Voadam
Legend
The Player's Guide to Arcanis
3.5
Undead Animal: ?
Skeletal Companion spell.
Spirit Warrior: ?
Undead Template: “Undead” is a template that can be added to any corporeal humanoid that has a skeletal system.
Val'Mordane 4th level Bloodline Neroth's Final Blessing power.
Undead: Sentient undead are the blessed of Neroth; only those whose souls are close to purity can live on as beings of pure intellect, free to contemplate spiritual perfection, unhindered by the demands of living flesh.
Within the church of Neroth there is an Order, not even spoken of outside of Canceri, and even then only in whispers, known to outsiders as the Order of the Still Heart. To those within, they call it the Blessed Path of Neroth. To most Nerothians, Neroth’s gift is to be sought after, and treasured if it is given. To these ambitious people, however, unlife is not a gift to be given, but a secret to be discovered, and taken. Once a willing soul is taken through the rituals to begin this process, there is no stopping it – he will become an undead creature, dying and rising again.
In the world of Arcanis, undead are created differently than suggested by the core rules. Therefore, all undead do not automatically radiate as evil creatures. Unless stated otherwise, undead radiate like any other creature (as described above) regardless of their origins. This change affects no other aspect of undead other than alignment and all other spells affect undead normally. Unless detailed otherwise, undead are created with negative energy. However, some undead on Onara are animated through the use of positive energy.
Intelligent undead are created by using the soul of the person as the fuel that powers the transformation.
Deathbringer's Life Beyond Life power.
Order of the Still Heart's Death and Rebirth power.
Ghost: Hold the Spirit spell.
Skeleton: Mark of Thralldom spell.
Zombie: Mark of Thralldom spell.
Hold the Spirit
Necromancy
Level: Clr (Beltine) 2, HC (Beltine) 3, Spirit 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature that died within the last 24 hours
Duration: 1 day/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: No
Beltine owns the sprit and has granted her devout followers the power to hold the sprit to the body for a short amount of time. By casting this spell, the spirit may be bound to the body for longer than the standard 24-hour period. As long as the soul is bound to the body in this fashion and the other requirements of the spell are met, a raise dead spell will bring the target back to life even after the 24-hour limit associated with the cosmology of Arcanis.
However, death is not easily cheated and this spell is not cast without substantial risks. First, binding the soul to the body in this manner is very traumatic. For every day the target’s soul is bound to its body through this spell, there is a chance the experience will drive the intellect insane. Every day the target is under the effects of this spell, it must make a Will save (DC 10 plus the number of days under the spell’s effect) or become insane as if affected by the insanity spell. Only a heal, limited wish, miracle, or wish can restore the target’s mind. Second, any target of this spell that is not returned to life, for any reason, is forever cursed in the afterlife. When the spell expires without the target being returned to life, it rises, becoming an undead menace to the living. The target gains the ghost template and immediately switches alignment to Chaotic Evil. The first priority of this abomination is to seek out those who where responsible for its death, as well as the caster of the spell who caused its current state. If these goals cannot be met for any reason, the ghost will wander an area equal to one square mile per character level or Hit Die it had in life, slaying all living creatures who enter its domain.
Material Component: A pearl worth at least 50 gp, which is placed in the corpse’s mouth and remains there until life is returned to the body. The pearl is consumed when the soul returns to its body or when the spell’s duration ends and the body rises as an undead abomination.
Mark of Thralldom
Necromancy (Creation)
Level: Clr 3 (Neroth), Sor/Wiz (val’Mordane) 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Targets: One living creature
Duration: One year and one day
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
By casting this spell on a single living creature, you ensure that when that creature dies, it will animate as an undead within 1-3 rounds. The target will become either a zombie or a skeleton depending on how intact the body is immediately after death. At the time of the casting, you may issue one simple command that the subject will obey when it returns as one of the living dead, such as “Seek me out for further orders” or “Kill the Elorii in the red tunic.”
Once the spell is cast, the mark of thralldom lasts for one year and one day, and it is very difficult to remove. First, the victim must have a remove curse cast by a higher level caster than the caster of the mark of thralldom. This nullifies the effects of the mark for 24 hours and allows further steps to be taken to remove it. Next, the victim must have an erase spell cast to remove the mark, then a heal spell cast to nullify the remaining effects. Once this final step is taken, the red dye will seep from the skin and flake away.
Due to the nature of the casting of this spell, it may not be cast through a spectral hand spell.
Material Component: A red dye worth 100 gold pieces that is smeared on the subject.
Skeletal Companion
Necromancy
Level: Clr (Neroth) 1, Blackguard 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One corpse or skeleton
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
With this spell you may create a skeletal companion. Though limited by its mindless nature; a skeletal companion can be quite useful. This spell animates the body or bones of a Medium-sized or smaller creature and turns it into a skeleton that will follow your simple spoken commands. This skeleton remains animated until destroyed or dismissed by the original caster. Once animated by this spell, the skeleton may never be animated again by any other means. Only a single skeleton from this spell may be controlled at any one time. Any further castings of this spell will fail if you already have one skeletal companion.
This undead companion does not count against your limit on the number of Hit Dice of undead creatures you may control at any one time. A skeletal companion can only be created from a mostly intact skeleton or corpse. If made from a corpse, the flesh falls off of the bones during animation. The skeletal companion is equal in all respects to the Human Warrior Skeleton entry found in Core Rulebook III.
This spell will not work on any recently deceased corpse or any corpse that has a spirit still bound to the body in some way.
Material Component: A small black onyx worth 50 gp, which is placed in the skeleton or corpse’s eye socket or mouth.
Death and Rebirth: When the character reaches enough experience to gain 6th level in the Order, he dies (but does not lose a level). This death cannot be stopped short of a wish or miracle. If the character does circumvent this death in some fashion, he may not progress any further in this or any other class. Assuming the character allows his death to overtake him, the next morning, after the warming rays of Illiir illuminate his corpse, the true blessing of Neroth takes hold. The character rises as a free-willed undead. His type changes to Undead and he gains all of the undead characteristics (see Core Rulebook III for the characteristics of this type).
Life Beyond Life (Ex): At the apex of his career, after a lifetime punishing those who have spent their lives doing evil unto others, the Deathbringer is granted the power of unlife; the exact nature of his transformation into an undead creature is subject to the GM’s discretion and is proportional to how well the Deathbringer has carried out his mission during his mortal lifetime. The typical transformation is for the Deathbringer to be granted some powerful undead form that permits him to continue carrying out his charge as a member of the Order, but sometimes Neroth has other plans for these most devoted and puissant of His servants.
Neroth’s Final Blessing (Ex)
The greatest blessings of Neroth do not come lightly, and few receive them with such open arms as the val’Mordane. The journey into un-life carries with it great power and strength, shedding the fears and frailties of the human form in exchange for life everlasting, though only those closest to Neroth’s teachings truly comprehend this. In such a measure of understanding, the Val’s body is reborn as that of a walking dead, gaining the Undead template.
3.5
Undead Animal: ?
Skeletal Companion spell.
Spirit Warrior: ?
Undead Template: “Undead” is a template that can be added to any corporeal humanoid that has a skeletal system.
Val'Mordane 4th level Bloodline Neroth's Final Blessing power.
Undead: Sentient undead are the blessed of Neroth; only those whose souls are close to purity can live on as beings of pure intellect, free to contemplate spiritual perfection, unhindered by the demands of living flesh.
Within the church of Neroth there is an Order, not even spoken of outside of Canceri, and even then only in whispers, known to outsiders as the Order of the Still Heart. To those within, they call it the Blessed Path of Neroth. To most Nerothians, Neroth’s gift is to be sought after, and treasured if it is given. To these ambitious people, however, unlife is not a gift to be given, but a secret to be discovered, and taken. Once a willing soul is taken through the rituals to begin this process, there is no stopping it – he will become an undead creature, dying and rising again.
In the world of Arcanis, undead are created differently than suggested by the core rules. Therefore, all undead do not automatically radiate as evil creatures. Unless stated otherwise, undead radiate like any other creature (as described above) regardless of their origins. This change affects no other aspect of undead other than alignment and all other spells affect undead normally. Unless detailed otherwise, undead are created with negative energy. However, some undead on Onara are animated through the use of positive energy.
Intelligent undead are created by using the soul of the person as the fuel that powers the transformation.
Deathbringer's Life Beyond Life power.
Order of the Still Heart's Death and Rebirth power.
Ghost: Hold the Spirit spell.
Skeleton: Mark of Thralldom spell.
Zombie: Mark of Thralldom spell.
Hold the Spirit
Necromancy
Level: Clr (Beltine) 2, HC (Beltine) 3, Spirit 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature that died within the last 24 hours
Duration: 1 day/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: No
Beltine owns the sprit and has granted her devout followers the power to hold the sprit to the body for a short amount of time. By casting this spell, the spirit may be bound to the body for longer than the standard 24-hour period. As long as the soul is bound to the body in this fashion and the other requirements of the spell are met, a raise dead spell will bring the target back to life even after the 24-hour limit associated with the cosmology of Arcanis.
However, death is not easily cheated and this spell is not cast without substantial risks. First, binding the soul to the body in this manner is very traumatic. For every day the target’s soul is bound to its body through this spell, there is a chance the experience will drive the intellect insane. Every day the target is under the effects of this spell, it must make a Will save (DC 10 plus the number of days under the spell’s effect) or become insane as if affected by the insanity spell. Only a heal, limited wish, miracle, or wish can restore the target’s mind. Second, any target of this spell that is not returned to life, for any reason, is forever cursed in the afterlife. When the spell expires without the target being returned to life, it rises, becoming an undead menace to the living. The target gains the ghost template and immediately switches alignment to Chaotic Evil. The first priority of this abomination is to seek out those who where responsible for its death, as well as the caster of the spell who caused its current state. If these goals cannot be met for any reason, the ghost will wander an area equal to one square mile per character level or Hit Die it had in life, slaying all living creatures who enter its domain.
Material Component: A pearl worth at least 50 gp, which is placed in the corpse’s mouth and remains there until life is returned to the body. The pearl is consumed when the soul returns to its body or when the spell’s duration ends and the body rises as an undead abomination.
Mark of Thralldom
Necromancy (Creation)
Level: Clr 3 (Neroth), Sor/Wiz (val’Mordane) 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Targets: One living creature
Duration: One year and one day
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
By casting this spell on a single living creature, you ensure that when that creature dies, it will animate as an undead within 1-3 rounds. The target will become either a zombie or a skeleton depending on how intact the body is immediately after death. At the time of the casting, you may issue one simple command that the subject will obey when it returns as one of the living dead, such as “Seek me out for further orders” or “Kill the Elorii in the red tunic.”
Once the spell is cast, the mark of thralldom lasts for one year and one day, and it is very difficult to remove. First, the victim must have a remove curse cast by a higher level caster than the caster of the mark of thralldom. This nullifies the effects of the mark for 24 hours and allows further steps to be taken to remove it. Next, the victim must have an erase spell cast to remove the mark, then a heal spell cast to nullify the remaining effects. Once this final step is taken, the red dye will seep from the skin and flake away.
Due to the nature of the casting of this spell, it may not be cast through a spectral hand spell.
Material Component: A red dye worth 100 gold pieces that is smeared on the subject.
Skeletal Companion
Necromancy
Level: Clr (Neroth) 1, Blackguard 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One corpse or skeleton
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
With this spell you may create a skeletal companion. Though limited by its mindless nature; a skeletal companion can be quite useful. This spell animates the body or bones of a Medium-sized or smaller creature and turns it into a skeleton that will follow your simple spoken commands. This skeleton remains animated until destroyed or dismissed by the original caster. Once animated by this spell, the skeleton may never be animated again by any other means. Only a single skeleton from this spell may be controlled at any one time. Any further castings of this spell will fail if you already have one skeletal companion.
This undead companion does not count against your limit on the number of Hit Dice of undead creatures you may control at any one time. A skeletal companion can only be created from a mostly intact skeleton or corpse. If made from a corpse, the flesh falls off of the bones during animation. The skeletal companion is equal in all respects to the Human Warrior Skeleton entry found in Core Rulebook III.
This spell will not work on any recently deceased corpse or any corpse that has a spirit still bound to the body in some way.
Material Component: A small black onyx worth 50 gp, which is placed in the skeleton or corpse’s eye socket or mouth.
Death and Rebirth: When the character reaches enough experience to gain 6th level in the Order, he dies (but does not lose a level). This death cannot be stopped short of a wish or miracle. If the character does circumvent this death in some fashion, he may not progress any further in this or any other class. Assuming the character allows his death to overtake him, the next morning, after the warming rays of Illiir illuminate his corpse, the true blessing of Neroth takes hold. The character rises as a free-willed undead. His type changes to Undead and he gains all of the undead characteristics (see Core Rulebook III for the characteristics of this type).
Life Beyond Life (Ex): At the apex of his career, after a lifetime punishing those who have spent their lives doing evil unto others, the Deathbringer is granted the power of unlife; the exact nature of his transformation into an undead creature is subject to the GM’s discretion and is proportional to how well the Deathbringer has carried out his mission during his mortal lifetime. The typical transformation is for the Deathbringer to be granted some powerful undead form that permits him to continue carrying out his charge as a member of the Order, but sometimes Neroth has other plans for these most devoted and puissant of His servants.
Neroth’s Final Blessing (Ex)
The greatest blessings of Neroth do not come lightly, and few receive them with such open arms as the val’Mordane. The journey into un-life carries with it great power and strength, shedding the fears and frailties of the human form in exchange for life everlasting, though only those closest to Neroth’s teachings truly comprehend this. In such a measure of understanding, the Val’s body is reborn as that of a walking dead, gaining the Undead template.
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