Necromancer

Returning players may want to read the page for Returning Players before continuing.

You may wish to check out the new player guide for this guild.

Please read the Secrets and Spoiler Policy before editing this page.

Necromancer Guild
Image copyright of Simutronics Corporation
Primary Skillset:	Survival
Secondary Skillsets:	Lore, Magic
Tertiary Skillsets:	Armor, Weapon
Special Abilities:	Risen
Mana Type:	Necromantic
Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Commoner - Empath - Moon Mage Necromancer - Paladin - Ranger - Thief - Trader - Warrior Mage

Necromancer refers to a diverse group of Arcane magic users that utilize a collection of sorceries -- including blood magic, alchemy and the animation of the undead -- to further their evil and selfish goals. They are universally shunned by society and by the gods, being viewed as abominations and monsters that prey on the innocent and sell their souls into damnation for power.

Necromancers are broken into three ideological camps. Player character Necromancers begin by affiliating with the Philosophers of the Knife, which are unique in that they pursue "the Great Work": the use of necromancy to find eternal life. Often they hide themselves in crowds, like wolves among sheep, while others eschew society entirely and rule in the hinterlands. A group of radical holy men, the Hounds of Rutilor, are dedicated to the Philosophers' annihilation, and will hunt down any Necromancer they find openly practicing within their reach.

Necromancers are intended by design to be an advanced option for players who are already familiar with the game and want to try a profession that includes some novel and difficult permutations on the normal play experience.

Players reading this page may also wish to note that the majority of this information is not considered commonly known in-character to non-Necromancers.

Official Information

Guild crest

Skillsets

• Survival Primary
  
• Magic and Lore Secondary
  
• Armor and Weapons Tertiary
  

Guildhalls

NOTE: The majority of guildleaders and guild locations are not common knowledge. As such, they are not included in this list unless that changes.

Zoluren

The Triumphant Zamidren Book initiates and leads nascent Philosophers of the Knife from his hidden lair somewhere in Zoluren.

Necromancer Ideologies

• The Philosophers of the Knife
• The Perverse
• The Redeemed

Crafting Affiliation

Guilded necromancers receive two free technique slots in the Poison discipline of the Alchemy skill and one free technique slot in the Carving discipline of the Engineering skill.

See: Crafting

Guild Abilities

Arcane Magic

Necromancers use necromancy which is a subset of sorcery also referred to as "ontologic sorcery" by Philosophers. Necromancy by definition uses some Life mana in the mix along with either Elemental or Lunar. Necromancers have access to the Animation, Blood Magic, Corruption, Synthetic Creation, and Transcendental Necromancy spellbooks. Redeemed necromancers get access to an additional spellbook, Anabasis.

To do this effectively, Necromancers utilize something colloquially known as Arcane or Necromantic mana. This is not actually a distinct mana type, but a freakishly bizarre, illusory aggregate they perceive as the result of substantial and imperfect alterations to the Necromancer's nervous system done when they attempt to attune themselves to Lunar, Elemental, and Life mana all at once.

Due to the process through which they become attuned, young Necromancers appear to be attuned to Life, Lunar, or Elemental mana until they become so corrupted (i.e. possess enough Divine Outrage) that their Arcane attunement shows through. This mana type is determined randomly and is not meant to make any particular statement about the character, but does determine which fake spell preparation they can learn from Markat.

Sorcery and Sorcerous Casting

Necromantic spell patterns are designed to account for deranged movements of their "fifth frequency," but the lack of true multi-attunement perception means they can suffer like other people when casting outside their normal environment.

• Lunar, Elemental, Life: Low risk, equivalent to any other guild's best combination.
• Unsullied and Redeemed necromancers can also cast Holy magic with low risk, equivalent to any other guild's best combination.
• For Forsaken necromancers Holy is extremely risky to impossible, with additional negative effects.

While AP spells are legal according to society, a Necromancer's AP spells are still considered sorcery for purposes of spells that defend against it, such as Protection from Evil.

Magical Feats

Necromancers automatically learn the Alternate Preparation feat for free upon joining and gain access to a spell prep that is appropriate for the mana type they appear to have. This prep is learned and used by speaking to Markat and toggling it on.

Necromancer Spell Slot Progression

As a magic secondary guild, Necromancers gain spell slots in the following way.

Circle Range	Secondary
1-20	Every Circle
21-100	Every 2 Circles
101-150	Every 3 Circles
151-200	None

Spell Tree

Thanatology

Thanatology represents a corrupted form of an Empathic Transference link and is the means by which a Necromancer may perform a number of rituals and types of magic, including healing themselves and creating undead. Necromancers presently have a number of Thanatological rituals available to them:

Ritual	Purpose
Arise ritual	Prepares a corpse to become a CFB zombie.
Awaken ritual	Summons a previously created Risen.
Butchery ritual	Gets body parts for Risen.
Consume ritual	Prepares a corpse to be used as fuel for necromantic healing.
Creation ritual	Final step to create a Risen.
Cut ritual	Prerequisite for some Blood Magic and Animation spells.
Dissection ritual	Teaches Thanatology and First Aid.
Entry ritual	Gain entry into a Necromancer guildhall.
Fetish ritual	Turns harvested material into a (control) fetish for a new Risen.
Harvest ritual	Gathers "material" to be used later. Teaches Thanatology and Skinning.
Preserve ritual	Extends time before a corpse decays. Teaches Thanatology and First Aid.

States of Being

These represent deliberate and knowing changes in the path of a necromancer:

1. Unsullied
2. Forsaken
3. Redeemed
4. Lichdom
5. Transcendence

Outrage

Two kinds of Outrage exist: Divine Outrage and Social Outrage. These meters are not linked to each other.

1. Divine Outrage is a measure of how corrupted the Necromancer is and how much ire the Immortals currently feel toward them. Certain actions, such as creating undead and using Transcendental Necromancy spells, build Divine Outrage and will render the Necromancer more and more corrupt which may have deleterious effects if not managed. As you circle, there is a rising "floor" which your Divine Outrage may not drop lower than, meaning you will eventually be rendered too corrupt to gain favors, be healed by Empaths, have beneficial Holy spells used on you, and more. Forsaken Necromancers risk Divine Outrage for hanging around holy spots.
2. Social Outrage is a measure of how uneasy the local towns folk and authorities are. Certain actions taken inside justice areas, such as attempting to interact with an NPC with a Transcendental Necromancy spell up, will give you Social Outrage and temporarily prevent you from using town services including banks, vaults, or shopkeepers.

• Related to Social Outrage, Forsaken Necromancers have a tolerance meter for town called Suspicion that slowly builds up in normal situations. While in a justice area, this meter builds towards an accusation. While outside of a justice area, this meter drains away. Unsullied and Redeemed Necromancers are exempt from this.

Both Divine and Social Outrage may drain for up to 2.5 hours per day in Prime and Platinum, and 8 hours per day in The Fallen.

Necromancers and Consent Policy

There is no longer any conceptual difference between a Necromancer and any other guild as far as policy goes. There is no more additional grey area or burden of proof for harassment. Necromancers do not get a blank check for mayhem, and you may not harass or kill a PC without consent simply because they are a Necromancer.

With regards to Risen, they are fair game to attack by anyone regardless of the PvP status of the Necromancer. This grants the Necromancer consent for that conflict, which ends if either party dies.

Risen

A Risen is an undead creature created by a Necromancer to do their bidding and is the primary ability of the guild. Temporary Risen for use in combat may be created with the Call from Beyond spell, while permanent Risen are slated to have other non-combat applications.

Circle Requirements

Skillset	Skill	1-10	11-30	31-70	71-100	101-150	151-200
survival	Thanatology	3	4	4	5	6	15
survival	1st Survival	4	4	5	5	6	15
survival	2nd Survival	4	4	5	5	6	15
survival	3rd Survival	3	4	4	5	5	13
survival	4th Survival	3	4	4	5	5	13
survival	5th Survival	3	4	4	5	5	13
survival	6th Survival	3	3	4	4	5	13
survival	7th Survival	2	3	3	4	4	10
magic	Targeted Magic	2	2	3	4	5	13
magic	1st Magic	3	4	4	5	6	15
magic	2nd Magic	3	3	4	5	6	15
magic	3rd Magic	2	3	3	4	5	13
magic	4th Magic	2	3	3	4	5	13
magic	5th Magic	0	0	3	4	5	13
lore	1st Lore	2	2	3	3	3	8
lore	2nd Lore	2	2	2	3	3	8
weapons	Small Edged	1	2	2	2	2	5
armor	1st Armor	1	2	2	2	3	8

Thanatology is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth survival requirements).
Targeted Magic is a soft requirement (can be used toward Nth magic requirements).

Related Forum Posts

Click here to search for related posts.

Additional Information

• Necromancer Timeline