Abhorsen (4e Paragon Path)
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Abhorsen
| “ | I am a necromancer, but not of the common kind. Where others of the art raise the dead, I lay them to back rest. And those that will not rest, I bind—or try to. I am Abhorsen... | ” |
| —Garth Nix | ||
The power of music has a hold on the dead; with the willpower behind it, the dance of the dead can be forced into any tune the singer desires. That is the power of the necromancer, whether or not music is their medium. But as music can raise the dead into undeath, so can it put them back to rest, as well bind those who refuse the final end. That is the duty of an Abhorsen.
As a songweaver, your musical talent easily lends itself to mastering the bells that hold sway over the dead. The notes of the seven ancients (Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth and Astarael the Sorrowful) are your medium for controlling the dead and the undead. But where a corrupt necromancer would abuse such power for mastery over undead slaves, you show restraint and compassion, for it is your duty, as Abhorsen, to put the dead back to rest.
Abhorsen Path Features[edit]
- Enter Death (11th level): You know the Enter Death ritual, even if you cannot learn or cast rituals. You can use Enter Death twice per day. At 21st level, you can use Enter Death three times per day. You do not need a ritual book to store the ritual.
- Lay Them Back to Rest (11th level): You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls against undead creatures. You also gain a +2 bonus to such checks.
- Abhorsen's Knowledge (11th level): You are treated as being trained in religion when you take knowledge checks to identify undead creatures.
- Mosrael's Melody (12th level): You gain the songweaver power Mosrael's Melody in place of a 12th level paragon path utility power.
- Fear Not Death (16th level): You and each adjacent ally gains a +2 bonus to Will against fear effects.
Abhorsen Path Powers
| Voice of the Binder Abhorsen Attack 20
| |
| The voice of Saraneth forces those who hear it to obey your will—and you order the undead to die. | |
| Daily ✦ Arcane, Psychic, Charm, Implement | |
| Standard Action | Close burst 10 |
| Target: One enemy in burst | |
| Attack: Charisma vs. Will | |
| Hit: 2d10 + Charisma modifier psychic damage, and the target is dominated (save ends). Until the end of this domination, you grant combat advantage. | |
| Special: If the dominated target is undead, while it is dominated, you can order it to return to death. This uses the target's standard action, and automatically deals 1d10 + Charisma modifier psychic damage to the target. | |
| Voice of the Walker Abhorsen Attack 11
| |
| Kibeth's voice forces listeners to walk to your will—and you command the undead to walk back into death. | |
| Encounter ✦ Arcane, Psychic, Implement | |
| Standard Action | Close burst 2 |
| Target: Each enemy in burst | |
| Attack: Charisma vs. Will | |
| Hit: 1d8 + Charisma modifier psychic damage, and you slide the target 2 squares. Undead creatures take an additional 1d6 damage. | |
Abhorsen Rituals[edit]
Enter Death
A fog rises around you, and your body freezes over slowly. But your spirit walks in death, for a time, so that you can bind or command the dead.
| Level: | 11 | Component Cost: | One or more healing surges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: | Binding | Market Price: | — |
| Time: | Varies | Key Skill: | Arcana |
| Duration: | Varies |
Your body freezes over while you perform this ritual and for its duration (you are treated as being petrified), except if you use this ritual to perform a binding (in which case you remain frozen for the casting time only). Your spirit enters death while you are frozen, and you perform one of the following actions. You must have a set of bells in order to do so.
Bind Creature
Component Cost: 4 Healing Surges
Time: Two hours
Duration: Until broken
You imprison a willing or helpless creature within 6 squares of your body in life (or anywhere in death) in death—if the creature is in life it is transported into death, vacating its body. The creature's spirit is trapped in suspended animation inside the equivalent of a Magic Circle ritual that prevents the passage of all creatures other than you (up to the level determined by your Arcana check).
For the binding to be broken, the breaking creature has to be in death, but other than this, the binding can be broken in the same was as a magic circle. The creature must be taken back or travel back to life in order to reinhabit its body (which involves simply walking back towards life).
At your option, you can petrify the body of the bound creature; this is reversed if the creature re-inhabits its body, however if the creature is undead, its body dies automatically. If the creature's body is killed, its spirit remains trapped in death, but if it escapes it must find another body to inhabit or remain incorporeal.
Commune with Dead
Component Cost: 2 Healing Surges
Time: 1 hour
Duration: 10 minutes
You command a spirit in death to answer one or more questions. The spirits of the dead appear as apparently incorporeal beings that have lost form with time. They could potentially know anything, as they could be from any time period.
Make an Arcana check to determine how many questions you can force a dead spirit to answer.
| Arcana Check Result | Number of Questions |
|---|---|
| 9 or lower | One |
| 10 – 19 | Two |
| 20 – 29 | Three |
| 30 – 39 | Four |
| 40 or higher | Five |
Each question is answered immediately, so you know the answer to one question before asking the next. The spirit will answer the questions as briefly as possible. For the spirit to know the answer to a question, the answer must be known to at least one creature, even if that creature is no longer alive. The spirit has no foreknowledge and only a limited ability to judge what it sees. Ten minutes after you finish performing the ritual, the spirit leaves, even if you have unasked questions remaining.
Dead Messenger
Component Cost: 1 Healing Surge
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Instantaneous
This functions as the Sending ritual except that the message is carried by a dead spirit to the target (who must be within range of your body in life). The message takes a number of hours equal to one fiftieth of the number of miles the message is carried.
Raise Dead
Component Cost: 500gp plus 2 healing surges
Time: 1 hour
Duration:Instantaneous
This functions as the Raise Dead ritual.
Speak with Dead
Component Cost: One Healing Surge
Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 10 minutes
This functions as the Speak with Dead ritual, except that the corpse must be within 6 squares of your body in life.
Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Classes → Paragon Paths
| Author | Sam Kay + |
| Class | Songweaver + |
| Component Cost | One or more healing surges + |
| Cost | — + |
| Identifier | 4e Paragon Path + |
| Level | 11 + |
| Rating | Undiscussed + |
| Skill | Arcana + |
| Summary | The power of music has a hold on the dead; … The power of music has a hold on the dead; with the willpower behind it, the dance of the dead can be forced into any tune the singer desires. That is the power of the necromancer, whether or not music is their medium. But as music can raise the dead into undeath, so can it put them back to rest, as well bind those who refuse the final end. That is the duty of an Abhorsen. inal end. That is the duty of an Abhorsen. + |
| Title | Abhorsen + |
| Type | Binding + |
