Birthright: Book of Priestcraft (2e)
2e
Undead, Undead Creature: A favorite tactic of Kriesha's followers is to provide an enemy with the certain knowledge that his body will be animated after his death and used to serve the Vos. Rumors abound of certain very powerful high priestesses of Kriesha turning their enemies into greater undead enslaved to their wills; the high priestesses are thus able to torture their victims' spirits forever. None know whether such rumors are true or spun from legends, but the threat of such a fate is enough to prevent most people from crossing the church of Kriesha.
Animate Army battle spell.
Greater Undead: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Zombie: Legion of Dead regent spell.
Skeleton: Legion of Dead regent spell.
Monster Zombie: Legion of Dead regent spell.
Giant Skeleton: Legion of Dead regent spell.
Wight: ?
Animate Army
(Animate Dead; Necromancy)
Spell Level: 3
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: One battlefield square
Components: v, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: Two attack phases
Area of Effect: One unit
Saving Throw: None
This spell is similar to the animate army battle spell found in the Book of Magecraft. With this spell, a priest may revive a destroyed unit and send it back into action under his control. To cast the spell, the priest must stand in the same square or a square adjacent to the one in which the unit was destroyed. Once the unit is revived, he need not remain near it.
The revived unit arises with all weapons, armor, and equipment it had when the unit was destroyed (unless looting occurred in the meantime). The undead obey the caster without question, even if they were on the opposite side of the battle before their destruction. The unit has the same statistics as it had in life (the player uses the same War Card), with the following exceptions:
• The unit ignores all F and R results except those caused by magical attacks,
• The unit's defense rating gains a +l bonus.
• The unit's charge rating is reduced by 2; if reduced to 0 or lower. the Unit cannot charge.
• The unit is considered to have all three morale symbols (shield, pennant, and swords) as the Undead Legion War Card.
At the end of a battle, if the unit still survives, it immediately falls to the ground, its energy gone. The troops then decompose quickly, making it impossible to cast this spell on the same unit twice. If the unit is destroyed in battle, it cannot be raised again.
This spell is almost always considered evil in nature; only under extreme circumstances should PCs even consider this magic. DMs who believe that PC priests are abusing the spell are free to enforce penalties from the PC's deity. Such penalties may start with the deity prohibiting high level spells or allowing beneficial spells to cause only minimal effect; if the PC persists in casting the spell, the penalties may increase to prohibit more spells or spells of specific categories. For more detail on matters of "divine favor and disfavor,'' see the Player's Option Spells & Magic tome.
On occasion, use of this spell might be considered acceptable, such as raising elite troops to defend their homeland against an incursion from the Spiderfell or other Terrible threat.
The material components are bone chips and dried blood. The act of collecting these may even be considered an evil act for some characters.
Level 5 Regent Spell
Legion of Dead
Sphere: Necromantic
Regency: 4/company
Gold: 4 GB/company
Req'd Holding: 3
Duration: 1 month +1 week/level
This spell is similar to the wizard realm spell of the same name.
When an evil priest casts this spell (anyone other than an evil priest using it will be subjected to an alignment judgment), he summons units of zombies and skeletons to his banner of war. These creatures, powered by the evil energies of the caster's faith, will perform military actions at the priest's orders for the duration of the spell or until they are destroyed by normal means.
The priest may summon one undead unit (at a cost of 4 RP and 1 GB) at 5th level, and one for every level thereafter (an 8th-level priest may call forth four undead units at a total cost of 16 RP and 4 GB).
Unlike the wizard spell, the priest need not remain with his undead units to prevent their dissolution.
He may give simple standing orders, such as “Attack that province until all resistance is dead,” or "Occupy this province and kill anyone who resists.'' He can also appoint a leader for the undead ("Follow this man's orders.''). Extremely powerful priests often summon or create alliances with powerful undead and place them at the head of their armies.
For War Card battles, use the Undead Legion War Card. In standard game terms, each company is composed of about 200 zombies, monster zombies, skeletons, and giant skeletons.
These armies are immune to all spells that are normally nonfunctional on undead. They cannot benefit from any spells that offer healing powers. If the priest maintains these armies beyond the end of a domain turn, he need not pay maintenance costs, since undead do not eat and attack using any weapons at their disposal.
