1st Level Necromancer Spells
- Chill Touch
- Duration: 3 rounds +1 per level
- Range: Touch
- The caster’s hands are enveloped with achilling, blue miasma that disrupts thelife energy of any living creature touched.
- Attack roll: In combat, a melee attack rollis required.
- Effects: The victim suffers 1d4 damageand loses 1 point of STR. If the victimdoes not have a rated STR score, theyinstead suffer a –1 penalty to attack rollseach time they are touched.
- Recovering: Lost points of Strength arerecovered at a rate of one per hour.
- Command Dead
- Duration: 1 round per level
- Range: 60’
- 2d6 humanoid corpses or skeletons within range rise up as undead and obey the caster’s commands for a short time.
- Combat stats: Each reanimated corpse or skeleton has 1 hit point and attacks using the stats listed below.
- Special abilities: They are unable to use any special abilities (including spell casting) that they possessed in life.
- Commanded Dead AC 7 [12], HD 1 (1hp), Att 1 × weapon (1d6 or by weapon), THAC0 19 [0], MV 60’ (20’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1), ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 10
- ▶ Undead: Make no noise, until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g. charm, hold, sleep).
- Corpse Visage
- Duration: 1 turn per level
- Range: The caster
- The caster’s face and voice replicate those of a corpse touched.
- Limitations: The spell only works on the corpse of a humanoid deceased within the last week.
- Decay: The caster’s face and voice reflect the exact state of the target corpse. If the corpse is decayed, the caster’s face will appear rotting and their voice ragged and rasping.
- Decay
- Duration: 1 turn / instant / permanent (ward against decay)
- Range: Corpse touched
- This spell has two usages (chosen when cast):
- 1. Destroy tissue: A touched corpse or dead body part (e.g. dismembered limb, extracted organ, etc.) is eaten away to bones in 1 turn, devoured by a gruesomely accelerated mass of maggots and mould. For the purposes of raise dead, a decayed corpse is treated as being 6 days old + 1 day per level of the caster.
- 2. Harm undead: Decay inflicts 2d6damage against an undead monsterwith flesh (e.g. zombie, ghoul). Thetarget must be touched in the roundthe spell is cast, requiring a successfulmelee attack.
- Reversed: Ward Against Decay
- A single corpse or dead body part (e.g.dismembered limb, extracted organ, etc.)is permanently protected from the naturalprocesses of decay and deterioration.
- Deathlight
- Duration: 6 turns +1 per level
- Range: 60’
- A single skull, skeleton, corpse, or undeadmonster is wreathed with flickeringlight.
- Light: 15’ radius. May be of any colour the caster chooses.
- Saving throw: An intelligent undead monster may save versus spells to resist.
- Counters invisibility: The flickering light makes it impossible for the target to become fully invisible.
- Detect Undead
- Duration: 3 turns
- Range: 60’
- This spell enables the caster to divine the presence of undead creatures within range.
- Information: The spell indicates neither the precise location nor the type of any undead detected, only their direction.
- Obstruction: The ability to detect undead is blocked by 1’ of stone, 3’ of earth, or a thin layer of metal.
- Marionette
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 round per level
- Range: 30’
- The caster takes control of a single creature, moving it around as they wish, like a puppet.
- Targets: The spell can target either a corporeal undead monster of up to 4 HD or a human, demihuman, or human-like monster (see Persons under Monsters, in Old-School Essentials).
- Saving throw: The victim may save versus paralysis to resist the spell.
- Actions: The caster can make the victimmove, attack, freeze, or act in any waydesired. Control is imperfect, however:the victim moves jerkily and acts withoutprecision, making attack rolls at a –2penalty.
- Special abilities: The caster cannotcommand the victim to use any specialabilities they possess (e.g. poison, breathweapons, spells, etc.).
- Self-destructive acts: Acts that are
- Self-destructive acts: Acts that areself-destructive or against the victim’salignment allow another save to break themagical control.
- Concentration: Being distracted (e.g.attacked) or performing any other action(except moving) causes the spell to end.
- Pass Undead
- Duration: 1 turn per level
- Range: The caster or a creature touched
- The subject is rendered completely undetectable to undead.
- Detection: Undead with 6 or more HD may save versus spells to detect anyone protected by this spell. Undead with 9 or more HD are never deceived by the spell.
- Hostile actions: Taking hostile action against undead (e.g. attacking, casting offensive spells) reveals the subject’s presence, but only to the individuals which were attacked.
- Protection From Evil
- Duration: 6 turns
- Range: The caster
- This spell wards the caster from attacks by creatures of another alignment, as follows:
- Bonuses: The caster gains a +1 bonus to saving throws against attacks or special abilities of affected creatures.
- Affected creatures’ attacks: Against the caster are penalised by –1.
- Enchanted, constructed, or summoned creatures: The spell additionally prevents such creatures from attacking the caster in melee, though they may still make ranged attacks. If the caster engages such a creature in melee, this protection is broken (the caster still gains the save and attack bonuses mentioned above).
- Read Magic
- Duration: 1 turn
- Range: The caster
- By means of read magic, the caster can decipher magical inscriptions or runes, as follows:
- Scrolls: The magical script of a scroll of arcane spells can be understood. The caster is then able to activate the scroll at any time in the future.
- Spell books: A spell book written by another arcane spell caster can be deciphered.
- Inscriptions: Runes or magical words inscribed on an object or surface can be understood.
- Reading again: Once the caster has read a magical inscription using read magic, they are thereafter able to read that particular writing without recourse to the use of this spell.
- Skull Speech
- Duration: 1 turn per level
- Range: 60’
- The caster may cause a single skull within range to speak in a rasping whisper.
- Words: The caster may cause the skull to utter any words desired. It is not possible to cast spells via the skull.
- Undead monsters: An undead monster’s skull may be caused to speak. Intelligent undead may save versus paralysis to resist.
- Undead Servitor
- Duration: 6 turns +1 per level
- Range: 30’
- This spell temporarily reanimates the bones or body of a single dead humanoid into an undead skeleton or zombie.
- Obedient: The undead servitor obeys the caster’s commands.
- Special abilities: The servitor is unable to use any special abilities (including spell casting) that it possessed in life.
- Skeleton Servitor AC 7 [12], HD 1 (4hp), Att 1 × weapon (1d6 or by weapon), THAC0 19 [0], MV 60’ (20’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1), ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 10
- ▶ Undead: Make no noise, until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g. charm, hold, sleep).
- Zombie Servitor AC 8 [11], HD 2 (9hp), Att 1 × weapon (1d8 or by weapon), THAC0 18 [+1], MV 60’ (20’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1), ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 20
- ▶ Undead: Make no noise, until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g. charm, hold, sleep).
- ▶ Initiative: Always lose (no roll).