| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| RodOdom |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 19:01:14
What could a necromancer do so wrong in his research to provoke the Church of Mystra to send a dozen clerics and paladins after him? I'm helping a player fill out her paladin's background story. Thanks in advance! |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Thangorn |
Posted - 24 Mar 2007 : 14:16:58
* Member of the Cult of the Dragon sending a dracolich to destroy a Temple of Mystra to obtain certain magical secrets to assist him/her in their dark designs
* A Zhentarim necromancer and his allies fighting faithful Mystrans in a town or village they wish to control
* Necromancer desecrating a graveyard hallowed to Mystra to steal magics from the crypts and/or raising/animating the corpses of Mystra's faithful.
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| Matan Thunder |
Posted - 24 Mar 2007 : 05:51:09
 
Another idea could be based on permanently augmenting undead lesser/greater with arcane spells (mage magic) that would enhance them and make them more of a potential threat to regions that are dear to Midnight.....I mean Mystra.
Spells like......
1) Lv 4 Quad Skeleton: Dur Permanent. M component is a dead body and an appropriate number of arms. The caster of the spell can have 1 quad skeleton per 2 levels at any one time. Quite a little gathering..
Creates 4 armed skeletons.
2) Lv 5 Reformable Skeleton: Dur Permanent. M Component is the skeleton. The skeletons will continue to reform even when turned and turned to dust. It is a 15% +5% per level after 1 turn. They can only be prevented from refroming by a 3 step process.
3) Lv Kalli's Steel Bones Or another bones to steel spell I know of...whichever one has a longer duration. Kalli's lasts only for 4 rds + 2 rds per level. The M components are a human rib bone, with srips of metal. Nice Fragmentation pattern.
4) Finally Either:
Lv 4 Zandae's Explosive Skeletons: Dur Until Set Off; Which causes the skeleton to explode under a set of preset circumstances. It will cause extra damage when it is wearing armor and the max range for the detonation is a 20' diameter.
Lv 5 Skeletal Detonation: It lasts for 1 day per level Only V & S Components. May only affect 1 hd per 2 levels. Also has a 20' diameter affect max.
Or lets say some of these......might tick her off in lets say Silverymoon or the Dales.
Sphere of Doom Lv 6 Necromancy Tome of Dark Magic
Rng: 0
Dur: Instantaneous
A/E: 5 yds per lvl
Comp: V,S
C/T: 6
S/T: None/Negates
Simply put this spell will grant 2 hp per caster level to any undead in the A/E form necromantic energy. There is not duration for this bonus of phantom HP, but of course there is that lvl increase limit….Now lets add this to a Thayan circle casting and you can see where the skeleton hit point totals can be uber’d up.
Zander’s Face of Deception Lv 6 Necromancy Tome of Dark Magic
Rng: Touch
Dur: Permanent
A/E: One Undead
Comp: V,S,M
C/T: 1 round
S/T: None
This spell will permanently provide the undead with a permanent fleshy shell of flesh encasing the undead of the creature’s previous race that the undead possessed. It also will prevent magical emanations from being emitted by the undead, and also will radiate a chose alignment. No detection spells will work, and the undead appears to breath with a heart beat. The best undead concealment spell I have seen on the net, and it is permanent. Added to the other spells listed and the necromancer will gain a real hard force of skeletons to beat.
Zandae’s Soul Trap Lv 6 Necromancy Tome of Dark Magic
Rng: Touch
Dur: Permanent
A/E: One Soul
Comp: V,S,M
C/T: 1 Turn
S/T: None
This spell is a great skill booster for undead. The spell is EVIL!!! The magic will place a recently dead fighters proficiencies and fighting prowess into a gemstone that can then be placed into the left eye of an undead creature. Quite a boost for lesser undead . The gem must be worth 1500 gp.
If a second gem is placed in the right eye the creature gains a 5 WIS & INT and can be bound to the caster. This binding prevents casual undead control usurping The undead gains the trapped fighters soul STR, and a HP bonus of 5d6+2 hp to the undead totals. This use of gems mimics a skeleton that was in a early Dragon Magazine article called a Gem Eyes that I will detail at the end of the spell posting.
The personality of the creature whose soul is bound to the undead is mostly sent to its final resting plane, but if this soul is ever restored.
Korel’s Wisdom Beyond Death Lv 7 Necromancy Tome of Dark Magic
Rng: 0
Dur: Permanent
A/E: Undead Touched
Comp: V,S,M
C/T: 1 Turn
S/T: None
Well if the spell above wasn’t enough try this augmentation on for size. This spell also uses a gemstones crystal matrix as a focus/amplifier for the dark energies granting formerly mindless undead with a INT. The gem acts as a focus for what remains of the brain of the undead. This gemstone will be placed in the skull cavity, so it is a perfect complimentary spell with the Soul Trap spell above.
The value of the gem will determine the INT and a number of bonus skills that are granted
Value
10 gp 1-2 INT Immediate Command
20 gp 3-4 INT Comm activated by conditions
50 gp 5-6 INT Simple strategies, like ambush
100 gp 7-8 INT Multi Step conditional comm.
200 gp 9-10 INT Avg servant skills
500 gp 11-12 INT Can comm other undead
1000 gp 13-14 INT Effective use of mid sized groups
2000 gp 15-16 INT Effective troop comm.
5000 gp 17-18 Impersonation of humans
10000 gp 19-20 Extreme cunning
Quite a power structure.. The undead gain a hollow sepulcher voice & there are rumors of the undead of higher INT gaining sentience and possibly free will. It would seem that an INT undead might be a nice idea, but too much INT could spell the necromancers doom.
Rhaal’s Skeletal Merge Lv 7 Necromancy/Alteration Tome of Dark Magic
Rng; 10 yds per lvl
Dur: 1 rd per lvl
A/E: 2-12 Skeletons
Comp: V,S
C/T: 7
S/T: None
As it indicates this spell will basically form temporary merges of masses of skeletons into titanic undead giants. While the spell has a limited duration, but Extension spells, Semi Permanence, & Spell Holding spells might well augment this limitation. The caster can merge 1 skeleton per level, up to a 12 max. The THACO of 19 is altered by 1 per skeleton merged!! The hit dice are 2 per skeletons merged +2 per skeleton (max 12 +24 Hit Dice). Damage is 1d4 per skeleton merged. (12d4 max). With all this said, there could be other benefits for undead that enter the merger with a number of other spell based augmentations.
Upgrade Skeleton Lv 7 Necromancy Tome of Magic
Rng: Touch
Dur: Instantaneous
A/E: 1 Skeleton per 10 levels
Comp: V,S,M
C/T: 1 Turn
S/T: None
This spell is limited to the number of skeletons it can be cast upon, and there is NO mention to limiting the total number of skeletons that can be altered. Also with a DUR of instantaneous it would appear that the augmentation will last until removed/destroyed.
The spell grants a bonus of 1 HD per 3 lvls of the caster. This augmentation also will increase THACO of the skeleton for higher hit dice. The spell has a short description, but a huge impact on a necromancers skeleton forces.
Defy Lv 8 Necromancy Tome of Magic
Rng: 0
Dur: 1 hour per lvl
A/E: Special
Comp: V, S, M
C/T: 1 Round
S/T: None
This spell is perhaps the most important to lesser undead, as it prevent clerical turnings from being as effective as normal. The spell will nullify ½ the casters level in clerical turning. Thus a 20th level cleric would prevent clerical turning of 10th level or less. A very useful augmentation for that ol’s skeleton.
Well this a quite a boost for the lowly skeleton. I hope others out there might add what they have found on the net or have created on there own. As a little addition in light of other posters additions to this thread, I include a little skeleton that was created in a Dragon Magazine article ages ago. I am updating its format, but this is the bare bones info for the creature for those of you who can find use for it.
This could be in conjunction with another posters idea for negative planar energy being involved. Undead gain temporary augmentations when exposed to the eminations of the negative material planes. It is also an access point for such creatures to enter Faerun from that plane.
Anything that Mystra can feel through the weave is fair game as a reason to send out the Mystra version of the Knights Templar and Priest to face the forces of the dead.
Maybe there is a connection to Szass Tam the Zulkir of Necromancy in Thay, and if ol' El is to busy or the threat is minor Mystra might send in the second team....or was it third.
Later
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| Xysma |
Posted - 17 Mar 2007 : 05:07:41
Just a thought, if the necromancer is a known follower of Mystra, and locals are disappearing only to later be recognized as undead creatures under the control of the necromancer then the organized church of Mystra may want to prevent the stain on their deity's name. While Mystra may promote magic in all forms, the church has more political concerns to deal with, such as all followers of Mystra in the area being associated with the "evil" necromantic magic of one rogue wizard. |
| Asgetrion |
Posted - 17 Mar 2007 : 03:41:06
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Okay, I know this is a half formed grandiose idea, but for some reason when people mentioned dead magic and necromancer, I got this strange idea of an intelligent, undead "force" of dead magic. The problem is, with undead be supernatural, this would seem to cancel out this possibility . . . still working out the possiblilities here . . .
Hmmm... you know, Knight, I don't think that undead are 'supernatural' beings - they are just typically created or born via magic. Think of it this way: since when have undead "crumbled"/vanished out of existence/been negated through Dispel Magic or Antimagic Field? There may be individual undead types/templates/powers that are supernatural/ magical, but you can't dispel a Lich, can you? |
| WalkerNinja |
Posted - 12 Mar 2007 : 12:47:05
I think that promoting Velsharoon as the one true god of magic is a great idea.
Secondarilly, how about accidentally creating an undead virus that seeks out magic users and slowly but surely destroys their connection to the weave. |
| RodOdom |
Posted - 12 Mar 2007 : 05:43:56
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
RodOdom,
which level campaign are you running? I'd also like to know if this background story is purely meant for "flavor", or to concern present/future campaign events?
The PC's level is 7. It concerns campaign events. |
| Lawfire |
Posted - 12 Mar 2007 : 03:24:30
quote:
Originally posted by RodOdom
What could a necromancer do so wrong in his research to provoke the Church of Mystra to send a dozen clerics and paladins after him? I'm helping a player fill out her paladin's background story. Thanks in advance!
The necromancer could be a Sharran and utilizing the Shadow Weave? If he is becoming powerful, this could be viewed as a threat by the Mystrans... |
| Asgetrion |
Posted - 11 Mar 2007 : 18:47:36
RodOdom,
which level campaign are you running? I'd also like to know if this background story is purely meant for "flavor", or to concern present/future campaign events? |
| RodOdom |
Posted - 11 Mar 2007 : 01:19:11
quote:
Originally posted by Kiaransalyn
quote:
Originally posted by RodOdom
What could a necromancer do so wrong in his research to provoke the Church of Mystra to send a dozen clerics and paladins after him? I'm helping a player fill out her paladin's background story. Thanks in advance!
Maybe he is promoting Velsharoon as the true god of magic?
Oh that is a good one ! |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 10 Mar 2007 : 18:51:46
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Okay, I know this is a half formed grandiose idea, but for some reason when people mentioned dead magic and necromancer, I got this strange idea of an intelligent, undead "force" of dead magic. The problem is, with undead be supernatural, this would seem to cancel out this possibility . . . still working out the possiblilities here . . .
Perhaps channeling a cetain amount of Negative Energy or channeling it in a certain way has previously unknown damaging effects on the Weave. Velsharoon's apotheosis may magnify Negative Energy in a way previously unknown on Toril -- unintentionally, I'm sure, since he was undoubtedly a Weave user himself.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 09 Mar 2007 : 16:13:46
Okay, I know this is a half formed grandiose idea, but for some reason when people mentioned dead magic and necromancer, I got this strange idea of an intelligent, undead "force" of dead magic. The problem is, with undead be supernatural, this would seem to cancel out this possibility . . . still working out the possiblilities here . . . |
| ShadezofDis |
Posted - 09 Mar 2007 : 15:07:34
quote:
Originally posted by Kiaransalyn
Maybe he is promoting Velsharoon as the true god of magic?
Indeed, even further it could be the start of the Velsharoon/Mystra split that they're hinting at. Perhaps the Necromancer is an adherent to Velsharoon (because of direct rewards from Velsharoon, since big V hasn't been around for a long time, perhaps the lich even knew V when V was still a mortal)
Could be that the Necromancer is using the Shadow Weave and teaching others to use it. Perhaps this could be a cult of Velsharoon that is the first of his adherents to fully embrace the Shadow Weave.
Of course this might not work timeline wise ;D
Another thought is that perhaps the Necromancer has developed a way to keep just the brain of a creature alive and has developed a way to communicate with those brains. You take this a step further and you could have a Necromancer who has a "library" of wizard brains that he's collected for their spellcraft knowledge (and he can reference their brains whenever he has questions on something they may know about).
Of course the region your PC came from would color this, but without knowing that these are the idea's that jumped off the top of my head :) |
| Kiaransalyn |
Posted - 09 Mar 2007 : 09:56:31
quote:
Originally posted by RodOdom
What could a necromancer do so wrong in his research to provoke the Church of Mystra to send a dozen clerics and paladins after him? I'm helping a player fill out her paladin's background story. Thanks in advance!
Maybe he is promoting Velsharoon as the true god of magic? |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 20:51:45
quote:
Originally posted by RodOdom
What could a necromancer do so wrong in his research to provoke the Church of Mystra to send a dozen clerics and paladins after him? I'm helping a player fill out her paladin's background story. Thanks in advance!
Trying to kill Larloch would be a bad idea; he's "in good" with Azuth and with both Mystra Mark I and Mark II.
If you have the Arcane Age "How the Mighty are Fallen" supplement, it revolves around an unnamed and (at least as far as I know) still unidentifed lich opposed to Karsus and his blasted Avatar spell. A necromancer might have discovered some of the lich's records which provide clues to the material components Karsus used and -- Mystra still blocking 10+ level spells -- there may be a way to make an Epic spell from those notes which would be similar in effect to Karsus's Avatar.
Sticking to Netheril (sort of), perhaps the necromancer discovered a way to wake the Teraseer (he is currently in hibernation and will be so for some decades to come). One of the oldest living creatures on Toril, he's bound to wake up cranky and petulent after only a decade or two of sleep.
How about dabbling in necromantic lore connected to Kyuss (Kyuss of Chult, that is)? Mystra Mark II might get very peeved at the prospect of the love of her life, Kelemvor, being kiled dead, dead, D-E-D, DAID because of some clown monkeying about with an undead demi-god with (potentially realizable) delusions of grandeur.
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| Kuje |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 20:34:14
I think you need to narrow this down. There's a lot of factors involved like:
What city/nation are you talking about? Waterdeep, for example, has their own laws that would be used before the laws of the church. Especially since a necromancer is the high priest of the temple in Waterdeep. Now the church of Mystra in Thay, that church would be laughed at.
Also, Mystra and Velsharoon are allies and so you have a deity of "bad" necromancy allied with a deity of magic. Plus, Mystra is the type to really not get involved with stopping magic even if its "evil". She's there to spread magic, all forms of magic. Of course, not Shadow Weave magic.
So, as I said. I think you need to narrow this down a bit because it's a broad question. Even some of the other churches of Mystra wouldn't get involved with people that practice "bad" necromancy. |
| Halidan |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 19:48:33
How about finding (or trying to find) a way around the restrictions against 10th+ level magic and/or research mirroring the begining stages of Karsus's ultimate spell.
A different idea might be that the necromancer is trying to find a way to access both the shadow weave and the normal weave with the same spell. |
| lokilokust |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 19:34:24
well, they could have killed dozens in their research, possibly a high ranking church official and her acolytes. |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 19:33:19
Well stopping or reducing the use and soread of magic woud likely be a good reason.
The necromancer might be engaged in turning high level (for your campaign) magic users into zombies or other mindless undead. Trying to thus (in time) become the only one in the realms that can cast a spell.
Of course if in some way he creates dead magic zones, that also would be a concern. If you do this though the effects would not yet be wide enough that Chosen would be sent to deal with the problem.
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