2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 23: Morzana Onyx, Necromancer (OSE)

Twenty-three days into the challenge.

Okay.

I'll come clean with y'all. The "perky goth girl" necromancer isn't the most original character concept. On the other hand, I'm three weeks deep into this challenge and ideas are getting thin on the ground. I gotta go with what I got.

Morzana Onyx, Necromancer. 1 of 2

All Old School Essentials characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. Rules for the necromancer class were published by Necrotic Gnome and is available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

Necromancy doesn't attract much positive attention. At best, it is regarded as a macabre interest. At worst, it is a horrid art that brings abominations against the natural order into the world of the living. And it is true that certain necromancers have used their talents in self-aggrandizing ways - raising undead armies, being liches, draining the life out of those around them, etc.

For Morzana Onyx, necromancy is the logical next step for her lifelong fascination with death and decay. Even as a child, she was a frequent visitor to the local graveyard. Morzana studied the traditional path of arcane magic use for a time, but branched out into necromancy on her own. Potential mentors are challenging to find and harder to convince to take on pupils. She searches out necromantic secrets on her own.

Morzana Onyx, Necromancer, 2 of 2

My rolls for ability scores were a mixed bag. Nothing especially bad, but nothing amazing either. Minimum WIS for necromancers is 9 for some reason and Onyx meets it with a point to spare. The stat perks from being human give her CON and CHA a bump. STR is her dump stat.

Onyx starts with 5 hit points. Which is incredible for an arcane caster in OSE.

Onyx's INT score is high enough for an additional language. My house rule is to let characters keep language slots open. This offers the chance to learn languages during the course of the campaign.

With the advanced spell book optional rules, Onyx begins with 4 spells in her collection. I picked out the following:

• Command Undead
• Deathlight
• Protection From Evil
• Read Magic

This is a good mix of offensive, defensive, and utility spells. As Onyx can only have one spell memorized at first level, she is likely to have Command Undead ready unless circumstances dictate another choice.

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It's alright, but there's no place for spells.