Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => The Secret History => Topic started by: Cowdragon on <04-02-14/0350:12>
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I've seen it mentioned on a few threads in here, but is Necromancy a thing in Shadowrun? It seems like it wouldn't be, as the afterlife is not something that's covered really. It's left more to individual beliefs. So true Necromancy (communing with the dead, binding dead person's spirits, reincarnating and resurection of the deceased, or even just simple animation of corpses) is something of fiction even for the 6th World.
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Yes and No.
Its a tradition of magic, just like any other, but goes a dark, near toxic path. It is whispered they are actually shamans of the Shedim tradition..
Things they are known for:
making zombies (possession spirits)
Resurrection: (again possession spirits)
Life sucking spells.
Think: "Dark Hougaun"
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well cybermancy touches on this a bit as you are binding that person's spirit to the cybered up husk.
As for speaking with the dead, some would say invoking spirits of Man is sort of talking with the dead as many traditions have those spirits are supposed to be ancestor spirits.
Whether they are or not is still hotly debated in many circles.
Ressurection/Reincarnating are the holy grails of magic in many eyes, but in game mechanics like Street Magic pg 160 specifically mentions Magic can not raise the dead.
Course whether this is due to maybe insufficient mana levels or training can be debated.
Of course as mentioned above, possession can offer some work-arounds.
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It should be noted;
What a necromancer returns to life, isn't what died...
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It should be noted;
What a necromancer returns to life, isn't what died...
that was almost Lovecraftian in nature. Cryptic: 8/10 Creepy: 11/10 thanks for the chills running down my spine. 8)
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It should be noted;
What a necromancer returns to life, isn't what died...
that was almost Lovecraftian in nature. Cryptic: 8/10 Creepy: 11/10 thanks for the chills running down my spine. 8)
Reaver will be here all week.
Be sure to try the veal and tip your waitress.
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making zombies (possession spirits)
Note that the actual term zombie would be specific to voodoo.
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Nethermancers were character classes in Earthdawn, and so yes, necromancy is possible in the SR universe. That said, the number of living practitioners in Shadowrun is probably less than a dozen, if even a handful, with the most powerful one dying relatively recently. Though what is physical death to someone who has mastered that force itself?
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Nethermancers were character classes in Earthdawn, and so yes, necromancy is possible in the SR universe.
The current mana level just needs to rise a fair bit before that. ;)
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And then just a bit more for true resurruection amongst other things to become possible. If course as Reaver said the gods rarely allow something to return so what your actually getting? Well it could be your beloved son or an animated corpse who wants to eat your face.
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Nethermancers were character classes in Earthdawn, and so yes, necromancy is possible in the SR universe.
The current mana level just needs to rise a fair bit before that. ;)
Tsk.
Magic was possible even during the downcycle. All you need is skill and patience.
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They make great wildcards. Vamps, bug spirits, and even shedim spirits to assume top-level threat to a team. Who would assume a death-dealing magic user?
It should be noted;
What a necromancer returns to life, isn't what died...
that was almost Lovecraftian in nature. Cryptic: 8/10 Creepy: 11/10 thanks for the chills running down my spine. 8)
Gotta love it. 8)
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As is, there's no way to do D&D style "walking dead" without just having a spirit possess a corpse (but often, there's better things for them to possess). Communicating with the deceased... No rules, certainly, but many traditions of magic believe in ancestor spirits and the like. If it came up in a game, I would say that expecting to simply ask a dead person what happened is out of the question, but "communing with ancestors" for a clue wouldn't be unreasonable.
Earthdawn is only "kind of" the past of Shadowrun; I believe since it's a game no longer owned by Catalyst, nothing in it is necessarily "officially canon" but I mean, it's at least worth considering.
And as always, remember the mantra of the Sixth World, should you ever try to perform true necromancy. "Everything has a price."
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Thread Necromancy is easy enough. ;D
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Don't you mean dead easy? ::) ;D
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Nethermancers were character classes in Earthdawn, and so yes, necromancy is possible in the SR universe.
Of course, with those two IPs being separate now, what was in earthdawn is no longer guaranteed to be a part of Shadowrun. I don't believe there's been anything in Shadowrun that touches on necromancy any closer than the use of ghost spirit testimony alluded to in Sixth World Almanac and the possession traditions already mentioned.
Personally I would lean towards the subtlety and conniving possession spirits - there's just so much interesting plot and conflict potential there, just trying to convert some of D&D's methods of "death is inconvenient, I ignore it and thereby reduce the importance of death" could end up sending things the wrong way. I'd leave that aside and stick with mentioned Shadowrun material.
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And as always, remember the mantra of the Sixth World, should you ever try to perform true necromancy. "Everything has a price."
That's not the mantra of the Sixth World, is just a half-assed added tagline of Shadowrun, 5th Edition.
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Nethermancers were character classes in Earthdawn, and so yes, necromancy is possible in the SR universe.
Of course, with those two IPs being separate now, what was in earthdawn is no longer guaranteed to be a part of Shadowrun. I don't believe there's been anything in Shadowrun that touches on necromancy any closer than the use of ghost spirit testimony alluded to in Sixth World Almanac and the possession traditions already mentioned.
Personally I would lean towards the subtlety and conniving possession spirits - there's just so much interesting plot and conflict potential there, just trying to convert some of D&D's methods of "death is inconvenient, I ignore it and thereby reduce the importance of death" could end up sending things the wrong way. I'd leave that aside and stick with mentioned Shadowrun material.
I've never played D&D, so I wouldn't know nor do I care about that game's magic system. That said, I have no problem acknowledging whatever was possible or performed from earlier versions of Earthdawn. And given how hard that connection was played up in the mid to late 90s, I am virtually certain that there are references beyond ghost testimony.
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In Shadows of North America it mentions that in New Orleans the voodoo houngans were in an after the C.A.S. put out an open bounty on magicians who animate the dead.
It does not mention if any actual dead were ever animated, about any living being put into a death like trance, or if it anyone high on drugs was doing a zombie shuffle,
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That originally comes from Year of the Comet. It was in response to panic about the shedim.
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Long long ago, some gaming magazine did a whole article about Voodoo in Shadowrun (maybe back in the 2E days?) which included "voodoo zombies" (as opposed to "nuclear zombies" or "virus zombies" or what not). Basically a specialized summoning requiring a prepared vessel, which was eventually folded into the paradigm, more or less, with "possession" traditions.
That said, there is a long standing tradition of one-shot, basically unique "WTF?!" in Shadowrun fluff, things that can only come about with a liberal application of plotdevicium. Even in adventures, come to think of it. And of course, even if it's not actually possible, a little stage magic can convince your players that it is.
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It may have been the New Orleans setting info for a Katrina relief bundle DriveThruRPG did a decade ago. White Wolf also did a New Orleans or Voodoo article like 20 years ago. Both by Steve Kenson, as I recall.
He created the first Voodoo rules for SR in Awakenings, and wrote up New Orleans in Target: Smuggler Havens. Voodoo became the fifth magical tradition with its own ruleset (Hermetic, Shamans, Druids, Path of the Wheel, and then Voodoo; German Idol-worshipping was quasi-independent). Given how much different it was from Hermetics and Shamans, it deserved the lengthy fluff and rules chapters it got in Awakenings.
Thanks to SR4 and UMT, they're all pretty much the same. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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White Wolf also did a New Orleans or Voodoo article like 20 years ago.
That's the one. I think I still have it around somewhere...
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The Voodoo rules would be the same as from Awakenings.
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Thread Necromancy is easy enough. ;D
And again, but for a good reason. Street Magic mentions "the Path of the Dead" on p139; just a couple of paragraphs, but I think it's the most recent treatment of necromancy in Shadowrun. It is however, basically what ... Reaver? said in the second post in this thread.
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The Path of the Dead is not resurrection. Necromancy can easily be debuffs and the like, as well as using either an Animate spell on some corpses, or having possession spirits using them as a vessel. And sure, they may say they're looking into 'spark of life' and such, but there's no actual bringing a person back from the dead.
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The Path of the Dead is not resurrection. Necromancy can easily be debuffs and the like, as well as using either an Animate spell on some corpses, or having possession spirits using them as a vessel. And sure, they may say they're looking into 'spark of life' and such, but there's no actual bringing a person back from the dead.
Well..... not the person that died anyway... (Ibn izia, remember?)
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The Path of the Dead is not resurrection. Necromancy can easily be debuffs and the like, as well as using either an Animate spell on some corpses, or having possession spirits using them as a vessel. And sure, they may say they're looking into 'spark of life' and such, but there's no actual bringing a person back from the dead.
Well..... not the person that died anyway... (Ibn izia, remember?)
Yeah, that was a master Shedim. Shedim are a whole different bag of nasty, and part of the reason that anyone goes around calling themselves a 'necromancer' is usually going to find themselves in trouble.
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"Ey!! Eye iz not edding nobuddy!!"
"He said TROUBLE, Mungo."
"Bud I tought I was Trouble ..."
"... I got nothin'. Guys, a little help, here??"
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You know the rules..
you put the idea/word in Mungo's head, you have to put up with it until he changes his mind or gets distracted. :P
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Thread Necromancy!
Necromancy shows up in Street Grimoire (p. 143-144), and it's much more "speak with the dead" than anything else. Loyola University teaches necromancy - you can major in forensic thaumaturgy, and I'll be honest, I kind of want to now.
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Thread Necromancy!
Necromancy shows up in Street Grimoire (p. 143-144), and it's much more "speak with the dead" than anything else. Loyola University teaches necromancy - you can major in forensic thaumaturgy, and I'll be honest, I kind of want to now.
Feeling like rolling up a student/graduate of this school who's a private detective in the shadows to pay for schooling.
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Unfortunately, initiation is mandatory. Oh, and you have to be capable of summoning spirits of man(men?).