For those wondering what this might be, its part of an out of character/in character thing I'm doing to illustrate some different ways of playing/portraying Necromancers, the first 3 parts are linked below.
Necromancy Primer part 4: A study of two of the more destructive archetype Necromancers.
Today we'll be take a quick look at two practitioners of Necromancy, the Blighters and the Plague Rats, both of which are the more destructive type of Necromancers that others may encounter..
The Blighter:
The Blighter is a necromancer that is enamored by necrotic energy in all its destructive forms. They easily blend in with other wizards as they routinely lie about their chosen wizard specialism until violence is required and then they unleash the full might of their prowess with Necrotic energy with a glee that verges on mania, although some have noted a certain euphoria they seem to experience whilst channeling Necrotic energy. It is due to this that many view blighters with disgust and distrust.
Blighters come from all walks of life and backgrounds from the mundane to the profound but they are most likely to be evil intent. They are inherently untrustworthy as they routinely deceive and lie about their proclivities.
Blighters specialize with Arcana to blend in with other spell casters but can be quite charismatic when they need to, often have a way with honeyed words and "white" lies. When it comes to spell casting they only use damaging spells that deal Necrotic damage such as Chill Touch, Toll the Dead and Blight but often take other spells to help them blend in with other spell casters and will usually claim to be some other specialism of magic.
The career of a Blighter can take off in a variety of ways, many take any opportunity to learn new spells that deal Necrotic damage even going so far as to make pacts and become Warlocks or taking up the worship of Gods and becoming Clerics of the Death Domain.
Blighters tend to dress in a way that does not promote their destructive or wizardly tendencies and adopt the principal of "hiding in plain sight" although they very rarely carry weapons, preferring to utilize their Necrotic spells should combat be required.
The Plague Rats are another sub-sect of Necromancer that are often rightly viewed with distrust but where the Blighter is often a manic practitioner of their destructive art, the Plague Rat is more collected and often appears indifferent to the suffering around them.
The Plague Rat:
Plague Rats walks the streets of towns and cities polluting the world with pestilence. The Plague Rat is a specialist with poison and disease and tends to be calmly detached from the acts they do, casually observing the ebb and flow of the pathogens and contagions they have unleashed. Although this leads most down a path of evil intentions, some Plague Rats spread disease and poison wells to bring down corrupt governments more than because they want to see everything die or spread misery and suffering. Plague rats usually carry a book containing details of diseases and their progression/infection rates as well as recipes for concocting poisons of various types.
Plague Rats come from all backgrounds but all have some incident in the history that provoked them into studying diseases and poisons, some may have been infected with a malady in childhood, other may have been mistaken for dead and thrown into a plague pit, whatever the reason, plagues, poisons and disease now hold their interest. Death is not always the result they seek, sometimes it is just the pursuit of knowledge and identifying when and how a mortal body fights off the effects they create.
Plague Rats become usually become skilled with Medicine, Nature and Poisoners Kits to be able to create their toxins and harvest poisons from insects and animals before taking up the study of Arcana and mage-craft. For combat they rely exclusively on spells that deal poison damage, such as Poison Spray and Ray of Sickness, create noxious environments, such as Stinking Cloud or create disease, such as Contagion. For other events, they rely on spells that help hide their presence, such as Invisibility or Nondetection or aid in escaping or evading the authorities, such as Dimension Door or Misty Step. These are practitioners of the craft that thrive on secrecy and remaining unseen.
Plague Rats usually pursue any means to perfect their poison and disease making skills and it is not unheard of for them to study with Druids to gain more interesting ways of spreading their plagues and poisons or even take up the mantle of Herbalist or Alchemist in a settlement, more than one Plague Rat has found employ with a Thieves Guild, where their knowledge and expertise can fetch a high price. The Plague Rats usually maintain a hidden or secluded haven where they have one or more alchemy labs set up for brewing poisons as well as small gardens to grow herbs and areas to make medicine kits, poisoners kits and herbalism kits. There are also hidden wells or cells were animals and people are kept to observe the progression of a disease. When adventuring they keep several fully stocked medicine and herbalism kits with them and travel in clothes that don't draw attention. They are also likely to carry several vials of poison to either smear on daggers, pour into peoples drinks or poison that turn into vapor.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
For those wondering what this might be, its part of an out of character/in character thing I'm doing to illustrate some different ways of playing/portraying Necromancers, the first 3 parts are linked below.
Pt 1: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/45953-a-primer-for-those-thinking-of-taking-up
pt 2: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/47660-necromancy-primer-pt2-introduction-to-the-curse
p3 3: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/48560-necromancy-primer-pt3-introduction-to-the-doctors
Right onto part 4.....
Necromancy Primer part 4: A study of two of the more destructive archetype Necromancers.
Today we'll be take a quick look at two practitioners of Necromancy, the Blighters and the Plague Rats, both of which are the more destructive type of Necromancers that others may encounter..
The Blighter:
The Blighter is a necromancer that is enamored by necrotic energy in all its destructive forms. They easily blend in with other wizards as they routinely lie about their chosen wizard specialism until violence is required and then they unleash the full might of their prowess with Necrotic energy with a glee that verges on mania, although some have noted a certain euphoria they seem to experience whilst channeling Necrotic energy. It is due to this that many view blighters with disgust and distrust.
Blighters come from all walks of life and backgrounds from the mundane to the profound but they are most likely to be evil intent. They are inherently untrustworthy as they routinely deceive and lie about their proclivities.
Blighters specialize with Arcana to blend in with other spell casters but can be quite charismatic when they need to, often have a way with honeyed words and "white" lies. When it comes to spell casting they only use damaging spells that deal Necrotic damage such as Chill Touch, Toll the Dead and Blight but often take other spells to help them blend in with other spell casters and will usually claim to be some other specialism of magic.
The career of a Blighter can take off in a variety of ways, many take any opportunity to learn new spells that deal Necrotic damage even going so far as to make pacts and become Warlocks or taking up the worship of Gods and becoming Clerics of the Death Domain.
Blighters tend to dress in a way that does not promote their destructive or wizardly tendencies and adopt the principal of "hiding in plain sight" although they very rarely carry weapons, preferring to utilize their Necrotic spells should combat be required.
The Plague Rats are another sub-sect of Necromancer that are often rightly viewed with distrust but where the Blighter is often a manic practitioner of their destructive art, the Plague Rat is more collected and often appears indifferent to the suffering around them.
The Plague Rat:
Plague Rats walks the streets of towns and cities polluting the world with pestilence. The Plague Rat is a specialist with poison and disease and tends to be calmly detached from the acts they do, casually observing the ebb and flow of the pathogens and contagions they have unleashed. Although this leads most down a path of evil intentions, some Plague Rats spread disease and poison wells to bring down corrupt governments more than because they want to see everything die or spread misery and suffering. Plague rats usually carry a book containing details of diseases and their progression/infection rates as well as recipes for concocting poisons of various types.
Plague Rats come from all backgrounds but all have some incident in the history that provoked them into studying diseases and poisons, some may have been infected with a malady in childhood, other may have been mistaken for dead and thrown into a plague pit, whatever the reason, plagues, poisons and disease now hold their interest. Death is not always the result they seek, sometimes it is just the pursuit of knowledge and identifying when and how a mortal body fights off the effects they create.
Plague Rats become usually become skilled with Medicine, Nature and Poisoners Kits to be able to create their toxins and harvest poisons from insects and animals before taking up the study of Arcana and mage-craft. For combat they rely exclusively on spells that deal poison damage, such as Poison Spray and Ray of Sickness, create noxious environments, such as Stinking Cloud or create disease, such as Contagion. For other events, they rely on spells that help hide their presence, such as Invisibility or Nondetection or aid in escaping or evading the authorities, such as Dimension Door or Misty Step. These are practitioners of the craft that thrive on secrecy and remaining unseen.
Plague Rats usually pursue any means to perfect their poison and disease making skills and it is not unheard of for them to study with Druids to gain more interesting ways of spreading their plagues and poisons or even take up the mantle of Herbalist or Alchemist in a settlement, more than one Plague Rat has found employ with a Thieves Guild, where their knowledge and expertise can fetch a high price. The Plague Rats usually maintain a hidden or secluded haven where they have one or more alchemy labs set up for brewing poisons as well as small gardens to grow herbs and areas to make medicine kits, poisoners kits and herbalism kits. There are also hidden wells or cells were animals and people are kept to observe the progression of a disease. When adventuring they keep several fully stocked medicine and herbalism kits with them and travel in clothes that don't draw attention. They are also likely to carry several vials of poison to either smear on daggers, pour into peoples drinks or poison that turn into vapor.