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(Sorry about this post's length, there is a lot of info)
Due to the ambiguity and apparent uselessness (until 7th level where it might be too powerful) of the Necromancy School Specialist Bonus, my DM and I have agreed to a variation for my Necromancer in our unofficial game using PRPG rules. This variation is certainly not revolutionary, but it will give your Necromancer a Specialist Bonus that is comparable with the bonuses from the other schools. I thought I would post it here in the event that anyone wanted to use it.
The Specialist Bonus is basically an amalgamation of the Cleric Animal Domain, 1st level Summon Companion Ability and the Summon Undead 1 – 5 Spells from the Heroes of Horror Dungeons and Dragons Supplement. The Necro variation reads as follows:
Necromancy School
Specialist Bonus: As a standard action you can summon one undead companion to aid you as per Summon Undead I. The creature remains until you dismiss it , and you can never have more than one such creature in your service at one time. Once the creature dies or is dismissed, you must wait 1 hour before summoning another. At 6th level, and every four levels thereafter, you may summon a more powerful companion, increasing the Summon Undead spell by 1 (II at 6th level, III at 10th , IV at 14th , and V at 18th ).
Following are the details and summoning tables for the Summon Undead line of spells:
SUMMON UNDEAD I: Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil], Level: Blackguard 1, cleric 1, dread necromancer 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, Components: V, S, F/DF, Casting Time: 1 round, Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), Effect: One summoned creature, Duration: 1 round/level, Saving Throw: None, Spell Resistance: No
This spell functions like summon monster I (see page 285 of the Player’s Handbook), except that you summon an undead creature. Summon undead I conjures one of the creatures from the 1st-level list in the Summon Undead table at right. You choose which creature to summon, and you can change that choice each time you cast the spell. Summoned undead do not count toward the total Hit Dice of undead that you can control with animate dead, plague of undead, or other command undead abilities. No undead creature you summon can have more Hit Dice than your caster level +1. Focus: A tiny bag, a small candle (not lit), and a carved bone from any humanoid. Note: The descriptions of the summon undead spells presented here supersede earlier published descriptions.
SUMMON UNDEAD II: Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil], Level: Blackguard 2, cleric 2, dread necromancer 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, Effect: One or more summoned creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart.
This spell functions like summon undead I, except that you can summon one undead from the 2nd-level list or two undead of the same kind from the 1st-level list.
SUMMON UNDEAD III: Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil], Level: Blackguard 3, cleric 3, dread necromancer 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, Effect: One or more summoned creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart.
This spell functions like summon undead I, except that you can summon one undead from the 3rd-level list, two undead of the same kind from the 2nd-level list, or four undead of the same kind from the 1st-level list.
SUMMON UNDEAD IV: Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil], Level: Blackguard 4, cleric 4, dread necromancer 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, Effect: One or more summoned creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart.
This spell functions like summon undead I, except that you can summon one undead from the 4th-level list, two undead of the same kind from the 3rdlevel list, or four undead of the same kind from a lower-level list.
SUMMON UNDEAD V: Conjuration (Summoning) [Evil], Level: Cleric 5, dread necromancer 5, sorcerer/wizard 5 Effect: One or more summoned creatures, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart.
This spell functions like summon undead I, except that you can summon one undead from the 5th-level list, two undead of the same kind from the 4th-level list, or four undead of the same kind from a lower-level list.
SUMMON UNDEAD OPTION LIST:
1st Level: Human Warrior Skeleton or Kobold Zombie
2nd Level: Owlbear Skeleton or Bugbear Zombie
3rd Level: Ghoul, Troll Skeleton or Ogre Zombie
4th Level: Allip, Ghast, or Wyvern Zombie
5th Level: Mummy, Shadow, Vampire Spawn, Wight
I've read a number of postings of players who are looking for a more “White” or “Non-Evil” Necromancer alternative. Clearly the above Summon Undead list won't really jive with that perspective.
I'm going to be playing a Lawful Neutral Osirian Necromancer who follows Pharasma. My DM and I are currently working on an alternate summoning list that focuses on the idea of summoning the (less evil) spirits of my Osirian ancestors. I'm going to roleplay it that these spirits are the unworthy, undead souls trapped in Pharasma's graveyard or athiests who have denied their own afterlives and are seeking favor with Pharasma to gain entry to the Boneyard. I will post this alternate list on this forum when it is done.
For those of you who like this alternate Necromancy School Specialist Bonus, do you have any additional ideas for a “less evil” summoning list?
Hope to hear from you. Thanks.
I think it's a good start. It kinda covers the earlier idea of a pet that grows as you level up.
The pet should be non-intelligent (or a max of 2 like an Animal).
Being non-intelligent the undead of course would be neutral and should cause no problems with non-evil summoners. They are just hollow animated shells made of previously living creatures. Essentially non-thinking, magically-animated machines.
Apparent desecration of dead bodies is a role-playing issue and not a function of alignent necessarily (especially if you are to allow the spell to be cast by non-evil PCs)
I think the creature should be unsummoned if the summoner looses conciousness, due to combat, spells, or just regular resting. The necromancer should conciously keep that pet animated, but not to the full extent of requiring 'concentration'.
I think it's a good start. It kinda covers the earlier idea of a pet that grows as you level up.
The pet should be non-intelligent (or a max of 2 like an Animal).
Being non-intelligent the undead of course would be neutral and should cause no problems with non-evil summoners. They are just hollow animated shells made of previously living creatures. Essentially non-thinking, magically-animated machines.
Apparent desecration of dead bodies is a role-playing issue and not a function of alignent necessarily (especially if you are to allow the spell to be cast by non-evil PCs)
I think the creature should be unsummoned if the summoner looses conciousness, due to combat, spells, or just regular resting. The necromancer should conciously keep that pet animated, but not to the full extent of requiring 'concentration'.
I'm not sure if you guys have the Unearthed Arcana, but it has an EXCELLENT variant for a replacement for a familiar that my DM lets me use. I'm a big fan of having a familiar/skeleton level with you.
I see one flaw in your proposal. The necromancy specialist ability grants you a conjuration (summoning) spell! I don't think it makes any sense to gain a specialist ability, which is a spell from another school.
You could make it a necromancy spell instead. But I think it should avoid being a summoning spell, since these are not very necromancy like. Instead it could be called "Undead Companion", and I would instead of waiting 1 hour before summoning a new one, require 1 hour (maybe per level of the ability) spent on creating the new undead, and demand some corpses (no matter what) to be availiable.
I think these modification can help making it more in the spirit of necromancy.
What if the necromancy school gave limited immunity to negative energy? Like "You can ignore 5 points of negative energy per level* per day. You can ignore 1 point of ability damage or drain but this equals 5 points of negative energy damage. 1 level drain equals 15 points of negative energy damage."
