Level 1
Tremens
Tremens allows the necromancer to make the flesh
of a corpse shift once. An arm might suddenly flop forward, a cadaver
might sit up, or dead eyes might abruptly open. Needless to say,
this sort of thing tends to have an impressive impact on people who aren't
expecting a departed relative to roll over in his coffin.
System:To use Tremens, the necromancer
spends a single blood point, and the player must succeed on a Dexterity
+ Occult roll (difficulty 6). The more successes acheived, the more complicated
an action can be inculcated into the corpse. One success allows for
and instantaneous movement, such as a twitch, while five successes allows
the vampire to set up specific conditions under which the body animates
("The next time someone enters the room, I want the corpse to sit up and
open its eyes"). Under no circumstances can Tremen cause a body to attack
or cause damage.
Level 2
Apprentice's Broom
With Apprentice's Broom, the necromancer can
make a dead body rise and preform a simple function. For example, the corpse
could be set to carrying heavy objects, digging, or just shambling from
place to place. The cadavars thus animated do not attack or defend themselves
if interfered with, but insteaf attempt to carry out their given instructions
until such time as they've been rendered inanimate. Generally it
takes dismemberment, flame, or something similar to destroy a corpse animates
in this way.
System: A roll of Wits + Occult (Difficulty
7) and the expenditure of a point of both blood and Willpower are all that
is necessary to animate corpses with Apprentice's Broom. The number
of corpses animated is equal to the number of successes acheived.
The necromancer must then state the task to which he is setting the zombies.
The cadavars turn themselves to their work until they finish the job (at
which point the collapse) or something (including time) destroys them.
Bodies energized by this power continues to decay,
albeit at a much slower rate than normal.
Level 3
Shambling Hordes
Shambling Hordes creates exactly what you think
it might: reanimated corpses with the ability to attack, albeit neither
very well or very quickly. Once primed by this power, the corpses
wait -- for years, if necessary -- to fulfill the command given them.
The orders might be to protect a certian site or simply to attack immediately,
but they will be carried out until every last one of the decomposing mosters
are destroyed.
System: The player invests a point of Willpower,
then spends a point of blood for each corpse the necromancer animates.The
player must succeed on a Wits + Occult roll (difficulty 8); each success
allows the vampire to raise another corpsefrom the grave. Each zombie
(for lack of a better term) can follow one simple instruction, such as,
"Stay here and guard this graveyard against any intruders." or "Kill them!"
Note: Zombies created by Shambling Hordes
will wait forever if need be to fulfill their function. Long after
the fleash has rotted of the mystically animated bones, the zombies will
wait...and wait...and wait -- still able to preform their duties.
Level 4
Soul Stealing
This power affects the living, not the dead.
It does, however, temporarily turn a living soul into a sort of wraith,
as it allows a necromancer to strip a soul from a living -- or vampiric
-- body. A mortal exiled from his body by this power, becomes a wraith
with a single tie to the real world: his now-empty body
System: The player spends a point of Willpower
and then makes a contested Willpower roll against the intended victim (difficulty
6). Successes indicate the number of hours during which the original
soul is forced out of its housing. The body itself remains autonomically
alive but catatonic.
This power can be used to create suitable hosts
for Daemonic Possession.
Level 5
Demonic Possession
Daemonic Possession lets a vampire insert a soul
into a freshly dead body and inhabit it for the duration. This does
not turn the reanimated corpse into anything other than a reanimated corpse,and
one that will irrevocably decay after a week, but it does give either a
wraith or a free-floating soul (say, that of a vampire using Psychic Projection)
a temporary home in the physical world
System: The body in question must be no
more than 30 minutes dead, and the new tenent must agree to inhabit it
-- a ghost or astral for cannot be forced into a new shell. Of course,
most ghosts would gladly seize the opportunity, but that is a different
matter. Should the vampire, for whatever reason, wish to insert a
soul into another vampire's corpse (before it crumbles to ash), the necromancer
must acheive five successes on a resisted Willpower roll against the original
owner of the body. Otherwise the interloper is denied enterance
Note: The soul can use whatever physical
abilities (Dodge, Brawl, Potance) his new home possesses, and whatever
mental abilities (Computers, Law Presence) he possesses in his current
existance. He cannot use the physical abilities of his old form or
the mental abilities of his new one.