Brahn Necromancer

While others use magic to do paltry things like conjure fire or fly, the Necromancer is a master over death itself. They study the deep and forbidden secrets that raise the dead, controlling minions toward a variety of goals. Perhaps they seek the power that mastery over death provides. Perhaps they are serious and unashamed scholars, who reject the small-minded boundaries held to by others. Each enemy they fell becomes an eager and disposable ally, they become immune to the energies of death and decay, and ultimately harness the immortality and power of undeath for themselves.

Life Tap

Starting at 1st level, your touch can siphon the life force of others to bolster your own. As an action, you can make a melee spell attack against a living creature, dealing necrotic damage equal to 1d8 + your Charisma modifier on a hit. You gain temporary hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage dealt. If this feature kills the creature, you gain twice as many temporary hit points from using this feature. The damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8). You may use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier(minimum one) and you regain all uses of this feature at the end of a long rest.

 

Necromancer Occult

At 2nd level, you choose an occult which specializes you in your dealings with death: Keeper, Reaper, Undertaker, and Witch Doctor each of which is detailed at the end of the class description. Your occult grants you features when you choose it at 2nd level and additional features at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

Keeper

An eager doctor's assistant stays late after a failed surgery to stitch the cadaver closed, and prepare it for transport to the undertaker. But while he has the remains here to himself, he sees no harm in a little research. This case was an odd one, and he'd like to know more about it. As he conducts his experiments, he murmurs to the body, "Let's see where it all went wrong, and where we can do better next time."

Necromancers of this Occult study death in order to keep it at bay, whether it be for their own benefit or for another. Keepers have a deep and intricate understanding of why creatures die, and how to slow death or stop it all together. But the things necessary to obtain such knowledge are not for the faint of heart, or those lacking resolve.

Undertaker

In a cemetery, a woman provides a service for a family grieving their lost one. She had spent the evening before prepping the corpse and making everything presentable for the wake. Her services were appreciated and she accepted her thanks, but her real joy would happen after everyone left. She looks at her next corpse, the shopkeep of the funeral home, "Why let the dead rot?"

An undertaker is from the Occult that specializes in raising the dead. Whether it be passing through town and filling in for a businessman or collecting minions from a graveyard, the years of preparing corpses has taught the undertaker how to make her undead a force unequal to others. Her minions are tougher and fight longer. She always has a skeleton or zombie at her side to carry out tasks and can quickly raise an army when others want to surround her. An undertaker has no fear of death since death itself fights for her.

Witch Doctor

A man walks through a misty and dark swamp. His face is filled with dirt, blood, and tears. The man is scared, strange sounds move all around him as he stumbles through the swamp with water reaching to his waist. In the distance, he sees a light. He knows he is getting closer, but will it be on time? He looks down to his arms, his clothes covered in blood. In his arms, he holds the body of his wife, bleeding and barely alive. Desperate times ask for desperate measures, the gods didn't listen to his prayers and sorrow, so he sees no other choice.

As he gets closer, a dim light in the mist is enough for the man to see the silhouette of a small wooden hut. The light is a lantern, the only light in the swamp, dangling before a wooden door. The man collapses on his knees in front of the door, heart broken and exhausted as he lowers his wife to use one hand to knock on the wooden door.

The door opens with a squeaking sound as a figure with wild hair and a face painted like a skull opens the door, the witch doctor. He smiles as he sees the man in front of his door. The man beg for the life of his wife with his face full of tears. The doctor only smiles and answers "then you know what you must do" as she gives man a small razor sharp dagger. The man doubts but looks down at his wife as he kisses her a final farewell on her forehead. The man cuts his own throat, blood slides down the mans chest as he breathes his last breath. The doctor smiles and starts to softly hum as he rubs his arms pleased. The mans death will not be in vein.

The woman opens her eyes in shock as life runs back through her veins only to see the face of her dead husband, sobbing in his arms as the doctor softly closes his door. The contract has been sealed.

Soul Harvest

Starting at 3rd level, by reaping life you are able to claim a fraction of those unfortunate creatures souls to regenerate your wounds and fortify your body. At the end of your turn, if you or any undead under your control have killed one or more creatures whose CR is greater than 1, you regain hit points equal to your necromancer level. If doing so would grant you more hit points than you can have, you gain temporary hit points equal to the amount of excess hit points received.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Spontaneous Unburial

Starting at 5th level, your understanding of necrotic and negative energies allows you to raise the dead with ease. You may cast the spell animate dead as an action and you do not require a corpse or pile of bones to do so; the skeleton or zombie will claw its way up from underground and acts on your next turn. In addition, you learn the spell animate dead. This spell does not count against your number of spells known but still requires a spell slot to cast.

Animate Major Undead

Beginning at 7th level, your pursuit of knowledge has led to uncover the secrets to mastering undead of all sizes. You can now raise any corpse that is Huge or smaller of a monstrosity, humanoid, or beast with challenge rating 3 or lower can be animated. It keeps its original abilities and attacks, but loses any resistances, immunities, legendary actions, senses it had and gains the immunities and vulnerabilities of its type, skeleton or zombie. You can issue mental commands to the creature as the animate dead spell. You can only control one major undead at a time. This feature functions as the spell animate dead except where otherwise noted. You may use this feature on an existing undead you control to reassert your control over it. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.

At level 11, you may animate a monstrosity, humanoid or beast with a challenge rating of 6 or lower.

At level 15, you may animate a monstrosity, humanoid or beast with a challenge rating of 9 or lower. In addition, a major undead now lasts until its hit points are reduced to 0.

Ritualistic Unburial

At level 14th level, the repetitive nature of raising your undead has become like a ritual for you. You may cast animate dead as a ritual.

Macabre

Starting at 18th level, the death you surround yourself with has become part of you. Your flesh has become pale and your eyes have taken on a yellow tint. Some necromancers alter their appearance with stitches sewn on their face, body, legs, or arms. Others may adorn the remains of corpses to impose fear and keep people away. The overexposure to death has earned an affinity with undead. Whenever you interact with undead, you have advantage on all Charisma checks. In addition, while you may look sick and exhausted from the constant dealings with death, you do not age and you are immune to poison damage, diseases, exhaustion, as well as the frightened and poisoned conditions.

Séance

Starting at 20th level, your presence commands respect from undead. As a bonus action, the necromancer can target an undead creature they can see within 30 feet of them. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target must obey the necromancer's commands for the next 24 hours, or until the necromancer uses Séance again.