Necromancers & Familiars

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Posted by Hackhamster
2/05/2019 10:05 pm
#1

I am thinking of using a Necromancer this weekend, and my GM is figuring out if I can have a familiar. If it is permissible, I am working up a list of familiars:

Avian:
Vulture
Raven
Crow
Bat, Vampire

Reptilian:
Asp
Newt
Frog
Gecko

Mammal:
Lemur
Rat
Mole Rat
Black Cat with a milky eye

Weird:
Zombie Head (lips sewn shut)
Animated Head in a Jar (his mom's)
Hand of Glory
Skull Staff
Eyeball
Giant Centipede

Thoughts?


"AS&SH feels like late 70’s fantasy roleplaying from a parallel dimension where Frodo was unceremoniously slain by Conan." - rpg.net review
 
Posted by rhialto
2/06/2019 5:12 am
#2

I like it, and would welcome this in my game. What about a ghost or other spectral creature? You'd probably have to scale back the abilities to be in line with other familiars though.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 
Posted by francisca
2/06/2019 8:02 am
#3

The only one I think I'd have trouble with is the Asp.  A familiar with poison might bit too much.

 
Posted by Handy Haversack
2/06/2019 8:57 am
#4

Zombie squirrels are all the familiar a necromancer needs.

 
Posted by mabon5127
2/06/2019 12:55 pm
#5

I think the rules in place only allow a Magician or Witch to have a familiar and they are very different from each other.  Obviously its his game he can do as he wishes. I like limiting familiars to the two classes as they can be quite an advantage and should be rare IMO.


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by Handy Haversack
2/06/2019 2:17 pm
#6

Step 1:
Animate Carrion
Level: nec 1 | Range: 10 feet | Duration: permanent
Raised are the bones or carrion of Small animals: amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles of natural
sort. The undead animals will obey the simple instructions of the caster (essentially one-word commands) and follow him unless either slain or turned (see Vol. III, p. 252: Combat Actions, magic); the dispel magic spell (q.v.) also will nullify the connexion betwixt the sorcerer and the undead animal. The caster can animate and maintain no more than 1 HD of undead animals per CA level. Whether or not desiccated flesh remains on their bones, the undead animals have statistics as noted in Vol. IV. Animated carrion loses
any special abilities possessed in life (e.g., flight, musk, venom).

Step 2:
Small Undead Animal
(Undead Type 0)
No. Encountered: 1 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Size: S M
Movement: 30
Dexterity: 10
Armour Class: 8
Hit Dice: ½
Attack Rate: 1/1 (claw, bite, etc.)
Damage: 1d4
Saving Throw: 17
Morale: 12
Experience Points: 9
Treasure Class:

Step 3:
"The zombie squirrel attacks!"
 

 
Posted by Ghul
2/06/2019 2:35 pm
#7

Yes, the necromancer in my group had his own special sled dog familiar, much as Handy described with his squirrel example. The other dogs in the sled team just couldn't get along with him, though. And he was too slow. ;)


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 
Posted by mabon5127
2/06/2019 3:18 pm
#8

Ghul wrote:

Yes, the necromancer in my group had his own special sled dog familiar, much as Handy described with his squirrel example. The other dogs in the sled team just couldn't get along with him, though. And he was too slow. ;)

Nevermind it looks like it's permissible! 


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by gizmomathboy
2/06/2019 3:20 pm
#9

Yeah, the one necromancer just had a squirrel and dog for his "familiars".

Necromancers get to make their own familiars so to speak.

However, if I was inclined to give a familiar to a necromancer I think the list is good with the caveat that Francisca noted. The vulture might be on the large size for a familiar but they do fit the mood :-)


What? Me worry?
 
Posted by Handy Haversack
2/06/2019 4:04 pm
#10

Ghul wrote:

Yes, the necromancer in my group had his own special sled dog familiar, much as Handy described with his squirrel example. The other dogs in the sled team just couldn't get along with him, though. And he was too slow. ;)

I never could train my dog not to eat the skeleton dogs. It's like rule 0: dogs like bones.

 
Posted by rhialto
2/06/2019 5:33 pm
#11

Handy Haversack wrote:

Ghul wrote:

Yes, the necromancer in my group had his own special sled dog familiar, much as Handy described with his squirrel example. The other dogs in the sled team just couldn't get along with him, though. And he was too slow. ;)

I never could train my dog not to eat the skeleton dogs. It's like rule 0: dogs like bones.

I want to know who is going to outrun an undead dog? I mean, missing bones and all it should never tire, right?


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 
Posted by Handy Haversack
2/06/2019 6:30 pm
#12

You don't have to run faster than the undead dog. You just have to run faster than your friends.

 
Posted by Ynas Midgard
2/06/2019 8:08 pm
#13
Posted by rhialto
2/07/2019 5:16 am
#14

Handy Haversack wrote:

You don't have to run faster than the undead dog. You just have to run faster than your friends.

True...perhaps I should have said "longer", not "faster". 
In any case, I fully support my players being imaginative with the rules, which I treat as a framework in most cases.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 
Posted by Hackhamster
2/07/2019 11:03 am
#15

Looking at playing an Norman Bates-style Necromancer (quiet, unassuming, polite, but crazy and homicidal) that just happens to carry his mother's head around with him in a pickle jar.  He talks to it. It answers him. Among other things, it tells him to leave the girls alone, they are only trouble.

Either that, or "What if Tom Bombadil was actually a grave robber?"  Then I could have my own undead Fatty Lumpkin.

 


"AS&SH feels like late 70’s fantasy roleplaying from a parallel dimension where Frodo was unceremoniously slain by Conan." - rpg.net review
 
Posted by mabon5127
2/07/2019 11:07 am
#16

Hackhamster wrote:

Looking at playing an Norman Bates-style Necromancer (quiet, unassuming, polite, but crazy and homicidal) that just happens to carry his mother's head around with him in a pickle jar.  He talks to it. It answers him. Among other things, it tells him to leave the girls alone, they are only trouble.

Either that, or "What if Tom Bombadil was actually a grave robber?"  Then I could have my own undead Fatty Lumpkin.

 

Immediately reminded me of the style of Creepy or Eerie Magazine. Cool!

 


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by rhialto
2/07/2019 2:34 pm
#17

Hackhamster wrote:

Looking at playing an Norman Bates-style Necromancer (quiet, unassuming, polite, but crazy and homicidal) that just happens to carry his mother's head around with him in a pickle jar.  He talks to it. It answers him. Among other things, it tells him to leave the girls alone, they are only trouble.

Either that, or "What if Tom Bombadil was actually a grave robber?"  Then I could have my own undead Fatty Lumpkin.
 

Again, I'd welcome this kind of creativity in my game: well done! 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 
Posted by Hackhamster
2/07/2019 3:54 pm
#18

rhialto wrote:

Hackhamster wrote:

Looking at playing an Norman Bates-style Necromancer (quiet, unassuming, polite, but crazy and homicidal) that just happens to carry his mother's head around with him in a pickle jar.  He talks to it. It answers him. Among other things, it tells him to leave the girls alone, they are only trouble.

Either that, or "What if Tom Bombadil was actually a grave robber?"  Then I could have my own undead Fatty Lumpkin.
 

Again, I'd welcome this kind of creativity in my game: well done! 

Once Jerry the Body-snatcher is able to animate dead, he's gonna sew mom's head onto a convenient corpse and then it's on like Donkey Kong.
 


"AS&SH feels like late 70’s fantasy roleplaying from a parallel dimension where Frodo was unceremoniously slain by Conan." - rpg.net review
 
Posted by Hackhamster
2/11/2019 1:37 pm
#19

Well, my necro didn't get a familiar, but he does have ma's head in a jar and several levels in weirdo.  Currently, he is salting and smoking a hog carcass, upon which he will cast animate carrion.

Mobile bacon.


"AS&SH feels like late 70’s fantasy roleplaying from a parallel dimension where Frodo was unceremoniously slain by Conan." - rpg.net review
 
Posted by Brock Savage
2/11/2019 2:39 pm
#20

I would add brain in a jar to the list of possible familiars. Their creation is through Mi-Go technology beyond the reckoning of man but occasionally sorcerers discover and make use of them.

 


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