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Intense blue-green magic pours from a female-presenting wizard in the background, lifting her from the ground and flaring her waist-length white hair behind her. She is surrounded by skeletal minions brandishing rusty weapons.

Get all 14 subclasses in the Complete Necromancer!

Necromancer subclass

Overlord

Command an Army of Obedient Undead

There are few ambitions that capture the imagination more than the power to rule. From peasantry to nobility, many dream of a world in which they are in charge. Some Necromancers, known as Overlords, view their magic as a means to accomplish this pervasive dream. Seeking control both on and off the battlefield, Overlords leverage their dark magic to bolster their allies and manipulate their foes.

Level 3: Overlord Spells

Your necromantic ambitions ensure you always have certain spells ready. When you reach a Necromancer level specified in the Overlord Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Overlord Spells

Necromancer
Level
Spells
3 Bane, Command, Detect Thoughts, Hold Person
5 Haste, Slow
7 Compulsion, Confusion
9 Dominate Person, Geas

Level 3: Charnel Aura

As a Bonus Action, you can expend 5 or more Charnel Touch points to create an empowering aura in a 30-foot Emanation originating from you until the start of your next turn. Undead you control within the Emanation gain a bonus to D20 Tests, damage rolls, and AC. This bonus equals +1 for every 5 Charnel Touch points expended, to a maximum of +3.

Level 6: Despotic Discourse

You gain a bonus to Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) checks equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum bonus of +1).

Level 10: Sacrificial Thralls

When you’re hit by an attack roll, you can take a Reaction to force that attack to instead hit one of your thralls that is within 5 feet of you.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so until you finish a Short or Long Rest. You can also restore your use of it by expending a level 2+ spell slot (no action required).

Level 20: Tyrant [Lichdom]

You have reached the pinnacle of Necromancy and transformed yourself into a lich. Your desire for control has warped your transformation, transforming you into a tyrant lich. Your flesh and bone decay, reducing you to nothing more than two glowing dots beneath a hood. You gain the following benefits in addition to those of your Lichdom feature.

Possession. If you drop to 0 Hit Points, you can choose to possess a nearby body instead of reforming at your spirit jar. When you do so, choose a Humanoid or one of your thralls within 120 feet of yourself. A Humanoid must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC or be possessed.

When you possess a body, you control it, but a Humanoid target retains awareness. Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the body, though you retain your alignment and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You retain your own class features and feats. If the target has any class levels, you can’t use any of its class features.

A possessed Humanoid can repeat its saving throw every 8 hours. On a success, the possession ends and you are ejected from the body. The possession also ends if the body drops to 0 Hit Points or you choose to end it as a Magic action. A creature that succeeds its saving throw against your possession is immune to your Possession for 24 hours.

Domination Spells. You can expend Charnel Touch points to cast one of the spells from the following table without a spell slot.

Spell Charnel Touch Points
Command 15
Dominate Beast 20
Dominate Monster 60
Dominate Person 30
Geas 30

Get more subclasses in the Complete Necromancer

Or discover other innovative base classes in Valda’s Spire of Secrets!

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