Secret College of Necromancy
By David “Zeb” Cook and Wolfgang Baur
Published by Green Ronin Publishing
112 b & w pages
$19.95
Is there room for a 112-page book on a subject that’s been tackled time and time again in the D20 system? The answer is yes.
Secret College of Necromancy is broken up into seven chapters. Chapter One, The Paths of Death, introduces two new core classes to the game: The Necromancer and the Death Knight. The Necromancer here isn’t a specialist and isn’t a prestige class but rather, an arcane spell user with some access to a few divine spells. The main difference between a wizard with necromancy and a necromancer is that the latter gains numerous special abilities as she progresses in level. For example, instead of summoning a familiar, necromancers create theirs. They gain the ability to control undead, bonus feats from a select list, a touch of death that enables them to burn a spell slot and inflict 1d8 points of damage per spell slot level burned. As they rise in power, their abilities increase including ghoul touch, and the ability to raise the undead with a touch. Not satisfied? How about energy drain or the ability to turn living creatures undead with a touch? Of course, the ultimate power occurs as 20th level when a necromancer can become a lich automatically.
The Death Knight is a soul dedicated from birth by dark rituals and rites to serve the cause of evil. These warriors gain special abilities similar, but opposite to a paladins ranging from spellcasting divine spells, unholy steeds, immunity to disease and the ability to control undead, to unique abilities like poison resistance, an unholy aura, elemental resistance, and powers that cumulate in the death knight becoming an undead death knight at 20th level with the ability to cast a 20th level fireball 1/day.
Both classes are in some ways more powerful than standard ones, and tend to be more evil and chaotic than standard classes, but it notes this in the text and states that they should remain in the hands of the GM and only those GMs with enough grace to handle such different core character concepts, should allow them into the game.
New feats round out the classes including The Dark Lady’s Kiss which allows a necromancer to partially ignore energy drains, or Dying Blow where death knights fight even when at negative hit points, although not past death. One of the metamagic feats, fearful gaze, increases the DC of a saving throw to resist fear by 3. Most feats fall in the general category but are meant for Necromancers and Death Knights.
Chapter Two, Spells and Dark Magic, provides 72 spells aimed at those interested in mastering the dark arts. In a bold move, some of these spells hail from Tome & Blood and Oriental Adventures with permission from Wizards of the Coast. Of course those aren’t Open Game Content. Spells are listed in summary form by level, and alphabetized, broken up into a necromancer list and a death knight list. The spells are then listed again, but only those spells found from this book, by level and alphabetical order with a brief one-sentence description of what the spell does.
The spell descriptions themselves are given in standard spell format in alphabetical order with no regard for level. Spells range from the 1st level Ancient Wisdom, which allows the spirit of the skull to speak, or Bone Armor, another 1st level spell that creates bones that provides a +7 natural armor class bonus until destroyed or it’s duration expires. Of course those looking for more powerful forms of magic have Face of Death, a 5th level spell that transforms the caster’s face into a skull that causes terror in those that see it. Of course, those wishing to do more damage have Dust, a 7th level spell that snuffs out undead by crumbling them to dust or one of the Legion spells, spells 7th level or higher, like mummies, shadows, skeletons, wraiths and zombies, that creates a large number of undead. For example, Legion of Skeletons, 7th level, raises 1d6 skeletons per caster level with double the normal hit die of skeletons. Of course, casting it in an unhallowed graveyard doubles that number to 2d5 skeletons per caster level…
In addition to spells, there is a section entitled, “Infamous Books”. Each book starts off with the book’s name, origin of the book, history, appearance, twist, and spells. Spells from other sources are marked and indicated at the end of the book description. This section allows a GM to throw in some of the spells without overpowering his campaign, and provide some background material at the same time. What Necromancer wouldn’t want to peruse The Black Book of Slaying or thumb through Pathways of the Soul?
The chapter rounds up with a collection of mundane and magical items that Necromancers can put to good use. This includes such standard goods as flaying knifes and powdered blood, to Floating Eyeballs that allow the user to use arcane eye and bone doors that only open for undead creatures. Each magic item includes the means necessary to craft it, as well as a market price.
Chapter Three, Graverobbing and the Undead, provides the GM with information on the so called “resurrection men”, lowlifes who dig up the dead for Necromancer’s experimentations. Ideas on where else to find dead bodies is also provided including battlefields, executed criminals, and slaves. A section on creating the undead, covers the different types of undead and constructs that Necromancers craft and covers a variety of undead such as fleshy undead, skeletal undead, incorporeal undead, and constructs, ranging from golems and machines.
This section includes how long such creatures last in what conditions, for example, skeletons tend to last for 200 years or more if used as tomb guardians, while zombies last only a month or two if used in daily marching and suffering from exposure to the elements. A section on Undead Feats and Qualities allows the GM to customize his undead with abilities like Airy Gallop, where the undead rides even when there is no ground to Vermin Form, where the undead assumes the form of a swarm of insects.
Chapter Four, Creatures of Necromancy, starts of with the Death Angel, a Challenge Rating of 14, and doesn’t get much easier from there. While only eleven monsters in total, most of them can challenge mid to high level groups. The Dragon Engine, an undead construct, is a CR of 13, while the Flayed Man, a spell using undead crafted from the dead body of a necromancer, is a CR of 10. Those wishing to use Necromancers in times of war will be greatful for the Necromantic Siege Engines, Zombie Ram and Ether Tower, which are built from the bones and skin of dead soldiers. The ram lumbers forth while the towers pulverize those they grab.
Chapter Five, A History of the Secret College is called, “an exercise in imagination” providing some general background notes on how why there is a need for a secret college. In short, a powerful necromancer called the Ghoul nearly took control of everything using his vast armies of undead and his myriad collection of artifacts. After his fall at the hands of the elven hero Windgrass, pretenders called Necro-Kings rose to power but were beaten back and crushed by an Inquisition and the art of necromancy outlawed.
Of course time passes and in some faraway city, the art of necromancy flourishes on the sly as long as it doesn’t cause any outcry, hence the secret part. There are those who want to see no necromancy and the inquisition does come calling every now and again to insure that everything is on the up and up, but as long as Necromancers have friends in high places and don’t take too much for the city that houses them, they are tolerated and in some cases, openly employed as necromancers. This section includes punishments for being caught practicing necromancy and includes the most dire, dissolution, where the necromancer is put into the Positive Energy Plane and dissolved into that plane, to the least sever, maiming, where a finger, hand, or eye is removed.
Chapter Six, The Secret College at Work, provides the GM with information on who can join, where the members meet, and a map of the Winter Manor, a massive estate just outside of the city where this feared haunted house hosts the Secret College. This section includes the names of the characters who work for the college in providing them with bodies, as well as a section, Plots and Plans of the Secret College, which provides the GM seeds which can create a whole campaign. Take for example, Johann Mikel who dreams of returning the Ghoul to Power, or Jervis Mascome, a necromancer intent on crafting a new type of animated blood construct. Perhaps more importantly to some, it provides the GM with information on using the Secret College in Freeport. This includes specific references to direct locations from the Freeport hardcover.
Chapter Seven, Personalities of the Secret College, provides the GM with the stats and background of the main forces of the College. The section is done in alphabetical order with the name, stat block, spells, and background information of said character. Not all of these characters are necromancers, as some, like Bertolo, a death knight, are guards and direct servants, while others, like Coalfoot, were introduced last chapter as those who find the bodies that the college uses for experiments. The more interesting possibilities come in the higher level characters like Marrogan, a half elf 18th level necromancer who rules the College is facing numerous challenges from other factions but is starting to have his own dreams of the Ghoul.
The Appendix provides the GM with a quick series of reference tables including tools, item names, cost, and weight. Class tables for the necromancer and death knight give the GM a quick look at saving throws and base attack abilities. The page long index provides the GM with an easy tool to flip through the spells, monsters, and magic items, while those who own the Green Ronin Character Folios will enjoy the one page Necromantic Addendum which provides the players of death knights and necromancers room to record their familiars, unholy steeds, spells, and new skills. The book closes out with a one page add for Hammers and Helm and the Book of the Righteous. One page. Now that’s something White Wolf and their Sword & Sorcery Studio publishing groups need to learn to do.
The text density in this book is very heavy. Art in the book is good, but tends to be black and gray, difficult to sometimes make out details. The only thing not used here is the interior covers. The layout is generally the standard two column save when information is collected in a sidebar, then it’s white text on black background which is fairly ugly with it’s rounded corners and harsh contrast to the rest of the book.
The book does what it sets out to. Provides the GM and players with two new viable core classes and provides them with almost all the toys needed to use them immediately in play. The only area where the Secret College stumbles is the lack of Prestige Classes, but many D20 books have covered those in detail. GMs looking to add some more spice to the necromantic brew of their world will benefit greatly from the Secret College of Necromancy and players looking for evil options like the Necromancer and Deathknight core classes will enjoy the different powers they gain as they progress in levels.
