DnD Secret Crafts Reanimatologist

Dungeons and Dragons – Mystara Secret Crafts

Secret Craft of the Reanimators

aka Master of Reanimation, Reanimtors, Reanimatologist

This secret craft was developed by those who have a deep connection with necromancy and the element of air. These are abilities granted by the grace of the patrons of the necromancy. Their magic concentrates on dealing with the creation of undeath.

Activation Costs: 1 point per circle for Manifestation, Power and Downtime Activity unless otherwise specified.
Source Material: This secret craft was built from material gained from various editions of the game. Principalities of Glantri (GAZ3), Deep Magic – Blood and Doom (DM12), Encyclopaedia Arcane – Necromancy (Beyond the Grave – MGP1005), Ultimate Prestige Classes (Crypt Lord).

List of Practitioners of the Reanimatologists

• Initiate –
• 1st Circle –

Craft Magical Items – Reanimatologist

• Very Rare
  • Candle of Invocation -(Energy, Entropy, Matter, Thought, Time)

Ranks of the Reanimatologist Secret Craft

• Initiate (from 1st level)
• 1st Circle (from 6th level)
• 2nd Circle (from 11th level)
• 3rd Circle (from 16th level)
• 4th Circle (from 21st level)
• 5th Circle (from 26th level)

Reanimatologist – Initiate

To become an initiate, one must be part of either “The Great School of Magic” in Glantri City, Cult of the Howling Hatred, or in good standing with air aspect necromancers.

Secret Craft – Reanimatologist – Initiate

• Craft Bonus = Proficiency + Int + circle +2 (air and darkness, aspected, Heldannic, Traladaran)
• Craft DC: The Base DC of a secret craft abilities is: Base Craft DC = 8 + Prof + Int mod + circle achieved +2 (Air and Darkness Aspected, Heldannic and Traladaran).
• Starting Language – Antallian or Heldannic
• Associated Sphere – Usually a Entropy or Thought Immortal, but any Immortal who is a Patron of intelligent constructs or re-animation is also valid.
• Expanded Magic: Characters gain extra spells to their spell list from this secret craft. A prepared caster gains them as spells in their spellbook, a spontaneous caster can swap out the spells with their known spells during craft downtime.
• Artefacts of Reanimation (Entropy and thought) You can make a craft check to use a artefact of reanimation without expending the items power by paying for it with your own life force instead. This avoids the chance of a penalty being activated. You can also steal power from an artefact to heal your soul burn. If you are attuned to the artefact, you can use its power to activate your secret craft features without a chance of a penalty being activated. Heldannic or Traladaran attuned racial magical items allow you to pinch their charges for the day using 1 charge to replace 1 soul burn, and for each level or rarity above common the magical item can replace an additional point.

Reanimatologist Additional Crit Effects

• Reanimatologist Additional Craft Mishap: In addition to the base critical failure, you take irreducible necrotic damage (from the standard mishap) as a punishment from your mentor, this also reduces your Intelligence by 1.
• Reanimatologist Additional Craft Boon: In addition to the base critical success, your muscles are wreathed in power and you gain a point of Intelligence.

Associated Classes:

• Fighter – Ghost Knight (mhh36)
• Monk – Way of the Long Death (scag130)
• Paladin – Oath of the Giving Grave (mw403)
• Warlock: Pact of the Undying (scag139)
• Wizard: School of Necromancy (ph118)

Available Feats: tba.

Spell Lists – Secret Craft – Reanimatologist (Reanimate)
(Reanimation and Undead based spells)

Cantrip – Animate Animals *

1st Level Spells – Animate Skeleton *, Identify Undead *, Skull Snare *

2nd Level Spells – Animate Ghoul (mwb420), Animate Zombie *

3rd Level Spells – Animate Dead (ph213), Summon Undead (bls115)

4th Level Spells – Ghoulish Curse *, Infuse Shadow (bls75), Skeleton Crew (pcc45), Wall of Bones *

5th Level Spells – Antilife Shell (ph214), Dance Macabre (xge153), Transform Zombie (bls118)

• 6th Level – Crew with the Dead (bls36), Threshold of Unlife *, Unfetter Undead *
• 7th Level – Create Crypt Thing (bls36), Raise Death Hulk *
• 8th Level – Flesh Made Foul *
• 9th Level – Raise City – R *, Raise Death Fleet – R *

* details to come. (R) are for ritual spells.
Source: ph

Reanimatologist 1st Circle (Apprentice)

Secret Craft – Reanimatologist – 1st Circle

Secret Crafts – Manifestations (Replaces other active secret craft manifestation when activated) Each Manifestation uses a light colour based on the Sphere it is being drawn from Energy (red), Entropy (black), Matter (green), Thought (white), Time (Blue). Each manifestation lasts until the end of your next long rest, and you can spend 1 soul burn to keep it active until the next long rest without rolling or you dismiss it.

Reanimatologist Apprentice (Manifestation SB 1 DC 16) When you activate this manifestation, you dim light within a 5 ft radius. You can also control two times the normal number of undead from a power, spell or ability.

Reanimatologist Apprentice Enhancements and Powers (Requires Reanimatologist Apprentice to be active)

• Necromantic Communication – Bone (Power SB 1 DC 16) As an action, by smelling and tasting the bone of a body, the crafter can speak with the dead as per the spell, but the body does not need to be whole or able to answer in return as it all appears in the crafters mind. Can only be done once per body.
• Necromantic Components – Bone (Enhancement SB 1 DC 16) Takes an action to activate. Once activated, you can use your prepared bone to power your spells in place of material components, as long as it is worth less or equal to the value of the preparation.
• Necromantic Consumption – Bone (Power SB 1 DC 16) As an action, you can eat the bones of a fallen foe and recover 1d8 hit points equal to its hit dice. You can do this once per fallen foe. Your prepared bone can also be used to heal 1d8 hp per 10 gp of value you consume.
• Necromantic Enhancement – Bone (Enhancement SB 1 DC 16) Once activated with an action, you can treat your unarmed attack as a slashing weapon while your manifestation is active. You also gain resistance to slashing damage. Your unable to subdue with this style, and a successful critical hit also causes the target to be deafened for a round.
• Necromantic Touch – Bone (Power SB 1 DC 16) You can make a melee attack against undead creature and cause it to make a Strength saving throw or loose constitution points equal to half your level and take 3d6 necrotic damage. On a successful save they don’t loose constitution. On a failed save an additional effect of one of the targets limbs now ceases to work until they make a saving throw. If you exceed their current hit points, they are considered to have failed all three death saves.
• Necromancy Specialisation (Enhancement SB 1 DC 16) Activate as part of a short rest and stays active if your manifestation is active. You can prepare one spell from the craft list as a known spell. You can reactivate this power to replace the known spell. Non-spellcasters can use this to gain a cantrip if listed.
• Necromantic Undeath – Bolster and Protect Undeath (Enhancement SB 1 DC 16) As a action, you can increase the power of your manifestation to grant undead under your control use your craft DC instead of hit dice to determine difficulty to turn, damage or destroy. As an action you can gain protection from Undead of equal or lower level, higher level undead get a will saving throw with a bonus equal to the level difference to negate the effect. The lower level undead are affected first. If a liege is affected, their pawns cease to count towards the maximum limit. Limit on effected creatures is hit dice equal to the characters level.
  • If successful the undead cannot harm the crafter, or anyone within 10 ft of them when they activate this power but can block his way and use spells or abilities that don’t affect the crafter. This includes being able to attack party members. This last while you are in line of sight of the undead, attacks the undead, or a member of their party attacks.
• Extended Necromancy Abjuration (Enhancement SB 1 DC 16) You can prepare abjuration spells as a necromancy spells relating to dealing with the dead. The results give an appearance of undeath to the subjects they are cast upon.

Downtime Activities: can require 1 or more soul burn points to activate and maintain. You do not require you to have the manifestation active to use. Use of downtime abilities cannot be offset by magical items or artefacts.

• Laboratory: A necromancer must create a laboratory to use their abilities in at the cost of 5,000 gp per circle they have obtained.
  • Once they have a laboratory, they can build a field kit that costs 3,000 gp per circle and allows experiments but has twice the failure rate. This can be used ten times before it runs out of components. It costs 300 gp per use being refreshed, if it is exhausted, then it must be rebuilt from scratch. Using a field kit doubles the laboratory burn percentage.
  • Experiments cost 1,000 gp of components, take d6 hours per circle of ability used and gain a 5% additional failure chance for each interruption.
  • Finding components takes a week per 1,000 gp of items in Glantri City, or twice that in another capital, or three to four times depending on the country.
  • They require a formula book (use a blank spellbook) to write down all the details of what they can create with their lab or field kits.
• Prepare Material Bone (SB 1+) You can spend a week to sacrifice a number of hit dice of bone from a dead creature, from yourself or a helpless target. For every hit dice sacrificed this way, you can gain enough material to replace 10 gp worth of material items for a spell. Each HD used in this fashion also causes 1 point of Soul Burn. You cannot regain the soul burn while this has not been expended, but may add to its capacity with downtime.
• Bind the Power – Common As a downtime activity taking a week, you can transfer the magic from a common magical item to a undead or construct you control. This destroys the magical item in the process.
• Bone Familiar (SB 1+): You spend a week to training a familiar to extend its bones as spurs for a short time. This gives the familiar once per short rest to have a piercing, slashing or bludgeoning attack for 1 minutes per level. This will cost you 1 soul burn per character level (or 1 point if you have the familiar class feature or follow the Traladaran pantheons). You cannot recover the soul burn while you retain the familiar.
• Bone Companion (SB 1+): You spend a week to training a companion to extend its bones as spurs for a short time. This gives the companion once per short rest to have a piercing, slashing or bludgeoning attack for 1 minutes per level. This will cost you 1 soul burn per character level (or 1 point if you have the companion class feature or follow the Traladaran pantheons). You cannot recover the soul burn while you retain the companion.
• Bone Mount (SB 1+): You spend a week to training a mount to extend its bones as spurs for a short time. This gives the mount once per short rest to have a piercing, slashing or bludgeoning attack for 1 minutes per level. This will cost you 1 soul burn per character level (or 1 point if you have the mount class feature or follow the Traladaran pantheons). You cannot recover the soul burn while you retain the mount.
• Necromantic Craft Specialisation (SB 1+): You gain a known or prepared spell from the list of spells in this craft for each level you can cast. If you know more than one craft you can only have this available for one. Repeat activations changes the these slots to the activating craft. Costs 1 point per level of the spell. This loss is permanent while you have access to these spells. Unlike regular spells, Cantrips cost 1 point per character level.

2nd Circle (and beyond)

These will be expanded when a player unlocks more in the game.

Content Updates

• 2022-03-12 – Updated the Initiate level abilities and wording. Update of the 1st Circle abilities and powers to bring them more in line with the changes made to the initiate level and through trial in play over the last year
• 2021-08-05 – Updated the layout.
• 2021-07-21 – Added in section on Magical Items

Secret Crafts

Overview, Downtime: Secret Crafts, Spellcasters

Elemental Crafts: (6) Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, Water – Combining Craft – Elements

Necromancy Crafts: (6) Blood, Devour, Grave, Reanimate, Shade – Combining Craft – Necro

Racial Crafts: (38) Alchem, Beast, Bureau, Celest, Chaos, Chrono, Craft, Crypt, Diplomat, Diviner, Dragon, Elven, Entertain, Fiend, Heal, Mech, Mental, Merch, Music, Nature, Portal, Preserve, Protect, Rad, Sail, Shape, Skald, Sky, Spirit, Spy, Star, Sumon, Tech, Void, Wagon, War, Weapon, Witch

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