Black Magic
Field of magic
Magic drawn from dark forces and the infernal realms.
From the book
Black Magic concerns the dark powers of magic and the infernal realms. Necromancers are its foremost practitioners; they rank among the most evil spell casters of all, frequent catacombs and graveyards, and acquire power solely through a series of pacts with an arch demon or arch devil. Witchdoctors combine it with Low Magic and enter into the same pacts. Evil witches and warlocks, along with some neutral ones, join it to Elemental Magic, and sorcerers and wizards can take it as a secondary field. Only necromancers and witchdoctors may learn its restricted spells.
Its spells cluster into a handful of sinister groups. Curses progress from the basic Curse through Malediction and the Evil Eye up to the Great Curse. Clinging mists lull victims to sleep, ensnare, choke or slay them. Summonings ascend from familiars and undead through lesser, winged, greater and nether demons and devils to the arch demons and devils themselves. True necromancy lets the caster heal through dark means, converse with and animate the dead, drain life energy and possess other beings, culminating in Death Magic and the Soulstone. Surrounding these are spells of terror, pain, paralysis, coercion and destruction, as well as the shrieking Black Wind and Ghost Wind.
Black Magic is the opposite of Divine Magic, and those who practice either one cannot acquire the other's spells by outside research.
At a glance
- Used by
- Necromancer, Witchdoctor, Witch (evil, sometimes neutral), Sorcerer (by choice), Wizard (by choice), Charlatan (optional, first level only)
- Level 1 spells (10)
- Arcane Bolt, Circle of Darkness, Curse, Dark Omen, Detect Magic, Disguise, Evoke Spirits, Mists, Protection from Good, Summon Familiar
- Level 2 spells (8)
- Control, Detect Presences, Image (Black Magic)*, Mists of Sleep, Necromantic Healing*, Pain, Speak with the Dead*, Summon Undead*
- Level 3 spells (7)
- Animate Dead*, Infernal Circle of Flame, Malediction, Mists of Entrapment, Necromantic Shape Change*, Repel, Summon Lesser Demon/Devil
- Level 4 spells (7)
- Contact Lower Plane, Mists of Strangling, Paralysis, Phantom, Summon Winged Demon/Devil, Whither Plants, Wings of Darkness
- Level 5 spells (7)
- Coercion, Energy Drain*, Evil Eye, Mists of Death, Summon Greater Demon/Devil, Terror, Witchwind
- Level 6 spells (6)
- The Black Wind, Death Hand, Possession*, Reveal the Past*, Unholy Word*, Summon Nether Demon/Devil
- Level 7 spells (6)
- Death Magic, Destruction, Ghost Wind*, The Great Curse*, Soulstone, Summon Arch Demon/Devil*
- Total spells
- 51
- Practitioners
- Necromancers; witchdoctors (with Low Magic); evil (and some neutral) witches and warlocks (with Elemental Magic); sorcerers and wizards may take it as their secondary field
- Restricted spells (*)
- Restricted to necromancers and witchdoctors only
- Research limit
- No practitioner of Black Magic can learn Divine Magic spells through extra-curricular research, and vice versa (p. 70)
- Summon Familiar
- Summon Familiar: necromancers choose the familiar type, dabblers roll on a table (p. 84)
- Spells per day
- Any two known spells, plus one more per level of ability gained (spell level irrelevant) (p. 68)
- Default components
- Verbal and somatic unless stated; no material components unless stated (p. 68)
- Default casting time
- One full round; first level spells take slightly less (p. 68)
- Spell type
- Each description ends with SAVE and SPELL TYPE lines; 'Variable' spells scale with caster level as stated, 'Non-variable' do not
- Extra-curricular research
- Outside casters pay 500 X.P. per spell level; asterisked (restricted) spells cannot be learned this way (p. 70)
- Spell list table
- p. 74 (* = restricted)
- Spell descriptions
- pp. 83-88