Editing Necromancer (section)

====Athasian Necromancers====
In [[Dark Sun]], necromancers were introduced in "[[Defiler (Dark Sun)|Defilers]] & [[Preserver]]s: The Wizards of Athas", a [[splatbook]] that... well, you can guess from the title. On Athas, the normal route of the specialist wizard has vanished; there, the title of necromancer applies less to a wizard who focuses on necromancy spells (although they are still good at those) and more on a wizard who has learned to use [[Shadowfell|The Grey]] as a power source, similarly to [[Cerulean Storm|Cerulean Wizards]] and [[Shadow Magic|Shadow Wizards]]. Ironically, this means that necromancers are technically the ''least evil'' wizards running around on Athas, since their spellcasting does no damage to the planet. Most are either obsessed with seeking out ancient lore, or else want to become immortal.

Like Cerulean Mages and Shadow Wizards, Athasian Necromancers are handled using the [[kits]] mechanic, and can be either Defilers or Preservers as their base class - they tend to be Defilers, however, simply because the D&D rules give preservers a -15% penalty to checks to learn necromancy spells, whilst defilers get a +15% bonus instead. Mechanically, they look like this:
::Class Restriction: Necromancers cannot dual-class or multiclass.
::Race Restriction: [[Human]], [[Half-Elf]]
::Stat Requirements: Wisdom 16, Constitution 14
::Alignment Requirement: Must be Neutral
::Weapon Proficiencies: All Wizard, plus Whip
::Nonweapon Proficiencies:
:::Bonus: Planes Lore
:::Required: Languages (Ancient)
:::Recommended: Ancient History, Astrology, Bargain, Engineering, Intimidation, Lens Crafting, Reading/Writing, Spellcraft
::Special Benefits:
:::'''Walk With the Dead:''' An Athasian necromancer has a 65% chance to be able to successfully open negotiations with an intelligent undead, causing it to refrain from attacking until it has heard the necromancer out.
:::'''Seize the Bones:''' An Athasian necromancer can attempt to seize control over unintelligent undead, which causes them to obey the necromancer for 1d6 rounds. The chance of success is 5% per level. Once the time expires, the undead reverts to the control of their original master (if any), or simply becomes free-willed.
:::'''Inured to Fear:''' Athasian Necromancers are immune to all Fear effects related to the undead.
::Special Hindrances:
:::'''Fickle Power Supply:''' An Athasian Necromancer must make a Power Gathering Check, like a [[Defiler]]. Due to the extraplanar nature of their power source, they roll a D10 to determine the "terrain type" portion of that table; 1 = barren, 2-4 = infertile, 5-7 = fertile, 8-9 = abundant, 10 = lush.
:::'''Spiritual Strain:''' An Athasian necromancer must make a Constitution check whenever they gather power to fuel their spells; if they fail the check, they take 1d2 damage (if the "in play" power gathering method is used) or 1d6+1 (if the "off-stage/when memorizing" method is used). In the latter case, the necromancer fails to memorize their spells unless they repeat the process, which requires a second Constitution check; if this fails, then the necromancer cannot attempt to memorize spells for a 24 hour period.
:::'''Aura of Death:''' An Athasian necromancer suffers a reaction penalty equal to 1/2 their character level (so a 2nd level necromancer has a -1 penalty, a 4th level one has a -2 penalty, etc).