Editing Complete Book Series (section)

===The Complete Book of Necromancers===
Steve Kurtz wrote this one in 1995. In a break from earlier books which dealt with ''character classes'', for the "Player's Handbook Reference": this book joined the Dungeon Master's Reference sub-line, with the code of DMGR7. As its name suggests, it focuses on [[Necromancer]]s - as that's a role shared between the [[Wizard]] and the [[Cleric]] (the latter referred to in-book as "Death Priests"). So covering both classes at the same time.

Why "Dungeon Masters Only"? Shannon Appelcline later claimed that TSR was afraid of [[Satanic Panic|The Religious Right]] - meaning, the staff were afraid of [[Lorraine Williams|You Know Who]]. But by the middle 1990s Lorraine was mellowing out, or maybe losing interest; as we can see from the [[edge]]lordery in [[From The Ashes|tangential]] [[Night Below|content]]. Thus the lipservice. Also thus most of this is more useful for players.

Also also thus, DMGR7 became popular. More so a couple years later when [[Bruce Cordell]] published ''[[Acererak|Return to]] the [[Tomb of Horrors]]'' which required that supplement even to play the thing. Since nobody could buy it anymore except for double the price, used; it got widely pirated on UseNet.

The very first chapter, '''Necromancers''', breaks them down piece by piece over several subchapters. Firstly, it looks at how to build a necromancer by the rules for making PCs (we did tell you that the audience for this was mixed). Secondly, it provides a number of new necromancer [[kits]], which we'll examine below. Thirdly, it brings up several [[kits]] from earlier in the Complete lineup ([[Wizard]]s and [[Sha'ir]]s), with particular attention paid to two; the [[Witch]] and the Ghul Lord, discussing why they "fit" with the necromancer archetype. Finally, it provides a number of new nonweapon proficiencies; anatomy, necrology, netherworld knowledge, spirit lore and venom handling.
* Archetypical Necromancer: This is your stereotypical evil wizard who employs the darkest of necromantic arts; [[Clark Ashton Smith]] is upheld as the iconic depictor of this kind of necromancer, with gamers being pointed to his loathsome villain protagonists Mmatmuor, Sodosma, Vacharn, Vokal, Uldulla, Nathaire, Abnon-Tha, Narghai and Vemba-Tsith. This kit's gains access to the special powers covered in the "Vile Pacts & Dark Gifts" subchapter, but suffers from the punitive maladies detailed in the third chapter.
* Anatomist: A surgeon turned necromancer, anatomists range from legitimate healers to mad scientists out to build [[Flesh Golem]]s to sadistic vivisectionist-torturers. They gain increased proficiency with knives, and can even learn to wield a cutlass and short sword, have increased proficiency with the healing skill, and can perform autopsies. The downside is that they need to perform regular dissections of corpses, or they lose their kit bonuses until they catch up on their studying backlog.
* Deathslayer: These are vengeful wizards who seek to destroy the undead, turning to necromancy for the better ability to fight, outwit and understand their quarry. They get to pick a single "greater" undead ([[Banshee]]), [[Mummy]], [[Ghost]]/Spectre, [[Lich]] or [[Vampire]]); against that one type of undead, the Deathslayer is resistant to their mental attacks, and has an increased chance to hit with their own attacks and with their spells. The downside is that their obsession with fighting "The Enemy" is so strong it functions as a Geas.
* Philosopher: More of a mad loremaster than anything, the Philosophical Necromancer studies the dark arts for the sake of '''Knowing'''. They have the knowledge abilities of a Sage in their specialty fields (necromancy, necromantic magical items, the netherrealms), an increased chance of [[psionics|wild talents]], and a +30% chance to learn Necromancy spells (which stacks with their base specialist bonus). The downside? Even worse combat skills than a normal wizard, a high chance of being insane, and a -30% penalty to learning non-necromancy spells.
* Undead Master: A true pulp-style "Dark Mage", this Necromancer/Conjurer/Enchanter hybrid can learn Enchantment spells (normally forbidden to them), as well as Conjuration spells, and can command undead and non-[[angel]] outsiders as if they were [[Cleric]]s. The downside is that they can't cast Transmutation, Illusion or Divination spells, and they're even worse at melee combat than the Philosopher.

The second chapter, '''Dark Gifts''', is a grab-back of a subtopics. It first looks at dual-classed necromancers (Fighter, Cleric, Thief and Psionicist), examining what you need to do in order to qualify for these hybrids and character choices that will make you stronger. The next topic, Wild Talents, looks at the likelihood of necromancers having innate [[psionics]] and provides a new pair of tables for generating necromancer-appropriate wild talents. This is then followed by the much more interesting topic "Vile Pacts & Dark Gifts"; eerie, strange, magical abilities that you can give a necromancer to strengthen its feeling as a master of dark arts and bargaining with unholy beings, such as shapeshifting in an animal's form, animating the dead with a touch, regenerating like a [[troll]], being able to innately command the undead like a cleric, or being immune to non-magical weapons... naturally, the book strongly suggests that DMs should keep this good stuff for their NPCs. It then concludes with examining necromancers coming from outside of the [[demihuman]] ranks - this was the edition when only humans were PHB-compatible with the specialization. Particular attention is paid to [[Drow]], [[Dragon]] and [[Githyanki]] necromancers. The chapter ends with rules for [[undead]] necromancers.

The third chapter is '''The Price'''; a brief examination of the presumed social stigmas that necromancers will face, and punitive rules for necromancers being affected with deformities, diseases, madness and curses as a result of their dark studies - unlike the "Vile Pacts" segment, DMs are encouraged to use these on players, ''especially'' if they beg for a Vile Pact of their own.

Chapter four is '''The Dark Arts'''; this talks about the typical spell selection of a necromancer, discusses the three "schools" of Necromancy - White, Gray and Black, and of course finishes with the inevitable array of new spells. White Necromancy is described as "spells that restore or fortify the living body & life force, spells that draw from the caster's own life force, and spells that ''disable'' the undead". Gray Necromancy covers all those spells about raising and controlling the undead. Black Necromancy is specified as "spells that bring death, physical injury, or spiritual annihilation in an excruciating and terrifying manner", and the book encourages the DM to amp up the creepiness of spells like Death or Finger of Death in order to justify them being more evil than Chain Lightning and Disintegrate. It even goes so far as to recommend DMs incorporate the Powers Check mechanics from [[Ravenloft]] as a punitive measure for casting Black Necromancy spells!

The fifth chapter is '''Death Priests''', and begins our look at the necromancer as seen through the lens of an evil [[cleric]]. Subtopics include new varieties of deity whose clergy count as Death Priests (the God of the Dead, the Goddess of Murder, the God of Pestilence, the God of Suffering, and the Lord of Undead), and this is then followed by the 6th chapter, '''The Priest Sphere''', which is new cleric spells for these types.

Moving on, we come to the seventh chapter, '''Allies''', which covers apprentices, henchmen, [[familiar]]s, [[undead]] servitors, and several secret societies: the Cult of Worms, the Scabrous Society, the Cult of Pain, and the Anatomical Academy.

Chapter eight is '''Tools of the Trade'''; poisons, potions, magical items and tomes of necromantic lore.

Finally, we close on chapter 9; '''The Campaign'''. This consists of a detailed adventure site in the form of the island-prison of a [[lich]] and the necromancer's academy she has founded to free herself, some necromancer-themed adventure hooks, and full NPC stats for the various named necromancers who have shown up as references in the book and who appear on the titular island.