NecrologistSource Battlecry! pg. 66Though some may think it morbid, you spend your time compiling and studying lists of the dead, from town or church records that date back hundreds of years to more recent records of battlefield casualties. You have become so invested in the lives and stories of these unfortunates that you can tap into your own animating force to bring them all temporarily back from the dead at once. This usually entails enacting esoteric arcana, occult rites, or divine pacts with gods of the undead. Necrologists can be valuable assets in any battle, as their hordes are essentially expendable and in endless supply.
Rare Archetype Dedication Source Battlecry! pg. 66Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites ability to cast spells from spell slots, ability to cast
summon undead
Your studies of the lists of the dead allow you to call forth a horde of undead with a brief incantation. You can summon your horde with the Raise the Horde activity, and you can use the Mobbing Assault action while your horde is raised to command it to attack. The eerie connection you have with your horde precludes you from also having an animal companion or any other companion (such as a follower), though if an ability allows you to have more than one follower (such as with the
Additional Follower feat of the
captain archetype), you can count your horde as one. You have enough control over your horde that it doesn't attack you or your allies.
When raised, your horde is Huge and has a speed of 20 feet. It has the
mindless and
undead traits. It can be attacked. Though it's made of several undead creatures, it can't share the same space as other creatures (unless you have certain feats). Due to your eldritch connection with your horde, it uses your AC, saves, and other defensive statistics like skill DCs, but is immune to the
grappled,
prone, and
restrained conditions. The horde has
resistance equal to your level to physical damage, but
weakness equal to your level to area and splash damage. You share an animating force, so any damage that would be dealt to the horde is dealt to you instead, though you take damage only once from any ability that includes both you and the horde in the area of effect (though you take the greater amount of damage).
Raise the Horde [two-actions] (concentrate, magical, manipulate)
Frequency once per 10 minutes;
Effect Your undead horde appears in an unoccupied space within 30 feet. Choose whether your horde consists of skeletons or zombies, which affects the type of damage it deals with Mobbing Assault. Your horde remains summoned until the end of your next turn, but you can
Sustain the effect for up to 1 minute. The effect also ends if you end your turn more than 120 feet away from the horde. When you first use Raise the Horde and each time you Sustain the effect, you can have the horde Stride. When Raise the Horde ends, the undead that comprise your horde collapse lifelessly to the ground and quickly rot away. They can no longer be targeted or used for actions.
Mobbing Assault
[one-action] (concentrate)
Requirements Your horde has been raised;
Effect Each enemy in a 5-foot emanation around your horde takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage (if your horde is zombies) or 2d6 slashing damage (if your horde is skeletons) with a basic Reflex save against your spell DC. At 10th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the damage increases by 2d6.
Archetype Concentrate Magical Source Battlecry! pg. 66Archetype NecrologistFrequency once per round
Prerequisites Necrologist DedicationTrigger Your last action was a Mobbing Assault made by your horde that reduced at least one living creature to 0 Hit Points.
The expiring breaths of your enemies fuel your power. You gain 15
temporary Hit Points that last for 1 minute. The temporary Hit Points you gain increase by 5 at 10th level and every 2 levels thereafter.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist Dedication
Your foes are left reeling from the attacks made by the zombies or skeletons of your horde. A creature that is damaged by your horde's Mobbing Assault is
off-guard until the beginning of your next turn.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist Dedication
Your horde is swifter, marching in time to your command. Increase the Speed of your horde by 10 feet.
Archetype Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist Dedication
The twisting rotted limbs, clattering bones, or swirling ectoplasm of your horde can hide you from others' vision. You and your allies can occupy the same space as your horde, becoming
concealed to all creatures when you do so.
Archetype Magical Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist Dedication
You have come to understand the pain and fury of spirits and can raise them to do your ghastly work. When you Raise your Horde, you can choose spirits instead of skeletons or zombies. When you do so, your horde gains the
incorporeal trait and immunity to disease, poison, and precision damage, and your horde's Mobbing Assault deals void damage.
Archetype Concentrate Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist DedicationTrigger You cast
summon undead.
Requirements Your horde is raised.
The act of summoning additional undead minions doesn't make you lose the focus required to maintain the animation of your horde. You Sustain your horde.
Archetype Concentrate Flourish Manipulate Visual Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistFrequency once per 10 minutes
Prerequisites Necrologist DedicationRequirements Your horde is raised.
Your horde can drag unwilling victims along with it as it shambles forward. Your horde Strides up to its Speed and can move through the spaces of Large and smaller creatures, but it must end its movement in an unoccupied space. Each creature whose space it moves through is subjected to the horde's Mobbing Assault, attempting a basic Reflex save as usual. A creature who fails the saving throw is also
Repositioned to an unoccupied square of your choice adjacent to the horde's final position. You can't move the creature into or through obstacles.
Archetype Magical Manipulate Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistFrequency once per round
Prerequisites Necrologist DedicationRequirements Your horde is raised.
With a wave of your hand, your risen undead horde collapses and another one rises to take its place. You Sustain your horde, dispersing the current group of undead and replacing them with a different type of undead to which you have access.
Archetype Auditory Concentrate Emotion Fear Flourish Magical Mental Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistFrequency once per 10 minutes
Prerequisites GhostsongRequirements Your horde is raised and consists of spirits.
The voices of the spirits you command spark fear in the hearts of your enemies. You Sustain your horde and command those spirits to shriek in unison. Each living enemy within a 20 foot emanation from your horde takes 5d10 mental damage, depending on its Will saving throw against your spell DC. This damage increases by 1d10 at 14th level and every 2 levels thereafter.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes half damage and is
frightened 1.
Failure The creature takes full damage and is frightened 2.
Critical Failure The creature takes double damage and is frightened 3.
Archetype Concentrate Magical Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Necrologist DedicationRequirements Your horde is raised.
When the time comes for your horde to be returned to its temporary rest, its departure carries those nearby closer to death. Dismiss your raised horde, which draws life energy toward it as it crumbles to the ground and fades away. Each living creature within your horde's space or in a 5-foot emanation around it must attempt a Fortitude saving throw against your spell DC or become
drained 1 (drained 2 on a critical failure).
Archetype Concentrate Flourish Source Battlecry! pg. 67Archetype NecrologistPrerequisites Grasping Corpses
When your skeletons and zombies attack, their skeletal claws and rotting hands clutch and tear flesh. Weaker foes are caught in their grip. You command your horde to perform a Mobbing Assault. Instead of being
off-guard, a creature who takes physical damage from failing the saving throw is
grabbed by your horde (
restrained on a critical failure). The DC to Escape from your horde is equal to your spell DC. Creatures grabbed by your horde that fail a saving throw against the horde's Mobbing Assault take 2d6 persistent bleed damage.