N is for Necromancer

Necromancy has come a long way from it's humble origins.

In a historical context, it's about communicating with the dead. I won't say that's it, but yeah, pretty much, that's it.

In those terms, the old Martha Wells novel, Death of The Necromancer, plays with its original function as well as what it's later become.



While it's long out of print, the Kindle version is only $2.99 so it makes an interesting read and Martha is a hell of a writer.

In role playing terms, especially in the grand father of RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons and it's sibling, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Necromancy is a school of magic. It's also, depending on the edition, a sphere of priestly studies. The effects tend to go well beyond merely speaking with the dead.

But not only necromancy as a school, but as a character archetype. So fascinating is the subject, that even 'back in the day', TSR was able to get a DMR (Dungeon Master Reference) out of it with The Complete Book of Necromancers. This was a fun little book with its own island setting making it useful for almost any standard setting that TSR was publishing back in the day.

The book isn't available in print anymore but you can buy it at DriveThruRPG.com nowadays for $9.99. If you want Necromancers that are more than game stats, it's a solid book. Don't misunderstand me, it includes a lot of gaming information for AD&D 2nd edition but unless you're playing that edition, the game mechanics might be a little dated.

When thinking about Necromancers, there are a lot of subjects to think about.

What happens to dead people? This isn't a question of people rising as zombies after death but rather, a question on what happens to a person's corpse. In a fantasy setting that is known to have magic that can raise the dead, what purpose would not burning the bodies or at the very least, binding the bodies have? "Well, I know that necromancers are real and that the undead can be created through their magic, but hell, let's not actually do a single thing to prevent that."

Is Necromancy Inherently Evil? Necromancers are often portrayed as evil individuals from their dealings with all of the negative energy they handle. The Complete Necromancer's Handbook plays against type with some options, and Kobold Press has a book, New Paths Compendium, with a White Necromancer. Nat Russo has his own take on it in his series starting with the Necromancer Awakening.



Thinking about the role of necromancer in the setting can have a huge impact on how the entire setting works. Are there famous necromancers? Some that are 'fated' to return?

One of my favorites in that region was Nagash in the Warhammer Old World. There was something appealing in a 'normal' person who creates the whole concept of Necromancy. Who creates the first  vampires. Who undergoes a physical change to such a point that his own body becomes engorged with the power and he becomes a giant.

If you've followed me on Twitter or over on RPG.net, you'll note that I've wanted Nagash to return to Warhammer for a long time. When Games Workshop was doing their yearly story lines, I had hoped for a 'Summer of Nagash' where they would release new sculpts of old figures with new stats and have one of those campaigns where the players would determine the fate of the world!

Mind you Games Workshops efforts in this endeavor had failed to a certain extend in previous years thanks to the ham fisted writing of the Games Workshop staff who seemed unable to accept that Chaos was stomped into the ground so soundly when they should have been posed for victory...

But Games Workshop in an effort to invigorate the Old World, went a step further. Nagash was the first to have his 'End Times' book published and it literally was the start of the end for the Old World of Warhammer.



But other companies, like En World Publishing, have their own versions of a powerful necromancer. In this case, it was a book called Necromancer's Legacy, Gar'Udok's Necromantic Arts. A book designed under the OGL and d20 license for 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It was filled with monsters, prestige classes, spells, and magic items with it's own story of Gar'Udok. Good stuff for those looking for a name less famous than Nagash.

Necromancers have long been a staple of fantasy games as the villains. How have you used Necromancers in your own campaign? One shot use? Campaign villain? Individuals who have challenged the likes of Orcus for their throne?

Nagash: 5 Reasons to Use Nagash in your Fantasy Role Playing Game

I'm a big fan of Nagash from way back in the day. Hunt threw some of my ideas to revitalize the Warhammer line and you'll see me talking about a "Summer of Nagash" where the big undead returns and gets to use a variety of unique models as well as those from Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings.

Well boy did that come to pass eh? For those who don't know, Nagash is an undead sorcer from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. At the end of 2014, Games Workshop started the 'End Times' and did a lot of different things to the Warhammer Fantasy setting. The first book of that was with Nagash.

But why is Nagash so awesome? I'm approaching him not only from a miniature appreciation, but because it's Warhammer and I've been a player of the Warhammer setting for years, also as a role playing character.

1. The God That Walks: Dungeons and Dragons has a fat bloated goat headed demon lord known as Orcus. Nagash is a man who pulled himself up into a god like status and fought Sigmar, another former man, now god, in hand to hand combat. Fat goat demon versus man who pulled himself into the higher reaches of possible power?

2. Nagash has magic items. The Books of Nagash or the Liber Mortis, are potent necromantic artifacts in and of themselves that drive others to search them out. These artifacts can make little games in and of themselves as players, if good, must prevent others from finding them, and if evil, take them and master them before others do. His name is also associated with other artifacts of her time like the Black Pyramid of Nagash. This lending of his name to various things, without he himself being there, lends his character power. Take the fat bloated goat headed demon again. What's his wand called? Yup, Wand of Orcus.

3. The First: Nagash has a lot of things attributed directly to him or about him ranging from necromancy and vampires to lichdom. And if not him creating them directly, him being involved either as a counter against his power or early experimentation. This is one of the few times where a setting has a definitive answer. "Where did vampires come from? Where did liches come from? Where did necromancy come from?"

4. Potent Characters: How can you not love Nagash when he has a follower like Arkhan The Black? I have the original model of this character and he's a lich on a skeleton chariot. His never version is even more impressive. When you need a high priest for the undead? Having someone who might be a match for Vecna when Vecan was a lich as opposed to the deity he became? And how about those on the edges of Nagash lore like Krell, a former Chaos Champion who was raised by Nagash and wound up serving Heinrich Kemmler, the Lichemaster? Those names in and of themselves were of powerful entities and they're just entities on the chain of Nagash's influence.

5. Backstory: Because he wasn't overused, Nagash remained a potent character despite having a terrible model in the older edition of the game. This allowed the writers of the Warhammer Fantasy setting to fire with both barrels and deliver a ton of new models, new characters, new scenarios, and new events that could fit in with what we know of Nagash. In Spartacus, there is rumors of "The Shadow of Death" before Spartacus fights the gladiator. Putting bits and pieces of lore about Nagash well before the characters ever meet him? Classic!

When you want to build a monster of your own for your campaign, you could do far worse than look at how Games Workshop handled Nagash.