Necromancer skills

[MafiaNoble]

What do you think are proper skills for a necromancer class in a LITRPG? I made a rough draft of random ideas that aren't properly balanced or worked out, I'll drop it below.

Feel free to suggest improvements of overall new skills, the idea is that the classes remain somewhat balanced, so a necromancer shouldn't be able to summon things indefinitely.

Attribute/class ideas.

People inherit one class from one of their parents or their families when they turn 10.

1 in 100 people inherited a class from both parents.

It's possible to unlock other classes by following a lifestyle. Someone that inherited an blacksmith class can unlock a farmer class by living the life of a farmer.

Same goes for skills: people that have the swordsmen class gain the sword skill far easier and level it easier. People without the class such as farmers or blacksmiths can still get the skill by regularly practicing but it takes longer to get and level without the class.

Some skills such as shadowrunning or [raise undead] are impossible to get without having the corresponding class or skillbook.

People can gain attribute points by leveling up their original class. Attributes points are only gained when leveling the classes they inherited, they aren't gained by leveling later unlocked classes.

Each race has a average potential for stats, the max is around that potential. Going above your potential requires attribute points, example, a human with a max potential of 10 strength could have 15. Strength: 10 (+5) the +5 is from attribute points. Attribute point distribution can't be changed and is permanent.

Exp is gained by using the class and killing monsters, a blacksmith gets XP for forging weaponry or other such things but also for killing monsters.

Classes can only be changed by someone owning the priest class who are hard to find outside of the church, rich families and nobles. Organizations and families owning a priest often charge high prices for class changes for people not associated to them as a means to keep power and control.

This is the reason why people don't often change classes to farm skill levels. A example would be a adventure born with the cook class, changing from cook to swordsmen during combat for the increased skill gain while changing to cook outside of combat to level cool and gain attributes.

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Necromancer skills

Drain touch; drains and absorbs vitality, stamina and mana from touched beings at a 2:1 ratio.

Absorb life force: a high level necromancer skill that only appears on species with a high affinity towards the undead and dark magic, such as Vampires. The skill allows people to sap away someone's life force at a 2:1 rate, turning the victim older while the caster can absorb the years of life he takes away.

Transfer life force: a high level necromancer skill that only appears on species with a high affinity towards the undead and dark magic, such as Vampires. The skills allows the caster to transfer his own life force or that off a third party to someone else upon touch. Unlike absorb life, the caster can't absorb the life force himself, he can only bring it to others.

Grant life: a high lvl necromancer skill that only appears on species with a high affinity to death, such as Vampires. The skill allows something death to be granted life once more even if it's soul has already left this plane at the cost of 25 years of life force. The ressurected being will keep his intelligence, independence and classes/skills (assuming te classes skills are usable with his new race) but will be reborn as a living death. Basically his own species but with a body that is cold and whose eyes are pure white. This isn't the same as a zombie, living death can feel and experience the same sensation and feelings as their species normally can but are infertile.

Raise undead: raises a corpse mana cost and upkeep are dependent on corpse.

Raise greater undead: Raises a corpse while allowing it to retain some of his skills, racial abilities (if they have any) and intelligence. Mana cost and upkeep are dependent on corpse.

Soul talk: allows the communication with souls that still linger around.
Summon zombie; Summons a zombie, they're slower and weaker then a skelaton but their bites are infective: Cost 5 mana.

Summon zombie horde

Summon skeleton: allows the magical summoning of a skeleton, armed with a weapon of choice. this is more taxing on the mana then a normal summon spell but doesn't require upkeep, unlike other summon spells. Maximum summoned skeletons increases with skill lvl. (1 per lvl) Cost (25 mana) : summoned weapons are mana constructs and dissapate upon the skeletons death.

Summon skeleton swarm: summons a lightly armed group of 5 skeletons armed with a sword and shield at the cost of 20 mana per skeleton.

Summon skeleton guard

Summon skeleton legion

Summon lich.



Land of darkness; a high lvl skill that shrows a area in darkness, buffing undead and making light magic less effective. (the opposite of this skill is holy land, if this is activated against the land if darkness it becomes a question of who pumps the most mana in the skil.)

 

[Racosharko]

What do you think are proper skills for a necromancer class in a LITRPG?

Taxidermy and embalming

 

[Alski]

Taxidermy and embalming

The 2 most important skill for any necromancer wanabe.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Taxidermy and embalming

The 2 most important skill for any necromancer wanabe.

You laugh but corpse preservation is IMBA OP.

Unlike most necormancers I know which either raise undead bones edition and only uses the skeletons or raise undead zombie edition and have a rotting pile of flesh that moves.

The former actually loses tons of useful skill like Iron Body or Dragonic Bloodline but gain something as not smell as bad as the latter.

With some preservative and febreeze, the necromancer can have best of both worlds.

That or be Solo Leveling MC.

 

[Jerynboe]

Hmm. Well, I’m all for summoning progressively bigger and nastier undead, but how about a few skills that let you use them as a resource. I tried to stay largely within the theme you established.

Master’s Eyes: A skill common to multiple minion based classes. Allows the master to shift their senses to those of one of their minions, allowing them to see, hear, etc from a summoned/created minion’s point of view. Your own senses are turned off when you use a minion’s. Sometimes used constantly, for example if the master is blind.

Flesh Puppet: Allows the necromancer to speak and use any skills or abilities through an undead proxy. The undead’s stats are used instead of the necromancer’s and the necromancer can’t use their own mana to cast. Best used in conjunction with Master’s Eyes, but some have had success with a telescope, or hiding nearby behind a pillar.

Greater Flesh Puppet: as above, but allows for full possession of the puppet. Necromancer’s real body is “sleeping” while using this ability, but they can use the average of their stats and those of the zombie, instead of the zombie’s stats, and draw fully upon their own mana. Master’s Eyes and Flesh Puppet as prerequisites.

Soul Stitch (requires flesh puppet): Attach a willing or helpless ghost to an undead body, allowing them to possess it. This works largely like Flesh Puppet, setting their power level to that of the undead minion. Either upgrades on its own or can be upgraded to work as Greater Flesh Puppet if you have that. Generally used as a way to make cheaper lieutenants that can die repeatedly, since destruction doesn’t really harm the ghost.

Mass Flesh Puppet: Allows all undead you control within a short to moderate range to mimic any mundane skills you have. If you know how, you can have a swarm of zombies do a barn raising while you watch, or have a bunch of mindless low tier corpses to use weapons and armor as well as you can, but they aren’t about to start independently using necromancy.

Soul Grinder: dismiss an undead minion, reclaiming the mana used to make it. If the undead was about to fall apart anyway you get less mana

Embalm: as noted, keeping your corpses more intact is valuable. Also serves as a prerequisite for

Mask of Life: Allows a fleshy undead to appear, at a glance, to be as it was in life. For mindless undead this isn’t likely to hold up to any level of scrutiny but they might be able to walk down the street without causing a ruckus. Intelligent undead are better at maintaining the illusion but (for example) don’t move much when idle unless they are consciously trying to.

Life Crystal: Inefficiently transforms life force into a gemstone for storage. They are pretty, and can be used for anything that life force can be used for, but like I said this is only for long term storage since it’s so inefficient. Maybe as bad as 10% at base level. Can get up to 90% but at that point you’re upgrading life crystal again instead of learning how to summon a legion of undead.

Cling To Life: Depending on your level of power or the version of this perk you take, allows you to return from death as an undead (or a weaker undead, if already undead) automatically. It kicks in after a delay, possibly only after any conventional forms of resurrection stop being viable. Idk details, but make it enough of a setback that death hurts while softening the blow a little. Might be best for antagonists who can deal with the fallout offscreen.

 

[MafiaNoble]

Hmm. Well, I’m all for summoning progressively bigger and nastier undead, but how about a few skills that let you use them as a resource. I tried to stay largely within the theme you established.

Master’s Eyes: A skill common to multiple minion based classes. Allows the master to shift their senses to those of one of their minions, allowing them to see, hear, etc from a summoned/created minion’s point of view. Your own senses are turned off when you use a minion’s. Sometimes used constantly, for example if the master is blind.

Flesh Puppet: Allows the necromancer to speak and use any skills or abilities through an undead proxy. The undead’s stats are used instead of the necromancer’s and the necromancer can’t use their own mana to cast. Best used in conjunction with Master’s Eyes, but some have had success with a telescope, or hiding nearby behind a pillar.

Greater Flesh Puppet: as above, but allows for full possession of the puppet. Necromancer’s real body is “sleeping” while using this ability, but they can use the average of their stats and those of the zombie, instead of the zombie’s stats, and draw fully upon their own mana. Master’s Eyes and Flesh Puppet as prerequisites.

Soul Stitch (requires flesh puppet): Attach a willing or helpless ghost to an undead body, allowing them to possess it. This works largely like Flesh Puppet, setting their power level to that of the undead minion. Either upgrades on its own or can be upgraded to work as Greater Flesh Puppet if you have that. Generally used as a way to make cheaper lieutenants that can die repeatedly, since destruction doesn’t really harm the ghost.

Mass Flesh Puppet: Allows all undead you control within a short to moderate range to mimic any mundane skills you have. If you know how, you can have a swarm of zombies do a barn raising while you watch, or have a bunch of mindless low tier corpses to use weapons and armor as well as you can, but they aren’t about to start independently using necromancy.

Soul Grinder: dismiss an undead minion, reclaiming the mana used to make it. If the undead was about to fall apart anyway you get less mana

Embalm: as noted, keeping your corpses more intact is valuable. Also serves as a prerequisite for

Mask of Life: Allows a fleshy undead to appear, at a glance, to be as it was in life. For mindless undead this isn’t likely to hold up to any level of scrutiny but they might be able to walk down the street without causing a ruckus. Intelligent undead are better at maintaining the illusion but (for example) don’t move much when idle unless they are consciously trying to.

Life Crystal: Inefficiently transforms life force into a gemstone for storage. They are pretty, and can be used for anything that life force can be used for, but like I said this is only for long term storage since it’s so inefficient. Maybe as bad as 10% at base level. Can get up to 90% but at that point you’re upgrading life crystal again instead of learning how to summon a legion of undead.

Cling To Life: Depending on your level of power or the version of this perk you take, allows you to return from death as an undead (or a weaker undead, if already undead) automatically. It kicks in after a delay, possibly only after any conventional forms of resurrection stop being viable. Idk details, but make it enough of a setback that death hurts while softening the blow a little. Might be best for antagonists who can deal with the fallout offscreen.

I honestly like those, defenitely going to make use of a few.

 

[Anonjohn20]

Wound transfer: if multiple minions are wounded, transfer all of the wounds to one minion, sacrificing it to save all the others.

Overcharge corpse: strengthen the minion (doubling its stats) for a limited time, after the time is up, any damage it took is multiplied by 3.

Negative Influence: Your minions inspire negative feelings to those unfortunate enough to fight them; the feeling can be fear, dread, hopelessness, rage, sadness, grief, etc.

Turn Undead: Enemies who willingly surrender or submit to you can retain their memories and skills when you convert them into your minion.

Sacrifice: You can permanently kill a minion to buff another minion, this gives the new minion the old one's xp and skills.

 

[TheAmaraine]

There are some great ideas here.

Detect Dead: Points the necromancer to the closest dead body, or alternately, to a specific dead body.

Mend Corpse: Lets the necromancer heal the undead minions.

Create Vampire: Creates a thinking, semi-independent undead with the usual vampire skills, and possibly the ability to order other undead around.

Create Ghost: Creates a non-corporeal undead that can be used as a guard or warning system. Can't effect the real world physically, but on the other hand, most things do anything to it, or stop it from warning the necromancer and/or triggering other effects that are attuned to the magical energy of the ghost.