School of Necromancy 2024

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 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

Choose two Necromancy spells, each of which must not be higher than level 2, and add them to your spellbook for free.

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.

In addition, when you cast the Find Familiar spell, your familiar may be undead creature type as well.

Level 3: Grim Defilement

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to manipulate necrotic energies within fallen bodies, causing them to become volatile. Once per turn when a creature dies within 30 feet of you, you may use your reaction to mark the corpse with a glowing, green glyph of enervation. The glyph activates whenever another creature moves within 5 feet of the marked corpse, or begins their turn next to it. When the glyph is activated, all creatures within 5 feet of the marked corpse must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC or be dealt necrotic damage equal to 3 x your Wizard level. The necrotic glyph lasts for one hour, or until your concentration is broken (as if concentrating on a spell).

Level 6: Sacrificial Flesh

At 6th level, you are the puppet master pulling the strings of your minions, manipulating their life energies at will. When you are hit by a damaging attack, you can use your reaction to divert the damage to the nearest undead creature under your control within 10 feet of you. You may choose which creatures receive damage, using their resistances or vulnerabilities (if any). Any damage that would remain after bringing the undead creature to 0 hit points is dealt to the next closest undead creature under your control. If there are no applicable creatures, any remaining damage is dealt to you. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and all uses are regained once you complete a long rest.

Level 6: Ebb and Flow

Whenever you cast a necromancy spell of 1st level or higher, you can restore an amount of hit points to all undead creatures under your control equal to your proficiency bonus.

Level 10: Soul of the Grave

Beginning at 10th level, you have spent so much time dealing with undead and the forces that animate them that you have become inured to some of their worst effects, and have gained the ability to take on many of their traits. 

You have resistance to necrotic damage, and your hit point maximum can’t be reduced. When you complete a long rest, you can choose to replace your creature type with Undead, eliminating your need to eat, breathe, or sleep. While in this state, you qualify for all features and requirements that would affect an undead creature. In addition, you and all undead creatures you control become immune to Turn Undead effects. This effect lasts until your next long rest, or until you end it as an action.

Level 14: Necromancer's Command

Starting at 14th level, you can use magic to bring undead under your control, even those created by other wizards. As an action, you can choose one undead that you can see within 60 feet of you. That creature must make a Charisma saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. If it succeeds, you can’t use this feature on it again. If it fails, it becomes friendly to you and obeys your commands until you use this feature again.

Intelligent undead are harder to control in this way. If the target has an Intelligence of 8 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throw. If it fails the saving throw and has an Intelligence of 12 or higher, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of every hour until it succeeds and breaks free.

In addition, the duration of your control over undead creatures that you create using a necromancy spell is extended indefinitely until the creature is killed, eliminating your need to recast the spell to maintain control.