Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

[ParitySoul]

I was pondering a good role for a fantasy nercomancer. I would like to do something besides the classic zombie machines I see in so many games. Rather than raising/controlling undead I wanted a shamenist theme. Or maybe something productive.

 

Any good suggestions for Ghost magic, bone spells, life/death stuff that doesn't fit into the creepy old necro image?

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

Mythus Magick has some Necromancy spells that help in plundering tombs, in addition to all the standard creepy undead stuff.

 

The Mediumship spells in MM might be more appropriate to what you want to do, though. There are spells that allow friendly spirits to move things, teleport small objects, carry messages, etc. There are also a couple of guardian spirit type spells, a Haunt spell, Oracular Spirit spells, etc.

 

A search on Mediums or Spiritualism from the 19th century might bring up a lot of other good ideas.

[The Mad GM]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

As an information source, the dead have many potential advantages that have nothing to do with an appetite for brains. The whole zombie legion stuff came out of making a villainous necromancer.

 

In a culture where death is merely another part of life, a necromancer may seek the forgiveness of food animals that had to die to feed the tribe, to settle their ghosts so they don't curse the living. As such, a necromancer is a form of large scale luck. They would also calm spirits of the murdered or slain in battle for the same reason.

 

I've been writing up a city setting in which one of the major lines of magic is necromancy, and the practitioners see themselves as a form of social service to the bereaved, and so they dress in bright, welcoming, colorful fashions, and decorate their offices in plants and flowers to put their customers at ease. Sort of shiny, happy necromancers. But their darker cousins are out there, rooting through crypts and burial chambers to pillage the remains of the dead, oh yes indeed.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

Eventually, when I get around to it, I plan to add a Spirit Contact based Magic System to my Magic System collection. The basic idea behind it is to use the optional rules for using the Contacts Perk to handle "Spirit" Contacts discussed in Fantasy HERO.

 

Such a system would leave most of the determination of effect in the hands of the GM, which some players and GM's both might not care for, but in the hands of the right GM and player combo it could be a cool and interesting way to do things.

 

[Eosin]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

There is also a bunch of good stuff to contact spirits and the like in the Grimoire II.

[Southern Cross]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

Actually necromancy means 'divination by the dead",as originally necromancers just used to speak to spirits or animated corpses.

[Markdoc]

Re: Talking with Ghosts: Alternative Necromancers.

 

Two posibilities. IMG, the priests of the Dymerian religion have a militant arm whose job is patrol the necropoli where families bury and venerate their dead and make sure the dead stay where they are put. So the Deathguard have all the usual trimmings - black and silver armour and they're heavily into skulls for decoration: but they're good guys.

 

They have some divination spells, but no "raise the dead" spells - instead they have spells for "putting down the unquiet dead".

 

For a more shamanistic feel I had a PC in the game (a shaman) who carried around the skull of his Grandfather, who had been a powerful shaman. He could talk to Grandfather and possibly get useful advice (Grandfather was bought as a contact with useful connections, via a focus, but the invisibility advantage - the PC could talk to the grandfather but no one else could see or hear any replies. Everyone else thought he was cracked). The PC also had a variety of magical powers, brought with the special effect that his grandfather summoned spirits to do his work for him - and which didn't work if ol' Grandfater was upset with him (-1/2, since Grandfather wouldn't actually sit by and see his last remaining relative get squashed for no good reason)

 

As a GM I loved this situation since ol' grandfather was an irascible old SOB who used to love to denigrate his squirming, useless worm of a grandson and unfavorably compare the other players to warriors "in his day" when men were real men and monsters were real monsters, etc etc. Also he required sacrifices and constant flattery to be of any use at all.

 

You can get some of my ideas on spirit magic from:

 

http://www.geocities.com/markdoc.geo/Gaming_stuff/Grimoire/magic_systems.htm#On%20Stranger%20Tides

 

and:

 

http://www.geocities.com/markdoc.geo/Gaming_stuff/Runequest/heroquest.htm

 

cheers, Mark