Today we are back in Gal Hadre looking at a third path of dragon magic, the path of death. The path of death is not the path of darkness, that is the shrouded path that we will look at later. This path is not just necromancy however, but also includes many damage and intimidation spells, as well as some utility ones. Many of the spells that various Vrak gain upon their transformation are not directly necromancy. It is also one of the paths that I have created the most spells for between needing a good variety for Vrak characters and figuring out the stats of an example lich.
The first spell we will look at is a fairly simple one, Gaze of Death. It is easy to cast, though it takes a little longer than many tier 1 spells, and it grants the caster the fear (1) trait for 1 minute. This forces anyone who looks at the caster to make will checks with various levels of debuffs if they fail the check. Care needs to be used with this spell however, as it affects anyone looking at the caster, so when used poorly could debuff your allies or terrify random people. A higher tier version of this spell could either increase the impact of the fear trait or the length of time the spell lasts.
The next spell is Open Death’s Door. It has a 20 meter range and is average casting time, but is rather difficult for a tier 1 spell. Technically it is not necromancy, but it is very useful to necromancers. If the target of the spell is dying, it significantly increases the chances that the target dies, living targets will be far less effective at anything they try to do if they fail a check. Its use against both healthy and dying targets gives it significant utility. Higher tier versions could further increase range, make the checks more difficult or target multiple creatures.
Now we get to the first actual necromantic spell, Bind the Soul and Bone. It has a long casting time and is of average difficulty for a tier 1 spell. It creates a skeleton from a human sized humanoid skeleton that functions for 1 minute, though of course other abilities and spells may extend this time. Higher tier versions could last longer, or allow the skeleton to retain more of the skills of the soul bound into the bones.
The fist tier 2 spell we will look at is Aura of the Grave. This spell affects all living creatures within 2 meters of the caster, dealing damage and reducing the odds of success of their next attack. The damage is reasonable and may clear out several weaker foes with one spell. It is reasonably quick to cast for a tier 2 spell. A tier 3 version of this spell might do more damage, increase the penalty on the next check or even raise those killed as lesser forms of undead.
Next we look at Avatar of Decay. It basically is an enhanced form of Gaze of death, granting fear (2), immunity to poison damage and granting touch attacks a constitution lowering poison effect. This makes the caster a dangerous melee foe, likely debuffing anyone that looks at them and giving their melee attacks a compounding effect. It lasts for 1 minute and has average casting difficulty and time. A tier 3 version of this spell would probably give even more fear, and could have a constant aura of damage, give the caster damage reduction or increase the size of the caster.
For a tier 3 spell we have Permanence of Undeath. This spell is really only useful when you have ways of creating non-damaging death spells with a duration. It takes a long time to cast and is a relatively difficult spell to cast, often being done as a ritual to further increase casting time but reducing difficulty. It does however allow for the creation of permanent undead or making something like avatar of decay a constant effect. It is an incredibly powerful, if not combat useful spell.
The other tier 3 spell for today is Live to Unlife. This spell is hard to cast with a quick casting time, but does a stupid amount of damage at a target up to 20 meters away and has the added bonus of immediately turning the victim into a zombie if they die. Target an already wounded foe and you are likely to significantly change the balance of a fight if successful.
For a hybrid spell we have Altar of Death, a mix of death and stone awakened magics. This binds a buff aura to a specific rock for 3 minutes, increasing the damage any undead do in a 10 meter radius. And yes, as a death spell, Permanence of Undeath could be cast on it. And as a rock it can be carried. If your undead forces grow large enough you could make one a “standard bearer” carrying the rock to boost your other minions.
The path focus of the path of Death is clearly necromantic, allowing the caster to control a small number of skeletons and/or zombies indefinitely. This means that most necromancers of any power always have a few meatshields to hold back any attackers.
One area these spells haven’t explored that is certainly within the realm of the path of death is more advanced undead than simple zombies or skeletons. Such spells are certainly possible, and could create incorporeal undead, more intelligent skeletons or more exotic ones. The only thing that can’t be created through the path of death is vampires, as they are created by drinking the blood of a death dragon.
What spell listed for the path of death do you find most interesting? What spell would you want to design in this path? Which path do you want to see next? Join us next week as we take a look at a specific fantasy army, the Legions of the Werd City-State of Kal’Garand.
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