For My Fellow Necromancy Enthusiasts: Reanimator Mystic Connection


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As the title says. I am a big, big fan of Necromancy, and as a result I was quite saddened by the lack of a proper necromancer option for starfinder. Additionally, I love charismatic characters, so I was also saddened by the lack of a proper Charisma-based spellcaster for starfinder. Thus, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, rectifying both "issues" with one homebrew Mystic Connection. Seeing as archetypes are no longer class-limited, I felt the Mystic was the best chassis for a casting-stat-swap "archetype" since they get their connection right at first level meaning a stat-swap for the class is as easy as baking it into a connection. Likewise, since Charisma was always the stat most historically associated with Necromancy, and I personally don't find trafficking with dark magics, evil powers and undead a thing a particularly wise person would do, I felt that the casting-stat-swap mystic and necro-mystic at least thematically work well together as being one and the same.

So, during a sleepless night I brewed this in like a half hour. As a result, it likely has the balance of something brewed in a sleepless half hour, so if anybody has any balance comments/advice they would be most appreciated! Anyway, here is the Connection:

Mystic Connection: Reanimator

Scarab Sages

Takhisis wrote:
Likewise, since Charisma was always the stat most historically associated with Necromancy....

Wait...I'm sorry, what? This was simply never true. As a matter fact, I'd even go so far as to say that is the opposite of true.

As far as I know, there wasn't even ANY Charisma-based magic before the 3.0 Sorcerer and Bard, and I always thought that was a mistake in the former case.

If Necromancy has a "most associated ability score", it would in fact be Wisdom, since Clerics have historically been the "best" Necromancers, and before 3.0, even Necromancer Wizards were required to have a very high Wisdom, in addition to Intelligence. The magic of life, death, and the gray areas between lends itself best to a contemplative mentality, and strong will is, for numerous reasons, a must.

Dark Archive

I'm Hiding In Your Closet wrote:
Takhisis wrote:
Likewise, since Charisma was always the stat most historically associated with Necromancy....

Wait...I'm sorry, what? This was simply never true.

I'm not even sure there was ANY Charisma-based magic before the 3.0 Sorcerer and Bard, and I always thought that was a mistake in the former case.

You forget the Dread Necromancer from 3.5e, which is arguably the most iconic necromancer option from that edition of the game. Likewise, Rebuking undead, undead hit points, and undead fort saves have always been Cha-based since 3.5e. Even further, in PF the best Necromancer class, bar none, was the Oracle...and even non-cha casting Necromancers still needed a relatively high cha to make the most use out of Command Undead. Maybe always historically associated was the wrong phrasing, I'll give you that. I should have said "most historically associated since 3.X" since Cha had nothing to do with anything magical until 3.X, let alone Necromancy.

Scarab Sages

Takhisis wrote:
You forget the Dread Necromancer from 3.5e, which is arguably the most iconic necromancer option from that edition of the game. Likewise, Rebuking undead, undead hit points, and undead fort saves have always been Cha-based since 3.5e.

The fact that the Undead substitute their Charisma for Constitution in many ways isn't the same.

As for the Dread Necromancer, perhaps it's partly because I want to forget it. Maybe it tried to be "the most iconic necromancer", but the main thing it may be remembered for is making Lichdom its 20th-level ability, which rather badly overlooked the fact that you could normally become a lich as early as 11th level. The fact that its magic was Charisma-based, again, grew out of 3.5's mistake of turning it into the "default" ability for arcane magic (which at least Pathfinder scaled back on some) after sticking the Sorcerer with it; the best explanation I've heard for why they did that in the first place was because they were trying to make it more distinct from the Wizard, back when they had almost no class features whatsoever outside their spellcasting and an obligatory Familiar.


Yeah, I'm going to have to agree that either Wisdom or Intelligence makes more sense than Charisma in this case.

To me, flavor-wise it makes sense for:
* Intelligence to be the casting stat for magic that represents study of the laws of reality so you can bend the universe to your will via rule magic (so Wizards and the like);
* Wisdom to be the casting stat for channeling forces intuitively (so Druids, and what the Sorcerer and Oracle should have been based on);
* Charisma to be the casting stat for magic that represents either making pacts with powerful beings or imposing your will on minor spirits to make them enact magic for you (so what the Cleric should have been based on).

In that sense, if you are a more "warlock-like" Necromancer making pacts with demons and spirits of the underworld, Charisma would be appropriate; otherwise Wisdom for channeling the powers of life and death.


For necromancy, you could just as easily argue against intelligence or wisdom. The undead seem to exist to snuff out life.

On the other hand, the planet run by the undead may keep some living around on the pretense that the living have the potential to become undead. They may be kept in special environments where the schools teach necromancy.

In most myths and legends, there are many paths toward death and darkness but only one narrow path to heaven.

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