Friendly neighborhood necromancers

[AlgaeNymph]

Over in another thread, Lord Liaden offered this:

On 1/28/2021 at 4:05 PM, Lord Liaden said:

There are necromancers on Champs Earth in the present day, not all entirely malevolent; and several beings who have found ways to function post-death. If you like I could give you more info on this thread, or via PM if you don't want it to drift too far. Your thread, your rules.

Thank for letting me keep things tidy.  : )

 

But yes, good reminder of such unconventional heroes as Doctor Teneber.  However, who else do you have in mind as potential allies?  It's always good to have a way to get my life and powers back after I die.

[steriaca]

2 hours ago, AlgaeNymph said:

Over in another thread, Lord Liaden offered this:

Thank for letting me keep things tidy.  : )

 

But yes, good reminder of such unconventional heroes as Doctor Teneber.  However, who else do you have in mind as potential allies?  It's always good to have a way to get my life and powers back after I die.

Well, the original Wizard of Gore is a necromancer/other magican along as being a stage magican. While he is evil, one could get an idea of how one would operate in the modern world. 

 

As for "good" necromancers, it is not an oxymoron. One could specialize in healing, being a go between with intelligence undead and others in the superhero world, and dealing with those who do not play nice with others.

[Lord Liaden]

Well, there are potential allies (particularly for evil characters), and there are precedents for how this could be done. Doctor Teneber, as you note, is one good choice, and would probably put a hero in a new body if asked (and if said hero condoned the murder necessary to gain a new body).

 

The adventure, Shades Of Black, revolves around the Black Paladin and his attempt to resurrect his lover, the witch Chantal. That involved a ritual to force the soul out of another woman's body, and transplant Chantal's soul into it; at the same time transforming it to resemble Chantal's original one. Witchcraft's evil twin Talisman assisted in that ritual, and almost certainly remembers how to perform it. I'm sure a bargain could be struck with her to do it again.

 

No few ghosts linger in the physical world after their death, due to traumatic circumstances, expertise in the dark arts, or sheer force of will. An example of the second case is Erichtho McFarlane, a member of the Sylvestri clan of black magicians, and a skilled necromancer. (See Champions Villains Volume Two for more on the Sylvestris.) Erichtho died over a century ago, but even as a ghost she can still cast potent necromantic spells, as well as possess and animate corpses. She illustrates that even being dead need not prevent one from wielding power. Although she primarily serves her clan, Sylvestris sometimes hire themselves out to other malevolent factions and power players in the Mystic World.

 

There's also the ghost of the Roman sorcerer, Nero Astrolabus, who made a deal with David Sutherland to share a body in exchange for Nero channeling the power of his deity, Sol Invictus, through David, thus creating the superhuman Invictus (Champions Villains Volume One).

 

The above examples follow the supernatural path to resurrection you yourself suggested, but the most practical course would probably be scientific. Teleios (also in CV Vol. 1) is a master of cloning, and his own "perfect" body is a construct into which he downloaded his memories and personality from his original brain. He keeps other clones of himself as "backups" should he be killed. Teleios sells his services to many less-than-ethical parties, so I'm sure he could be hired to prepare a spare body and mental copy for someone else.

[DShomshak]

The thread title has the song "Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent" playing in my head... (Something I heard on Doctor Demento's radio program.)

 

Ultimate Supoermage includes Simon Magus, infamous rival of the Apostles, who's become a time-traveling ghost wizard. He possesses people in crosstime schemes to avert his death and attain godlike power. I got a lot of mileage from Simon Magus in my Supermage playtest campaigns. He's not part of the CU, though.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Lord Liaden]

But he's not explicitly excluded, either.

[Lord Liaden]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:08 PM, DShomshak said:

Ultimate Supermage includes Simon Magus, infamous rival of the Apostles, who's become a time-traveling ghost wizard. He possesses people in crosstime schemes to avert his death and attain godlike power. I got a lot of mileage from Simon Magus in my Supermage playtest campaigns. He's not part of the CU, though.

 

On 1/30/2021 at 8:12 PM, Lord Liaden said:

But he's not explicitly excluded, either.

 

It just occurred to me that you could craft some similar time-travel adventures in the CU by using Nero Astrolabus, whom I mentioned above in connection with Invictus. The parallels with Simon Magus are striking: they come from nearly the same era; both were powerful sorcerers who curried favor with a Roman emperor (Nero for Simon, Constantine for Astrolabus), but overreached, and paid with their lives; both lingered as spirits seeking to regain physical form; they even both hate Christianity. Astrolabus presented himself to David Sutherland as the god Sol Invictus, and his background text implies he stole some of his god's power, so ambition to achieve true godhood doesn't seem a stretch for him. Nero Astrolabus' history asserts that he didn't succeed in manipulating mortals or finding a willing host until Sutherland summoned him; but maybe that's because heroes thwarted his past attempts.