The ruins of Ysawis were cloaked by the jungle when I
rediscovered the broken city walls with my first husband,
Sumulael. That was in the early years of our marriage,
when my devotion to the Forbidden Arts ran strong with
the careless impetuousness of youth. We had been led to
the city by disgruntled spirits, in search of a legendary talisman. Even with our ghostly guides, the ruins of the
vine-choked city were extensive, and the exact location of
our prize eluded us.
At first, when my husband and I beheld the bones of the
city's former citizens, we amused ourselves by raising the
moldering remains to attend us as ghastly servants, skeletal
porters, and shadowy messengers. When the quest for the
talisman yielded nothing immediately, we animated more of
the city's dead to expand the search. Before long, our new
slaves uncovered royal cemeteries where the kings and
queens of Ysawis had been buried for centuries before the
city's disastrous end. I remember quite vividly my delight at
this discovery. With a wave of my hand, I cracked open the
tombs' monolithic stone doors, while Sumulael, cackling
with wicked glee, called forth the city's ancient royalty,
commanding even the oldest of padishahs to stumble forth,
wrapped in their worm-eaten shrouds or burial robes, from
the corrupted depths of the crypts and into our eternal slavery. And while the dead gave up their age-corrupted treasures, none carried my coveted talisman.
Thus Sumulael and I raised up the inhabitants of
Ysawis from their crypts and tombs to serve us. We lived
there like exiled royalty for many years, until my husband's insanity and revolting habits grew intolerable. I
ended up killing the monster, eventually, with the help of
adventurers who had discovered my secluded city in the
wilderness. That is how I met my second husband, Talib.
He was one of the explorers who assisted me in destroying
Sumulael and helped me find my long-sought talisman.
I soon came to love Talib, after a fashion. I taught him all
of my hidden secrets. We were happy together in Ysawis,
rebuilding the city to its former glory. But in the end, that
marriage also failed, for 1 found that you cannot practice the
Art when you are happy, nor advance in its study if you are
content. So I left behind my beloved, to write this book in
solitude and focus my mind on the difficult road ahead.
Come join me on this path of knowledge and self-discovery.
Let us explore the Art of Necromancy together.
-Foreword to Kazerabet's Art of Necromancy
Death is the final arbiter. It claims everyone,
regardless of class or station, fame or notoriety, gentleness or depravity. In some cultures, death is
regarded as the threshold to an elevated spiritual
existence or as the doorway leading to another mortal life in a never-ending cycle of reincarnations
In other societies, death is believed to be the ultimate
ending of awareness, marking complete annihilation
and utter oblivion.
Since ancient times, scholars and priests have
devoted their entire lives to studying, explaining,
and revering the final chapter in human life. For
some individuals, however, death has become an
obsession, a source of magical power, or even an
object of religious adoration. These beings are necromancers, and they are universally feared and loathed
as the purveyors of unremitting evil.
According to popular myth, the necromancer
practices vile and forbidden arts. He is the macabre
sorcerer who roots about in graveyards, searching
out moldering components for his obscene spells.
She is the evil priestess who calls upon restless, tormented spirits of the long-deceased, seeking their
immortal arcana. In their dark and secluded lairs, the
mute undead, the monstrous familiar, and the ravening fiend serve the necromancers in their ghoulish
endeavors. In the literature of fantasy and horror, the
necromancer is usually portrayed as the consummate villain.
Yet there is another side to the necromancer and
the death priest. Consider the compassionate ghost-
hunter who lays tormented undead to rest, or the
dutiful priest of the Dead who helps guide spirits on
their eternal voyage to the netherworld. Necromancers can also have a constructive and positive
role in the campaign.
This book is devoted to exploring both aspects of
necromancers and death priests. We explore their
varied roles as not only villains, but also as healers,
mentors, and patrons. These spellcasters are among
the most complex, versatile, and powerful characters
available in the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®
game. This tome reveals all of their secrets and powers so that you - as the Dungeon Master (DM) - can
bring these master wizards and priests to life for the
players under your care.
How to Use this Book
The Complete Book of Necromancers has been designed
for DMs who wish to create complex and memorable
spellcasting foes for their unique campaigns. The
book is divided into three main sections, each of
which the DM may read separately, in any order. The
chapters within each individual section should be
taken in sequence. They contain introductory material
(such as Kazerabet's foreword) which may be read to
players, serve as inspiration for adventure hooks, or
used in any other way which helps add a further
dimension of realism to the campaign.
The first four chapters are devoted to the necromancer nonplayer character (NPC). Chapter One
discusses the rules for creating a basic wizard necromancer as a separate and independent sub-class,
starting from the basics outlined in the Player's Handbook. It explores five new kits - the Archetype,
Anatomist, Deathslayer, Philosopher, and Undead
Master - each with a different role for the campaign.
Chapter Two extends the powers of a necromancer
by adding dual classes, psionic Wild Talents, and
special powers from the patronage of dark gods. We
also discuss some undead or monstrous variants of
the necromancer to challenge the most powerful (or
foolhardy) groups of adventurers. Chapter Three
discusses some of the harsh sacrifices that necromancers must make if they wish to pursue the Forbidden Arts. In Chapter Four, we greatly expand the
school of Necromancy, discussing both the beneficial
and harmful aspects of the Art.
The next section is devoted to the death priest: the
clerical equivalent of the necromancer, who has been
given far too little attention in the past. Unlike the
wizard, who studies death, the death priest fervently
worships it. These clerics belong to distinct priesthoods, each with unique roles, granted powers,
spells, and goals for the campaign. Chapter Five
explores five of these necromantic priesthoods who
serve the Gods of the Dead, Murder, Pestilence, Suffering, and Undead. Chapter Six expands the necromantic priest sphere, providing many more spells for
the distinctive necromantic priesthoods.
The final section of the book builds the necromancer and death priest into leaders and active participants in the campaign. Chapter Seven fleshes out
a necromancer's entourage with students, henchmen, familiars, and undead minions. Chapter Eight
discusses their primary tools, including deadly poisons, necromantic magical items, and books of forbidden lore. Chapter Nine details the Isle of the
Necromancer Kings, providing the DM with adventure hooks and introductory scenarios for a campaign. This chapter also includes the descriptions of
seven detailed NPCs who can be used as examples
and easily dropped into an existing campaign.
Finally, the Appendices contain tables, indexes, and
a reference list to help the DM gather necromantic
material together from other sources.
Necromancy and the PC
In general, the material presented in this tome is
for the Dungeon Master's eyes only. The necromancer put forward herein is a maverick - he or she
operates by a set of nasty rules that are completely
beyond the realm of most "normal" player characters. These rules must be kept strictly hidden from
the players, even if they are adamant about portraying a necromancer.
The most obvious hindrance for a PC necromancer
is alignment. While some practitioners of the Art
have a scrupulous code of ethics, the number of
benevolent necromancers is deplorably rare. At the
very least, the majority of necromancers should be
considered rigidly neutral. The large remainder of
necromantic practitioners are profoundly evil.
Necromancer PCs will face moral challenges from
the onset of their career, starting probably with their
mentor. Consider Talib, an example of a good and
heroic necromancer (highlighted in a number of the
chapter introductions and presented in detail in Chapter Nine). Before poor Talib the Apprentice was permitted to advance to 1st level, his Master forced him
through a brutal initiation by drugging his food, tying
him down to a cold stone altar, and sacrificing him to
the Goddess of Murder. Using a ring of spell storing
from an allied death priest, the Master then raised Talib
back from the dead (no hard feelings) to see if his
potential pupil had the requisite strength of body and
mind to practice necromancy. Since he survived the
ordeal, Talib only lost a point of Constitution, the first
small price for the privilege of practicing the Art.
Obviously, the young Talib fled his Master at the
earliest opportunity. However, whenever he needed
to train after gaining levels or to learn new spells, the
necromancers he sought out were sometimes more
black-hearted than his original Master, and they
always demanded a terrible price (moral, physical,
or financial) for his continuing education. Since Talib
retained his initially lofty ideals, he was usually
forced to train himself, requiring much greater
expense and time than his other ad venturing compatriots. As the DM, you should make certain that a
necromancer PC will confront as many difficult
obstacles as possible during his or her own career.
A necromancer PC that reaches 9th level becomes
a potential threat to game balance once he or she
gains the ability to cast animate dead. Scary enough in
the hands of NPCs, this spell can be a monumental
inconvenience to the DM in the hands of a crafty player character. On the way out to a dungeon outside
a village, for instance, a necromancer PC might raid
the local cemetery for a few nights, raising a few
"kamikaze" hirelings. The other PCs in the group, if
they are smart, will wait patiently while the necromancer completes these preparations.
Afterward, half of the adventure will be reduced to
the necromancer sending minions into the dungeon.
"Zombie, open that door! Zombie, open that chest!
Zombie, walk into that room! Zombie, walk across
that checkered and suspicious floor!" Though this
scenario can be somewhat morbidly amusing for an
evening or two, over an entire series of adventures, it
can completely ruin a campaign's carefully cultivated
atmosphere of danger, mystery, and suspense. The
animated zombies can also put the party thief out of
business because of their unfailing ability to detect
and harmlessly disarm traps. So what if a zombie
takes a ballista bolt in its chest while opening a treasure-filled coffer? The industrious necromancer PC
will have plenty of zombies on hand to thwart the
array of traps in a dungeon.
Necromancer PCs are already powerful enough
(especially at high level) given the basics from the
Player's Handbook. They have no need of the additional powers and abilities described in this book.
Since a properly played necromancer PC can significantly unbalance a campaign, only experienced DMs
should consider allowing them the abilities outlined
in Chapter Two. At the same time, necromancer PCs
are completely subject to the dangers of the Art. Feel
free to impose any of the penalties in Chapter Three
to keep a necromancer PC from monopolizing every
gaming session.
Keep in mind that you - as DM - must choose an
appropriate power and penalties for the character,
taking into account game balance and role-playing
potential before making a final decision. In general,
the DM should try to keep as much of this information from the players as possible (especially necromancers' players). If anything, the general aura of
mystery, the anticipation of future power, and the
dread of the next personal price of increased ability
will add a more exciting ambiance to the campaign. ,
Provided necromancer PCs can be kept in check by
an alert DM, they unquestionably add an interesting
element of moral tension to the role-playing. Because
of their troubling background, questionable practices,
and ofttimes dubious sanity, necromancer PCs can be
considered to be the roguish equivalent of the common wizard. Since his or her Art will be considered either repugnant (at the very least) or criminal (more
likely) by the general populace, the necromancer has
the "black sheep" appeal of the outcast or outlaw.
Despite this quasi-romantic allure, however, the
necromancer deals in cold death, pure and simple
The DM should delight in reminding the player of this
rather unglamorous fact whenever necessary.
What You Will Need
This handbook is a supplement for the AD&D®
role-playing game, and it assumes that the DM
has the DUNGEON MASTER® Guide (DMG), the Player's Handbook (PHB), and the either the first two
MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM® appendices (MC) or the
hardcover Monstrous Manual tome (MM).
Given the limited space and the tremendous
breadth of the topic involved, it has not been possible to include every single necromantic kit, priesthood, spell, and magical item ever printed by TSR in
this product. It would be convenient if the DM had
access to the Tome of Magic (TOM), Complete Sha'ir's
Handbook (SH), Complete Wizard's Handbook (WH),
Complete Priest's Handbook (CPrH), Arabian Adventures
(AA), and the FORGOTTEN REALM® Adventures (FOR)
hardcover, but these resources should not prove
strictly necessary. In this book, necromantic spells
and magical items from these sources will be designated by the appropriate abbreviation. If the DM
does not have access to these resources, feel free to
substitute another item or spell.