School of Neo-Necromancy

The School of Necromancy explores the cosmic forces of life, death, and undeath. As you focus your studies in this tradition, you learn to manipulate the energy that animates all living things. As you progress, you learn to manipulate the life force from creatures, transforming that vital energy into magical power you can use to animate creatures of your own.

Most people see necromancers as menacing, or even villainous, due to the close association with death. Not all necromancers are evil, but the forces they manipulate are considered taboo by many societies.

In lieu of this, several scholars of the School have come together to revise its precepts in hopes of improving the image of its practitioners and attracting novices wizards who might have felt too intimidated before. The New School of Necromancy enables rudimentary healing abilities and promotes a respectful, responsible attitude toward animated undead.

Necromancy Savant

Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a necromancy spell into your spellbook is halved.

Grim Transfusion

At 2nd level, you have learned a certain degree of control over the life forces that flow through each living being. As an action, you may touch a creature in order to either drain their vitality, or give them yours. You may take an amount of hit points of up to four times your Necromancer level and either remove it from your target's pool and add it to your own, or vice versa. If the target is unwilling, make a melee spell attack. On a hit roll a d4 for every two of your wizard levels (minimum 1) and add or subtract the resulting number of hit points. Hit points transferred this way can not cause either pool to go beyond their maximum number of hit points. You can't use this feature on constructs.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum of one charge). When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

Shepherd of Undead

At 6th level, you add the Animate Dead spell to your spellbook if it is not there already. If it is, you can choose another Wizard spell from the School of Necromancy and add it to your spellbook. When you cast Animate Dead on a corpse you can choose to animate a zombie or skeleton.

You can choose to cast Animate Dead as an action in place of its 1 minute casting time. You can do this a number of times equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum 1), and regain all uses when you take a long rest.

Undead that you create gain these additional benefits:

• The creature's hit points maximum is increased by an amount equal to half your wizard level.
• The creature adds your proficiency bonus to its damage rolls.
• The creature adds your proficiency bonus to its AC if it has natural armor.
• You can choose the creature's moral alignment (Good, Neutral or Evil) or let the creature take the alingment it had in life.
• If the creature's Intelligence, Wisdom and/or Charisma score were higher when it was alive, it uses those scores instead. If its Intelligence is 7 or higher, it is sentient and develops a personality which may be similar to the one it had in life. Instead of asserting control over the creature, it is treated as an NPC, able to choose to follow you willingly at the DM's discretion. If they’re following you, you command them as usual.

 

Imperishable

Beginning at 10th your hit point maximum can't be reduced. Your vast experience with undeath has made you more resilient to its more damaging effects.

Additionally, you ignore undead creatures' resistance to necrotic damage, and you treat undead creatures' immunity to necrotic damage as if it were resistance instead.

Further, when you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can make a Constitution saving throw (DC of 10 or 5 + the damage taken, whichever is higher), on a succes you fall unconscious, but are stable. You must finish a Long Rest before you can use this feature again.

Commander of Undead

Starting at 14th level, you can use magic grant sentience to wild undead, and release them from the control of other individuals. As an action, you can choose one undead that you can see within 60 feet of you. You must make an Intelligence check with a DC equal to 5 + the creature's DC. If you succeed, the creature's Intelligence score becomes 7 if it wasn't already higher, its alignment changes to what it was in life or to the same as yours (your choice) and if it was being controlled by another creature, it no longer is. If you had not harmed the creature before, it is friendly to you and may choose to follow your command, though you may need to persuade it first at the DM's discretion. Intelligent undead who are acting out of their own free will are immune to this feature. You can use this feature a number of times equal to half of your proficiency bonus, and regain all spent uses after finishing a long rest.

Additionally, friendly undead within 90 feet of you are resistant to radiant damage and have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects that that turn or control undead.