Necromancer

Necromancers explore 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 sap the life force from a creature as your magic destroys its body, transforming that vital energy into magical power you can manipulate.

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.

Level 3: Necromancy Savant

3rd-Level Necromancer Feature

Choose two Wizard spells from the Necromancy school, each of which must be no higher than level 2, and add them to your spellbook for free. After this, whenever you gain access to a new level of spell slots in this class, you can add one Wizard spell from the Necromancy school to your spellbook for free. The chosen spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

In addition, whenever you create an undead using a necromancy spell or class feature, gain the following benefits; 

• The creature’s hit point maximum is increased by an amount equal to your wizard level.
• The creature adds your proficiency bonus to its attack and damage rolls.
• The creature adds your proficiency bonus to its armor class.

 

Level 3: Undead Commander

3rd-Level Necromancer Feature

As an action, you can magically create an Undead Commander bound to you. It appears in an unoccupied space of your choice within 30 feet of you.

This Undead Commander is friendly to you and your companions, and it obeys your commands. See its game statistics in the accompanying Undead Commander stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. You can determine the cosmetic characteristics of the Undead Commander; such choices have no effect on its game statistics. The Undead Commander gains the ability to possess the body of any Undead Servant under your control at level 12. In addition, it can wield any equipment you give it and gains an attunement slot when you reach level 5, 11 and 17 in this subclass. 

In combat, the Undead Commander shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its bonus action and reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the Undead Commander can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

The Undead Commander remains until it is reduced to 0 hit points (at which point it crumbles to a pile of bones or remains), until you use this feature to summon the Undead Commander again, or until you die. Anything the Undead Commander was wearing or carrying is left behind when it vanishes. You can also temporarily dismiss the commander as an action. When you summon it again the Undead Thrall reappears with the same statistics as when it was dismissed, including any lost hit points. 

Once you summon the Undead Commander, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher to re-summon it. When you summon it using a spell slot, if you previously dismissed your undead thrall or it was reduced to 0 hit points, it regains hit points equal to 10 times the spell level used. 

 

 

Level 6: Animate Major Undead

6th-Level Necromancer Feature

Beginning at 6th level, your pursuit of knowledge has led you to uncover the secrets to mastering undead of all sizes. You can now raise any singular corpse that is Huge or smaller of a monstrosity, humanoid, fiend, plant or beast with a challenge rating of 3 or lower. It keeps its original abilities and attacks, but loses any resistances, immunities, legendary actions, or special senses it may have had. Raising an undead in this way takes 10 minutes, during which you perform a ritual to animate the creature. Once animated, the creature remains under your control for 24 hours or until its hit points are reduced to 0, after which you may perform the ritual again should you wish. You may only control one creature of this nature at any given time and if you attempt to raise a second creature in this manner, the first creature you animated with this feature crumbles to a piles of bone and remains.

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

At level 15, you may animate a monstrosity, humanoid, fiend, plant or beast with a challenge rating of 9 or lower.

At level 19, you may animate a monstrosity, humanoid, fiend, plant or beast with a challenge rating of 12 or lower.

Level 10: Artistic Animation

10th-Level Necromancer Feature

Starting at 10th level, you can begin to imbue your undead animations with further benefits. When you raise an undead servant, you can grant them one of the following properties. At 15th level, you may grant each minion two of these properties;

Flesh Sculptor:  You intimately sculpt the minion's flesh, hardening and protecting them against decay and damage. Undead servants raised in this way have resistance to non-magical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage.

Elemental Resistance: You sculpt the flesh of an undead servant to defend it from nature, an undead servant raised in this way is protected against an element of your choice.  When you raise an undead servant with this feature you can grant your minion one resistance from the following options; acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder damage.

Life Painter: You control how your undead servants appear to a powerful degree. When raised in this manner, you choose how the minion appears as if they were casting the disguise self spell. The altered appearance is permanent, rather than being restricted to one hour.

Aura of Decay: You enhance your undead servants to project an aura of decay. Enemies that begin their turn within ten feet of an undead servant raised with this feature take 1d6 poison or necrotic damage (your choice).

Dreadful Presence: You enhance your minions with a hideous appearance that projects a tangible aura of malice and dread. Any creature that starts its turn within sixty feet of an undead servant raised in this way that can see it must succeed on a Wisdom Saving Throw with a DC equal to your Spell DC. On a failure, the creature is Frightened of the minion. The creature can repeat its save at the end of each of its turns. On a success, the creature is immune to fear from this and any other minion for 24 hours.

Thorns: You infuse your minion with bony barbs, thorns or poisonous pustules with an appearance of your choosing. When an undead servant raised in this way is struck by a melee attack by an enemy within five feet, your undead servant deals 2d6 piercing damage to that enemy.

Level 14: Order of Undeath

14th-Level Necromancer Feature

Starting at 14th level, you can use magic to empower your undead minions. As a Bonus Action you may select any number of undead minions under your control and give them the following benefits for the next minute;

Undead Horde. When an undead minion under your control makes an attack roll against a creature, and there is another undead minion under your control within 5 feet of them, they gain advantage on the attack.

Undead Bond. While the target is within 60 feet of you, it gains a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws, and it has resistance to all damage. Also, each time it takes damage, you take the same amount of damage. When the target deals damage you gain hit points half the damage (rounded down). If your Undead Commander is present, you can choose for these minions to be bonded to them instead. 

Undead Resilience. When an undead minion under your control takes damage that would reduce it to 0 hit points, unless the damage is radiant or from a Critical Hit, it can make a Constitution Save equal to half the damage taken plus the number of minions currently under your control. On a success, it is instead reduced to 1 hit point. 

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.