Raise Undead

[LostSoul]

Raise Undead

Level: varies Component Cost: varies
Category: Creation Market Price: varies
Time: 8 hours Key Skill: Religion
Duration: permanent

You use this ritual to create an undead creature. Each specific type of undead requires a different ritual; each ritual has its own level. The level of the ritual is 4 levels higher than the undead that is being created. Component cost and market price are standard for that level.

At the end of the ritual, make a Religion check. The DC is Hard, set by the ritual's level. If the check succeeds, the undead obeys your commands (though more intelligent undead will resent such control). If the check fails, the undead rises free-willed with its own agenda.

Requirements: This ritual requires a source of necrotic energy, of a level at least equal to the undead being raised.

[I have another ritual called Blood Sacrifice that can create a burst of necrotic energy, equal to the level of the creature sacrificed. edit: That ritual also allows you to boost your level when it comes to determining what rituals you can cast, so you can bypass the "4 levels lower" thing.]

 

[eriktheguy]

I have no idea about the balance implications. This would be a real cool ritual for the players to find though!

 

[LostSoul]

Yeah, the goal of that ritual is to get players to think on a strategic level - "Hey, those orcs are too tough for us to deal with, but if we raised all the townspeople from the cemetery..."

Doing that would create a whole host of other issues, and that's what I want. That's where the strength of RPGs lies, so I want to enhance it.

This ritual is the framework for other ones - such as summoning demons and devils, elementals, and fey creatures. Level - 4 seems like a good mix, since that's the point where I start making monsters into minions.


As an aside - when I was going through the MM and Open Grave to see what undead creatures could be raised via necromantic ritual, I discovered that the default setting must be full of undead! Anyone who is murdered, dies in terror, dies in a burning building, and a whole other bunch of unnatural deaths will result in undead rising.

Every community will need a guy who can cast Gentle Repose and a graveyard.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I do like this ritual, as it makes sense for the NPCs out there.. and I agree that the undead would seem to be everywhere based on the MM descriptions!


For the PC balance concerns, getting a solid HP sink, like the Hobgoblin Soldier Zombie or a controllerish power via the Wisp Wraith seems to be hard to manage. The problem with raise undead, summoning, and polymorph has always been the unique abilities the monsters had. Why get a warhorse when you can get a Skeletal Steed?

I think a better method would be to have a ritual that can be used to 'permanance' a summoning power.. possibly at a cost of permanently binding a healing surge to the creature in addition to the normal costs of the ritual {or for evil casters, sacrificing a creature}. The power used would have to be cast as part of the ritual and could not be a higher level than the ritual itself. Once cast, the level of the ritual drives the stats of the summoned being.
Another ritual would be used to take ownership of a created being, which enables the owner to be treated as the caster in respect to giving orders and, if the creature dies, taking any damage.
{this gives the entertaining option of controlling the summoned creature until the ownership ritual can be cast... Magic Circle would be oft employed for this}

But.. I am not too good on the mechanics of ritual building in 4e.. so I might just use your proposal

[edit.. just saw this thread about new summoning power that include some cool new mechanics... Summon Balor

 

[eriktheguy]

Yeah, the goal of that ritual is to get players to think on a strategic level - "Hey, those orcs are too tough for us to deal with, but if we raised all the townspeople from the cemetery..."

Doing that would create a whole host of other issues, and that's what I want. That's where the strength of RPGs lies, so I want to enhance it.

Pay attention kids, this is how you DM.

This ritual is the framework for other ones - such as summoning demons and devils, elementals, and fey creatures. Level - 4 seems like a good mix, since that's the point where I start making monsters into minions.


As an aside - when I was going through the MM and Open Grave to see what undead creatures could be raised via necromantic ritual, I discovered that the default setting must be full of undead! Anyone who is murdered, dies in terror, dies in a burning building, and a whole other bunch of unnatural deaths will result in undead rising.

Every community will need a guy who can cast Gentle Repose and a graveyard.

Well I suppose that it makes sense for every settlement to have a level 1 character with the religion skill. I'm more interested in seeing how your players use, abuse, or get screwed by this ritual.

 

[LostSoul]

Ah, I should also note that I'm not going to give the PCs access to everything right off the bat. Wizards can grab rituals from the PHB1, like normal, but they wouldn't be able to grab "Create Boneclaw" without actually finding a copy of the ritual in the game.

So that gives me a little more control to start off with.

(The "hidden" material includes everything not in the PHB1. I have to figure out the exact way you go about "unlocking" that material - prayers, rituals, spells, and exploits are obvious, you find a spell/prayerbook, a trainer, or do some research/practice, but races and classes I'm not sure about yet. It might have something to do with henchmen/companion characters or other events that take place in the game.

How one goes about research/practice will depend on if I plan on using the "domain rulership" sub-game I've been messing around with.)

edit: Here's the information from the MM - or Open Grave? - about creating Boneclaws:

Boneclaws: Magically constructed undead built to hunt and slay the living.
One creates a boneclaw by means of a dark ritual that binds a powerful evil soul to a specially prepared amalgamation of undead flesh and bone. The exact ritual is a closely guarded secret known only to a handful of liches and necromancers. The ritual was created by the night hag Grigwartha.