Complete Necrocraft

Foreword

Similar in design to animated objects, Necrocraft are undead creatures made up of the body parts of various reanimated creatures, put together Frankenstein-like to create the ultimate custom monster. I immediately loved the concept when I first read it in Bestiary 4 and used it for a necromancer character for a few years, but felt that this subsystem wasn't living up to it's full potential.

I searched both official and third party material for it, but I didn't find anything that I was really happy with, so eventually I gave up and started writing what I wanted instead of trying to find it elsewhere. I wanted more customization choice that rewarded specialism, more size choices so you could make little 'pet' creatures or scouts, undead that could grow in power as the character did and character options that actually provided benefits to the creatures you made (rather than just a teamwork feat).

So this is that attempt. I'd like to share it and ask for feedback on the game balance, mechanical clarity and general vibe so it can be improved for actual gameplay this summer. I don't think I've completely finished or added all of the mechanics I want in it yet, but you can see what I'm going for.

Lesser Necrocraft

A lesser necrocraft is a collection of undead body parts that have been stitched, glued or grafted together to form a single undead creature. Lesser necrocrafts are sometimes created by more junior necromancers to practice their skills or for tasks where a larger being would be ungainly, such as for scouting or for use as a grafted prosthetic limb.

Lesser Necrocrafts are smaller and more delicate than their hulking counterparts, often carefully sculpted out of organs and sinew to resemble other creatures or objects. Lesser Necrocrafts vary between diminutive and small size, weighing no more than 75 pounds.

Creating a Lesser Necrocraft

In order to create a lesser necrocraft, a spellcaster must use at least two undead creatures (or their corpses), all of which must be under the creator’s control, helpless, or slain. A larger undead or corpse can be used in place of two that are one size smaller. The creator must stitch, glue, or otherwise bind the parts together in the desired configuration, then cast animate dead, lesser and make whole to complete the construction (the material component cost of animate dead is 50 gp per Hit Die of the final necrocraft).

The creator can’t create a necrocraft with more Hit Dice than her caster level. As with animate dead, the lesser necrocraft is under the creator’s control when created. Note that creating a lesser necrocraft requires casting a spell with the evil descriptor.

Undead Required Size HD CP CR
4 Small 3 2 3
3 Tiny 2 1 2
2 Diminutive 1 1 1

Increasing Hit Die

Like constructs, Necrocrafts can be created with additional hit dice. Each extra hit die costs an additional 50gp in material components and requires an extra undead corpse.

New Construction Point Options

At the DM's option, characters may not start out knowing how to add these options to necrocraft, representing their rarity. In this case, the character must learn them from a necromantic treatise, teacher or by experimentation.

Skilled (Su, 2CP):
Choose one skill; the necrocraft receives 1 rank in this skill per HD it possesses and it counts as trained. If the skill requires intelligence, the necrocraft may treat it's intelligence score as if it were 10 but only for the purposes of using that skill.

This graft requires the corpse of a creature that possessed the requisite skill in life.

Evolved (Su, 2CP)
The necrocraft gains the benefit of any 1pt evolution, chosen as if it were a bipedal Eidolon.

This graft requires an additional 100gp of extraplanar materials. Once grafted, the caster's sigil will appear somewhere on the creation, though this can be hidden with clothing (though not cosmetics).

Ensouled (Su, 2CP)
This powerful ability fuses the necrocraft with a soul gem, providing a modicum of free will and independent thought to the undead being. The necrocraft gains the alignment of the creature the soul gem was taken from, shifted one axis towards evil. In addition, the necrocraft gains an intelligence score of 6, receiving skill points and feats as an intelligent being. An ensouled necrocraft is twice as difficult to control, counting as twice it's hit die for the purposes of controlling it.

This graft requires a filled soul gem. If the soul is forced out of the gem for any reason - if the donor is resurrected for example - the necrocraft is immediately destroyed. At the DM's discretion, this necrocraft may refuse to perform actions that go against the donor creature's nature and may be provided a will saving throw to resist the necromancer's commands as if dominated.

Detonating (Ex, 2CP)
The necrocraft can destroy itself as an immediate action, enveloping the nearby area in flame. This deals 1d6 fire damage to everything in a 5ft radius, increasing 1d6 for each hit die beyond 1st and by 5ft for every 3 hit die it possesses. A necrocraft can be commanded to detonate itself as a Standard action or can be commanded to use the ability under specific triggering conditions, such as being damaged by an attack.

This graft requires 100gp of alchemical supplies. A skilled alchemist with at least 3 ranks in Craft (Alchemy) can substitute these alchemical supplies for 100gp of acid, alchemist's frost or bottled lightning to change the damage type to acid, cold or lightning. Alternatively, a character with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (Religion) can substitute this for negative energy damage, healing nearby undead. This modification requires that the Bloatbomb spell be cast during the necrocraft's creation.

Quiescent (Su, 2CP)
Strengthening the bindings on the animating spirit to quieten it's malicious impulses, the necrocraft can be commanded by it's controller to enter a dormant state as a standard action, standing motionless and vulnerable. The necrocraft will take no actions even if attacked, as if paralysed and will be little more use than a mannequin. While in this state, the necrocraft does not count against the creator's HD limit for controlling undead. The creator can reassert control as a standard action, counting as controlled again and ending the effect.

This graft requires that the spell Command Undead be cast during creation. A Necrocraft with the Skilled graft can continue to use any skills it possesses and was previous commanded to use, though it cannot attack or use any special abilities and is still treated as stunned when attacked. The necrocraft may not move more than 20 feet from the point it entered the dormant state.

An Ensouled necrocraft will continue to be aware during the dormant state but may be unable to move.

Detachable (Ex, 2CP)
Each part of the necrocraft is animated separately, allowing pieces to drop off and act independently of the necrocraft. When creating this necrocraft, design another at least one size step smaller and with less hit die than the original. As a full round action, the necrocraft can detach this secondary creature, gaining negative levels (ignoring any immunities or resistances) equal to the secondary creature's hit die. These negative levels cannot be healed by any means except by the secondary creature returning to it. This secondary creature acts on the necrocraft's next initiative as a new creature, entering an adjacent square.

The secondary creature can return to the original as long as it is adjacent by taking a full round action. The secondary creature disappears and the original loses the permanent negative levels it had received. The original creature is aware of anything the secondary creature is, possessing a unique form of telepathy, up to a distance of one mile. The two creatures are always aware of where their counterpart is, though this can be blocked by planar borders or a thin layer of lead.

This graft requires that the spell Decollate be cast during creation. The secondary creature's form and construction point abilities should be appropriate for it's shape.

Combatant (Su, 1CP)
The necrocraft is gifted martial knowledge from one of it's donor corpses, gaining a single combat feat it meets the prerequisites for. This graft requires that one of the corpses used to create it come from a creature with warrior or fighter levels. The corpse need not have actually possessed the feat.

Revenging (Su, 1CP)
Enough hate can transcend death, a fact known well to those who have ever dealt with a revenant. This graft requires that one of the corpses used to create it possess the Hatred racial trait. The resulting necrocraft gains the favoured enemy class feature as a ranger of a level equal to their hit die, gaining half the normal bonuses. The actual favoured enemy depends on who the corpse hated in life - for dwarves this would be humanoid creatures of the orc or goblin subtypes, for example.

Alternatively, if the creature was killed violently, the creator may choose to select the corpse's killer as the target for the necrocraft's revenge but gaining the full favoured enemy bonus. In this case, the corpse need not possess the Hatred racial trait, but only gains the benefit of the favoured enemy feature when used against their killer (or a similarly hated target responsible for the corpse's death, at the DM's discretion, such as the king who ordered the execution).

If presented with the killer, the necrocraft will immediately attack them and ignore any commands to stop until the killer is dead, though Ensouled necrocraft are permitted a Will Saving Throw at a DC of 10+ the favoured enemy bonus to resist this and Skilled necrocraft may use their skills intelligently to attack the killer.

Prosthetic (Su, 1CP)

The necrocraft can serve as a replacement limb for a creature two size categories larger than it. While attached to a creature, the necrocraft ceases to act as a creature of its own. Instead, the creature benefiting from the prosthetic ignores any penalties due to missing that limb, and gains one of the necrocraftÂ’s natural attacks.

If the necrocraft possesses any special attacks modifying that natural attack, the beneficiary of the prosthetic gains it as well, using their size in place of that of the necrocraft. An necrocraft with prosthetic may be attached to a creature with a DC 20 Heal check.

Note, this option was taken from Drop Dead Studio's Ultimate Spheres of Power, adapted from an Animated Object's special ability.

Armour (Ex; 2 CP):

The necrocraft is a suit of armor. When worn by another creature, it ceases to act as a creature of its own. Instead, any damage the wearer takes is dealt to the necrocraft instead; if the necrocraft loses all of its hit points, then the armor bonus it grants is reduced to +0. While worn, it grants its armor bonus to AC, as well as the benefits of any appropriate special abilities, as normal. As long as the necrocraft is not destroyed, it may be donned as a full-round action and removed as a swift action.

Note, this option was also taken from Drop Dead Studio's Ultimate Spheres of Power, adapted from an Animated Object's special ability.

Procedures

These surgical procedures make physical changes to an undead. These procedures must be performed as part of the undead's creation but do not necessarily need to be performed by the same person animating them. At the DM's discretion, characters may not begin with knowledge of these procedures and must learn them from a necromantic treatise, teacher or through experimentation.

These procedures can only be performed on corporeal undead and only on undead that are not created by spawning, such as vampires, as they have a very different physiology.

Preserved

Undead tend to rot slowly due to their nature, but alchemical methods of preservation can extend this even further, providing additional resilience against the ravages of time.

Preserving the corpses needed for raising as a corporeal undead costs an additional 25gp/HD of alchemical components of the resulting undead and a Craft (Taxidermy), Profession (Mortician) or Heal skill check. This procedure takes 1 hour (plus 1 hour per size category above medium) to perform in a quiet space. The increase to hit points per HD does not stack with any other source, including desecrate.

The reduced decay will not influence the time limit for resurrection spells, it is purely a physical change. The benefit to the creature depends on the skill check result as shown below:

Check Result Rate of Decay Maximum HP/HD
15 x1/50 +1
20 x1/100 +2
30 x1/500 +3
40 x1/1,000 +4
Each +10 x10 modifier additional +1

Unliving

Extremely useful for necromancers who must travel through civilised communities that actively search for them, Unliving undead appear as living versions of themselves and can passably eat, drink, blink, sweat and so on, their long dead organs continuing to function on negative energy much as they did while alive.

The most crucial element of this procedure is the transfusion of the subject's blood with the negative healing magic of the Deathwine spell, the level of the target Conjuration (Healing) potion defining the benefit to the resulting undead as shown in the table below. One Deathwine affected potion is required for every 5HD (or part thereof) of the resulting undead. The procedure takes one hour, during which the Deathwine spell must remain potent.

The Disguise DC is the difficulty for Perception skill checks to see through the effect when the creature is closely examined, as there will still be minor differences that might be spotted. An autopsy using the Heal skill provides a +10 bonus to penetrate this disguise if the undead is restrained or destroyed.

Level of Potion Disguise DC Channel Resistance
1 (Cure Light) 20 +1
2 (Cure Moderate) 30 +2
3 (Cure Serious) 40 +3

A level one effect allows the creature to appear to breathe, to eat or drink (but not digest) food and liquid, to sweat and produce phlegm, to bleed a suitable colour and 'heal' naturally as a living creature of their hit dice would. The undead will experience physical sensations such as pain or fatigue though the effect will be muted, with no game impact. The undead appears to be a living version of the corpse used to create it (or one of the corpses, for a necrocraft). The undead will also receive Channel Resistance +1.

Obviously unnatural features - such as wings on a human - may undermine the disguise but even these features will appear alive and part of the original body. An undead who is not whole, fleshy and intact (such as a skeleton) will only receive the natural healing and channel resistance. the disguise must appear near-perfect to work.

A level two effect provides this benefit and also provides the Deathless racial feature similar to a Bloody Skeleton. A Deathless creature gains Fast Healing 1 and can only be permanently destroyed by positive energy, in the area of a bless or hallow or by holy water. The channel resistance is increased to 2.

If a limb is removed from the undead it can be placed back on the stump, regenerating within an hour, provided the creature isn't within a blessed or hallowed area.

A level three effect provides the benefits of the previous two, except the Fast Healing is increased to 5 and the channel resistance is increased to 3.

Grafted

A straightforward and brutish procedure, one of the undead's limbs is replaced with a weapon or tool, or armour is bolted onto the bone. By infusing the equipment with the same necromantic energies as the creature, the undead will 'learn' how to use it as an extension of their body.

A masterwork weapon, tool or armour must be provided, with the procedure taking an hour to complete. The equipment must be attached with a Heal skill check, with a DC shown below. Failure to meet the DC will result in the creation process and any material components or corpses being wasted.

Grafted Equipment Heal DC
Weapon 15
Tool 20
Light Armour 15
Medium Armour 20
Heavy Armour 25
Other Equipment 10

A weapon or tool replaces one of the arms of the undead, potentially providing penalties to certain tasks if the creature started with two (for example, the One Arm drawback, from Rogue Genius Games Ultimate Options Minor and Major Drawbacks). Two handed weapons can be used, taking up one arm but still requiring two to wield.

A grafted weapon grants proficiency with that weapon, as well as the masterwork bonus to attacks with it. A grafted tool grants the masterwork bonus and allows the tool to be used untrained (treat the undead's intelligence as 10 if it is mindless), though only to use that tool and not any other aspect of the skill unless they actually possess it.

Grafted armour grants proficiency with it, though will still provide arcane spell failure, armour check penalties and speed reduction as normal. The creature must have a strength score sufficient to wear the armour as a light load to graft the armour.

Other grafted equipment, such as storage, books (including spellbooks) or furniture can also be grafted onto the undead provided the weight does not exceed the undead's light load, but provides no proficiency to use them. This
equipment need not be masterwork.

Grafts cannot be removed, they are now a 'natural' part of the undead. Grafted equipment can be magically improved as normal equipment. A creature can hold multiple grafts, though they are limited to one suit of armour and one weapon or tool per limb as well as their light load limit for the combined equipment.

Necrocraft as Items

As an optional rule, DMs may allow necrocraft to be enhanced as magical items, allowing characters with item creation feats to provide enhancement bonuses to ability scores, skills and natural attacks or armour. This is particularly appropriate if using the Create Undead feat from Kobold Press' Deep Magic.

This does not allow characters to provide ability scores to a creature that doesn't possess them, though DMs may consider allowing characters to enchant mindless necrocraft as intelligent magical items.

Undead Creation Feats

Augment Undead
Undead you summon or raise are more potent.

Prerequisite: Spell Focus (necromancy)

Benefit: Undead creatures that you create or raise with a necromancy spell or item creation feat gain a +4 enhancement bonus to either Strength or Dexterity. If the undead creature does not have a Strength score, you must choose Dexterity. This benefit remains for the duration of the spell.

Superior Undead
Undead you raise or create are more securely tied to their source of negative energy.

Prerequisite: Augment Undead, caster level 3rd

Benefit: Undead creatures that you create or raise with a necromancy spell or item creation feat gain positive energy resistance equal to their hit dice. If they possessed the Staggered feature (not just the condition), they lose it.

Undead Creation Traits

Magic

Corpsecrafter

You've trained as a mortician or necromancer's assistant, stitching up corpses for display or animation.

Benefit(s): You gain a +2 trait bonus on skill checks to physically interact with corpses, such as checks to harvest components or preserve a corpse. Heal is always a class skill for you.

Vivisector

You have spent long hours dissecting undead creatures, learning about the source of their animation.

Benefit(s): Undead that you create or animate with a necromancy spell or item creation feat receive an additional hit point. This bonus stacks with other sources, including Preserved undead.

New Class Archetypes

Mortician (Wizard Archetype)

Morticians study life and death as well as the gap between. Good-aligned Morticians may study necromancy as a means for others to come to terms with their mortality, whereas others may seek to build better and stronger undead to serve them, either for labour or combat.

Necromantic Studies:

A mortician must choose Necromancy as their specialist school. In addition, a Mortician gains Heal as a class skill and gains a bonus equal to half her wizard level (minimum +1) on Knowledge or Heal skill checks relating to undead or corpses.

Necrocraft Companion (Su)

A mortician gains the services of a tiny or diminutive lesser necrocraft. This special necrocraft is treated as a familiar, gaining natural armour, intelligence and most other familiar special features, except it uses the lesser necrocraft abilities for it's size, increasing in hit dice as you gain Mortician levels. It does not count against the maximum Hit Dice total of undead you can have controlled at once and cannot have procedures applied to it but does gain construction points as a necrocraft of it's size.

This companion does not gain the ability to speak to it's kind or master but increases in power as you level, gaining an additional construction point every five levels. If you choose a diminutive lesser necrocraft, it starts with one additional construction point. If your necrocraft companion is destroyed, you can create a new one as if crafting a lesser necrocraft, except no spells are required in the creation.

You may not provide the Ensouled, Detonating, Detachable, Armour or Quiescent option to a necrocraft companion.

This class feature replaces Arcane Bond.

Learned Necromancy

A mortician may choose a Necromancy spell of up to the highest level they can cast from the spell list of any other full caster to add to their spell list. They do not automatically know the spell but may add it to their spellbook normally. At 3rd level and each odd level thereafter, they gain this ability again, adding new necromancy spells to their spell list.

Negative Energy Touch

As a standard action, you can touch a creature to deal three times their mortician level of negative energy damage to them. The target receives a Will saving throw to halve the damage. Undead you touch receive this damage as healing instead. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

This ability replaces the grave touch power of the necromancy school. You cannot use this ability on yourself.

Master of the Dead

At 8th level, the Mortician increases the number of hit dice they can control at once to six times their caster level. In addition, undead that they create or raise with a necromancy spell or item creation feat gain a +2 enhancement to Strength or Dexterity. If the Mortician possesses the Augment Undead feat, the enhancement bonus is increased to +6.

This ability replaces the Life sight power of the necromancy school.

Soulstone

At 20th level, the Mortician learns how to craft a Soulstone, similar to the gem used to cast Soul Trap, to house their essence. A soulstone counts as a receptacle for the Magic Jar spell, but it's true power is released when it is constructed into a necrocraft, costing a single construction point.

A necrocraft with this soulstone can be directly controlled by the mortician, jumping into the necrocraft's body from any distance (except across planes), possessing the undead creature similar to the Magic Jar spell as a standard action. The mortician can end this possession at any time with a standard action, provided her original body is still available. The mortician's original body is left unconscious while she possesses the necrocraft - and if the original body dies, the necrocraft will become the mortician's new host. A mortician can only do this with a necrocraft that is constructed with their soulstone and they can have only one soulstone in existence at a time.

An intelligent or otherwise-resistant necrocraft is allowed a Will Saving Throw against 20+the mortician's intelligence modifier to resist this effect. The destruction of the necrocraft does not necessarily mean the mortician is dead, provided the soulstone (hardness 20, 50hp) remains intact, as it can later be placed into another necrocraft. A Soulstone costs 20,000gp to craft and is made as if it were a wondrous item..

This class feature and Learned Necromancy replaces the Power over Undead power of the Necromancy school.