Necromania
Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting edition of Extraordinary Feats, where we provide your standard D&D characters with a much needed weekly transfusion of new feats from which to choose. As you may remember from yesterday’s Best in Class, today marks the second installment of Necromancy Week, a week which, as necromancers, is near and dear to hearts. So if you’re looking to join the ranks of us darkest of magicians, read on for a delightful selection of feats dripping with necromantic energies from your worst nightmares. Those of you who lack the stomach for such forbidden powers should run screaming back to your mothers.
Necroanima
The dark energies which power your spells allow you to impart the spirit of your familiar into the body of dead animal.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast 1st level necromancy spells, familiar.
Benefit: By completing a ritual which takes 13 minutes, you can impart the spirit of your familiar into the corpse of any creature of the animal type that has fewer total Hit Dice than ½ your class level in whatever class grants you the familiar. This ability functions identically to the spell magic jar,except that no gem is required to hold the soul of the targeted creature, as its body is unoccupied. The corpse uses the statistics it had in life for this purpose.
In order to use this ability, you must sacrifice a number of prepared spells of the necromancy school (or spell slots of a level which could be used to cast a spell of the necromancy school that you know, if you cast spells spontaneously) whose total combined spell level is equal to or greater than ½ the Hit Dice of the corpse (for example, to use this ability on a corpse with 8 Hit Dice, you could sacrifice an 8th-level spell, two 4th-level spells, a 5th-level spell and a 3rd-level spell, and so on). Spells or spell slots sacrificed in this way are expended exactly as though they had been cast, and are unavailable until the next time you prepare spells. This effect lasts for a number of hours equal to your caster level.
Necrocorpus
Through the dark magic of your necromancy spells, you can transfer your spirit into the lifeless body of a humanoid creature.
Prerequisites: Greater Spell Focus (necromancy), Necroanimus, Necromantia, Spell Focus (necromancy), ability to cast 5th-level necromancy spells.
Benefits: You can undertake a special ritual which requires 13 hours in order to transfer your life-force into an empty vessel. In order to accomplish this ritual you must inscribe your name on the corpse of a humanoid creature and intone a special chant, alternating between a high-pitched shriek and a bass moan. One round prior to the completion of the ritual, you must place your hand on the forehead of the corpse and plunge a blade into your chest, and you begin dying as your hit points are instantly reduced to -1, and your life blood is spilled upon the target.
At the completion of the ritual, you attempt to possess the corpse. As part of this process you immediately lose all prepared spells (or all your remaining spell slots, if you are a spontaneous caster). Spells lost in this fashion are immediately lost exactly as though they had been cast and are unavailable until the next time you regain spells per day. If the total spells lost in this fashion have a combined spell level equal to or higher than the total Hit Dice of the target creature, then you successfully possess the corpse. This ability functions identically to the spell magic jar,except that the effect is permanent and that no gem is required to hold the target’s soul as the vessel is unoccupied. Additionally, due to the corrupting nature of the magical effect, your new body suffers a -4 penalty to its Strength and Constitution scores, and you retain your own Hit Dice and maximum hit points (though your maximum hit points are modified by your new Constitution score). If you successfully possess the corpse, you return to life at 1 hit point. If you fail to possess the corpse, you are returned to your body with no other ill effects, though due to the nature of the ritual itself you will still be at -1 hit point (and dying).
Necromantia
You can channel the dark energies of your necromancy spells in order to fill a vacant body with the soul of a dead humanoid so that you may learn secrets from beyond the grave.
Prerequisites: Spell Focus (necromancy), ability to cast 3rd-level necromancy spells.
Benefit: You can attempt a ritual which requires 18 minutes in order to temporarily recall the deceased spirit of a corpse you touch to its former body. In order to use this ability, you must sacrifice a prepared spell of the necromancy school of 3rd level or higher (or a spell slot which could be used to cast a necromancy spell of 3rd level or higher that you know, if you are a spontaneous caster). Spells sacrificed in this way are lost exactly as though they had been cast.
The spirit of the creature is allowed a Will saving throw with a DC equal to the spell saving throw DC of the sacrificed spell. If the creature succeeds on the Will save, then this ability has no effect. If the creature fails the Will save, it is bound to its body for one hour or until you have asked (and received answers for) up to three questions, whichever comes first. The creature answers truthfully to the best of its ability, unlike the speak with dead spell, but may not possess the knowledge you seek. Some spirits are able to recall things that have occurred since their death (especially in the case of those that remained as spectral undead for any period of time), but there is no way to tell for certain if a given spirit will have any recollection of anything after its death. Many do not. If the creature does not know the answer to your question, that question is wasted (you may not ask a replacement question).
You can use this ability on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. You may only use this ability on a given corpse once per month, and the spirit gains a cumulative +1 bonus on its saving throw to resist the effect for each time you have used this ability on it. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all. This ability does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.
Necrovival
Of all necromantic arts, the practice of returning the fallen to life in a new body is held in the highest regard.
Prerequisites: Necrocorpus, ability to cast 7th level necromancy spells.
Benefit: By performing a special ritual which takes 24 hours, you can attempt to fill a vacant corpse with the spirit of any creature which has been dead for at least 1 year, but for no more than 5 years per caster level. In order to use this ability, you must sacrifice three prepared spells of the necromancy school of at least 7th level (or a spell slot which could be used to cast a spell of the necromancy school of at least 7th level, if you are a spontaneous caster). If you do, you may attempt to force the spirit of a deceased creature into the corpse of a different creature. The racial Hit Dice of the corpse must not exceed the racial Hit Dice of the creature whose spirit you are attempting to return to life. The spirit of the creature may attempt to make a Will save in order to resist this ability; the DC for this saving throw is equal to the DC of the sacrificed spell. If the spirit fails its Will save, it possesses the dead body, returning to life in the former corpse. This effect functions identically to the spell reincarnate,except that the spirit must return to life in the corpse targeted in this ritual.