Necromancy

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

The Necromancy school of magic focuses on calling upon the unsavory power of death itself. It also boosts the abilities of Kikubaaqudgha and the bonus damage you can inflict with a pain branded weapon. Characters under the influence of the Necromutation spell (itself of the Necromancy school) receive a bonus to the power of Necromancy spells, as do mummies upon reaching levels 3 and 13.

The most obvious use for Necromancy is the creation of derived undead allies, though there are also several offensive and defensive spell options. It contains a very diverse spell set, and is a useful school of magic to study.

Using Necromancy has more consequences than other magical schools, however, as certain high-level Necromancy spells have side effects for the caster beyond the usual chance of miscasts. Necromancy is also considered unholy, and the good-aligned gods severely punish its use.

Aptitudes

At	Ba	Co	DE	Dg	Ds	Dj	Dr	Fe	Fo	Gr	Gh	Gn	Hu	Ko	Mf	Mi	MD	Mu	Na	Op	On	Sp	Te	Tr	Vp	VS
-2	-1	0	2	-1	1	11	0	0	0	-2	0	6	0	0	-2	-3	1	0	0	0	-1	-1	1	-2	1	0

Spells

Icon	Name	Schools	Level	Power cap	Range	Noise	Flags	Books
Level 1
	Kiss of Death	Conjuration/Necromancy	1	25	0-1	1	Dir or target, Not self, Unclean	Book of Touch
	Soul Splinter	Necromancy	1	25	5	1	Wl check, Dir or target, Needs tracer, Not self	Book of Cantrips Book of Necromancy
Level 2
	Grave Claw	Necromancy	2	50	4	2	Not self, Target	Book of Unlife
	Sublimation of Blood	Necromancy	2	100		2	Utility	Book of Blood Book of Transmutation
Level 3
	Fugue of the Fallen	Necromancy	3	100		8	Selfench	Book of Battle Book of Dreams
	Vampiric Draining	Necromancy	3	100	1	3	Dir or target, Not self	Book of Debilitation Book of Necromancy
Level 4
	Anguish	Hexes/Necromancy	4	200	LOS	4	Wl check, Area	Book of Dreams Book of Hexes
	Animate Dead	Necromancy	4	100		3	Helpful, Selfench, Utility	Book of Death Book of Unlife
	Cigotuvi's Putrefaction	Air/Necromancy	4	100	5	4	Target, Unclean	Book of Decay Trismegistus Codex
	Dispel Undead	Necromancy	4	100	1	4	Dir or target, Needs tracer	Book of Decay Book of Touch
	Martyr's Knell	Necromancy/Summoning	4	100		4		Book of Decay Book of Necromancy
Level 5
	Borgnjor's Vile Clutch	Earth/Necromancy	5	200	6	5	Dir or target, Needs tracer	Great Wizards, Vol. II Book of Unlife
	Curse of Agony	Necromancy	5	200	3	5	Wl check, Dir or target, Needs tracer, Not self	Book of Necromancy Book of the Senses
Level 6
	Death Channel	Necromancy	6	200		5	Helpful, Selfench, Utility	Book of Decay Book of Unlife
Level 7
	Haunt	Necromancy/Summoning	7	200	LOS	6	Mons abjure, Not self, Target	Book of Death Necronomicon
	Rimeblight	Ice/Necromancy	7	200	5	7	Destructive, Dir or target, Unclean	Book of Maladies Book of Wicked Creation
Level 8
	Borgnjor's Revivification	Necromancy	8	200		6	Utility	Necronomicon
	Infestation	Necromancy	8	200	LOS	8	Target, Unclean	Book of Death
Level 9
	Death's Door	Necromancy	9	200		6	No ghost, Utility	Necronomicon

Sources

Main Texts

Book of Death: Animate Dead, Haunt, Infestation

Book of Decay: Dispel Undead, Martyr's Knell, Death Channel

Book of Necromancy: Vampiric Draining, Martyr's Knell, Curse of Agony

Book of Unlife: Animate Dead, Borgnjor's Vile Clutch, Death Channel

Necronomicon: Haunt, Borgnjor's Revivification, Death's Door

Other Texts

Book of Battle: Fugue of the Fallen

Book of Blood: Sublimation of Blood

Book of Cantrips:

Book of Debilitation: Vampiric Draining

Book of Dreams: Fugue of the Fallen, Anguish

Great Wizards, Vol. II: Borgnjor's Vile Clutch

Book of Hexes: Anguish

Book of the Senses: Curse of Agony

Book of Touch: Kiss of Death, Dispel Undead

Book of Transmutation: Sublimation of Blood

Trismegistus Codex:

Undead Creation

While the corpses you'll find (and create) are useless, certain undead-creating spells will destroy corpses when they take effect. Only one of these effects may apply per monster (in order of priority, highest to lowest):

• Infestation
• Simulacrum
• Animate Dead/Reaping brand
• Necrotise

However, all four effects will stack with Death Channel, meaning you can create up to 2 derived undead per enemy, or possibly more in the case of Simulacrum. Corpse Rot also works with any of the above spells.

A monster's Bind Souls enchantment overrides all four of the player corpse-based effects. Gozag turns corpses to gold, preventing the corpse-based spells from creating allies or miasma (Death Channel still functions). Yredelemnul's passive reaping prevents necromantic creation of allies through any means except Infestation (Death Channel does not stack). Followers of Okawaru, as well as followers of Ru who have sacrificed love, cannot create undead allies.

See Also

• Necromancer

History

• 0.29 Necromancy reworked to remove functional corpse items. Added Necrotise, removed Animate Skeleton, Excruciating Wounds, and Pain from players.
• 0.28 Added Anguish.
• 0.25 To focus more on melee support, removed Regeneration (leaving Vampiric Draining to regain health) and Bolt of Draining. Reduced range of Dispel Undead and Agony to 1. Corpse Rot clouds surround the caster instead of the corpses.
• Prior to 0.24, Fedhas forbid use of Necromancy, as it disturbed the natural cycle of corpses.