Revised Necromancy

By Jeremy Belton (gilok@mint.net)

Description

This is a version of Necromancy that is meant to be available in addition to the standard paths of Necromancy learned by the Giovanni. This is simply an alternate route to power. It can be learned by mortals as hedge magic, as well.

One thing to note about Necromancy, is that it is intrusive. Necromancers are not asking wraiths politely to do these things; they are demanding and threatening. The powers were designed to force a wraith into obeying the wishes of the necromancer. A wraith can, however, seek out a necromancer and ask for aid. Necromancers provide a direct, obvious link to the Skinlands, and some wraiths can't resist that, regardless of the price. Mortals can learn this discipline as well, although few of them have the capacity to learn much in their limited lifetimes. If used by a mortal, health levels are expended instead of blood points where applicable.

Basic Path

This is the basic path of Necromancy, and the one usually learned first. It is possible to learn some of the other paths first, although they will likely be less effective without this one.

This basic ability opens the way for all other abilities and paths within the discipline of Necromancy. It simply allows the necromancer to detect any wraiths in his immediate vicinity by concentrating. He can see them "normally" but can hear them only faintly, as though from a great distance.

This allows the necromancer to hear nearby wraiths normally. He may also speak to them across the shroud, provided he shares a common language with the wraith in question. The wraith is in no way compelled to listen, however.

This ability allows the necromancer to summon a specific wraith to his immediate vicinity. The necromancer must have a personal object belonging to the wraith in question, and know the wraith's name. He must then enact the ritual. The necromancer rolls Manipulation + Intimidation, difficulty of the wraith's Willpower. The wraith may resist by spending a Willpower point. Once the wraith arrives, it is in no way compelled to obey the necromancer any further.

This power, the power that causes such great fear of the Giovanni, is the ability to command a wraith. The wraith is forced to provide some service for the necromancer, or to answer some question. The necromancer rolls Manipulation + Intimidation, difficulty of the wraith's Willpower +2, maximum of 10. If successful, the wraith must serve for one hour per success. However, if dawn arrives in the necromancer's part of the world before the term of service is ended, the wraith is immediately set free. A Willpower point may be spent by the wraith to avoid the service for one scene, usually long enough to flee.

This power is seldom used, but extremely powerful. The necromancer physically and directly enters the Shadowlands. He can see, feel, and hear everything exactly as though he were a wraith. However, he is a physical being there, and relics and other objects of the Shadowlands can harm him. He is essentially outnumbered by a lot of beings that have 3 more health levels than he does. It costs one blood point per hour to remain in the Shadowlands, and at dawn the necromancer is immediately, violently expelled. The necromancer must roll Manipulation + Occult, difficulty of the local shroud, to enter the Shadowlands in the first place.

Path of Shadows

This horrific path allows the necromancer to deal with a wraith's Shadow. This is an extremely dangerous path, and it has even been rumored that some necromancers have accidentally taken upon themselves the Shadow they were trying to control.

This ability allows the necromancer to speak directly to a wraith's Shadow. The wraith must be in the vicinity of the necromancer. The necromancer may speak, but the Shadow doesn't necessarily have to listen.

Shadowplay allows other paths to work on Shadows. This is the core power of the path of Shadows. It allows the necromancer to use the effects of any other path on the Shadow of a wraith. Thus, the necromancer could summon a Shadow or control it using the basic path, or affect Dark Passions with the Path of Passion.

This power allows the necromancer to either fuel a shadow with angst, or take it away. It is a useful way of tormenting a wraith. The necromancer rolls Manipulation + Empathy, difficulty 8. Each success either gives or removes one point of Angst, depending on the intent of the necromancer.

This hideous power allows the necromancer to induce Catharsis within a wraith. The shadow comes forth fully dominant. To use this power, the Shadow must attempt to take control as normal, disregarding the Angst requirement. The necromancer rolls Manipulation + Empathy, difficulty 8, and adds his successes to the Shadow's roll. This will almost invariably cause the Catharsis, and any wraith successfully resisting such an onslaught recieves a point of Pathos for her victory. This power costs 1 blood point per use.

This is the darkest known power of Necromancy. The ability to fling a wraith into Oblivion, or simply to damage it severely. The necromancer rolls Manipulation + Occult, difficulty of the wraith's Stamina + 4. Each success causes a point of aggravated, non-soakable damage to the wraith. This power costs 1 blood point per use. If a wraith reaches 0 corpus as a result of this power, it flung into a Destruction Harrowing.

Path of Passions

This power allows the necromancer to find a wraith's Passions. Roll Perception + Empathy, dif of the wraith's Willpower + Subterfuge - the rating of the passion being determined, max of 10. The Storyteller determines the Passion to be determined. The power can be used repeatedly to determine all the Passions of a given Wraith. It will also reveal the emotion Associated with the Passion.

The necromancer can find the object of a Wraith's Passion. By rolling Perception + Investigation, dif 8, the necromancer can get an impression of what or who the wraith's Passion pertains to. For example, if a Wraith had the Passion "Protect my Lover" the necromancer would get a hazy image of the Wraith's lover. If the Passion has no discernable subject, nothing is determined.

The necromancer can give or take Passion from a Wraith. By rolling Manipulation + Empathy, difficulty of the Wraith's permanent Angst to give Pathos or Willpower to take it, and spending a blood point or health level per point to be given or taken, the necromancer can adjust the Wraith's Pathos level.

This powerful ability is used to reduce or increase the attachment a wraith has to her Passions. Roll Manipulation + Empathy, dif 10. Each success allows the necromancer to raise or lower one of a wraith's Passion. The necromancer must know the passion to be modified and must spend a blood point or a health level per point. If a Passion is lowered to 0, the Wraith enters a Destruction Harrowing.

With this power, the necromancer can actually give a wraith a new Passion. This can be considered kind of a "dominate for wraiths" by giving the wraith Passions like "Serve me (love)". However, sometimes when this power is used (Storyteller discretion) the Wraith's Shadow will receive a dark reflection of the Passion, such as "Destroy the necromancer (hate)". The system is the same as Strengthen/Weaken Passion, above.

Path of Fetters

This power allows the necromancer to determine the fetters of a given Wraith. Roll perception + occult, dif of the wraith's willpower + subterfuge, - the Fetter's rating. Only one fetter can be determined at a time, and which one is determined by Storyteller discretion.

The necromancer can track down a Wraith's fetters. Roll Perception + Occult, dif 8. Only one can be located at a time, and the necromancer must use Determine Fetters to find out what he's looking for.

The necromancer can give or take corpus from a wraith. Roll Manipulation + Occult, dif 8. Each success allows the necromancer to give or take a single corpus level from the Wraith. A blood point or health level must be spent per point of corpus taken or given. This power directly manipulates a wraith's ties to his fetters to cause him harm sympathetically, so one of the wraith's fetters must be present.

This power allows the necromancer to strengthen or weaken a wraith's ties to his Fetters. Roll manipulation + occult, dif 10. Each success allows the necromancer to add or subtract a point from one of the Wraith's fetters. A blood point or health level must be spent per point manipulated.

A necromancer can bind a wraith to the fetter of his choice. The system is the same as Strengthen/Weaken Fetter, above. The necromancer could concievably protect himself from harm by making himself the wraith's fetter. However, some uses of this power could, at Storyteller's discretion, give the Wraith's shadow a Dark Passion that is the opposite of the wraith's fetter. For example, if the fetter Was the necromancer, the Dark Passion could be "destroy the necromancer(hate)".

Path of the Risen

To learn this path, the necromancer must know the Basic Path 5, Path of Passions 5, Path of Fetters 5, and Path of shadows 5. This ancient path is used to give a wraith a second chance at life. It is frequently used after other powers that bind the wraith's will to the necromancer, making the Risen a powerful servant, but a servant who may turn on the necromancer at the first opporotunity.

The necromancer may locate a wraith's body, if it is missing or the wraith is unwilling to divulge its location. Roll intelligence + Investigation, dif 7. A total of 6 successes must be accumulated, but this can be made as an extended roll. The difficulty or number of successes can be raised if the body is particularly hard to find.

Basically, this power reduces the wraith's Lifesight and Deathsight to normal. Roll Manipulation + Expression, difficulty 8. Each success increases the wraith's Lifesight and Deathsight difficulties by 1. If the wraith's difficulty is increased past ten, assume these powers are completely removed. This power can be used on wraiths that are not planning to become Risen.

This power allows the necromancer to learn Arcanos. He cannot use these arcanos except in the Shadowlands, but he can teach them to wraiths, and can use them to alleviate the need for a potential Risen to know them. There is no system for this power. The necromancer must simply find a teacher and spend the experience points to learn the power. They can either be taught by another necromancer who knows them, or by wraiths. To learn from wraiths, the necromancer must be in the Shadowlands.

This power allows the Risen to use Arcanos not normally possible. Roll Manipulation + Occult, dif 8. Successes can be spent to allow the use a dot of an otherwise unusable Arcanos and for each hour the Arcanos is usable. The necromancer must know the Arcanos to be allowed himself.

This power can make a Wraith Rise, whether it wants to or not. The necromancer must roll Manipulation + Occult, dif 10. 10 total successes must be obtained. If the Wraith is unwilling, he can contest the roll with Willpower, at a difficulty of 8. Once the successes are obtained, the necromancer can specify the Wraith's conduit, which must be one of the wraith's fetters. The wraith will then return to its body, wherever its body may be. The Risen will have free will unless steps have been taken to prevent that.