Liberi Gothica: Reanimator

Herein are the rules for the Reanimator class for Liberi Gothica. The Reanimator imbues life into the inanimate, creating zombies and marionettes to fight for them. Stronger Reanimators might be followed by hordes of undead, or just buff a small set of elite marionettes and corpses as their own personal body guard. Some reanimators focus on removing life force instead of giving it, with a magic known as deanimation.

Upon becoming a Reanimator, you choose either Animation, Deanimation, or Reanimation for your starting ability. You may later buy the other choices with XP.

Animation

Animation: You can animate small objects of your own design, and even a mannequin bodyguard.

You can also animate small, weak golems out of any materials you can get your hands on. Any such golems can be made of any material of size -3 [between the size of a baseball and a watermelon]. It costs 1 Vitality and 1 action to animate such a golem. You can have [Charm] golems in existence simultaneously.

If a Reanimator is killed, all of his golems are destroyed.

Golems have the following statistics:

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Golem Life: 1 Vitality: 1 Attack: 2 Defense: 9 T: 1 A: 1 C: 1 K: 1 S: 1 Move speed: 10 feet Size: -3

Swarm: When golems are attacking the same creature, they may combine their attack into a single attack roll. For each golem after the first, the attack has a +1 to Attack and damage.

When golems are all working together on the same skill, they may combine their check into a single roll. They get a +1 bonus to the roll for each golem beyond the first, and succeed/fail as a group. Use whoever has the highest base skill for the base check.

Climbing: The golem can travel along any surface at its speed.

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Upon creating a golem, you also give it one ability at the time of its creation:

Tough: +3 Life.

Skilled: Gains a +4 bonus to one skill of your choice.

Fast: +10 feet of movement speed.

For the Cause: The golem will throw itself in harm's way. Whenever an attack targets the reanimator, the golem rolls 1d6. On a 2 or less, the attack targets the golem instead. Can only be used if the golem is adjacent to the Reanimator.

Weapon: The golem has some way to attack. It gains a +3 to Attack, and has an attack that deals 1 damage on a hit.

Explode: The golem explodes upon its destruction, dealing 1d6 damage to everyone within 3 feet of it. It can willingly activate its own self destruction, at the Reanimator's command. Everyone in the area makes a Reflex check for half damage. If you take this trait multiple times, the damage stacks.

Flight: The golem is capable of hovering in the air. It flies equal to its speed.

Swim: The golem is capable moving through water rapidly. It swims equal to its speed.

Lantern: The golem can glow on command, providing bright light within 15 feet, and dim light within 30.

Grappler: The golem gains a +4 bonus to Grapple checks, and gets a +1 bonus for each golem helping his check via Swarm.

Durable: The golem is made out of some tough material, making it harder to destroy. It has Damage Resistance 3.

Aflame: The golem is continuously on fire. It sets things ablaze with its touch. It deals 1d4 fire damage as an attack. It burns itself out quickly though, and only lasts 1 minute.

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You can also make a powerful Marionette bodyguard. The marionette is a doll built to whatever shape the creator desires. A marionette takes a week to build, and only one can be active at a time. However, you can have multiple spare bodies, for if your marionette is destroyed. The marionette takes one hour to animate, and costs 6 Vitality to do so.

By salvaging parts of your marionette rather than customizing them yourself, you can cut corners and shave off time from the creation process. For each day you cut off, however, the marionette has 1 less special ability.

If a Reanimator is killed, her marionettes are destroyed.

All marionette dolls have the following base statistics:

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Marionette Life: 5 + T + A Vitality: 5 + T + S Attack: A + S Defense: 7 + A + K T: 2 A: 2 C: 2 K: 2 S: 2 Skills: none. Move speed: 20 feet Slam attack: 1d6 damage. Size: 0

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Upon creating a marionette, you can choose one ability per point of Charm you have at the time of its creation. If you take the same ability multiple times, its effects stack:

Tough: +2 Toughness.

Athletic: +2 Athleticism.

Cute: +2 Charm.

Smart: +2 Knowledge.

Willful: +2 Spirit.

Fast: +20 feet move speed.

Quadruped: The marionette moves on 4 legs. It can be ridden, and its move speed improves by 30 feet. Can only be taken once.

Skilled: The marionette gains 6 XP to spend only on skill points.

Durable: The marionette gains +4 Life.

Protector: As long as the marionette is adjacent to the Reanimator, whenever an attack targets the Reanimator, the Marionette rolls 1d6. On a 2 or less, the attack targets the Marionette instead.

Self-destruction: When destroyed, the Marionette explodes. This deals 3d6 damage to everything adjacent to the marionette. A Reflexes roll at -4 halves the damage.

Crawlspace: The marionette has a hollowed out place, that can hold something up to 2 sizes smaller than the marionette itself.

Mouth: The marionette is capable of speech.

Lantern: The marionette can glow on command, producing bright light within 30 feet of it, and dim light to 60 feet.

Blade: The Marionette has a blade, on a pseudo-arm. This deals 1d6+1 damage on a hit. These blades have either the Slashing or Piercing trait, decided when you take Blade. If taken a second time, the Marionette may make two attacks in one round.

Blade Trait: Add one of the following traits to one of the marionette's Blades: Cleaving, Concealable [retracts into body], Piercing, Slashing, Steam-heated, Steam-propelled, Throwing [attached to body by 20 feet of chain; reeled in after attack as an action. Can be used as a climbing tool]. If you take a Steam trait, the weapon also gains Clumsy. Requires Blade.

Slam trait: Add one of the following traits to the marionette's slam attacks: Bashing, Crushing, Steam-propelled, Steam-shroud, Throwing [attached to body by 20 feet of chain; reeled in after attack as an action. Can be used as a climbing tool]. If you take a Steam trait, the weapon also gains Clumsy.

Shatter: The marionette is built in a way that it can simply fall apart with a command, and pull itself together again. When dealt a Crippling Wound, it just falls to pieces in this way, and can put itself back together as an action. In addition, when destroyed, the body shatters apart instead of being completely destroyed. This allows the body to be animated again, with minimal repairs.

Clockwork: Add any Clockwork armor trait to the Marionette. It gains the Faulty trait as well. Requires Plating.

Plating: The marionette gains a Passive defense of 2.

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Animation costs 8 XP to learn.

Animation Progression: 2 XP: Personal Study: One of your marionettes gains another ability from the above list. Each time you take this progression for a given marionette, it costs 1 more XP.

? XP: Training: You teach your marrionette how to use any 1 perk you know. This progression's XP cost is equal to the XP cost of the perk.

4 XP: Larger: You make one of your marionettes larger. Its size improves by 1. Each time you take this progression for a given marionette, it costs 2 more XP.

8 XP: Making Friends: You may create another Marionette. A new Marionette has a number of abilities from the chart above equal to your Charm score at the time of its creation. Each time you take Making Friends, it costs 2 more XP.

2 XP: Skilled Crafting: Your golems may have an extra special ability upon creation, one for each time you have taken this progression. For each special ability after the first, you must spend 1 more Vitality during the animation process. If you take the same trait multiple times, its effects stack [including Explode]. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

2 XP: More Toys: Your maximum limit on Golems increases by 1. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

3 XP: Defender: A marionette with the Protector trait now takes attacks on a roll of 3 or less.

8 XP: Improved Defender: A marionette with the Protector trait now takes attacks on a roll of 4 or less. Requires Defender.

Deanimation

Deanimation: You can cast spells that stop the living.

When you take Deanimation, you know any 2 of the following spells:

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Transfer: You can move one target's wounds to another. As an action that costs 2 Vitality, you heal 2d6 damage from one target within 10 feet, and deal an equal amount of damage to another target within 10 feet. The target taking the damage may make a Willpower check against your Willpower check. If they succeed, the spell fails, and nothing happens.

If the target being healed has a crippling wound, it is transferred to the one taking damage. If the target being healed has multiple crippling wounds, only the most recent is transferred.

Transfer Progression: 2 XP: More: You may spend an additional 2 Vitality to transfer an extra 1d6 damage. You may only add 1d6 damage per rank of this progression you have. 1 XP: Farther: The range improves by 10 feet.

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Draining Touch: Your touch destroys an opponent's flesh, using it to heal your own wounds. For 1 Vitality, you can shroud your hand in a draining aura for one round. Anything it touches in that time loses 1d6 Life, and you gain the same amount.

Draining Touch Progression: 1 XP: Extend 1: This spell lasts for [Knowledge] rounds instead. 3 XP: Extend 2: This spell lasts for 1 minute instead. Requires Extend 1. 5 XP: Extend 3: This spell lasts for [Knowledge] minutes instead. Requires Extend 2. 4 XP: This spell deals +1d6 damage on a hit. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

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Spiteful Blast: You can fire rays of negative energy. As an action that costs 1 Vitality, you can fire a ray that deals 1d6 + [Knowledge] damage on a hit. This ray has a range of 10 feet. This attack ignores active and passive defenses.

Spiteful Blast Progression: 1 XP: Farther: The range improves by 10 feet. 2 XP: Stronger: Your Spiteful Blasts deal an additional +1 damage. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

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Draining Aura: You cause everything around you to wither and die. Casting this spell costs 4 Vitality and takes 2 actions. The spell takes effect at the end of the second action. Everything within 5 feet loses 1d6 Vitality and gets an Endure check for half damage. You gain as much Vitality as was lost in this way.

Draining Aura Progression: 4 XP: Powerful Aura: You may spend more Vitality while casting the spell. For every 1 Vitality you spend, the spell's area improves by 5 feet. For every 2 Vitality you spend, the targets get a -1 penalty to their Endure check. For every 3 Vitality you spend, the spell deals +1d6 damage. You may only spend 3 extra Vitality for each rank you have in this progression.

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Disintegrate: You can dissolve matter. As an action that costs 2 Vitality, you can deal 1d6 + [Knowledge] damage with a touch. This damage ignores Damage Resistance. This inflicts a Crippling Wound on any creature hit by it. Any living creature hit by Disintegrate gets an Endure check for half damage. If they succeed on the Endure check, they do not take a Crippling Wound.

If this ability hits an opponent's active or passive defense, instead of following the damage waterfall, that defense is destroyed.

Against objects, you make a large hole with this ability. Centered on where you touch, you create an empty sphere with a radius of 1 foot per 2 damage dealt.

Disintegrate Progression: 4 XP: Ray: The range improves from Touch to 10 feet. 2 XP: Farther: The range improves by 10 feet. 4 XP: Stronger: You can spend extra Vitality when casting Disintegrate. For every extra Vitality spent, the spell deals +2 damage. For every 2 extra Vitality spent, the target gets a -1 penalty to their Endure check. You may only spend 2 extra vitality for each rank you have in this progression.

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Wave of Death: You can create a massive blast of negative energy. As an action that costs 4 Vitality, you can fire a 2-foot wide, 30 foot line of deathly energy. Anything in this line may make a Reflexes check. If they fail, they take 2d6 damage. If they succeed, they take no damage.

Wave of Death Progression: 1 XP: Farther: The range improves by 10 feet. 2 XP: Faster: The targets get a -1 penalty on their Reflexes checks. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP. 3 XP: Stronger: The spell deals an extra +1d6 damage. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

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Deanimation costs 8 XP to learn.

Deanimation Progression: 4 XP: Learn another spell.

Reanimation

Reanimation: You have the power to use your slain foes as your allies.

If you come across a dead corpse, you can animate it into some semblance of life. It becomes a mindless creature that follows your every command. Animating it costs a certain amount of Vitality, based on its size.

It costs 1 Vitality to animate a creature of size -3 or less. For each size larger than that, it costs 2 more Vitality. Reanimation takes 1 minute. Whether it rises as a zombie or a skeleton depends on how old the corpse is.

If a Reanimator is killed, all undead made because of her are destroyed. This includes ones not under her command at the time of her death.

How many undead you can control at a time is based on the undead's Vitality, and your Charm. You can control a maximum of [2 times Charm] Vitality in undead.

Zombie Life: 10 Vitality: 1 Attack: 4 Defense: 7 T: 3 A: 2 C: 0 K: 0 S: 2 Skills: none Attacks: Slam 1d4 Move speed: 10 feet Size: -3

Slow: Zombies only take 1 action per round.

Swarm: When a group of zombies is attacking the same target, they can combine the attack into one attack roll. They get +1 to Attack and +1d4 damage for each zombie beyond the first.

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Skeleton Life: 6 Vitality: 1 Attack: 6 Defense: 9 T: 2 A: 4 C: 0 K: 0 S: 2 Skills: none Attacks: Slam 1d4 Move speed: 10 feet Size: -3

Brittle: Skeletons do not get the usual +5 to Life.

Swarm: When a group of skeletons is attacking the same target, they can combine the attack into one attack roll. They get +1 to Attack and +1d4 damage for each skeleton beyond the first.

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Size changes: Life: +2 per size above -3. Vitality: +2 per size above -3. Toughness: +1 per 2 sizes above -3. Attack: +1 per 2 sizes above -3. Defense: +1 per 2 sizes above -3. Attack damage: Up to size -1: 1d4 damage. At size 0: 1d6 damage. +1d6 damage per 2 sizes above 0. Move speed: +5 feet per 2 sizes larger than -3.

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Traits: Depending on what was animated, the creature might have additional abilities:

>Wings: The creature can fly at half the speed it could in life. Skeletons can not fly.

>Bite: The creature has a bite attack. This deals slam damage +1d6.

>Fingers: The creature can make grapple checks. Its Grapple bonus is equal to its Attack value -3. If it gets a hold, it makes a bite attack every round as an action. If it doesn't have the Bite quality, these bites do Slam damage.

>Quadruped: Speed is increased by 10 feet.

>Claws: Its slam attacks do +1 damage.

>Incomplete: You animated only part of a creature, like only a human hand, or just a mounted wolf's head. This creature is considered 2 sizes smaller than the creature it is from.

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Reanimation costs 8 XP to learn.

Reanimation Progressions:

--2 XP: Living Dead: You can animate an additional [Charm] Vitality worth of undead. Each time you take this progression it costs 1 more XP.

--2 XP: Mutation: You can spend an additional 2 Vitality when animating an undead to give it a special trait the base creature does not have. You can give it one extra trait for each time you take this quality. The additional Vitality spent this way is added to the undead's Vitality, and counts towards your control limit.

--3 XP: Souls' Return: When one of your undead is destroyed, if you are within 20 feet you regain half of the Vitality it had.

--2 XP: Tougher: Each undead you make has +2 Life. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

--2 XP: Malevolent: Each undead you make gets +1 Attack. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

--2 XP: Invincible: Each undead you make gets +1 Defense. Each time you take this progression, it costs 1 more XP.

--4 XP: Supernatural Traits: Add one of the following traits to the list of traits you may add to a base undead with Mutation. It costs 4 Vitality to give an undead one of these traits. Requires Mutation.

Chill of the Grave: The undead is cold to the touch, and the air around it is noticeably colder. When grappling, it deals 2d6 cold damage per round. When attacking, it deals +1d4 cold damage per hit. Cannot have Chill of the Grave and Fires of Hell on the same undead.

Fires of Hell: The undead is perpetually on fire. Any undead with Fires of Hell becomes a skeleton. When grappling, it deals 2d6 fire damage per round. When attacking, it deals +1d4 fire damage per hit. Cannot have Fires of Hell and Chill of the Grave on the same undead.

Regeneration: The undead regains 3 Life at the beginning of each round. It automatically regrows lost body parts over the course of 2 rounds. Can only be applied to a Zombie.

Explosive Exit: When the undead is destroyed, it explodes in a burst of negative energy. Every living creature within 10 feet takes negative energy damage equal to half the Vitality of the undead. They may make an Endure check for half damage.

Flight: The undead flies at a speed equal to its movement speed.

Contagious: When this undead bites someone, they must make a Fortitude check every hour afterwards [if they are dead, they automatically fail these checks]. If they succeed on 2 in a row, they overcome the disease. If they fail 2 in a row, they become a zombie of their size, with the Contagious trait. Undead made in this way are not under your control, and simply rove around and attack any living creatures they come across. A contagious zombie transfers only the contagious trait.