn about and identify undead creatures. You also gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against undead adversaries.
Specialization Feature
Summon Specter: When you raise an Undead Servant, mark an additional Stress to raise a ghost instead. You can use a corpse or summon a restless spirit from the area. The Specter can fly and pass through walls and has resistance to physical damage. The Specter has one additional Experience at a +3 bonus, representing who they were in life. It also comes with a Burden - an injustice or unfinished task from its former life. You automatically know this Burden. If you help it complete this task or right this injustice, you gain a Hope. If it is destroyed or dismissed before its Burden is completed, the GM gains a Fear.
Mastery Feature
Foresight: Your Undead Servant gives you a glimpse into the future then sacrifices itself to change the outcome. You can make any creature within Close range reroll an action or reaction roll after the results have been totaled. After the outcome of the reroll, your Undead Servant is destroyed. You need an active Undead Servant to use this feature.
Expert Reanimator: Choose two additional level-up options for your Undead Servant.
Undead Commander
Play an Undead Commander if you want to lead an army of undead minions.
Spellcast Trait
Knowledge
Foundation Features
Cadaver Collector: When you use the "find a corpse" downtime move, you find an amount equal to 1 + your tier.
Undead Horde: You can have an amount of active Undead Servants equal to 1 + your tier. Each Servant must come from a different corpse and you must mark a Stress for each when you raise them. You can use one Spellcast Roll to raise all corpses in Close range, up to your maximum. Spend a Hope to have all your Servants move to and attack an adversary within their Close range. Each Servant must target a different adversary. Make a single Spellcast Roll and deal your Servant's damage to all targets you succeed against.
Specialization Feature
Meat Shields: You can use the bodies of your Undead Servants to protect you from attacks. You gain a +1 bonus to your Evasion for every Servant within Melee range of you. In addition, when you would mark an armor slot, spend a Hope to mark a Hit Point of an Undead Servant in Melee range of you instead.
Command Undead: Make a Spellcast Roll against an undead adversary within Close range. On a success, the adversary marks a Stress and you can issue a one-word command. On the next GM spotlight, they must spotlight this adversary first and carry out the command.
Mastery Feature
Golem: Once per long rest, mark 3 Stress to amalgamate all your Servants into a single fearsome monstrosity. You must have your maximum amount of Servants active to use this feature. The Golem functions as an Undead Servant but gains a 1 bonus to its Proficiency and Hit Points, its damage dice and range increase by one step, and it gains resistance to physical and magic damage. It also gains the Experience "Brute" at a +4 bonus. After the scene, if the Golem survives, it separates back into its component Undead Servants. For each Hit Point it marked as a Golem, one Servant is destroyed.
Background Questions
Answer any of the following, or create your own.
- • How did you discover that you can raise the dead? Who was the first corpse you raised?
- • What knowledge are you seeking that you are sure the dead can reveal to you?
- • What steps have you taken to hide your activities? What have you had to do to avoid or silence onlookers?
Connections
Ask one of the following, or improvise.
- • Why do you trust me, knowing what I can do?
- • What question do you have for someone who has died that I promised I would help you find the answer to?
- • What skill are you helping me improve on?
Discussion
Be thoughtful and kind.
Remember to be respectful. Comments are moderated and should add to the discussion.
