A gaunt tiefling saunters across the battlefield, tome in one hand, a slender blade in the other. She sneers at the barbaric orc and the orc knows without question he is breathing his final breaths.
An ebony-clad gnome places his hand on a cleric’s hemorrhaging wound and weaves new flesh around it. His eyes glow white as she regains her breath, feeling death’s grip loosen.
Perched upon a parapet, a vulturine aarakocra raises their talons to the sky, and mountainous bones of long-dead titans erupt from the earth to surround approaching foes.
Keepers of both life and death, true Necromancers are both students of medicine and practitioners of the strange occult. Necromancy is not for the faint of heart. This path offers great power and the answers to life’s most haunting questions, but at what cost?
About This Class
The Necromancer Class is a hybrid melee fighter/spellcaster for players who want a mechanical and flavorful alternative to the Wizard’s School of Necromancy from the Player’s Handbook. Focusing on the conflict and duality of mortal life and everlasting death, Necromancers take on three distinct playstyles through the subclasses of Blood & Bone, Flesh & Soul, and Rot & Renewal.
Maintainers of the Balance
Necromancers are students of the balance of life and death. Their studies circle around two dueling essences: Vivichor, the chaotic and powerful spark of life, and Mortence, a dark and cold mana that can only be described as the absence of life. Necromancers focus on harnessing the balance of life and death the same way a gardener prunes roses and roots out invasive weeds.
While many associate lichdom with necromancy, most true necromancers see liches as a gross perversion of necromantic studies. Liches selfishly cling to undeath in an attempt to cling to the mortal coil. Many necromancers dedicate their lives to eradicating such abusers. Likewise, other magical practitioners who dabble in the necromantic sciences are looked down upon as imitators who flourish dark magics with little appreciation of the true power they call upon.
Mortence and Vivichor Mechanics
Surge your spell casting with Mortence, the shadowy essence of death. Embolden your attacks and healing with Vivichor, the glowing miracle of life. As you expend one, the other grows stronger. Necromancers gain a number of spells and abilities that can be emboldened with these primordial essences. Players who study the art of necromancy must find ways to keep these essences in balance.
Study Dualities In 3 New Subclasses
When necromancers begin unraveling the mysteries of life and death, their practice fixates on a core duality of mortal life and everlasting death.
The Practice of Blood and Bone allows necromancers to bend the blood of their allies and enemies and exhume the bones of the dead from the earth's crust.
The Practice of Soul and Flesh emboldens necromancers to call upon the wisdom of the dead to guide them through the darkness and split their body and their soul into 2 independent bodies.
The Practice of Rot and Renewal enables necromancers to spread disease upon their enemies and flow vitality through the bodies of their allies.
Raise the Dead In Terrifying New Ways
What's a necromancer without an army of corpses? Each subclass unlocks unique ways to raise the dead and wield them on the battlefield. Raise corpses as vessels for departed spirits to once again walk the mortal plane. Or unearth sickly zombies that spread disease to your foes. Or raise a skeleton around yourself granting you bone armor and the strength to wield great weapons. Each subclass unlocks new augmentations to animate dead.
