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Necromancy and Ghosts


10 posts • Page 1 of 1

Zettonsperson

Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:38 pm


Can a Necromancer summon or control a Ghost or Spectre or other variety of non-
corporeal undead?

According to the description of the Raise Skeleton spell in the core book, a
Necromancer summons a spirit to inhabit a corpse. According to the collection of
Necromancy spells in the Heroes' Companion, a spirit can be made to talk through a
corpse, and spirits and their energy can be drawn to various purposes.

But nowhere is it mentioned whether a Necromancer can summon or control an actual


Ghost, Wraith, Spectre to their little posthumous army.

However, a Necromancer can summon a Poltergeist onto their victims. Additionally,


it is mentioned in the Oops table for Necromancy that an unlucky Necromancer can be
posessed by an evil spirit. This argues that Necromancers may summon non-corporeal
undead.

The use of physical objects to utilise spiritual energy (Ghost Fence, Spectral
Blade, Swarm of Bones) argues that in order to summon an actual Ghost or non-
corporeal undead, a Necromancer would require an actual connection with the spirit
to be summoned, such as a personal item, body part, or favoruite location. A
Necromancer would also require a special collection of spells to allow the non-
corporeal undead to interact with the corporeal world.

Just something for discussion.


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User avatar
SkinnyOrc
Hero

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:01 am


Sounds like a great Necromancy spell that hasn't been written yet! Something like
Raise Skeleton but for incorporeal undead would make sense, although it sounds like
a more complex and difficult spell. It's been said here before by someone that
while Raise Skeleton is great for building your army of the dead, it'd be good to
have a Necromancy spell that animates a load at once but only temporarily. A spell
that permanently bound an incorporeal spirit to your command would need to be high
MP or even a ritual, but a Summon Spirit spell could instead be temporary.

By the way, in my opinion Raise Skeleton should stop existing as a Wizardry spell
now there's Necromancy with an equivalent Raise Undead spell.
Last edited by SkinnyOrc on Tue Oct 05, 2021 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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HedgeWizard
Knight

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Sun Sep 26, 2021 10:14 am


Also with the Conjuration rituals you also have Ritual of the Fetureless Shade.
It’s a minor demon which you are summoning in that one but the principle works for
a spirit as well.
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Zettonsperson

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:43 pm


Let's say that summoning and controlling incorporeal undead is a ritual. A
Necromancer would have to abide by a similar rule as a Demonologist, they can only
summon undead. There are, on examination, a lot of similarities between Necromancy
and Demonology.

A Necromancer would probably have two basic rituals: The Ritual of the Bound Spirit
(similar to the Bound Fiend), requiring a vial of grave dust, and, yes, the Ritual
of the Featureless Shade, although the Necromantic version will summon a Ghost
(BTP), requiring a skull collected from a grave at midnight.
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User avatar
SkinnyOrc
Hero

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Tue Oct 05, 2021 1:11 am


Yeah I think it makes sense for Necromancers to have rituals that summon and allow
long duration control of powerful undead. With Demonology you're summoning an
entity from another plane of existence, so you can do it from any location. With
Necromancy, for some types of undead they might already need to be present in the
area. But others might be coming from the Spirit Plane, which is mentioned in Out
of the Pit for the Ganjees and probably elsewhere.

Ritual of the Bound Fiend could be a model for this sort of ritual, but it relies
on the Essence mechanic. A penalty based on the SKILL of the undead might replace
that. But it also may be better to have multiple rituals for different types of
undead as they vary a lot in their nature.
SkinnyOrc's Notebook
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Zettonsperson

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:36 am


I overlooked the Essence modification required in the Magic Conjuration test to
control the summoned being. However, a solution is present: the Hierarchy of the
Pit.
A Necromancer using my Ritual of the Bound Spirit to control a Ghost or other
incorporeal undead would modify their Magic Conjuration test with the Pit-Hierarchy
Tier to which that being belongs inversed. Thus a Ghost, which is on the Fourth
Tier of the Pit-Hierarchy (RGtP) would, ironically enough, impose a modification of
4 on the Magic Conjuration test to bend it to a Necromancer's will through the
Ritual of the Bound Spirit. Further examination of the Pit-Hierarchy suggests that
most other incorporeal undead are also on the Fourth Tier or above. This difficulty
implies that the Necromancer had best be quite powerful before attempting to summon
and control incorporeal undead such as Ghosts!

Mind, such powerful undead as Liches and the Canker are only on the Fifth Tier of
the Pit, and would only impose a modification of 3 to a Binding.

If an undead is already present on Titan, trapping it in a magic circle may be


difficult. Therefore a Necromancer should develop a spell such as...Grave
Command... subject to similar modifiers as the Ritual, with the MP cost equal to
the SKILL of the undead to be bound.
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User avatar
SkinnyOrc
Hero

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:25 am


The hierarchy is a convenient way to group the power of undead, but as they're all
grouped in two of the tiers I'm not sure that's enough steps.

I was never keen on the undead coming from The Pits. If they and demons come from
the same place, what's the difference between a necromancer and a demonologist? The
idea the undead are servants of the demons goes right back to the Titan book, but I
prefer they're earthly servants even if the spirits in them come from elsewhere. I
also see many undead as acting independently.
SkinnyOrc's Notebook
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Zettonsperson

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:56 pm


I can agree that the Hierarchy is convenient but perhaps not the best way to rate
undead.

However, let's examine a scenario based on what has been developed so far in this
discussion.

Naughty Nelly Necromancer wants to clear out an inn for her own use. Rather than
get blamed for zombies wandering about, she wants to scare everyone out and keep
them out of the inn. She decides to summon a Ghost and bind it to her will to do
the scaring. Naughty Nelly raids a necropolis for some grave dust and a skull for
the rituals that she learned from Nechepso, Neophyte of Razaak. She sets up in her
cave. Naughty Nelly has MAGIC of 7, Magic Necromancy of 3. Her effective Arcane
power for Necromancy is 10. Summoning the Ghost with a Ritual of the Pale
Apparition will take 9 hours, for the Ghost's SKILL. She rolls an 8, so the
summoning is successful. The Ghost is caught in her magic circle until the next
midnight. Nelly, tired, takes five hours rest, then comes back to do the Ritual of
the Bound Spirit. She rolls a 6, and this is the number of Attack Rounds her ritual
will take, but to better her control, she decides on 7 Attack Rounds, raising her
chances of success by two, with 12 as her failure roll. The Ghost, however, imposes
a penalty of 4, reducing the failure roll back down to 8. Naughty Nelly Necromancer
begins her ritual...and rolls 9. The Ghost will not be bound to her will, and at
midnight will be freed from her magic circle. Naughty Nelly might become Nervous
Nelly soon...

It occurred to me while writing that a way of calculating the penalty might be to


add the undead's SKILL and STAMINA together, so for a GHOST (BTP) that would be a
total of 17, and then divide that by the Magic Necromancy score, so Nervous Nelly's
was 3, equalling 5 point something. Technically therefore, the penalty for
controlling should have been 5 in the scenario above. Not that it mattered for our
hapless Necromancer...
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User avatar
SkinnyOrc
Hero

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Wed Oct 06, 2021 5:30 am


I like having separate rituals for the summoning and the control, then you can skip
the first one by finding a ghost that's already haunting a location.
SkinnyOrc's Notebook
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Zettonsperson

Re: Necromancy and Ghosts

Post Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:03 am


Attempting to control a Ghost that is already present on Titan is entirely
different than one that has been summoned.

For the Ritual of the Bound Spirit, the Ghost would somehow have to be caught in a
magic circle or the Necromancer must survive the Ghost's attempts to stop the
binding for the number of Attack Rounds that a binding takes.
Alternately, a Necromancer could utilise a Ritual of Spirit Calling (with similar
requirements to Summoning) to bring a Ghost already present on Titan into a magic
circle where it can be held whilst the Ritual of the Bound Spirit is attempted.

I have to be honest, I quite enjoy exploring these variations on the established


rules for Necromancy.
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Untitled document
This is an adventure for mostly priests and necromancers - enjoy!

The Lich’s Tomb

As the heroes pry open the cracked stone doors of the Mausoleum. You light your
lantern and carefully descend into the darkness. You gag as you reach the bottom of
the stairs, the foetid smell flooding your nostrils. You have arrived.

The room is bare except for a few cobwebs and the staircase ascending to the
surface. The stair emerges in the old village graveyard.

What used to be iron bars line the door, but they have long since rusted away.
Inside the room is 3 skeletons chained to the wall, and one lying limp in a small
iron chair, with a cracked skull and whip lying loosely in his hand. On closer
inspection he has a Barbed Necklace round his neck.

If the heroes speak at all whilst in this room all the skeletons will jerk upwards.
Whilst the skeletal Gaoler will attack immediately the others will need to free
themselves from the chains first.

SKELETAL GAOLER

Skill: 6

Barbed Whip (See appendix)

Stamina: 12

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

Loot: Barbed Necklace.

SKELETAL CONVICT

Skill: 5

Improvised Weapon

Stamina: 9

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

Special: Each combat round roll a D6 and on a 4+ they break free from their chains
and enter the combat.

If a hero investigates the room and passes an awareness test of 16, they will see
that the gate in the doorway was smashed inwards by something, and it is likely
still in the crypt! There is also 5cp scattered on the floor.

This small guard room comprises of a few stacked crates in one corner and a guard
in the other. The guard is wearing chain mail and a helmet, with a fallen spear
beside him and a scrap of paper in his hand.
If the heroes read the scrap of paper say the following.

Rise the named one from the grave,

His voice shall become your obedient slave,

Only three may be asked,

So now awaked Sigfried Le mask!

Upon reading this the corpse will jolt awake. He is not able to harm you, as you
see that his chest has been horribly mauled. This has the same effect as the
necromancy spell Corpse Talk, and will drain either 1 mp or stamina from the
reader. A necromancer can use this to learn the spell. If they hit him he will fall
down and cannot be ressurected again. He will use his knowledge to answer the
heroes questions, and using the information across the adventure you can give away
snippets of info if asked. If a priest reads the incantation their current magic
falls by 1D3 as they are commuting necromancy, this is doubled if they worship
Galankta and falls by 1D3 -1 if they worship a neutral God, and if they are an evil
priest they suffer no penalty.

The crates contain 35cp.

Thick, iron bars seal off this room. Jagged spikes line the bars, and are coated in
dried blood. The bars are buckled, as if someone - or something, tried to break
through.

The heroes can attack the gate with a warhammer or cast a spell to destroy it.

GATE

Skill: 6

Armour Piercing Dagger

Stamina: 22

Special: Only spells and war hammers can damage it.

Losing an attack round to the gate represents injuring yourself on the spikes.

Inside the room is a Bloody pentagram with burnt out candles around it. A skeletal
hand lies in the centre of the pentagram. Books and scrolls also litter the floor,
many of which are bloodsoaked. If they take the skeletal hand they will hear a
screaming sound that will quickly subside. A hero with clearsight will see an evil
presence surrounding the hand.

The books are mostly ruined but one remains intact. It is called “ The Eyes Of The
Ghoul” and it can teach a necromancer the spell “Eyes of the ghoul” after weeks of
learning and paying the exp cost. Some scrolls also remain, which can teach a
necromancer the spells Spectral Blade, Dart, and Tomb rot it they study them enough
and pay the exp cost. If a priest Burns the room their initial magic is raised by
one. Also when it comes that they fight the Lich it has 4 less stamina and 2 less
magic.

5
The floor of this room is covered by a large purple glowing pentagram and floating
in the middle of it is a dark purple gemstone. In each corner of the room 4 statues
stand, of an Archer, Rogue, Warrior and a Priest.

If the hero steps inside the pentagram it will become a solid barrier blocking
others from entering or leaving it. Then, horrific spirits starts flying from the
gem, screaming curses as they fly around the heroes. Then, promptly they all fly
back inside the gem, except one - who flies into the warrior statue. The barrier
then subsides but the warrior statue comes to life with a purple light shining from
its eyes!

POSSESSED STATUE

Skill: 5

2x damage warhammer (can't be looted)

Stamina: 26

Special: Bladed weapons deal half damage and Crushing weapons deal 2x damage. It
also counts as a spirit for the purpose of priest powers and spells.

At once as soon as you enter the room you feel a sense of dread. The source of this
dread emanates from the rooms only occupant, a well in the centre. The closer you
get to it the greater the dread becomes, and anyone with clearsight will black out
from the aura of immense evil present.

The heroes will not go down the well, not matter how much they want to. Tell them
how much dread they feel and discourage them from going down it. Even spells cannot
help them. If a hero somehow falls down the well roll a D6, and if it's odd they
die. Regardless of their exp or gear they die. If they do not blackout or die from
the fall there is no way one single person can defeat the demon. If they roll even
however, they have been put away for a later feast and if the daemon can be killed,
they can be rescued.

They cannot fight it yet.

7.

As you creak open the rotten wood door bones spill out. The room is knee deep in
bones! Various items are littered among the bones, and it could be easy to get
them.

Every time they search roll for the Undead loot table with a -1 result. But they
must roll a D6. On a 5 or 6 nothing happens. But on any other roll that number of
SKELETAL REMAINS appear. They can do this as much or little as they want.

SKELETAL REMAINS

Skill: 5

Unarmed Medium

Stamina: 6

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.


8.

As you enter this room a very grim scene unfolds before you. A rotting skeleton
lies on a bloodstained table whilst 4 other mauled corpses are scattered about the
room. Plates line the table with chunks of rotting meat on them. And a knife is
embedded in the prone figure…

If the heroes disturb the prone corpse on the table will sit up, pluck the knife
from it's ribs and stab it at the hero!

CANNIBALISED SKELETON

Skill: 7

Meat Cleaver (Shortsword)

Stamina: 4

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

When it is killed all of the mauled corpses will awake and attack.

SKELETAL REMAINS

Skill: 5

Unarmed Medium

Stamina: 6

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

There are 7 meat cleavers and 13 copper scattered throughout the room.

9.

As you enter this room a robed figure jerks up from the ground and drags itself to
a brazier in the middle of the room. As it tries to light it 2 more robed figures
rise and attack you!

ROBED SKELETON

Skill: 4

Dagger

Stamina: 6

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

If the figure trying to light the brazier is not killed within 4 attack rounds it
will ignite in a fire ball. This will deal 1D3 damage to all heroes in the room. It
will also char all the skeletons, burning their robes up and making them CHARRED
SKELETONS, and the brazier lighter a CHARRED ONE

CHARRED SKELETON

Skill: +1
Shortsword

Stamina: +2

Special: Immune to fire.

CHARRED ONE

Skill: +3

Shortsword

Stamina: -

Special: Immune to fire.

If the room is not burnt 3 scrolls of Grave Chill can be found. These can allow
evil priests or or other non priest heroes to use the Chill of the Grave necromancy
spell or learn it by paying the exp cost.

10

As you enter this room you are taken aback, for piles of copper and silver swamp
the room, almost knee deep!

The coins are an illusion and anyone with clear sight will see that in fact they
are a MIMIC SERPENT.

It will stealthily pull people into the “treasure” where they will take 1D3 damage
each turn until someone attacks the serpent. It pulls you in by getting a surprise
attack against you and winning. If you win you fight it as normal.

MIMIC SERPENT

Skill: 6

Medium Bite

Stamina: 16

Light Monster

Special: Blunt weapons deal -1 damage to it.

The room is empty.

11

A Black Obsidian Coffin lies in the center of the room. A subtle mist lines the
floor and partly conceals the ruined pentagram coating the floor. On top of the
coffin lies a rotting corpse, with ragged cloth cloths and a missing hand. As you
approach the corpse you start to hear a whispering. It tells you to not panic, that
he will help you if you can reunite him with his hand and heart, and he will leave
you in peace.

His hand is the hand found in room 4, and his “heart” is the shard of blight stone
found in room 5.

LICH
Skill: 5

Unarmed

Stamina: 16

Light monster, but Heavy against blades.

Magic: 6

Magic Necromancy 3

Knows all necromancy spells exept deaths head.

If you recovered his hand he has +1 magic. If you recoverd his heart he has +2
magic.

If a necromancer kills the lich he can resurrect it with the spell and bind it
under his control (see appendix)

Once you recover a part of him he will awake. If you try to attack him he will
fight back. He will also attack you if you are a good priest. He will make a path
to room 6. He will stand at the doorway and start chanting. He is invoking the
demon that lives in the well as he wants revenge. The “Demon” will then crawl out
of the well and attack!

The “Demon”

Skill: 8 Attacks: 1

Large Claw

Stamina: 6 per “Aspect”

Medium Monster

Each person will fight an aspect of the “demon”. There are six aspects in total. If
you kill one the next will crawl out of the well. You cannot interact with each
other as you are all in alternate realities. If you all kill all 6 aspects you will
all reemerge in reality and a prone humanoid figure will lay before you. He is
wearing a hexagonal mask. In the forehead of the mask is a large black Pearl. Then
the Lich will turn on you. You will have to fight the Lich now, although he will
most likely have depleted his magic points.

If you attack him before he gets to the well and kill him, the creature from the
well will attack the heroes anyway! The Lich’s death awakes it and it comes hunting
for blood. If someone goes down the well once the demon is dead they will find any
captured friends and the number “6” etched all over the stone walls.

Appendix

BARBED NECKLACE

Rarity: Uncommon

Level: 1

Ingredients:
Barbed Chain

Blood

Effect: If you are wearing it each time you land a hit you have +2 damage roll but
lose one stamina.

Lore: The Gaoler used this to better torture the prisoners. He did not care for his
bodily harm, only advancement in his career. He found it at a flea market in the
village.

MIMIC POUCH

Rarity: Rare

Level: 3

Ingredients:

The skin of any form of Mimic

String

Effect: When you open the pouch it can make it seem like anything can appear inside
it. If you put something inside it it can change appearance for 1D6 Minutes.

Shard of Blight stone

Rarity: Legendary

Level: 6

Uncraftable

Effects: Distorts barrier between living and dead, Majorly boosts necromancy. Every
one is unique so it's up to the GM to determine it's abilities.

MASK OF SIX

Brother to the the other masks (I.e mask of seven)

Untitled document

Psychopath!

The heroes are walking through the Blacksand Sewers when suddenly all their lights
go out and they are plunged into darkness. In front of them - in the distance they
can barely make out a demonic figure rapidly approaching them. Possessed by an
unnatural terror they run for the surface. Over the next few days the demon's face
haunts them. They see it in every shadow, it haunts their dreams - they once even
see it on a wanted poster - but to their shock everyone else can see it too! When
they ask about it they say it has been haunting the Blacksand sewers and there is a
10,000Gp reward for whoever kills it. They decide to find and kill it.

This adventure is an attempt to explore the idea of player fear in the games. For
each point of FEAR they have they have -1 to all rolls. They start with one FEAR.
As soon as you enter the sewers all lights are put out and you are plunged into
near total darkness.

The demon will keep his stats throughout his adventure and once he ‘dies’ read the
extract at the end.

“Demon”

Skill: 4

Brawling 4

Two Armour Piercing Daggers

Stamina: 18

Light Monster

Ambidextrous

1.

The door to this room has the number 7 repeatedly carved into it.

As you enter the room you start to hear an ominous chanting of the number seven
over and over again - and suddenly the Demon strikes from the shadows - his
haunting face leering as he does so.

After one attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any
players that lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

2.

There is a gaping hole in the floor here - this will allow the heroes to enter the
corresponding location on the caves map.

3.

There is a gaping hole in the floor here - this will allow the heroes to enter the
corresponding location on the caves map.

Dozens - No - Hundreds of mutilated courses lie here.

The first time the heroes enter they gain one FEAR and each subsequent entry they
have a 1 in 6 chance of gaining a FEAR.

4.

The floor of this room is coated in a thick, oily substance.

When a hero enters this room they need to pass an acrobatics test of 14 or they
slip over and fall into the oily liquid gaining one FEAR. Read this text to any
people who doesn't fall over:

Once again you start to hear the sevenfold chant but your feet feel rooted to the
floor, YOU ARE STUCK! And the leering demon lunges at you!

The ‘Demon’ lands a surprise attack on all standing heroes and as normal after one
attack round he vanishes and any heroes who took damage gains one FEAR.
5.

As soon as you enter this room the door slams shut behind the first one in -
blocking the others out! Then… The chanting begins.

After one attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any
players that lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

6.

This room is full of broken arrowheads for no apparent reason, as you bend down to
examine them the Demon attacks!

Unlike usual he will stay for 3 attack rounds and in the first one he will do a
surprise attack and in all others he will have +3 attack strength as he weaves
through the arrowheads unharmed. Every attack round the heroes take dagger damage
from standing on the arrowheads.

7.

This room is filled with half digested children. Any heroes entering this room for
the first time will gain one FEAR and every other time they enter they have a 1 in
6 chance of gaining a FEAR.

There is a gaping hole in the floor here - this will allow the heroes to enter the
corresponding location on the caves map.

Whilst they are distracted by the corpses the Demon will strike and after one
attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any players that
lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

8.

The door to this room is locked with a large lock. Without the key there is no
getting in.

The key can be found on the ‘Demons’ corpse and inside the room is a bunch of
mutilated corpses of people they know. (Although the corpses are not of them but
replicas). They will gain one FEAR.

9.

As soon as the last of you enter the room the door slams shut and the sevenfold
chant starts to start……...AND THE DEMON STRIKES!

After one attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any
players that lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

10.

As soon as the last of you enter the room the door slams shut and the sevenfold
chant starts to start……...AND THE DEMON STRIKES!

After one attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any
players that lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

11.
Ahead you see a corpse face down in the sewers. You watch a few minuets, fascinated
by how the blood mixed with the water (LOSE ONE FEAR)... But then the chant starts…

After one attack round he will vanish. His attack will be a surprise attack. Any
players that lost an attack round against him gain one FEAR.

READ WHEN THE DEMON REACHES ‘0’ STAMINA

Your final blow lands true and hits the Demon on the head, sending a large portion
of it scattering across the ro-

Wait! That isn't a Demon! It's a man in a mask! Although he is no less deadly…

The Man In The Mask

Skill: 4

Brawling 4

Two Armour Piercing Daggers

Stamina: 18

Light Monster

Ambidextrous

This time he will not flee.

Once he dies read the following:

As he falls to the ground you run to examine his mask - and find a curious black
gemstone set into it. (Lose All Your Fear). He also has a large iron key on him and
some vials of what you hope is not blood.

The heroes cannot claim the bounty on his head as he is not a demon like the bounty
wanted and they will be laughed away if they try to turn him in.

If at any point the heroes flee they can pay 1/10gp for therapy to heal 1 FEAR.

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